If you have organized a group of friends or coworkers to go through this study together, thank you! You are about to have a huge impact on their lives.

In addition to maintaining momentum, group study allows people to share their thoughts and questions with others and benefit from one another's experiences and insights.

In most group studies, students go through each lesson in the course on their own at a convenient time during the week. The group then meets weekly or bi-weekly in person or by telephone or video conferencing to discuss what they are learning.

Here are a few suggestions on how you can best serve your fellow students as you go through this course.

1. You do not need to be an expert on relationships in order to facilitate a group, nor do you need to complete the course in advance. You will simply work through the course with your classmates, offering as much or as little guidance, feedback and suggestions as you deem appropriate. In other words, simply view yourself as being on a journey with good friends and enjoying ongoing conversations with them as you share insights, questions and discoveries with one another.
2. Pray specifically that God will use your group to enable each person to better fulfill the Great Commandment (to love God with all their hearts and their neighbors as themselves, Matthew 22:37-40) and the Great Commission (to make disciples of Christ who obey all that he teaches, Matthew 28:18-20).
3. Incorporate the four key elements of Acts 2:42-47 into your meetings:
   • Devote yourselves to biblical teaching
   • Make a commitment to meet and grow together regularly
   • Pray deeply together
   • Enjoy refreshments or even a meal when you meet.
4. If your group works together or lives nearby, meeting in person allows for better engagement. You could also meet through video or telephone conference calls.
5. Encourage group members to attend gatherings even if they did not have time to do a particular lesson. Let them know that you value their presence and assure them that they will be able to contribute to the discussion even if they did not complete the lesson.
6. To stimulate daily interaction, you could also set up a custom Facebook group where members can post insights, questions and relevant videos or articles throughout the week.
7. In order to maintain momentum, we suggest that groups meet weekly or bi-weekly to discuss what they are learning.
8. Make a commitment to pray daily for your group, asking the Lord to send his Spirit to guide each person to a deeper and more joyful understanding of God’s design for relationships, as well as a greater appreciation for the gospel of Christ.
9. Set a definite schedule and pace for the class. We recommend that students complete at least one lesson per week to maintain momentum. If your class wants to move through the material more quickly, you can agree to do two or more lessons per week. Just make sure you’re not putting unrealistic expectations on anyone.
10. Set an example. The most effective way to lead any group is through your personal example. Here are some simple ways to inspire and motivate a group:

• Be humble and relaxed. If you don’t have an immediate answer to a question, simply say, “I don’t know, but I’ll try to find out.”
• Be an encourager. Look for ways to thank or commend people for their insights. The more you encourage them, the more they will participate.
• Be open in sharing your own relational struggles and God’s redeeming grace. People relate more easily to our weaknesses and mistakes than they do to our strengths and achievements. Moreover, our failures provide an opportunity to highlight the grace, forgiveness and redeeming power of God.
• Stay on schedule. Set an example of having the assigned lessons completed each week. However, be prepared to slow the pace down if special needs or issues arise. Just be sure you communicate any changes to the entire class.

11. Encourage every person to engage in discussions. If you notice that some classmates are not participating, try to draw them in. You could do this by asking them a non-threatening question during one of your group meetings, or you could encourage them privately through a phone call, email or conversation over coffee.
12. Encourage your group to use the Personal Study Notes handout to record their answers to at least half of the reflection, application and practice questions in each lesson.
13. When your group gets together to discuss what they are learning, invite them to share their answers to a few of the reflection, application and practice questions in each lesson. When doing so, it is usually wise to have each person read what they’ve actually written for the questions before moving into an open conversation. This approach keeps talkative people from dominating the conversation and helps less talkative people share more than they would if they were asked to speak spontaneously.
14. Maintain a safe and confidential environment for your class. Some of the questions in this study may touch upon sensitive issues in people’s lives. Therefore, it’s essential that you regularly remind classmates to be gracious and respectful as they engage in discussions, and also to keep all that is communicated in the class confidential.
15. Keep building passport throughout the course. Before you begin the class, please read Building Passport. Then ask God to enable you to engage your class in such a way that they know for certain that they can trust you, that you really care about them and that you can actually help them get the most out of this course. You could also encourage your entire class to read this article, and then at your first meeting discuss how you will work together to maintain passport with one another as you go through the course.

Our prayer is that you will find your role of facilitating this class to be so enjoyable and rewarding that you will lead one class after another through this material.