Practising the Way
Small Group Leaders Area
The Sessions
Session 01 Following Jesus
Session 02 Formation Part 01
Session 03 Formation Part 02
Session 04 The Practices
Session 05 Meeting God in Pain and Suffering
Session 06 Healing From Sin
Session 07 Crafting a Rule of Life
Session 08 Life Together
Example session
Here is what a typical session could look like.
Welcome
Welcome the group and open in prayer.
Discussion 1: Practice reflection (15-20 min.)
Process your previous week’s practice in community with the questions in the Guide.
Course Video, Part 1 (20 min.)
Watch Part 1 of the video.
Discussion 2: Group conversation (15-30 min.)
Pause the video when indicated for a group-wide conversation.
Course Video, Part 2 (10 min.)
Watch Part 2 of the video.
Discussion 3: After the video (10-15 min.) (Optional)
If you’d like, we have additional questions in the Guide for continued conversation. They are geared toward the coming week’s practice.
Prayer to close
Close by praying the liturgy in the Guide, or however you choose.
The Practicing the Way Course is designed to work in a variety of group sizes and environments. For that reason, your gatherings may include additional elements like a meal or worship time or follow a structure slightly different than this sample. Please adapt as you see fit.
Session 01
Following Jesus
Following Jesus is more than going to church or believing the right things; it is practising a way of life. The meaning of “follow Jesus” is rooted in 1st-century practices of rabbis and apprentices, practices that inform our understanding of how to follow Jesus today.
Video playback: We would recommend downloading the video onto your device instead of relying on a stable internet connection during your group. Here is a download link.
Leaders Materials
Session 02
Formation Part 01
Whether we realise it or not, all of us are being formed — by our habits, relationships, the stories we believe, and our environment. This session explores the six primary forces shaping individuals: habits, relationships, stories, environment, time, and experience.
Video playback: We would recommend downloading the video onto your device instead of relying on a stable internet connection during your group. Here is a download link.
Leaders Materials
Session 03
Formation Part 02
Many of us desire to become more like Jesus, but we feel stuck. We need a training program, a reliable pathway to transformation. We find this in the Way of Jesus, which shows us how to intentionally engage formation.
Video playback: We would recommend downloading the video onto your device instead of relying on a stable internet connection during your group. Here is a download link.
Leaders Materials
Session 04
The Practises
The Practises are disciplines that create space for the Spirit to transform us from the inside out. Learn about practising ancient disciplines that open us up to God to change us at the deepest level.
Video playback: We would recommend downloading the video onto your device instead of relying on a stable internet connection during your group. Here is a download link.
Leaders Materials
Session 05
Meeting God in Pain and Suffering
The Practises can expose pain as our soul begins to process and discharge suffering. This session explores the three primary ways people deal with pain (deny, detach, or drug), how unhealed pain sabotages transformation, and how God can meet us in pain to bring lasting change.
Video playback: We would recommend downloading the video onto your device instead of relying on a stable internet connection during your group. Here is a download link.
Leaders Materials
Session 06
Healing from Sin
This session covers three dimensions of sin — sin done by us, sin done to us, and sin done around us — and explores four layers of sin we move through in our healing: gross sins, conscious sins, unconscious sins, and attachments. Finally, the session covers our part in healing, the practice of confession.
Video playback: We would recommend downloading the video onto your device instead of relying on a stable internet connection during your group. Here is a download link.
Leaders Materials
Session 07
Crafting a Rule of Life
Transformation is possible, but it’s not inevitable. Learn how to build an intentional plan, or what the early Christians called a “Rule of Life”: a schedule and a set of practises and relational rhythms that create space for us to be with Jesus, become like him, and do as he did.
Video playback: We would recommend downloading the video onto your device instead of relying on a stable internet connection during your group. Here is a download link.
Leaders Materials
Session 08
Life Together
To sustain a lifelong journey of following Jesus, we need to key in on one final critical truth: You are meant to follow Jesus in community. Learn how to cultivate a community of depth, vulnerability, and commitment to transformation.
Video playback: We would recommend downloading the video onto your device instead of relying on a stable internet connection during your group. Here is a download link.