LG Discussion Questions [12.13.20]

This Week's Discussion
We're continuing the sermon-based discussions as Pastor Doug preaches through Matthew 1:18-25. This week, the emphasis of the message is on God's plan of salvation, trusting God no matter what, and following Him in obedience.

Important Reminders

• If you will gone on a Sunday morning, please let me or Eden know so we can make substitute arrangements for your group.

• Please make every effort possible to arrive at 9:30am as guests often arrive early and it makes it a great time to meet them and talk with your group!

• Sunday, January 3 at 9:40am – All Life Group leaders will meet in Gym Room 1 to discuss the vision and future of Life Gro

Life Group Update / 12.6.20

Sermon-Based Curriculum

Thank you all for being so flexible with our Life Groups! For a while, we are going to continue meeting on the Gym floor at tables with sermon-based questions. The goal of this is to focus on one scripture and subject on Sunday morning and for Life Groups to become a place of discussion rather than just a lesson.

We will talk more about the future direction of Life Groups at our Leader Meeting on Sunday, Jan 3 at 9:40am in Gym Room 1. We will still have Life Group that Sunday as Evan will lead in a Master Teacher style.

Male Leaders Needed!

The guys in our ministry are starting to notice the lack of male presence in Life Groups and Youth Night.

Please do not hear me wrong, I am incredibly THANKFUL for our amazing female leaders, how they serve, and how they invest in all our students. In saying that, these young men NEED and are CRAVING male mentors and role models in their lives.

If you know of anyone who might be interested in serving in some capacity, would you please have them reach out to anyone on the First Students Team: Bryson, Evan or Eden.

IMPORTANT Change to Life Group this Sunday!

Master Teacher Starting This Sunday

With new direction from Pastor Doug, we are going to move up our master teaching to this Sunday with a sermon-based lesson that corresponds with Pastor Doug's message.

Groups will meet at tables on the Gym floor where masks will now be encouraged, but not a requirement as it has been. 

If you do not feel well please stay home and feel better! I'm asking that we practice a "better safe than sorry" mindset when it comes to our church attendance.

Male Life Group Leaders Needed!

This past weekend at Reset, it was revealed that we have many young men in our ministry who are struggling with their identity and need Godly male role models in their lives. We NEED new male Life Group leaders at 9:40am this next semester!

If you know of someone who might be interested in leading a guy's group, please reach out and let me know so I can reach out to them.

Leader Training on Sunday, January 3

We will gather together as leaders in Gym Room 1 on Sunday, January 3 during the 9:40am Life Group for leadership training and to discuss what Life Group will look like in 2021. 

We will still have master teacher student Life Groups that Sunday morning.

First Students: Online Life Groups

First Student Life Group Leaders,

I first want to take a moment to thank you all for your patience, grace, and understanding during this time. As many of you know, Kasi Lewis (our Student Ministry Admin Assistant) has stepped into a new position with a different company, and while we are excited for her, it does mean that many of the tasks and communications she took on have now fallen onto my plate for the time being.

This is not to complain or boast, only to acknowledge the weight behind my gratitude and appreciation for your patience as leaders and parents.

For the foreseeable future, it looks as though we will not be meeting in-person for Life Groups so I want to present you with an alternative option through Life Groups online.

Please take a moment to review what Life Groups online could look like for the time. These are general guidelines to help you continue to lead your groups but I am sure there are questions specific to your group. Please do not hesitate to reach out with any questions you might have to my email: bryson.mcguire@fbcofallon.org.

While I won’t require anyone to lead online Life Group, I do want to ask each of you to be the church. Our methods might look different but our mission has not changed.

What I am asking is for each Life Group to communicate their plans and intentions for online Life Group this week and I will follow up with any Life Group leaders that I have not heard from on Friday.

Ice Breakers & Games You'll Actually Want To Try With Your Life Group

We’ve all probably had that Sunday morning when we walk into our Life Group time and the students are dead silent. It can be awkward and feels like you’re already facing the challenge of getting them to open up and discuss the lesson.

So how can you get students talking and feel comfortable right away? Try some easy, open-ended questions and some fun games!

Icebreakers can sometimes feel a little forced or uncomfortable to introduce, but leaning into them can be a great way to help your group start talking, make memories and get to know each other better. Start breaking the ice, killing the awkward silence and get to know the students in your group in a fun way by pulling out these questions and games next time you meet.

15 Icebreaker Questions

1. Do you (or would you) like to travel? What is a place you’ve always wanted to visit?

2. What language would you learn if you could learn one instantly? Why that one?

3. What is your favorite animal and why?

4. Do you prefer sweet or salty for a snack? What’s a favorite treat for you?

5. How did you get your first job? What did you learn from it? (Or what is a job you would like to have in the future?)

6. What is your favorite holiday and why?

7. What is your favorite movie genre? What type of character would you want to play if you had to act in a movie?

8. Who would you choose to play you in a movie about your life?

9. What was a favorite way to spend your free time when you were a kid?

10. Do you prefer texting, social media messaging, phone calls, or talking face to face?

11. What are some pet peeves you have?

12. What is your favorite class in school?

13. If you had to choose one meal to eat every day for the rest of your life, what would you choose and why?

14. Do you have a pet? What kind, what’s their name and what’s a trick they know/something they do you think is cool.

15. What’s the first thing you remember ever learning about Jesus? Where did you first hear about Him?

Four Fun And Easy Group Games

1. Who am I? Place a name tag on everyone’s back as they come in the door with a famous person’s name on it (a well-known music artist, athlete, actor, book or movie character, biblical person, etc.). Have everyone ask yes/no questions of each other until they can guess whose name is on their back. Give extra clues to anyone who is stuck for too long.

