How to Lead a Discovery Bible Study

Sean Cronin — Sat, 20 Apr 2019 09:00:22 +0000

by Alex Absalom: In your group life, do you find that only a few people feel confident to share what they see in the Bible?
Would you like a simple viral way to train others in how to read the Bible… and wonder if Discovery Bible Study might be a way forward?
How confident are you that you can effectively read the Bible with pre-Christians?

One of the keys to healthy missional community life is having the Bible at the center. People need to be able to encounter God there – but in ways that empower each individual, wherever they are on their spiritual journey, to see Jesus for themselves and not feel pressured to merely parrot out the “right” answer.

Fresh Bread

In broad terms, one of our 6 essentials of ‘what happens’ in a missional community is about active engagement with the Bible. We call this, ‘Fresh Bread’. You know that moment when you walk past a bakery and suddenly you are hit with the wondrous aroma of baking bread? And while a moment before you weren’t even thinking about food, now all you can focus on is enjoying all that goodness!

When it comes to the Bible, as we break it open in something like a Discovery Bible Study, we should be struck by the fresh aroma of the ‘now word’ of Jesus to us as we think about how it impacts our story today. In fact, Scripture is so powerful, when we encounter God there and see how He is intersecting our life right now, that becomes all we can think about. This can be true both for Christians and also those not yet committed to Christ.

And this is where Discovery Bible Study is such a powerful tool. Globally it is having a colossal impact, especially in nations where some of the fiercest persecution of Christians is taking place. In such situations it is vital to find simple, transferable ways to train people to read the Bible, hear what Jesus is saying to them, and then obey that direction that very week.

In response to many questions, in this video we share with you all you’ll need to know to start and multiply your own Discovery Bible Study!

EXERCISE:

Who can you invite to read the Bible with you in a Discovery Bible Study?

DISCOVERY BIBLE STUDY QUESTIONS:

REVIEW how you did last week in obeying the passage, and who you shared it with

READ the passage x2, and then retell it

DISCUSS
1. What did I discover about God in this passage?

2. What did I discover about people in this passage?

ACT
3. How will I commit to obey this passage this week?

4. With whom will I share what I have learned from this passage?

PRAY for one another

DISCOVERY BIBLE STUDY – READING PLAN

This is a sample list of passages that you can use if you want to read through some of the key points of the story of God. Obviously, adapt the list as you see fit!

God Creates – Genesis 1:1-25
God Creates Man and Woman – Genesis 2:4-24
Man and Woman Eat the Fruit – Genesis 3:1-13
God’s Curses – Genesis 3:14-24
God Regrets His Creation – Genesis 6:5-8
God Saves Noah and His Family – Genesis 6:9 – 8:14
God’s Covenant with Noah – Genesis 8:15 -9:17
God’s Covenant with Abram – Genesis 12:1-8, 15:1-6, 17:1-7
Abraham Gives His Son as an Offering – Genesis 22:1-19
God Spares His People – Exodus 12:1-28
The Commands of God – Exodus 20:1-21
The Sin Offering – Leviticus 4:1-35
God’s Righteous Servant – Isaiah 53
Jesus is Born – Luke 1:26-38, 2:1-20
Jesus is Baptized – Matthew 3; John 1:29-34
Jesus is Tested – Matthew 4:1-11
Jesus and the Religious Leader – John 3:1-21
Jesus and the Samaritan Woman – John 4:1-26, 39-42
Jesus and the Paralyzed Man – Luke 5:17-26
Jesus Calms the Storm – Mark 4:35-41
Jesus and the Man with Evil Spirits – Mark 5:1-20
Jesus Raises a Man from the Dead – John 11:1-44
Jesus Talks about His Betrayal and the Covenant – Matthew 26:17-30
Jesus is Betrayed and Faces Trial – John 18:1-19:16
Jesus is Crucified – Luke 23:32-56
Jesus is Resurrected – Luke 24:1-35
Jesus Appears to the Disciples and Ascends to Heaven – Luke 24:36-53
Enter into the Kingdom God – John 3:1-21

Alex Absalom

Originally posted on Dandelion Resources here. Used by permission.

Photo by Hannah Busing on Unsplash

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Source: How to Lead a Discovery Bible Study

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Five Characteristics of Structure for Church Multiplication

Patrick Bradley — Fri, 14 Sep 2018 09:00:20 +0000

By Daniel Im: One of the greatest ways to prohibit movement is to under-structure and over-institutionalize yourself to the point your church cannot bear any more weight.

Many churches scratch their heads wondering why their numbers from year to year stay relatively the same while they can look at their records and see that many guests came through the door. For many churches, the reason why people fail to stay isn’t a ministry issue; it’s a structural issue. They simply don’t have the structure in place to see reproduction and eventually multiplication. Just as chairs are designed to support a certain amount of weight, so too church structures are designed to handle a certain amount of people. Sadly, most churches don’t realize they are perfectly designed to stay right where they are.

What if your church runs 80 adults and every one of those 80 invited a friend the next week? Does your church have the structure to accommodate them? What if the 1200 people that attended the Easter egg helicopter drop showed up at your church the following week? Could you accommodate that many new people? When churches live in their small mindedness, they don’t scale their structures to envision and include more people, and as a result movements never ignite.

In addition, many churches (including church plants) are not only practically under-structured for multiplication, but they are organizationally over- institutionalized for multiplication. For many churches, it would take an act of congress to authorize bringing on a church planter for an internship or residency and eventually send him out—not to mention mothering a church plant. It would have to go through this committee, then be heard by this group, and after much prayer and discussion (by both groups) be brought up in the next church business meeting, where it would then be discussed, tossed around, and possibly tabled until the next meeting. After months of discussions, prayer, and deliberation, a topic that was birthed in the heart of God and seen in the pages of Scripture (church planting) finally is approved in the life of the church. Rather than moving at the speed of the Spirit, churches end up moving at the speed of committee…

Source: Five Characteristics of Structure for Church Multiplication