Tell Your Stories

Telling your stories is a powerful way of getting to know each other. It also plays an intricate role in your understanding and assessment of where each person is on their journey. Are they redeemed? Infants? Teenagers? Adults? An understanding of this allows you to know what each person needs. Without this information, you may give a spiritual adult a bottle or a spiritual teenager the keys to the new house. The former will be frustrated while the latter will be dangerous.


First, share your story, since this will set the standard for what you want them to share when it’s their turn. Include key points in your journey, such as salvation, baptism, and other major key moments in your faith journey. Your willingness to be open, honest and vulnerable will provide a good foundation.


Spend the first few weeks allowing your group to answer "How did you get here?" Give them 10-15 minutes each and ask them questions when they are done. The more honest and open they are, the quicker trust in the room will be built.

Listen for:
  • A moment when they came to know Jesus, or if they haven't yet.
  • A season when they’ve been broken, and if it was Jesus that pulled them from the wreckage.
  • Signs of humility and signs of pride.
  • "A phrase from the stage” as Jim Putman would say. Or as Matthew 12:34 says, "For out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks."
Healthy Tip

You should hear their story prior to the invitation, so you know who you are inviting into your group. For example, if you’re inviting in a majority of infants and teenagers, you may need to concentrate more on forming right-thinking and training them "how" to abide. If you have a majority of spiritual adults, there may be less training on abiding and a quicker "doing" of our abiding together until Jesus has freshly infused their soul again.


Regardless of how you do it, it is important that they hear each others' stories to build trust within the group.