FAQs

A. Life Lessons Over Lunch is an environment in which a group of people gather together over lunch and watch a DVD message.  Life Lessons Over Lunch groups take practical Biblical teaching about everyday challenges and introduce those concepts to employees in a non-threatening environment.  They are employee driven, volunteer groups whose mission is to facilitate the spiritual growth of those employees who choose to participate.

A: Life Lessons began when a local business owner found value in the practical, Biblical principles he heard on Sunday mornings.  He decided to provide lunch every other week for any employees who were interested in watching a DVD of those Sunday messages.  Within weeks, his evening- and overnight-shift employees started asking for similar opportunities and an idea was born.  He shared the concept with some friends who also owned or managed businesses and by the end of the year there were about a dozen businesses whose employees were hearing life lessons over their lunch breaks.

In 2003, North Point Ministries—whose Sunday morning series DVDs were the primary content for these grassroots groups—hired one of these leaders and launched Life Lessons Over Lunch.  Today, there are more than 130 Life Lessons groups operating around the country, with several more operating overseas.

A: Life Lessons Over Lunch promotes diversity and inclusion through a non-denominational, non-threatening approach. Also, organizations have the opportunity to respect religious affiliation and support their diversity and inclusion policies through affirming employees that desire to launch the initiative.

The core values of Life Lessons Over Lunch align with those of organizations that desire to create a healthy corporate culture—a corporate culture where all employees are respected, integrity is put first and quality job performance is valued.

Life Lessons Over Lunch has a proven track record of producing positive employee morale. Over the past 8 years, more than 150 organizations have affirmed their employees in launching Life Lessons, and of all those employers, only one has ever withdrawn its approval and shut its Life Lessons groups down.

A: Company approval means that the company has authorized the Life Lessons group to use its facilities to host the Life Lessons meetings.  This typically consists of allowing the group to use a conference or training room, along with audio-visual equipment.  Company approval may also include allowing group leaders to communicate information about meeting times and locations through internal emails (on an “opt-in” basis for participants) and/or by posting a flyer in break rooms or common areas.

A: Groups typically meet in a common area at the office, such as a conference room, training room, or break room.

A: Most groups meet every other week or twice monthly (i.e., the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of the month).  Meeting weekly often begins to feel like a burden—for the leader, the participant, and the company—and over time creates a sense of "Life Lessons fatigue."  Groups that meet only once a month often find it hard to build a sense of continuity in doing a multi-part message series, and it's hard to gain momentum.  We've found that an every-other-week or twice-monthly rotation works best for most environments, and more than 85% of Life Lessons groups use this schedule.

A: Each meeting is designed to last an hour or less.

A: Based on the set-up of the room, either a laptop computer or a DVD player is needed to show the message.  If a laptop is used with a larger group, a projector will be necessary.  Some smaller groups have gathered around a laptop, but this would be impractical for groups larger than 4 or 5 people.  If using a DVD player, a television or a connection to a projector will be needed.

A: There is no numerical determinant.  We have had Life Lessons groups as small as 3 people, as well as groups that have as many as 200 people.

A: Yes!  Life Lessons Over Lunch, by design, does not exclude on the basis of religious preference, race, or gender.  Everyone is welcome to attend.

Some companies have "open" groups that allow outsiders to attend.  Other companies are "closed" to only include employees of that company.  If you are interested in visiting an existing group, contact the Life Lessons staff to see if there's an open group in your area.  We can be reached via email or telephone (678.892.5565).

A: There is no direct cost for participating in Life Lessons.  Life Lessons Over Lunch provides DVDs to all approved groups free of charge.  While we encourage groups to provide lunches for those that attend, this is not a requirement.  For those groups that do provide lunches, they may be funded by the group leaders, interested group participants, outside benefactors, or donated by restaurants.  Some organizations have seen Life Lessons Over Lunch as a worthwhile way to invest in their employees and have opted to fund the lunches themselves, but that has been at the discretion of the organization’s leaders.

A: Messages are grouped in series (ranging from 2 to 6 parts) around a central topic or theme.  The messages are principle-based, and are intended to speak to the “felt needs” of a wide audience.  Popular topics include marriage, time management, wisdom, honesty and integrity, temptation, leadership, spiritual development, decision-making, faith and doubt, healthy relationships, and living with margin.

Some series deal with the big questions of life, such as:

• “Why hasn’t life turned out the way I expected?”
• “Is there really anyone out there?”
• “If God is good, why does so much bad stuff happen?”

A: Absolutely.  The following link will take you to a page where you can watch a Flash video of “When Less is More,” part 4 of a series called Time of Your Life, which deals with how we spend our time.  Time of Your Life was one of the top five most popular series in 2010 (out of more than 60 different message series).

Click here to watch this video.

A: Life Lessons Over Lunch is sponsored by North Point Ministries, which provides the materials for all Life Lessons groups free of charge. North Point Ministries is the parent organization for North Point Community Church, Buckhead Church, and Browns Bridge Community Church. This non-denominational, multi-site church—which seeks to "create churches that unchurched people love to attend"—was recognized as the second-largest church in the United States in 2010.

While North Point Ministries provides materials and coaching for Life Lessons groups, neither participants nor leaders of Life Lessons are required to be involved with North Point Ministries.  In fact, less than half of all Life Lessons leaders are directly connected with North Point Ministries or one of its campuses.  Our leaders come from a wide variety of faith traditions.

A: While Life Lessons Over Lunch is a voluntary employee initiative, it's not a random request for an affinity group or a loosely-defined, faith-based initiative.  Life Lessons Over Lunch is a branded initiative that has a proven track record of producing positive employee morale.  Over 125 organizations have affirmed employees in launching the Life Lessons initiative.

Because our philosophy is based upon reaching a wide audience who come from a diverse background of spiritual beliefs, we prioritize inclusivity.  While the messages do originate from a particular spiritual point of view, they speak to the common human experience.  They deal with the hopes, fears, struggles, and questions that we all have.  This orientation, paired with a communication style that is non-judgmental and non threatening, means that participants are not likely to be offended even if they do not share the communicator's worldview.

A: We can't publish a list of companies, because that would imply their endorsement, and "approval" and "endorsement" are two different things.  We can tell you, however, that the collection of organizations that have approved Life Lessons groups is very diverse, ranging from a mom-and-pop locksmith shop to the world's largest chemical company.  While many of the companies are privately held, approximately 30% are publicly-traded companies, and at least ten are in the Fortune 500.

There are also several government offices and agencies that have Life Lessons groups, from the local level to the Federal.  Public health agencies, county courthouses, Sheriff's offices, and even military bases host Life Lessons Over Lunch.

While we can't publish a list of companies and other organizations that have approved Life Lessons groups, you are welcome to contact us at 678-892-5565, and we can share with you some of the companies who participate in Life Lessons Over Lunch

A: Feel free to contact us by phone at 678-892-5565, by email at lifelessons@northpoint.org, or by filling out the Information Request form.  We would be happy to address any questions you may have about Life Lessons Over Lunch or how groups work.  There are, among our leaders, several C-level executives, managing partners, and HR executives who have launched and led Life Lessons groups themselves, and who can also speak to specific questions or concerns you may have. If you so desire, we can put you in touch with them.