Leading small groups can be one of the most exciting and satisfying experience of your christian life. You can really influence and impact your group members. Today, we are going to discuss principles to effectively leading small group bible study. You may be leading students, married couples, men, women, teenagers, youth, or any age group, these principles remain the same. So here are some of the key principles for leading a bible study small group.

1. Know Your bible study Group:

• Know every member of your small group. Show genuine interest and care for them.
• Names are extremely important. There is nothing more pleasing to ears than our name. You must know every member of your group by name.
• If there is a new member or visitor, make sure that you acknowledge him and introduce to the group.
• If you have more than 2-3 visitors, you can take some time for the introduction with some fun questions or game. (Like, what is the weirdest food, you have ever had?…)

2. Preparation:

• Preparation is the most important part of leading bible study group.
• There is nothing more painful than to see under prepared bible study leader. I am amazed to see that people spend so much time on assignments or job at school or workplace, yet when it comes to leading a group, they are so under-prepared!
• Prepare well, spend lot of time in the Word of God.
• Don’t think that since it is a discussion, you don’t have to work as hard as ‘Preaching’!
• Write down your thoughts, ideas, notes, questions, answers… I don’t know about you, but I can not remember everything. Writing notes will also be helpful in future bible studies.
• Note down the questions. Don’t just ask, “What do you think about this verse?” Form a question from that verse. Rephrase the question.
• If you use study guides for preparation, use it as a guide only! You don’t have to exactly follow them. (After all, they are just a guidelines!)
• You can use bible dictionary, commentary, but use your own insight also. (Make your own commentary!)

3. Be Creative and Imaginative:

• Be creative in your discussions and questions.
• Visualize the situation.
• Use maps, whiteboards, games, time lines.
• Give some small assignment, quiz or fun group activity to the group, keep the engaged.

4. Facilitator and Not a Preacher:

• Remember that you are not a preacher, you are facilitator of the discussion group. Make sure that you don’t keep talking.
• Communicate your questions well, rephrase it if possible.
• Don’t let it be silent for long time, give hints, ask individuals.

5. Equal Opportunity:

• Make sure that every one participates in the discussion.
• You will always find few people, more responsive than others.
• But, don’t let it be discussion between just 2-3 persons. Ask individual, remembering names will be useful here.
• You will often be surprised to hear insight from people who generally remain quiet.
• Remember that silence does not always mean non-participation.

6. Diversion:

• Many times, you will find the discussion being side tracked or distracted in particular topic.
• Use your judgment, to continue or bring the group back to the main idea or passage.
• If there is some major important issue, let the discussion continue. The idea is to learn here and not stick to the passage.

7. Time Management:

• 25-30 minutes of bible study time is perfect. Don’t make it too long.
• Don’t let the group loose focus.
• If there is some important theological discussion going on, you can conclude bible study, but continue the discussion, so that those who need to leave can go.
• Don’t try to finish the passage because you run out of time. You can continue next week. (So many times, I have seen leader’s finishing the passage or topic suddenly, so that they don’t have to lead next week.) Again, good preparation will be helpful here.

8. Finish Strong:

• Spend enough time in the application of the word.
• Challenge your group for the not only ‘learner of the word but the doer of the word’.
• Don’t make it too emotional. After all, the things that will stay with the group is not the emotion, but the teaching.
• Encourage them for personal bible study.

Check out an excellent resource by Grahame Knox for Bible Study for Youth Leaders – Free Ebook. It provides an excellent resource for different techniques and ideas for effectively leading bible study groups.

Check out Practical Suggestions for Leading Small Group Bible Study

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• How to Lead Small Group – Practical Suggestions
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How to Lead Small Group Bible Study Effectively is a post from: Bible Study Lessons | Christian Bible Studies | Inductive Bible Study Guide

This method is one of the most effective way of studying bible. You can really dig deeper into the word of God and find treasures. In the next few paragraphs, I will show you how to use Manuscript bible study method. I am not very strict in following the method and have modified it a bit. I have been blessed in my quiet time and personal bible study (check out: How do do your Quiet Time). I hope and pray that this may be useful to you.

