This guide will explain in detail how to lead each section of a Belong Group meeting. When answering each question, the group leader should make plenty of space for others to share, but also speak for themselves as a model for the group. Each belong group should have at least three members. When the group grows to six members, consider splitting into two groups of three. If the group reaches eight members, definitely split into two groups of four.

Recap: What’s something you are thankful for or discouraged by today?

The purpose of this time is to warm up socially to one another. Make sure everyone in the group shares a little about something relevant happening in their life right now. Be sure to listen carefully to each person’s response and think of a follow-up question to ask them. This should take only about five minutes.

Five minutes of silence

The purpose of this time is clear the worries, distractions, or other thoughts from our mental and spiritual plate before we open scripture. Set a five minute timer on your phone and encourage the group to sit quietly and allow their minds to recenter on what we are here to do.

Prayer

Now that we have set aside our distractions, we now need to focus our spirits on God through prayer. The group leader may voice the prayer or call on a member of the group to do so instead. Simple, short prayers are good! You may offer a brief word of thanks followed by a request that God bless your time in His word. He will say yes!

If you would find a framework for prayer helpful, I suggest using the A.C.T.S. framework:

A. Adoration - offer a prayer of praise to God for his goodness, his perfection, his self-sacrificing love, or any other positive attribute of God that feels special to you in that moment. For example, “We praise you God for how kind and loving you are toward us in Christ.”

C. Confession - affirm a key truth about God that feels special to you in that moment. It could be his goodness, his sovereignty, that He sent Jesus to save us, that He has revealed Himself in Jesus, or any other fact you know to be true about God. For example, “You have conquered our every sin and failure and will provide for us everything that we need.”

T. Thanksgiving - offer a prayer of thanksgiving to God for something that He has done recently or in the distant past. It could be something God did for everyone or something God did for someone in the Belong Group that you learned about recently. For example, “We thank you God for bringing healing to (name) this week, and for helping us endure the stressful midterm season.”

S. Supplication - offer any request that may be on your hearts, ending with a prayer asking God to bless your time in devotion to Him at the Belong group. You can offer as many or as few of these as you see fit. For example, “Please work in the heart of (name) this week as (name) shares the Gospel with them. Please provide for (name) to have the money to fix their car. Please bless us now as we open your word that we would learn from it and respond to what you are saying to us. Amen.”

You can’t possibly pray wrong if you pray with honesty and your own words! Your Heavenly Father loves to hear your voice and is eager to say “yes” to you. Believe it!

Scripture Rhythm

Read the passage of the day out loud as a group

What does it teach us about God?

What does it teach us about people?

What questions do we have?

What is my key takeaway?

The purpose of this time is to help the group engage with the truth found in scripture.

First, the group leader should make sure everyone has the text open in front of them, ideally in the same translation. I recommend NIV or ESV. The group leader will then divide the passage into sections and have each person from the group read a section out loud. I recommend having each person read one verse at a time, going around in a circle until the whole section is read. Be patient with slower readers. Then begin the process of drawing observations out of the text. Encourage each member of the group to share an observation they find in the text that answers the question “What does this passage teach us about God, Jesus, or the Holy Spirit?” or “What does the passage teach us about people or myself?” Each person should share popcorn style. The group leader may restate what each person said or ask a follow-up question as needed. When sharing, be sure to keep your observation closely connected to what the text is directly saying rather than sharing abstract or off-topic theological thoughts.. A good example observation sounds like, “In John 3 verse 16 I see that anyone who believes in Jesus will have eternal life.”

After everyone has shared for a while, ask the group what questions anyone has unanswered in their minds. If someone offers a question, encourage the group to help answer by looking closely at the passage again. If that does not answer the question, feel free to draw on your theological knowledge or a google search. If you encounter a particularly difficult question, say “I don’t know, that’s a great question. Let me find an answer and get back to you next week.” Then contact one of the BSM leaders for help.

Finally, give everyone a minute to think quietly about their key takeaway from the scripture passage and then have them share it. Encourage everyone to find something that stands out to them from the text and share it. Some good questions for the group to consider for this step are “What is Jesus saying to me through this passage? Is he asking me to do something? Is he offering me a promise to believe in? Is he offering me a new perspective or attitude to adopt? What, then, should I do about that?” Group leaders should encourage everyone to share, but not force anyone who would prefer not to share. Group leaders should also remember what everyone says and follow up with them in the next week’s session, especially if someone sets a goal for the week.

The scripture rhythm should take about 20 minutes. You won’t cover everything in that time and that’s ok! The goal is for each person to discern one key truth from the passage and actually apply it to their lives, rather than shallowly surveying a lot of material but failing to apply it.

For your convenience, here are the hyperlinks to the ten scripture selections:

1. John 3:1-21

2. Matthew 5

3. Matthew 6

4. Matthew 7

5. Luke 23

6. Luke 24

7. Philippians 2:1-18

8. Romans 6

9. Romans 7

10. Romans 8

Trust Rhythm

Where in my life am I feeling fear today?

What action can I take today or this week that lives out my trust in God?

Trusting God is the single foundational spiritual discipline and a habit that can be cultivated through careful reflection and practice. It can become for us the “default” posture of our heart toward God if we practice it over time. This posture in turn will enable us to engage with life’s difficulties and challenges from a position of strong, peaceful faith rather than anxiety, fear, or panic.

