GETTING STARTED
Start the meeting by asking a few people to briefly share something God has been doing in their lives. This can help foster an environment of expectation. An opening prayer will also help to prepare hearts to hear from the Lord.
VIDEO LESSON
Have the group watch the associated video individually prior to meeting or all together depending on how much time is scheduled for the session. It may be more beneficial to the group discussion if you are able to watch the video together.
DIVE INTO THE WORD
The format for this segment of the study is up to you. When planning the group meeting, please choose one of the following formats for addressing the Dive Into The Word questions.
- Have everyone go through the study guide prior to coming to the meeting. Then, during the meeting, discuss your answers together. Try to dive even deeper and encourage people to share other Scriptures that come to mind. For this option, you can either have people watch the video beforehand or watch it together during the meeting.
- After watching the video during the meeting, read through the study guide and answer the questions together. Give people a little time to write down notes or answers they want to keep. You get to decide how much of the content to cover, and you can even skip straight to the questions if you prefer. Have participants take turns reading the Bible verses out loud if they are willing.
- A custom format of your choice. The material is for you to use as a resource, and you may need to adjust how it’s presented in order to best serve your group.
DISCUSSION TIP
You may need to veer away from the format of this study depending on how your group works, and that’s okay. This study is simply meant to be a resource to help your group discuss God’s Word together. Don’t worry about getting through the whole study or about covering every question. Instead, focus on what God desires to do with the time you have together and make sure you leave room for the Him to minister individually to the members of the group. Bible study is not simply us trying to learn more about God. It’s also about allowing God to speak to us and change us.
PRAYER TIME
Pray specifically about the issues addressed in this study. If there is time, ask for specific prayer requests from group members. Depending on the size and nature of your group, you may want to split into smaller groups for the prayer time. If your group is mixed company, you may also consider splitting the men and women into separate groups to help nurture an environment where people feel more free to share specific prayer requests.