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Session #1 (January Training Session) |
"Every Member a Missionary"
201
Small Group Missionary Training
__Pilot Concept__
Part I. Report and Sharing
· Report
o Meeting with small group
§ Listen to how things went
§ What questions do you have?
o Feedback from listening partner
§ A listening partner is someone whom
1. You meet with each month (Feb-Nov; except June-Aug)
2. You share your answers to the eight mission-building question
§ Sharing
o Personal Testimony (Success story)
o Challenges
o Praying together (include praying for lost people God put on your heart)
Part II. Vision Casting
A. Remember the Vision
240,000
15,000
60,000
180,000
Principle of multiplication:
Part I. Report and Sharing
· Report
o Meeting with small group
§ Listen to how things went
§ What questions do you have?
o Feedback from listening partner
§ A listening partner is someone whom
1. You meet with each month (Feb-Nov; except June-Aug)
2. You share your answers to the eight mission-building question
§ Sharing
o Personal Testimony (Success story)
o Challenges
o Praying together (include praying for lost people God put on your heart)
Part II. Vision Casting
A. Remember the Vision
240,000
15,000
60,000
180,000
Principle of multiplication:
2008 5 x 10 = 50
2009 25 x 10 = 250
2010 125 x 10 = 1250
2011 625 x 10 = 6250
2012 3125 x 10 = 31250
B. Vision Part B
Every Christmas, I have had the daunting chore of putting together the artificial Christmas tree. My job was to fluff out every branch and make sure all the lights were on. Due to the tree’s being “forced” back into the box at the end of every Christmas season, some of the 1,500 lights invariably were missing the following year. It was not easy to find the missing light bulbs amongst hundreds of branches. One could easily develop an attitude when confronted with such a chore.
However, one Christmas, I decided to pray through this whole experience. And in my doing so, God began to change my attitude and let the decorating of the house be a symbolic gesture of preparing my own life to welcome Christ’s birth. As I “lit” up each tree branch, I was reminded that Jesus is the light of the world. Although darkness did not receive the light, it was totally helpless when the light began to shine in the world.
As missionaries, we are commanded to carry the light into a world of darkness. The longer we are Christians, the harder it is for us to remember how dark and lost our world is without Christ. Let us remind ourselves that the reason we teach Every Member A Missionary is we need every member to take the light of Christ to every corner of the world, including our own community.
Part III. Kingdom Lesson
Matthew 13:1-13; 16-23
Ask your group members to answer the following questions. Make sure you cover at least the following key points.
What is the main truth about the Kingdom Growth/Dynamics?
Seeds were being sown, but the soil did not respond as it should.
What problems/probabilities should we expect?
Questioning the quality of the seed.
Trying to help the seed to grow.
Getting discouraged.
Blaming the soil.
Not sowing enough seeds.
What is the implication for being a missionary?
Be faithful in seed sowing.
Do not be surprised when people do not response.
Sow many seeds.
Expect some return.
What is our role vs. God’s role?
Know when to harvest.
Realize that evangelism is a process.
Part IV. Review
A. Seven Mission-Fields
o Talk about the list of seven mission-fields experienced in most people’s every day/week lives
B. Eight Mission Building Questions
o Identify the eight mission building questions to be learned for each mission field
o Notice the progressive flow of the eight questions
o Work on gaining an understanding of the eight questions
o Attempt to create a natural discipline for evaluating everything using the eight questions
C. Overview of the “Go Fish” book
o Overview of the Chapter on Introduction
§ The characters of the book: Granny Lamb, Grandpa Lamb, Mary Lamb, Baby Ewe and, of course, Billy the goat
§ Family takes annual fishing trip
§ Family decides to step out of the norm and go to a new and less traveled location
§ The journey is more risky than they originally thought
§ They are rewarded with a beautiful rainbow and scenery
§ They encounter “talking fish” that taught them the 7 mission fields
§ Review of Some of the Symbols
o The lamb family
§ Model family
§ People of faith
o Billy
§ Attitude (attends church, but is it enough?)
