You Can Lead a GREAT Bible Study

Choosing to lead a Bible study is an amazing way to experience the life-changing power of God’s Word alongside others.

In a small-group setting, something beautiful happens: we not only encounter God through Scripture, but we also grow through the encouragement, insights, and friendships of others on the same journey. 

By focusing on three simple components—preparation, skills, and personal investment—you can create a Bible study that transforms lives, including your own!

Preparation

You won’t be able to lead a good discussion if you haven’t taken the time to properly prepare for your study. Here are some tips for preparing well:

1. Pick Out the Right Study

Choose a study that meets the needs of your group. FOCUS resources can be found at focusequip.org. For those new to Bible study, we recommend starting with “The Crux” and “The Story of Salvation.”

2. Pray and Share from Your Own Encounter with God’s Word

Just reading the materials ahead of time is not enough. Prayerfully ponder how the biblical passages challenge you or encourage you personally. Your Bible study will be more authentic the more you share from your own encounter with God’s word. Remember, this is God’s work; leading a Bible study is an invitation to rely on the Holy Spirit, not simply your own ability.

3. Prepare Questions for Encounter

Look at the discussion questions and select questions that will be meaningful for your group. Adjust or rephrase questions if necessary. Ask yourself, “What questions will have the greatest impact on my group?”

4. Select a Few Main Truths to Emphasize

As you read through the study you are about to lead, determine one to three key truths you want to share with your group. Keep your focus on those points. Whatever else happens in the study, make sure you focus on these key truths and don’t get lost in too many details, side conversations, or tangents. Always bring things back to the big ideas you want everyone to come away with.

Skills

A few essential skills are necessary to lead a transformative Bible study. Let’s look at a few key skills that will allow you to lead well.

1. Hospitality

Making sure everyone feels comfortable and welcome will make a huge difference for your Bible study, especially in the beginning, before everyone knows each other. Here are some tips for great hospitality:

• Find an accessible and informal location that can be used or reserved each week. Ask yourself, “What is the easiest location for my group to access? Where will they feel most comfortable?”
• Provide food and refreshments, especially during the first few weeks. People love food! It also gives the participants something natural to do as they begin to arrive and chat with one another.
• Consider using your first night of study just to get to know one another, begin to form friendships, and briefly preview what you’ll be studying. Make this night fun and lighthearted since this will encourage your members to come back!
• Build up relationships in your study. Ask good questions that allow your members to share their lives. Use your knowledge of various members to connect them with one another and to uncover common interests.
• Finally, find a length of time for your study that works and stick to it. Some Bible study members will fall off if you aren’t consistent. Begin and end on time. Even if you have to start late, respect your group’s time by ending on time.

2. Facilitating an Encounter, Not Teaching

As the leader of a Bible study, you aren’t primarily a teacher, lecturing or explaining everything about the study each week. You should not be doing all the talking. Remember, the goal is to allow your participants to encounter God’s Word in the Scriptures and in each other. What can you do to facilitate conversation well? Here are some tips:

• Understand who your audience is. The way you go about your Bible study should have a focus on who is in your group, and how they collectively will resonate with the subject material. From location, to pre or post-activities, to how you present the material, be as creative and intentional as you can be. 
• Use great questions to draw out the conversation. How can you use questions that lead the group to reflect on their own experiences and on what the Scriptures are revealing?
• Allow other members of the group to answer questions. Just because someone asks a question doesn’t mean you need to be the one to answer it. Present the question to the entire group and allow several people to contribute to an answer. Afterward, you can clarify if necessary.

You know you lead a Bible study well when conversation flows back and forth, involving a variety of participants. Like a volleyball game, as the leader, you serve the ball by asking a good question. Then, someone answers, setting the ball up for someone else in the group to comment, who then passes it along to another. When the volley is over, you serve up another question.

If you struggle with facilitating a dynamic Bible study, don’t be afraid to learn from someone else. Go to another leader’s study and observe what makes their study successful.

3. Personal Investment

For full transformation and conversion of the heart, relational investment inside and outside of Bible study is crucial. You are forming people, not simply conducting a regular meeting. Here are some tips for a great investment in your Bible study members:

• Spend some time with them outside of study. Jesus didn’t spend time with his disciples only once a week in a class or during moments of formal teaching; he shared life with them through his interest in them and the time he spent with them during everyday moments of life.
• Make invitations to other events and activities. How else can you spend time with your participants? What other activities will help them grow?
• Witness a life well-lived. Ask yourself, “Am I reinforcing the truths I am teaching in Bible study by the way I live?” As leaders, our lives should reflect what we are teaching. If we don’t witness to the truths we are teaching, the members of our Bible study likely won’t accept what is being taught. We need to live the truths we are teaching.

Additional Resources

Check out these tools to help you lead a Bible study: FOCUS Bible Study Materials. Guides to praying The Rosary, Lectio Divina, and the Divine Mercy Chaplet.

Get inspired by new topics for your study from talks at SEEK Replay and the SEEK podcast.