 share the notes again. Okay, so see, we are looking at a lot of information about raising up leaders, a lot of information about coaching others and so on. So it's good for us to go back to these things once in a while. Okay, so it's difficult to remember everything, right? And also, you know, even as we are leading a cell group, it's difficult to remember all these things, but it's good to, you know, go back to these things, to these principles and to these guidelines once in a while, as you start leading a cell group, right, to be able to do this, put in practice. So that's the thing. So maybe the greatest learning actually will happen when we personally lead a cell group. And I'm sure, you know, even as you've been listening to all this, a lot of things would make sense, you know, if you've already led a cell group. That doesn't mean that, you know, the other things, you know, it may not make sense at all for those who have not led cell groups. No, they can be learning. But if you put this to practice, you know, maybe if you, if you've never led a life group, they led a cell group, and well, just you and maybe two others, maybe, you know, maybe just another person, if you were to start one, and then that would give the greatest, you know, opportunity, or the greatest learning will happen during that time as well. So it's good to do that, to continue to, you know, put to practice, whatever we've learned, and there the learning can be definitely, you know, it's a practical learning, like, whatever we've learned, we are trying it out. And, and in, you know, in leading others, in raising up other leaders, these are things that we need to be actually doing in order to have the greatest of learnings. Right. So, so it goes hand in hand. So I just wanted to mention that. Right. So all these things, we can actually use it as a ready reconner, you know, when you say all these things, I'm just talking about these resources, we can refer to them time and again, go back to it time and again, and which will be helpful. Okay. So, so we don't have to really, you know, figure these things out right from the start. Okay. Maybe, or, you know, many mistakes can be avoided, if we would just equip ourselves in this and intentionally do this, right, do these things, do these, you know, carry out these principles, these truths and instructions, then we will see that, okay, you know, there are the far less mistakes, right, because and, and the thing is that since we're dealing with people, you know, mistakes have consequences, people, you know, it's, it's, it's, we need to go back to, again, the reestablishing relationship, etc. So it's good that we have these principles in our hearts and have these truths ingrained in us. And then so we don't have to, you know, we can avoid, it's not like we will never make mistakes, yes, we will, but we can avoid a lot of them, right. Okay. So we looked at two things, right, when it comes to strategies of a coach, we said, okay, we have to forge or establish partnership. Secondly, we looked at how we need to inspire commitment. Third one is to grow the skills, okay, to, to build the skills in people, to ensure that people know they can carry out and how they need to do certain things, you know, here, when we talk about cell groups, we're talking about, you know, what are some things that we can talk about, what are some skills that a cell group leader would, would need, right, some of the things that we have seen. Well, the skill to facilitate rather than to share or preach. Well, preaching definitely is a good thing. And it's, it's something for all believers to develop, right, maybe even handling a Bible study. But when it comes to cell groups specifically, if you're looking at a skill, it is to facilitate a discussion, right, to facilitate a discussion, to make sure that people are sharing, to go deeper in the word by means of discussions, by means of asking the right questions. So what do you think, have you understood this, you know, what do you think this is, how else could we do this, right, how else can we grow in faith, how can we put these things in practice, what were some of your experiences as you tried this out, right, the Bible talks about sharing the gospel, so what were some of your experiences. So people begin to share, right, and so that's a skill that a cell group leader has to develop. Right. And some other skills, maybe when it comes to maybe organizing skills, right, maybe a skill with regard to communication. Okay, so these are skills that we need to grow or in ourselves first. But when it comes to raising up others, we are talking about that being a coach, you know, you identify, hey, this person lacks these skills, these are things that the person needs to grow into, right, so how can I help them, right. Now you don't have to do it yourself, but you can maybe direct them to certain resources. You can say, hey, you know, if you read this book, it'll be helpful for you to address this whole issue of, you know, helping people, helping people or helping you facilitate a discussion, or establishing a relationship. You're saying that, you know, you always don't know what to talk when you're meeting people. This book will help you or this article, this resource will help you, this video will help you to get over that. So you sometimes feel very fearful and afraid when it comes to these meetings and you don't know how to do it, well, here's something that will help you. So we are helping them grow in that skill, right. So this is something that we can do to others as a group leaders, others in our group, right. Okay, promote persistence, meaning it's all about