ONLINE GROUP LEADER’S GUIDE

The Title
The title, Growing Strong in God’s Family, suggests the goal of this course and the context where it will be used.

1. The goal is individual spiritual growth. The course strengthens people in the basics of our Christian life and ministry.
2. It is designed for local church use—whether the discussion group meets in a church building or in a home.
3. After each person in the group prepares the lesson, the group comes together to discuss the work that they have individually done.

Important

1. Leader Guide
It is important for one person to act as the leader during each group meeting. This may be the same person each time or the responsibility may be shared by two or three group members (preferably those who previously have gone through the course themselves).
This leader guide is based on extensive use of Growing Strong in God’s Family and The 2:7 Series. It is wise for the group leader to look over this material every week as part of his or her careful preparation. The guide is filled with proven principles, methods, and suggestions. Using it can lighten the preparation load for a group leader.
2. Group Leader Training
Free, excellent 2:7 group leader training is available online. You can access the 17-lesson training course at The 2:7 Series website: www.2-7series.org. You might look to see if that online training would be of valuable to you now or in the future.

Group Size
The professionals in the field of small group discussions say that 4-8 people make for the best discussions. For this course, plan for up to 10 participants in your group—not including yourself (and perhaps a spouse or co-leader). You may find it necessary to have more than 10. But keep in mind that each person over 10 tends to limit how much each person can talk. It is wiser to break a group of 12 or more into two groups whenever possible. Your only limitation may be the number of qualified group leaders available.

Study Books
It is imperative for each person in your group to have his or her own copy of Growing Strong in God’s Family. People should write their name and cell number inside their book in case it gets misplaced and someone wants to return it.
Each person will be expected to do homework every week. It is motivational for individuals to complete their own work and fill in their own answers. By the end of the course, Growing Strong in God’s Family will have become a valued possession and can be a personal reference book for years to come. With this in mind, suggest that the members of your group make neat and legible entries as they go through the course.

The following guidelines will be of great value in helping you start your group in Growing Strong in God’s Family. You want to refer to these several pages of guidelines often as you lead your group through the course.

The Benefits of Being a Discipleship Group Leader
As the leader of a Growing Strong in God’s Family group, you will see the cause of Christ advanced in two ways:

1. Growth in the spiritual lives of those in your group
2. Growth in your own spiritual life and in your discipling skills

This growth will come about not as a result of this leader guide, but as you look to God for wisdom as you learn from your own experiences, as you apply the resources you have, and as you maintain prayerful high expectations.
This leader guide is not the final authority on how to lead your group. Each leader and each group is unique. But the information included here can offer you significant help.
Remember that the Growing Strong in God’s Family study is only a means to an end. These are excellent and proven materials. However, publications and programs do not make disciples. Only a disciple can make a disciple. It is imperative that you practice what you teach. Only as the Spirit of God works in a life can there be significant and lasting changes. These concepts should guide your thinking as you help each member of your group grow toward spiritual maturity in Christ.

Goals as Group Leader
You have two long-range goals when helping people become functioning disciples:

1. To help each person become a more mature disciple of Jesus Christ
2. To equip each person with tools and know-how for winning and training others.

Your leadership gives each person in your group the opportunity to develop the qualities, habits, and disciplines that mark him or her as a man or woman of God. They will be growing in their relationships both with God and with other people.
Members of your group will find themselves sharing things with people outside of your group—things they are learning and experiencing in this discipleship training.

Evaluating Your Leadership
The following questions for evaluating leadership are for your own personal reflection. In your group listen for answers to some of these questions, but you don’t want to insert discussions about these topics on top of the assignments in the Growing Strong in God’s Family workbook.

Who?
Who am I serving? Who are the people in my group? Do I really know them?

What?
What are my goals for Growing Strong in God’s Family, and what are my goals for each session? What needs and expectations do my group members have?

Where?
Where am I in my own Christian life? Where am I taking this group?

Why?
Why am I leading this group? Why is each person in my group?

When?
When will we reach our goals? When will I spend time socially with members of my group?

How?
How do we achieve our goals?

Getting Organized
1. When will your group meet? Since you need 1 ½ to 2 hours for each session in the Growing Strong in God’s Family study, the Sunday school hour is usually not long enough to serve as a meeting time. So when should you meet? Your final decision may involve some sacrifice on your part—you may have to give up a night or an afternoon each week that you wanted to save for yourself. But, you’ve decided to serve this group, so find out what time is best for your group. Consider such things as the types of jobs your group members have. For example, those with construction jobs or other outside work may prefer not to meet in the early evening. But people who commute to work early in the morning may not want to be out late at night. Couples with young children may have days or times that are easiest for them to find baby-sitters. Assess your group’s needs and encourage each member to be willing to compromise some if necessary.
2. Where will you meet—at church, in your home, in the homes of other group members, or somewhere else? You may find that a rotating system is best, in which you take turns going to each other’s homes. This allows everyone to share the responsibility for hosting the group, and it also divides the driving time. Whatever you work out, try to find comfortable surroundings that encourage group involvement. Your eight to ten people need room to interact in a relaxed way. You want to sit in a circle or oval so you can see each other and talk easily with one another. There are times when you may have the group divide briefly into twos or threes.
3. What about refreshments? Let the group decide how much effort, if any, they want to give to this. Preparing refreshments shouldn’t become a burden to anyone. If you have refreshments, keep them simple.
4. The presence of children during the meeting can be a distraction. What arrangements do your group members need to make for childcare? Is childcare provided at your church?
5. Should you plan for informal socializing before the scheduled meeting time, with the group arriving early for this? Or would they prefer to begin the session when they arrive, and use the time afterward for refreshments and talking Discuss this and set a policy that will help them plan when to arrive and how long to stay.

Handling Potential Problems
Your group may face a few of the problems listed here. By considering them in advance, you will be better able to deal with them if they occur.

● Frequent absences
● Frequent tardiness
● Lack of preparation
● Lack of motivation
● Members who drop out
● Difficulties in relating to each other or to you
● Varying degrees of expectations and interest
● Members who seem to monopolize the group’s time
● Considerations that require changing your regular meeting time
● Couples in which the husband and wife seem to be going different directions in their interests and expectations
● Members who are experiencing a “dry” period in their spiritual life

Difficulties such as these will not simply go away. You can deal with them in an attitude of love and concern. Here are several suggestions:

1. Talk alone with the persons involved. Share with them your concern and your desire for their success.
2. Establish a satisfactory agreement with the persons involved or with the group as a whole. This will make them accountable to each other.
3. Share some concerns with the entire group. Explain your goals for this discipleship training and your desire for them to pursue the same goals. Do this in a positive, encouraging way.
4. Give occasional “locker room chats”—as a coach would with his or her team—you remind, challenge, encourage, and sometimes correct—briefly and in a positive way.
5. Feel free to talk seriously about relevant biblical principles that deal with problems you face with your group.
6. Seek outside help from your pastor or from other mature Christians when necessary.

Getting Together

1. Start and end on time. Most people appreciate punctuality. Don’t allow the time to slip away from you at the end. You want the group to be eager to return next week.
2. Try to involve each group member in the discussions.
3. Avoid embarrassing anyone. Some may feel uncomfortable at first in activities such as reading aloud, praying aloud or group discussions.
4. As the leader, participate in all the activities. A new group especially needs to see your example.
5. Be sure any instructions you give are clearly understood.
6. Be yourself. Use the outlines given in the leader guide for each session, but don’t be mechanical about it.
7. Come prepared. Those in your group can become discouraged if you do not seem to know what you are doing, especially after they have taken time themselves to prepare. Know the material thoroughly enough to be at ease in leading your group.
8. Have your goals clearly in mind for each session.

Between Meetings
Your commitment to the group includes more than only giving your time during the group session itself. Accomplishing your goal of developing disciples requires additional activities on your part.

1. Try to establish a genuine friendship with those in your group. If possible get to know them outside of your time in the group. Strong friendships make your group more vital and productive. During Growing Strong in God’s Family have one or two social activities as a group—like having a simple potluck before one of your sessions. Have fun together.
2. Pray regularly for each person in your group. Ask them to pray for one another.
3. Keep growing as a Christian. Effective spiritual leaders are continuing to grow in their own lives.
4. Follow your priorities. Keep your personal relationship with God and your responsibilities to your family in order as you have a discipleship ministry to others. Reading and Marking Assignments

In many of the assignments we ask 2:7 participants to read and mark certain sections of the material. An example is the article Tyranny of the Urgent on pages 34-38. The benefit for them and for the group is that when those pages are discussed, each student can see what he or she has marked and can quickly come up with things to share in the group—not having to nervously search through those several pages. From time to time remind your students of the value of marking as they read. It makes it easier for them to prepare to participate.

Read Around the Circle
In many of the 2:7 sessions individuals are asked to read aloud from their books. In Session 1 you say something like, “Starting on page 13, let’s read through some of this important information. Let’s start with Nancy and go to the left. Nancy, would you read the verse and the first paragraph?” After Nancy reads, you say “thank you.” Then: “Bill, would you read number 1? Then let’s keep going around the circle.” After each one reads, just say “thank you” and make eye contact with the next reader—often eye contact is enough and you don’t have to say anything.

Experience has shown that “reading around the circle” is a simple, efficient way to get things read aloud. It takes a load off of you, the facilitator, and the group grows in its ability to self-manage these reading sections. There are sections of the 2:7 materials that are not mentioned in the assignments. Some you will choose to read and some you won’t. You want a change of pace here and there. In reading aloud a quiet person gets used to hearing his or her voice and will talk more in other parts of your lessons. These are tiny steps that move them toward their being able to lead a 2:7 group or Bible study group in the future.

Group-Participant-centered, Not Leader-centered
In The 2:7 Series you lead as a facilitator, not a teacher. Let the material carry the load. You don’t have to manage and direct—you facilitate. You want to hear their voices most of the time, not your voice. Consider the 80/20 rule: you speak 20% of the time and your group speaks 80% of the time. You can lead discussion with questions rather than statements. You sit as part of the circle and participate as one of the group. When the group is reading aloud around the circle, take your turn. But as leader you may want to underscore some important ideas or clarify things that are not understood. Many questions you are asked can be directed back to the group. Other questions you may choose to answer outright—and move on.

Prepare your lesson for being a participant in the group. Then prepare your lesson as group facilitator. Have in mind the sections where you discuss material they have read and marked. Discuss one segment at a time. Identify sections where you will have them read around the circle. In some of the Bible studies you might have a follow-up question or two that you ask after someone gives an answer to some of those questions.

For many members of your group, this course will probably mean the beginning of consistent and meaningful quiet times, starting successful scripture memory—and for some, participating in their first group Bible study. These disciplines can develop into habits that strengthen a person’s walk with God and effectiveness leading to a spiritual influence on others.

Goals for Growing Strong in God’s Family

1. To enjoy reading the Bible.
2. To memorize the five Beginning with Christ verses
3. To experience consistent and meaningful quiet times
4. To understand The Wheel Illustration
5. To study and discuss Tyranny of the Urgent
6. To understand The Hand Illustration
7. To prepare and use an Evangelism Prayer List

Flowchart for Growing Strong in God’s Family
This flowchart shows how various aspects of the Christian life are emphasized in this course.

Bible Study
You have Bible studies in Session 2-5, 7, 9, 10 and 11.

Prayer
Prayer is a regular ingredient in all eleven sessions.
“Practical Suggestions on Prayer”—Session 5
“Guide to Conversational Prayer”—Session 8

Scripture Memory
“Proven Ways to Memorize a Verse Effectively”—Session 1
“Beginning with Christ Explanation”—Session 2
“Beginning with Christ Bible Study”—Session 2
Memorize the five Beginning with Christ verses—Sessions 2-8
“An Effective Way to Review Memory Verses Together”—Session 3
“Why Memorize Scripture?”—Session 11

Quiet Time
“Ways to Mark Your Bible as You Read—Session 1
“Choosing Where to Read in Your Bible”—Session 1
“Reading and Marking Exercise”—Session 1
Every week sharing quiet time highlights—Sessions 2-11
“How to Use My Reading Highlights”—Session 5
“Why Use My Reading Highlights”—Session 5
“The Quiet Time”—Session 6
“Quiet Time, Reading Plans, and Bible Study”—Session 6

The Obedient Christian Life
“Tyranny of the Urgent”—Session 3
“The Wheel Illustration”—Session 4
“The Hand Illustration”—Session 6
“A Personal Evaluation of The Wheel and The Hand in Your Life”—Session 8

Evangelism and Witness
“Why Have an Evangelism Prayer List”—Session 8
“Setting Up Your Evangelism Prayer List”—Session 8
“Getting to Know Non-Christians”—Session 8
“Witness” Bible study—Session 11

Preparing to Lead Growing Strong in God’s Family
Don’t neglect your own planning, even though the outlines in this guide for each group session are quite detailed. Become familiar now with the overall thrust of the course, the goals toward which you are working, and the schedule for completing the specifics of the course.

Here are general reminders to pass on to your group.

1. Before they see My Completion Record in Session 4, encourage their success in the assignments. Then by Session 4 they will have things to be signed off.
2. Use a modern translation or paraphrase of the Scriptures for reading. Point out that this requirement is not for Bible study. It is for their daily reading and marking, and will help make these times fun and refreshing.
3. Use My Reading Progress (Session 3) and My Reading Highlights
(Session 5). These are new tools for most in the group.
4. Pray for each other and for the group as a whole.
5. Review your memory verses at least once a day and preferably more.
6. Plan to be on time for the meetings. To start on time helps being able to stop on time.
7. At Session 4 start getting things signed off on My Completion Record. It is encouraging to stay ahead of the power curve.

As the group leader be an example of a positive, Christ-centered lifestyle with consistent disciplines. Be regular in Bible study, memorizing, scripture memory review, and meditation on Scripture passages. Spend consistent time in prayer. Evaluate the balance in your Christian life by referring to The Wheel Illustration in Session 4 and The Hand Illustration in Session 6.

Group Leader Resource Material
It is important for you to carefully prepare, so you can do a good job of leading each of the Bible study discussions. The following material has been compiled to assist you in handling the eight Bible study group discussions.

Usually each of the 11 sessions in Growing Strong in God’s Family is led by the same group leader. Because of a group leader’s being sick, traveling, or some other contingency, it may become necessary for someone else from the group to take a turn leading one of the 11 sessions. The group leader for sessions 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10 and 11—will lead a Bible study discussion as well as facilitating the other course activities. Each time you prepare to lead, you will find it helpful to review the suggestions in this section.

Student Preparation
A key ingredient for stimulating Bible study discussions is for each member in the group to have his or her Bible study completed before coming to class. You can encourage this.

From time to time remind the members of the group how important it is (for you and for them) to have the Bible study done prior to the group meeting. If people come without the study completed or partially finished, don’t ignore or punish them with non-verbal looks of disapproval. Make them feel accepted and as much a part of the group as the others. It is important for those people to enjoy and benefit from the group discussion and not be made to feel left out. At the beginning of the discussion you might assign such a person one or two questions that can be quickly prepared and ready for discussion when you get to that part of the lesson.

Group Leader Preparation
First, prepare the Bible study for your own enlightenment and application. Ask God to speak to you and to strengthen you from the study as you begin to work on it. You want correct and good answers without becoming academic or theoretical. If you get excited about the topic of a study and its content, you are well on your way to being an animated group leader.

Second, look over your questions and answers. Think of the needs and interests in
your group. To which parts of the study should you give more attention? Thinking through and planning in advance can make for a more effective Bible study discussion. During the actual Bible discussion you may find it wise to sometimes deviate from your original plan. Thoughtful pre-planning gives you a general direction in which to move, but remain flexible and willing to adjust your original plan.

The Bible Says . . .
In your group you want people sharing what the Bible teaches, not opinions and conjectures. On one hand we don’t want people to be afraid of making theological mistakes. On the other hand we don’t want people sharing opinions and hearsay without a passage of Scripture. Mostly, this problem can be alleviated by sticking with the verses, questions, and answers in the Bible study book. Don’t let the discussion drift onto tangents where you and the group members have not done your homework. Each week concentrate on the specific subject at hand.

Several Helpful Discussion Guidelines

1. Sit in a circle. This is the best seating arrangement. Each person has eye contact with most of the people in the group. It creates an informal and warm atmosphere. The group leader is considered more of a peer because he or she is not placed in a prominent physical location.
2. Don’t dominate. As the leader, you are both a facilitator and a participant in the group. Avoid talking too much. As the facilitator give direction and ask questions. As a participant you share your insights and study answers along with the others when it is your turn. Share humbly, not expertly.
3. Not the authority. Avoid becoming the authority figure in the group. You don’t want all the questions directed to you with the others thinking that you should be able to answer them. Direct questions back to the group. Say something like, “That is an interesting question. What thoughts might some of you have that would help us answer that question?” Sometimes you might recruit a volunteer who will take a difficult question to the pastor or an associate pastor. The volunteer can come back to the group with an answer the following week.
4. Work together. Your role as group leader is not a teaching responsibility, just as the students’ role is not to sit, listen, and take notes. You and the group members are working together to find answers and clarify issues.
5. Too talkative. You may soon find that one or two people in your group will have something to say about everything. Chat with them on the side. Say something like, “You have some great ideas. You are excellent in the discussion times. I need your help. There are others in the group who need to talk more so they can grow in confidence. Could you help me in getting some of these people to talk more? Before you talk in the group, let one or two others go first. Don’t be afraid of silence. It sometimes takes some silence before (name) and (name) will talk. Maybe you could share only your best thoughts in the group. Thank you for your help in this!”
6. Too quiet. When you direct a question to the group, give the quiet people more eye contact. Sometimes ask one of your less vocal people to read a quotation or to answer a specific question. They will become secure as they talk more. A number of things in the general structure of Growing Strong in God’s Family are designed to build confidence and help people participate more comfortably. Reading around the circle helps bring people out of their shells. Quoting verses and working on the Completion Record in groups of two or three each week also nurtures confidence and security.
7. Acknowledge answers. Thank people when they participate. Thank them for reading a paragraph or answering a question. This is particularly important with those who tend to be quiet. An acknowledgment doesn’t always have to be verbal. Many times it can be a nod of the head or eye contact that communicates approval. As you apply this, others in the group will follow your example and begin doing it, too.
8. Ask the group. Usually you will address your questions to the group, not to an individual. (An exception to this would be to ask a quiet person a specific question.) As you ask a question, let your eye contact sweep around the group. Don’t let your eyes lock on to one person.
9. Get several answers. After one person has given an answer to a Bible study question, you will usually ask for one or two other people to give their answers to the same question. This allows several people to participate on each question. It also helps insure that the answers reflect a correct handling of that particular Scripture passage.
A simple question should be answered by only one or two people. A more difficult question could be answered by three or four people. “Think about” and “application questions” could be briefly answered by half of the group or more if you wish. Have people read their answers exactly the way they have written them down. This keeps things moving. After they have read their written answer they may wish to express an additional ad lib sentence or two for clarification.
10. Application questions. In the Growing Strong in God’s Family Bible studies you will find a sprinkling of application questions. Application questions need to be given a high priority. Some application questions may be so important that you will ask everyone in your group to share their answer. It is up to your discretion.

Here are some examples of application questions:

• Page 47, question 8c
• Page 48, questions 9c and 9d
• Page 66, 2nd part of question 10
• Page 79, questions 8a and 8b
• Page 103, question 9

The “Think About” Questions
You may have observed that there is a “Think About” question at the beginning of each of the last six Bible studies. Remind the group members to give two or three minutes of thought to the “Think About” question before starting to prepare their Bible study. Its purpose is to get people thinking in the direction that the Bible study topic will be going. In your group meeting have several give their answer to the “Think About” question before you move into discussing the actual Bible study content. This moves people’s minds away from their busy day—into the subject you are about to discuss. You will notice that there is no correct or “school” answer to “Think About” questions. They are designed to stimulate thinking and precipitate a variety of answers.

How to Lead the Bible Study Discussion
In the eight Bible studies, your goal is to have every question answered by at least one person. When an answer is simple and straightforward, you can usually move right on to the next question. More complex answers often generate several comments from others. You may see an area of special interest surface. That may lead to your having to invest more time discussing that topic. During this course, as the group leader you will probably use both of the following methods for leading discussion.

1. Question-by-question—sharing in sequence. Go around the circle and in turn have each person answer one question or sub question. You are going through the questions in order. (You may want to review items 8 and 9 on page 10 above.) It is wise to use this first method at least through Session 5 in Book 1. You often find that people new to Bible study discussion prefer this approach because of its predictability.
As you go around the circle, also ask people to read aloud the quotations and paragraphs between questions as you come to them.
When you start the discussion, tell the group where you want them to begin in the circle and whether you want them to go to the left or to the right. Don’t always start in the same place or always go in the same direction. Share your answer or read a quotation when it is your turn.

2. Question-by-question—sharing at random. In this method do not go around the circle in sequence, but still answer the Bible study questions in order. Work on a volunteer basis. You might ask, “Would someone please read the opening paragraph?” Someone says, “I will,” and reads it. After it has been read, ask, “Who will answer question 1 for us please?”
Continue on with question 2, then, question 3. Have the quotations and paragraphs read in between questions as you did in the previous method.
Occasionally quieter students in the group may need to be asked something like, “John, would you answer question 6 for us please?” Then go back to the volunteer approach again. Still apply “Ask the group” and “Get several answers” (page 10 above).
It is not recommended that you use this method before Session 6. In the leader guide for Sessions 3-5, 10, and 11 you are given some additional Bible study discussion questions. Use them sparingly. You do not ask one of these questions until after someone in the group has given an answer to the question for which you have an additional discussion question. If your group responds to these extra questions, you may wish to use them more in future sessions.

You can effectively lead the discussions by only using these two methods—even without using the additional discussion questions. Here is a brief explanation if you wish to try out a few of the additional questions.
Any additional question should only be asked after the 2:7 book question has been answered. For example: Please look at question 3a on page 62. Perhaps two people give an answer to the Mark 7:6-9 question. Then we can ask the 3a additional question provided for you on page 30 (below): “What are some examples of ‘tradition’ to which people give undue authority?” There is not a correct answer to this type of question, but it stimulates and promotes a deeper discussion on the issue at hand. After a brief discussion of “tradition,” continue where you left off in the lesson.
You will find the NavPress book, How to Lead Small Groups to be a valuable resource. Check out www.navpress.com. It is also helpful to go through the 17-lesson online group leader training course. Learn more about it at www.2-7series.org.

Lead in prayer or ask someone in the group to pray for the meeting.

Have each member of the group answer these questions:
a. What is your name?
b. What is your job?
c. Where did you grow up?

It is important that you as the leader be first to answer these questions. This gives the students an idea of how much time to take. You might say something like: “We are going to spend a few minutes getting acquainted. Some of you know each other quite well, but this will give me the opportunity to get acquainted with you. I think that what we’re going to do now will be interesting and fun. I would like each of you (as we go around the circle) to tell us your name, your job, and where you grew up. Why don’t I start and then we can go around the circle to the left (or right).”

Our goal is to help our group members begin to know each other. It also gets them talking about themselves—a subject they know quite well. Some people have never shared Scripture truths, or prayed, or read aloud in a group. This gets them off to a good start. You will find that they very soon feel more and more comfortable talking in the group.

Ask the group to read around the circle—each taking a segment of this section. (Tell them whether they are going around the circle to the right or to the left.) Start with someone who will be comfortable doing this. (Some want to read too fast. Ask people to slow down enough so there is time to think about what is being read). You can say that anyone who would not care to read, just say “pass” when it is their turn. Often, one or two people will say “pass” in this first meeting but will feel comfortable reading during subsequent sessions.

After this section has been read, you may wish to give a brief testimony about the significance of Growing Strong in God’s Family in your own life or in the lives of others you know. Keep it very brief and vital—just a few sentences. You can tell more in later sessions.

In this session we do not discuss My Completion Record (page 7). Prematurely telling too much about the course can discourage some in the group. For now, pages 13-15 provide enough information for most people in your group.

You will fully explain My Completion Record in Session 4.  By then they will have already completed many of the course requirements and gained motivation by getting things signed off on My Completion Record. Don’t be secretive; tell them what they want to know. But don’t tell them more than they need to know at this point. If someone asks specifically about the Completion Record on page 7, just tell them that that page will be covered in one of the upcoming sessions. (Most people never notice page 7 because you start them on page 13.)

Work through each of these sections by having your people take turns reading aloud around the circle.  Summarize some of the ideas and answer questions as they come up.

After the group has read this section it is appropriate for you to insert a brief explanation. It might go something like this: “As other lay people, pastors, and Christian workers have gone through this course they have found that two things make Bible reading exciting. The first is to use a contemporary translation or paraphrase for Bible reading.

We use a translation for Bible study and scripture memory, but for Bible reading we want to read a contemporary translation or a paraphrase. This creates a freshness and excitement in our Bible reading that will not lose its sparkle over the months and years. For our next class session, you will want to have an inexpensive contemporary translation or paraphrase to use during this course.”

(You may need to explain some of the translations and paraphrases available and their distinctive characteristics. You might even bring samples to class for them to see during this Session 1).

Then continue with something like: “The second thing that makes Bible reading exciting for us is to mark our contemporary version as we read it. This enables us to sort out what the Holy Spirit is “saying” to us” from The Scriptures on any given day. Marking words and phrases keeps our reading from “slipping through our fingers.”

This has been a natural transition into discussing pages 15-17.

Continue to read around the circle—with each person reading a few lines aloud down to the next natural break in the text. Then, the next person picks up the reading. Continue to clarify, as needed, and briefly answer questions when they come up.

