Discovering New Life

New Life in Action

Leader's Manual

Marilyn Ganskow

The New Life Series

For inquiries and/or book ordering information,

please call or write to:

NEW LIFE MINISTRIES

P. O. Box 131564

Carlsbad, CA 92013-1564

1-800-786-4913

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Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version (unless otherwise noted). Copyright c 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of International Bible Society.

Scripture references other than the New International Version:

KJV - King James Version; RSV - Revised Standard Version; NEB - New English Bible; NKJV - New King James Version; ASV - American Standard Version; LB - Living Bible; JB - Jerusalem Bible; Phillips - The New Testament translated by J.B. Phillips

Table of Contents

A Message to Group Leaders 4

Suggestions for Leading Your Group 5

Sample Questions for General Use12

Suggestions for Lesson Preparation13

Lesson 1Our Attitude Toward Others15

Lesson 2Communication25

Lesson 3 Relationships31

Lesson 4Family Responsibilities39

Lesson 5Discipleship51

Lesson 6Witnessing59

Lesson 7Intercessory Prayer67

Lesson 8What is Our Ministry?73

Lesson 9Called to Serve81

A Message to Group Leaders . . .

This Leader's Manual was written to assist you in leading your group through The New Life Series workbook, "New Life in Action."

The Suggestions are intended to help you deal with the different aspects of leading group discussion and to help you in preparing your lessons.

The Questions and Answers give you the answers to each of the questions in the workbook as well as suggested additional questions you can use to help stimulate your group discussion. The number of these you will want to use will depend upon the length of time you have to cover the lesson and/or the maturity of your group (some additional questions are for advanced students).

The Questions for Private Reflection do not have to be discussed in your group. However, you may wish to include some of the less personal ones if you feel they would make an important contribution to the group's understanding of the subject. You might also ask your group in each session if they would like to discuss any of the questions for private reflection.

The lessons have been designed for twohour meetings: 30 minutes for prayer (at the opening and/or closing of the session) and 90 minutes for discussion of the questions. If your time allocated for discussion is less than 90 minutes, you may want to take two sessions to cover the lesson.

May God inspire you as you prepare your lesson, enlightening you with the truth of His message to the world. May He bless each person using The New Life Series workbook under your leadership.

Marilyn Ganskow

Suggestions for Leading your Group

I. General Guidelines

1.Your responsibility as a leader is not so much to provide information as it is to be a loving person, creating an atmosphere of acceptance and trust where the members of your group feel free to discover the meaning of Christianity and to mature in their faith.

2.It is important, therefore, that you do not force your ideas on your group and that your attitude not be judgmental in any way. Accept each person and appreciate each contribution. If you have difficulty accepting someone, perhaps there is something that you need to deal with in yourself.

3.Do not put any participant on the spot. Keep in mind that, initially, some may be too shy to answer the questions spontaneously. You may want to go around the group member by member. This will give them some preparation time before they are asked to answer. Assure them that they may decline to answer a question at any time.

4.Be aware of those who are talking too much and those who are shy. This will help you direct the discussion and allow the participants to receive the most from the session. It is what they think or express that is most important to them.

5.Your ability to listen, therefore, is as important as your speaking. Your group members will remember about 15% of what they hear and 85% of what they say. Aim for your verbal participation not to exceed 25% of the discussion. This may be harder to do in the beginning but should improve as the study progresses.

When others are speaking, make an effort to listen calmly and attentively, otherwise they will feel that you care less for them and more for yourself or your image as leader.

6.The effectiveness of the learning situation will depend on your ability to discern why people respond the way they do. Their background, their environment, their interests, their needs all will be factors in their responses. It is helpful to take these into consideration, as well as to watch their body language and to discern the emotion in their speech. In essence, listen between the lines!

7.Do not be anxious about silence. Such periods can be creative when people are thinking. If your question is not stimulating their thinking, rephrase your question.

If a person gropes for words, don't jump in with the right word or phrase. You may be interrupting a fruitful learning experience.

8.In order to protect the privacy of each person's quest for faith, your group should know that the discussion must not be shared with others outside the group. Confidentiality assures freedom of expression.

