A Guide to Leading a LifeGroup in a New Community - Life.Church Leaders

A Guide to Leading a LifeGroup in a New Community

by Amber Siany

We could not launch a Life.Church in your community without leaders like you. We know that Jesus is who changes lives, but He often uses powerful truth and people—like you—to do it. By saying yes to launch a Life.Church and lead a new LifeGroup, you’re making a decision today to be a part of life change stories tomorrow.

So, thank you. We also know that you might have a lot of questions about what it means to lead a LifeGroup. You might wonder: What will we talk about? What do I do if I have questions? How do I avoid conflict or awkward silence? We’re here to help. You’re not the only one with those questions, and we’ve got articles from tons of LifeGroup leaders like you to help.

Over the next 12 weeks, we’ll give you everything you need to lead your LifeGroup. Plus, you’ll get to know more of who Life.Church is and how you play an integral part in it.

Wondering how to get started?

You can subscribe to get emails sent straight to your inbox each week. We’ll include a link to each week’s content, some discussion guides to get the conversation going, plus a few leader tips. We’ll also give you an overview below if you want a sneak peek.

Your First Four Weeks:

During your first four weeks of LifeGroup, you’ll go through a discussion series based on Pastor Craig’s message series, I’m In. Each week, you’ll watch a short video together as a LifeGroup. Then, you’ll use a combination of questions on screen and your handy Conversation Guide to kick off the discussion.

You don’t have to watch the full message series, but it’s a great idea if you want to get familiar with the content and get a more in-depth look at what our church is about.

Some of the questions will be adapted in your Conversation Guide to reflect that you’re launching a new location instead of serving at an existing one. This is a great opportunity for you and your LifeGroup to start setting the culture for your upcoming campus. Think about what you want to be known for, what you’re praying for, and who you can be inviting to join your launch group.

Week 1:

Week 2:

Week 3:

Week 4:

Week Five

You did it! You’ve made it through a month of leading your first-ever LifeGroup. Give yourself a High Five and consider celebrating with your group.

This week, we’ll mix it up a little bit. You’ll listen to an episode of the You’ve Heard It Said podcast before you all meet together, (learn more about how to use the podcast in your LifeGroup here) and then you’ll talk it over with the handy Conversation Guide.

Week 5:

Weeks Six Through Ten

You’re doing it! You’re building a community of passionate people who are going to set the culture for the newest Life.Church. Over the next five weeks, you’ll focus on becoming real friends with your LifeGroup. We’re going to talk about how to Belong together as friends.

Each week, you’ll watch a video from our LifeGroups series, Belong. Then, you’ll use a handy Conversation Guide to get the discussion moving.

Week 6:

Week 7:

Week 8:

Week 9:

Week 10:

Weeks 11 and 12

You’re getting the hang of this LifeGroup Leader thing! At this point, you and your LifeGroup might start feeling more like real friends, so consider celebrating together or making plans to interact outside of your LifeGroup time.

To finish out, we’ll give you a few options for finding content in your LifeGroup. First, you can check out this article for a look at all the content we have to offer every type of LifeGroup. Second, you can always use content from the You’ve Heard It Said podcast. Just pick an episode, listen to it before meeting, and use the accompanying Conversation Guide to jumpstart your discussion. (We’ll even have four episodes with Pastor Craig to go with his new book and message series, Winning the War in Your Mind.)

We also have options for doing Digital Chazown together! Through that series, you’ll discover your purpose and come up with a vision statement for your life. You can learn about Chazown here, and see how to host a digital version in this article.

Know that you can always choose to have week without content, too. You could host a game night, simply ask everyone for highs and lows of their week, or make plans to go do something together as a LifeGroup.

Whatever you decide to do, we’re cheering you on as you keep leading your LifeGroup strong. Thank you for building the culture of your campus before we ever have a physical location ready. We simply could not be a part of the move of God in your city without you, so thanks for leading the way!

Week 11:

Week 12:

Want to learn about more upcoming content? Subscribe to get notified when new episodes of You’ve Heard It Said release. If you’re parents, make sure you get the LC Parents bundle, where you’ll also get notified when new episodes of the parenting podcast come out. All of our content can also be found at: www.life.church/groups

Did you know you can also discuss Pastor Craig’s weekend messages together? Just use the Talk It Over to get you started each week. You can even subscribe to get it sent straight to your inbox here.

And share the joy of teaching, too! Maybe you ask another person or couple in your LifeGroup to lead one night. It doesn’t even have to be fancy. You could have each person take a turn sharing something they’ve learned about God recently. You could even read a devotional in the YouVersion Bible App or a finds.life article together and talk it over after.

God has equipped you with everything you need to lead, so trust in His power within you. You’ve got this, and your LifeGroup is already making a difference by being the Church before a building ever shows up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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