Ask each person who reads one of the six “pen markings” to point out where that marking is used in the examples on pages 16 and 17.

Some people, because of their backgrounds, hesitate to mark a Bible.  Some individuals dislike putting any marks in a book. Empathize with students who feel this way, but encourage them to mark in their Bible in the same way other students do. That is why a person may want to buy an inexpensive version of the Bible. The reading and marking aspect of the course is necessary for graduating, as is the memorizing of the five verses. Be understanding.

The reason for not reading the Gospels consecutively is that the content is so similar (with the possible exception of John). It is more helpful to read one gospel now and read another one in a month or two. This also provides variety, keeping Bible reading fresh and interesting.

People should avoid the “grasshopper method” of Bible reading—that is, the practice of jumping from place to place in the Bible. Encourage them to read one Bible book in sequence and complete it before starting another Bible book. (And we want to set the example in this.)

Some like to read an Old Testament book and a New Testament book concurrently. One method is to read a chapter out of both books every day. The other approach is to read out of one book one day and the other book on the next day. It is ineffective to be reading more than two books at one time—it becomes too difficult to maintain continuity. It is better to focus on one or two books.

Verses in Psalms and Proverbs are almost always interesting and practical. It is wise to keep those two books “in reserve.” While reading an Old Testament book you may read chapters that are dry or heavy reading. At these points you read the “dry” chapter, but then read a chapter out of Psalms or Proverbs—it can “give you a lift.” So you do not read all the way through Psalms and Proverbs like you do other Bible books. You hold them “in reserve” and use them as needed. This approach is an important exception to our rule about completing one book before going on to another.

Book 1, page 18 explains this clearly.

In Session 2 the individuals in your group start sharing what they have marked. The reading and marking concept becomes increasingly clear to your group as they experience reading, marking, and sharing.

Explain that they are going to read and mark Romans 12, using what they have just learned on pages 15-17. Explain that they will have 5-7 minutes to read and mark Romans 12 on pages 18-19. They will be sharing what they have marked in a few minutes. Give them time to do the exercise and then share the results together. Use this exercise both as an instructional tool and as an opportunity for interaction and mutual blessing.

After they have completed their reading and marking, you should share first share what you marked. Don’t “steal the best stuff.” Share one or two small things. You have done much of the talking so far in this class. Now encourage each group member to share one thing he or she marked in Romans 12. Expect each person to say something. (You don’t need to go around the circle. Let them volunteer). Thank each one as he or she finishes sharing observations from the passage. Some may share more than once—after everyone has taken a first turn.

Before covering how to effectively memorize Scripture, show them what memory work they do in this course. You might say something like: “During this course one of the most exciting things that you will be doing is memorizing five key Bible passages. If you never memorized another verse, these five may be the most helpful verses you could memorize. In the next few days decide in what version you will do your memory work.” Turn with them to pages 109-113. These are the most common translations that 2:7 participants are currently memorizing. Online at www.2-7series.org the memory verses for each of the three 2:7 courses can be downloaded, ready to print on business cards. At this time, two additional translations are available for download: New Living Translation and English Standard Version.

Explain that they will be using either business cards or 3 by 5 index cards for their memory work. Blank cards are available at office supply stores and print shops. If they choose to use blank cards, on the front side (from top to bottom) they should write the topic, reference, verse, and reference. On the other side they only write the topic and reference. Some put only the reference on side 2. When reviewing they look at the reference, think of the topic, say the topic aloud and proceed to quote the verse aloud—ending with the reference.

They will study this for Session 2. They will fill out pages 28-32 by turning back to find the answers on pages 20-24 in the Beginning with Christ Explanation.

Have this section read aloud which continues to help people become more comfortable speaking in the group. As the leader, it is important that you have experienced everything taught in these pages and have proven the principles to be effective through your own experience. You can even do some of the things just a few days ahead of the group meeting. You may also want to have extra blank cards on hand: business card size and 3×5 index cards.

As they go through pages 24 and 25, it is important for everyone to understand each of the eight guidelines. The objective is not so much to convince the student to do these things as it is for them to understand the guidelines. If a student has trouble with scripture memory work, it will be because one or more of these guidelines is being neglected.

People may memorize any way they wish. You are not forcing them to do it a certain way. They just need to understand that in order to graduate from this course they need to quote the five passages of Scripture with no mistakes.

Reinforce the idea that these guidelines will be a tremendous help to people in your group as they memorize the verses for Growing Strong in God’s Family. Remember, thousands of people have proven the value of these guidelines over the past several decades.

Guideline 1. Preliminary work.
It is important for your 2:7 training group members to do some minimal preliminary work before actually starting to memorize the verse(s) on a memory card. The verse(s) on the card should be read aloud a few times. The meaning needs to be understood. You or someone else in the group may need to explain a verse or part of a verse.

Guideline 2. Topic, reference, and first phrase.
A person should not skim over the topic and reference to get into the actual content of the verse. The topic and reference are also important to memorize.

People who have the topics clearly in mind, are able to use the memorized verses with greater skill. Knowing the reference enables them to turn to the passage to read and discuss with someone.

It is important to immediately connect the reference with the first part of the verse. (“Jam them together”). There should be no pause between stating the reference and starting the verse. If a person must pause to recall how the verse begins, he or she should then start over and say the topic, reference, and immediately start into the verse itself. This insures that the topic and reference are inseparably linked to the verse.

Guideline 3. Add phrases.
When a person continues to add phrases to what has been memorized, he or she will not tend to mix up phrases within the verse. When someone can correctly say the topic, reference, verse, reference for a verse, it is not really learned. Experts say it is solidly in one’s memory bank after several weeks of regular review (hopefully daily).

Guideline 4. Audibly.
When a person memorizes and reviews verses audibly, learning is quicker and retention is greater. This may be no more than whispering when working on a verse. Saying the verse aloud as it is being memorized makes us use more of our senses and causes a deeper impression on our mind.

Guideline 5. Apply the verse to your life.
The more a verse ties into a person’s life, the easier it is to memorize and retain. When memorizing a verse continue to think “What does this verse mean to me in my life?”

Guideline 6. Sequence.
Students who ignore the sequence in which the topic, reference, and verse are quoted, often later find themselves having trouble recalling all three parts of memorized verses. When using a verse with someone else, we may not audibly say the topic and reference, but the topic and reference go through our mind before we quote the verse audibly. When reviewing verses, all three parts should be spoken aloud. They are a unit.

Always say the reference at the end of the verse. After committing a number of verses to memory and perhaps neglecting the review of a few verses, a person may only recall the last part of the verse and not be able to say the first part. If the reference is an integral part of the end of the verse as well as the beginning, one can often pick up the location of that verse from only knowing the last part of the verse and the reference.

Guideline 7. Review, Review, Review!
Repetition is the key to memorizing and retaining verses of Scripture in our mind and
heart!! Repetition makes it all happen! Time spent on reviewing scripture memory cards
and thinking about the meaning of each verse is life changing over weeks and months.

Guideline 8. Over-learning.
The principle of over-learning is an essential concept. Many people make the mistake of thinking they know a memory verse when they are able to say the verse without any help. We know that this is not really true. It takes about two months of review to over-learn a verse.

Psychologists use the term “over-learning” for the process of learning something so well that we can recall it with little or no hesitation. We have over-learned our name, our telephone number, our address, the names of friends, and routes we travel in our car. It is not until we have gone through the process of over-learning that we really know a verse. Then the Spirit of God can bring it to mind whenever He chooses to use it. Repeated review is the key to healthy over-learning.

Ask someone to read the assignment.

Lead in a closing prayer.

Pray or ask someone in the group to pray for God’s blessing on this time together.

This is the last session in which a new student may join the group. Therefore, it is important to have an activity for getting further acquainted.

Even though the group went through a get-acquainted exercise in Session 1, it is still helpful to break the ice again so the students feel increasingly comfortable in the group. Go around the circle and ask each person to answer these questions:

a. What is your name?
b. What is your favorite breakfast?
c. What is your favorite hobby, sport or entertainment?

Comment on some of the highlights covered on pages 13-16. For example, on page 14, “General Comments,” simply say there are 11 sessions in this course; there will be requirements to meet in order to graduate; most weeks they will spend about an hour in preparation. Review the rest of the material in a similar manner. It will be important, however, for you or a member of the group to meet with anyone who missed Session 1 and review the material in greater detail.

The major portion of Session 2 will be sharing. It is important that the students learn to share what they have been reading in The Scriptures. In fact, the sharing time becomes a highlight for most and a breakthrough for many who have never shared in a group before.

It is important for you as the leader to remember the following: (1) nothing is too simple to be shared, (2) people in your group can feel free to share more than once, (3) it should be an unhurried time, (4) those who haven’t read will find the group pressure strong during the sharing time, and they will be motivated to read the following week, and (5) it may be necessary to remind your people that they are not competing with one another. They want to be helping each other excel in this discipleship training course.

It is important for you as the leader to share first, so the rest of the students know what you expect from them. Every time you share from your reading share something (1) simple and (2) encouraging! Then ask group members to share spontaneously, rather than going around the circle.

You want your group to know that normally each person is expected to share something every week.

Have a show of hands for each scripture memory translation. People can see who uses the same scripture memory translation they do.

At this point ask the group break up into small groups of two or three, made up of persons who are memorizing from the same version. It is best for husbands and wives not to review together. (Spouses often tend to be either too easy or too hard on each another.) Remind your people to say the topic, reference, verse, and reference. Allow 5-10 minutes for review in small clusters each week.

Group members may want to scatter throughout the room where you meet, or even into other rooms or hallways where there are fewer distractions. As the leader, you do not divide up the groups. Let them take the initiative. They can easily figure out what to do after you give them a few simple directions.

This is a brief lecture in which you emphasize three main points:

a. Practice aloud. This activates another sense—hearing—to assist the memory process. It greatly helps memorization. Your people want to practice aloud whenever possible. Ask if practicing aloud was helpful during the last week. Don’t reprimand anyone for not doing it, but commend those who have tried it.

b. Spot and correct repeated errors. Examples of a repeated error would be leaving out “and” in 1 John 5: 11-12 or mixing up “will” and “shall.” A repeated error is often a normal part of the learning process. It does not mean they have failed to apply a memory guideline. At some point they identify their repeated error in a verse. Then each time they review the verse they are reminded of that repeated error and they avoid it. It becomes part of the memorizing process.

c. Review is the key. You need to set the example for your students in this! Sharing personal benefits and brief testimonials from time to time will continue to motivate them. The three principles for any kind of memorization are: Repetition, Impression, and Association.

REPITITION is the primary memory principle that applies to scripture memory. The slogan is “Review, Review, Review!” Constant review insures extended accurate retention.

IMPRESSION is concentrating intently so that something makes a deeper imprint on your mind. Concentrating intently as a person tells you his or her name is an example of “impression.” Focusing your mental effort produces a more lasting impression of what you hear or see.

ASSOCIATION is a technique where you use some gimmick to aid your recall. You may remember that the Old Testament contains 39 books, that 3×9 is 27, and that there are 27 books in the New Testament. The 3×9 association aids recall.

There are three reasons for including this presentation of the gospel in Book 1, Session 2.

– There are some people who sign up for discipleship training who don’t understand God’s plan of salvation and have not yet come to a faith in Christ. Churches that have presented the gospel early in Book 1 have seen people make a commitment to Christ.

– Many copies of Book 1 are sold in bookstores. This allows us to make a gospel presentation to people who purchase the book off of the shelf and are in a church where they don’t hear about salvation through Jesus Christ.

– It sets you up to review the gospel and to have a “make sure” prayer with your group. It also provides a tool that people in your group can show and explain to others.

If you know you have all Christians in your group, you can observe together how simple and powerful a presentation of the gospel can be for clearly explaining how a person can receive eternal life through Jesus Christ’s death on the cross. It is a valuable tool! Remind them that in Book 3 they learn a great way to draw out the illustration and engage a person in discussing the gospel.

Ask your group to read this aloud around the circle. Encourage their comments about what the material says. Add your thoughts as well. Answer relevant questions that come up.

Ask for volunteers to answer each of the questions, or simply go around the circle and have them take turns answering the questions. The sub-points under question 1 can be handled as individual questions if you like.

The goal of this section is to ensure that each person has read and understands the written material in “Beginning with Christ Explanation” on pages 20-24.

On question 4, have two or three people give their answer and ask several to answer questions 6, 9, 11, 13, and 15. These questions lead to more individual analysis and the answers tend to stimulate good discussion.

Ask someone to read the assignment for Session 3.

Pray or ask someone in the group to close the session in prayer. Sometimes things come up in your discussion that more than one person should pray about as you close.

Pray or ask someone in the group to pray for God’s blessing on this time together.

Ask your group to read this aloud around the circle. Ask someone to start and request that they go to the right, or go to the left—you decide. The suggestion of first reviewing the verses they know best is an extension of the philosophy of constantly building on successes rather than patching up failures. This approach motivates—you can sense it in the group atmosphere.

In this session you work at developing a certain attitude, philosophy, or outlook among your people. They should be trying to help each other succeed rather than competing with one another. An excellent biblical illustration is found in Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 (NASB)—following item 2 on page 33.

Often a person will ask why it is so important to memorize verses exactly and to be so meticulous in memory work. Item 3 on pages 33-34 gives them four excellent reasons based on the experience of many people.

It is important for everyone in the group to apply points 4 and 5 (page 34). If the person listening to a verse being quoted gives the person quoting the verse more hints than he or she needs, the listener is doing the quoter an injustice. If the one quoting the verse struggles and then comes up with the exact words of the verse, it is a victory and an encouragement to the quoter.

Whether or not the listener had to help the quoter, it is helpful if the one doing the quoting repeats the verse again word perfectly after he or she has needed help with the verse, but finally said it correctly. This ends the scripture memory time on a note of victory and success.

You will find that the previous discussion about scripture memory launches the students into their verse review with greater motivation. It gives them an immediate opportunity to apply the “listener” and “quoter” principles they have just learned.

Again, it is important for people to review their memory verses with someone else in the same Bible translation. It is important that the listener always looks at the verse card as the quoter goes through the verse. This is true no matter how well the listener thinks he or she knows the verse being quoted.

After returning to the circle, you may ask: “How many of you were able to say at least one of the two verses without any mistakes at all?” Then you might commend them by saying: “That’s really terrific; you are doing a fine job and that’s great.” You may then ask if any of them were able to say both verses without a mistake. Commend those people, too.

Prior to beginning the sharing of thoughts from their Bible reading, ask them to spend a minute or two deciding on at least one thing they want to share with the group.

It is not important for you to always share first. However, you may wish to share something first if no one else shares right away. Your example encourages others to share.

Don’t rush this time. There is enough time for each person to share at least once. While you don’t want those who share to go off into a long discourse, they can briefly develop what a particular verse or passage meant to them. Once again, your people should be praised and thanked each time they share in the group. This can be something simple like: “That’s a great thought!” “That’s an interesting insight” “Thank you for sharing that with us!” or “You certainly enjoyed reading that particular passage, didn’t you?”

As you know, your group has read and marked Tyranny of the Urgent. Remind them that during the discussion they may wish to jot a few notes under item 4 on page 39.

Have them open to pages 34-35. Ask what things they marked on those pages. Perhaps go section by section. Thank each one for his or her comment. Do the same with pages 36-37 and then with page 38. What an outstanding article! But it does not take long for your group to share some of the highlights. Then move on to “Summarizing Tyranny of the Urgent.”

Have someone read the title and two quotations at the top of page 39. Don’t go around the circle. Just have people share at random as they are ready to say something. Ask two or three to share their answers to 1. Then have two or three share their answers to 2. Probably everyone will share something on 3. Some may share more than once. The article is clearly written and its message is simple to understand—though challenging to apply.

Ask several in the group to briefly share how they answered “a”—then “b,” and—then “c” on pages 39 and 40. Do this briefly.

As the group leader, you lead a Bible study during 8 of the 11 weeks. (So there is no Bible study scheduled for 3 of the 11 weeks.) First, prepare your own Bible study just like every other member of the group. Then, in addition to your personal preparation you prepare to lead. In this leader guide you are given helps to make preparation and leading easier. Carefully review “How to Make Bible Study Discussion Effective,” pages 9-13 in this leader guide. Apply the principles in both preparing and leading this Bible study. The principles on pages 9-13 are designed to assist you whether you are a nervous beginner or a confident and experienced leader of small groups. PRAY. PREPARE. PARTICIPATE.

Start the “Prayer—Part 1” Bible study discussion by having one person read the opening statement and the Romans passage from their Bible. Have two more people each read one of the two quotations. There are sometimes a few comments from the group.

Then, ask the group what some of their ideas and insights are from the “Think About” question. Allow time for several responses. Then move into the actual Bible study.

Go around the circle, having each person read a question and give their answer. Sometimes someone’s answer doesn’t seem to fit. But most of the time answers make sense.

If an answer seems off, let one or two others also give their answer. Be tactful so the one with the poor answer doesn’t feel put down.

Additional discussion questions are provided for you in Sessions 3-5, 10, and 11. Answers you might expect people in your group to give are in blue. There is no one right answer to these “understanding questions.” They stimulate a little more discussion, pushing the group’s understanding deeper.

Ask an additional question to the group, not to one person, and only after one or more have answered the question in the book. You don’t want the “understanding questions” to become a whole new expanded study. You might use one or two of the additional questions during a Bible study discussion. Ask these “understanding questions” sparingly—like you would add a little salt and pepper to your food.

Additional Discussion Questions for “Prayer—Part 1”:

Question 1 What does “grace” mean to you?
Unmerited favor. God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense. Getting underserved blessings from God.

Question 2 What does “mercy” mean to you?
“Compassion.” “Forgiveness.” “Grace is getting what you don’t deserve; mercy is not getting what you do deserve.”

Question 3 What do you think it means to “pour out our hearts” to God?
“Being totally honest.” “Expressing exactly how I feel.” “Totally transparent.”

Question 4 What is the difference between thanksgiving and praise?
“Thanksgiving is expressing gratitude for things God has done.” “Praise is expressing appreciation for who God is.” “Praise is adoration.”

Question 5 Psalm 66:18—What is the difference between a recurring sin and a sin we cling to or cherish?
“A cherished sin is one we continue to practice on a regular basis.” “A recurring sin is a sin that we fall into from time to time, but we confess, forsake and keep going.”

Question 6 1 John 5:14-15—What things can help us pray within God’s will?
“Knowing the Scriptures.” “Getting to know ‘how God thinks’ as we read and study the Bible over time.” “We sometimes can sense what God wants if we are walking close to Him.” “We may sense His nudges.”

Have two people each read a paragraph under “How to Use My Reading Progress.” Ask them to turn to page 153 but keep their fingers at page 43. When they find that page, have them turn Session 4 Book 1 25 to pages 153 and 154. They can see they are like our examples on page 43. After they compare, they can go back to page 43.

Ask someone to read the paragraph that starts out “If today you read…” Point out the two ways of crossing off chapters: / or X. The same person can read the next sentence and the group sees how a book might be dated after it has been finished.

If you are going around the circle, have the next person read the closing paragraph.

Ask someone in the group to read the assignment for Session 4.

Pray or have someone in the group prayer to close the session.

Pray or ask someone in the group to pray for God’s blessing on this time together.

By now your people need very little guidance for doing verse review. Say something like: “Let’s break into our verse review groups and quote our first three verses.”

Share your excitement about your Bible reading. If you are not excited, you can’t expect your students to be excited. Often leaders cannot share the things that were most outstanding in their reading because they may be too advanced for some in the group. It helps in your preparation to look over your reading and select one or two items you might share—something simple and encouraging.

As the leader, you may occasionally go first in the sharing just to get the ball rolling. Often, however, those in the group are quite eager to share and will take the initiative. Remember to give them one or two minutes to refresh their memory and to choose what to share. Be alert to any who are not sharing from their reading. Draw them out. Before or after class find out if there are any problems or if they could use your help in some way.

How are you doing at discussing the Bible study material in the time allotted? Decide what your goals are, allocate your time wisely, and emphasize key points accordingly. Prepare your study and think through how you will lead it. (But, be willing to make adjustments in your group when you see that it would be helpful to deviate from your original plan). In your lesson preparation, continue to review the suggestions on pages 9-13 in this leader guide.

Additional discussion questions are provided for you in Sessions 3-5, 10, and 11. Answers you might expect people in your group to give are in blue. There is no one right answer to these “understanding questions.” They stimulate more discussion and tend to push the group’s understanding deeper. Here are additional questions for “Prayer—Part 2.”

Additional Discussion Questions for “Prayer—Part 2” (pages 45-49):

Question 6
Romans 10:1—What group would be to us today like Israel was to Paul?

“Maybe our family and relatives who are our extended family.” “Maybe the ethnic group from which we come.” Matthew 9:37-38—How does this differ from praying for non-Christians? “This is praying for an increasing number of Christians who know how to share the salvation message and know how to help a new Christian grow.” “Some will become pastors or missionaries.” “Most will have regular jobs and attend a good local church.” “These are people who can reach out to the non-Christians around them.”

This illustration communicates the essentials for a vibrant Christian life that touches the lives of others. It shows what a balanced Christian life looks like.

As you know, the group has read and marked this material in preparation for this class. Ask someone to read the short paragraph under the large wheel on page 49. Briefly summarize the three main dimensions to The Wheel with their two subparts. This leads you to page 50.

Ask the group: “What are some of the highlights that you see under “The Volitional Dimension (Your Relationship to Your Will)” (page 50)?

Ask the same question for the next section “The Vertical Dimension (Your Relationship to God)”—page 51. Then ask for highlights from “The Horizontal Dimension (Your Relationship to Others)”—page 52 It is valuable to have each of the Scripture verses read aloud at what seems to you as an appropriate time.

Next, let the group analyze “The Composite.” You might ask: “What are some of the implications of “The Composite.” What do you see there?” Several will comment. You might share a thought or two, but be careful that they do most of the talking. (Another way is that they share first and you fill in what you think they have left out.)

Say something like, “On page 7, let’s look at the page called “My Completion Record.” Here you sign each other off for the various assignments as you complete them. Your group members will find it encouraging and motivational to see a growing number of things signed off.

Here are two important standards to maintain for people signing off one another on the Completion Record:

• Husbands and wives should not sign each other off. (I jokingly say that “it sometimes leads to divorce or murder.” Keep it light but commit to this.

• There should be a one-week break between signing off their last Beginning With Christ memory verse and signing off “Quoted all BWC verses at one sitting.” We maintain our standards but do not want to come across as harsh or unreasonable. Lead through affirmation for work done well. Rejoice with those who rejoice (Romans 12:15) as they complete their assignments along the way.

Ask someone to read this assignment. Ask for questions or comments about the assignment.

Pray or have someone close the session in prayer.

This session may have the most material to cover of any of the eleven sessions in book 1. But it is excellent content that groups love to discuss. This means that, as the leader, you want to keep things moving right along without it feeling like you are rushing.

Pray or ask someone in the group to pray for God’s blessing on this time together.

Ask the students to break up into review groups as usual and quote the three verses. After their review work, you might ask who was able to say all three verses word perfectly. Be sure to commend everyone for their good work.

Then express your excitement about this session. You might say something like “This is going to be one of the most helpful and exciting times we will have during this course, and I believe you will find it interesting.”

You might open with a statement something like this: “What are some of the interesting things you’ve been reading this week that you’d like to share with the rest of us?”

At the end of the sharing, the group might briefly answer these questions: “What Bible books have you found particularly interesting to read?” “How is Bible reading and marking encouraging you?”

This is an exciting training segment—one you can look forward to and facilitate with enthusiasm. Up to this point, your people have simply been reading The Scriptures. In a way, they have been having half a quiet time. Though you may have never used the term “quiet time,” the course attempts to help individuals learn how to have a successful quiet time. In this session you add the other half of the quiet time: prayer.

Ask whoever is next in the circle to read the quotation in the “Think About” box. You or others in the group may or may not have a comment about the quote. You don’t need to promote a discussion on this. Take what they give you in comments.

Your group has answered questions 1a, 1b, 1c, 4 and 5. Go around the circle with each person sharing how he or she answered one of the first three questions. You or others may make brief comments as you move through 1a, 1b and 1c.

Then ask the next person in the circle to read the 1d question. Explain what they write in on the two blank spaces on 1d: “They talk to me as I listen and I talk to them as they listen.” This is a more profound statement than it appears on the surface. The implications are huge!

At this point you may say something like: “So in having true fellowship with God, He speaks to us as we are reading in The Scriptures—these are His words to us for that day. Then as we pray to God and respond back to Him through prayer, fellowship has happened. If one person does all the talking and the other does all the listening, that is not true fellowship. It is a lecture. If we do all the talking in prayer, and God does all the listening, that is not true fellowship. Nor is it quality fellowship if God does all the talking and we only listen.

Occasionally someone in a group suggests that God speaks to us in prayer as well as from The Scriptures. Ordinarily you would reply something like this: “Thank you for that comment. That is a good point. It is true that God impresses us occasionally with a certain thought while we are praying. Perhaps we could say that the primary way God speaks to us is through The Scriptures. The ability to sense God “speaking” to us when we are praying or silent comes with spiritual maturity and is a result of obedience to God (John 14:21).

“When you and I help a new Christian establish fellowship with God, we put the focus on spending consistent time in The Scriptures. The Scriptures reveal God’s mind, and it is important for the young Christian to have God speak to him or her in this way. And, of course, we never outgrow the need to have God speak to us through Scripture. So, we could say that God’s primary and most consistent means of speaking with men and women is through His Word.” (Most of the time you won’t need this thorough an explanation, but it’s here to help you if you need it sometime.)