9.Discourage lengthy reminiscences and digressions from the subject. Keep the practical application of Scripture and the challenge of today the focus of attention. (See Sample Question 12 on page 12.)

10.Summarize your observations of the discussion occasionally. These can be either corrected, accepted, or rejected by the members. This will help to clarify their thinking, keep the discussion on track and the momentum of the group's "thought" going.

11.When it is necessary, remind your members of the importance of doing their homework. The quality of what they receive from the session will depend on this.

12.If any of your group members have never studied the Bible before, you could explain to them how to look up the Scripture references in the workbook and the cross reference notes in most Bibles.

13.If your group is made up of people from different faiths or Christian denominations, your purpose is to emphasize the things they have in common. Do not allow the discussion to deteriorate into criticisms of denominations, churches or clergy.

14.Begin and end on time. Open and close your sessions with prayer. Encourage your members to pray for each other during the week and to pray aloud briefly either at the opening or closing of your session. Each group will differ in its readiness for this. You will need to be sensitive and encouraging, and yet not push too hard too soon.

15.Be enthusiastic and spontaneous, willing to laugh at yourself, willing to learn with and from the group. When you readily admit you do not have all the answers, you will inspire trust.

16.Pray for each member of your group and try to be in contact with each one privately from time to time.

17.A pamphlet entitled, "Guidelines for Groups" is available freeofcharge from the New Life Ministries office. The directions contained in this pamphlet will help your group members understand their responsibility to contribute to the quality of the discussion and to the success of the group. "Guidelines for Groups" should be distributed after you have been meeting for one or two weeks. Your members will need to have experienced some group discussion to benefit from the pamphlet.

II. Dealing with the Personality

Your group members will have different personality needs. Some people come to a group study primarily to find the freedom to express their feelings openly and mature emotionally. Others come to have their minds stimulated. They will approach the Scriptures more studiously. Then there are those who come primarily for the Christian faith to become their way of life, to put theology into action. All need to be challenged to apply the word of God to life situations, so that their faith does not remain theoretical but becomes a living experience.

As you prepare your lessons and guide the discussion, keep the following personality needs in mind:

1.The Emotions

a.To encourage the free expression of feelings, you need to set the example of openness. Your members will then feel free to share their feelings and a climate of trust and acceptance will grow.

b.In the early stages of study, some of the feelings expressed may be hostile. Leaders and group members need to learn to deal with hostility.

Negative feelings are handled best when the leader is protecting each member from criticism and seeing to it that no one is put on the defensive.

If you will restate to your group the negative feelings expressed by someone and do it in a calm and objective way, this will help your group deal with them.

For example, someone might say, "I think it's a waste of time for adults to study the Bible. That's for children and teenagers." You could say, "______is not convinced of the value of lifelong Scripture reading and study. Would anyone else like to share their thoughts about this?"

2. The Intellect

a.The study of Scripture can be done in different ways. Some prefer to concentrate on the historical meaning of the verses; others like to apply them to daytoday situations and needs. The preparation of your lessons should take both into consideration. Some group members will be challenged to encompass new ideas, and others will want to translate their thinking into more practical terms. No one will feel that the study isn't intellectual enough or that presentday application isn't being made.

3.The Will

a.A person can know the Christian faith intellectually but be far from Christian living. Knowledge of Christ must be bound with personal conduct.

b.Challenge the members of your group to apply the Scriptures to their lives and act upon their faith. Set the example by being disciplined in your own study, occasionally sharing briefly how you have applied the Scriptures to life situations.

III.Some Participants Will Be A Challenge

1.Overly shy members need to be encouraged by uncomplicated questions and by your appreciative response to their answers.

2.The person who digresses needs to be reminded gently of the value of keeping to the question at hand, so that the study can be pursued. See Sample Question 12 on page 12.

3.It may be necessary to contact overly talkative people outside of class and tactfully remind them that each member needs an equal opportunity to share in the discussion. Your individual attention may help alleviate the problem.

4.Some people will be stymied by certain theological problems. They need to be assured that, as they ask God for wisdom and as they study further, their insight will grow.

5.When someone becomes defensive, summarize the discussion and move on to something else.

