December - LifeGroup News You Can Use

Hello LifeGroup Leaders:
I hope your groups are going great! Here are some important items for December in your groups.

Below you'll find:
1) BASIC BUILDING BLOCK FOR DECEMBER - EVANGELISM
2) FOLLOW-UP ON OCT and NOV BUILDING BLOCKS
3) COMING SOON: MENTORING TRAINING FOR WOMEN


1) BASIC BUILDING BLOCKS FOR A GREAT LIFE IN CHRIST - DECEMBER - EVANGELISM
[As you know we are trying to coach our LifeGroups not only in specialty topics like marriage, parenting, addicitions, finances, etc. We are also interested in coaching our groups in the "basic building blocks" or "fundamentals" of a great life in Christ. This month we look at evangelism in conjunction with our Sunday morning message series on the same topic. Since Amos Gray is especially gifted in evangelism, I asked him to write the following. Please use the following in your LifeGroup during December as a supplement to your group's chosen regular curriculum.]

What are we here for?

This is the question that we all as Christians must ask ourselves. If we really look at the big picture we would see from the life of Christ we are here for one reason. “To seek and save that lost”, this is the reason for which Jesus came and so it must be the reason why we are here.

How do we do this? Evangelism
Evangelism is an enthusiastic effort to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Questions for group discussion:
1) Does evangelism come easy for you or is it something you have to work at?

2) Has your evangelism been more casual/relational or has your evangelism experience been more in planned evangelistic efforts?

3) Share with each other a tool or two you've used in evangelism. (Roman Road, the bridge, etc.)


Regardless of your previous experience, here are some simple steps you can take to grow in your evangelism.

1. Prayer: Before you even open your mouth to share the faith you must open your mouth and talk to the Lord Jesus first. He is the one that will lead you to what must be said and how to say it. And, He is the one who will draw the lost to himself.

2. Care: Everywhere Jesus went he cared for the people and a lot of times He met their physical needs first and then shared with them.

3. Share: Sharing the Gospel is a privilege not a right. You must know why you are sharing and what it means to you. Your testimony is the second greatest story ever told. What Christ has done for you is the story that people around you must know. A person can know all the Hebrew, Greek, and hermeneutics in the world, but if he or she can’t share what Christ has done in his or her heart, all this information is head knowledge. Your sharing is a key to someone coming to know Christ.

Here is an easy tool to use in your personal evangelism using those three steps we just outlined.

1) Think of 3 people in your life who need to know Christ
2) Pray for each of them 3 minutes per day for 30 days. Ask the Lord to how you might care and share with these three people.
3) During and after the 30 days, care for them and share with them as God gives opportunity.

Pretty easy but so full of impact! Let's follow this simple plan in the following weeks and hopefully see many drawn to Christ.


2) FOLLOW-UP ON OCT/NOV BUILDING BLOCKS

Remember that in October we talked about prayer. Continue to ask your group how their prayer lives are going. Continue to allow group members to spur one another on to prayer by sharing their experiences or tips for a great life of prayer. A great thing your LifeGroup could do together in the realm of prayer is to attend Mosaic's corporate prayer time as a group in the sanctuary 20 minutes before the worship service on Sunday mornings.

Remember that in November we talked about memorizing 1 Peter 1:3-9. Do you have any stories about people doing that? Remember our contest? Let me know by Dec 15 what percentage of your group has that passage memorized.

3) COMING SOON: MENTORING TRAINING FOR WOMEN
If any of the ladies in your LifeGroup are interested in mentoring other ladies, there will be a training session for mentors on January 21. Please watch for more details soon.