7 HOW CAN I LEAD

A VICTORY
GROUP MEETING?
A Victory group meeting has four sections:
• Warm-up
• Word
• Application
• Prayer

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Ideally, a Victory group meeting lasts from sixty to ninety minutes. It

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is better for the people to leave the Victory group meeting wishing it

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had been longer than to leave wishing it had been shorter. Those who

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wish it was longer will look forward to coming back next week. Those

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who wish it was shorter may never come back, or they will make it

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shorter by coming late. Therefore, better too short than too long.

1.
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(1)
WHY DO A WARM-UP?

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Each Victory group meeting
• Creates a sense

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begins with a warm-up question.
The warm-up is designed to give of belonging
everyone a chance to speak. It • Drops one’s guard
helps people connect with and get
to know each other. • Expresses opinion

The Victory group leader (or intern)

should introduce the warm-up
question and encourage everyone to answer.

The warm-up question should be related to the topic in some

way, but it should not require any Bible knowledge to answer. If
the warm-up question is too spiritual, theological, or controversial,
it will make visitors and non-believers feel uncomfortable. The
warm-up is designed to help visitors drop their guard.
 For those who object to using a warm-up question on the
grounds that it is childish or unspiritual, consider this: if it was
good enough for Jesus, then it is good enough for us. Jesus asked,
“Who do men say that I am? Who you do you say that I am?” Pretty
good warm-up question. There’s no right or wrong answer—Jesus
simply asked for their opinion.

Following are a few tips to help the Victory group leader during
the warm-up time:
• Each lesson includes three warm-up questions.
• Use only one warm-up question for one Victory

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group meeting.

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• If the lesson takes more than one Victory group meeting to

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complete, use a different warm-up question each week.

S T E S
• Feel free to make your own warm-up question.
• Encourage everyone to answer.

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• Designate who should answer (e.g. your intern).

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• Good warm-up questions:

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F RP
- have no right or wrong answers
- ask for an opinion or experience

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- require no Bible knowledge
- are not controversial
- are connected to the topic

2. (2)

The Word time is a 15-30 minute teaching on the text or topic of

the week. This brief teaching is followed by a time of application
where all the participants are encouraged to share how they will
put the lesson into practice.

44 MAKING DISCIPLES
Following are a few
“I just look for the plain
tips to help the Victory group
leader during the Word time: meanings in Scripture.
Why? In the obvious sense
• Don’t pretend to be
an expert or a Bible of the Bible I find renewal,
know-it-all. How much of comfort, energy, adequacy,
the Bible you obey is much genuine learning.”
more important than how —Martin Luther
much you know.
• The Victory group leader
is the guide, chairman, the leader (meaning the one who

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goes first and sets the example for others to follow) and a

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participant. The Victory group meeting is more than a Bible
study. It requires a good leader, not an expert teacher.

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• Let the Bible speak for itself.

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S E
• Remember, the goal is to minister to the needs of the people,

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not to finish a Bible lesson, so be led by the Spirit, not by

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the material.

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• Use illustrations and tell stories to help explain the

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Bible verses.
• Each lesson begins with key verses and introductory

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comments, which can be read out loud or summarized.

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• Each lesson usually has three main points, followed by a
verse, comments, and questions.
• These questions are not designed to be asked during the
Victory group meeting. Rather, they are to help the Victory
group leader prepare the lesson.
• Use the margins and blanks to add supporting notes, verses,
and illustrations.
• Some lessons are too long to complete in one meeting. Take
two, three, or four weeks, if necessary.

how can i lead a victory group meeting? 45

 16
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for
teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in
righteousness, 17that the man of God may be complete,
equipped for every good work.
2 TIMOTHY 3:16,17

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed

by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may
discern what is the will of God, what is good and
acceptable and perfect.
ROMANS 12:2

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3. (3)

Studying the Bible in a

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In a Victory group meeting, we
teach the Bible so people can Victory group meeting is

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do it, not so they can know it.

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The whole point of the teaching
about application,
not information.

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is practical application.

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Following are a few tips for the

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application time:

F RP
• Each lesson includes three application questions.
Choose one.

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• Feel free to add your own questions.
• Prepare your intern or another Victory group member to
answer the application question, to set the example for
others to follow.
• Ask the application question and designate who will
answer first. Otherwise, everyone will stare at their feet,
waiting for some brave soul to speak up first.
• Do not allow people to argue with or be critical of others.
Remind everyone to apply the lesson to their own lives,
not someone else’s.
• Victory group leaders must cry out to God for wisdom
to know when to balance or correct weird or unbiblical

46 MAKING DISCIPLES
 applications. Insensitive correction or criticism can kill the
group, as can unchecked heresy.

22
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only,
deceiving yourselves. 23For if anyone is a hearer of
the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks
intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24For he looks
at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he
was like. 25But the one who looks into the perfect law,
the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer
who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed
in his doing.

