THE MEETING 

THE LAST MEETING OF THE QUARTER: How you wrap up your last meeting of the year is important. Make sure you allow plenty of time to go through the “My Story” and “Remembering” sections. Feel free to spend your entire time there, allowing everyone time to connect.

NOTE ABOUT COMMUNION: There is a video option to take your group through communion, or you can lead it yourself. See the last section called “Remembering” with the link for more explanation.

Special email to your group ahead of time: You may want to email or text your group ahead of time so they know what to bring to group for My Story #1.

DISCUSS PLANS FOR THE FALL & NEXT WEEK
Find out from your group if they know their plans for being part of the group in the fall. They can indicate their plans on the Feedback Forms. Also, let us know of any roster updates that you know of, or changes to your meeting day, time or location for the Fall Quarter when you submit your attendance.

The Plan for Groups in the Fall / Roster Confirmations – We’ll Continue to Offer In-Person & Online Groups
One thing we’ve gained from this past year during the pandemic is that we can actually reach more people by offering Zoom groups. Of course, we expect many of our online groups will go back to in-person in the fall or at least a hybrid version. But we also realize some will stay online, which we think is great! In fact, we plan to always offer online groups going forward. When you confirm your roster, please also include if your group is making any changes in regard to meeting online or in-person.

SUMMER CONNECTION IDEAS

• It’s no surprise some are still working through the effects of extended isolation due to COVID quarantining. Be aware of that for your group, and realize some may need extra attention while your group is on break. Over the summer, you may want to consider planning a social with your group at the beach, having a game night, going out to dinner, attending one of our summer events/classes or meeting for guys-only/girls-only breakfast once or twice.
• You may also consider sending out prayer requests via email, text or mail; this is a great way to keep people connected.

EVENTS & CLASSES COMING THIS SUMMER
You may want to consider making one of these events a summer social for your group! There will be a variety of classes offered in-person and online throughout the summer on various campuses. More details coming soon!  

PRAYER FOR NEW FALL Life GROUP LEADERS & HOSTSTake some time to pray for new Leaders and Hosts to launch new Life Groups in the fall. As the COVID limitations continue to lighten up, we anticipate some significant growth in the number of groups needed this fall.

LEADER INFO

Remember to get Communion supplies for the last meeting.

ONLINE FEEDBACK FORMS:
If you did not do Feedback Forms last week, please make sure to have your group complete them this week. In the event someone in your group can’t find the email, you may share the generic link listed here with them. lifegroups.northcoastchurch.com/feedback

ATTENDANCE
Submit your group’s attendance online at northcoastchurch.com/attendance. If you’re not sure how to post attendance, you can check out the guide here: lifegroups.northcoastchurch.com/how-to-post-attendance

This is our final week of the Spring Quarter. Along with an abbreviated study, you’ll take some time to reflect on your group experience and then take Communion together. You will also fill out Feedback Forms about your group experience and your plans for the fall (if you haven’t already). Life Groups will take a summer break and resume the week of September 19. Thanks for being a part of your Life Group and have a great summer.

Discussion Suggestion: These two questions and the “Remembering” section are the most important to cover. Make sure you allow plenty of time here. You may want to have them each answer all the questions in this section and then move to the “Remembering” section. 

1. We heard again this week that God is working for our good no matter what life throws at us! As we close the Life Group quarter, we want to take some time to do two things.

1) Find something in your house that represents who God was to you this past year (we did a version of this a year ago when all groups were online). Bring it to your group and be ready to talk about it. Feel free to have fun with this, while also sharing why it is meaningful.

You may want to email or text your group ahead of time about bringing something to the group for the question below.

2) Looking back at this past quarter and year, how has your Life Group experience encouraged, challenged or helped you in your walk with Jesus and in connecting with other people?

Good question to have everyone answer.

2. Summer is just around the corner and it looks like it will be “more normal” than last summer! What new normal are you looking forward to the most this summer? How can your Life Group best pray for you this summer?

Good question to have everyone answer and then move into Communion in the “Remembering” section if you’re tight on time.

Discussion Suggestion: You can use this question to help launch some summer prayer themes for each person in your group. See the second sub question below the verses.

This weekend our message from 2 Corinthians gave us some great news on how to find God’s comfort when it seems like everything is falling apart. One of the key points we heard was that God’s comfort flows out of perspective and realistic expectations. Looking at the following verses, jot down any comfort or encouragement offered to us as followers of Jesus.

