Step #2 — How to Use The Knowing God Materials

The Leader’s Guide is uniquely designed because it expands each page of the Student’s Guide into two pages.  This format provides additional room for the boxed teaching notes designed to help you guide your group discussions.

Below, please see page 1 of the Knowing God Student’s Guide and pages 2&3 of the Knowing God Leader’s Guide . 

You will notice that portions of your Leader’s Guide are in boxes and other parts are not.  The boxed information appears only in your Leader’s Guide while the unboxed information appears in both your Leader’s Guide and your Student’s Guide.

The unboxed material should be read aloud by your small group members during your meeting (you can start on your left and go around the room).  The following sentence is an example on page 1 of your Student’s Guide and page 2 of your Leader’s Guide.

A recent Gallup poll of the United States revealed that an amazing ____ % of its citizens believe in God.

You will notice that on page 2 of your Leader’s Guide, the blanks have already been filled in, but the same blanks on page 1 of your Student’s Guide are incomplete.  These blanks will be completed by your students during your small group sessions.  The material is designed so your trainees will not know the answers unless they participate in the weekly group sessions.

Most of your members will enjoy reading, but some may feel uncomfortable, so look for those who demonstrate a spontaneous willingness to read aloud.

As your group members read, this will provide additional time for you to prepare to deliver the next boxed teaching point.  When you arrive at an unshaded box in your Leader’s Guide, simply make the statement contained in the box.  Example:

Does anyone have a guess at this number?

In preparation for teaching, we recommend that you use a “highlighter” and mark key words to help “trigger” your thoughts for discussion.  Always seek to keep good eye contact with your small group members.

When you arrive at a box that is shaded, it is an answer to a discussion question or an instruction to you from the author.  Example:

During each session, anytime there is a blank – it “lightens” things up and makes the session more enjoyable when you ask people to guess the answer – and then recognize the person who comes closest to the right answer.

You can see how this simple format makes leading your small group easy and enjoyable.