Congratulations and thank you for stepping up to lead a small group through the Abide Ministries online school! The purpose of this document is to assist you in getting the most joy and impact from your time together as a group, and are the suggestions collected from many people who have done what you are about to begin. And of course, if you need any additional help, please reach out to us via our website at:

https://abideministries.com/contact-us/

• Each of the Abide Ministries courses are of various lengths, typically between 10-16 sessions. To help you plan the duration of your small group study, refer to the number of lessons for your selected course. Most small groups complete one video lesson per week. Following are our suggested guidelines for a successful and exciting small group session:
• We assume you have ordered the video course and also either downloaded the workbook to print out for each person, or ordered hard copies via the link at the bottom of the page describing your purchased course. We strongly recommend that if this is your first Abide Ministries course, you begin with the Abiding in The Vine course as this is foundational to receiving the most impact from the other courses.

  Here is a direct link to that course:
  https://courses.abideministries.com/p/abiding-in-the-vine-s1

• When you plan your meetings, it is recommended you select a location (usually a home) with plenty of comfortable seating, space for each person to have their bible and course workbook, and space to easily write notes. And of course, a large screen television, video monitor or high-resolution projector and screen along with a good sound system is ideal. Most of our small group facilitators simply “air play” their laptops to a smart TV.
• Have a variety of snacks and bottled water and/or other drinks for your participants. And this may sound funny, but we have had a lot of facilitators (especially, for some reason, our ladies!) tell us you should have chocolate of some type – it is a joy increaser!
• Prayer: since you are about to open God’s Word, and He says it can be discerned only through the Holy Spirit, open in prayer. Ask the Father to speak to each participant in your group and to guide you the facilitator as His “sheep dog”, pointing always to the Lord as the revealer of truth.
• As you begin, explain the format of the meeting, and give the expected timeframe. Since most video sessions are about 30 minutes long, we recommend you give about 15 minutes to see if there are any questions from your previous session if this is not the first one, or to provide initial instructions or expectations. Then watch the half hour video segment, encouraging each participant to take notes in their workbooks. After the video finishes, we usually allow about an hour for discussion of the video content: comments on what the people wrote, any new insights that may have been learned, further questions that need to be answered using the Word, or application of the lesson to current life circumstances. As the facilitator, you will not want to rush this as the Holy Spirit will often encourage or reinforce individual messages and application through the dialog among His children (Mal. 3:16).
• End your session with prayer and thanksgiving, encouraging all participants to return for the next scheduled session. We also recommend people take time during the week reviewing what they wrote, what God may be speaking to them, and asking for any further insights or clarifications from God in their personal prayer time. And if people are attending as a couple, we encourage them during the week to compare their respective notes and discuss application to their family circumstances.
  
  May God richly bless you for your faithfulness!
  Abide Ministries