§ Value (judging, unwilling to take risk)
o Trail signs
§ Only Brave, Daring and “Called” souls should travel beyond this point
§ Caution: Slippery Slope Ahead
o Timekeeper
§ Sense of urgency
§ Timekeeper reminds us it is time to start
o Lake Lost
§ Getting out of one’s comfort zone
§ Willing to go where lost people are
§ Must be willing to pay a higher cost
o Prefect rainbow
§ Sign of hope
§ Reminder of God’s presence
§ Reminder of God’s promise
§ Reminder of God’s power
§ Reminder that the battle of saving souls has already been won
Part V. Case Study
George was a 67-year-old recent retiree from a mid-sized company. He devoted most of his adult life since his graduation from college to building this company. Though George had numerous jobs in his 40-plus years working career, they were all within the same company. Though a devoted family man and committed church-member, George’s industrial work ethic consumed most of his time and life.
Typical of many new retirees, depression began in George’s life as he searched for new purpose and meaning. He tried to pick up a hobby or two, but his Puritan work ethic kept him from enjoying leisure. Being in good health and of sound mind, he really wanted to be useful and productive. After a period of searching, one of his friends in church invited him to join a small group of five to engage in some kind of missionary training. Though he did not know much about this training, he felt that in his retirement, perhaps he should give a little more of his time and devotion to God.
In his first meeting with the small group, they studied about this family in a fable who took a new path to their annual fishing expedition, and thus began a new journey on a life-changing adventure. George thought that perhaps he too needed to leave his comfort zone and try something different. But he did not know how to get started.
The following week, his small group leader invited him out to lunch. In their conversation, George shared candidly about his depression and search for new meaning in life. He also told his group leader about his desire to try something different, even if it meant getting outside of his comfort zone. Upon learning of George’s struggle and desire to find new adventure in Christ, the group leader invited George to go to a prison with him to lead a Bible study. George accepted his invitation, though he really was not comfortable about going to the prison nor did he feel confident about assisting in leading a Bible study.
Although somewhat apprehensive, George went to the prison with his group leader to minister to the inmates. As he settled into a room full of prisoners, he began to look into the eyes of many of the young men. He felt compassion for them and realized that many of them did not have the opportunities that his own sons had had in their growing years. He saw the despair and hopelessness of these young men. As they began the Bible study, he realized that Jesus was indeed the answer in their misguided lives. For the first time, his faith and church work made sense to him. George then knew that Jesus was indeed the light in a dark place like prison. Jesus was also the light in the lives of many of these men who had been living in darkness because Satan had blinded them.
After the first meeting, George became a regular visitor to the prison. In addition to teaching the Bible, he also raised enough money from his church to provide every inmate a copy of The Purpose Driven Life book and began helping the inmates to discover God’s purpose for their lives. Interestingly, George also rediscovered his real purpose for life as well, as he served God as a missionary behind bars. His depression was gone, and he found new energy and excitement for living out a missional lifestyle. Soon, his passion for the lost extended beyond those who were in prison, and in his everyday living, he began to live a missional lifestyle everywhere he went.
What are your general observations?
What is the role of the small group leaders?
What are some of the lessons learned?
BEFORE OUR
Do this:
Ø Teach this material to your church Small Group
Ø Answer the eight mission-building questions with your Listening Partner (See Handout)
Ø Prepare to share a testimony and report to the group about your training experience
Ø Pray/witness to the two lost people on your list
Ø Add at least one more person to your prayer list for the lost
LBA MEETING SCHEDULE
Session One: Monday, January 5, 2009 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Session Two: Monday, February 2, 2009 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Session Three: Monday, March 2, 2009 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Session Four: Monday, April 6, 2009 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Session Five: Monday, May 4, 20089 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Session Six:
Session Seven: Monday, October 5, 2009 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Session Eight: Monday, November 2, 2009 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm