Since Christianity never intended to become a spectator sport, the group Bible study has proven invaluable. The small group study proves effective where, dating back, it is seen that Jesus used it for training men who had been known as the apostles. Christianity had been meant to be relational initially across the vertical axis between God and ourselves and onto the horizontal axis between ourselves and everyone around us. The Bible study groups move us from just being spectators around the weekly church services to active participants in a like-minded community that remains focused on spiritual growth.
What Is A Bible Study Group?
The Bible has been a primary source of inspiration and direction for people for millennia, and bible study is a key component of the Christian faith. The exploration of scripture together offers many advantages that can be utilized to increase understanding and our relationship with God.
A Bible study is a place where people can talk, learn, and ponder God’s word. There, in a Bible study group, individuals meet to read the Bible and discuss it systematically and profoundly. Such groups aim to interpret the Scripture, relate it to their lives, and experience spiritual development.
Participants come to each meeting with any accompanying Bible readings or discussions they wish to enact. Bible study teachers foster respectful and enquiring conversation when debates of personal views are being explored. Group members should also be tolerant when other members do not agree or do not understand the topic of discussion with Bible study books. There is also the privacy of the group members, and so what they talk about in the group is private to the group in which it occurs.
Benefits of Small Group Bible Studies
New Groups Tend to Be Outwardly Focused
It is a reality of group work that, after a group has been meeting for 18 to 24 months, it is turned inward. Closeness develops between people, and bonds deepen over an extended period through months of praying, serving, and interacting with each other. The solution to putting a stop to closed groups is the creation of new groups. Emerging movements encourage members to be more passionate, more enthusiastic, and more eager to introduce the other person who may be looking well for connection—to each other and God.
New Groups Overcome “The LEGO Factor”
LEGO blocks (the brick type) have eight connector knobs. After 18 months to 24 months of meeting or more, persons will be “LEGOed” to a member of the group range. They look for people to be close to, and their diaries fill up. At this point, the willpower, as well as the desire to invest in new personal relationships, decreases, and reviving connections with the newcomers might seem easier. Having started new Bible study groups their church has, founding members stop engaging, meaning time and energy will be free to focus the time and effort on new members. Using LEGO drawing, they have open connectors and can accommodate the extension of new individuals into their lives with Bible study lessons.
New Groups Create Onramps For Disengaged People
All church communities have participants who have withdrawn from Bible study groups for one reason or another. The more time away, the more difficult it is for them to reintegrate into the group. It can be a frustrating thing to “just show up” once again. Those new groups offer absentees a better opportunity to rejoin group life, for example, by creating a linkage to a group in which they may start anew.
New Groups Accelerate Fellowship and Community Building
The formation of new groups fosters fellowship and community among church members who have not previously participated in groups. Emerging new organizations offer environments in which people can establish deep and meaningful relationships with their peers in the faith community. These groups share a passion for and engagement with the study of the Bible. They are commonly situated at similar life points (e.g., groups for parents of preschoolers or empty-nesting adults). The connections they form often extend beyond the study sessions, fostering lasting friendships and a stronger sense of community.
Conclusion
Some churches will start more new bible study groups than others. However, do not conclude that this is one method by which you should be limiting new group sizes within a normative-sized congregation of 70 or fewer people. If your church is in a position to start multiple groups, do so well, too. When we are all in agreement about the power of starting new teams and taking actions that ready new disciples to have their hands on the power of the gospel, then the kingdom, therefore, benefits.