6.You may have someone who spends an excessive amount of time talking about his or her personal problems to the point where you suspect they are "savoring their sorrow." You can tactfully challenge these people with questions to help them change their pattern of thinking. See Sample Questions 12 and 13 on page 12.

IV.Good Leadership

1.One of the greatest deterrents to being a good leader is to be anxious about yourself. Your anxiety will manifest itself in compulsive talking, defensiveness, a critical attitude, a condescending manner or a depressing uncertainty about the success of your group.

If you are hesitant about your ability as a leader, or you feel incapable because you are going through some personal trial, remember Paul's statements about his own feelings of weakness. (Please read I Corinthians 2:15 and II Corinthians 12:910.) You may also pray that God will reveal to you why you are anxious and ask Him to heal and strengthen you.

Remember that the devil takes delight in making you feel inferior. At these times you may want to recall how Jesus dealt with temptation and remind yourself of the following: you are simply called to be God's humble and willing servant and to do your best as a discussion leader. It is the Holy Spirit who does the teaching. You are merely called to do your part. With some members of your class you will be planting a seed of faith, with others you will help to cultivate or you will be a part of reaping the harvest. But in all cases, it is "God who gives the growth". Please read I Corinthians 3:510.

2.Some leaders make the mistake of "taking over" a group and limiting the growing experience. Leaders should never make an effort to display their knowledge, experience or faith. These qualities will shine through as you set the tone which is most conducive to growth; a loving, caring concern for each person, a devotion to Christ and a dedication to the task at hand.

V. Asking and Answering Questions

1.Because your task is not so much to give information as it is to help your group members find their own answers, it is important to ask the right questions. Remember, it is not necessary for you to have an answer to all of the questions. See Sample Question 10 on page 12. If no one can answer a question, you can assign it to someone as a study project for the following week.

2.As you prepare for your lesson, formulate questions for your group from significant observations you are making, or from questions or personal struggles you are having with the application of the lesson to your own life.

3.You can usually tell the quality of your questions by the kind of thought they stimulate. Learn to rephrase questions that someone is having difficulty answering. Check your questions beforehand to see if they are easy to understand.

4.Avoid questions which can be answered by a "yes" or a "no." They do not encourage discussion. If a question must be asked that way, follow it with "why" or "why not."

5.Your response to answers will either encourage or discourage your members in further participation. They should never be left with the feeling of having given a poor or wrong answer. Everyone's contribution is valid because it comes from their understanding or experience. If you believe otherwise about a Scripture reference, you can thank them for their answer and share what you understand the Scripture to mean. Your acceptance of them and their answer, and the sharing of yours, will not cause them to be defensive and may encourage them to think differently.

6.When a question is directed to you, it is best to speak of your personal faith -- how you understand something or how you feel about something. This will help to avoid arguments on various positions of doctrine.

VI.Reading the Scriptures During Class Sessions

Some groups have sufficient time to have the Scripture references read aloud before discussing each question. However, if you have limited time to complete the lesson, you may wish to have only a few of the Scriptures read. You may want to select these ahead of time. Some groups do not have any Scripture references read aloud in order to allow more time for discussion.

VII. Leaders' Meetings

When you have more than one discussion leader, it is important to have regular leaders' meetings. They will contribute to the success of your group(s) and provide the encouragement and support your leaders will need to be effective.

At each meeting, the workbook questions and answers should be reviewed for the next lesson. Because the answers are briefly presented in this leader's manual, please encourage your leaders to offer each other additional suggestions for a successful group discussion.

Administrative details should also be discussed; attendance, planning social functions, etc. An attendance record should be kept for each class. When someone is absent two consecutive times, the leader should telephone that person. He or she may be ill or troubled about something in class. You may want to get together socially at least once every three months. This can be as simple as "bring your own sandwich."

It is far more important for leaders to be loving people than to have all the answers. Therefore, be sure you leave time at the close of your leaders' meetings for prayer for one another, for special needs in your groups, and for the following week's session. I cannot emphasize strongly enough the importance of holding leaders' meetings regularly.

Sample Questions for General Use

Questions Relating to Scripture

1.How would you define the word ______?

2.What does this verse tell you about ______?