Agenda for Just-Do-It group sessions
Mercy Season, August 7 - October 12, 2024
Anybody can lead a Just Do It group with the discussion guide below. It's important to reinforce that by taking turns as the group leader. My 10-year-old granddaughter did fine when it was her turn. So can you.
Read or skim the agenda ahead of time if you wish, and see FAQs at the bottom if you need more details. However, don't worry if you don't get it read beforehand. The agenda will work even if you do it cold.
The agenda is the same every week. Only the Scripture passage changes as shown in the list below.
When it is your week to lead, follow this agenda:
Start with icebreaker questions about how everybody is doing
Ask each person, “In a minute or less, what is something you are thankful for this week?”
Ask, “What is a challenge you are facing?”
Ask, "How did we do with last week's Just Do It assignments?" (Keep cheering people on as they answer.)
Read this to review the group purpose:
Why did we get together today? To listen for our next assignments in God’s public awareness campaign and to cheer each other on as campaign team members
Pray for good listening and cheering, using the following prayer or your own:
Thank you, God, that we can get together today. Thank you that you master-minded the Get Real campaign to connect, heal, and bless the world and that you included us in it through Jesus and his Spirit. Help us listen well for our next assignments, and help us cheer each other on every week. In the name of Jesus and for the sake of his campaign we ask these things. Amen.
Read these bullet points to remind the group about what we have agreed on
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We want a better world, and it will get a little better every time we listen to God together and cheer each other on.
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Nobody is teaching anything or preparing anything for this group. We take turns leading the group by using this group agenda sheet.
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We stick to the Bible verses we read; we don’t bring in other verses.
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Our goal is to hear what God wants us to do this week, not satisfy idle curiosity or push our own opinion.
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We expect that at some point God will nudge us to start other groups to get more people listening and cheering. When he does, we will just do it, even if it means we leave this group.
[Say] Now let's listen for what the Scripture is saying to us.
Using the following prayer or your own, pray that the Scripture will speak to us:
Lord, we are coming to you to listen for your voice in the Bible and through your Spirit. Give us whatever assignments you have for us this week as members of your campaign team, and make them clear enough that we don't miss them. Make your thoughts our thoughts and your will our will so we can Just-Do-It. In Jesus' name, amen.
Find this week’s Scripture
Aug. 7-13. Hebrews 9.1-15. The last "Day of Atonement" (Yom Kippur
Aug. 14-20. Romans 5.1-11. How mercy changes us
Aug. 21-27. Isaiah 53.3-12. Jesus suffered what we deserved
Aug. 28 - Sept. 3. Luke 23.33-47. Jesus on the cross.
Sept. 4-10. Matthew 6.7-15. The "Mercy Prayer"
Sept. 11-17. Psalm 103.1-12. The Lord's amazing mercy
Sept. 18-24. Luke 24.36-49. Spreading the message of mercy
Sept. 25-Oct. 1. Matthew 18.23-35. The parable of the unforgiving debtor
Oct. 2-5 (Wed-Sat groups only) Isaiah 54.6-15. God's merciful restoration of his people
Oct. 6-12. Luke 10.25-37. Showing mercy to a victim
1. Read the Scripture to the group, then ask, “What stood out to you? It could be a main point or just something that jumped out at you.”
2. Ask someone else to read the Scripture, using a different translation. Then try to summarize it together without looking at it. Pretend you are doing this to inform someone who arrived late. It doesn't have to be perfect.
3. [Ask] “How much would we know or possibly guess about God's Get Real campaign if these verses were all we heard about it?”
[Say] Now let's get ready to listen for our personal assignments for the week, our Just-Do-Its.
[Read this]
Those Bible verses are supposed to help us see ourselves as mercy agents, showing God's mercy and urging people to take advantage of the grace period we are living in. Jesus gave us that role. As the director of God's mercy campaign, he showed us mercy, paying off our sin debt with his lifeblood. Let's show our gratitude by paying attention to whatever he wants to tell us.
Using the following prayer or your own, pray for the Spirit to speak to us:
Jesus, please put our personal assignments into our minds now by the Holy Spirit. We are at your service. Let your mercy flow into us so we can make a difference in your world. Give us assignments that will make us great agents of your mercy.
Allow time for listening to the Spirit (use your judgment about how long to wait)
[Then ask] What do you feel your Just-Do-It assignment is? What is the Spirit putting in your mind to do as a mercy agent, maybe something from the Scripture we just discussed? Is there someone you should talk to, listen to, apologize to, or forgive?
