Goal: Hear each person's story without pressure.
Step by step
- Hand out a card with three prompts: 'Who invited me?', 'What did I notice at church?', 'What do I hope to learn?'
- Allow 4 minutes to write. In pairs, each tells a short version in 2 minutes.
- Ask the pairs to introduce each other to the group with one sentence.
- Read John 1:41 and welcome each person warmly.
Key verse: John 1:41 — we have found the Messiah, said Andrew to his brother Simon
Variation: If a person is nervous, let them just listen first and join later.
Goal: Illustrate the gospel through a debt that Christ paid.
Step by step
- Display a large printed 'receipt' listing a long amount owed. Ask the class what it means to owe a debt.
- Read Colossians 2:13-14 and Romans 6:23 aloud.
- Invite a volunteer to write 'PAID' over the receipt with a red marker, and explain that Christ paid it on the cross.
- Give each person a small card to keep with 'Paid in full' and the verse, then pray a thank-you together.
Key verse: Colossians 2:14 — he canceled the record of debt that stood against us, nailing it to the cross
Variation: For teens, use a bank statement or a phone bill.
Goal: Show how Christ makes a new life.
Step by step
- Draw two columns on the board: 'Old' and 'New'. Read 2 Corinthians 5:17.
- Ask each person to write on two sticky notes: one habit or attitude to leave behind and one to start. Nothing has to be shared aloud.
- Invite volunteers to stick notes on the board anonymously.
- Read the board together and pray for the change God works.
Key verse: 2 Corinthians 5:17 — if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, the new has come
Variation: For very new believers, use pictures or emojis instead of words.
Goal: Help new believers learn to find their way around the Bible.
Step by step
- Show the table of contents and the six sections: Law, History, Poetry, Prophets, Gospels and Letters.
- Pair people and call out a book, such as Psalms, Romans or Mark. The pair races to find it and put a sticky note at the start.
- Go through 8 books in 8 minutes, stopping to explain the order between rounds. No running or shouting.
- Read Psalm 119:105 and give each person a bookmark.
Key verse: Psalm 119:105 — your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path
Variation: For teens, add chapters and verses and time each pair.
Goal: Learn a model of prayer.
Step by step
- Read Matthew 6:9-13 slowly. Write each of its phrases on a board: Father, hallowed, kingdom, bread, forgive, deliver.
- Give a card with the six phrases. Each person writes one sentence for each in their own words, in 8 minutes.
- Pray the prayer aloud together, then in pairs read their own sentences to each other.
- Encourage them to pray one phrase a day this week.
Key verse: Matthew 6:9 — pray then like this: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name
Variation: Offer the pattern in a printed bookmark.
Goal: Explain what baptism means before anyone is baptized.
Step by step
- Place a bowl of water and a towel on a table. Read Romans 6:3-4 and Matthew 28:19.
- Pour water slowly into the bowl and ask: what does water show? (Washing, new life, burial and rising.)
- Invite questions in 5 minutes. Answer simply and honestly, or say that you will find out.
- Close in prayer for those who are being baptized or are thinking about it.
Key verse: Romans 6:4 — we were buried with him by baptism into death, so that we too might walk in newness of life
Variation: Show photos or a short video of a baptism at your church.
Goal: Help new believers find a place to serve.
Step by step
- Hand out a sheet listing the church's ministries: children, welcome team, worship, prayer, hospitality, outreach.
- Ask each person to mark two that interest them and one that they could try for a month.
- Invite a leader of each ministry to stand by a table for 2 minutes each. Visit them in rotation.
- Read 1 Peter 4:10 and pray for each person's service.
Key verse: 1 Peter 4:10 — as each has received a gift, use it to serve one another
Variation: Set up a 'try it' Sunday for each ministry.
Goal: End the class with a short plan for growth.
Step by step
- Give each person a card with 5 first steps: read a Gospel, pray daily, join a small group, serve, tell a friend.
- Each person circles two and writes one date to begin.
- Pair up and share the steps in 2 minutes each. Agree to text each other in a week.
- Read Colossians 2:6 and pray for each person's first steps.
Key verse: Colossians 2:6 — as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him
Variation: Offer a small gift, like a Bible reading plan or a notebook.