2. The Vegetable Game. Go around the circle and have each person say the name of a vegetable without letting their teeth show as they speak by keeping their lips curled over their teeth. No repeats. Keep going around until you can’t think of any more vegetables or people expire from laughter.

3. I Like/You Like. Take turns going clockwise around the circle each saying something you like. It could be a food, an activity, a place, a movie, a book, a game, a music artist, an actor, something people do, etc. This will often generate discussion, with others who feel the same or feel differently speaking up. Go around the circle a few times without repeating any items. You could keep it as simple as that, or you could add complexity by then going counterclockwise around the circle and trying to say something that the person on your right previously said they like! (You like …)

4. True For You

   • Objective: Find something you have in common with someone else so you can sit in their spot.

   • Gather a loose circle of seats so there’s a spot for everyone to sit except you.

   • Have everyone else sit down while you stand in the middle of the circle.

   • Explain that you will say something that is true for you (that they would not know just by looking at you), and then everyone else for whom the statement is also true will need to stand up immediately and find a different seat.

   • When people get up to move, you try to sit in someone’s spot.

   • Whoever is left without a chair stands in the middle and makes the next true statement about themselves. It can be anything true that you can’t tell by looking at them: I like strawberry ice cream; I’ve been to Colorado; My favorite color is blue; I enjoy swimming; I have a brother; I don’t like pickles, etc.

   • You’ll learn what things various people in the group have in common, and you’ll get people laughing and active as they jump up and compete for seats. Continue as long as people are having fun.

Each person is unique and every group dynamic is different, even from week-to-week.

Asking non-threatening questions, playing easy-to-learn games, and laughing together can create strong bonds and open people’s hearts to share. Look around at your group members during the icebreaker questions and games and try to take stock of whether everyone is enjoying the activity. Make games shorter or longer based on how well they’re working. Every person is unique and every group dynamic is different, even from week-to-week. So, adapt to the mood and who’s there.

Help anyone who is struggling to come up with a contribution or answer or to play the game. Some people are more competitive than others, but the goal is really to get to know one another, deepen relationships, and make a safe space for everyone to be themselves.

You’ve got this!

Student Serve Day

We asked the students what was one thing they wanted more of this next year for First Students. The answer was overwhelmingly the same – more opportunities to serve.

We’re taking advantage of the church-wide Serve Day on Saturday, September 28 to give our students the opportunity to serve our community!

Now, the Student Serve Day is going to look a little different than what the Adult Life Groups are doing. For our Serve Day project, we’re going out into the neighborhoods to prayer walk and place door hangers that invite people to join us at FBCO! Our project will begin at 8:30am in the Gym and students can return roughly around 11am. From there, we’ll have a pizza lunch for anyone who served and students can wait for their parents to pick them up!

Interested in participating? Here’s how you can get your Life Group involved…

• Commit to participate with your group – If you’re able to attend, we would love to see you there! We anticipate students will turn out for this opportunity and the more adults we have to help, the better this event will be!

• Communicate with the Student Ministry Team – Let us know that you and your group plan on attending. It takes time and strategy to plan out where each group will be serving so the sooner you can let us know, the better! The final date to inform us is Sunday, September 22. If you do not inform us by this date and show up for Serve Day, we will not have a project assigned for your group.

• Coordinate With Parents – Our Serve Day projects will take place in the communities around our church which means we’ll need transportation. Depending on the number in your group, we may need additional transportation so coordinate with parents of students in your group who might be able to help!

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If you have any questions about this event, please contact Bryson at bryson.mcguire@fbcofallon.org or Kasi Lewis at kasi.lewis@fbcofallon.org.

Life Group Month

Leaders!

We’re setting aside the month of September for our Life Groups! We’ve seen so many students return these past few weeks and this is the perfect time to connect with your group and help them connect with each other. So what does this look like?

Plan An Activity

Doing life outside the walls of the church is so important and often times, this is where real connection happens with students and leaders. This month, as leaders, you are responsible for planning and leading an activity for your Life Group. Not sure what to do? Here are some ideas to help you brainstorm:

• Game Night

• Go bowling or putt-putting

• Laser Tag/Paint Ball

• Craft Night

• Video Game Tournament

• Scavenger Hunt

• Crunched for time? Have a lunch at your house on Sunday after church!

The Student Ministry Team will be following up with you to see how your event planning is going and if you have any questions or need any resources, please feel free to contact us!

Serve Day (Optional)

This year, our church is hosting a Serve Day on Saturday, September 28 where different adult Life Groups are going to work on projects in our community to help meet needs and show the people in our area the love of Christ in action. The student ministry is partnering with the adult ministries to serve our community through prayer walking and placing 2,000 door hangers that invite people to join us at FBCO.