Ask the next person in the circle to read the short paragraph preceding number 2, and then the next person reads number 2—about poor communication with God.

In the blank spaces in number 2, ask them to write in “Word” on the left side and “Prayer” on the right side. Then the next person reads the paragraph at the top of page 57.

In number 3 you ask them to write “Word” on the left, “Respond” on the top right and “Other Prayer” on the bottom right.

They continue to take turns reading through number 4, the next person answers 4a. There may be some discussion. The next person answers 4b, and there may be further discussion.

They have read number 5. If time is slipping away, just ask for some of the things they thought were highlights in that section. The goal is for them to gain a biblical sense of how The Trinity is involved in prayer.

There are enough printed copies of My Reading Highlights to last for the rest of Growing Strong in God’s Family and a few weeks beyond (see pages 123-152). Everyone needs to look at one of those My Reading Highlights pages as the group reads around the circle.

Ask them to read aloud through “How to Use My Reading Highlights” (pages 59-60). You want them to locate the various sections on the My Reading Highlights—for example, “translation,” “year,” “date,” and so on. They can keep one hand on a copy of My Reading Highlights and the other hand on pages 59-60. The small square by each day is used to keep track of scripture memory review in order to complete “Reviewed all BWC verses for seven Consecutive Days” (see My Completion Record, page 7).

Ask for questions or comments about how to use the My Reading Highlights before going into “Why Use My Reading Highlights” (page 60). In addition to providing a transition, this clears up any questions before going on to new material.

Have them continue to read around the circle through “Why Use My Reading Highlights.” You might say something like: “These are some excellent reasons for using My Reading Highlights. Here on pages 60 and 61 we see benefits experienced in the lives of other people involved in this course, and we can expect to derive some of these same benefits as we use My Reading Highlights.”

Start out with a brief discussion of the “Think About” question. Have someone read the question aloud. Several usually respond.

Ask someone to read the next paragraph. Then continue on through the lesson—with each person reading and answering a question when it is their turn. (As a part of your preparation, you want to continue to glance over pages 1-12 in this leader guide).

Below are additional discussion questions. Just use a few of them. Typical answers you might expect people in your group to give are included below each question.

Additional Discussion Questions for “The Word”:

Question 1
Nehemiah 9:13-14; 2 Samuel 23:1-3a; Jeremiah 1: 6-9 – What makes the Bible unique when compared to other religious books?

“God dealt directly with many of those who wrote Scripture.” “Some passages God dictated directly.” “For much of Scripture the Holy Spirit led men to write what God wanted said—using their own vocabularies.” “Look at the last line on page 64.” “Other religious books were written by people, and they sound like it.”

Question 2
What are some ways we demonstrate our confidence in the reliability of Scripture?

“I stake my eternal destiny on Scripture.” “I apply its principles to make my marriage work.” “It reveals God to me—It lets me ‘see’ Him.”

Question 3a
Mark 7:6-9 – What are examples of “tradition” to which some people give undue authority?

“Praying to Mary.” “Praying to saints.” “Following The Ten Commandments is the way to get to heaven.” “That when we die we will be angels playing harps.”

Question 4a
2 Timothy 3:16 – Give an example of how God used His Word in your life in one of these four ways.

“I didn’t know how to pray. Scripture taught me how.” “After I said things that were ‘white lies’ I read verses that showed me not to do that again.”

Question 7
Ezra 7:10 – Which of the things Ezra did do you think is hardest to do?

“Apply teachings.” “But it’s hard to teach unless people are eager to learn.”

Remember at some point to have everyone open to the overview of all the books in the Bible, page 64. Point out the categories and organization of both the Old Testament and the New Testament. This is a great page!

Ask for someone to volunteer to read the assignment. Answer any questions about the assignment.

Pray or have someone close in prayer.

Pray or ask someone in the group to pray for God’s blessing on this time together.

Your people break into verse review groups and quote the four passages. Encourage them to keep their verses sharp through daily review. As they learn more verses they may tend to neglect review. Share some of your own struggles and victories with scripture memory.

At some point suggest to your group that when recording the “Best Thing I Marked Today” it is quicker and simpler to write down the exact quotation from the verse. This eliminates the extra step of having to paraphrase. Some people, however, will elect to paraphrase the main “thought” of the passage or verse which is acceptable.

As you start you might say something like: “For this session we want to do our usual sharing from what we’ve been reading. You may either share directly from what you marked in your Bibles, or you may wish to read one or two entries from My Reading Highlights. As we progress in the course we will get to the point where we only share from what we have actually written down on My Reading Highlights, but for now that doesn’t matter. Whichever way you prefer to share tonight is fine. Take a couple minutes to look over your My Reading Highlights to decide what you want to share.” A pause—then, “Who would like to go first?”

In this session especially commend those who share from My Reading Highlights. You might say something like “That’s really terrific” or “You have recorded something that is very meaningful” or “Thank you for sharing those thoughts.”

The Hand Illustration is an expansion of The Word spoke in The Wheel Illustration. The Word spoke is the foundational spoke. The Hand Illustration provides more insight into how we can make the Word of God an integral part of our Christian life.

Your group has not been assigned to read or study The Hand Illustration. You are going to walk them through it as various ones read segments of the text aloud. As you start this section, tell them that they are welcome to make any comments they would like as each of the five items and verses are read. For some of the five, no one will comment. As you will experience, groups vary in how talkative they are.

Ask, “Would someone please read the two definitions: 1a and 1b?” After they are read: “Now who would read the quotation by E.M. Bounds.” (Of course, “thank you” to each reader).

They have done this section as part of their homework assignment

Ask what they thought of the comments under number 2. Then continue around the circle reading and giving their answers to the eight verses under 2a and 2b. Each person can share what he or she wrote down for the verse when it is their turn. Do this for all eight verse references. They don’t need to turn to the Bible and read the verse before answering.

To finish that section, have someone read the Brother Lawrence quotation. You might ask the group how they think what Brother Lawrence said would work practically—have a brief discussion—just a few comments.

The purpose of this material is to clarify the spiritual benefits gained from Bible reading and Bible study and to understand their differences. They have already read and marked this section as part of their assignment for Session 6.

To start the discussion, ask someone to read the title and opening paragraph.

Then ask the individuals in the group (as you continue around the circle) to summarize each of the sections, one at a time: Under 1. Bible Reading: “A. Quiet time reading—the mindset,” “the pattern,” and “the goals.” Then, let them summarize “B. Reading Plans—more time, less personal.” Then ask the group to summarize “C. Having Both a Quiet Time and a Reading Plan” and then do the same with 2. Bible Study (pages 73-74).

Have someone read the assignment aloud. Remind them that we are all bringing our Reading Highlights to class next time.

Pray or ask two or three to pray—especially praying about things that became major topics of discussion during this session.

Pray or ask someone to pray. A prayer request may have come up as people were chatting before the meeting started—that could be prayed for as well.

Have them review together as usual and see how much they can get signed off on the My Completion Record. Say something like: “Let’s break right into our verse review groups. See how many things we can get signed on My Completion Record. Then we will come back together.” (This can take from 5-20 minutes.)

First, give them two or three minutes to look over their recent entries on their My Reading Highlights. Make a very brief comment after each person shares. You acknowledge them by saying things like: “Thanks,” “OK,” “Thank you—someone else?” or “Thank you for that insight.” You are acknowledging them, not evaluating them, so you would rarely use evaluation terms like “good” or “excellent.”

You are expecting each one in the group to share one entry from My Reading Highlights. Don’t rush, but do keep things moving. Welcome silence. Silence allows people time to decide what they want to say.

You allow them to share just from their Bibles. But, you prefer for them to share what they actually wrote down on My Reading Highlights. Even if they have something written on My Reading Highlights, they may tend to adlib their sharing rather than reading directly from what they have written. You can set the example by going first.

In this session or the next you may agree together that you will only share from what is actually written down on My Reading Highlights. Don’t present the idea in a legalistic way. You will find that they respond to such a simple but important challenge. (You get to know your group. Each group you lead has a unique mix of personalities).

Start the “Christ the Center” Bible study discussion by having someone read the opening statement and paragraph above the box.

Ask several to give an answer to the “Think About” question. Allow time for several responses. Then, continue through the Bible study discussion in any way you choose to lead it. You may want to glance over pages 9-12 in this leader guide as you decide how you want to lead the study.

Ask someone to read the assignment for Session 8.

Pray or ask two or three to pray and you pray last.

Pray or ask someone in the group to pray. Ask for a volunteer or call on someone.

Remind them that there are only three more sessions left to get their My Completion Record all signed off. As they get together to quote the five memory passages they can get other items initialed as well.

This brief review time is another opportunity for everyone to quote all five of their verses. Several will have memorized the optional outreach verse, John 5:24. Encourage them and in a positive way challenge them to keep reviewing all of these verses every day. (You need to be doing the same. Continue to be an example and pacesetter for them).

When you are back together, ask how many were able to quote all five passages without a mistake. Were some able to quote all six verses? Look for opportunities to give affirmation.

Ask how near some of them are to having all their course requirements signed off on the My Completion Record. Encourage those who are a little behind to get caught up by the next session if possible.

Follow the same procedure as the past several weeks. Keep the sharing moving, and praise those who share directly from My Reading Highlights.

Are you reminding them of the need to do seven consecutive verse reviews and seven consecutive My Reading Highlights entries before the end of the course?

Are you making plans to check five My Reading Highlights for each person over the next two or three weeks? (See page 7 under “Leader’s Check).” You simply read five My Reading Highlights entries for each person. At each class Sessions 9-11, some leaders check entries for two or three people. Often this gets everyone signed off under “Leader’s Check” by the end of Session 11. Other group leaders look through individual My Reading Highlights that have been photocopied or scanned and emailed. That way you can hand them your written comments or email your suggestions. You may still look through some My Reading Highlights at your meetings, but this second approach allows a closer, unhurried look. What do you look for?

– Does their “how it impressed me” follow logically from the biblical “thought” they wrote down? Did they understand what the verse said?

– Are they making practical, personal application in “how it impressed me” or are their entries vague or theoretical?

– Is there variety in what impresses them or are they on one track like doctrinal, self-condemnation, rules and regulations, moral liberty, or questions about what they don’t understand.

You look for patterns. Find things you can compliment. What they write may show a weakness or a problem. This may not be the time to bring them up for discussion. Commend them for everything they do well. Perhaps give an example of how they could have made a better personal application (i.e. “How it impressed me”) from one of their “thought” verses. Give both suggestions and affirmation. An application should be an incremental step, not something huge.

You might say something like: “We would like to take a few minutes to give you each an opportunity to express some of your reactions to what you’ve been learning and doing in this course. We are approaching the end of Book 1. Please share with us what has most impressed, helped, or challenged you during these meetings together. Feel free to share more than once.”

The purpose of this exercise is to help the students realize the benefits they have received. You will find it encouraging and motivational for them. Don’t hurry. Since there is no Bible study this week, there is adequate time.

Have your people read around the circle aloud—each taking a paragraph or two. At this point they feel comfortable enough to decide how much to read. One of your goals over the weeks is to make the group less and less leader-dependent.

Ask the people to make comments and observations as you go through each of the three evangelism sections. If they ask questions, direct each question to the group and get their answers before you give your input. You are not the expert. You are the facilitator.

Remind them that they can jot notes under the two number 4’s during this discussion.

Have someone read aloud the short opening paragraph. Discuss the answers to “The Wheel” and “The Hand” separately. Have them hold up their hand on “the strongest” as you mention each of the six parts of the wheel. Then do the same with “the weakest.” Then let a few people comment on what they wrote on number 3. Follow the same approach with “The Hand.” People love to talk about these things.

As you know, they studied this section as part of their homework. Mention that we want to read this section aloud, make comments or observations as we go through, and then experience a few minutes of conversational prayer together.

Have someone read the assignment for Session 9.

Emphasize the importance of prayerfully and thoughtfully completing the “Evangelism Prayer List.” Be aware that Satan may oppose the completion of these lists, and that it is not uncommon for people to procrastinate doing this and then rushing through it.

You want to prepare ahead of time to lead this prayer segment effectively. Decide on two or three topics for which you will ask the group to pray conversationally.

A few topics other groups have used are: praise, thanksgiving, forgiveness, personal pressures or concerns, needs of the church, needs of others outside the group, and opportunities for sharing the gospel.

Make it clear what your topics are and the order in which you pray on those topics. Clarify that you will participate in the conversational prayer with them — that you might pray once or twice during the prayer time and that you will also pray last to close off the prayer time. Then ask someone to lead off on the first topic.

(As needed you can give verbal guidance during the prayer time while all heads are bowed—like saying “Will someone pray about ______ before we go on to the next topic?” And at some point saying, “Let’s go on to the second topic: ________”).

Pray or ask someone in the group to pray. Ask for a volunteer or call on someone.

By now everyone should have the memory requirements completed and initialed on their My Completion Record. They are now quoting verses they know and deepening their confidence in saying them aloud.

By now your sharing together from the Word of God should be very meaningful and personal. The sharing times will help draw the group together in an atmosphere of rich fellowship, care, and concern for one another. In most sessions you want to be one of those who shares from My Reading Highlights.

Each week continue to briefly review “How to Make the Bible Study Discussions Effective” on pages 9-12 in this leader guide.

Have someone read the opening paragraph and quotation by John Stott.

Read the “Think About” question aloud:

Ask how some of them answered. Thank or acknowledge each answer verbally or with eye contact and a “yes” nod. Remember there is no “right” answer to any of the “Think About” questions. “Think About” questions get minds moving into the subject at hand, and they help stimulate discussion.

Continue the approach of reading and answering Bible study questions around the circle. Various ones in the group will comment on some of the answers, and you continue as a participant as well as the facilitator of the group.

Apply the principle of “Get several answers”—see page 10 in this leader guide. Continue on through the Bible study discussion on “Obedience.”

Ask them to get out the 3 x 5 card on which they have recorded their Evangelism Prayer List.

Below are some questions you could ask to stimulate discussion and assist your people to learn from one another on this assignment. Don’t use all the questions. (You know the people in your group and how they think). The questions you choose to ask should be directed to the group, not to individuals in the group—then several individuals will answer.

a. How much did you pray and for what did you pray before you actually wrote out your list?

b. From where do most of your names come? Work? Neighbors? Elsewhere?

c. How difficult was it for you to come up with 5-10 names of non-Christian acquaintances?

d. About how many non-Christian contacts do you have who are already close friends?

e. What pattern do you see in the type of person to whom you tend to gravitate?

f. What else did you learn or observe in your experience of making up this prayer list?

Encourage them to carry the Evangelism Prayer List as a bookmark in the Bible they use for quiet time reading. You want people in your group to do two things as a result of these three discussions on the Evangelism Prayer List.

– You want them to identify and list their friendliest non-Christian contacts.

– You want them to begin praying for these people.

People who go on in The 2:7 Series receive further training and do exercises to sharpen their evangelism effectiveness. Books 2 and 3 in The 2:7 Series build on what is learned and experienced in Book 1. Only God can open hearts to the gospel message. Reinforce the importance for each of us to consistently pray for individuals we want to see come to Christ.

Have someone in the group read the assignment. Ask if there are any questions about the assignment. Briefly answer questions.

Have a brief time of conversational prayer on from one to three topics. Plan the topics in advance or ask the group for options and you choose from their topics.

You might ask one person to begin the prayer time on the first topic. This can become a highlight of every session as the students become comfortable praying conversationally.

Pray or ask someone in the group to pray. Ask for a volunteer or call on someone.

This gives them another chance to review all their learned memory verses. Each time they do this, the verses become sharper and the content and meaning have a greater opportunity to impact their thinking and lifestyle.

While in these small groups they want to get some of their final items initialed on their My Completion Record.

Go ahead and share first. Though they are sharing at random and not going around the circle in order, be aware of who hasn’t yet shared. You would like to see everyone share at least once. You may need to call on one or two quiet ones.

Have someone read the opening quotation by John Stott. Then briefly interact on the “Think About” question.

Continue on through the Bible study discussion, “Fellowship.”

Additional discussion questions (“understanding questions”) are provided for you in Sessions 3-5, 10, and 11. Answers you might expect people in your group to give are included below each question.

Ask an additional question to the group, not to one person, and only after one or more have answered the question being discussed. You don’t want the “understanding questions” to become a whole new expanded study. Here are your additional questions for this study.

Additional Discussion Questions for “Fellowship”:

Question 2
Why is sharing so crucial to both the individual Christian and the group? “What we express verbally becomes clearer to us.”

“We learn from one another’s answers.” “What we hear from others stimulates our thinking.” “We gain further understanding right on the spot.”

Question 4
Proverbs 27:17—How do you feel we sharpen one another as Christians?

“From others we can pick up attitudes and insights that motivate us.” “We may see inside someone’s life in a way that makes us want to be better or more like them.” “We can hear mistakes others have made and resolve to not to make the same mistake.”

Ecclesiastes 4:9-10—What are some examples of two being better than one?

“Some heavy things can be lifted by two people, but not my one.” “A team can do more than an individual.” “It’s called synergy.” “Team teaching is often an excellent way to run a seminar or class.” “Two parents can contribute a balance in a marriage or family.”

Question 10
Ephesians 4:11-13—What percentage of the ministry should be done by “professional” Christians? What percentage by lay people?

“The ideal would be for lay people to do 90% of Christian ministry, and for ‘professionals’ to do the other 10%.” “I think 20% professionals and 80% lay people is a good immediate goal for our church.”

Question 11
James 5:16—How do you think confession to another Christian affects spiritual healing?

“If I admit my problem to another Christian, then I am not carrying it alone.” “A big part of healing is admitting my need—like at alcoholics anonymous each person says, ‘hi, my name is _____, and I am an alcoholic.’” “Galatians 6: 1-2 is a good passage on this.”

Have someone read the assignment for Session 11.

Choose one or two topics on which the group can invest prayers.

Pray or ask someone in the group to pray. Ask for a volunteer or call on someone.

They will also get some final things initialed and dated on My Completion Record.

Let them share at random. They read directly from My Reading Highlights. Some may want to share more than once.

On each person’s My Completion Record you sign off “Graduated from Growing Strong in God’s Family”—assuming that everything else has been initialed. You can do this now, at the end of this class session, or when you see students over the next week or two. This opens the door for them to go on into the excellent training in Book 2, “Deepening Your Roots in God’s Family.”

Part 1 – As a participant as well as group leader, you will have completed this assignment as the others have. Take your turn in the sharing around the circle. Don’t skip yourself, but don’t lecture, just participate.

Go around the circle and have each person share one of their entries under Part 1.

If the first person says something about helping to meditate on Scripture, you might ask if anyone else had that reason—and how did they word their entry? You continue on to the next person who shares a reason he or she has listed. Ask if others wrote down that same idea.

By the time you go around the second time there will be some people who have run out of things to contribute. Allow them to pass and go on to the next person. When it gets down to one or two who still have something left to share, have one of them share whatever he or she has left. Do the same with the other person. Do not rush the sharing. Before the discussion, remind the people in your group to list on page 99 additional reasons they hear from others. This gives everyone an expanded list of reasons for memorizing Scripture.

After the people in the group have accumulated their lists of reasons, you may want to complete the segment by saying something like: “I am sure that you are convinced there are some fantastic reasons for hiding God’s Word in our hearts. Scripture memory can give us some great benefits. It can help us grow spiritually. It can help equip us to minister to others.”

Part 2 – Have someone read question 2a on page 100.

Everyone in the group will have written an answer or two under 2a before coming to class. Now that they have heard all the reasons given during the discussion of Part 1, they may want to write an additional reason or two. It usually takes only two or three minutes. Then, go around the circle and have each person share their answer to 2a (the benefits that most motivate them). Take your turn when the sharing gets around the circle to you.

Cover 2b by asking the group what things they think keep someone from being successful at scripture memory. To close this off, go around the circle and have each person share one main thing that could most hinder him or her from doing well in scripture memory.

Everyone who continues into Book 2 in The 2:7 Series will do more valuable scripture memory. The work done on this page helps motivate them for the future and clarifies what it takes to succeed for a lifetime of memorizing key Scripture passages.

This is often the session when, as the group leader, you will initial the last two items on nearly everyone’s My Completion Record. You may have already signed off a few people.

Have someone read the quotation by Paul Little.

Discuss the “Think About” question. It is a fun and interesting question.

Continue on through the “Witness” Bible study discussion. This is an excellent time to hear some of their experiences in using the Evangelism Prayer List and their interaction with non-Christian friends.

Here are your additional questions for this Bible study.

Additional Discussion Questions for “Witness”:

Question 1
Matthew 4:19—What are some of the things involved in following Christ?

“Confessing and forsaking sins.” “Obeying what The Scriptures say.” “Spending time in the Bible and in prayer.” “Going where He leads me.”

Question 6
Acts 20:24—What do you think developed this attitude in Paul?

“His own life had been radically changed by Christ.” “His experience in seeing other people come to salvation through Christ.” “His commitment to The Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20.”

Question 6
Acts 20:24—What, if anything, in this attitude do you consider extreme and what do you consider normal?

“This should be the normal attitude for people who are in full-time Christian ministry. But most of us can’t give all of our time to evangelism and discipleship.” “All Christians should have the same attitude.”

Question 7
Romans 10:13-15—What do you feel tends to be the weakest and strongest links in this chain?

“Someone being there to share the message of salvation.” – “Someone being there but they don’t share the message.”

Have this section read aloud and briefly discuss its contents as you go through. These are very important pages! They commend the students for the things they have accomplished during this course.

Underscore the value of continuing on in The 2:7 Series. Completing Books 1, 2, and 3 can revolutionize their lives and their impact on the world around them. We don’t want to push them. We simply want them to understand the benefits of continuing on in The 2:7 Series, at least for one more book.

Ask what things they suggest should be covered in this brief time of prayer. Agree on a couple of topics and let people pray as they feel led. You can close the prayer time or while heads are still bowed, ask someone (by name) to close in prayer.

The 2:7 Series
What the Holy Spirit expresses through Paul in Colossians 2:7 clearly defines what The 2:7 Series is designed to help accomplish in the lives of those who go through this discipleship training.

1. For Christians to be built up in Christ and established in their faith. This series of courses includes instruction in practical Bible study techniques, scripture memory skills, strengthening the devotional life, and how to be more effective in evangelism.
2. For Christians to learn to overflow with gratitude in their everyday lives. The series helps people learn to experience and enjoy a stable, consistent walk with Christ.
3. For Christians to be instructed. This implies that training must take place before individuals develop into the kind of Christian lay people whose lives will have an impact on their communities.

Important

1. Leader Guide
It is important for one person to act as the leader during each group meeting. This may be the same person each time or the responsibility may be shared by two or three group members (preferably those who previously have gone through the course themselves).
This leader guide is based on extensive use of Deepening Your Roots in God’s Family and the other two books in The 2:7 Series. It is imperative for the group leader to use this leader guide material every week as part of his or her careful preparation. The leader guide is filled with proven principles, methods, and suggestions. Using it can significantly lighten the preparation load for a group leader.

2. Leader Training
Free, excellent 2:7 group leader training is available online. You can access the 17-lesson training course at The 2:7 Series website: www.nav27series.org. You might look to see if that online training would be valuable to you now or in the future.

Group Size
The professionals in the field of small group discussions say that 4-8 people make for the best discussions. For this course, plan for up to 10 participants in your group—not including yourself. You may find it necessary to have more. Remember that each person over 10 reduces valuable group interaction. It is wiser to break a group of 12 or more into two groups whenever possible. Your only limitation may be the number of qualified group leaders available.

Study Books
It is imperative for each person in your group to have his or her own copy of Deepening Your Roots in God’s Family. People should write their name or apply an address label at the top of page 3 or page 1.

Each person is expected to do homework every week. It is motivational for individuals to complete their own work and fill in their own answers. By the end of the course, Deepening Your Roots in God’s Family will be a valued possession and personal reference book for years to come. With this in mind, suggest that the members of your group make neat and legible entries as they go through the course.

The suggestions in this leader guide will help you effectively lead your group in Deepening Your Roots in God’s Family. You want to refer to these suggestions often as you lead your group through Book 2.

Seeing Lives Strengthened and Deepened
During Books 2 and 3 your group members will experience:

1. Solid spiritual growth through consistency in quiet time, Bible study, and scripture memory.
2. Foundational ministry training through study, discussion, and individual field assignments.

This leader guide is not the final authority on how to lead your group. Each leader and each group is unique. But the information included here offers you valuable help!

Remember that The 2:7 Series is only a means to an end. These are excellent and proven materials. However, printed materials and programs do not produce disciples. Only a disciple can make a disciple. It is imperative that you practice what you teach. As you know, only as the Spirit of God uses the Word of God (the Bible) in a life can there be significant and lasting transformation.

These concepts should guide your thinking as you help each member of your group grow and deepen in his or her spiritual maturity in Christ. You may also see your own spiritual life and ministry skills take on new dimensions as you facilitate this discipleship training.

Goals as Group Leader
You have two long-range goals when helping people become functioning disciples:

1. To help each person become a more mature disciple of Jesus Christ
2. To equip each person with tools and know-how for winning and training others.

Your leadership gives each person in your group the opportunity to develop the qualities, habits, and disciplines that will mark him or her as a man or woman of God. They are growing in their relationships both with God and with other people.

Members of your group will find themselves sharing things with people outside of your group—things they are learning and experiencing in this discipleship training.

Evaluating Your Leadership
The following questions for evaluating leadership are for your own personal reflection. In your group look for answers to some of these questions, but you don’t want to insert discussions about these topics on top of the assignments in the Deepening Your Roots in God’s Family workbook.

Who?
Who am I serving? Who are the people in my group? Do I really know them?

What?
What are my goals for Deepening Your Roots in God’s Family, and what are my goals for each session? What needs and expectations do my group members have?

Where?
Where am I in my own Christian life? Where am I taking this group?

Why?
Why am I leading this group? Why is each person in my group?

When?
When will we reach our goals? When will I spend time socially with members of my group?

How?
How do we achieve our goals?

Getting Organized

1. When will your group meet? Since you need an hour and a half for each session in the Deepening Your Roots in God’s Family study, the Sunday school hour is usually not long enough to schedule The 2:7 Series training. When should you meet? Your final decision may involve some sacrifice on your part—you may have to give up a night or an afternoon each week that you wanted to save for yourself. But, you’ve decided to serve this group, so find out what time is best for your group.
Consider such things as the types of jobs your group members have. For example, those with construction jobs or other outside work may prefer not to meet in the early evening. But people who commute to work early in the morning may not want to be out late at night. Couples with young children may have days or times that are easiest for them to find childcare. Assess your group’s needs and encourage each member to be willing to compromise some if necessary.

2. Where will you meet—at church, in your home, in the homes of other group members, or somewhere else? You may find that a rotating system is best, in which you take turns going to each other’s homes. This allows everyone to share the responsibility for hosting the group, and it also divides the driving time.
Whatever you decide, try to find comfortable surroundings that encourage group involvement. Your eight to ten people need room to interact in a relaxed way. You want to sit in a circle or oval so you can see each other and talk easily with one another. There are times when the group divides briefly into twos or threes.

3. What about refreshments? Let the group decide how much effort, if any, they want to give to this. Preparing refreshments shouldn’t become a burden to anyone. If you have refreshments, keep them simple.

4. The presence of children during the meeting can be a distraction. What arrangements do your group members need to make for childcare?

5. Should you plan for informal socializing before the scheduled meeting time, with the group arriving early for this? Or would they prefer to begin the session when they arrive, and use the time afterward for refreshments and talking? Discuss this and set a policy that will help them plan when to arrive and how long to stay.

Handling Potential Problems
Your group may face a few of the problems listed here. By considering them in advance, you are better able to deal with them if they occur.

• Frequent absences
• Frequent tardiness
• Lack of preparation
• Lack of motivation
• Difficulties in relating to each other or to you
• Members who drop out
• Varying degrees of expectations and interest
• Members who seem to monopolize the group’s time
• Considerations that require changing your regular meeting time
• Couples in which the husband and wife seem to be going different directions in their interests and expectations
• Members who are experiencing “dry” periods in their spiritual lives

Difficulties such as these will not simply go away. You can deal with them in an attitude of love and concern. Here are several suggestions:

1. Talk alone with the persons involved. Share with them your concern and your desire for their success.
2. Establish a satisfactory agreement with the persons involved or with the group as a whole. This makes them accountable to one another.
3. Share some concerns with the entire group. Point out your goals for this discipleship training and your wanting them to pursue those goals. You can do this in a positive, encouraging way.
4. Give occasional “locker room chats”—as a coach would with his or her team—you remind, challenge, encourage, and sometimes correct—briefly and in a positive way.
5. Feel free to talk seriously about relevant biblical principles that deal with problems you face with your group.
6. Seek outside help from your pastor or from other mature Christians when necessary.

Getting Together

1. Start and end on time. Most people appreciate punctuality. Don’t allow the time to get away from you at the end. You want the group to be eager to return next week.
2. Try to involve each group member in the discussions.
3. Avoid embarrassing anyone. Some may feel uncomfortable at first in such activities as reading aloud, praying aloud or group discussions.
4. You are group leader, but also a group member. Participate in all the group activities. New group members especially needs to see your example.
5. Be sure any instructions you give are clearly understood.
6. Be yourself. Use the suggestions in the leader guide for each session, but don’t be mechanical about it.
7. Come prepared. The others will be discouraged if you do not seem to know what you are doing, especially after they have taken time themselves to prepare.
8. Have your goals clearly in mind for each session.

Between Meetings

Your commitment to the group includes more than just the giving of your time during the group session itself. Accomplishing your goal of developing disciples requires additional activities on your part.

1. Establish a genuine friendship with those in your group. If possible get to know them outside of your time in the group. Strong friendships make your group sessions more productive. During Deepening Your Roots in God’s Family have one or two social activities as a group—like a simple potluck before one of your sessions. Have fun together.
2. Pray regularly for each person in your group. Ask them to pray for one another.
3. Keep growing as a Christian? Effective spiritual leaders are continuing to grow in their own lives.
4. Follow your priorities. Keep your personal relationship with God and your responsibilities to your family in order as you have a discipleship ministry to others.

Reading and Marking Assignments
In many of the assignments we ask 2:7 participants to read and mark certain sections of the material. An example is Relationship Evangelism on pages 26-33. The benefit for them and for the group is that when those pages are discussed, each student can see what he or she has marked and can quickly come up with things to share in the group—not having to nervously search through those several pages. From time to time remind your students of the value of marking as they read. It makes it easier for them to prepare to participate.

Read Around the Circle
In many of the 2:7 sessions individuals are asked to read aloud from their books. In Session 1 you say something like, “On page 11, let’s read through some of this important information. Let’s start with Andy and go to the left. Andy, would you read the first paragraph and the titles A through E?” After Andy reads, you say “thank you.” Then: “Susan, would you read those next two short paragraphs? After each one reads, just say “thank you” and make eye contact with the next reader—often eye contact is enough and you don’t have to say anything.

Experience has shown that “reading around the circle” is a simple, efficient way to get things read aloud. It takes a load off of you, the facilitator, and the group grows in its ability to self-manage these reading sections.

Group-Participant-centered, Not Leader-centered
In The 2:7 Series you lead as a facilitator, not a teacher. Let the material carry the load. You don’t have to manage and direct—you facilitate. You want to hear their voices most of the time, not your voice. You sit as part of the circle and participate as one of the group. When the group is reading aloud around the circle, take your turn. But as leader you may want to underscore things that are important or clarify things that are not understood. Many questions you are asked can be directed back to the group. Other questions you may choose to answer outright—and move on.

Prepare your lesson as a participant in the group.  Then prepare your lesson as group leader. Have in mind the sections where you discuss material they have read and marked—you want to discuss one segment at a time. Have in mind the pages where they read aloud around the circle. In some Bible studies you can use a follow-up question or two that you ask after someone gives an answer to one of the questions in the book.

In Deepening Your Roots in God’s Family you are building on the training your people received in Growing Strong in God’s Family. Their capacities have increased since they started Book 1. Here in Book 2 they meet new challenges that may stretch them a bit. Many who go through this training say that it was easier to complete the assignments in Book 2 than it was in Book 1. Working on developing their salvation testimony (“My story”) is often the highlight of this training. They are encouraged by new insights about themselves and their spiritual journey. As with Book 1, people are impacted only to the degree that the Holy Spirit works in and through the materials, the Word of God, and the influence people in the group among themselves.

Goals for Deepening Your Roots in God’s Family
Discipleship is both life and ministry. It is what we are and what we do. There are two general objectives for Book 2: (1) to continue to develop those in your group in their relationship with Christ—so that each individual has a more consistent and closer walk with the Lord; (2) to increase their perspective and skills regarding relationship evangelism. During Book 2 you want to help your group members to accomplish the following:

1. To develop consistent and meaningful quiet times that include Bible reading, prayer, and writing in My Reading Highlights.
2. To memorize at least the first six verses of the Topical Memory System.
3. To review regularly the five or six verses they memorized in Book 1.
4. To study and discuss five Bible studies on keys to a vital Christian life.
5. To study and discuss the article My Heart Christ’s Home by Robert Boyd Munger.
6. To give their “My Story” in less than four minutes, using a brief written outline or bullet points.
7. To participate in one relating activity with a non-Christian acquaintance or friend.

Flowchart for Deepening Your Roots in God’s Family
This flowchart shows how various aspects of the Christian life are emphasized in Book 2, Deepening Your Roots in God’s Family.

Bible Study

• “Bible study in Book 2”—Session 1
• Completing and discussing:

“Maturing in Christ”—Session 2
“Spiritual Warfare”—Session 3
“Faith and the Truths of God”—Session 4
“Knowing God’s Will”—Session 5
“Walking as a Servant”—Session 6

Prayer

• Prayer is a regular ingredient in all eleven sessions.
• “Practical Suggestions on Prayer”—Session 1
• Choose whether to memorize one or two TMS verses on prayer—Session 5
• Study and discuss How to Spend a Day in Prayer by Lorne C. Sanny—Session 10
• Experience an extended time with God—Session 11

Scripture Memory

• The TMS in Book 2—Session 1
• “Principles for Memorizing Scripture”—Session 1
• “Scripture Memory Principles Quiz”—Session 2
• Memorizing 6-12 “Live the New Life” verses from the TMS —Sessions 2-8

Quiet Time

• Sharing from My Reading Highlights—Sessions 2-6 and 10

Evangelism and Witness

• “Suggestions for Developing Friendships with Non-Christians”—Session 6
• Several guidelines and suggestions for preparing “My Story”—Session 7
• “Lead-In to “My story” and “Ways to close “My Story”—Session 9
• Enjoy a relating activity with a non-Christian acquaintance or friend—by Session 11
• Tell “My Story” from an outline or bullet points in less than four minutes—by Session 11

Lordship

• Bible study on “Maturing in Christ”—Session 2
• Choose whether to memorize one or two verses on “Christ the Center”—Session 2
• Choose whether to memorize one or two verses on “Obedience to Christ”—Session 3
• Study and discuss “My Heart Christ’s Home” by Robert Boyd Munger—Session 9

Group Leader Resource Material
Carefully prepare, so you are effective in leading the Bible study discussions. The following material has been compiled to assist you in handling the five Bible study group discussions.

Usually each of the 11 sessions in Deepening Your Roots in God’s Family is led by the same group leader. Because of a group leader’s being sick, traveling, or some other contingency, it may become necessary for someone else from the group to take a turn leading one of the 11 sessions. The group leader for sessions 2, 3, 4, 5, 6—leads a Bible study discussion as well as facilitating the other course activities. Each time you prepare to lead, you will find it helpful to review the suggestions in this section.

Student Preparation
A key ingredient for stimulating and productive Bible study discussions is for each group member to have completed his or her Bible study before coming to class.

From time to time remind the members of the group how important it is (for you and for them) to have the Bible study done prior to the group meeting. If people come without their study completed or partially finished, don’t ignore or punish them with non-verbal looks of disapproval. Make them feel accepted and as much a part of the group as the others. It is important for those people to enjoy and benefit from the group discussion and not feel rejected or unaccepted. At the beginning of a Bible study you can assign such a person one or two questions they can be prepare and be ready to answer when you get to that part of the lesson.

Group Leader Preparation
First, prepare the Bible study for your own enlightenment and application. Ask God to speak to you and to strengthen your life through that study. You want correct, good answers without sounding academic or theoretical. If you get excited about the topic of the study and its content, you are well on your way to being an excited and animated group leader.

If you have done the study with a previous group, still review every question and answer so the content of the study is fresh in your mind.

Second, look over your questions and answers. Think of the needs and interests in your group. To which parts of the study should you give more attention? Think through and plan in advance. During the actual Bible discussion you may find it wise to adjust your original plan. Thoughtful preplanning gives you a general direction in which to move, but it still allows you some flexibility in the midst of the discussion.

The Bible Says . . .
In your group you want people sharing what the Bible teaches, not opinions and conjectures. On one hand we don’t want people to be afraid of making theological mistakes. On the other hand we don’t want people sharing opinions without a supportive passage of Scripture. Mostly, this problem can be alleviated by sticking with the verses, questions, and answers in the Bible study. Don’t let the discussion drift into tangents where you and the group members have not done your homework. Each week stick with the specific subject at hand.

Several Helpful Discussion Guidelines
1. Sit in a circle. This is the best seating arrangement. Each person has eye contact with most of the people in the group. It creates an informal and warm atmosphere. The group leader is considered more of a peer because he or she is not placed in a prominent physical location.

2. Don’t dominate. As the leader, you are both a facilitator and a participant in the group. You should not talk more than others in the group. As the facilitator you give direction and ask questions. As a participant you share your insights and study answers along with the others. Share humbly, not dogmatically.

3. Not the authority. Avoid becoming the authority figure in the group. You don’t want all the questions directed to you with the others thinking that you should be able to answer them. Direct questions back to the group. Say something like, “That is an interesting question. What thoughts might some of you have that would help us answer that question?” Sometimes you might recruit a volunteer who will take a difficult question to the pastor or an associate pastor. The volunteer can come back to the group with an answer the following week.

4. Work together. Your role as group leader is not a teaching responsibility, just as the student’ role is not to sit, listen, and take notes. You and the group members are working together to find answers and clarify issues.

5. Too talkative. You may soon find that one or two people in your group will have something to say about everything. Chat with them on the side. Say something like, “You have some great ideas. You are excellent in the discussion times. I need your help. There are others in the group who need to talk more so they can grow in confidence. Could you help me in getting some of these people to talk more? Before you talk in the group, let one or two others go first. Don’t be afraid of silence. It sometimes takes some silence before (name) and (name) will talk. Maybe you could share only your best thoughts in the group. Thank you for your help in this!”

6. Too quiet. When you direct a question to the group, give quiet people more eye contact. Sometimes ask one of your less vocal people to read a quotation or to answer a specific question. They become more confident as they talk more. Some of the content in Deepening Your Roots in God’s Family helps people participate more comfortably. Reading aloud around the circle brings quiet people out of their shell. Quoting verses and working on My Completion Record in groups of two or three each week also nurtures a growing confidence and security.

7. Acknowledge answers. Thank people when they participate. Thank them for reading a paragraph or answering a question. (Just a simple “thank you,” not even a whole sentence). This is particularly important for the quiet ones. An acknowledgment doesn’t have to be verbal. A nod of the head or eye contact with a smile communicates appreciation and approval. Others in your group often pick up your pattern of affirmation and start nodding their approval about one another’s comments.

8. Ask the group. Usually you will address your questions to the group, not to an individual. (An exception would be to ask a quiet person a specific question.) As you ask a question, let your eye contact sweep around the group. Don’t let your eyes lock on to one person.

9. Get several answers. After one person has given an answer to a Bible study question, you will usually ask for one or two other people to give their answers to the same question. This allows several people to participate on each question. It also helps insure that the answers reflect a correct handling of that particular Scripture passage. A simple question should be answered by only one or two people. A more difficult question could be answered by three or four people. Thought and application questions could be answered by half of the group or more if you wish. Have people read their answers exactly the way they have written them down. This keeps things moving. After they have read their written answer they may wish to express an additional ad lib sentence or two for clarification.

10. Application and Summary questions. In the Deepening Your Roots in God’s Family Bible studies you will find a sprinkling of application and summary questions. Have a priority in your mind as to which questions are more important for your group. You may consider some questions important enough to ask several to give their answer. For some questions you may ask every person in your group to share their answer.

This is not a comprehensive list—but these are a few examples of questions you could have everyone answer when you come to them in the discussion:

• Page 23, question 13 (some answer it with application and others with summary)
• Page 36, question 10 (summary question)
• Page 42, question 4 (some answer it with application and others with summary)
• Page 43, question 7 (application question)
• Page 55, question 2c (application question)
• Page 58, question 11 (application question)

The “Think About” Questions
You may have observed the “Think About” questions at the beginning of the Bible studies. Remind your group to give two or three minutes to the “Think About” question as they start preparing their Bible study. It gets the mind moving in the direction of where the study topic is going. Have several give their answer to the “Think About” question before you move into discussing the actual Bible study content. This moves people’s minds away from their busy day into the subject you are about to discuss.

There is no correct or “school” answer to the “Think About” questions. They are designed to stimulate thinking and to precipitate a wide range of answers.

How to Lead the Bible Study Discussion
There are five Bible studies in Book 2. In each study the ideal is to have every question answered by at least one person, but that isn’t always possible. When an answer is simple and straightforward, move right on to the next question. More complex answers may generate a longer discussion. A group sometimes shows special interest one of the questions which leads to investing more time discussing that topic. This is when you are glad you didn’t spent too much time on simpler, or less important questions.

During this course, as group leader you will probably use both of the following methods for leading discussion.

1. Question-by-question—sharing in sequence. Go around the circle and in turn have each person answer one question or sub-question. You are going through the questions in order. (You may want to review items 8 and 9 on pages 11 and 12 above.) For most groups it is wise to use this first method at least through Session 4 here in Book 2. You will find that often people new to Bible study discussion prefer this first approach because of its predictability.

As you go around the circle, also ask people to read aloud the quotations and paragraphs between questions as you come to them.

When you start the discussion, tell the group where you want them to begin in the circle and whether you want them to go to the left or to the right. Don’t always start in the same place or always go in the same direction. Share your answer or read a quotation when it is your turn.

2. Question-by-question—sharing at random. In this method do not go around the circle in sequence, but still answer the Bible study questions in order. Work on a volunteer basis. (For example, “Knowing God’s Will” (pages 48-52). You might ask, “Would someone please read the opening paragraph?” Someone says, “I will,” and reads it. Then you ask the group to interact on the “Think About” question. Then ask, “Who will answer question 1 for us please?” Someone reads question 1 and gives their answer. (One or two others may have a comment on question 1.) Continue on with question 2, then, question 3. You may have the quotations and paragraphs read in between questions as you did in the previous method.

Occasionally quieter students in the group may need to be asked something like, “John, would you answer question 7 for us please?” Then go back to the volunteer approach again. Still apply “Ask the group” and “Get several answers” (pages 11 and 12 above).

As you feel comfortable with this approach, use it in Book 2. In this leader guide for Sessions 2-6 you are given some additional Bible study discussion questions. Use them sparingly. You do not ask this type of question until after someone in the group has given an answer to the question for which you have an additional discussion question. If your group responds to these additional questions, you can choose to use them in future Bible studies.

You can effectively lead the discussions by only using these two methods—even without using the additional discussion questions. Here is a brief explanation if you wish to try out a few of the additional questions.

Remember, one of these additional questions should only be asked after a 2:7 book question has been answered. For example: Please look at question 6 on page 50. Perhaps two people give an answer to the Psalm 143:8 question. Then we can ask the question 6 additional question provided for you on page 25: “How frequently do you feel a person should pray for guidance from God?” There is not correct answer to this question, but it stimulates and promotes a deeper discussion on the issue at hand. After a brief discussion of “frequency,” continue where you left off in the lesson. Use additional questions sparingly because they can use up a great deal of time.

Preparing to Lead Book 2
Don’t neglect your own planning, even though the outlines in this guide for each group session is fairly detailed. Become familiar now with the overall thrust of the course, the goals toward which you are working, and the schedule for completing the specifics of the course.

Some things to plan for as you begin Book 2:
1. One or two members in your group may not have finished every My Completion Record item in Book 1, Growing Strong in God’s Family. All members of your group should complete that work before starting Book 2. Challenge people to finish quickly. You or someone in your group may need to help a person complete those final requirements.
2. What can you do to reinforce the use of what was learned in Book 1? Include some review times to reinforce what the group has already learned in Books 1 and 2. Occasionally discuss the Beginning with Christ verses and continue to use My Reading Highlights.

3. Encourage group members to complete the requirements soon for reviewing the Beginning with Christ verses for 14 consecutive days.

4. Book 2 introduces the personal salvation testimony (“My Story”). Be sure you are well prepared to:

a. Give your own “My Story” in 3-4 minutes.
b. Continue to remind them of the guidelines on page 65, Session 7.
c. Organize the workshop for or follow the alternative to the workshop i.e. 1-3 regular group meetings.
d. Encourage and help group members with their “My Story” preparation.
e. Constructively critique each person’s preparation and presentation of his or her “My Story.”

5. The extended time with God in Session 11 may be the most significant experience for your group during Book 2. Make sure you have studied and practiced the principles and procedures involved.

6. Since Session 11 is devoted entirely to the extended time with God, you won’t want to include time for people to sign off items on My Completion Record.

7. Remind your group that all Bible study questions and the questions on pages 91-92 (My Heart Christ’s Home) should have written answers before these items are initialed on My Completion Record.

The Format for Sessions 1-11 in Book 2:
This leader guide is organized so you can find explanations for each segment of the eleven sessions:

• The specific goal or goals you seek to attain during each session.
• Specific recommendations on how to lead each point on the session outline. (That is the outline at the beginning of every session. For example, the 10 items at the top of page 9 in Book 2. Those 10 items are covered in this leader guide on pages 14-17 below.)
• Occasional reminders designed to prompt your memory about the things you will be working on with your group

• For group members to see on My Completion Record (pages 7 and 8) what they need to finish in order to complete the Book 2 training.
• To increase group motivation for scripture memory and lay the foundation for their continued scripture memory success.
• To enhance their prayer life by introducing them to using Prayer Sheets.

Pray yourself—or ask for someone to volunteer to pray—or ask someone by name to pray. Usually keep this brief.

At least go around the circle and ask each person to answer the following questions—or any similar ice-breaker questions you may choose.
(1) What is your name?
(2) What is your occupation?
(3) What is your favorite hobby?
You may be having one or two people joining your Book 2 who were in someone else’s Book 1. If so, get everyone introduced to one another.

Before going over “Reviewing the Goals of Book 1 in The 2:7 Series,” on pages 9 and 10, briefly discuss these questions: “What did you expect when you began Growing Strong in God’s Family? In what ways do you feel you have benefited from this discipleship training? Speak positively about your group’s achievements in completing Growing Strong in God’s Family.

Turn to pages 9 and 10. Take turns reading aloud each of the goals listed there. Comment briefly on most of the eight statements. Others also may have a brief comment about some of the eight goals.

Convey a sense of excitement as you lead the group in looking over My Completion Record on pages 7-8. Instead of mentioning possible difficulties, help them anticipate the benefits that will become theirs by successfully completing these requirements. Point out that in addition to memorizing 6-12 new verses, they need to keep track of their review of the Beginning with Christ verses—so they accumulate 14 consecutive days of BWC review. Comment on the value of their new memory verses related to The Wheel Illustration.

As group members learn new verses they need to keep getting them initialed on their My Completion Record. Though husbands and wives are allowed to sign for each other in Book 2, it is still preferred for them not to. (You remember that it was not allowed in Book 1.)

The group will take two scripture memory quizzes on pages 19 and 46-47. The first is an in-class activity. The second involves taking and checking the quiz at home. In quiet times and Bible study, they follow the same procedures learned in Growing Strong in God’s Family.

Book 2 gives some attention to three facets of witnessing by helping each person in the group:
• Prepare a personal salvation testimony.
• Discuss Relationship Evangelism.
• Participate in one non-spiritual activity with a non-Christian. For now, mention only the general scope of these three requirements without going into detail.
Two exciting parts of Book 2 are My Heart Christ’s Home and How to Spend a Day in Prayer. Both are very helpful and stimulating.

Most people memorize in the same translation they did in Book 1 (if they chose well). But, some realize a different translation fits better with their church or personal situation. They may choose a translation someone in their group really likes. The translation they settle on for Book 2 should be continued into Book 3 and beyond.

Have group members read aloud page 10 up through the top of page 11. Make a brief comment after each section is read. You may ask a few in your group to give the main reason why they want to memorize Scripture. They motivate the others.

Remind them that six memory verses are required and that the other six are recommended but are optional. All twelve verses are listed on page 11.

Urge them to read and follow the Scripture Memory Guide each week. The memory suggestions help them avoid obstacles and lead them into successful and meaningful memorization and review.

Have them read aloud around the circle or as volunteers. Make a few comments during the reading. When you cover the scripture memory material on page 12, reinforce the concept that they are really giving themselves a gift if they memorize all 12 verses. They are in an ideal environment for planting verses in their minds that will benefit them for a lifetime. Hundreds (actually thousands) have found that by diligently applying scripture memory principles (Book 1 pages 24-25, Book 2 page 13) they were able to memorize the 12 verses in Book 2 more easily than memorizing five or six verses in Book 1.

After reading through “Bible study in Book 2,” mention how these five studies cover foundational issues in one’s Christian life. Encourage them to use a translation when doing Bible study—not a paraphrase. Often paraphrases contain commentary. Standard translations are more objective and technically accurate.

This page is “pure gold.” These principles build on the scripture memory guidelines they learned in Book 1, pages 24-25. Any problem with scripture memory inevitably results from a neglect of one or more of these 14 suggestions.

a. A SUGGESTED PRAYER FORMAT: ACTS OR CATS
You might say something like: “What we are going to look at now is one format we can use for prayer. It is not something that we want to use every day or it can lose its vitality. This is a format we may wish to use for a week or two, discontinue it for a while, and then use it again later.”

Have various group members look up the verses listed. After each verse is read aloud, have the students write down a summary of that verse in the space provided. After they have written down their two summary statements on “Adoration,” comment on “Adoration” very briefly. Do the same with the other three prayer topics.

b. USING PRAYER SHEETS
Have the “Using Prayer Sheets” (pages 14-15) material read aloud. The sample on page 15 is someone’s actual Prayer Sheet. Point out how the requests and answers were clearly stated and dated. Some of the requests have been already answered and some have yet to be answered. Sometimes a person may feel led to stop praying about a request or may adjust it in some way. It would be wise to pray for a request at least for a week before making such changes.