endurance and it's all about perseverance, right. So so, you know, the thing is, temperamentally, we could be like this, you know, personality-wise, and, and, you know, temperamentally, we could be like this, where we, where we try out something and let's say, you know, it doesn't work or it requires more effort, then we just give up. Okay, first thing you try, okay, it's not, it's not, it's not helping, and then you, you feel that it's difficult, it requires more effort, it requires you to wake up early, earlier than usual, and all that discipline is required, maybe it requires more commitment. You know, once you see that, you just give up. Or, you know, you see that, that this person is not really putting in that effort. Okay, so we need to, you know, make that person aware that, you know, this particular, or, you know, ministry or task, you know, you will feel this way, you know, it's all right, you will feel like giving up, right, you will feel like there's more effort that is required, and so, you know, you feel the first time that you don't have the strength, right, you feel like giving up, you feel that there is no strength, you feel that you're not good enough, or you don't, you know, you're not experienced enough, or you're not wise enough, or you feel like you don't know all the answers, no problem, don't give up, keep going, right. So these are some things we need to alert or bring awareness in others whom we are coaching, right. So we'll say, hey, this is how you will feel, you know, physically, you might feel tired, or you may not feel like getting up, you may not feel like preparing, like when you, you know, maybe on the day of the cell group meeting, you may feel like canceling, emotionally, you don't feel like going ahead with a meeting, you may feel like all this, it's okay to feel that, it's natural to have those kind of feelings, but go for it, keep persisting, right. Continue to, continue to press in, continue to, you know, have endurance and stamina. So these are things that we need to, you know, coach the people, that is what the coach will say, you know, this is how your body will feel, this is how you emotionally will feel. So when, when people are aware of it, they'll say that, okay, you know, this is, this is what, you know, this person taught me, yes, I will feel this way, but I need to keep going, okay, because otherwise people have a wrong understanding, you know, of even specifically about cell group leadership, et cetera, they feel okay, if I don't feel like doing it, if I don't feel like doing it, then I should not do it, okay, people come to that wrong conclusion, right. Today, I didn't feel like getting up, I didn't feel like, you know, reading, I didn't feel like preparing, so I don't want to do this. No, you know, people need to know that sometimes, yes, you will feel that way, or maybe day in and day out, but unless you build that strength, unless you build that habit, unless you build stamina, you cannot overcome these things. So, you know, and how do you build stamina by, by going over it, over and over again, that's the only way to build strength, right. So, yeah, so teach them about persistence, teach them about, you know, what make them aware of the difficulty, then they will, and also make them aware of the fact that if they do this, they will overcome that difficulty, it is possible to overcome, it is challenge, challenge them to do that, right. Shape the environment, which means build support, remove barriers, etc., create options. So, so the thing is, you know, many times in the, you know, in our, in our eagerness to build up leaders, in our eagerness to, you know, to raise up ministers, what happens is we sometimes force the people, there's a difference between motivating, challenging, and forcing someone who does not want to, okay. So, or manipulating someone, manipulating is you tell them, you give them some reward, you're telling them, okay, you know, I'll, if you do this, I'll do that, you know, all this will not work in the long run, right. Like people need to be willing, okay, yes, it's difficult, but at least people need to be willing and say, okay, it is difficult for me, I don't know how to do it, but I'm willing to try it. If that willingness is there, only then can we, of course, because if somebody doesn't want to do it, or, you know, first of all, they need to be, they need to come to that place of desiring to minister, or desiring to, you know, to lead, they may not know everything, they may not understand everything, they may have fears, they may have difficult, but, but, you know, if that willingness is there, okay, I'm willing to learn, I'm willing to try out, I'm scared, I don't have all the answers, I feel that I'm in a very inexperienced, but I am, I'm willing to try, right, you see, so even if that willingness is there, then we can, coach, we can help, we can raise up the lead person, right, maybe, you know, if that person is not willing at all, it's fine, you know, we don't have to waste our time, right, we can continue to, you know, encourage them, continue to walk with them, continue to, you know, love them, and encourage them in the world and the spirit, and, and hopefully, you know, they will come to a place of wanting to do it, wanting to be, you know, to be trained, wanting to be equipped, so till such time, we can just, you know, let them be, or, you know, we can walk with them, right, continue to be a friend, continue to be a positive influence in their lives, right, we can do that, okay, so any questions here, any questions or any of these experiences that you want to share, we can do that, any questions, any questions