2 Corinthians 1:3-5 New International Version (NIV)
³ Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, ⁴ who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. ⁵ For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ.

2 Corinthians 2:14-15 New International Version (NIV)
¹⁴ But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere. ¹⁵ For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.

2 Corinthians 2:16-18 New International Version (NIV)
¹⁶ To the one we are an aroma that brings death; to the other, an aroma that brings life. And who is equal to such a task? ¹⁷ Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, as those sent from God.

2 Corinthians 5:17, 20 New International Version (NIV)
¹⁷ Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
 ²⁰ We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.

2 Corinthians 12:9-10 New International Version (NIV)
⁹ But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. ¹⁰ That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Looking back at what you wrote above, can you think of any examples of how a perspective from one of these verses has helped you or could have helped you in the past? If so, explain.

Which one would be most helpful in reminding you God is at work in your life and wants to use you to make a difference in the world around you this summer?

Good question to have everyone answer. You could make a group prayer list with each person’s response as a guide for how to pray for each person throughout the summer. 

Jesus wants us to remember what He has done for us and that He is here to walk through life with us. That’s why Jesus told the disciples at the Last Supper to repeatedly come together and take Communion. Taking Communion is about remembering all Christ accomplished through His death on the cross and resurrection. It is through this sacrifice that Jesus’ grace and mercy are made available to us.

This week, your Life Group will conclude by doing as the disciples did, taking Communion together. To prepare for Communion, read the following verses and reflect on Jesus’ commitment and work in your life as you follow Him. Write down a few of your thoughts about the impact each of these verses has on you.

If you have time, have your group share their answers. This will set up how you lead them through Communion.

Romans 5:7-11 New International Version (NIV)
⁷ Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. ⁸ But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. ⁹ Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! ¹⁰ For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! ¹¹ Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

1 Corinthians 11:23-25 New International Version (NIV)
²³ For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, ²⁴ and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” ²⁵ In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

John 15:12-17 New International Version (NIV)
¹² My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. ¹³ Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. ¹⁴ You are my friends if you do what I command. ¹⁵ I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. ¹⁶ You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. ¹⁷ This is my command: Love each other.

COMMUNION: (Listen to the Leader Guide Audio for more details)

• Get communion elements ready. (In-person: set on table in the middle of the room.)
• Explain that we want to end the Life Group year by remembering and celebrating Christ’s death and resurrection. You can use the video by JD Larson (North Coast Executive Pastoral Team and Fallbrook Campus Pastor) and our Worship Team, or lead your group in Communion yourself as the leader.
• Option #1 – Play the video to set up Communion followed by a worship song: JD sets up Communion using 1 Corinthians 11:23-28. The video then transitions into a worship song by one of our North Coast Worship teams, allowing people to take Communion and reflect or sing, worshipping as the song plays. Close your time in prayer.

 Make sure to preview the video.   

• Option #2 Leader-Led Communion
  • Read 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 NIV: ²³ For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, ²⁴ and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” ²⁵ In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” ²⁶ For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
  • Have everyone eat and drink the Communion elements.
  • Worship option while people take Communion – Pour Out Praise
  • Close in prayer – Group prayer or leader closes
    • Other North Coast Worship Songs

* How to watch video online with your group – Zoom allows you to share a screen. If the platform your group is using does not allow this, you can have people listen to it on their own devices at home, then come back to your group together.   

• Prayer option after the video – Group prayer or Leader/Host closes – thanking God for how He has worked this past year.  
• Meeting Wrap-up – Remind your group how you plan to connect this summer and ask them to let you know of any changes for the fall as the summer progresses.

Take Communion with us this week! If you are not in a Life Group and would like to take Communion with us, see this link to follow along: northcoastchurch.com/communion/

• Prayers for our group this summer:
• Pray that North Coast will continue to be a light in our community and help others follow Jesus.
• Pray for the raising up of new Life Group leaders and hosts this fall as many people come back to join groups or join for the first time.

Coming This Summer!
Here are some ways to stay connected and continue growing this summer. Check northcoastchurch.com for updates as more details will be added soon.

Summer Classes
We are putting together a great collection of both in-person and virtual classes on a variety of topics that will be offered throughout the summer, including parenting, marriage, personal growth, Bible study and more. More details coming soon.

Summer Connection Intro Life Groups 
New to North Coast or never been in a Life Group? Curious what being part of a Life Group is all about? Intro Life Groups meet for two to three weeks and are a great opportunity to find out what Life Groups are like with minimum commitment. These will be offered both online and in person. More details coming soon.