How to Start a Home Bible Study
Hosting a Bible study is a great way to fellowship with your friends and to learn more about God’s word. If you want to start a home Bible study but aren’t sure where to start, here are a few things to help you begin!
A Bible study does not need a large group of participants to be successful. A smaller group can sometimes be a better environment to open up and share with others instead of a larger group. A larger group, however, can offer different dynamics and lead to sharing of many different opinions and ideas! Start off your group by sending out an email to friends you think might be interested in a study group. If you can, post a message in the Sunday bulletin or on the church website announcing the formation of a new study.
Once you get a good response, talk to those who are interested and find out a few things: when can they meet and what would they like to study? If you have a lot of new moms, then perhaps a Christian Parenting study may be the best choice. If you are all seasoned church goers, perhaps a study of Christian History may be an interesting switch from a book of the New Testament study. Offer a few suggestions and see what the general consensus is.
There are a lot of choices when looking for a Bible study. Ask your pastor if they have any to recommend if you are having a hard time choosing. Some studies have workbooks for each individual to have and work on during the week before returning to the weekly study group. Others are just basic guideline discussion questions per study group. Find out what works best for your group.
Snacks, drinks and treats are a great way for your study friends to relax and prepare for your Bible study. Ask your fellow participants if they’d like to rotate bringing treats to the study. If hosting the study at your home isn’t practical, also ask if you can rotate homes for study night or see if your church building is available. Determine if you’ll need help with childcare and ask some of the older youth group teens if they’d like to donate some time to help watch the children.
Do your best to keep your study group on track using your Bible study guide. Sometimes conversations can rabbit-trail off-topic and then you may be in for a longer-than-anticipated evening. If time is of no concern, encourage your group to discuss as much as they’d like, but try to keep on topic or save conversations for a later time.
If your group is smaller and one person can’t make it because of an illness or other scheduling conflict, see if your group can reschedule or skip for the week. This can help your group stay on the same page together throughout your study time.
Use this as an opportunity to get to know your friends better while studying God’s Word, and enjoy your time together!
Author Bio: A Raleigh Baptist Church parishioner in North Carolina has provided the information in this article. For more on this and other Bible Study information, visit them today.
Category: Religion
Keywords: baptist church, bible study, home bible study