Great Cloud of Witnesses

What 19 centuries tell us about the Holy Spirits gifts in action

LEADERS GUIDE

Before You Start

Purpose of This Course
Many Christians today have a clear sense of what the Holy Spirit did in the 1st century and the 20th centurybut not the time in between. This course will fill in the gaps, showing that God the Holy Spirit has been at work all along, moving and stirring hearts whenever he could find receptive people. As a result, we gain a greater appreciation for how we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses (Heb. 12:1) who have preceded us in the faith. From them, we can learn much. Notes

Method
This course is very people-centered. It spotlights a line of fascinating individuals, both men and women, who were moved by the Spirit of God through the centuries. In so doing, it keeps the human interest and doesnt bog down in historical abstractions. The content here will be new to most of your group or class members, which means they will mostly be listening (and taking notes as they wish), rather than offering comments. (To keep up the energy level of the presentations, you may want to use two voices instead of just one, the way local TV newscasts often dogoing back and forth from segment to segment. If one voice is male while the other is female, it can work even better at maintaining the listeners attentiveness.) In the sessions that follow, instructions and suggestions to you, the leader, appear in this italic type. Actual content that you will present to your class appears in roman type, like this. Print out a hard copy of the leader presentations, and then try to master each weeks material well enough that you can deliver it freely in your own style, rather than having to read from the text.

Media
To enrich the presentation, the following media elements are provided for your use: 10 handout sheets. Whispers of the Divine Wind give many of the most outstanding sound bites from the
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characters youll be highlighting. (Most of these are single pages, although a few of them run to two, or four pages. They can be duplicated back-to-back, of course.) 80 PowerPoint slides for projection, available at http://www.slideshare.net/greatcloudcourse. You can either show the slides online, or download them ahead of time to your computer. (By the way, you will notice that the PowerPoint also includes a number of blank slides; this is on purpose, so that you can move along from one element without revealing the next one prematurely.) A time-strip tool for each student to keep notes and create their own sketch of what happened when Also available on YouTube: three video clips to show during Sessions 5 and 6. See at: http://www.youtube.com/greatcloudcourse. You will need to be online during the session in order to show these.

Regarding Time Management

You do not have to make each class period fit the segments in this guide. If you find yourself needing more time, feel free to continue a segment next week. The material flows in a steady stream chronologically, and you can slice it as you see fit. But do keep the class moving along at an engaging pace.

Need Help?
If you hit any snags, feel free to inquire by e-mail at greatcloudcourse@gmail.com.

About the Developer of This Course

Dean Merrill has been an author, editor and publishing executive (David C. Cook, Leadership Journal, Focus on the Family, International Bible Society) with a lifelong interest in the work of the Holy Spirit. His bachelor of theology degree is from Chicago Bible College; his master of arts degree (in journalism) is from the Newhouse School at Syracuse University. He now writes independently from his Colorado Springs home, where he lives with his wife of 46 years, Grace. For more information, see: www.deanmerrill.com.

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2012 Dean Merrill. All rights reserved.