Things you need:

• Wide-margin manuscript of biblical book (You can print the bible passage with wide margin on both sides, if you don’t want to write in your bible.)
• Colored pencils or pen
• Bible dictionary (If available) (Free Bible Study Resources Online)
• Bible concordance (If available)

Observation:

• Look for and write down: (Highlight with different colors)
• Read the passage 2-3 times as you start marking.
• Repeated words and ideas (Assign different colors, symbols)
• Repeated themes (’Son of God’ etc)
• Contrasts
• Metaphors
• Key words such as ‘therefore’, ‘but’, ‘then’, ‘because’ etc.
• Setting of writing or event
• Time of day, month or year
• Characters
• Cause and effect
• Use Bible dictionary when words, places or peoples identities or customs are unclear.

Interpretation:

• Make connections
• Write down your ideas
• Ask yourself why the author decided to tell the details
• Feel free to draw lines, arrows between different words
• Find out the main message of the passage
• Give few interesting titles for the passage

Application:

• How can you apply what you have learned in your daily life?
• How can you relate to the event or teaching in the passage?
• There can be many applications depending upon the passage you are studying. I will post some of my manuscript bible study. This is the basic method for the manuscript study, you can also add many more things to it.

Check out How to Study Your Bible: The Lasting Rewards of the Inductive Method

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• Inductive Bible Study Method: How to Guide
• How to Do Quiet Time – Time Alone with God
• How to Lead Small Group Bible Study Effectively
• Over Half a Million Page Views
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Manuscript Bible Study Method is a post from: Bible Study Lessons | Christian Bible Studies | Inductive Bible Study Guide

Inductive Bible Study method is one of the most effective bible study methods for personal  bible study, quiet time or group bible studies. This guide presents three basic steps of Inductive bible studies, Observation, Interpretation and Application. It will walk you through each step of inductive bible studies in details.

By definition, inductive logic or induction means ‘the type of reasoning which involves moving from a set of specific facts to a general conclusion’. (Wikipedia) Inductive bible study method provides a bible-based tool to study bible by observing the facts, investigating the motives and reasons behind it and thus offering life applications relevant to individual’s life experiences. (Also check out: Manuscript Bible Study Method)

What You Need:

• Bible, Notebook, and Time!
• Other resources: Bible commentary, Bible dictionary, study guide etc.

How to Start:

• Spare about 20-30 minutes for the bible study, more if possible.
• Start with Prayer and ask God for his guidance specifically for the study time.
• Select a bible passage. It is good to select a book of bible and study it continuously. However, it all depends upon your own preference. In any case, select a bible passage, which consists of 10-15 verses (Usually one or two paragraphs which may cover the story, topic or event). Selecting a very long passage or whole chapter of bible may not be the best approach, as you won’t be able focus on one particular event or aspect of the chapter.
• Read the passage 2-3 times. While first read may be a quick read, reading second or third time, will give you a good overview and outline of the bible passage.
• The three steps of Inductive bible studies are Observation, Interpretation and Application.

Observation:

Observation is an essential aspect of inductive bible studies. So often, we get to the interpretation or even application of the bible verse without understanding its context. But if we miss this step, we can miss a lot about what passage has to offer. In this step, you should ask yourself following questions:

• Who: Who is mentioned in the passage? To whom it is said or written? Who are the audience? It helps you to get the picture of what is going on in the passage.
• What: What is happening? What is the passage about? Is there some kind of teaching, event like miracle or healing, exhortation, warning, conversation, debate, arguments, discussion etc?
• It also helps to ask question, weather the bible passage is the historical event, poetry, narration, letter etc?
• When and Where: This is an important piece of information. Ask yourself, when and where did this occur?  The place and its significance, time of the day/month/year?
• One useful way of observation is to imagine yourself present in the settings of the bible passage.

