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3 Easy Steps for Studying Bible Passages as a Small Group

Studying God's Word together as a group is one of the best ways to gain a fresh perspective on passages with which you may already be very familiar. Sometimes, though, groups are nervous about working through a passage because they are concerned the process may be too complex.

Here is a simple process you can use as a group (it will also work for you as an individual) to consider the meaning of a passage and how it can be applied in your life. This process is called the "CRA Process" (I discovered it at Justin Hutt's blog. You can read more about it here). The three steps are COPY, Re-WRITE, and APPLY:


1) Copy Deuteronomy 6:4-9 word-for-word.
4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. [ESV]
2) Re-write Deuteronomy 6:4-9 in your own words.
Listen up! Children of God. You know YHWH, you God. He is God, the One God. He alone must be the fire that stokes your passions. He alone must be the control center of your being. No question about it, He must be chiseled onto the walls of your heart and mind.
Pass along your God-passion to everyone you know. Start with your kids, those next to you on the bus, those you rub shoulders with everyday, dream about it, tattoo it on your brain, and raise a banner over your home that says, “I love my YHWH, and Him alone!”
3) Apply the truth of Deuteronomy 6:4-9 to your life [using "I will…" statements].
•    I will cultivate a passion for God’s love through reading the Bible, applying the Bible, and letting others know what I love about my God.
•    I will place reminders around me that point me to my First Love [i.e. verses in my house, wallet, office, computer, etc.].
•    I will share with at least one person today my love for God.
•    I will read the Word to my wife and kids.
•    I will memorize at least one verse of Scripture this week and quote it with my wife.
•    I will not read the Bible as a textbook, but as truth from God Himself.
•    I will chew on the Word each day I read it.

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