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LEADER’S GUIDE
In the Introduction to this curriculum, we noted that God has called us to an incredible partnership with him to touch the lives of hurting people with his grace, truth, and strength. As the group leader, you have the privilege of equipping men and women for this life-changing work. In the church, we often pray for God to “change people’s lives.” From our experience, we’ve seen this happen most often and most powerfully when a caring person steps into the life of a hurting person to impart God’s grace and truth. In that Spirit-empowered relationship, God works his miracles to open closed minds, soften hardened hearts, and give clear direction for the next step forward. That’s the role of a coffee cup counselor, and the role of the leader is to equip each person to be as effective as possible in this role. As you prepare for the series and each lesson, consider these points: Ask God to guide you as you lead.
The curriculum has plenty of principles, examples, and reflection questions to inspire and challenge people, but don’t run the group “on auto pilot.” Rely on God to guide you as you prepare each week. Trust him to remind you of particular moments in your own life when someone stepped in to comfort, correct, and guide you. And think of times when God used you to care for others. Share your successes, but also disclose a few of your failures. People will appreciate your honesty, and they’ll be more open about their own fears as they go through the training. Trust God to work deeply in the lives of the people in your group as they go through these sessions. Each week they will have many opportunities to apply the principles you communicate. Sometimes they’ll see great success, but sometimes they’ll fail miserably. Ask God for wisdom to use both successes and failures as stepping-stones for growth. Assign homework each week.
This curriculum is designed for people to do some homework each week in preparation for discussions in the group. If they have read the chapter for the week and wrestled with the questions, the discussions will be rich. Of course, some people won’t do their
