Week 1 - Who is Jesus

6:15 pm Prayer / Administration Meeting
7:00 pm Supper
7:40 pm Introduction/Welcome suggestions
<Joke>
7:50 pm Worship
8:00 pm Talk – Who is Jesus? Introduction
8:45 pm Optional coffee break
9:00 pm Small Groups (start at 8:45, if no coffee break)
9:45 pm End (end at 9:30 pm if no coffee break)

6:15 pm Prayer / Administration Meeting

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7:00 pm Supper

7:40 pm Introduction/Welcome suggestions

This is the hardest night to lead as guests are deeply suspicious, they don’t sing and they are expecting you to prove yourself.  It gets easier and easier as the weeks progress. 

Attending the first night of Alpha is one of the most daunting things.  There are a number of things going on and saying something along the following lines is helpful…

“Welcome.  It’s wonderful to see you!  We are thrilled that you’ve arrived and it’s great to have you here tonight.

The first thing you may be thinking is ‘is there going to be anyone else normal here?’ I heard of one couple who on the first night of Alpha sat in the parking lot to watch people arrive and see if anybody looked ‘normal’.  Half an hour later, they had seen enough normal looking people go inside, they decided to join us.

The second thing that may be going through your mind at this moment is ‘am I going to be the only person here who is not an on-fire Christian already?’.  The answer to that is no, you are not the only one. 

In fact the whole course is designed for you – it is designed for people who are not Christians, it is designed for people who are outside of the church.  And what we’re going to do in a moment is we’re going to have a talk in which we’ll put forward some of the things that we believe as Christians.  Then we’re going to have coffee, and then we’re going to go into small groups. 

 

The small groups are designed for you to say what you think.  The people who are leading the small groups are not leaders or teachers; they’re just hosts.  They are hosting a discussion in which we want to hear what you think and what you feel.  So if you ask them questions, they’ll probably just say, `Well, what do other people think?’ It’s not that they don’t know the answer; it’s just that this is not a time for us to preach another sermon at you – it’s a time for us to hear what you think, because we’re really interested to know what you think and what you feel about these issues.  So please feel free to speak your mind.

 

We are going to breeze over things tonight – we’re dealing with massive, complex issues, and inevitably the talk you will hear will have some holes in it.  During the discussion time we invite you to say what you feel and to raise objections or observations you have made.


Do the “Ball Demonstration”
We would like to model how the small discussion is to go. (If you have been to an Alpha Training Event you may have seen this.) You use the ball to demonstrate that the discussion does not go from the guest to the leader repeatedly, nor does every question always come back to the facilitator, like a teacher/student relationship but the idea is for the host/facilitator to “toss” out a question, and have multiple guests comment, to visualize this, throw the ball to one person and have them toss it around among themselves for a short time, so anyone interested can participate.
 

Another thing that may be going on in your mind is ‘will I get along with anyone in my small group?’  You may already have looked around your small group and decided that you won’t!  Most people feel like that on the first night.  All I can say from my experience is that as the course goes on and as we get to know one another, it is amazing how friendships develop.

 

The next thing that some of you may be thinking is ‘Help! Am I going to be pressured into doing things that I don’t want to do?’  The answer is no, you’re not going to be pressured into doing anything you don’t want to do.  For a start, we are just thrilled you are here.  Obviously we would love you to come back as the course follows a logical progression.  The more you come, the more you will get out of it.  But if you decide not to come back we are not going to write to you, call you, e-mail you – it is your decision.  As far as participating in the evening is concerned, again that is a matter for you to decide.

 

(optional comment) You may have noticed a donation basket at the serving table. Each meal costs us about $___ to prepare.  All donations are gladly accepted. No one will be watching you and no one is required to pay.

 

In a moment we are going to have a couple of songs.  We will sing a traditional hymn and then a more contemporary song.  And we will have a variety each evening.  The area of singing is very interesting to me.

Sometimes people say to me, ‘Why do you sing on the Alpha course?’ On the questionnaires at the end of the course we ask this question, ‘What did you find most difficult about coming to Alpha?’ and a lot of people put ‘the singing’.  Then we ask ‘What did you enjoy most about Alpha?’ and a lot of people put ‘the singing’.  It is not different people – it is the same people!  It’s the thing that people find hardest at the beginning, but as the course goes on they begin to enjoy it more and more.  Again, please feel free not to join in tonight.  The same with the small groups.  The small groups are designed to hear from you what you think and what you feel but you don’t have to say anything.  Nobody is going to pick on you and make you say anything – it’s entirely a matter for you.

 

And the final thing that may be going through your mind is: ‘What have I got myself into?’  Or more likely ‘What has my friend got me into?’

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Which reminds me of a story…

 <Joke>  I heard about a wealthy Texan who had an impressive ranch in Texas. On his ranch, he had a HUGE floodlit swimming pool and in this swimming pool he kept a SHARK. The rich Texan loved to throw lavish dinner parties and would invite his guests up around the pool afterwards.  Then he would say to them, “If any of you will swim a length of this pool then I will give you one of three things: $10 million, or half of my estate, or the hand of my daughter in marriage.” 

 

He always finished by telling everyone, “I must warn you before jump in, there is a shark in the pool.”....Well one evening as he was saying this, there was a splash, and a man, very nicely dressed, swam the entire length of the pool chased by the shark.  He got out of the pool just in time as the shark thudded into the wall.  The Texan said, “Congratulations! You are the first person who has ever done that.  Now what would you like?  Would you like $10 million?”  The man gasped, “No thank you.”  He said, “Would you like half of my estate?”  The man said, “No thank you.”   He said, “Ahh, you want the hand of my daughter in marriage?”  The exasperated man said, “No thank you!”  So the Texan said to him, “Well what do you want?”  He said, “I want the name of the man who pushed me in.” 

Then I introduce the Worship Leader, who gets up on stage and says something like... ‘Good evening.  My name is … and I’m your worst nightmare – a Christian with a guitar!’ And then we go into 2 songs of worship.”

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7:50 pm Worship

Click here for worship considerations and a list of suggested songs .

8:00 pm Talk – Who is Jesus? Introduction

After the worship the Director or speaker returns to the stage and begins the talk by saying something like: 

(If using DVD or video)  Each week the two or three Bible verses that are referenced will appear on the screen.  It is OK to bring Bibles too, or else just follow along.

 

(If doing the talks, live) Now, what you need is a manual and a Bible.  Each week we look at two or three verses from the Bible, because we’re trying to base our talks on the Bible.  Obviously we’re just taking texts and you might want to read around it, but we only have time to look at two or three verses each time.’ 

And this is all while the guests are finding their Bibles and manuals.  Then when everyone is ready, go straight into the talk (without a prayer).  Something along the lines of using a personal testimony, like:

‘I was not brought up as a Christian’, and then begin the Who Is Jesus? talk.

Make sure that each guest receives a “Why Jesus?” booklet after the talk tonight.  They may either be at the registration table, on the tables or passed out in the small groups.

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8:45 pm Optional coffee break

9:00 pm Small Groups (start at 8:45, if no coffee break)

9:45 pm End (end at 9:30 pm if no coffee break)

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