Five Ways to Get the Most Out of Your Life Group

Now that you are finishing up your new Life Group meetings, you're going to be hearing more stuff about what it means to be a permanent Life Group Leader.  Here's a few things to think about as you continue your journey.  There's a lot of advice out there on how to build the best and most effective Life Group possible.  To be honest, it's a bit overwhelming when you start doing a little research.  Over the last 5 years or so, I've read tons of articles, books and gone to several seminars on building effective Life Groups. There's a lot of good information out there, and there's a lot of bad stuff as well.  But this weekend, I took some time to look over some of the material I've collected and just spent some time jotting down what I think are the key elements to leading a great Life Group.  Here's what I came up with:  Five Ways to Get the Most Out of Your Life Group.

1.  Prayer:

One of the biggest mistakes that ministry leaders fall into is neglecting their spiritual lives.  There's a big difference in doing ministry for God, rather than doing with God.  And I'm guilty of this just as much as anyone else.  It amazes me how I can justify not spending time with God because I just have too much to do.  It's almost as if I can hear God saying, "Hello?  What about me?  Might be a good idea to take me along since this is my business anyway."  Before you even begin to plan for a new Life Group each week, spend time in communion with God and ask Him to guide you as you plan.  Ask Him for wisdom and you might be surprised what he reveals to you. 


2.  Prepare:

Another huge mistake that Life Group leaders make is failing to prepare.  Think about it for a minute.  We prepare for work.  We prepare for meetings.  We prepare for interviews.  We prepare for family activities.  We prepare for the weekend and we even prepare for hobbies and recreation.  But when it comes to preparing for a Life Group, there are many leaders, myself included, that find it hard to even read over the topic or watch the video.  After you've prayed about your Life Group, look over the information in advance.  Read the Bible passages that connect with the topic.  Write down some key points that connect with you.  Think about how specific members might respond and anticipate questions that come up and how you might answer them.  After spending some time preparing for your Life Group,  you will have much more confidence and the meeting will go by much smoother and enjoyable for everyone.

3.  Passion:

Basically, if you don't have a passion for leading a Life Group; don't do it.  It's no big deal.  As you can see from the first two points, this type of ministry is very engaging and can take a lot of energy and time.  Always remind yourself why it is that you were interested in leading a Life Group in the first place.  Think about what it was that attracted you to pursue Group Connection.  Remember, beside the main reason of serving Christ, we build Life Groups so that we can build relationships and community.  Your Life Group will be a small extension of the Body of Christ.  If your passion is not overwhelmingly leading you to these goals, consider looking at other ministry opportunities.        

4.  Love:

By nature, we love the things that we are passionate about.  If you are passionate about building an effective Life Group, you will naturally love the people that you lead.  By loving those that you are leading, you will be concerned about the life issues that each member is dealing with.  You will be concerned about how each group topic is connecting with each member and how it is effecting their lives.  By love for your group, you will also be concerned with each members spiritual development.  Are they growing closer to God and is there evidence that each person is growing in their faith in Christ.  Remember, the Bible tells us that "God is love."  (1 John 4:8).  If God is love, and we are loving each member of our groups, is it not true that God will be overwhelmingly present in our Life Groups?     

5.  Shut Up:  

The bottom line on this point is that there are times when Life Group leaders want to talk too much.  Maybe it's because of our gift of leadership, but sometimes our first instinct is to want to dominate the conversation.  Especially when there is the dreaded awkward silence, we feel like we need to talk in order to keep others comfortable and make the conversation flow.  However, this can do more harm than good.  Sometimes a little awkward silence is a good thing.  We live in a culture that makes us feel uncomfortable with silence in public settings.  Silence tends to put the focus on "us", and that makes us feel like something is wrong with the situation.  Be prepared and comfortable with some silence.  Allow others to find their way through the discussion and take the step of faith to engage more often.  You might be surprised at how much more conversation will develop from a little silence.

If you are moving on to a permanent Life Group, we pray that you will be blessed on your journey and that you will see God's hand on everything you do!