Discipleship

8 Ideas To Help Your Group Engage The Bible

Several years ago, the Willow Creek Church Association did a massive study to examine how churches were doing at developing mature disciples.

They found that the number one influence on a person's spiritual growth was engaging the Bible for personal application.

While God grows our faith through a variety of influences (private disciplines, providential relationships, personal ministry, practical teaching, pivotal circumstances), engaging the Bible is at the top of the list.

The first goal of Community Groups at Northridge is to Apply the Bible.

If helping your group engage the Bible personally will influence their faith more than anything else, how is that going?

Here are 8 ideas to help your group engage with God's word.

  • Starting Point - (Sunday mornings in-person, Thursday evenings online)

    • Do your group members have questions about the Bible you don't know how to answer?

    • Starting Point is designed for those who are newer to faith, exploring faith, or reengaging with faith, to ask any questions they have about God, faith, and the Bible.

    • Invite a group member to join you in a Starting Point Group (online or in-person). They'll have an opportunity to engage the Bible and ask any question they have!

  • Equip Class "How to Read the Bible" - (Sunday mornings Online & In-Person, February 7 - March 28)

    • Many of the people in your group have tried to read the Bible but found it confusing and discouraging as they struggle to understand it.

    • Invite your group members to join you for this class so you can learn together how to not just read the Bible, but understand and apply it.

  • RightNow Media

    • Pick a RightNow Media study on a Book of the Bible and watch and discuss it with your group each week.

    • Many of the studies include free discussion guides to help you walk through the Biblical text together, understand it and apply it.

  • Shared YouVersion Bible Reading Plan

    • The Bible has never been more accessible than now with the YouVersion Bible app.

    • Search through a list of Bible reading plans and invite your Group Members to join you.

    • You can see each other's progress, and even share takeaways as you engage the Biblical text together.

  • Bible Project Home Study

    • Sign up for the Bible Project weekly Home Study email.

    • Each email includes a short video (you can watch together with your group), Scripture readings, a short audio message, and discussion questions.

    • Your group members can watch, listen, and read before the group, and watch the video and discuss the questions in your weekly meeting.

  • Book of the Bible Study Guides

    • Here is a list of recommended study guides to read and discuss a book of the Bible together as a group.

    • Have your group members purchase a study guide, and then read the Bible passage during the week and answer the questions in the guide. You can use the guide to discuss what you learned in your next meeting.

    • You could also pair one of these study guides along with RightNow Media series on the same book of the Bible.

    • Here are some best practices from other Group Leaders who have done this.

  • Sermon Discussion

    • Help your group not only hear God's Words taught on Sunday, but read them together in group, and learn how to apply them.

    • Have you had mixed success with this? Review these sermon discussion tips.

    • Find Sermon Discussion Questions HERE.

  • Set Bible Engagement Growth Goals

    • Make Growth Goals a regular rhythm each group trimester.

    • Set goals on when, where, and what to read in the Bible.

    • Set scripture memorization goals.

    • Ask each other about your progress regularly.

Which one of these 8 ideas can you try this winter to help your group engage the Bible?

Upcoming Sermon Series

Here are the tentative dates for our upcoming sermon series:

  • Silver Linings - (January 10-31)

  • How to Be Rich (February 7-21)

  • Amazing Grace (February 28-March 7)

  • The Courtroom (March 14-April 4)

Trimester Dates

  • Winter: January 17 - March 27 (10 weeks)

  • Spring: April 11 - May 29 (7 weeks)

Additional Resources

8 Ways To Find Mature Christians Who Will Help You Grow

This fall I started a series of posts to address a tension many of us feel in leading a group; "How do I grow spiritually if I'm the most mature person in my group?"

I wanted to write one final post to conclude my thoughts and give some potential next steps for you as you wrestle with that question.

The first post defined the end goal of spiritual growth as "looking like Christ."

The second post shared how relationships are 1 of 5 things that God uses to help us grow to "look like Christ".

The point of the second post was to highlight that relationships are part of what grows our faith, but that our spiritual growth is not contingent solely on the people we are surrounded by.

The third post talked about how God uses both more and less mature Christians to help us grow in our faith.

The point of the third post was to highlight that there is no one person we will have in our life that will lead us to full maturity...we grow in our faith in community.

All that being said, you may still be saying, "I've got plenty of spiritually immature people I can learn and grow from, and I need to be more humble about learning from them, but I'd love to also have some more spiritually mature people in my life who can help me grow. How can I find that? If there are not many or any in my group, what do I do?"

Where can we find spiritually mature people to help us grow?

That's what we want to talk about in this final post.

While each Community Group would ideally have a good number of mature Christians in addition to immature, groups are not the only pool for finding mature Christ followers to rub shoulders with.

So, if you find yourself hungering for connection with other Christians who are serious about growing in the faith, here are some ideas.

8 Ways To Find Mature Christians Who Will Help You Grow

1. Develop them in your group.

  • You have “potentially mature” Christians already in your group. Don't look past them too quickly.

  • Yes, this takes effort, but you may be surprised that some of the people in your group will welcome additional connections to grow their faith: 

    • a weekly accountability breakfast

    • memorizing Scripture together

    • reading a book together

    • discussing theology together

2. Grab a meal or coffee with your Community Group Coach or a Northridge staff member.

  • We'd love to share with you what we are learning as we seek to grow in our own faith. We're all in process!

3. Ask for a connection.

  • Some of you have requested help to find another mature Christian you can connect with.

  • While we are not match-makers, your Group Coach or a staff member may be able to help you make a connection with another mature Christ follower.

  • In fact, if you respond to this post it may give us a list of people we can pair together who are seeking mutually beneficial connections.

4. Serve alongside other Christ followers.

  • The most mature Christians are already investing their lives in serving others.

  • If you want to learn from them, find out what they are doing and serve alongside of them.

  • Join the Care Portal Team or find a role to serve at your campus.

5. Attend an Equip class with other Christ followers.

  • Those attending a class are taking an intentional step to grow. Get to know them and grow with them by participating in an a class together.

6. Connect with leaders from your former group.

  • Just because you are not in a group with them anymore doesn't mean you can't do life with them. 

  • Some of my closest friendships are with previous group members and leaders.

7. Take an online class from a Bible college or seminary.

  • Not only will you increase your knowledge but you'll be able to build relationships with Godly classmates and professors.

8. meet them through a book.

  • I've heard it said that books are like good friends who help guide and counsel us.

  • When we read, we get to know the author and hear their thoughts. The more we read, the more their ideas and their lives begin to influence our own.

  • This may be a one-sided friendship, but a friendship with a book/author in addition to our other friendships can help.

  • Need a recommendation? Check out our staff suggestions: www.northridgeequip.com/books

Our spiritual growth is a process, but He who began a good work in us will complete His perfect work (Philippians 1:6).

I'm looking forward to the day when the process of becoming like Christ will be complete.

What did I miss in these posts? What questions do you still have? How have these posts helped you? I'd love to hear your thoughts. Email me HERE.

Let's keep learning and growing together.

 
 
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Northridge Church Office | 2052 Saint Paul St. Rochester, NY 14621 | (585) 338-7810