A Guide for Group Leaders
A GUIDE FOR GROUP LEADERS
Respectable Sins Student Edition makes a rewarding group study for students. This brief guide is intended to help you lead your group through an enriching time of discovery.
You’ll probably want to combine chapters to get through the book in a reasonable period of time. The following plan will take you through the book in nine weeks. Feel free to adapt this plan to cover a longer or shorter period of time.
Week 1: Introduction and chapters 1–3
Week 2: Chapters 4–6
Week 3: Chapters 7–8
Week 4: Chapters 9–10
Week 5: Chapters 11–12
Week 6: Chapters 13–14
Week 7: Chapters 15–16
Week 8: Chapters 17–18
Week 9: Chapters 19–21
Be sure each participant has his or her own copy of the book. And it goes without saying that you should be thoroughly familiar with the material before each group session. Note the “Your Turn” section at the end of each chapter that includes a Scripture for participants to read or memorize, questions to help them engage with the material, and a prayer prompt. If you are following the plan above, you will have 6–12 discussion questions to choose from, but you are invited to craft your own as well. Be sure to pray for God’s wisdom, guidance, and sensitivity as you prepare and facilitate. Pray for His profound work in the heart and life of each participant.
The survey/self-test “Are You a Respectable Sinner?” can be a helpful tool for you at several different points of your study. It’s a fun way to introduce the study and a helpful wrap-up as well, or you can use it at both beginning and end to highlight participants’ growth through the study. The survey also works well in conjunction with “The Directions” in chapter 6.
Be sensitive about how much you ask the students to share about their survey responses. If you sense they might be uneasy about revealing their personal failings, encourage them to fill in the survey privately, between sessions, or to answer it according to what they’ve observed in their churches or youth groups. (You’ll find that young people have a keen nose for hypocrisy!)
Encourage participants to read the assigned chapters before each meeting and, if possible, to work through the “Your Turn” sections on their own before sessions. Remind them that it’s okay to write in their books or write down their responses and prayers in a separate notebook.
Start each group session by encouraging participants to share their general response to the reading and their personal discoveries, then use the “Engage” questions to stimulate discussion. For some questions you might pose the question to no one in particular and wait for responses. As much as time permits, encourage unrushed, multiple responses. Here too, allowing students to talk about what they’ve observed as well as what they’ve done can reduce the pressure on them.
Be sure to conclude your sessions by praying together. The “Bring It to God” prompts give you a place to start, but feel free to vary your approach depending on the direction the session has taken. You can have one person pray or open the session up for brief conversational prayers from anyone who wishes to pray aloud, but make sure no one feels pressured or obligated.
May God richly bless you and your group as you read and discover His blessings together.