Have someone read the assignment. The main point to stress is their preparation for the “Scripture Memory Principles Quiz.” They need to pass this to graduate. They aren’t required to quote the principles (on page 13) verbatim on the quiz, but they do need to be able to write down the main ideas. They want to be prepared to write down more than six—to allow some margin.

Ask for two or three to close the time with prayer. (You don’t assign them. They just “chime in” voluntarily when heads are bowed). Ask for prayer about the success for each one in the group and for life-time benefits coming out of working through Book 2.

• To reinforce the group interaction skills learned in Growing Strong in God’s Family in the areas of scripture memory review, quiet time sharing, Bible study discussion, and prayer.
• To explore together some of what Scripture teaches about Christian maturity.
• To encourage prayer for non-Christian acquaintances.

Pray yourself—or ask for someone to volunteer to pray—or ask someone by name to pray. Usually keep this brief.

In the groups they review their “Christ the Center” verses, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Galatians 2:20 (recommended but optional), and their Book 1 memory verses. Encourage your group into the pattern of working on verse review and getting things signed on My Completion Record after the opening prayer or before the session begins.

Remind couples to split up—and to be in different groups for review. Get a show of hands to see how many are memorizing in each of the different versions. This enables those using the same translation to pair up for review.

Ask group members how the “Scripture Memory Guide—Week 2” helped them. How many days did it take to memorize a verse? It is good for them to have a verse pack. Suggest that they add a card to their verse cards that has their name, cell and email information so someone can reach them in case they lose their verse pack.

Strive to keep enthusiasm high for this activity each week. Let the group know how much My Reading Highlights has helped you personally. As the leader, begin by sharing briefly. Encourage them to share only what they have written on My Reading Highlights. Usually everyone will share each week, but don’t make it compulsory. Thank each one after they share with a “thank you” or at least a positive head nod.

Have the group briefly look over the principles on page 13 before taking the quiz. They may begin taking the quiz as soon as they have done their brief review. Suggest that they write down more than six items— possibly eight or ten to ensure that they get at least six correct. They do not have to quote the principles verbatim. They simply need to communicate the intent or thought of each principle.

After several have completed the work, you can say something like, “As soon as you have finished your quiz, please exchange with someone else and correct each other’s paper. You may wish to refer to page 13 as you work together. Feel free to sign each other off on My Completion Record after you have passed this quiz. You may do that now or at the end of the class.”

Ask everyone to get out their Evangelism Prayer List if they have it with them. Ask what they are learning. Are they adding or dropping any names? What sort of things are they praying for the people on their list? How consistent have they used their Evangelism Prayer List? What other insights or comments do they have?

You aren’t lecturing them if they haven’t been using it. You are affirming those who have—everyone learns as they talk their experiences using the list.

They have studied this. (They may have read and marked it). Ask the group to state some of the key thoughts on page 17. Do the same with page 18?

You must be familiar with the questions and answers in the material you will lead. This gets you excited about the topic and your group catches your excitement. Begin by having one or two group members read aloud the introductory material on page 19. Next, let the group “brain storm” some possible answers to the “Think About” question. If the answers are brief, a person could share more than once. Spend two or three minutes on this question. (Remember that there is a “Think About” question at the beginning of every Bible study. Its purpose is to get the members of the group to focus their minds on the subject of the Bible study).

Then proceed (perhaps around the circle) through the Bible study questions one at a time. It is often good to have someone read aloud the quotations and the section introductions as you come to them in the lesson.

Do a thorough job of personal preparation on your Bible study each week. First, answer the questions for your own growth and benefit. Then, as you prepare to lead the study, choose which sections you will probably emphasize because of the specific interests and needs you are aware of in your group. At the end of the study, you might ask what was most meaningful to them.

These leader guides provides you with additional discussion questions for each Bible study. Remember, you may ask an additional question only after someone in the group has answered the original Bible study question. For example (see below), after someone has given his or her answer to question 8a on page 22, you may then ask, “What do you feel that verse 3 means, ‘now that you have tasted that the Lord is good?’” Most additional questions are “understanding questions” that drive the discussion a bit deeper.

Additional Discussion Questions for “Maturing in Christ”:
Question 8 1 Peter 2:2-3
What do you feel verse 3 mean, “Now that you have tasted that the Lord is good?”

Question 8 Hebrews 5:13-14
What do you think must happen for a person to go beyond “milk” to “solid food?”

Question 12 2 Peter 1:5-7
On how many of these at a time do you think God works?

Question 12 2 Peter 1:8-11
What do you think it means to be “ineffective” and “unproductive?”

Have someone read the assignment for Session 3. Encourage them to stay proactive on their scripture memory assignments in these early weeks.

Have several people lead briefly in prayer focusing on people from your Evangelism Prayer Lists. Remind them to pray for one another during the week.

• To emphasize the importance of obedience in our relationship with God. (The scripture memory verses emphasize obedience.)
• To clarify the issues involved in relationship evangelism.
• To become aware of the spiritual warfare around us.

Pray yourself—or ask for someone to volunteer to pray—or ask someone by name to pray. Usually keep this brief.

They can complete outline points #2 and #3 while they are in verse review groups. In the groups they review their verses on “Obedience to Christ,” Romans 12:1 and John 14:21 (recommended but optional).

As they acquire more scripture memory verses, allow them more review time. Always affirm their good work.

Encourage your people to keep their Book 1 memory cards with their cards for Book 2. As you know, during Book 1 some will have memorized five verses and others will have memorized six.

As the group leader, you want to usually share a quiet time thought that is both simple and encouraging. You don’t want to get a spiraling competition going as to who can share the deepest truth during the quiet time sharing.

Remember to give them a few seconds to look over their My Reading Highlights to determine what they want to share. It is often better for someone to share briefly twice than to do one long share. As they learn to share verses briefly, they often carry this ability of being direct and brief into other areas of life.

As you know, they have read and marked this article before coming to class. Discuss the material one section at a time. Take each section in the order it appears in the text. This is valuable material. It is foundational for the “Witness” segments laid out in Book 2.

Handle this much the same as last week. Discuss the “Think About” question to get started. Then, continue on through the study itself. You want to have each part of the “Summary” read aloud at the end of each study.

Continue to have group members read printed quotations and paragraphs when discussing Bible studies. Listen for personal applications people are making.

Remember that you may ask an additional question only after someone has answered the original question. Ask an additional question to the whole group, not to an individual.

Additional Discussion Questions for “Spiritual Warfare”:

Question 1
2 Timothy 2:3-4
How can a person with a secular job keep from being entangled in “civilian pursuits?”

Question 1
How does this balance with our being responsible to provide for our families?

Question 3
Genesis 3:1-5
How does Satan use this same approach today?

Question 6
How might more than one of these three be impacting our lives at the same time?

Have someone read the assignment for Session 4. By Session 4 they will have been using Prayer Sheets for two weeks. Remind them that in Session 4 they will report their experiences in using a Prayer Sheet.

Have about 5 minutes of conversational prayer. Make sure you have allowed enough time for conversational prayer. These brief prayer times often become a major highlight for your group. When praying conversationally, remember members of your group want to:
• Start praying—don’t share prayer requests.
• Cover only one topic at a time.
• Be brief. Sentence prayers are ideal.
• Be spontaneous. Don’t pray around the circle, but let each person pray for whatever interests him or her.

• To emphasize the importance of knowing The Scriptures and applying them to our lives.

Pray yourself—or ask for someone to volunteer to pray—or ask someone by name to pray. Usually keep this brief.

In the groups they review their verses on “The Word,” 2 Timothy 3:16 and Joshua 1:8 (recommended but optional). After group members have completed their review, you might want to ask, “What does ‘all Scripture is given by inspiration of God’ mean?” and “How do you meditate on God’s word day and night?” This will help everyone to think through the content of the verses. Keep this mini-discussion brief.

Continue to have each group member share from his or her My Reading Highlights. Sometimes a person will share directly from what they marked in their Bible. Occasionally you will comment or ask a question about something someone has shared. (Here you are talking to the group, but including the person who shared the thought). Several will usually join in the brief discussion that follows.

Don’t let this portion of the session drag. If there are some dead spots, call on someone. Occasionally call on those who hold back during sharing times. Make sure you are also sharing each week as a contributor to the group.

In the assignment for Session 2, they were asked to start using Prayer Sheets. In Session 3 they were reminded that in Session 4 they would report on their experience in using Prayer Sheets. Also in the assignment for Session 4 they were asked to bring their Prayer Sheets with them to Session 4.
Our goals in this segment are:
• To discuss in what ways the Prayer Sheets were helpful.
• To see if there are any prayer answers they would like to share.
• To motivate them to use their Prayer Sheets regularly.
Simply ask, “What has been your experience in using a Prayer sheet?” They will share both problems and benefits. Your attitude and purpose should not be to identify those who have not been using a Prayer Sheet and then rebuke them. This is simply an honest discussion where we can learn from one another. We want to discuss the benefits and the difficulties they have experienced in using a Prayer Sheet.

As you begin, ask for the two opening paragraphs to be read aloud. Before you get into the Bible study questions and answers, have a brief discussion of the “Think About” question. Remember you are not looking for one “correct” answer to a “Think About” question. These questions are simply designed to stimulate discussion and to help the group focus on the subject at hand.

As you conclude the study, have several people participate in reading the various parts of the Summary.

Remember that you may ask an additional question only after someone has answered the original question. Ask an additional question to the whole group, not to an individual.

Additional Discussion Questions for “Faith and the Truths of God”:

Question 1
Hebrews 11: 1
How does faith influence prayer?

Question 2
How can we use our gifts, education, and experience without falling I into one of these traps?

Question 4
Hebrews 11
Do the people in Hebrews 11 strike you as spiritual giants or fairly average people?

Question 6
Hebrews 6:12
How do you think faith and patience are related?

Have someone read the “Assignment for Session 5.”

Have a period of brief conversational prayer. Occasionally you may divide into two groups for conversational prayer: men and women in separate groups, or divide the group in half.

• To learn biblical principles and guidelines for determining the will of God.
• To continue to motivate class members in scripture memory by discussing the “Self-checking Quiz.”

Pray yourself—or ask for someone to volunteer to pray—or ask someone by name to pray. Usually keep this brief.

In the groups they review their verses on “Prayer,” John 15:7 and Philippians 4:6-7 (recommended but optional). This is a good time to ask if the students can still perfectly quote their Book 1 verses. Ask how they are doing in getting their verses signed off.

Group members are coming to class having done the “Self-Checking Quiz.” Most will have already checked their answers. As you know, the correct answers are found at the bottom of page 47.

You will not lead every 2:7 group the same way. You need to know your group and will want to continue to evaluate where they are in their lives. There are two usual options for discussing the “Self-Checking Quiz” based on whether
• they need more encouragement and help in scripture memory.
• they are strong in scripture memory and have gleaned most of the benefit from the quiz when they did their homework.

If the group needs help and encouragement on scripture memory, briefly review every question. Go around the circle and have each person read a question and answer aloud until you have gone through the whole quiz. This is excellent review! Keep the discussion moving.

If your group is very strong in scripture memory and unusually quick to learn, you may just review highlights from the quiz. Ask the group to share some of the questions and answers that express the most important scripture memory guidelines—then you can move on.

Ask if they are reading consecutively through one Bible book or if they are reading two (perhaps one in the Old Testament and one in the New Testament. Ask them how My Reading Progress is working for them. Ask how many have fourteen consecutive quiet times signed off. You want this part of the lesson to last about 20 minutes. Should some interesting question or point of discussion come up, it could go longer, but keep your eye on the clock.

Continue to draw out the quiet people through eye contact or a direct question. Remember that you may ask an additional question only after someone has answered the original question. Ask an additional question to the whole group, not to an individual.

Additional Discussion Questions for “Knowing God’s Will”:

Question 1
Ephesians 5:15-17
How far into the future do you think we can know God’s will for us?

Question 4
Matthew 6:33
What are some ways we can seek God’s Kingdom?

Question 4
Matthew 28:18-20
How does evangelism fit into this passage?

Question 4
2 Peter 3:18
What does it mean to “grow in grace?”
What does it mean to “grow in knowledge?”

Question 6
Psalm 143:8
How frequently do you feel a person should pray for guidance from God?

Question 6
James 1:5
How do you think wisdom fits into knowing God’s will?

Have someone read the assignment for Session 6.

Have a brief time of conversational prayer. This week, encourage the group to focus on people from their Evangelism Prayer Lists. Individuals pray for people on their own list. They don’t explain the people on their list. The group hears about them in their prayer.

Past 2:7 groups have “brainstormed” and came up with a number of things to pray for a non-Christian. Here are some of them.

• For a deepened friendship and open communication with the person.
• For circumstances that will draw the person toward the Lord.
• For protection from false teaching and cults.
• For a hunger to understand about God.
• For a willingness to admit problems and needs.
• That he or she might clearly understand the gospel when it is presented.
• That the Holy Spirit will be at work in the person’s spouse as well as in the person.
• That the person might see inconsistencies and error in the false religion in which he or she has been involved.
• That the person’s heart will continue to be prepared through things he or she sees, reads and hears: TV, online, life circumstances and what other people say.
• That he or she will see Christian families and/or individuals who model an attractive lifestyle.

• To monitor each person’s progress on the My Completion Record.
• To deepen their commitment to be relating to non-Christians.
• To encourage them to be serving others.

Pray yourself—or ask for someone to volunteer to pray—or ask someone by name to pray. Usually keep this brief.

In the groups they review their verses on “Fellowship,” Hebrews 10:24-25 and 1 John 1:3 (recommended but optional).

After they have reviewed verses together, take five minutes for a brief discussion. Ask, “Where have you experienced or observed strong fellowship among believers in a group or between individuals? Can you give us an example or two?”

Have them get Philippians 4:6-7 in front of them: on a card, on their phone or in their Bible. Ask, “What are some things you see in Philippians 4:6-7 that you especially like or appreciate?” Do the same with 1 John 1:3. This should take about five minutes.

Begin by sharing something you wrote down that is practical and encouraging. Ask how they are doing in completing the 14 consecutive quiet times. In what ways are they enjoying Bible reading? Talk about reading the Bible daily and the importance of consistency. (Reading five days out of seven is a realistic goal).

Have this material read aloud. If they both hear and see it, the impact is greater. Either go around the circle or ask people to volunteer at random. After someone reads the list of activity examples, ask the group, “What are some other ‘relating activities’ that come to mind? Let’s jot down a few more ideas in the margins on this page.” After several additional suggestions, continue the reading.

When the remainder of the material has been read, ask for other comments they would like to make about relating to people who have not yet come to faith in Christ.

Continue to do a good job in your own Bible study preparation. If God has really spoken to you during your preparation, it is probable that the discussion will be vital and meaningful to everyone.

Don’t try to force the people in your group to be excited about the same passages that impressed you. But, they will follow your pattern of enthusiastic sharing when it is their turn to share what impressed them in their Bible study preparation.

Remember that you may ask an additional question only after someone has answered the original question. Ask an additional question to the whole group, not to an individual.

Additional Discussion Questions for “Walking as a Servant”:

Question 1
Mark 10:45
What is the relationship between these two purposes for which Jesus came? (That is, to serve and to die)

Question 4
Do you think it is easier to be God’s servant or to serve other people?

Question 6
Acts 6:1-7
Why do you think the spiritual qualifications were so high for those who would serve tables?

Question 11
1 John 3:17
Do you think of serving and meeting people’s needs as being the same thing? Why or why not?

Question 13
Luke 17:7-10
How does being proud differ from taking pride in your responsibilities?

In preparation for this planning time with your group, review the suggestions for Sessions 7 and 8 in this leader guide.

A Christian education area in another church is often the best location. You can set it up so there are several tables in a “study hall” room. Then, you can locate yourself at the end of a table in a separate room with several chairs along one side of the table. As the students complete a draft of their testimony or have made corrections or improvements, they can come into your room and sit. They get ideas for their testimony as they hear your critique of other individuals.

Before Session 6 you may want to phone another church to see when their facility might be available so you can schedule Session 8. Some churches would have a financial charge for using part of their facility. Others would be happy to make an area available at no charge. Be sure there is a clear understanding. If you do not know a pastor or key lay person at another church, you may ask your pastor or Christian education director to phone another church for you.

It is less desirable to have Session 8 at your own church, but it can work. An advantage of being at another church is that there are no rooms, bulletin boards, and other visual reminders that precipitate a whole parade of memories about people and events. It is often less distracting to be in another church.

Most groups choose to meet on a Saturday morning, a Saturday afternoon, or a Sunday afternoon.

An Alternative to the Session 8 Workshop

Often a 2:7 group meets at a time when childcare is available. One or more young couples in your group may have difficulty arranging their own childcare for a Session 8 workshop. It may be more convenient for them to meet at the regular 2:7 group time and location.

So, some groups choose to meet as usual (with childcare) and spend from one to three sessions working on drafts of “My Story.” If the group is small, the Session 8 work can be completed in one or two sessions. A larger group may need two or three sessions to complete their “My Story” work. The group then continues on through Sessions 9-11.

Even a group with no young parents may find it more practical to dedicate one to three sessions for “My Story” work. Discuss the options with your group, then decide.

Have someone read the assignment for Session 7. Remind them of the importance and value of the next two class sessions. They need to carefully prepare the “My Story” assignment for Session 7! The better job they do in Session 7, the easier it will be for them to handle “My Story” work in Session 8.

Have a time of brief conversational prayer. Concentrate on praying about activities for relating to non-Christians on their prayer lists.

• To help the group understand the ingredients of an effective personal salvation testimony. The preparation of “My Story” is one of the most significant but also challenging aspects of Book 2 and The 2.7 Series. Prepare carefully to lead this segment well.

Pray yourself—or ask for someone to volunteer to pray—or ask someone by name to pray. Usually keep this brief.

They quote all the verses they have learned up to this point in Book 2. Keep encouraging your people to stay current in their work. Frequent review is so important! Praise them for their progress. Keep a positive and optimistic atmosphere.

Read aloud the “Congratulations” paragraph. You can do this or have someone else in your group read it. Compliment them for their hard work. Affirm them for their commitment to discipleship training.

Remember they have studied all of this testimony material in preparation for Session 7. As you turn from page to page in this salvation testimony material, discuss something under each major heading. You can simply ask what comments and questions they have when you discuss each of these major topics, one at a time. Whatever methods you use, make it a time of summary, review and application.

Strike a balance between the extremes of going through the material too rapidly and belaboring every point and sub-point. You want this material to make a deep impression on each person in your group. Watch for their non-verbal responses during the discussion. You can spot facial expressions that reflect confusion or the desire to make a further comment.

a. Why Prepare “My Story?” (pages 61-62). Briefly review the value of using a personal testimony. Share one or two personal examples of how God has enabled you to use your personal testimony when witnessing. You might also check to see how many in the group were witnessed to as a non-Christian by someone using their personal testimony.

b. Preparing “My Story” General Comments (pages 62-63). Your enthusiasm regarding this assignment is essential. Make sure you have thought through on the benefits of developing an effective personal testimony. Thousands of people have successfully developed their personal testimony using this material. Convey a positive, “you’ll do great,” attitude.

c. The Grape Illustration (page 64). A possible way to discuss The Grape Illustration might be to explore what the word “testimony” means, in both a secular and a Christian context. Come up with concrete examples of how we actually use the word in our everyday lives, such as a “testimony” in a court of law, “testimonials” for products being sold, and so on.
Say something like, “As we can see, this illustration shows a cluster of grapes, and each of the grapes illustrates a possible testimony. These are some of the subjects on which some of us could give personal testimonies of how God has worked in our lives. But there is one central testimony which is perhaps the most important and the most useful tool available to a Christian for use in spiritual ministry. That is the one with lines on it. Please write on the lines: ‘Salvation: how I received eternal life.’ (Repeat the statement until all have written it in.)
Mention that a salvation testimony is like the proverbial “lady’s basic black dress.” It can be dressed up to look fancy for a formal occasion, or it can be worn with few embellishments and look informal or even casual. The basic black dress is versatile, and so is the personal salvation testimony. In different circumstances, you can summarize it in only a few sentences, or expand it to include more details. It can be adapted to meet the specific interests and questions of the non-Christian with whom you are talking.
Emphasize that the “My Story” they prepare will be about personal salvation, and not about the other areas shown in the illustration. Then say something like this: “I think you’ll find preparing your testimony a meaningful and worthwhile exercise. It won’t be easy. It’s going to take some hard work. But it will be well worth it!”

d. Effective “My Story” Preparation (page 63-67). Briefly review “Outline for My Story” and “Guidelines for Preparing the More Specific Content,” (pages 63-66). Handle any questions as completely as you can. The better the group members understand the “whys” and the “how’s” of writing out their “My Story,” the more productive their own preparation will be. These guidelines need to be clearly understood by each person. They are the heart of their testimony preparation. Thoroughly cover “Developing the Before, How, and After Sections” (pages 66-67).

e. Two Ways You Might Organize Your Story (page 67-68). More than half of the 2:7 participants use the “Overview / Flashback” approach to organizing their salvation testimony story. This allows the person listening to the testimony to get acquainted with the testimony-giver before the story gets into spiritual issues. The dentist can say he or she is a dentist. Human interest can be inserted into the overview. It is a versatile approach. On the other hand, the straight chronological approach can be interesting and dynamic as well.

f. Choosing Your “My Story” Format—with samples worksheets” (pages 68-76). Ask how many were able to select one of the three formats and complete their testimony worksheet. Then, ask how many still have some work to do on this assignment. Simply get a show of hands for each of these two questions. For those who yet have work to do, ask if they have been able to select one of the three formats. You and the group can spend a few minutes to help a person select one of the formats. Then you may need to allow time for some of your people to complete their format worksheet.
If all or most of your people have completed their testimony worksheet they can get started writing out their story. Most people are accustomed to putting things in writing to be read, not spoken. Encourage them to write their story using the vocabulary and structures they normally use in everyday conversation.

If you use part of this class session as a “study hall,” be sure you allow about 10 minutes at the end of this segment to cover the rest of the class outline.

Ask someone to read this short section or read it yourself. Ask for questions or comments.

The workshop for Session 8 will require additional time and space for your group to spread out and work. Homes are not suitable for this type of workshop. Usually a church is better. Use tables which are convenient for writing. An evening meeting is usually not satisfactory, because people are tired. It is an option to consider, however.

You are usually the one responsible for the place. The group needs to help you decide on the time. Both of these issues have been discussed in Session 6 of this leader guide. Be sure everyone knows where to be and when they should be there for Session 8.

An Alternative to the Session 8 Workshop

Often a 2:7 group meets at a time when childcare is available. One or more young couples in your group may have difficulty arranging their own childcare for a Session 8 workshop. It may be more convenient for them to meet at the regular 2:7 group time and location.

So, some groups choose to meet as usual (with childcare) and spend from one to three sessions working on drafts of “My Story.” If the group is small, the Session 8 work can be completed in one or two sessions. A larger group may need two or three sessions to complete their “My Story” work. The group then continues on through Sessions 9-11.

Even a group with no young parents may find it more practical to dedicate one to three sessions for “My Story” work. Choose the option that works best for your group.

Discuss the date and location for Session 11, which is a four-hour extended time with God.

Here are important considerations for Session 11:
• A church is usually the best location. You will need to have sufficient space to give each person privacy with minimal distractions. Each person having a Sunday school room often works out in the Christian education wing of a church.
• You may plan to have beverages and light finger-food available—maybe things like carrot and celery sticks. After this work session your group might like to eat out someplace. Do what meets the needs of most of the people in your group. They may want to leave as soon as you have completed this session.
• Look ahead at the suggestions for leading Session 11. You might share some of the key organizational details with your group at this point in Session 7.

Have someone read the assignment for Session 8.

Continue prayer for people from Evangelism Prayer Lists in your group. Your group has been working on important witnessing tools. Pray for God’s help in everyone’s “My Story” preparation.

Suggestions have been made regarding possible prayer topics from week to week. This does not mean you should ignore the needs of individuals within the group, or prayers of praise and thanksgiving. Encourage spontaneous prayer which reflects the desires, aspirations, and feelings of those who pray.

Reminders:
• You are about two-thirds of the way through Book 2. You and your group may want to plan something social or fun to do together. Think about planning at least some minimal social contact with some of your group members over the next few weeks.
• Have you ordered the materials for Book 3? Do it now so you can ensure their arrival on time.

• To compliment your group for the work they have done in preparing their first draft of “My Story.”
• To have all group members well on their way to completing their “My Story.”

Pray yourself, or ask someone to pray, or ask someone to volunteer to pray.

In the workshop setting you have the “Assignment for Session 9” read at this point. If you are doing the “My Story” work in additional meetings at your regular time and place, you don’t read it now.

Mention that whether you do the workshop together or dedicate regular meetings to the “My Story” task, not everyone will complete the work at the same speed. Some stories are harder to pull together than others. If some people need more time to complete their “My Story” it does not imply a lack of spirituality or intelligence—it simple means their story is more complex.

Quote the verses on “Witnessing,” Matthew 4:19 and Romans 1:16 (recommended but optional).

If Session 8 is a workshop:

“Read the Assignment for Session 9” (page 80). Have the assignment read aloud when you have everyone’s attention and they are looking at page 80 where the assignment is printed. For Session 9 everyone brings a 3 x 5 card outline (bullet points) for their “My Story.” (They also bring their first draft on paper or on a digital screen.)

You may need to do some critiquing the following week by phone or e-mail. Plan your schedule so you can give help to those who want it—before Session 9.

