![]() By asking fewer, more strategic questions, deep Bible questions, you go deeper and involve more people in discussing and responding to God’s word. ![]() If you ask too many questions, you don’t delve deeply into any of them and the same two or three people answer the questions again and again. The most common mistake that group leaders at a small group Bible study make is to ask too many questions. Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Church: Growth without Compromising Your Message and Mission (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2007).Helping your small group respond to God as you dig into the Bible together is largely a matter of asking the right questions: deep Bible questions. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy (HARPERONE, 1978). There will come a time you will be glad you had them. Print these ten questions and put them in your Bible. If you can get your people to take one step in the right direction-no matter how small-others will follow. The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. How can I reduce it to a baby step? The first step is always the most difficult. Non-discipleship also comes at a high cost. Bonhoeffer reminded us of the Cost of Discipleship. Of the two, pain is a slightly greater motivator. People are motivated by two things: pain and pleasure. ![]() Highlight this by thinking clearly about the benefits of obedience. It is always in our best interest to live the Christian life. Try to reduce this week’s teaching to a memorable slogan. What people remember are simple statements, slogans, and phrases. Rick Warren said, “People don’t remember sermons or speeches-they don’t even remember paragraphs. This is why, as teachers, we want to teach for application. You don’t deceive yourself by listening to heresy so much as you deceive yourself by listening to the truth and not doing anything about it. James taught we are to be doers of the Word and not hearers only, and so deceiving ourselves. What Haddon Robinson said of preaching is also true of small group Bible study, “Sermons seldom fail because they have too many ideas more often they fail because they deal with too many unrelated ideas.” 6. We teach so little because we try to teach so much. Spend a few minutes exploring how this passage fits into the whole. Many know the stories of the Bible, but they do not know the story of the Bible. What do we learn about the Devil? What do we learn about the Holy Spirit? What do we learn about Christian Discipleship? What do we learn about Heaven? This question will vary by text. When we come to see ourselves as God sees us, we will come to do what God has called us to. The Bible teaches that we are saints, servants, accepted, redeemed, beloved, chosen, predestined, special, sons and daughters, saved, God’s masterpiece and a whole lot more. If we have a small view of God, we have big problems. Tozer famously said, “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” If we have a big view of God, we have small problems. Obviously, some will apply better than others to any particular passage. Simply read this week’s Bible passage and ask these ten questions. They can be used for any Bible passage-kind of like an already-prepared-meal. If this ever happens, you will be glad you have these ten questions tucked in your Bible. So sorry I won’t be able to teach tonight. ![]() You just got in from mowing the lawn and are in bad need of a shower when you get this text: Learn more by watching the free course introduction & enroll here! A special gift to help further your Small Group Ministry.An official Small Group Network completion certificate.8 HD video session taught by Steve Gladen.Presenting our new online training course – “Align!” Align will help you learn the small group ministry essentials. ![]() “This is the course I wish I would have had 35 years ago when I started small group ministry.” – Steve Gladen ![]()
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