We would love for your Life Group to be a part of this day! Here is a tentative schedule of what the morning would look like:

8:30am – Meet at the church for prayer, instructions and distribution
9:00am – Disperse to your areas (will be provided for you)
11:00am – Return to the church (pizza lunch will be provided)
12:00pm – Parents pick up students from church

Serve Day is not an alternative option to your Life Group activity but something to do in addition to your activity. If you would like for your Life Group to participate, please let me know no later than Sunday, September 22. There will be more information in your folders this Sunday.

How You Could Change Someone's Life

My best friend in High School was named John Taylor. He grew up in a Catholic family, never attended church and didn’t have any reason to believe God existed or even care about him. Through a casual conversation, our friend Reece invited him to church one Saturday night and to our shock, he showed up on Sunday morning for Life Group.

He kept coming back and kept coming back. Maybe it was the games, the food, the hangout time that kept him coming back, but what happened a couple years later was incredible.

See, his Life Group Leader, Tim, was very intentional about praying for him, connecting with him and investing into his life outside the walls of the church and even after John was no longer in his group, Tim kept that relationship and investing into him.

One night during the Student Worship service, he was sitting next to Tim and he leaned over and said, “Tim, I’m not a Christian but I want to become one.” That night, John’s eternal destination changed forever.

Years later, Tim and I were having a conversation about this same story and he shared with me a piece of advice that I never forgot – “All it takes is 15 minutes a week to change someone’s life.”

He didn’t necessarily mean 15 minutes, but it was an expression to show that an eternal impact can be made with simple actions over time.

It’s fairly simple to send out a quick text message of encouragement, to send someone a scripture or to even stop and pray for that person. But so often, we don’t because we think we don’t have the time.

But what if each Life Group leader took just 15 minutes a week and invested into their group? How could that transform our student ministry, but more importantly, how could that potentially change someone’s life?

This week, my challenge to you is to spend fifteen minutes and connect with your group each week.

• Send a text message asking how you can pray for them

• Type up a quick word of encouragement and send them a Scripture

• Pause and pray for each student and for your group

I believe that our actions and faithfulness will be rewarded. I believe that as we seek God and connect with our students, that we will help lead them to become fully devoted followers of Christ and can help change their lives, forever.

- Bryson

Why You're More Than A Teacher

You are more than just a teacher, you are a leader!

Now, that’s not to say that a teacher can’t have a significant and powerful impact on a student’s life – they can! But, at First Students, we want you to think of yourself as more than someone who only teaches a lesson once a week but as someone who God has called to lead and disciple students.

So what does it look like to be a leader instead of a teacher? There’s many different things that make this happen, but here’s a few to give you some ideas:

• Connects with students outside of Sunday morning – text, call, hangout, etc.

• Partners with parents to help students who are hurting

• Knows what’s happening in their group’s lives and prays for them daily

• Reaches out to students who have fallen away or stopped attending

God has uniquely gifted you and called you to this particular Life Group to reach these students in a way that no one else could! Take every opportunity you can this next year to go beyond being a teacher and be a Life Group Leader and watch God do more exceedingly more this year than you could ever imagine!

3 Ways To Open Up A Life Group

Whether you’ve just stepped into leading a Life Group or have been serving for a while now, it’s normal to wonder how to begin your Life Group time. But what if there were just a few things to minimize awkward silence and maximize your time together. It’s a lot easier than you think.

Three Simple Ways You Can Begin Your Life Group

1 - Introduce Yourself

Tell your Life Group a little bit about yourself – your name, your family, where you work or what you do, things you enjoy doing, etc. Then, give them the freedom to ask questions about you! You’ll be surprised at how fun and creative their questions can be!

Share about yourself and show them you have fun because when your group know who you are, they’ll feel confident to open up and share with you.

2 - Get To Know Them

Now, turn the tables and ask them a question! Have each student introduce themselves (their name, where they go to school, about their family, what they do for fun, etc.) and then have them answer one easy and fun question! You can create your own but here’s a few ideas…

• What’s your favorite book/movie/tv show

• Name your favorite place to eat at

• If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?

Even if you think everyone in your group knows each other, don’t miss out on this amazing opportunity! So many students who attend Life Groups together don’t actually know each other. These simple questions allow you the opportunity to get to know them and it allows the students the opportunity to get to know each other.

3 - Give Them One Takeaway

Sometimes, teaching a lesson in a short timeframe can feel like a huge task – it’s a lot of information to try and share with your students. So each Sunday, give your students one big takeaway idea. Share upfront what you want them to walk away with and they’ll have a greater understanding of the lesson and what the Bible is saying.

In the lesson booklets, there is a section called “Main Point” and this is something you can share with your group! Give them one truth that they can take away from the lesson and seek to live and apply in their everyday lives.

Remember, you’re more than just a person who prepares a lesson – you are a difference maker. You have the opportunity to make connections and share the truth of God’s Word in a way that will resonate with your group. Keep these tips in mind as you begin this new year and then expand on them as your group grows and transforms.