People bring their first draft to this workshop. The main activity is for people to work aggressively on their “My Story.” They can complete a great deal in a short time. Spirits are lifted and people see the end within their grasp. Working on “My Story” is the most difficult undertaking in The 2:7 Series training. As the facilitator you need to study and prepare diligently.

Occasionally two workshops are needed to help people complete their “My Story” and put the outline (bullet points) on a 3 x 5 card. Between these workshops people can make the changes suggested by the group leader.

Suggested Set-up and Format for a Workshop

1. In a reasonably large room set it up so there are several tables like a “study hall.” Those in your group will sit three or four to each eight-foot table.
2. Point out the location of the coffee pot (beverages and snack food), restrooms, scratch paper, and 3 x 5 cards. Handle any other administrative details.
3. It is best for you to do your critiquing work in a separate room near the larger room. Then you locate yourself at the end of a table in a separate room with a few chairs along one side and other end of the table.
Explain that anyone may come into the critiquing room whenever he or she has a draft ready to read to you. Having a few waiting at your table allows them to listen to your comments to others. Some will come to your table and after hearing a few comments to others will go back to the “study hall” to make changes.

After people have been critiqued, they go back to the “study hall” and work on their next draft, applying your suggestions.

Husband and-Wife Leader Team
If both the husband and wife are qualified leaders, each may wish to take half of the class — men with men and women with women. When both the husband and wife work on testimonies, it greatly speeds up the process.

Number of Testimony Drafts
Emphasize that writing several drafts of a testimony does not indicate a lack of intelligence or spirituality, but rather depends on how complex the individual stories are. The second draft may be enough for some, while others will need to write three or four. Convey this point clearly so that those who complete their work quickly are not “proud of it,” and those who must work longer are not discouraged.

Follow One Vein
Each person needs to select and follow one specific course or theme in writing out his or her “My Story.”

Discourage them from starting over on a different track after the second or third draft. This would result in frustration and delay. In the future, your group members may well benefit by developing other versions of their testimony along different veins. But, for now, each one should pursue a specific direction until he or she completes the work.

If you do Session 8 with 1-3 additional regular meetings

Go right to work listening to people’s first draft. Take notes as you listen. Have someone time it on their smart phone. First, compliment everything you can about what you have just heard form a person. Then make suggestions for improvement. Below are proven guidelines to help you effectively critique drafts read to you.

Leader Attitudes
As the leader, you need to demonstrate the right attitudes, and follow proven procedures for leading this segment of the course.

Remember:
1. People are emotionally attached to their stories. They are not able to be highly objective about their past experiences, so, when you adjust part of their testimony they may feel you are “tampering with their innermost life.” Be kind. Be understanding.
2. Move rapidly through this work, but do not create a rushed atmosphere. Be calm, relaxed, and alert. In order to help each person as much as possible, concentrate intensely on what each person is reading to you.
3. Praise everything you can in their work. Be optimistic and confident about each person’s ability to complete their “My Story.” But, do not settle for substandard work. Help them make their story great!
4. Don’t be overly serious, because quite frequently the students will need to laugh. They need some type of release because they are being introspective. Be ready to mix in some fun and humor.

Critiquing Procedures

1. Look for changes that will provide the greatest improvement in the least amount of time.

2. Organize your critique around the three sections—Before, How, and After. Does each testimony clearly include all three sections? Is one missing?

3. Select the part (Before, How, or After) which is closest to completion and make suggestions which will help to finish that part.

4. Keep in mind the guidelines on page 65 of the student book and point out positive and negative examples of these as you critique.

5. Take notes rapidly as you listen to each testimony. You can use these general markings by each summary phrase you jot down:
+ good
– not good
* something on which you want to comment
? a question you have

You can use a slash (/) to mark the flow of the story. This eliminates the need for punctuation and separates ideas. For example:

Born in Houston/ 3 brothers, I sister/ tell more about older brother/ father: engr./ +invented oil drill bit/ +mother: swim coach/ +could swim when I was 4/ – hated math/ oldest so worked hard/ +parents knew God personally/ ? dreamed about future/

It takes practice to become proficient at both listening and taking rapid notes. Taking notes each time you listen to a draft is essential! After you have listened to 4 or 5 people your mind has trouble recalling the details of the draft just read.

6. Commend each person for everything you can. As you begin your comments after they have read their draft, share all the +’s in your notes first, before you make suggestions for improvement.

7. After hearing the first draft, emphasize only the necessary general improvements. Don’t overload him/her with suggestions.

8. When complimenting, say you —”You’ve done a fantastic job on the Before. It’s full of human interest.” But when making suggestions for improvement, say we: “Perhaps in the How we can go back and include the gospel in more detail.”

Review these eight procedures periodically. You want to have them firmly fixed in your mind. For further training in leading 2:7 groups and improving your critiquing skills, consider investing the 12-16 hours doing the free online group leader training offered at the 2:7 website: www.2-7series.org.

Have someone pray briefly, pray yourself, or have two or three others pray.

• To complete personal testimony preparation.
• To help the group understand the concept of Christ’s lordship.
• To help people consider their degree of submission to Christ’s lordship.

Pray yourself—or ask for someone to volunteer to pray—or ask someone by name to pray. Usually keep this brief.

They quote all the verses they have learned up to this point in Book 2. Encourage your people to get more memory verses signed off next week.

Several who are ready tell, their “My Story” from a brief outline. Leave time for working on testimonies that are not totally completed.

Have someone time each testimony and give the speaker a signal at the three- minute mark. This helps the speaker finish in less than four minutes.

Usually you won’t critique these presentations. If you do, be brief with one or two helpful suggestions. When a testimony goes over four minutes, ask the person to adjust the content and give it in under 4 minutes next week. The other time boundary for their “My Story” is not less than 2 ½ minutes.

Reminder:
Group members have only Sessions 10 and 11 for getting My Completion Record all signed off. Let each person share what they have yet to finish.

As you know, they have read and marked this material. Go around the circle and each person will summarize one of the numbered items or read one of the short paragraphs. This effectively reviews the guidelines under “Lead In” and “Close.”

They have read and marked pages 83-90. Ask people to assist reading aloud the paragraphs and verses under “Discuss My Heart—Christ’s Home (page 91). (Don’t discuss the two rooms at the bottom of page 91 yet.)

Usually people are quite taken by the verses on page 91, and God seems to impress people along the lines of commitment and surrender. Lordship is not one giant step, but a lifetime of continually allowing Christ to control our lives.

After page 91 has been read and briefly discussed, ask everyone to turn to the text of My Heart Christ’s Home (page 83). Briefly discuss highlights and their general impressions a page at a time. (Remind them that in a few minutes you will be discussing each of the rooms in more detail. You don’t want to get into the specifics of each room at this point). Say something like, “On page 83, what did you mark or what impressed you as you studied this article?” When the group is through discussing one page, go on to the next page. They will usually share something they have marked, but discussion should not be limited to what they have marked. Suggest that they write in the margin some of the best thoughts gleaned during the discussion. Don’t try to squeeze the last drop of discussion out of each page. After several have made meaningful comments, move on to the next page.

After discussing for My Heart Christ’s Home, continue on page 91. First, have the group define “The Study” by sharing various thoughts that different individuals wrote on the blank lines under “The Study.” Go through each of the rooms and “Transferring the Title” in this manner. Suggest that the students jot down additional insights they gain during the discussion. These may be ideas, insights, or Scripture references. Below you will find answers other groups came up with for the rooms. It is good to stop the discussion on each room when interest is high. Don’t drag out the discussion to the point of diminishing returns.

The Study (Library)
The mind. What we think about. What we read and see. Think about Scripture and Christ. Think on helpful, pure and good things. Philippians 4:8. Luke 6:45, Proverbs 23:7. Control room. Volitional thoughts. What we imagine.

The Dining Room
Our appetites and desires. Positive aspects: food, sex, sleep, exercise, correction ambition. Negative aspects: lazy, lustful, self-promoting, indulgent, selfish, materialistic and proud. Seek what God wants, not what we want.

The Living Room
Meditation and thinking time. Enjoy God for who He is. Intake of the Bible. Do not rush. Get aside from the busy world. Our quiet time or devotional life — “the withdrawing room.” God appreciates and desires it. He is always there. Time in the Word and prayer.

The Workroom
Our talents, abilities, gifts and skills. We need to be good stewards — God would like to use them. God wants our availability more than our ability. God wants to use them under His control—use them to the fullest. What is your life producing? For what is your life counting?

The Rec Room (Recreation Room)
Friendships, activities, recreation and entertainment. The use of free time. We should not be wasting our time. Laughter and music are a part of our relationship to the Lord. Don’t leave God out of these times.

The Bedroom
God “forbids adultery and premarital sex not because sex is bad but because it is good.” There is far more to love than sex. It is only for those joined in a covenant of marriage. God forgives failures in this area, but He desires better things for us. Hebrews 13:4. Matthew 5:27-28. 1 Thessalonians 4:3-5, 7

The Hall Closet
Hidden, clinging sins. Private or secret sins. This is an area on which Christ focuses attention, and He wants it adjusted and corrected now. Indulgence. Authorize Him to open it and clean it out. Personal areas that others don’t know about. Job 17:9. Psalm 66:18. Psalm 32:5. Psalm 51:2.

Transferring the Title
Give Christ the authorization to completely take us over and help us to be what we ought to be and want to be. It is a decision. Complete surrender. Complete control. This is the last step. Allow Christ to take over the administrative responsibility and the maintenance.

After you have discussed pages 91-92, thank the students for their excellent ideas and for making the discussion practical and helpful. You may want to conclude by saying something like: “In our discussion, we have talked about how lordship takes place to a greater degree over a period of weeks, months, and even years. This does not mean that from time to time we will not have to make a decision at a ‘fork in the road.’ We may be confronted with very critical and difficult lordship decisions at certain points along the way.

“May Christ settle down and be at home as Lord of your heart also.” (page 90).

Remind your group that it will be valuable for them to carefully read and mark “Suggestions for Your Extended Time with God” (pages 93-105). In two weeks we will all be having a wonderful extended time with God—in Session 11.

Pray about the concepts discovered in My Heart Christ’s Home and the issues they raise. Also pray for non-Christian friends, family, and acquaintances at work or in the neighborhood.

• To help the group anticipate the benefits of spending an extended time alone with God.
• To give practical suggestions for getting the most from this time with God.

Pray yourself—or ask for someone to volunteer to pray—or ask someone by name to pray. Usually keep this brief.

They quote all the verses learned up to this point in Book 2. They still have another week to complete things they need to get signed off on My Completion Record. Be available to help them in any way that you can.

Remind everyone that they may want to take their My Reading Highlights with them for the extended time with God in Session 11. They can review their entries for the last several weeks, and identify recurring themes or trends.

This is the last opportunity for people to tell their “My Story” in a class session. Do all you can to help people complete this assignment and have it initialed on their My Completion Record.

This is not a specific time to check up on them. It is more a time of sharing together the benefits and lessons learned while using the Prayer Sheets. You might say something like, “What are some of the benefits you have noticed or some lessons you have learned while using the Prayer Sheets?” This discussion will not take long, but it is both helpful and motivational to everyone.

In deciding the time and place for Session 11 you should consider the following:
• Most groups choose to meet on a Saturday morning, a Saturday afternoon, or a Sunday afternoon.
• Your group needs to be fresh and alert. Don’t schedule it at a time when they will be worn out, or feel rushed. Keep in mind whether they are morning, afternoon, or night people. Some compromise may be necessary.
• You need to have sufficient space and privacy to ensure minimal distraction and disruption. Consider a church or a large home, and how you will handle children, pets, and phone calls. Anticipate these types of problems, and all will benefit. The Christian education area in a church is usually the best location.
• Some groups like to have coffee and other beverages available during this time. If the group wants beverages, someone needs to be responsible to bring them and set them up. Some groups have chosen to have a potluck meal after the extended time with God. Some groups have had healthy snacks along with beverages. Others have wanted to get home to their children or other responsibilities right after this meeting. The main priority is to have a time and a place to spend the extended time with God. The logistical decisions should not dominate, but the options (like food and drinks) need to be considered and decisions made.

a. How to Spend a Day in Prayer (pages 94-101).
Have someone read the text at the bottom of page 93. Then ask what observations they want to share from the quotations on page 94. After this brief discussion ask them to turn to page 102. It is a place where they can take notes during the discussion of this article. They can keep a finger on page 102 while turning back to page 94.

Ask what impressed or interested them on page 94. Then do the same with page 95, and on through page 101. This is the same way you led the discussion on My Heart Christ’s Home.

Some people will pray about setting goals based on #2 on page 95 and #4 on page 96. You might mention to them four major goal-setting areas they might consider.
• Personal
• Family
• Ministry
• Job
They can jot down these four points in the margin of their book if they like. They may want to use points #1 through #4 (pages 95-96) during their extended time with God. Point #5 may be an option for people who lead a group or teach a class.

b. Ways to Stay Awake and Alert (page 102).
Ask which of these did they mark as they were reading and marking.

c. Making a Worry List (pages 102-103).
Many people have found this approach extremely helpful and continue to practice it on a monthly basis. The material is self-explanatory.

d. Discuss “Checklist for Your Extended Time with God” (103-104).
Ask which things on the checklist they plan to take to Session 11. Usually about half of a group will share their choices.
You may receive some feedback on your suggestion to bring a bag lunch and beverage. Someone might say something about fasting and prayer going together. But because this is less than four hours, going without food could be a much greater distraction than having a good meal.

Depending on the time of the year, as the leader you will need to keep in mind that the location for the Extended Time with God should not be too hot or too cold.

e. Sample of Note-taking During an Extended Time with God (pages 104-105).
Give some brief instructions on what these examples mean. You might say something like,
“During your Extended Time with God it is helpful to take notes in order to keep track of what you do during your time with the Lord. This gives you a record of things He is speaking about to you. It also helps you to keep a clear mind—you don’t have to file everything away in your memory to have to recall later. After you make some notes, you can review them and pick up trends of how the Lord is dealing with you during this particular extended time.”

“Some people like to keep track of the actual time, as you see in the example on pages 104 and 105. You may wish to record the Scripture passages you read. You can see how the person recorded the highlights of what he or she read in John 14-16. Not everyone likes to be as detailed as this, but it is still important to keep some kind of written record or digital file.”

“How each of you divides up the four hours will vary greatly. Some of you will want to spend a large portion of the time in reading and meditating on The Scriptures. Others will want to spend most of the time in prayer.”

“Some of you will feel you have personal needs, decisions, or other items to which you want to give yourself. These might be in the area of planning, or other things which you feel you need to pray over. It might have to do with setting up objectives or analyzing your ministry situation.”

“Others of you will feel that your life is pretty well up-to-date, but you feel you have neglected intercession for other people. So you might spend almost the whole time in intercession for others. You can see that if you have an extended time with God every month or two you will eventually end up with a good balance in what you have covered in your time with the Lord. So do not hesitate to put a strong emphasis on one area—even if other areas are neglected.”

Do List
Spending an extended time in prayer almost always makes you think of other things you need to do or things you have forgotten. Have a sheet of paper or digital file ready for listing these things. This helps keep our minds free from distractions so we can give ourselves to this time with God. You can see on page 105 a segment of the do list that this person wrote during their Extended Time with God.
Often it is the little things which need to go on the list. So often it is not the big things in life which defeat us or hinder us, but an accumulation of many little things. The do list will be an important part of your Extended Time with God.

Conclusions
Toward the end of the Extended Time with God you want to spend 15 or 20 minutes writing down conclusions—or summary things. These are the major impressions you had during your Extended Time with God. You can see on page 105 that this individual was impressed with the importance of consistency in quiet time and scripture memory review. The balanced Christian life was also a key impression.

Conclusions are not do-list items
The do-list items are specific things a person is going to do. The conclusions are the overall impressions the Holy Spirit has placed on our mind. An individual might come up with his or her conclusions by going back through the notes they wrote down during the day. By reviewing their notes people can see any repeated impressions or recurring thoughts.

You want to keep these notes in a notebook or in a digital file so you can review them from time to time in the weeks ahead. This helps you follow through on things God brought to your attention during your extended time. Doing this periodically brings about change and progress in your spiritual life!

It is important for the leader to have experienced everything that is discussed in the group. As soon as possible you should try out these things, if you have not already done so.

Have someone read the assignment for Session 11.

Pray for protection against “the enemy” who will seek to hinder attendance at the “Extended Time with God” through sickness, childcare problems, and a number of other distractions. Have several pray. Continue to pray about conversations and activities with non-believers on everyone’s Evangelism Prayer List.

• To experience an Extended Time with God.

You want to go to the “Extended Time with God” as well prepared as the people in your group. Plan to spend your time with God in the same activities they will be doing. You should approach this session not so much as the leader, but as one of the participants.

The most common location for this extended time of prayer is the Christian education wing of a church. This usually provides enough rooms so that each person can be alone. Arrange for the facility well in advance. It is often best to meet in a church the people do not attend. Familiar surroundings can be a distraction. Visual things can trigger daydreaming about people and past events. Have a clear understanding with the pastor (or other leader) about which rooms are available for your use.

Arrive early and get organized before the others come. Since all of you will meet together initially, you need a large enough room for your whole group. You come back together in this room at the end of everyone’s individual time.

Walk through the facility—even if you walked through it several weeks ago when you got permission to use it. Note which rooms are available. You may need to do some minor straightening up. Locate enough individual rooms so that you and each person in your group has their own room. There are often more possibilities than just the rooms. Other satisfactory areas are wide hallways, outside patio or lawn areas (in nice weather), choir lofts, a corner of a gym, or a narthex. Be sure you have permission to use such areas.

You might list the room numbers of the available rooms on a white board before the students arrive. Don’t assign rooms. It takes too long and is unnecessary. Ask if they have any questions.

The format below is the way an “Extended Time with God” is usually organized. You may choose to plan it in some other way.

After everyone has arrived and you are ready to begin you may hand out a printed schedule of how the time is planned. It could be projected on a wall or screen.

You might say something like: “We have this brief orientation, and then you will have over three hours to spend alone with the Lord. We will then meet back here so we can share how we used our time, some of the things we learned, and reactions to our “Extended Time with God.”

In the orientation, tell them where the restrooms are, and how to regulate the heat or air conditioning. There may also be some rooms which should not be used. Any necessary logistical announcements can be handled at this time.

Follow your planned outline for the time. If you need to change the schedule, change it in favor of a shorter sharing time at the end. The minimum sharing time should be twenty minutes. The maximum sharing time should be forty minutes. The full schedule is usually from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on a Saturday or Sunday—or any four-hour equivalent at another time or place.

Lead in a brief prayer for the Lord’s guidance. If your time for meeting is 1-5 p.m., you want to meet back together at 4:30. Tell them they may wish to start writing their conclusions somewhere around 4:15 so that they will be ready to stop at 4:30 and come back together.

It is often helpful for the leader to remain in the room where the students will be returning at the end of your time. If both men and women are involved in the “Extended Time with God,” make sure the women get the more comfortable rooms.

When everybody returns, they will be excited and have a wonderful attitude and spirit. You will be thrilled to see how God has worked in each person’s life during their individual time with God. Ask how they used their time with the Lord, and have them share their impressions. This is open sharing time.

You might begin by telling them very briefly how you spent your time. For example you can say something like: “After praying Psalm 139:23-24, I used the first five minutes for confession. I spent about thirty minutes reading Colossians. Then I prayed over some of the teachings in Colossians. Next, I spent thirty minutes planning how to use my time better. Then I spent fifteen minutes praying for others.” You might end the overview of what you did by sharing one major impression. For example, you might share how much Colossians 4:12 meant to you regarding wholeheartedness and fervency in prayer.

Open the discussion to those who want to briefly share what they did, enjoyed, or learned. Others may share an overview of what they emphasized in their time. Communicate that just because different people had a different blend of activities during the does not mean that some were right and some were wrong. There are differences in the ways people spend their time with the Lord.

This is often an animated discussion. Encourage each person to share something about his or her time with the Lord. Keep track of who has shared and who hasn’t. From time to time you might say something like: “Now who else has not shared yet? We would like very much to hear how your afternoon went.” People may share more than once. Draw out the quiet ones.

Be sure to end promptly. The only exception would be if your group starts ten or fifteen minutes late. Then at the beginning of the meeting you should ask their permission to go ten or fifteen minutes longer at the end because you are starting late. If you go ten or fifteen minutes late and someone has to leave early, let him or her share first. Thank everyone for a good day and rejoice together in the Lord’s goodness in meeting with you. Lead in a brief closing prayer.

You may wish to enlist two or three people to help you put things back the way you found them. Make certain the doors are locked, the heating and ventilation taken care of, and the chairs and tables put back in their right places.

This “Extended Time with God” can be a life-changing experience for members of your group. You can handle this session well. It leads to great benefits in the lives of your people.

• You have now completed Book 2. Evaluate the status of people in your group. Are their My Completion Records all signed off? Are they ready to go into Book 3? Have you set a time and place to begin Book 3?
• Some people may not have all of their Book 2 work completed. You or others in your group can help one or two people finish up what they have left to do.
• Be sure materials are on hand for Book 3.

Congratulations for leading your group to this point! More blessings await both you and your group as you move into Book 3, “Bearing Fruit in God’s Family.”

The 2:7 Series
What the Holy Spirit expresses through Paul in Colossians 2:7 clearly defines what The 2:7 Series is designed to help accomplish in the lives of people working through this discipleship training material.

1. For Christians to be built up in Christ and established in their faith. This series of courses includes instruction in practical Bible study techniques, scripture memory skills, a vital devotional life, and how to be more effective in evangelism.

2. For Christians to learn to overflow with gratitude in their everyday lives. The series helps an individual learn to experience a stable, consistent walk with the Lord.

3. For Christians to be instructed. This implies that training must take place before individuals develop into the kind of Christian lay people whose lives will have an impact on their communities.

Each course in The 2:7 Series builds on the previous one. A person needs to
complete Book 1 before going on to Book 2, and complete Book 2 before doing Book 3.

Important
1. Leader Guide
It is important for one person to act as group facilitator during each 2:7 meeting. This may be the same person each time or the responsibility may be shared by two or three different people (preferably those who previously have gone through The 2:7 Series themselves).

This leader guide is based on extensive use of Bearing Fruit in God’s Family and experiences in using Books 1 and 2. It is imperative for the group leader to use this leader guide material every week as part of his or her careful preparation. These pages are filled with proven principles, methods, and suggestions. Using the leader guide can significantly lighten your preparation load as group leader.

2. Leader Training
Learn more about online 2:7 group leader training at www.2-7series.org. If you think it is the right time for you, consider registering and studying through this free and helpful online training.

Group Size
Professionals in the field of small group discussions say that 4-8 people makes for the best discussions. For this course, plan for up to 10 participants in your group—not including yourself (and your husband or wife). Remember that each person over 10 reduces how much each person in the group gets to talk. It is wiser to break a group of 12 or more into two groups. Your only limitation may be the number of qualified group leaders available.

Study Books
It is imperative for each person in your group to have his/her own copy of Bearing Fruit in God’s Family. People should write their name or put an address label on their book for easy identification (on page 2 or 3). Each person is expected to complete homework every week. It is motivational for individuals to complete their own work and fill in their own answers. By the end of the course, Bearing Fruit in God’s Family becomes a valued possession as a reference book for years to come. With this in mind, suggest that the members of your group make neat and legible entries as they go through the course.

The following guidelines can be valuable for helping you effectively lead your group through Bearing Fruit in God’s Family. Refer to these guidelines from time to time as you continue leading your group through this course.

Seeing Lives Strengthened and Deepened
During Books 2 and 3 your group members experience:

1. Solid spiritual growth through consistency in quiet time, Bible study, and scripture memory.
2. Foundational ministry training through study, discussion, and individual field assignments.
3. Exercises that prepare people to reach out to others with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

This leader guide is not the final authority on how to lead your group. Each leader and each group is unique. But the information included here offers you valuable help!

Remember that The 2:7 Series is only a means to an end. These are excellent and proven materials. However, printed materials and programs do not produce disciples. Only a disciple can make a disciple. It is imperative that you practice what you teach. As you know, only as the Spirit of God uses the Word of God (the Bible) in a life can there be significant and lasting transformation.

These concepts should guide your thinking as you help each member of your group grow in spiritual maturity in Christ. You may see your own spiritual life and ministry skills take on new, positive dimensions as well.

Goals as Group Leader
You have two long-range goals when helping people become functioning disciples:

1. To help each person become a more mature disciple of Jesus Christ.
2. To equip each person with tools and know-how for winning and training others.

Your leadership gives each person in your group the opportunity to develop the qualities, habits, and disciplines that will mark him/her as a man or woman of God. We pray that they will be growing in their relationships both with God and with people.

Members of your group also need to be encouraged to share (with people outside of your group) things they are learning during the group sessions and what they are experiencing in their daily relationship with God.

Evaluating Your Leadership
The following questions for evaluating leadership are for your own personal reflection. In your group be listening for answers to these questions. Don’t let these topics be added to the regular assignments in the Bearing Fruit in God’s Family workbook.

Who? Who am I serving? Who are the people in my group? Do I really know them?
What? What are my goals for Bearing Fruit in God’s Family, and for each session? What needs and expectations do my group members have?
Where? Where am I in my own Christian life? Where am I taking this group?
Why? Why am I leading this group? Why is each person in my group?
When? When will we reach our goals? When will I spend time socially with members of my group?
How? How do we achieve our goals?

Rarely can a group facilitator do all these things well. The list is a reminder. We want to do well what we can do well. We trust the grace of God for the rest.