Trust is an attitude we can cultivate inside ourselves which can often be expressed in the form of a concrete action. From Topical Bible: “Trust, in the biblical context, refers to a firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something. It is a foundational element of faith, representing confidence and reliance on God and His promises. Trust is both an attitude and an action, reflecting a deep-seated assurance in God's character and His Word.” (Source)

Trust opposes fear, but we must be careful not to demonize, attack, or “squish” fear when we feel it in ourselves or discern it in others. Instead we should practice reflection - identify the source of our fear, feel our feel without judging ourselves, and ask our fear good critical-thinking questions. From there we can gently practice adopting a trusting attitude or acting out our trust as a response to our fear.

Before beginning this exercise, especially in the first couple of weeks, the group leader should remind everyone that this is a safe place to share, which means that no one should be talking about anything said in this group outside of the context of the group. What is said in these groups should stay in these groups, unless someone is thinking about or planning to harm themselves or someone else. In that case the group leader should contact their BSM leader immediately.

The group leader should set the right tone of appropriate vulnerability by sharing first with honesty.

These two questions are designed to help group members reflect on their fear and respond with trust in God. By asking these questions regularly and thoughtfully, we develop good habits in ourselves that nurture our spiritual growth. Give the group a couple of quiet minutes to reflect before sharing. These questions might be particularly sensitive or awkward to share with a group, especially at first as the group is still getting to know one another. It is better for the group leader to encourage group members to be honest with themselves even if it means they don’t share their reflections with the whole group. If someone does share, the group leader should practice careful, non-judgmental listening to each person’s response. The group should resist the temptation to offer solutions or advice unless these are asked for.

More helpful information about the Biblical concept of trust can be found here.

This part should take about 10 minutes.

Identity-in-Christ Rhythm

Understanding and absorbing our new identity in Christ is the key to our worldview, self-image, and decision-making process as Christians. We think about the world from the vantage point of the Age to Come which is already revealed by Jesus. Here are a few key aspects of the coming Age: God is “all in all", Christ is our good and gentle king, we have healed every conflict and division between peoples and nations, everyone is equal in status and privilege, everyone is fully known and loved, everyone has everything they need to thrive, and creation is restored. Being a Christian means living and acting like that Age is already here, because in Christ, it is! When we learn to think of others from this vantage point, we love them better by resolving our conflicts with them and meeting their material needs. When we learn to think of ourselves from this vantage point, we can let God’s gracious love into our hearts and treat ourselves with kindness. We also gain the power to adopt Christ-like attitudes and behaviors. When we wonder what we ought to do in a situation, reminding ourselves that we are a “little Jesus” can help bring clarity.

The poem “I am a Child of the King” by Dr. Ed Laymance is a great tool for helping us absorb our new identities in Christ. Repetition is key! So every week the group leader should ask a different member to read the passage out loud while everyone listens and reflects. Here is a link to the poem.

The group leader should follow up the reading with a gentle reminder that the promises mentioned in the poem are available to us in Christ alone and belong to us through faith alone. When we repent and believe in Jesus, they become true of us. Faith should then be accompanied by believer’s baptism, loving actions towards others (and ourselves), and good-faith obedience to God. Moral perfection cannot be obtained in this life, and moral imperfection should not be used by a Christian as a way to exclude themselves from the promises in the poem.

The group leader should remind the group of these facts as necessary, depending on who is in the group and what they need to hear. A not-yet-believer may need to be reminded of the necessity of faith, whereas a Christian with a tender conscience may need to be reminded that their salvation depends on what Christ has already accomplished for them, not their moral performance.

This part should take only a two minutes.

Mission Rhythm

Someone shares the Gospel with the group

Who will you tell about what God is doing in your life this week?

Belong groups exist to accomplish the Great Commission. Keeping this purpose in mind is essential for the group to succeed. Belong groups are not Christian hangouts, nor are they primarily “Bible studies.” They are communities where Christians and not-yet-Christians can practice following Jesus together with friends. Everyone should be thinking about friends they can invite to join the group, or friends they can go share the Gospel with outside of the group. As not-yet-believers join, it’s important that they hear the Gospel on their very first visit. Furthermore, Christians need to practice sharing the Gospel every week.

Therefore, the group leader should call on someone to share the Gospel at the end of the meeting. The group leader should pick someone they trust will share the Gospel accurately (even if not eloquently). The Gospel presentation does not have to be long, but it should cover the essentials of Jesus’ saving work in living for us, dying for us, and rising for us, and the necessity of the response of faith. The group leader should judge if it is appropriate to invite anyone present to take the step of faith without singling any individual out.

A person may share the Gospel by reciting John 3:16, sharing their personal testimony, putting the Gospel in their own words, or by sharing a tool such as the three circles method or bridge illustration.

Finally, everyone should consider whether there is someone in their life they can share the Gospel with or share about their spiritual journey with. If anyone names a person to share with, the group can pray for that person.

This part should take 5-10 minutes.

Remember that you are loved ❤️

We want to cultivate a culture of love. God’s love for us in Christ is the start and the goal of the Christian life. Love is more than words, but not less! We need to remind each other out loud that God loves us and we love one another. Group leaders should set the example by saying these words out loud at the conclusion of each meeting.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What if someone is struggling to follow along without being disruptive? The group leader should periodically invite them to participate, but as long as they aren’t causing a distraction, they can be part of the group.

What if someone is being disruptive in the group? The group leader should respectfully remind them of what everyone is there to do, and that if they don’t want to participate they can leave. If the person continues to be disruptive, the group leader should warn them that if they continue to be disruptive, they will be asked to leave the group. If they continue to be disruptive, the group leader should ask respectfully ask them to leave.