DY JAMES 1:22-25

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24
”Everyone then who hears these words of mine and

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does them will be like a wise man who built his house

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on the rock. 25And the rain fell, and the floods came,

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not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 26And

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everyone who hears these words of mine and does not

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F RP
do them will be like a foolish man who built his house
on the sand. 27And the rain fell, and the floods came,
and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it

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fell, and great was the fall of it.”

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MATTHEW 7:24-27

4. (4)

Prayer is probably the most important part of the Victory group

meeting. Make sure you have plenty of time left, so your prayer
time is not rushed.

Following are some tips for prayer during the Victory

group meeting:
• Keep your prayers simple, sincere, and short. Most
non-believers have never heard an ordinary Christian
just talk to God. Most will be touched by their simplicity
and sincerity.

how can i lead a victory group meeting? 47

 • Use conversational prayer, not complicated or profound,
warfare prayer.
• Don’t say it, just pray it! Spend your time praying for
one another, not sharing prayer requests. Because of
the inordinate amount of time spent discussing prayer
requests, many so-called prayer meetings should be
called “prayer request meetings.”
• Pray, don’t preach. Encourage each person to pray
simple sentence prayers, not loud sermon prayers
or long dissertations on theology addressed to God,
designed to impress the less spiritual. There is a time

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and place for everything. The worship service is the

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place for preaching. The Victory group meeting is the
place for prayer.

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• Pray in a known language. Stick with English, Tagalog,

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Taglish, Ilocano, Cebuano, Ilonggo, Chinese, Japanese,

R S Korean, Russian, or some other known human tongue.

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Avoid tongues of angels and especially that strange

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dialect spoken with various accents all around the

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kingdom called “Christianese.” Most new believers and
non-Christians don’t understand tongues of angels or
tongues of the overly religious.

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• Listen! Keep one ear turned to whoever is praying at the
moment and the other to the Holy Spirit. Listen carefully
during the warm-up and application time for things that
may need prayer.
• Be creative. Don’t pray in the same way and the same
order every time.
• Expect spiritual gifts to manifest during prayer time,
especially prophecy, healing, discernment, and faith.

48 MAKING DISCIPLES
 LOOK WHO’S TALKING

Warm-up (10-15 minutes)....................Everyone

Word (15-30 minutes)...........................Leader only

Application (10-15 minutes).................Everyone

Prayer (10-15 minutes)..........................Everyone

PREPARE FOR THE VICTORY GROUP MEETING

Leading a Victory group well requires preparation for the Victory

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group meeting. Here are some tips:

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• Choose the Victory group material, either sermon-based

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materials available during the worship services, or materials

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by topic.

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• Review the content at least a day before the Victory group

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meeting. This will help you be more confident in facilitating

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the meeting and focusing on getting to know the people

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who attend.

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• Spend time reading and meditating on the Scriptures.
• Choose the questions that will best fit your group.

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• Pray for those who will attend and ask God to use you to
minister to them and for them to grow in their relationship
with God.
• Remind the group about the schedule/venue.

HOW TO KILL A VICTORY GROUP

Discipleship through Victory groups works as you remain faithful in
engaging, establishing, equipping, and empowering participants to
follow Jesus and help their family and friends follow Him as well. As
simple as it is, there are several proven ways to fail. The following
lessons were learned the hard way:

how can i lead a victory group meeting? 49

 • No collecting of (5)
and offerings
• No mixing (6)
with Victory groups
• No mixing (7)
with Victory groups
• No (8)
ministry to the
opposite sex
• No (9)
space
• No (10)
money
• No (11)
speakers
• No (12)
of any para-church

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ministry or any event, spiritual or secular, through
Victory groups

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• No handling of cases
(13)

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(i.e. those that need professional, medical, or

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legal counsel)

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SUMMARY
R O S
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The Victory group meeting has four components: warm-up, Word,
application, and prayer. The Victory group meeting is designed

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to last from sixty to ninety minutes. Each of the four main

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parts is essential to the long-term success of the Victory group.
Therefore, every Victory group meeting should begin with a warm-
up question, proceed to the Word time and application, and end
in prayer.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

• Why is application more important than information? How is a

Victory group more than a Bible study?
• Which of the Victory group killers do you need to guard
against in your Victory group? How can you guard against it?

50 MAKING DISCIPLES