Getting Organized
1. When will your group meet? Since you need 60 to 90 minutes for each Bearing Fruit in God’s Family study, the Sunday school hour is usually not long enough.

So when should you meet? Your final decision may involve some sacrifice on your part—you may have to give up an evening or part of Saturday each week that you wanted to save for yourself. But, you’ve decided to serve this group. Determine what time is best for you and your group.

Consider such things as the types of jobs your group members have. For example, those with construction jobs or other outside work may prefer not to meet in the early evening. People who commute to work early in the morning may not want to be out late. Couples with young children may have days or times that are easier for them to find baby-sitters. (Or your church provides childcare that is important to some members of your group). Assess your group’s needs and encourage each member to be willing to compromise some if necessary.

2. Where will you meet—at church, in your home, in the homes of other group members, or somewhere else? You may find that a rotating system is good, in which you take turns going to each other’s homes. This allows everyone to share the responsibility for hosting the group, and it also divides the driving time.

Whatever you work out, try to find comfortable surroundings that encourage group interaction. You may need space for from eight to twelve people. Arrange seating so the group spreads out in a circle or oval. This way they can see each other and talk to one another more easily. There are times when the group divides briefly into groups of two or three. There needs to be space for that.

3. What about refreshments? Let the group decide how much effort, if any, they want to give to this. Preparing refreshments shouldn’t become a burden to anyone. Be sure to keep snacks or refreshments simple.

4. The presence of children during the meeting can be a distraction. What arrangements do your group members need to make for childcare?

5. Should you plan for informal socializing before the scheduled meeting time, with the group arriving early for this? Or would they prefer to begin the session when they arrive, and use the time afterward for light refreshments and conversations? Discuss this and set guidelines that help your people to plan when to arrive and how long to stay.

Handling Potential Problems
Your group may face problems like those listed below. Considering them in advance, so you are better able to deal with them if they occur.

• Frequent absences
• Frequent tardiness
• Lack of preparation
• Lack of motivation
• Difficulties in relating to each other or to you
• Members who drop out
• Varying degrees of expectations and interest
• Members who seem to monopolize the group’s time
• Considerations that require changing your regular meeting time
• Couples in which the husband and wife seem to be going different directions in their interests and expectations
• Members who are experiencing a “dry” period in their spiritual life.

Difficulties such as these will not disappear. Deal with them with an attitude of love and concern. Here are several suggestions:

1. Talk alone with the people involved. Share with them your concern and your desire for their success.
2. Establish a satisfactory agreement with the persons involved or with the group as a whole. This makes them accountable to one another.
3. Share some concerns with the entire group. Point out your goals for this discipleship training and your wanting them to commit to those same goals. Do this in a positive, encouraging way.
4. Give occasional “locker room chats”—as a coach would with his/her team— you remind, challenge, encourage, and sometimes correct—briefly and in a positive way.
5. Feel free to talk seriously about relevant biblical principles that deal with situations you face with your group.
6. Seek outside help from your pastor or from other mature Christians when necessary.

Getting Together
1. Start and end on time. Most people appreciate punctuality. Don’t allow the time to get away from you near the end of a session. You want the group to be eager to return next week.
2. Try to involve each group member in the discussions.
3. Avoid embarrassing people. Some may feel uncomfortable at first in such activities as reading aloud, praying aloud or talking in a group.
4. As the leader, participate in all the activities. A new group especially needs to see your example.
5. Give clear instructions they will understand.
6. Be yourself. Use the outlines given in the leader guide for each session, but avoid being mechanical about it.
7. Arrive prepared. Your people can get discouraged if you seem to not know what you are doing—especially when they have given time to come prepared.
8. Review the leader guide as part of your preparation each week. Have clear goals in mind for each session (but stay flexible).

Between Meetings
Your commitment to the group includes more than your time during your group sessions. Accomplishing your goals for developing disciples may require additional activities on your part.

1. Establish a genuine friendship with those in your group. If possible get to know them outside of your group meetings. Strong friendships enhance your group sessions. During Bearing Fruit in God’s Family you might have one or two social activities as a group—like having a simple potluck before one of your sessions. If possible do some fun things together.
2. Pray regularly for each person in your group. Ask them to pray for one another.
3. Keep growing as a Christian. Effective spiritual leaders are continuing to grow in their own lives.
4. Follow your priorities. Keep your personal relationship with God and your responsibilities to your family in order as you have a discipleship ministry to others.

Reading and Marking Assignments
In many assignments you ask 2:7 participants to read and mark certain sections of the material. An example is Priorities: Part 2 on pages 85-90. The benefit for them and for the group is that when those pages are discussed, each person sees what he/she has marked and immediately has things to share in the group—not having to nervously search through several unmarked pages. From time to time underscore the value of marking/highlighting almost everything that is read in the 2:7 books. It sets one up for participation.

Read Around the Circle
In many of the 2:7 sessions individuals are asked to read aloud from their books. In Session 1 you say something like, “On page 9, let’s read through this list of goals we had for Book 2. Let’s start with Andy and go to the left. Andy, would you read all of number 1, and then we’ll read on around the circle. After Andy reads, you say “thank you.” Then: “Susan, would you read those next two goals?” After each one reads, just say “thank you” and make eye contact with the next reader—often eye contact is enough and you don’t have to say anything.

Experience has shown that “reading around the circle” is a simple, efficient way to cover the material and get audible participation. These become things you don’t have to read aloud yourself. There are sections of the 2:7 materials that are not mentioned in the assignments—but you can choose to have various segments read aloud if you wish. Look for places where you can have a change of pace. Variety is good. These exercises are incremental steps toward people becoming a leader for a 2:7 groups or Bible studies in the future.

Group-Participant-centered, Not Leader-centered
In The 2:7 Series you lead as a facilitator, not a teacher. Let the material carry the load. You don’t have to manage and direct—you facilitate. You want to hear their voices most of the time, not your voice. You sit as part of the circle and participate as one of the group. When the group is reading aloud around the circle, take your turn. But as leader you sometimes underscore things that are important or not understood. Most questions you are asked can be directed back to the group. Other questions you may choose to answer outright—and move on.

First, prepare your lesson as a group participant. Then prepare your lesson as group leader. Have in mind the sections where you discuss material they have read and marked—you want to discuss segments one at a time. Have in mind the sections where you will have them read around the circle. In some Bible studies you may have a follow-up question or two as people answer questions in their book.

In Bearing Fruit in God’s Family you are building on the training your people received in Growing Strong in God’s Family and Deepening Your Roots in God’s Family. Their capacities have increased during Book 2. Here in Book 3 they meet new challenges that may stretch them a bit. The workload is about the same as it was in Book 2. They continue to sharpen their “My Story” (salvation testimony)—and they are encouraged by new insights into themselves and their spiritual journey. As with Books 1and 2, Book 3 only impacts a life to the degree that the Holy Spirit works in and through the materials, the Word of God, and the influence of group members on one another.

Goals for Bearing Fruit in God’s Family

The main goals are to continue to develop the group members’ walk with Christ and to upgrade their ministry effectiveness. You are seeking to develop habits and patterns in each person’s life that continue long after going through the 2:7 training material.
You want to help your 2:7 group members reach the following milestones:

1. To experience a more consistent and meaningful quiet time by:

a. Combining meaningful Bible reading and prayer.
b. Having at least 14 consecutive quiet times during the course.
c. Recording daily quiet time thoughts on My Reading Highlights.

2. To retain the five or six memory verses from Book 1 and the 6-12 “Live the New Life” verses memorized in Book 2.

3. To memorize 6-12 “Proclaim Christ” verses from the TMS.

4. To complete and discuss five Bible studies on Christian character.

5. To experience six methods for meditating on Scripture.

6. To give a personal salvation testimony in less than four minutes—with or without written outline notes (bullet points on paper).

7. To present The Bridge Illustration satisfactorily to a classmate.

8. To study and discuss principles for setting and fulfilling priorities.

Flowchart for Bearing Fruit in God’s Family

How and when various topics are emphasized in Book 3:
Bible Study
• “Introduction to Bible Study—Book 3”—Session 2.
• Bible study on five Christian character subjects—Sessions 3, 5, 6, 8, 11.
Meditation
• “Ways to Meditate on the Scriptures—Part 1”—Session 1.
• “Ways to Meditate on the Scriptures—Part 2”—Session 2.

Scripture Memory
• The TMS in Book 3”—Session 1.
• Memorizing at least six verses on the gospel—Sessions 2-7.
• Continue the normal verse review pattern—Sessions 2-11.

Evangelism
• “Openly Identifying with Christ”—Session 1.
• Memorizing at least six verses on the gospel—Sessions 2-7.
• Tell “My Story” with or without notes—various sessions.
• “Relationship Evangelism Bible Study”—Session 4.
• “The Bridge Illustration”— Session 7.
• Practice giving “The Bridge”—various sessions.

Priorities
• “Verse Analysis of Matthew 6:33”—Session 9.
• “Priorities-Part 1”—Session 9.
• “Priorities-Part 2”—Session 10.

Quiet Time
• Sharing quiet time highlights—Sessions 2-11.

Prayer
• A regular activity—all sessions.

Preparing to Lead Book 3
As you prepare to lead Book 3, think back on what worked, what didn’t work, and what could have been done better in Books 1 and 2. Learn from your experiences. Continue using the methods that have been effective with your group.

Here are things to remember as you lead Book 3, Bearing Fruit in God’s Family.

1. The goal of The 2:7 Series is to produce disciples who walk with God and effectively minister to others.

2. Watch for signs of fatigue and stagnation. Your people have worked faithfully for several months. In Book 3 they may show signs of tiring— especially men and single-parent women. They feel the pressure of preparation time as well as their work, church and family commitments.

3. How are your group members relating to each other? By now they have probably developed warm friendships among themselves. Group members often initiate fellowship and care for one another.

4. How is your own presentation of The Bridge Illustration? Can you give them a good model to follow?

5. Are you avoiding the trap of letting your preparation and study time replace your quiet time? Your preparation is necessary, but be careful to maintain your own personal relationship with God.

6. The material on priorities (Sessions 9-10) is extensive and packed with important principles and application. Before beginning this material, get a total picture of what you are attempting to do. Don’t view it as two separate lessons, but rather as one entity. Prepare this subject as a package.

7. Maintain a tentative schedule of when your group members will be giving their “My Story” in less than four minutes with or without notes.

The Format for Session 1-11 in this Leader Guide
For Sessions 1-11 you will find:
1. The specific goals you want to accomplish during each session.
2. Detailed instructions on how to lead each segment on the outline (at the beginning of each session).
3. Occasional reminders designed to prod your memory on what to be planning or watching for as you progress through the course.

NOTE: Most 2:7 groups plan to meet for two hours each week. They spend 1½ hours on the lessons and allow 30 minutes for conversation and informal fellowship. Groups have 30 minutes of fellowship and light refreshments before or after the lesson. Other groups have 15 minutes both before and after class. Do what is best for your situation.

Graduation Plans
It is a significant milestone for the people in your group to complete all three courses in The 2:7 Series! Plan a graduation at the end of Book 3, “Bearing Fruit in God’s Family.” It is an opportunity to recognize work well done. It can be a significant encouragement and motivation to your people, as well as a fun and uplifting event.

You can ask your group what they would like to do when you are about half way through Book 3. You can organize a surprise graduation and simply ask them to reserve a certain block of time on their calendar. Be creative and enthusiastic.

Possible graduation activities:

1. Have a potluck dinner together.
2. You and/or your pastor recognize them in a church service or key Sunday school class (This is a good way to motivate and recruit other people for this type of training!).
3. Give them each a small gift like a book on walking with God or other practical topic.

The desire accomplished is sweet to the soul…— Proverbs 13:19 (KJV)

Group Leader Resource Material
It is important for you to carefully prepare, so you can do a good job of leading each of the Bible study discussions. The following material has been compiled to assist you in handling the five Bible study group discussions.

Usually each of the 11 sessions in Bearing Fruit in God’s Family is led by the same group leader. Because of a group leader’s being sick, traveling, or some other contingency, it may become necessary for someone else from the group to take a turn leading one of the 11 sessions. The group leader for sessions 3, 5, 6, 8 and 11—will lead a Bible study discussion as well as facilitating the other lesson activities. Each time you prepare to lead, you will find it helpful to review the suggestions in this section.

2:7 Group Member Preparation
A key ingredient to stimulating and beneficial Bible study discussions is for each member in the group to have his/her Bible study completed before coming to class.

From time to time remind the members of the group how important it is (for you and for them) to have the Bible study done prior to the group meeting. If people come with an incomplete lesson, don’t ignore them or give words or looks of disapproval. Make them feel accepted and as much a part of the group as the others. It is important for those people to enjoy and benefit from the group discussion and not feel rejected. At the beginning of the discussion you might assign such a person one or two questions they can prepare and be ready to share when you get to that part of the lesson. To graduate from this three-book training series a person needs to have filled in all of the blank lines in the Bible studies. So accountability will catch up to them. Stay positive.

Group Leader Preparation
First, prepare the Bible study for your own enlightenment and application. Ask God to speak to you and to strengthen you from the study (even if you have been through this material several times). You want correct, practical answers but without becoming academic and theoretical. When you get excited about the topic of a study, you are well on your way to being an energetic group leader.

Second, look over your questions and answers. Think of the needs and interests in your group. To which parts of the study should you give more attention? Think through and plan in advance. This makes for a more effective Bible study discussion. During the actual Bible discussion you may find it wise to deviate from your original plan. Thoughtful preplanning gives you a general direction in which to move, but you want to remain flexible and be willing to make adjustments if needed.

The Bible Says…
In your group you want people sharing what the Bible teaches, not opinions and conjectures. On one hand we don’t want people to be afraid of making theological mistakes. On the other hand we don’t want people sharing opinions without an appropriate passage of Scripture. Mostly, this problem is alleviated by sticking with the verses, questions, and answers in the Bible study. Don’t let the discussion drift into tangents where you and the group members have not done homework. Each week concentrate on the subject at hand.

Several Helpful Discussion Guidelines
1. Sit in a circle. This is the best seating arrangement. Each person has eye contact with most of the other people and it creates an informal, warm atmosphere. The group leader is thought of as a peer because he/she is not seated in a prominent place.

2. Don’t dominate. As leader, you are both a facilitator and a participant in the group. Talk less than those in the group. As the facilitator you give direction and ask questions. As a participant you share your insights and written answers along with the others. Share humbly, not expertly.

3. Not the authority. Avoid becoming the authority figure in the group. You don’t want all the questions directed to you with the others thinking you are able to answer everything. Direct questions back to the group. Say something like, “That is an interesting question. What thoughts might some of you have that would help us answer that question?” Sometimes you recruit a volunteer to take a difficult question to the pastor or an associate pastor. The volunteer comes back to the group with an answer.

4. Work together. Your role as group leader is not a teaching responsibility, just as a group member’s role is not to sit, listen, and take notes. All of you in the group work together finding answers and clarifying issues.

5. Too talkative. You may soon find that one or two people in your group have something to say about everything. Chat with them on the side. Say something like, “You have some great ideas. You are excellent in the discussion times. I need your help. There are others in the group who need to talk more so they can grow in confidence. Could you help me in getting some of these people to talk more? Before you talk in the group, let one or two others go first. Don’t be afraid of silence. It often takes a pause before (name) and (name) will talk. Try to share only your best thoughts in the group. Thank you for your help with this!”

6. Too quiet. When you direct a question to the group, give quiet people eye contact. Sometimes ask one of your less vocal people to read a quotation or answer a specific question. Gradually they become more comfortable talking. Bearing Fruit in God’s Family is designed to build confidence and enable people to participate with a growing confidence. Quoting verses and working on My Completion Record (in groups of two or three) each week also helps people feel more secure.

7. Acknowledge answers. Thank people when they participate. Thank them for reading a paragraph or answering a question. This is particularly important for those quieter ones. An acknowledgment doesn’t always have to be verbal. Many times it can be a nod of the head or eye contact that communicates approval. As you model good group leader skills, people will remember how you did it and one day will be effective leaders with their own group.

8. Ask the group. Usually you address your questions to the group, not to any individual. (An exception to this would be to ask a quiet person a specific question.) As you ask a question, let your eye contact sweep around the group.

9. Get several answers. After one person has given an answer to a Bible study question, you usually ask for one or two other people to give their answers to the same question. This allows several people to participate on each question. It also helps insure that the answers reflect a correct handling of that particular Scripture passage. A simple question should be answered by only one or two people. A more complex question can be answered by three or four people. “Think about” and “application” questions might be answered by half of the group—or more if you wish. Ask people to read their answers exactly the way they have written them in the book. This keeps things moving. After they have read their written answer they might express an additional ad lib sentence or two for clarification.

10. Application and Summary questions. In the Bearing Fruit in God’s Family Bible studies you find a sprinkling of application and summary questions. As you discuss the answer to these questions, give them priority. You may consider some questions important enough to ask several to give their answer. For some questions you may ask every person in your group to share their answer.

This is not a comprehensive list—but these are a few examples:

• Page 31, question 5e (application question)
• Page 34, question 10 (application question)
• Page 44, question 1a (summary question)
• Page 46, question 4 (summary question)
• Page 48, question 10 (summary question)
• Page 48, question 13 (application question)
• Page 56, question 9c (application question)

The “Think About” Questions
You have observed the “Think About” question at the beginning of each of the Bible studies. Remind group members to give two or three minutes of thought to the “Think About” question before starting to prepare their Bible study. Its purpose is to get their mind moving toward the Bible study topic. You can ask several to answer the “Think About” question before you move into discussing the actual Bible study content. This pulls people’s minds away from their busy day into the subject at hand.

You notice there is no correct or “school answer” to “Think About” questions. They stimulate thinking and promote discussion.

How to Lead the Bible Study Discussion
In the five Bible studies, your goal is to have every question answered by at least one person. When an answer is simple and straightforward, you usually move right on to the next question. More complex answers generate a variety of comments from others. You may see an area of special interest surface. That may lead to your having to invest more time discussing that topic. During this course, you probably will use both of the following methods for leading discussion.

1. Question-by-question—sharing in sequence. Go around the circle and in turn have each person answer one question or sub-question. You go through the questions in order.

As you go around the circle, also ask people to read aloud the quotations and paragraphs between questions.

When you start the discussion, tell the group where you want them to begin in the circle and whether you want them to go to the left or to the right. Don’t always start in the same place or always go in the same direction. Share your answer or read a quotation when it is your turn.

People are advanced enough by Book 3 that you don’t have to “lead them by the hand.” You will find yourself more frequently using the second method below.

2. Question-by-question—sharing at random. In this method you do not go around the circle in sequence, but still answer the Bible study questions in order. Work on a volunteer basis. You might ask, “Would someone please read the opening paragraph?” Someone says, “I will,” and reads it. After it has been read, ask, “Who will answer question 1 for us please?”

Continue on with question 2, then, question 3. Have the quotations and paragraphs read in between questions as you did in the previous method.

Occasionally quieter students in the group may need to be asked something like, “John, would you answer question 6 for us please?” Then go back to the volunteer approach again. Still apply “Ask the group” and “Get several answers” (page 13 above).

In this leader guide for Sessions 3-5, 10, and 11 you are given some additional Bible study discussion questions. Use them sparingly. As you know, you cannot ask one of these “understanding questions” until after someone in the group has shared an answer to the question for which you have an additional discussion question. You can effectively lead the discussions by only using these two methods—even without using the “understanding questions.”

You will appreciate the discussions during the Bible studies in “Bearing Fruit in God’s Family.” Enjoy!

• To review the highlights of Book 2 and preview Book 3.
• To briefly discuss meditation and practice two methods for meditating on Scripture.
• To encourage pre-evangelism and evangelism by:

a. Discussing “Openly Identifying with Christ.”
b. Discussing current use of their Evangelism Prayer List.

Pray yourself—or ask for someone to volunteer to pray—or ask someone by name to pray. Usually keep this brief.

Go around the circle and have this segment read aloud. The intent is to help people rejoice in what they have completed. Reading this gives them a sense of accomplishment and motivates them to continue to do well. Weekly consistency accumulates into a completed course and many personal benefits.

Convey a sense of excitement as you lead the group in looking over My Completion Record on pages 7-8. Instead of mentioning possible difficulties, focus on benefits for them as they successfully complete these requirements.

Point out that the memory verses are valuable for use in ministry. These are key gospel verses! For 14 consecutive days they need to review the “Live The New Life” verses they memorized during Book 2. Strongly encourage them to review all of their memory verses five out of seven days every week. Field experience has shown that students who do this will excel in scripture memory. They will not only know the verses expertly, but their life and ministry will be enriched by the verses as well. You, the group leader, want to set the pace in verse review! You need to be able to tell them your successes in scripture memory review, and ways you have overcome obstacles.

Most weeks there is time for the group to share highlights from their quiet times. Sometime during the course each person needs to check off 14 consecutive quiet times on My Reading Highlights – and then get it signed off on My Completion Record.

The several evangelism requirements relate to a skill, knowledge, or an activity. “Openly Identifying with Christ” (page 18) gives practical suggestions on how one might fulfill the “Identified with Christ” requirement. If you can, share a personal example of how you recently did this.

When any Bible study has all the answers filled in it is complete and can be signed off. They can tell their “My Story” either with or without outline notes. But encourage them during this course to get to where they don’t need notes. Someone needs to time each testimony. The timer should give a signal (tap the table three times or hold up three fingers) when the three minute mark is reached. This helps the person finish under the four-minute target.

The requirement to pray over one’s Evangelism Prayer List for seven consecutive days is an exercise designed to increase consistency. A student may keep track of this on his/her My Reading Highlights (by checking the small square for each day) or by using any other record-keeping method.

There are three requirements to sign off regarding The Bridge Illustration.

• Outline: The person draws out the illustration and knows where the verses go. It is not necessary to quote the verses or ask the questions as they draw the illustration on paper. They simply get all of the ingredients on paper without help from someone else.

• Lecture presentation 1: The person presents The Bridge Illustration to someone in the class in lecture form without asking questions. This means drawing the illustration step by step and explaining in logical sequence how The Bridge Illustration explains the gospel. The students will want to practice several times at home before making this presentation.

• Lecture presentation 2: This is done in the same way that “lecture presentation 1” was done. The intent is that the second presentation will be done more skillfully. The students still need to practice at home before making this presentation.

The Bible studies cover excellent, practical subjects. As the group leader, you are the Bible study leader every week. Prepare prayerfully and carefully. Those in your group come to class each time with their Bible study completed. Don’t be vindictive if one or two people don’t have a completed study. They need to have a written answer for every question in a Bible study before it can be signed off. Encourage the students to start work on the Bible study early in the week so the Holy Spirit can speak to their hearts through it. Doing preparation at the last minute takes the joy out of both the preparation and the discussion time.

There are several excellent short projects in this course listed under “Other.” These are high impact, practical subjects. Each of these items can be signed off on My Completion Record after the segment has been studied and all of the questions answered.

One delightful task as a 2:7 group leader is to verify when everything has been signed off on each My Completion Record. You then sign off the “Leader’s Check,” confirming the person’s graduation from Book 3 in The 2:7 Series.

Have group members read pages 10 and 11 aloud. Take your usual turn as the group reads around the circle. Make a brief comment after each section has been read aloud. Remind your group that each of the first six weeks they will be memorizing a verse. For the remaining weeks they review these verses at the beginning of each session. It is particularly important for people to give special attention to the scripture memory assignments in the early weeks.

Have the group read these pages aloud by continuing to read around the circle. Remind the students that they want review daily their memory verses from the previous two courses as well as any verses they have learned in Book 3. If the verses are neglected, recall can fade. It is wise to regularly review their verses so they don’t lose their investment. It keeps the verses sharp and available for the Holy Spirit to use in their life and in their ministry to others.

There are six methods for meditating on Scripture presented in Book 3. Only the first two methods are done this week. At home the students complete an exercise for each of the other four methods. That work is discussed by the group the next week.

Have the verses and introductory material read aloud (page 14). Reflect together on the value of meditation, and the seeming absence of it in our busy lives. Be sure the term meditation is understood before you explain how to meditate. Ask for their reactions to what this introductory material says.

Have them read aloud 1—Paraphrase at the top of page 15 and 2-Questions at the bottom of page 16. Explain that as soon as you read these two segments, they do the two exercises on their own. (Don’t have the translations of the verses read aloud. They refer to them as they write the two exercises). After the information for these two methods has been read, briefly answer their questions. Then give them about 10 minutes to paraphrase 2 Timothy 3:16 and to jot down questions and answers for Hebrews 10:24-25.

When you continue as a group, ask several to share their paraphrase. Ask how this method of meditation on the passage spoke to them. How well did it get them into the content of the verse?

Then ask several to share some of their questions and answers from the second exercise. Again ask how well this method pulled them into the content of the passage. It may need to be clarified that, in real life, it is often helpful to have identified a specific question even though no immediate answer is available. There are not always instant answers to questions, problems, and difficulties in life.

Next, ask someone to read “Meditation Exercises in Session 2” on page 18. Be sure they are clear about what they will do in each of these exercises before next week. Glance over pages 22-24, where they apply meditation methods 3, 4, 5, and 6.

It has been said, “People don’t do what you expect; they do what you inspect.” Encourage your people to pray for their evangelism prospects—to keep these people in mind. Encourage them to arrange time with the people on their list. They want to deepen their friendships with these people.

How frequently have they prayed for these people? Have they added or subtracted people from their list? How has the list helped? What have they learned about themselves by using this list? What are they learning about the kind of people they are best suited to reach? How are they finding time for these people?

