📖 The Mission of Turning Hearts
Life Group Leader Guide
📌 LEADER'S BULLETIN
Leader Heart Check
Leader, before you ever open your mouth this week, remember that you are part of God's mission to turn hearts back to Him. The same Spirit who turned the hearts of the fathers to the children is the Spirit at work in you as you shepherd your group. Don't underestimate the eternal weight of what happens in your living room this week.
Attendance Reminder
Please log your group's attendance in the Church App or email by Sunday. Your faithfulness in tracking helps us stay connected as a church family.
📢 CHURCHWIDE ANNOUNCEMENTS
Share the following with your group this week:
Altar Care Training — September 19, 9:00 AM–12:00 PM, National City location
Restoring Hope Marriage Conference — September 25–26, National City location
Marriage Enrichment Class — September 28, National City location
YA Retreat Fundraiser: Pilates Class + Matcha Bar — October 3, North Park location
Young Adults Retreat — October 29–31, Julian, CA
Events link: www.heartrevchurch.com/events
🔑 CONNECTION KEY (Leader Briefing)
Core Theme: God is on a relentless mission to turn hearts back to Himself, and He invites His church to partner with Him through faith, prayer, expectancy, presence, and pursuit.
Key Discussion Goals:
Help group members see themselves as active participants in God's mission to turn hearts, not just recipients of it
Explore what it practically looks like to "guard" one's own heart while pursuing the hearts of others
Identify at least one relationship where someone in the group can apply one of the 5 Ways this week
Create space for members to share where they've experienced God turning their own heart back to Him
Leader Tip: This topic can surface real vulnerability, especially around the section on being present and pursuing people, since many group members may have painful stories of family members or friends who are far from God. Create room for both hope and honesty. Don't rush past silence, and be ready to pray on the spot for someone who names a person they're pursuing. Watch the energy in the room during the Luke 15 pictures of pursuit — this is often where hearts soften, so slow down there rather than moving quickly to the next point.
Key Phrase: "Turning hearts isn't waiting for lost people to find their way home. It's becoming the kind of church that runs down the road to meet them."
Persist In Faith - Don't Give Up.
For 400 years, Israel heard nothing from a prophet's voice. Yet the promise of a returning Elijah, one who would turn the hearts of fathers to children, never expired. God's mission doesn't run on our timeline, and it doesn't disappear during seasons of silence. The Canaanite woman's persistence with Jesus reminds us that faith doesn't quit just because the answer is delayed or the door seems closed. Turning hearts requires the kind of faith that keeps believing long after hoping would have been easier to let go of.
Reflection Questions:
Where in your life have you experienced a "season of silence" where it felt like God wasn't moving?
What is the difference between wishing something were true (flesh), hoping it might be true (soul), and believing it will be true (spirit)?
Who is someone you've been praying for so long that you're tempted to give up? What would it look like to persist in faith for them this week?
Pray With Purpose - Intercede For Their Heart.
Prayer is not a passive activity while we wait for God to act, it is how we actively partner with Him. Prayer opens doors of opportunity, aligns hearts to receive what God wants to give, and gives clarity when we don't know how to move forward. Even Jesus prayed with vehement cries and tears. When we don't know how to pray for someone's heart, the Spirit intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. Purposeful prayer is one of the most powerful ways we participate in someone else's turning.
Reflection Questions:
What does it look like practically to "pray with purpose" instead of just praying in general terms?
Have you ever seen a door of opportunity open after a specific season of prayer? What happened?
Who is one person you can commit to interceding for by name this week, and what specifically will you pray?
Expect His Power To Reach Them - Watch And Wait For An Encounter.
Elijah didn't just pray and walk away, he watched and waited for the fire to fall. Paul and Silas didn't stop worshiping in prison, and their praise became the catalyst for an earthquake that led an entire household to salvation. Both stories remind us that faith and prayer are meant to be followed by expectancy. God still moves in encounters we don't orchestrate. Our job is to persist, pray, and then watch for what only He can do.
Reflection Questions:
Why do you think expectancy is often the hardest part of faith, even after we've prayed?
Describe a time you watched God move in someone's life in a way you couldn't have engineered yourself.
What would change in your prayer life this week if you truly expected God to move?
Be Present (Relational Discipleship) - Get Close Enough For Them To See Jesus.
Zacchaeus climbed a tree just to catch a glimpse of Jesus, and Jesus responded by inviting Himself into his home. People cannot call on someone they haven't heard about, and they cannot hear without someone present to tell them. This is exactly what Life Groups, hosted dinners, and open homes accomplish: they become the bridge between someone's curiosity and an actual encounter with Jesus. The early church grew daily because believers shared life with gladness and simplicity of heart, not just information from a distance.
Reflection Questions:
Who is someone in your life who, like Zacchaeus, seems curious about Jesus but hasn't had a real invitation into relationship yet?
What makes it hard for you personally to be present and available for people who are far from God?
What is one practical way your group could open your home or table to someone this month?
Stay In Pursuit - Go After People.
Luke 15 gives three pictures of the same pursuing heart: a shepherd who goes after the lost sheep, a woman who searches for the lost coin, and a father who runs toward the lost son. Notice that the son was still "a great way off" when the father saw him and ran. The father didn't wait at the door for an apology, he closed the distance himself. We are the invitation Jesus is sending into the highways and hedges. Turning hearts isn't a passive hope, it's an active pursuit.
Reflection Questions:
Of the three pictures in Luke 15, the shepherd, the woman, or the father, which one resonates most with how you naturally pursue people?
Why do you think the father ran to his son instead of waiting for him to arrive and apologize first?
Who is someone God may be asking you to run toward this week, rather than wait for them to come to you?
🛠Practical Application
The Challenge
This week, identify one person whose heart you sense God is turning, and take one tangible step toward them: a phone call, a coffee invite, or an open invitation to Life Group.
Audit / Reflection
Ask yourself honestly: am I waiting for people to come to me, or am I willing to run toward them the way the father ran toward his son?
Prayer Focus
Spend time as a group praying by name for people far from God. Ask the Lord to open doors of opportunity, align their hearts to receive truth, and give you the courage to be present and pursue them without waiting for them to make the first move.
📣 Weekly Declaration
I will guard my heart above all else, for it determines the course of my life. I will persist in faith even in seasons of silence, believing God is still at work. I will pray with purpose for the hearts of those I love, and I will watch expectantly for His power to move. I will be present, opening my life and my home so others can see Jesus in me. I will not wait for the lost to find their way home, I will run down the road to meet them. Amen.
