Small group bible study how to#

And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. The apostles returned to Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught. Jesus recognized the need for rest and refreshment away from the crowds, and he offered his small group a retreat: Small groups provide a place of refreshment. We hear Bible teaching on Sunday morning in church, and then we get to apply that teaching as we share what we see God doing in and around us. “But small Bible study and prayer groups are better at promoting discipleship and spiritual growth.” “Any type of small group will benefit a church, whether it’s a Sunday School, a service group, or a basketball league, because of the belonging and commitment they foster,” added Dougherty.

A Church Leaders article refers to a 2011 study in Sociology of Religion: Others have discovered the benefits of small groups, particularly Bible study small groups. That first small group gave us a taste of small group Bible study, and we’ve been hooked ever since.

Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. The disciples enjoyed fellowship and meals with Jesus, but one of the greatest benefits of being among the twelve was that they could learn God’s Word. Not only was Christ deliberate about inviting each member of his twelve to follow him, he was deliberate about teaching them, too. Small groups are opportunities to learn God’s Word. We share our struggles and watch God work in our lives. Likewise, he gathers people in small groups today who otherwise might never meet - laborers, surgeons, teachers, and stay-at-home moms. But Jesus broke social norms by bringing people together who otherwise would never rub shoulders. People are naturally comfortable with those most like themselves. He regularly mixed with people that did not fit the profile of proper religious company.Īnd the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” (Mark 2:16) Jesus gathered men from different backgrounds to form his small group of twelve.

Small groups break socio-economic boundaries.

Small group bible study how to#

Their hospitality, especially at the holidays, taught us how to show hospitality ourselves. Without a personal invitation, we would have been slow to get involved. We just showed up at church one Sunday, and Dave and Gloria made it their business to connect us with others. And he said to him, “Follow me.” (Luke 5:27)Īs transplants in Florida, we didn’t seek out ways to get involved. Small groups are formed intentionally.Ĭhrist offered a personal invitation to each of his disciples.Īfter this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth. As we develop small groups of our own, here are five ways we can follow the example of Christ with his disciples. Jesus showed us a model of a healthy small group when he called, taught, and sent out his group of twelve. But small groups perform a vital role in the church as they provide opportunities for members to connect, learn, grow, and minister side by side. Small groups do not replace corporate worship of the church, and the lessons learned in small groups do not substitute for the preaching of the gospel from the pulpit. We’ve learned a lot about small groups since those early years. Pat and I had never been part of a group like this together, and so we jumped into our first small group experience. The group was to meet for eight weeks and go through material in a discipleship workbook. After Dave and Gloria connected us with others, someone invited us to join a newly formed small group. We were far from home, but people in that church were intentional about making connections. As the holidays approached that year, Dave and Gloria invited us for Christmas dinner. Visiting a nearby church, we met Dave and Gloria who invited us to their home and introduced us to another young couple. Pat and I were married just a few years before work moved us from Pennsylvania to Florida.