People in your group will be selecting one or two people from their Evangelism Prayer List with whom they think they would feel comfortable openly identifying with Christ. Some will already have done this. The next thing on the class schedule is to discuss what this will entail during this course.

Ask for this page to be read aloud and briefly discuss its content.

Ask someone to read the assignment aloud. In Session 2 there is an opportunity for some to share their “My Story” (with or without outline notes) in under four minutes. This becomes part of several sessions. Ask which one or two people would like to do theirs next week, and possibly assign some of the people beyond next week.

Are you praying for each person in your group? What are you asking God to do for them? (See Mark 10:51a: “‘What do you want me to do for you?’ Jesus asked him.”) Make sure you allow adequate time in each session for a little conversational prayer.

• To help the group experience the benefits of four more methods for meditating on Scripture.
• To motivate those in your group to thoughtfully prepare their Bible studies during the course.

Pray yourself—or ask for someone to volunteer to pray—or ask someone by name to pray. Usually keep this brief.

In the groups they quote their verses on “All Have Sinned”: Romans 3:23 and Isaiah 53:6 (recommended but optional).

Don’t forget the importance of encouragement and praise during verse review. Get Book 3 off to a positive start. Point out the usefulness of the Proclaim Christ verses for sharing the gospel. Also point out that later in the course they will be using these verses to illustrate the gospel.

This is the first chance to share quiet time thoughts since Session 10 in Book 2. Make the most of this time together in the Word. Are most people sharing? Are you thanking them and commenting as various people contribute their thoughts?

Let everyone share responses to the exercises on these pages. Point out that while six methods have been presented, each person will probably find one or two methods more useful than the others.

Ask group members to tell which methods they liked best and why. Ask them what ideas they have for incorporating these methods of meditation into their quiet time, Bible study, or other activities.

Put this week’s two or three presenters at ease. You want them to relax and enjoy telling their salvation story. It will be timed, but that is for their benefit so they can sense what four minutes feels like. If a testimony runs too long, something needs to be deleted from it. If it is less than 2 ½ minutes in length, something should be added to it.

Get a volunteer timer each week for the “My Story” presentations. The timer should signal the presenter at the three minute mark by holding up three fingers or tapping the table three times. This helps the presenter to finish in under four minutes.

Those who go over four minutes or under 2 ½ minutes will have another opportunity to present. It is not uncommon for people to need two or three attempts in order to hit the 2 ½ – 4 minute window. Ask for one or two volunteers from the group to tell their “My Story” next session, unless assignments were made earlier.

Have several people assist in reading this segment aloud. A brief discussion is appropriate, or simply answer any questions the students may have. Sometimes two or three in the group have comments and then you can continue on.

Ask someone to read the assignment for Session 3. Encourage your people to enjoy the course and avoid unnecessary stress by:

a. Staying current and sharp on their memory verses.
b. Completing their Bible study early in the week between classes.

You may suggest for this prayer time that they focus on what could keep each person in the group from getting the most out of Book 3—how Satan might attack.

• To emphasize the benefits of a fruitful Christian life and the prerequisites for living such a life.
• To give ongoing affirmation and encouragement to members of the group as they continue to work at completing their course requirements.

Pray yourself—or ask for someone to volunteer to pray—or ask someone by name to pray. Usually keep this brief.

In the groups they quote verses on “Sin’s Penalty”: Romans 6:23 and Hebrews 9:27 (recommended but optional).

Remember that the objective of scripture memory is not only to be able to quote the verses, but to also understand, apply and use them. From time to time, ask if they have been able to use their memory verses in their own life or in ministering to others.

Most weeks you share something from one of your quiet times. During the week think about what you might share. Be ready with a quiet time thought that is simple and uplifting. You may be a more mature Christian than others in your group. Some people are discouraged by complicated, theological explanations. This also heads off competition of who can share the deepest, most wonderful insights from their quiet times. And everyone benefits from hearing something encouraging and uplifting. God is speaking to us individually through our quiet times. So on any week there is a broad spectrum of scriptural insights shared by the group.

Each week encourage and affirm those who tell their salvation story. There is trauma in testimony preparation and sharing.

Be thorough in your preparation. First, answer the questions for your own growth and benefit. Then, prepare to lead.

Begin by asking someone to read the introductory paragraph on page 28.

Next, let the group “brain storm” some possible answers to the “Think About” question. Allow several to share. If the answers are brief, a person could share more than once. Spend three or four minutes on this question. Remember that there is a “Think About” question at the beginning of every Bible study. Its purpose is to get the members of the group talking and to draw their minds into the topic at hand.

Here are additional questions you might ask during the discussion. As you know, you only ask an additional question after someone has answered the original question. Ask an additional question to the whole group, not to an individual.

Additional Discussion Questions for “The Call to Fruitful Living”:

Question 2
(John 15:8) What does it mean to “bear much fruit”?

Question 3
(Galatians 5:22-23) What relationship do you see between any two of these qualities?

Question 4
(1 Peter 2:12) What are some examples of “good deeds”?

Question 4
Which of these three areas do you think is the most important?

Question 6
In what way do you think acquiring wisdom differs from acquiring knowledge?

Question 8
(Philippians 3:4-14) How would you define “attitude”?

Ask for each of the four summaries to be read aloud (pages 34-35). Usually just read around the circle with a different person answering each of the summaries. Occasionally, another person wants to briefly comment on a summary after it is read. This should not lead to a lengthy discussion of each summary. Keep it brief.

Ask someone to read the assignment for Session 4. Commend them for persevering. They have completed Books 1 and 2 in The 2.7 Series and are well into this third and final course!

Perhaps focus on non-Christians who are listed on each person’s Evangelism Prayer List. You can have them pray by verse review groups, in groups of two or three, in two groups, or the whole group together. It is easy for each individual to pray for someone on his/her list. It takes too much time to share requests and then pray for each other’s evangelism prospects. They pray for their own prospects.

• To clarify that both proclaiming the gospel and affirming the gospel are essential elements in the process of evangelism.

Pray yourself—or ask for someone to volunteer to pray—or ask someone by name to pray. Usually keep this brief.

In the groups they quote their verses on “Christ Paid the Penalty”: Romans 5:8 and I Peter 3:18 (recommended but optional). Most people have now memorized half of the verses they will memorize during Book 3.

Keep in mind those who have been sharing in previous weeks and those who haven’t shared much. You many still need to call on the quiet ones by name if they don’t volunteer. Something like: “Chris, what could you share with us from your reading?” or “Pat, we’d love to hear one of yours.” Observe whether people share from My Reading Highlights or directly from their Bible. Some weeks limit sharing to only what they have written on their My Reading Highlights. After reading a My Reading Highlights entry, they may briefly elaborate on what they read.

Thank each one who shares. The timer person gives them a warning at three minutes to help them finish in under four minutes. Do you have volunteers to give their testimony next week?

This important Bible study both instructs and motivates. You will find that all three sections provide interesting and significant discussion material. Start by asking someone to read the paragraph under “Two Key Ingredients” on page 38.

You might lead the study section by section rather than question by question. Ask them what they observed or learned out of “Proclaiming the Gospel.” People share at random. Their sharing skips around in that section. (All of the questions don’t have to be answered before you move to the next section—it is at your discretion). Then, they share at random in “Affirming the Gospel.” Then handle “The Process of Relationship Evangelism” in the same way.

Here are additional questions you can ask during the discussion. As you know, you only ask an additional question after someone has answered the original question. (You are asking a question about their answer). Always ask an additional question to the whole group, not to an individual.

Additional Discussion Questions for the “Relationship Evangelism Bible Study”:

Question 1
(2 Corinthians 5:18-20) How would you define “reconciliation”?

Question 2
(Mark 16:15) Would you call the U.S. and Canada “mission fields”? Why or why not?

Question 7
To what degree are we limited to being only able to minister to people similar to us in background and station in life?

Question 7
What is another word for “affirming”?

Ask someone to read the assignment for Session 5.

Ask several to pray conversationally about the material in the Bible study. Remind them that we want to be praying for one another during the week.

• To clarify what genuine love is and how important it is for Christians to demonstrate it in and through their lives.

Pray yourself—or ask for someone to volunteer to pray—or ask someone by name to pray. Usually keep this brief.

In the groups they quote their verses on “Salvation Not by Works”: Ephesians 2:8-9 and Titus 3:5 (recommended but optional).

Get a reading of how well the group members are doing in getting their scripture memory verses signed off on My Completion Record. Compliment them for what they have done. Remind them to keep getting things signed off on My Completion Record.

Ask what Bible books they have most enjoyed reading and why. How much do they feel the quiet time has become a part of their life? What have they been learning about the value of the quiet time?

Ask if anyone has had an opportunity to share their testimony with someone outside of this 2:7 group. If so, let them tell about it. Have someone time the testimonies and give a three-minute warning. Determine which people have not completed the testimony requirement for this course. Who will be sharing their “My Story” in Session 6?

Some people feel they know this subject well already. Pray and prepare so this discussion is interesting and encouraging. The passages of Scripture in this study can become helpful for years to come.

Here are additional questions you can ask during the discussion. As you know, you only ask an additional question after someone has answered the original question. (You are asking a question about their answer). Ask an additional question to the whole group, not to an individual.

Additional Discussion Questions for the “Love in Action”:

Question 3
(1 John 4:8-21) What is the difference between saying “God is l love” and saying “love is God?”

Question 3
(1 John 4:8) What are some things God is other than love?

Question 5
(John 13:34-35) Must we like a person before we can love that person?

Question 6
What do you feel is the relationship between dependence on God and humility?

Question 8
(Romans 12:3) How is it that thinking too little of oneself is also pride?

Question 11
(Proverbs 12:25) How does this differ from flattery?

Ask for each of the four summaries to be read aloud (page 49). Usually just read around the circle with a different person answering each of the summaries. Sometimes one or two people want to briefly comment on a summary after it is read. This should not lead to a lengthy discussion of each summary. Keep it brief.

Ask someone to read the assignment for Session 6. The Bible study, “Purity of Life,” is excellent, but is longer than some of the others. Everyone will want to start early—to answer a few Bible study questions each day.

Have a brief time of conversational prayer. Ask them to focus prayer on the children and close relatives of those in the group.

• To emphasize—from the Bible study—the imperative of purity in the life of a Christian.

Reminders:
This is a good point in the course to check yourself on some of these items:

• Who am I serving?
• Why am I leading this group?
• Why are these people taking the course?
• Do I really know my group members personally?
• Am I familiar with the goal for each session?
• What needs and expectations does each group member have?
• What do I want to see happen in the lives of those in my group?
• How much social time am I spending to build relationships among those of us in the group?
• What is the quantity and quality of the time I spend praying for my 2:7 group members?

Rarely can a group facilitator do all these things well. The list is a reminder. We want to do well what we can do well. We trust the grace of God for the rest.

Pray yourself—or ask for someone to volunteer to pray—or ask someone by name to pray. Usually keep this brief.

In the groups they quote their verses on “Must Receive Christ”: John 1:12 and Romans 10:9-10 (recommended but optional).

Ask the group how well they are doing in reviewing their verse cards from five to seven days each week. Tell them how much doing this has meant to you. Share your occasional failures as well.

You may want to check to see how many in the group have had 14 consecutive quiet times and have it signed off. Be sure you have met this requirement as well.

Have each one timed and at the three minute mark the timer gives a signal so the person can finish up in under four minutes. What opportunities have some in the group had to share their salvation story?

Keep in mind that during the quiet time we read for the enjoyment and refreshment of the passage. We look more for what impresses us than what Scripture specifically teaches in the passage.

In Bible study, however, we are more exacting in our handling of Scripture. Answers to Bible study questions should not state or imply concepts that are not expressed in the passage. Promote exactness in the group’s answers to Bible study questions without becoming perfectionistic.

Here are additional questions you can ask during the discussion. As you know, you only ask an additional question after someone has answered the original question. (You are asking a question about their answer). Ask an additional question to the whole group, not to an individual.

Additional Discussion Questions for “Purity of Life”:

Question 1
(1 Peter 1:15-16) How is it that some non-Christians are able to live very moral and upright lives?

Question 2
(2 Corinthians 7:1) What does the word “cleanse” or “purify” mean to you? What does it imply?

Question 3
(Colossians 1:21-23) What are some words or phrases that mean the same thing as “holiness?”

Question 6
Are there any other excuses you can think of that you have heard someone make?

Question 10
Which of these is the most helpful to you personally?

Ask for each of the four summaries to be read aloud (page 58). Usually just read around the circle with a different person answering each of the summaries. Sometimes one or two people want to briefly comment on a summary after it is read. This should not lead to a lengthy discussion of each summary. Keep it brief.

Ask someone to read the assignment for Session 7. Remind them of the importance of carefully reading and marking the information about The Bridge Illustration (pages 60-70).

We sometimes fail to recognize—or admit to others—periods of dryness, or struggles in our walk with Christ. A closed group like this often develops a depth of honesty and fellowship where things can be said freely that we wouldn’t share with Christians who are casual friends. Hopefully our group gradually becomes better at receiving counsel, encouragement, and help from one another (Hebrews 10:24-25).

Close this session by allowing several to share a personal need or struggle if they wish. People can pray for themselves without first sharing the concern with the group. Pray conversationally.

• To help the students become familiar with the contents of The Bridge Illustration as well as why and how it can be used effectively.

Pray yourself—or ask for someone to volunteer to pray—or ask someone by name to pray. Usually keep this brief.

In the groups they quote their verses on “Assurance of Salvation”: 1 John 5:13 and John 5:24 (recommended but optional).

After everyone returns to the group, you might ask how many of them have all of their verses signed off, including the verse(s) for this week.

Ask them to primarily share what they have written on My Reading Highlights.

Encourage them to continue to respond back to God in prayer during their quiet times. They learned this back in Growing Strong in God’s Family, but it is still an important factor in keeping the quiet time vital.

Be alert to one or two things in each testimony that you can comment on positively as an example for others. Encourage a spirit of gratitude for all God has done for each of us through Christ.

The testimony was described as a door-opener. Now, with The Bridge Illustration, your group learns a tool for clearly explaining the gospel. Go over the explanation of “The Bridge” in detail. Briefly handle questions.

Plan to draw and present “The Bridge” so the group can see how it should be done. (Perhaps on a white board or large pad on an easel). Come prepared to make a sterling presentation! You might practice in advance with someone in the group so the two of you can role play a “Bridge” presentation in front of the group. (Or do it alone— that’s fine.) Explain “The Bridge” as you draw it out. You may or may not choose to use the questions.

During Book 3 every group member presents “The Bridge” at three levels of proficiency:

(1) Just the outline (line drawing, topics, and verse references)
(2) Lecture presentation 1 (explain it as you draw it out)
(3) Lecture presentation 2 (explain it as you draw it out)

Book 3 does not require people to learn the questions that go along with drawing the illustration. Some start learning the questions during this course. Many make learning the questions a goal for after completing Book 3.

Ask someone to read the assignment for Session 8. They need to practice the bridge outline several times before Session 8. What they draw will look like the graphic on page 65. The outline includes the bridge, the main points, and the verse references. Below is the sequence of the verse topics which you also see on page 61 in Book 3:

• God’s Purpose
-Abundant Life: John 10:10
-Eternal Life: John 3:16

• Our Problem
-All Have Sinned: Rom. 3:23; Isaiah 53:6
-Sin’s Penalty: Heb. 9:27; Rom. 6:23

• God’s Remedy
-Christ Paid the Penalty: Rom. 5:8; 1 Peter 3:18
-Salvation Not by Works: Eph. 2:8-9; Titus 3:5

• Our Response
-Must Receive Christ: John 1: 12; Rom. 10:9-10
-Assurance of Salvation: John 5:24; 1 John 5:13

Pray for Christians in the U.S. and other countries who are taking The 2:7 Series or other discipleship training. Pray that their lives and ministry skills will be sharpened and that God will work greatly through them for years to come!

• That the group members will each successfully draw the outline of The Bridge Illustration from memory.
• To strengthen the group members’ commitment to personal integrity.

Pray yourself—or ask for someone to volunteer to pray—or ask someone by name to pray. Usually keep this brief.

They want to quote all the verses memorized in Book 3 and get anything signed that they can on their My Completion Record.

You want to continue to share your own excitement about reading the Bible and responding back to God in prayer. Attitudes and habits are “caught” as much as they are taught. Which meditation methods are you finding most helpful? Share motivating discoveries from your quiet times when you think the topic is appropriate for the group.

It is possible that by this time every person in your group has completed his/her “My Story” requirement. Those who have not completed it need to finish this work by Session 9 or 10.

You might ask, “How many are signed off for ‘Identified with Christ in a relating activity?’” Those in your group need to complete this activity in the next week or two so it is not left until the very end of the course.

What other things are happening in their friendships with non-Christians? Who has been able to share his/her “My Story” with a non-Christian?

Are friendships deepening with one or two non-Christians? Has anyone come to Christ? This brief discussion motivates everyone.

Have a stack of 8 ½ by 11 plain bond paper on hand. You may want to have a few gel pens or ballpoint pens as well—be prepared.

There is time for each person to draw the outline twice. The two people take turns drawing. They don’t need to talk through The Bridge Illustration—just sketch it out. They will sharpen their skill and be an encouragement one another as they work through this exercise.

By now your group members are becoming skilled at talking about their Bible studies. You are both a leader and a participant in the group. Share from time to time, but mostly draw out the others and “direct traffic.” Here are additional questions you can ask during the discussion. As you know, you only ask an additional question after someone has answered the original question. (You are asking a question about their answer). Ask an additional question to the whole group, not to an individual.
Additional Discussion Questions for “Integrity in Living”:

Question 3
(1 Samuel 15:1-23) What does it means to “rationalize?”

Question 3
(1 Samuel 15:1-23) Do you think Saul was rationalizing in this incident or was he doing something else?

Question 7
(Psalm 51:1-5) Are these qualities you have listed merely ideals or can a person really live this way?

Question 9
How much do you think a person’s conscience can be altered as a child? How much do you think it can it be altered as an adult?

Ask for each of the four summaries to be read aloud (page 75). Usually just read around the circle with a different person answering each of the summaries. Sometimes one or two people want to briefly comment on a summary after it is read. This should not lead to a lengthy discussion of each summary. Keep it brief.

Ask someone to read “Assignment for Session 9.” There is quite a bit of homework to be done for Session 9. They complete “Verse Analysis of Matthew 6:33” and study “Priorities—Part 1.” These are interesting subjects, but require some thoughtful preparation.

People in your group need to come prepared to do “Lecture Presentation 1” for The Bridge Illustration. They each make a complete presentation to another person in the group—without asking the questions. They need to practice this “lecture” several times—starting by referring to some notes and then getting away from using those notes.

Have a time of brief conversational prayer. Pray for the individuals who have already heard or will yet be hearing members of the group “Identify with Christ.”

• To understand the meaning and implications of Matthew 6:33.
• To learn several principles and guidelines for applying priorities.
• That the group members will each successfully do a lecture presentation of The Bridge Illustration from memory.

Pray yourself—or ask for someone to volunteer to pray—or ask someone by name to pray. Usually keep this brief.

In the verse review groups they quote all the verses memorized in Book 3 and get anything signed that they can on their My Completion Record.

After you have had a time of sharing, ask each one to describe his/her quiet time routine: where, when, average time spent, and how they do it? This can stimulate your group members as they hear how others spend their time. Ask each person to share which part of their quiet time is most meaningful to them.

Each person needs to make the complete presentation—explaining it as they draw it out. If there is time, some can present it a second time. This practice is valuable!

After you are all back together, ask how it went. Are some of them beginning to feel comfortable with the contents of The Bridge Illustration? What comes easy? What seems to be difficult? Practice, practice, practice is the key to proficiency. Only the Holy Spirit can impact a life, but our skill in presenting The Bridge Illustration facilitates the communication of the gospel. The Holy Spirit then uses that truth that a person clearly understands. Group members can complete this requirement outside of class by meeting together in twos or threes and explaining The Bridge Illustration to one another.

It is possible that by this time every person in your group has completed his or her “My Story” requirement. We are getting down to the last two opportunities for group members to complete this requirement. Everyone should have this done—at the latest in Session 10.

This verse analysis exercise reminds people of the meditation techniques discussed earlier. Basically this is a meditation exercise. In this case, a single verse is approached from different angles to grasp its meaning and application more completely.

Go over the parts of the exercise much as you would a Bible study lesson. Ask the group members to share their answers—section by section. Plan to get participation from everyone.

A verse analysis can be done with any verse. It can be used for personal study or with a group.

Have several volunteers read their paraphrase of the verse. In what ways do some of them more clearly understand the verse because of their paraphrase work? Ask several people to share how they chose to summarize the context surrounding Matthew 6:33.

Ask other people to take one of the four cross-references and read the thought they wrote down. If someone has another cross-reference that comes to mind, everyone may want to write that reference in the margin.

In Bible study, problems can be categorized as “real” or “possible.” A “real” problem is one for which you do not personally have an answer. A “possible” problem is one for which you have an answer, but you know that younger Christians may not.

Ask your people to volunteer at random to read their application. If someone feels their application is too personal they can opt out of the sharing.

Have the opening paragraphs on page 80 read aloud. Work through the rest of the exercise the same way that you would discuss a Bible study. Don’t rush, but move along. There is a lot to cover here.

When you discuss “Guidelines for Setting and Applying Priorities” (pages 82-84), have the bold statements read aloud (such as “Make responsible choices”)—then ask for a couple comments from the group on each of these nine items. Ask someone to read the “Conclusion” (page 84).

Ask someone to read the “Assignment for Session 10.”

Assignments Lecture Presentations 1 and 2 for The Bridge Illustration may be completed outside of class of needed. Other My Completion Record signing may be done outside of class as well.

In Session 10 there will be an extended time for sharing quiet time thoughts. Each person will be able to share two or three of his/her best quiet time thoughts from the last week or two. There are two weeks left for people to get everything signed off on My Completion Record. Now is the time for the final push!

Have a time of brief conversational prayer related to priorities.

• To learn additional principles and guidelines for applying priorities.
• To enjoy an extended time for sharing quiet time thoughts.

Pray yourself—or ask for someone to volunteer to pray—or ask someone by name to pray. Usually keep this brief.

They quote their Book 3 verses and get anything signed that they can on their My Completion Record.

This is an extended time for sharing quiet time thoughts. People may share more than once. There is adequate time, but keep the sharing moving. You should read from your My Reading Highlights at least once and perhaps more.

This is the last classroom opportunity to fulfill this requirement.

Each person makes the complete presentation—explaining it as they draw it out. If there is time, some of them may want to present it a second time. The more practice people get, the more proficient they become.

After you are all back together, ask how it went. How much more comfortable were they in this presentation? What other comments do they have about this second presentation?

Practice, practice, practice is the key to proficiency. Only the Holy Spirit can impact a life, but our skill in presenting The Bridge Illustration facilitates the communication of the gospel. The Holy Spirit then uses that truth that a person clearly understands. Group members can complete this requirement outside of a class session—by meeting together in twos or threes and explaining The Bridge Illustration to one another.

This material does not need to be read aloud. Your people have read and marked it prior to coming to class. Read the title for each major heading and have the group comment on what impressed them from that section. Start with “The Priority of God” and continue on through. Ask for their comments about the diagrams as well.

Ask someone to read “Assignment for Session 11.”

It is always appropriate to focus on thanksgiving during a prayer time. Close this session with brief prayers of thankfulness, including gratitude to the Lord for all they have done during the three courses of The 2:7 Series. Put the focus on what God has done—what He has done among them—not focusing on the workbook material, but on the Lord.

• To emphasize the importance of Christian character and its relationship to adversity.
• That the group members might realize how much they have accomplished during the three courses of The 2:7 Series.

Pray yourself—or ask for someone to volunteer to pray—or ask someone by name to pray. Usually keep this brief.

In their small groups they get anything signed that they can on their My Completion Record. You as the leader sign off “Graduated from Book 3.” You can sign off some of these now and others at the end of Session 11. Commend everyone for their good work!

Reinforce the idea that the quiet time is the backbone of one’s walk with God. A practical goal for the quiet time is for it to become a natural part of our lifestyle.

Discussing the “Think About” question could go on and on. Use the question to get into the subject, but proceed on into the study.

Here are additional questions you might ask during the discussion. As you know, you only ask an additional question after someone has answered the original question. (You are asking a question about their answer). Ask an additional question to the whole group, not to an individual.

Additional Discussion Questions for “Character in Action”:

Question 2
(Romans 8:28) To whom is Paul referring when he speaks of those who love God?

Question 3
(James 1:2-4, 12) What do words like “persevere” and “endure” imply?

Question 9
(Ephesians 5:20) When is it appropriate to not give thanks or “turn the other cheek,” but pursue justice?

Ask for each of the four summaries to be read aloud (pages 96-97). Usually just read around the circle with a different person answering each of the summaries. Sometimes one or two people briefly comment on a summary after it is read. This should not lead to a lengthy discussion of each summary. Keep it brief.

Ask them to read these final comments aloud around the circle.

Often the highlight of this session is the concluding prayer time. Allow at least 15 minutes. Here you can reflect together on what has happened, what needs to be worked on, and what God holds for the future. Allow adequate time for individual and group feelings to be expressed through prayer. Don’t rush this time.

Have you planned a graduation event? Are you giving certificates of completion? (You can download certificates of completion at www.2-7series.org). Are your graduates going to be acknowledged at a church service? Think through what is best for your group in your particular church.