[After discussion of all Just-Do-Its, ask] How will we get our Just Do Its done?
[Say] Let's each set a reminder right now (whatever kind of reminder works for you)
[Say] Let's pray right now for God's help.
[Then pray, using the following prayer or your own:]
Thank you, Lord, for giving us our assignments for the week. Now please give us whatever courage, skill, and spiritual power it will take to get them done. Please prepare situations for us so that people get connected, healed, or blessed as we do our "Just-Do-Its". Let our actions be our small contributions to a better world because we listened to you together in this group. In the name of Jesus, our sacrifice and our High Priest, we ask all these things. Please let them happen.
[Ask] Whose turn is it to lead next week? Confirm the meeting time.
Close the session by saying (or having the group say together) the slogan in the box:
Don't forget your Just-Do-It.
Don't over-think it.
Don't avoid it.
Just do it.
FAQs for leaders
What is Mercy Season?
The fifth of the seven seasons in the SYNC annual cycle.
You don't need to know the season or the cycle in order to use the Just-Do-It method, but if you use it for more than one SYNC season, you may notice that the solo instructions change slightly with the seasonal emphasis.
If you want more details about Mercy Season, see "Mercy Tool Kit" in the menu under "Resources", but don't get bogged down there. The main thing is listening to the Bible and the Spirit, not figuring out the SYNC structure from top to bottom.
What is God's "Get Real" campaign?
God's Get Real campaign is a core idea in the Just-Do-It method because all our "Just-Do-Its" are part of it. See "God's Get Real campaign" in the main menu.
Does God really have a personal assignment for me this week?
Ask him. It's his campaign. If he does have a campaign assignment for you, you don't want to miss out on it.
Isn't it more authentic to pray in our own words than to read a prayer?
Usually it is. In this case, please at least read through the prayers ahead of time in order to see how they reinforce the core ideas and purposes of Just-Do-It groups. If you use your own words, be sure to get these ideas and purposes in there.
Why can't we mention any Bible verses besides the ones we are reading?
Because it interferes with both listening and cheering. When we start comparing verses, our brains take over and our ears get blocked. We start figuring things out, explaining things, studying things, and before we realize it, we are lost in a pile of timeless truths, no longer listening to what God is saying specifically to us in the moment.
The other effect may be even worse. Our extra Bible verses easily make others feel second-class or even excluded. Whether they think we are showing off or just trying to be helpful, the effect is still that they see us way above them and they see themselves as very deficient in biblical knowledge. That never cheers anybody on!
There is a time and a place for comparing various Scriptures to develop our theological knowledge, but a Just-Do-It group is not it.
Where do we get another Bible translation?
One source (leaving this site) is biblegateway.com. It offers a long pick list of translations. Two of the easiest ones to hear read aloud are “The Message” and the “Good News Translation”.
What if someone doesn't hear or sense any Just-Do-It while we are listening to the Spirit?
The people who do get some guidance from the Spirit should go ahead and describe it. Sometimes that helps others to realize what the Spirit is saying to them.
If that does not happen, then anyone who didn't get a Just-Do-It should stay alert through the week until they get the guidance they didn't get during the meeting. Sometimes the Spirit may create a particular situation during the week when the person realizes, "Oh, this is God prompting me to do such-and-such." Besides watching for something like that, people may want to reread the same Scripture and spend some more time praying and listening.
No one should fret or be embarrassed as they wait. It is God's job to communicate our Just-Do-Its, not our job to figure them out. He's very good at communicating to each and every one of us because he knows how we are wired. He customizes his communication, and his timing is impeccable.
Does anyone take notes about our Just-Do-Its or other things we share during the meeting?
First things first: Set a reminder for yourself so you don't forget your own Just-Do-It after the meeting. That's the basic problem for most participants.
Taking and circulating a few notes can be a nice extra if anyone in your group is good at that. It helps you pray for each other during the week and cheer each other when you next meet. The object is to promote cheering. If you find the note-taking is a distraction, then don't do it.
Here is a template for simple note-taking to print (or a better formatted one to download) if you decide to do note-taking.
Just-Do-It note sheet
Use the list below OR
download print version
formatted as a table.
Thankful
Challenge
Last week's JDI
What stands out
Campaign insight
New JDI
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