Leadership Tips & Training A Holiday Lesson

To give support to our members between our fall session and our winter session, we offer a four-week holiday session. Our leaders rotate the leadership, so they will also get a break from leading each week during the holidays. The meetings are only one hour in length; the members come and weigh in and trade CRs with one another, so the leader doesn't have to evaluate the CRs. This also provides accountability for the members.   We will not use any Bible study books or materials. Even if you are in the middle of a session, you may want to break from the regular schedule and have a holiday lesson in place of one week's study, or use as a wellness spotlight for one week during the holidays. 

One of our lessons this holiday session is about gifts. The lesson centers around Isaiah 9:6, "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." We will discuss God's gift of Jesus and how this gift keeps on giving through the different names given to Jesus- Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of peace. Each of these names represent a gift - the gift of wisdom, the gift of strength, assurance, and of peace.   We will discuss ways we can share the gift of Jesus with our families and friends. We will also make a gift during the class. We will make bracelets, using beads and elastic string.

Be creative and make up your own holiday lesson plan, or have your members use their creativity by teaching the class how to make a gift, or by sharing a light holiday recipe. I would love to hear your creative ideas of how you lead your First Place members through the holidays!   Merry Christmas and happy gift giving! 

Nancy Taylor
Leadership Training Director


Nancy Taylor is the First Place Leadership Training Director and joined the First Place staff in 1997. Nancy teaches leadership principles to First Place Leaders throughout the country and at Houston's First Baptist Church where she coordinates all the First Place groups. . Nancy also speaks at First Place workshops, rallies, retreats, and conferences, where she delights her audiences with humor and encourages them with boldness. She writes a monthly article, which includes helpful tips for leaders, for the First Place E-newsletter, and was a contributing writer to the Today is the First Day devotional book. Nancy is the resident First Place Bible Concordance because of her love for Scripture memory.