at all, okay, has anyone started a Bible study or a cell group from the time we started the course, or, or your, you know, join the cell group from the time we started, you know, recently anybody like that, okay, like, so how many of you are actively part of a cell group? Is Thomas, you have a cell group, you lead a cell group, apart from the church? Before pandemic, we had, we used to have a cell group 4, but now it's a little time, we have to restart in that. Okay, okay, so you also did not have anything happening online, the cell group? Online cell group is not happening. It's not happening, okay, okay, so it is just in person. Before the pandemic we used to gather, yeah, before the pandemic we used to gather and we'd just stay in one of our church believers home, so it's just sit and study things. Okay, okay, fine, fine. What about you, Dave? Dave, are you a part of a cell group or are you leading? Okay, so Sid says, started last week on biblical character study, okay, wonderful. So, so is this, okay, so Dave says no. So Sid, is it something like, like only the youth or what kind of a group is this, like is it a big group, small group? Yeah, it's only the youth, sir. The youth, okay, okay, so is it, how many people would be there on an average, like the first time? The first time we started, we were like 15 of us, most of them were me, sir. Okay, okay, good. So then, you know, you're already part of a group, so it'll be good for you to, you know, you'll see all these things, you know, whatever we've been learning, you'll see some of these things, and also, you'll have an opportunity to try out, right, when it comes to leading, when it comes to, you know, right from like preparing to be a leader, etc., these are things that we can, you can, you'll observe and see in the group, and also, you can also try these out, okay. What about the others, Prince? Prince, Conan, Kiran, okay, Aaron, yeah, you said there are these live groups, cell groups that you're part of. Are you leading any cell group, Aaron? Those three or four groups, you said, are you leading any cell group or you're attending these cell groups? I'm sorry, I didn't understand, you said yes, so are you leading or attending? I just wanted to know, is there any cell group that you're leading? Yes, Master. You're leading? Yes, yes, Master. Okay, fine, fine, right, so you're leading as well, okay. Conan is not part of any cell group. You're part of the church, Kiran, but is there a cell group that you're part of? Is there a small cell group, youth cell group? Okay, fine, women, okay, right. Okay, so I understand that, you know, like different churches have different vision for cell group and it may not be typically like what we, what we've been learning so far, right, about small groups. So like some, some cell groups are, you know, it's a Bible study, some it's, you know, it's just a time of fellowship, right, etc. So it could have various, you know, objectives, like why the cell group meets during the week, maybe sometimes people feel that, okay, this, you know, it's, we just want people to be encouraged, right, this is a gap of seven days, six days between every, you know, Sunday service is like too much. So we just want people to be encouraged. You don't want them to, you know, lose out on the fire to go down, you know, just to motivate, you know, things like that. So the cell groups might have different objectives, but some of the things that we've been learning, you know, if you have an opportunity, you know, you can, you can, or if you get to start your own cell group, you know, you can put it to practice, right, or if you're, you are leading a church, a ministry, and you want to start cell groups in the church, right, so you can think of these things. We can, you know, and have a, and put these things to practice, you know, because so the advantage here is that we are not only learning something, you know, well, when the group meets, they obviously, you know, they're going to be studying the words, so they're learning something from the Bible. But from what we can put to practice, right, it's not just one person who's teaching the others who are receiving well, everybody gets to, you know, grow and come to a place of teaching, everybody gets to grow and be disciples, right, and some of the issues, the challenges that they're facing in their lives, you know, facing as disciples in wanting to follow the Lord, some of those things are being, you know, you can address that, address that meaning, you know, you can, some of those challenges can be spoken about, and also solutions can be, you know, recommended, and people can see the answers in their lives, right. Okay, so Prince says, not yet, but you have Bible studies every evening. Okay, so, yeah, so the same thing here, I just wanted to share that. So we, you know, so it can either be about the way the cell group functions, okay, so you can maybe bring changes so that it becomes more about discipleship, right. Of course, again, it should not clash with the, you know, the vision or the objective of that cell group, which the church has established, right, the church is saying that, I mean, the church that you're part of or, you know, so it should not, but if it's something that you are leading, and if you have started, then you can bring in these things, and you can try these principles out. So when it comes to raising others to leadership, you know, you can keep that in the back of your mind saying, okay, here are people who are coming and, you know, I see these different people, I see this different strengths and weaknesses, and I see these kills and abilities and potential. So