FOR THE FACILITATOR
FOR THE FACILITATOR
Thank you for leading your Join Jesus group. Here are some things to keep in mind as you facilitate the gatherings.
PRAY
Be in prayer. Pray for each participant by name.
Ask the Father to speak through His Word and Spirit. Ask Jesus to reveal Himself as Savior and Lord. Invite the Holy Spirit to lead your gatherings and equip your participants.
PREPARE
Work through each week’s lesson on your own.
Meet with the Lord as you read the Bible passages and answer the questions. Become familiar with the content and engage your heart with the truths. Begin to practice each week’s missional assignments under LIVE. You may have a missional story to share.
LEAD
Don’t be afraid to lead your group at the weekly gatherings.
Direct, but don’t dominate. Don’t monopolize the conversation.
Your role isn’t to teach, but to ask good questions, to direct your group to God’s Word and to actively listen to their responses and the Spirit’s leading.
Join Jesus combines Bible readings and discovery questions. Use the questions provided, rewording them and adding follow-up questions as needed.
Good things happen when you ask good questions.
Note rabbit trails and pull your group back to the main path.
Here are some simple ground rules for your group:
Everyone gets to participate, but no one is allowed to dominate.
What’s shared here, stays here.
When someone shares something sensitive, remind the group of the value of confidentiality.
It’s important for you to quickly get on top of someone who is dominating the gathering. And it’s not hard to do. Just break in and say, “Thanks for that, Sue. Juan, what do you think?”
If Sue continues to dominate, the next time you ask a question, don’t leave any space for her to chime in. Direct the next question to someone else. “Nigel, how would you answer our next question?”
Nothing will kill your gathering like a domineering person. So be direct and protect your group.
When leading your group, think of yourself as a band or orchestra director. You’re not making the music all by yourself. You’re bringing out the music from the family. So to speak, all you have is a conductor baton. They’re the ones with the instruments. Of course, you’re going to participate in the conversation as well. But work hard at drawing others into that conversation.
ENCOURAGE
The missional assignments under LIVE can be challenging. But this is where Join Jesus gets practical and personal. Encourage people to give each missional assignment a try. After all, faith is spelled T-R-Y! Trust the Lord and give it a try.
PASS THE BATON
Join Jesus is a great way for people to try leading a gathering and explore the possibility of leading their own Join Jesus group or Contact4Impact Team.
At the end of each gathering, select a new facilitator to lead the next gathering.
Encourage this new facilitator to read through FOR THE FACILITATOR.
Assist this new facilitator as needed and be in prayer for him or her.
HELP!
Let us know how we can be of help — ForContact4Impact@gmail.com.