Lesson 4: Leading Small Group
Full transcript and related links below
True saving faith in Jesus involves a radical heart transformation which produces new desires, attitudes, and actions. While only God can bring about this transformation, it is our responsibility as small group leaders to guide, inspire, and implore our students toward personal and sincere responses to God's truth. This can start even with very young children.
Small groups look different based on your class size and context.
- If your class is small, this group might just be one group around a table with the teacher who taught the lesson.
- If your class is large enough to have multiple groups and leaders, assign the children to the same small group leader every week. This way, the leader can get to know his or her group of children personally, pray for each child weekly, and build a relationship with the parents.
As mentioned in the planning portion of this course, the look section of the lesson will have example questions for the small group leaders to ask. These discussion questions aim to reach the heart. Depend on the Holy Spirit to show you the questions that will draw out where God is working in the hearts of your children.
The coloring page serves two purposes.
- The first is to provide children with an activity to reinforce the story.
- The second is to give adult leaders an opportunity to ask basic questions, restate the themes, and draw out personal applications from the story while the children are coloring the pictures.
If children spend small group time talking about that story's key themes while coloring each picture, the coloring page becomes a wonderful review tool for teachers and later for parents when the children bring the coloring page home.
In addition, small group time can be used to serve the children a snack, review memory verses, and pray.
Young children can be taught to share prayer requests and pray for each other. They just need some modeling and encouragement. Small group time is an ideal time for prayer requests and simple prayer. Here is one way to instruct the children: teach the four kinds of prayers.
- I love you prayers are prayers of adoration. These express praises for the greatness and goodness of God.
- I'm sorry prayers are prayers of confession. These tell God about the wrong things we have felt and done and then ask God to forgive us.
- Thank you prayers are prayers of thanksgiving. These thank God for His goodness and for answers to prayer.
- Please prayers are prayers of supplication. These ask God for something. God's answer can be yes, no, or wait. But God always answers prayer.
A good teacher will help a child to see the personal implications of God's truth. But it is the child's responsibility to respond to the truth. This will usually happen outside of class when the Holy Spirit brings about situations where the child can respond to the truth of God's Word. When the child responds, the Bible is understood and appreciated in the heart and God is honored.
Parent pages connect the content learned in class to the home. They help the parent and child interact with the scripture passage by listing out key themes and providing application questions.
- Some churches who have a digital access plan print the parent page on one side and the coloring page on the other side, so both can be used to make connections at home.
- Spiral bound coloring books are available with just the coloring pages or with both coloring pages and the corresponding take-home pages for parents.
- Bound coloring books are the only coloring page option for those using the print classroom kit.
If you would like further development as a preschool volunteer, read the curriculum introduction (He Established a Testimony curriculum introduction | He Has Spoken by His Son curriculum introduction). Many find the deep and detailed description helpful.
You can also see small group engagement in the example lessons in the previous session of this training course.
