Preparing an Investigative Bible Study

22 Jul 2008 - 13:52 — by IFES Europe Resources » Evangelism » Resources

How should we go about studying the Bible with non-Christian friends? Will to work? What would that look like? This session explores the foundation of doing investigative Bible studies and suggests some methods that will be helpful when planning such studies.

Source : http://www.intervarsity.org/

Foundational for Investigative Bible Studies:

1. God wants to speak

2. He speaks through His Word

Without conviction on both of these points, you can't lead an investigative Bible study.

People become Christians through Investigative Bible Studies

Example: Singapore. In 1974, there were 160 members in the group. They began 20 investigative Bible studies. In 1975 there were 200 members and 40 investigative Bible studies. In 1976 there were 400 members and 60 investigative Bible studies. In 1977 there were 700 members and 100 investigative Bible studies. Today, there are over 2,000 members. Most of them became Christians because they met Jesus through investigative Bible studies.

God wants to speak, and He speaks through His Word!

The Goal

Our ultimate goal is that people come to faith in Jesus Christ. An investigative Bible study is a good place for people to find out who Jesus really is.

The Leader

The leader of an investigative Bible study needs to:

Believe that God has prepared some people to become Christians (John 4:35 ff.).

Trust God's Word and believe that God speaks through His Word, and that through His Word people will come to faith (Acts 8:35 ff.).

The Group

It's best if there are only two Christians in the Bible study group. The group is for seekers, not for Christians. If Christians are in the majority, seekers may feel under pressure and not have total freedom to ask their honest questions. A good group size is 2 Christians and 4 seekers.

Starting

Pray daily, and find others to pray. Pray for yourself, your preparation, and that God will show you whom to invite.

As God brings people to mind, you might want to write a list of names, and pray for each of them. Ask God to show you which of these people to invite. If you find you have no non-Christian friends, pray to get to know some near you - in the dorm, lectures, etc.

Think about the Bible texts to use. Think about the people on your list, their needs, the questions they're asking. The texts should focus on who God is and who Jesus is, since this is the main purpose of an investigative Bible study. One of the Gospel narratives is probably best; there Jesus meets people in their need - something which people in your group can relate to.

You might choose a series such as: Who is God? What is man? Who is Jesus? Why did He come? What did He do? How does one become a Christian?

Or use a good study guide, such as ‘Getting Excited about Jesus’. These guide, and others, are available from IFES Europe & Eurasia.

Get enough Bibles in one translation. A unified translation helps the discussion focus on the text, rather than get lost in a discussion of "which translation is better?".

You may wish to photocopy the particular text which will be studied, so that the members will have a text on which they can write questions and observations, and take home with them.

Set a time for the meeting according to the best time for your friends. In the beginning, plan on meeting for only one hour per week. It's better to have your friends complain the time is too short, than to have them stay away because it's too long.

Let everyone know at the start how often you'll meet. With a set number of times for the investigative Bible studies, your friends will know they're not getting into something for years. Seekers will be more willing to come to something they know will last 5 or 6 times, or one semester.

Prepare carefully. Plan on 1 1/2 hours of preparation time for each study. Set aside this time and guard it!

Pray during your preparation time that God will speak to you through the text, that you yourself will get to know Jesus better.

Write out questions which could be discussed in the group. The questions should focus on the text, making it living and pragmatic for our lives today. Your written questions should focus on three areas: What does it say? What does it mean? What does it mean for us today?

Invite your friends. Pray. Trust God. Tell your friends the theme; when, where and how often you'll meet; how the meeting will be run; that they don't need any knowledge of or background in the Bible, their religious background won't make a difference; the discussion will focus on the text, and any question goes.

A half hour or an hour before the meeting begins, remind your friends. Very likely, they have higher priorities in life than the investigative Bible study, and may easily forget if you don't remind them.

Begin!

Tips for Leading

Briefly introduce the text in a way that makes it exciting to study this particular passage. For example, during the introduction time, you might have asked everyone what they think about people who are very wealthy. As the Bible study time is introduced, you could say, "What would Jesus say to a man who's very wealthy?

Tonight we want to read a passage in which Jesus met a rich man...." Another possible introduction would be to do a dramatization of the passage.

It's helpful to read the text aloud in various languages. If there are more than 8 members in your Bible study group, divide everyone into smaller groups (6-8 persons), each group led by a team member with prepared questions. Another possibility for discussion would be for each person to write down one question about the text on a card and turn the questions in to the leader, who then reads the questions to everyone for discussion of the passage. Or the text might be typed out, and each participant given colored pencils to mark their questions and observations directly on the page. After a time for each to study in this way, the leader could ask people to share what they have written.

The leader will need to be sensitive to the fact that students may have little or no Bible knowledge.

Generally, students are interested in discovering how the Bible relates to everyday life (practically, not theoretically, and not necessarily theologically).

During the study time, let people discover for themselves what the text is saying. Don't rely on commentaries or other help materials, unless it's really necessary to understand the text. Let the Bible speak for itself! As leader, try not to answer questions. Help the group learn to discover the answers from the Bible.

It's important that people sit so they can see each other. If someone is sitting outside the circle, they feel "out of it" as well, and won't participate well.

Help the group to stay in the text. Don't jump around in the Bible, it only confuses and frustrates those not familiar with the Bible.

Help the group to stay on the point. There are many interesting things one could talk about; a fruitful discussion, however, has a goal.

You can lead the discussion through your prepared questions, but don't be tied to your questions if someone has a different question which is related to the text. Be flexible. If questions seem confusing, reword them.

Create an atmosphere where anyone can ask any question, and each person can share something.

Everyone's contribution has worth. Help the group to understand the main teaching of the text and possible applications for our everyday lives.

After 30-45 minutes (small groups join together again), one of the Christian team members should summarize in one or two sentences the most important points from the passage.

The above points are important if our friends are going to discover the Bible has answers for their questions which they can learn on their own. They don't need to always come to you for the answers. One doesn't need a theological education or a commentary to understand the Bible. Start and end on time. When it's time to stop, stop, even if the discussion is interesting and important. You can say, "It's time to stop. Whoever needs to go, feel free to go. If you want to stick around, feel free to stay longer." It's better for the participants to wish that there had been a longer time, than to wish that they hadn't been obligated to stay so late. The discussion can then continue after the "official" end, and is often more honest and personal during this "informal" time.

Follow Through

The personal contact outside the group meeting time is absolutely critical! Don't get trapped into a "come to the meeting" mentality. Jesus says, "Go!" We need to take time for people, and meet with them in their everyday lives. This is how we show honest and true interest in them as persons.

Visit the people from your Bible study group regularly. During a visit, it's easy to mention the discussions you've had in the group. You might ask, "What have you gained from the discussions?" or "Are there questions you'd like to ask, but haven't yet?" or "I've been thinking about that question you asked during the study..."

Learn to listen! Show true interest in their interests, eat together, share a hobby, study together, share your lives together - that's love. Share your belongings: books, CD's. Feel free to borrow too - it shows your friends have something to offer you too.

Invite your friends home over break, or to a camp or weekend where they can meet others who are interested in Jesus.

Be ready to share the Gospel. Consider what Jesus means for your life personally, how you became a child of God, and be ready to share this with your friends. When you note that one of your friends seems far enough, encourage him to trust Christ. Be ready to help him become a Christian.