Leader's Guide Overview
Welcome Leaders!You are about to embark on a life changing journey…a journey which will take you through the Heart of the Problem workbook. As you take this journey, you can take a group of people with you – and they too can experience the peace and joy Jesus has promised us. I have written this new Leader’s Guide to help make your job as a leader easier. As you lead your group through this life-changing material, you can use the tips and outside resources that I’ve used to help your groups reach their full potential. My prayer is that this Leader’s Guide will give you tools that will enhance your teaching without requiring a lot of extra work for you. My desire is to help you shine as you bring glory to God in your teaching.
For the last 12 years, I have taught the Heart of the Problem workbook to hundreds of people. The size of the groups has ranged from one-on-one all the way up to a large group in the hundreds. The ages of the group members varied from teenagers to people in their seventies. In all of my years of teaching I have never had one person say that they did not learn something that changed their life. I have watched God use Dr. Brandt’s workbook to open up hearts, heal marriages, and repair relationships. I have had the privilege of sitting under Dr. Brandt’s teaching and owe my own healed marriage to his wise words. As people have had their lives changed, they have asked me to train them to teach the Heart of the Problem workbook. The result is the Leader’s Guide you now have in your hands.
It is extremely important that you take a few minutes to read through the next few sections of this Introduction. Not only will you find options on how to plan the time for each session, there are also important instructions on how to maximize the time you have each time you gather with your group.
May God bless you as you lead in faith, walking fully empowered by His Spirit. I would love to hear how God blesses you and your group as you proceed through this material, or ways we can make this guide more helpful to leaders. Please email your stories and comments and stories to me.
Sincerely,
Terry Rossello
Heart of the Problem Small Groups Director
Grace community Church, Tempe, Arizona
How This Material is Organized
The course is divided into 13 Sessions: 1 Introduction Session and 1 Session for each Unit. It will be extremely beneficial to your group if you are able to incorporate the Introduction into your overall plan.
Throughout each Unit Session, along the left-hand side of the page, you will find the Workbook page numbers referenced. The numbers also include a letter – “T”, “M”, or “B” – signifying “Top”, “Middle”, or “Bottom”. This is for your ease in referring back to the Workbook material.
Information is included in 2 different fonts:
The regular font is material that you can read verbatim, or state in your own words, to your group.
The smaller italicized font indicates instructions and ideas for you as the leader.
Each Unit Session contains the following sections:
Begin Session
Opening Remarks
Announcements
Opening Prayer
Review of Days 1 – 5
Each Day incorporates the following elements (the amount of time you have will determine how much of this material you are able to include – see “Format” below):
Overview: The Overview provides a summary of what was covered in the reading provided in the Workbook. You may find it helpful to read it out loud to the class or simply summarize it in your own words. This “review” will help bring back to everyone’s mind what they are about to discuss and will give focus to the discussion.
Points to Emphasize: In addition to the Overview, this section highlights the specific points that need to be reiterated in this section. I have listed one or more for each day and there is space for you to add an additional point if you find something particularly useful for your group. You can emphasize these points by reading them verbatim or simply bringing the group’s attention to them. For example, you might say, “On the bottom of page 9, Dr. Brandt makes the point that nursing a grudge hurts no one else but you. You are a slave to the person you hate.”
Share: This is the “facilitation” part of the class! It is important to let members of the group share their reactions and ideas. For each day, 1 or 2 people should share their thoughts.
Bonus Material: Throughout each session, there are places where I have included outside information which is pertinent to the study. These resources include stories, analogies, illustrations, quotes, or object lessons. Use these materials as needed and as time allows.
Format
Here are 2 different options for getting through the material. Choose the format that best suits your setting. In the 45-Minute Format you will have time for the Overview, Points to Emphasize, and Share sections for each day. The 90-Minute Format will allow you to bring in the Bonus Material and have more time for sharing each day.
45-Minute Group Format
5 minutes - Opening Remarks / Announcements / Opening Prayer
7 minutes - Day 1
7 minutes - Day 2 7 minutes - Day 3
7 minutes - Day 4
7 minutes - Day 5
5 minutes – Wrap-Up / Closing Prayer
90-Minute Group Format
5 minutes – Opening Remarks / Announcements / Opening Prayer
15 minutes - Day 1
15 minutes - Day 2
15 minutes - Day 3
15 minutes - Day 4
15 minutes - Day 5
10 minutes – Wrap-Up / Closing Prayer or Prayer Partners
Use your time wisely and watch your time carefully! In each session you’ll find a line with the word “START” by each major section. This is provided as a tool for you – before the class begins you should write in the time of when you should be starting that section. For example: If you are using the 45-Minute Format and your class begins at 9:00a.m., by the time you start the “Review of Day 1” it should be 9:05a.m., by the time you start the “Review of Day 2” – 9:12a.m., on Day 3 – 9:19a.m., etc. This will serve as a check point to help you get through the entire session.
Failure to keep track of your time will be frustrating for members who had something really important to share on Day 5, but they were unable to contribute to the discussion because you ran out of class time. It is your job as the leader to keep the group moving through the lesson and at the same time be sensitive to a member who is sharing something important. Keep track of the time and flex within days as necessary to get all the way to the end.
Tips for Leading Group Discussion
Emphasize from the very beginning that what is shared in the group, stays in the group. Trust is an important component of small group sharing. Nothing will shut your group down quicker than group members feeling as though what they share might be shared with others outside of the group or used against them.
If you have more than 12 members in your group, you should divide into smaller groups of 6-8 members. This will allow for more individual sharing and can help shy individuals from being intimidated by the larger number of faces in the group. Assign a leader to facilitate discussion for each small group.
Ask questions with interest and warmth. Listen carefully to individual answers. Keep in mind that no answer is insignificant; affirm each person’s participation
Be sensitive to who is doing the talking in your group. Is one person monopolizing the time? Is another person talking about irrelevant information to the topic at hand? Is someone only listening and never offering a thought or idea? As tactfully as you know how, keep the discussion on track and draw out everyone’s ideas. This can be very difficult! Pray for wisdom and courage to keep the group focused and sensitive to all members.
Although it would be helpful if Prayer Partners stay the same throughout the course, the configuration of your groups can change each time you meet. Encourage couples to split up in order to achieve better group diversion. Use a different way of assigning groups each time so that members don’t “figure out” what you are doing and “work” the system. Here are a couple of ideas for getting people into groups each time:
- Have group members pick a slip of paper out of a basket with a color on it – group all colors together OR one of each color in each group
- Pick a slip of paper with a number on it – group all numbers together, or all even/odd numbers, or consecutive numbers (1-6, 7-12, etc.)
- Pick a slip of paper with different fruits of the Spirit as found in Galatians 5:22-23 (love, joy, peace, etc.)
- Be creative and come up with a unique or boring idea! The important thing is to help people get into a group!
