Launch Kit
Conversation 4
For mission, everyday life isn’t the obstacle, it’s the opportunity.
So how do we make the most of it?
How can we go from ‘meeting people’ to ‘trusted friend’ or ‘guide’?”
“How do start having spiritual conversations?”
“Can we really have gospel influence on other people?”
Answer these today in your conversation together.
Today’s Conversation
Review Practice
💡 Bottom Line
Review the practice from last conversation’s take-home — who tried it, how did it go, what can you learn?
Our goal was to bless others, ask questions to explore stories, and listen well to understand and connect deeper with their stories.
🙋 Ask a Question
TIP: “Is anyone willing to share what they practiced and how it went, or how it felt to do?”
💬 Build on Conversation
TIP: Use follow-up questions like:
What did you learn from practicing that?
Was there anything that surprised you this week?
What were you feeling before you did that? How did you get past that and act anyway?
Was there a moment you almost acted but didn’t?
Was there anything you hoped would go better?
How has the experience changed how you see our mission?
⏭️ Next: we’ll build on these ideas to deepen relationships and share Jesus with others.
🤐 What if no one practiced?
Don’t fear “failure” — make the most of it: there’s always a chance to learn!
Ask (with genuine curiosity) what kept us from practicing this week
Consider our fears and hesitations
Consider our busyness and inattention
Work together to counteract our fears and inattention
Ask (with genuine helpfulness) what “intentional” meant to us
Intentional ≠ we hope for it to happen + wait to see if it happens
Intentional = we plan for it to happen + become accountable to ensure it happens
Work together to create a better plan with accountability
Plan = what specifically to do + who is doing it + when it will be done
Accountability = how will we know it’s done + who will find out + what we’ll do if not
(Repeat as needed: what didn’t work about our plan? what will we do differently this time to ensure it happens as we intend?)
In a Picture
Conversations and relationships are not “all-at-once.” They are ongoing processes, like a circle.
Over time, we engage intentional, everyday discipleship
Each conversation can build trust, build relationship, and discover more about their stories
As we bless and listen, we find opportunities to introduce connections to God’s story and His Hero, Jesus
The Circle
💡 Bottom Line
Our everyday lives present opportunities for conversations that build trust and relationship. Through small conversations, people go from a contact to an acquaintance, and eventually a friend and even disciple. Our everyday interactions can become a cycle of serving and blessing others that draws out their stories and connects them to God’s story.
💡 Clarify the Circle’s Cycles
TIP: These are the phrases around the circle itself. Each one will be explained below. To make this more interactive, you could ask the group what each phrase might mean to them, or explain the idea then ask them for some concrete examples of how they have experienced this idea.
Serve & Bless: We look for ways to tangibly add to peoples’ lives. When we do this regularly, trust builds and creates opportunities to have quality conversations. But we do not serve and bless as a transaction; we act out of our Gospel Identity (Triangle) and to tangibly show or demonstrate God’s gift and our care.
Their Story: We ask good questions and listen genuinely for what shapes this person’s life. Whether in 5 minutes before work, 10 minutes over the fence, or 30 minutes at lunch or in the gym, we try to take a relationship deeper with open and interesting questions that invite others to share new pieces of their story. (What makes them “them,” what experiences have shaped them, who has shaped them, what do they hope to create out of life, and so on.)
Our Story: We have our own stories and try to connect them whenever possible. This may be points of similarity or contrast in how we grew up, what we have experienced, and what we value or enjoy. As they share their story and we share our own, we grow to know one another and grow trust for one another.
God’s Story: We are always being shaped by God’s story, so there will be natural ways to make spiritual connections in our story. We might share things our GC does together, or ways our church blesses others. We might ask how we could pray, why we approach conflict or a work situation as we do, and so on.
Hero Jesus: We ultimately aim to connect stories to Jesus, the hero of God’s story and ours. How has Jesus changed our life, why we needed Him to change it, or how He can change their life too. We all have broken parts of our story; He is how all lives are restored — share how He’s been the hero of your story!
Pause to Discuss
What are we learning as we discuss this? What is God showing you about yourself, our mission, or the people around us?
What do we need to do right now? What simple actions or changes can we make to put this circle’s ideas into play?
What keeps us from asking better questions or from listening well to others? What could change that or help us improve?
What ways could we be more intentional with one conversation this week? (Name who, when, and how — then become accountable to discuss it next week!)
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What would our GC look like, feel like, or sound like if we really re-oriented our lives together around having conversations like this circle describes?
Roll with It
💡 Bottom Line
Looking at the circle once more, take in how relationships develop in stages and with multiple attempts or investments. A circle is (1) always starting, (2) never done, and (3) always in motion. This gives us new chances, more chances, and a momentum to start small — knowing we will grow as we go.
🙋 Ask a Question
TIP: Consider how a circle is always in motion, always starting and never finishing. There are always new opportunities to start, to deepen, or to continue a relationship. Is this helpful or assuring? Why or why not?
📜 Read a Text: 1 Corinthians 3:5-10
TIP: Would someone look up 1 Corinthians 3:5-10 and read this for us? How does this help or guide us as we go forward?
🙏 Pray Together: seal the commitment
Take Home
Pray for our names + faces
Stick to what you sketched on your calendar (oriented around the Gospel)
Practice the basics of the circle
Re-draw the circle this week (come ready to re-draw it next week with us!)
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Include the Kids!
⚙️ Suggested tools: paper; crayons or markers
🫱🏻🫲🏾 How to help: older kids help younger kids; all GC members can help too — the more involved, the better! GC members can help give examples.
❓ What about…if kids give “bad answers”? Affirm the good, adjust what’s wrong, add what’s missing.
💡 Bottom Line
We can be good friends to people. We can show them God’s kindness and care. We can talk to them about Jesus — He’s the best gift we can give them!
🙋 Ask a Question
TIP: Have you ever been new, like at school or on a team? How did you get to know new friends there?
TIP: Engage their responses and follow-up with more questions: what made it hard to talk to other people? What made it easier? What made you comfortable there? Who made you comfortable (what did they do)?
🖍️ Draw a Circle
TIP: Can everyone draw a circle? We’ve been talking about how we can be good friends to others and how to start sharing Jesus with them. This circle will show us how.
💡 Explain: The Circle & Key Phrases
TIP: Go step by step explaining Bless - Their Story - Our Story - God’s Story - Jesus’ Story
TIP: If this is too much, you may want to simply give concrete examples of how to bless others, how to talk about what God/Jesus means to us, and review the Gospel as discussed in Conversation 1 (God’s Story & Jesus’ Story).
🧱 Back to Concrete
TIP: Show the kids who our GC has named as our “names + faces,” who we are praying for, and how we are hoping to bless them. Invite the kids to name some of their own friends as “names + faces” to pray for. Brainstorm ways the kids can bless and serve these friends in small, everyday ways.
🙏 Pray together
TIP: Let’s pray together…