Deciding What Your Next Bible Study Should Be
How does your small group decide what Bible Study to do next?
There
are many ways to select a study.For example, you could choose a
specific book of the Bible to study inductively all the way through. If
you are not familiar with inductive method, you might consider using ThinkOnIt Bible Participation Puzzle. It is a helpful study puzzle that teaches the inductive study method in a fun, non-threatening way.
Another
suggestion is to choose a topic and study what the Bible says about
that topic. Some people like to read topical devotions in small groups.
Topics like the fruit of the Spirit or the armor of God or Proverb 31 Woman are all great choices. Read more about Discipleship in Small Groups...
How Worshipful is Your Small Group?
There
are many ways to worship. You might think about selecting a certain
praise & worship song to play at the beginning of your small group
time. If you do, bring the song lyrics as well. If you don't have the
lyrics, you can always find them on the internet. Open an internet
browser, in the search box, type in "free lyrics for artist name song
title".
Play the song on a portable stereo or on your computer.
Pass out lyrics and allow the group to sing aloud if they want to.
Encourage everyone that it's not the quality of our voice that counts,
but that we make "a joyous noise unto the Lord." Read more on how to Worship in Small Groups...
How Do We Keep Fellowship Without It Taking Over?
For
my small group fellowship seems to be the easiest. We naturally like
to get together and talk about what's happening in our lives. We very
easily can listen to our friends' troubles as well as share our own.
Fellowship comes easily a lot of the times.
To become a
healthy balanced small group we need to ensure that fellowship doesn't
become the primary objective of our small group. God designed us for
fellowship, no doubt about it. God also wants us to focus on other
areas, such as worship, discipleship, serving others, and ministry. Read more on Fellowship in Small Groups...
Discover Your Spiritual Gifts
How do you help your small group discover their spiritual gifts?
Discovering
your spiritual gifts can be exciting. It is sort of like a scavenger
hunt. This is where being in a small group can be a lot of fun. Helping
others see what they don't see in them self is such a blessing. You can
literally encourage someone into their gifts. You might perform a small
group exercise to study what scripture says about gifts.
What are Spiritual Gifts?
Romans
12:3-8 NKJV says "For I say, through the grace given to me, to
everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he
ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a
measure of faith. For as we have many members in one body, but all
the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one
body in Christ, and individually members of one another. Having then
gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use
them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; or
ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in
teaching; he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with
liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with
cheerfulness." Read the rest of this Ministry in Small Group article...
Get Your Group Serving Together
Jesus even taught us that giving
something as simple as a cup of water to another will have a reward attached to
it. Jesus, the Son of God, did not come
to be served as King, though He deserved it.
He came to serve others. He is
our role model. We are to follow His example.
Some groups like to dedicate one
day a month to a community service project instead of meeting for Bible study. That’s a great way to integrate serving
together into your small group time. Spend time together in prayer to determine
where God would lead your group to serve.
Ask God to show you where to serve. Read more on Serving in Small Groups...