Notes!

1. This week is the final week of discussion guides for the summer!

2. Please have the “renew the lease” conversation as a group over the summer.

3. If you need content for summer sessions- this document will have resources for you to choose from.

Affirmations

In order to celebrate what God has done in each of your GG members lives, we are going to take a group and spend time affirming one another. The old adage is true- you get what you celebrate- so let’s spend time celebrating all that God has done in and through your group! 

Here is how to lead a time of affirmations. 

• Instead of a regular discussion, tell your people you’ll be doing a time of affirmation of each other instead! Feel free to vision cast a little bit, and answer questions people may have beforehand. 

• What you’ll do is pick a person to take a turn being affirmed. Let’s say you start with Johnny- tell the group that we’ll have 2-3 people take turns affirming Johnny (you can go more if people are shorter with their, but if each affirmation takes 2-3 minutes and your group is 12 people you’ll have to move quickly.) The bigger your group, the exponentially longer this will go. 

• After 2-3 people affirm, take a time to pray for the person you just affirmed, and then move on to the next one! 

• End the time by praying for your whole group together.

Here are some tips you should be aware of. 

1. Absolutely make sure that you let your people know well ahead of time that you will be doing affirmations. For people who are internal processors or not “on the spot talkers”, this will give them a chance to really think about and process a meaningful thing to say to each other. 

2. As the leader, come prepared to say an affirmation for each person. Sometimes quieter or newer members of the group don’t get as affirmed as others- you want to make sure everyone feels loved and celebrated. 

3. Put a limit on the affirmation time per person. If someone gets affirmed for 15 minutes, that means someone else only gets affirmed for 2, and that hurts. Put a limit on how many people can share, and then encourage them to share other affirming words with each other afterwards. 

4. Honor only what is true and good. The goal is not to flatter people, the goal is to recognize what is true and good in a person's life and give weight to it. 

5. Pray for people at the end of the affirmation time. 

6. Lead by example- Lots of people have NEVER done this kind of thing before, and it can be daunting. Be the first one to share an affirmation and make it meaningful so you can set the tone for what affirmations are supposed to look like.