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The Goal of Life – Session One

As you begin your journey, let’s take just a few minutes and walk through some of the most important parts of session one, The Goal of Life.

  1. Be sure and familiarize yourself with the DVD menu and how it works.  A few minutes spent getting the feel of how to start it, etc., will go a long way toward a smooth start.
  2. You’ll find a great Leader’s Notes section on page 85 with ideas and tips for this session.
  3. Take a look at the way this session is laid out on page 15 in your study guide.  You’ll notice that there are several sections.  The first section is called, CONNECTING WITH GOD’S FAMILY.  Note that alongside the section heading it says “20 min.”  That’s the time you should plan to spend on this section.  Each section has a recommended time allotted.
  4. Note that question 2 directs you to turn to page 61 (the group agreement).  This is very important.  Don’t skip it.  10 minutes spent on this will really help your group get off to a great start.  Just read the agreement aloud, line by line.  It really doesn’t require much comment.  I do recommend commenting on two items.  First, when you’re talking about “shared ownership,” I suggest pointing to the Small Group Calendar on page 63 and let them know that at the end of this session you’re going to come back to it and talk about things like refreshments, etc.  Second, when you’re talking about “rotating leadership,” do the same thing.  Just let them know that you’ll be looking at the calendar at the end of the session.
  5. Don’t feel like everyone has to answer every question.  Many of the questions are simply set up questions that prepare the group for the payoff questions later in the study.  For that matter, there will be times when you’ll want to direct the group to bypass some of the simpler questions to get to the meat.
  6. Question 11 is a great opportunity to invite the group to think about who else they would like to invite.  Don’t skip this question.
  7. Next week I’ll have a couple suggestions about your prayer time.  For this week, keep in mind that many people are afraid to pray out loud.  Rather than calling on someone, it’s much safer to ask if anyone would like to pray.
  8. After you’ve prayed together and finished the study, invite everyone to turn back to the Small Group Calendar on page 63.  Getting everyone in the game, inviting everyone to take a turn bringing refreshments is a good idea.  Even better is to invite others in the group to take a week facilitating the study.  Spreading the responsibility around will go a long way toward lightening the load.

I hope these notes are helpful and encouraging.  You can do it!  We’re praying for you as you begin!