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.

Comments

10 Summer Activities To Keep Your Small Group Connected

I just sent an email to all our small group leaders (I do this 3-4 times each month). This week's focus was STAYING CONNECTED THROUGH THE SUMMER. Below is a list of 10 summer activities a small group can use to stay connected. These are specifically created for groups at The Gathering, but you can pretty easily modify the list to fit your church or your community. Go to a Dragon's Game together. You can buy tickets as a group from the church for the game on July 11. Design a Progressive Dinner. Have appetizers at one house, salad at another, the main course somewhere else and dessert at a final destination. Have a monthly barbecue party. Serve together. Pick a place (Good Neighbor House, St. Vincents, Victory Project, Pirate Packs, Caring Partners International, One Bistro) and sign up to serve as a group one afternoon or evening. Meet up at the Family Movie Night on June 15. Spend a day at King's Island. Work at the church for an afternoon. We have many proj...

20 Questions to Build Group Connections

Here is a great exercise for a new group. The instructions are pretty simple. Go around the group giving each person the opportunity to choose one question and answer it honestly. Anyone can follow-up with an opinion or clarifying question (no critiquing each other's answers, though). Once a question has been answered, no one else may answer that question. If your group is larger, you may want to alter the rule and allow each question to be answered 2 or 3 times. Ideally, each person should end up answering 3-5 questions. As the leader, pay attention to the conversation. Let the discussion run its course as this is how people in the group build their relationships with one another. You can use these questions, modify them or create your own.

5 Conversations Every Small Group Should Have

Small group gatherings are not business meetings. They need not have rigid agendas or strict time constraints. Although effective groups often follow set curriculum, there are times when they can take a break from their plans and have conversations about their group’s health. These five questions can be used together or one at a time. They are designed to help groups’ determine their identity, diagnoses their health and develop a plan for the future. How can we meet one another’s needs? Acts is full of stories about Christians finding creative means by which they can meet each other’s needs. Some even sold their properties and possessions. The small group is the ideal lab in which we can work out what it truly means to love one another as Jesus loved us. If the greatest love of all is laying down our lives for each other (and it is), then meeting the needs of others in our group should be one of our first and highest priorities. How can we encourage one another? 1...

Creative Community

Search This Blog