Interpretation:

Once you get a good background and understanding of the bible passage. Now, you can move to questions about the interpretation.

• Why: Why is it mentioned? What is the core issue? What is the main focus or theme of the passage?
• You may use some other resources, such as bible dictionary or a bible commentary, if the passage is difficult to understand.
• Observation and Interpretation may overlap each other sometimes, but these two steps will enable you to understand the context and meaning of the bible passage.

Application:

Finally, Inductive bible study is not complete, unless you have an application from the bible passage. The idea of bible study is not only to learn and gain knowledge but also to apply and implement in our own lives. Ask yourself:

• How does this passage apply to present situation?
• What can I learn from this passage?
• How does it apply to me personally?
• Application process helps you to make the bible passage relevant to you, and your life experiences. It is the step in which you can relate to the bible and discover how God communicates to you through the bible passage.

So, if you have not ‘try out’ inductive bible study method, test for yourself. You will be amazed at the treasures, you may discover though it!

Other Resources:

• Reflections on Inductive Bible Study, by Ajith Fernando
• Independent bible study: E-Book - Independent Bible Study Method, written by Irving L. Jensen, published in 1963 by Moody Press. The book is freely available as ‘E-book’ in pdf format. It offers a great in depth method of using Inductive Bible study method.

(Check out: NASB Study Bible – Most Popular NASB Study Bibles)

Inductive Bible Study Resources on Amazon:

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Inductive Bible Study Method: How to Guide is a post from: Bible Study Lessons | Christian Bible Studies | Inductive Bible Study Guide

Here I am presenting simple steps for how to do your daily quiet time.  

Time: Quiet time should be about 10-15 minutes long. You can choose time according to you schedule. For some, morning works better, for others, night may work well. While, I recommend the morning time as you are much calmer and fresh, any time can work fine. It is also important to set fixed time everyday, as it brings discipline and consistency.

What do you need?

Your bible, note and pen. You can occasionally refer to bible commentary or dictionary for difficult passages of bible (Free bible study resources). But I would recommend studying bible as it is and ask God for his guidance to understand the passage. It is a very good practice to take notes in your quiet time. You will be amazed when you will see your quiet time notes years later!

How To do Quiet Time?

• Start with prayer:
  • Spend just few minutes in worship and thanksgiving.
  • Spend some time in asking God for forgiveness for our sins.
  • Ask for his guidance in today’s quiet time
• Passage for Quiet time: It is good to select any book of bible and read it continuously. It will help you to get the whole picture and can enjoy your quiet time more.  Select about 8-10 verses, don’t select whole chapter, as you may not be able to cover it all. Select small paragraph according to passage.
• Read the paragraph for 2-3 times. This bible study method is also called ASPECT method. From the paragraph, ask following questions.
  • A – About God – What can you learn about God through this passage?
  • S – Sin – Does it talk about any sin?
  • P – Promise – Is there any promise in the word?
  • E – Example – Is there any example, I can follow?
  • C –Command – Which command I need to obey?
  • T – Teaching – What can I learn from this passage?
• Concluding Prayer:
  • Thank God for his guidance in quiet time
  • Worship God for his characteristic
  • Pray for deliverance from any sin
  • Ask for strength for the day.
• Here is a simple example of Quiet time using ASPECT method.  Quiet time on 1 John 4:7-12: pdf

Quiet Time Resources on Amazon:

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• Inductive Bible Study Method: How to Guide
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• How to Lead Small Group Bible Study Effectively
• Discover God’s Will – Practical Preparation
• How to Lead Small Group – Practical Suggestions

How to Do Quiet Time – Time Alone with God is a post from: Bible Study Lessons | Christian Bible Studies | Inductive Bible Study Guide

For more details: Read ‘Learn to Lead’ – How to effectively lead small group bible study

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How to Lead Small Group – Practical Suggestions is a post from: Bible Study Lessons | Christian Bible Studies | Inductive Bible Study Guide