how can, you know, this person be raised up as a leader, you know, how can this other person be raised up as a leader, and lead a cell group on their own, or can they come to that place, right. Now they don't seem to have the interest or the inclination, but they're at least happy to receive, right. So that's where they're coming, but, you know, how can we take them further, all these things you can think, you can think, play, plan, and bring it to pass, right. Okay, so let's continue, and let me start. So we're just looking at, we looked at coaching and we looked at, we're looking at another aspect of coaching, which is mentoring. So what does it mean to mentor another person? Anyone? When you say, okay, mentoring someone, what does it mean? You can put them in the chat also. Okay, guide someone, biblically, okay. Yes, that's a good answer. To guide someone, okay, to guide, to advise, to equip, okay. So it's another aspect of coaching someone, but to be a mentor is to really grow a person, but it's to, you know, the process involves giving counsel, vice counsel, sharing experience, and sharing obviously from the word of God, because we're talking about spiritual things. But it's more to do with, it's not to unload things or download things, you know, it's a two-way thing, where the person is also receiving, the person is also asking questions, the person is also wanting to be, wanting to reach higher, right, that willingness and is there, you know. So we see that the way the Lord actually leads us, the Lord actually builds us up and how we have him as a role model, as an example, the same way we can be to someone else, right. So we can be a mentor to someone in order to build that person up. If you look at 2 Corinthians 6 and verse 18, it says, I will be a father to you and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty, you know. As a father, that's the kind of relationship the Lord says, you know, I will be a father and you will be my sons and daughters. So it's the way God deals with us when we deal with others, right. So God is our father, he's a heavenly father and we are his children, so the same way if we extend, you know, the same kind of help or the same kind of ministry to others, to be spiritual fathers and mothers and to develop others to be spiritual fathers and mothers and not just remain as spiritual babies, right. So that we will say, you know, is a mentoring process or a mentoring relationship, right. So, you know, we develop people as spiritual parents and then we see certain characteristics of it where there is love, there is care, there is wanting the best for the person and also wanting, you know, just like how a father or a mother will want the best for the person, will want that person to go beyond, right. Beyond, you know, the father and the mother, you know, the father will feel proud if the son or the daughter, you know, reaches their level and goes beyond their level, right. Say, oh, this person, I mean, this, my son, my daughter, you know, overtook me and went beyond, I was capable of, so you feel proud, right. The same kind of love and care and, you know, and the same perspective or the same kind of mindset we have is required in spiritual fathering or spiritual parenting another person, right. So some things to understand is that, to understand that every individual is unique, okay. So even as a parent, you realize that every child is unique. So you cannot slot a child into one particular box and say, okay, this child has to be like this. Every child is unique. So even among sisters and brothers and so on, you know, siblings, each child is unique. We have their own personality, they have their own temperament and gifts and so on. So we need to identify that and we need to help them be the best. We are not in any way called to make Xerox copies of ourselves or Xerox copies of others, right. We can definitely show them the role models, show them the abilities, but also we need to, you know, give importance to the uniqueness with which God has created them. So that's something for us to keep in mind that each individual, each person is unique and different, right. And so we need to understand that, okay. So when it comes to, again, spiritually, you know, being a parent to others, you know, we need a blueprint, right. We need the end picture. What is the plan? What is the, what is, you know, what is the, what is the big picture, you know, of how this person can be or to where this person can or to which extent this person can grow, okay. So what is that picture, big picture, to have the blueprint is important, okay. So let's go through some of these, you know, terms, some of these, you know, some of these words that we are talking about when it comes to spiritual, for being a spiritual father, being a spiritual mother, you know, this, you know, in the church circles, in the Christian circles, we always use that, you know, and sometimes we use it wrongly, right. We refer to someone who shared the gospel with us, maybe that person shared the gospel or, and then, then that was it. We never met that person after that, right. We, we have, we've born again, because of the gospel that was shared to us by this person. And then we say, okay, that's my spiritual father or that's my spiritual mother. You know, use these terms like that. So, but, but actually, if you look at the term spiritual parenting or spiritual fathering, right, it means that someone who is actually leading us from a place of maturity to maturity, to immaturity to maturity, right. Which means that we could be childish as children, but we are growing up or someone who helps us grow, you know, and who helps us in our journey to become mature, grown up, adults, spiritually, right. We're talking about that, okay. So, if you, if you look at, you know, there are some spiritual teachers and spiritual fathers, Paul writes about that in 1 Corinthians 4. So, he says, you know, though you may have many teachers or instructors, you do not have many fathers, you know. So, here are some differences that we can look at. Okay. So, being a spiritual teacher or instructor, one is one who teaches truths. But if you see a spiritual father or a mother, that person cares for the individual and helps the individual. Okay. So, the objective is not just to, you know, instruct or to teach the truth, but also to care for that person, right. Maybe they have other needs to care for those needs, right. In terms of a spiritual instructor, it can be a very formal interaction, right. Because it could be maybe a meeting, maybe a church meeting, maybe, you know, maybe another, maybe a study, maybe a self-group meeting. So, it's a very formal interaction. Whereas, when it comes to a spiritual father, it, there might be formal interactions, but there are also informal interactions. When we say informal, they're saying, okay, it's not just an event, a program, but a spiritual father would be involved, a spiritual mother would be involved in their lives, right. To find out, okay, what their likes are, what their dislikes are, what their disappointments are, what their regrets are, right. And what their high points are, what are they to, so there are informal interactions also. Maybe they're meeting over a cup of tea, maybe they're just, you know, maybe going for a walk and then talking about these things. So, you have these informal interactions also, right. Okay, so, a spiritual instructor would have curriculum-specific topics in order to address those things, bring understanding. So, we're not, you know, in any way demeaning that, okay, we need to understand that. When we are talking about spiritual fathering and mothering, we're not saying that, you know, that being a spiritual teacher or instructor has its role in place, has definitely, you know, and has its benefits and advantages. We need anointed teachers and instructors in the body of Christ, right. That is a very important thing. It's part of the five-fold ministry, so we recognize that. But we're also talking about this other aspect, the way Paul actually ministered, being an apostle, Paul ministered, and he had this concern and care for, you know, others in his team like Timothy and Titus and so on, where he would, you know, he would be interested in all aspects of their life, not just formal interaction or formal teaching, but also other aspects of their lives. Like Paul was concerned about, you know, we're going to look at that in detail, like we studied in Kingdom Builders, Paul and Timothy, you know, the relationship and how he mentored, how he built them up. So, we see that, you know, he was also concerned about his health, his physical health. He also addressed some of his fears, right, and that's why he writes to him, God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind. He was also concerned about his, he knew that Timothy was a young man, so he would say, you know, let no one look down on your youth, but you be an example. And so he would address certain things like that personally. So, from that we understand that, okay, a spiritual father, much like the natural father would be interested in other aspects of their lives as well. Okay, then we see that, okay, there is, you know, you learn from the teaching of the spiritual instructor, but here we learn from the life example also, you know, so how one lives life, how one faces challenges, how one overcomes all seasons of their lives. So, from the life also you learn. Okay, there is a, so as a spiritual instructor, during the teaching time, there is, you know, there is what we learn formally, maybe in a classroom, maybe, you know, like this, in a classroom setting, but when it comes to spiritual fathering, you know, it's from everyday life. Okay, so that is what we see that there is a difference. And, you know, here is an opportunity in cell group ministry to be a spiritual father or a spiritual mother. And we need to recognize that and make use of that. Okay, because as much as we are, we have those, you know, formal meeting where we are talking about different things, where we are discussing, you know, in the life group, we're doing this by, like some of you, you know, described, okay, there is a character study and all that, but here, I mean, in a cell group, you have an opportunity to be a spiritual father, to be a mentor, to be a spiritual mother to someone. Because, you know, you have those moments also, where you can informally influence and build others and build, bring them up to a place of maturity. Okay, right. Okay, so, okay, we're going to go into, you know, some of the details of this, I think we'll pick it up in next class. We'll stop here. So, where we look into, you know, some of the details of what are the characteristics, you know, how does one do that. And so it's good for us and lessons from the Paul-Timothy relationship, what Paul did in order to build up Timothy, you know, all these things we'll see. So, this is quite a, you know, a very interesting section that we'll go into. But we'll look at it in the next class, right? So, because it's just one flow, we can look at all these different aspects of it. So, we will stop here. Okay, so we're going to just, and, yeah, in the next class, we will continue. Okay, right. Thank you. God bless. Have a good rest of the day. See you.