Choosing the Right Study

See if this sounds familiar.

It’s your first night with your brand new small group. You’ve introduced yourselves. You’ve had some small talk. Then you say, “Do any of you have a suggestion about what we should study?”

“I think it would be cool to study the minor prophets.”

“I’d like to study the End Times.”

“What about the Gospel of John?”

“I’d like to discuss the Fruit of the Spirit.”

And so on, and so forth.

Add in the millions of choices on Amazon, Right Now Media, and Christian Bookstores and it can be absolutely overwhelming.

The last thing you want to do is pick the wrong study. So you need something to guide you, a filter to comb through all the choices. Here are 5 questions you can ask yourself that will help you choose the perfect study for your group.

Question #1: Why does the group exist?

Principle: The main purpose of every group should flow out of the mission of the church. 

The mission of CFCC is to cultivate fully devoted disciples of Jesus Christ who are engaged in Christ-centered worship, stewardship, and relationship.

Once you have clarified your group's mission, write it down. Then answer the question, "What can we study next that will help us carry out that mission? What does it mean to be fully devoted in worship, in stewardship, and in our relationships?"

Question #2: Who Are my people?

Principle: The small-group leader's main function is that of a shepherd who knows his or her sheep.
 Here are a few questions a good shepherd will ask:

• Where are my people spiritually? As a shepherd, you must know where people are individually and where the group is as a whole. Are participants newborns in the faith, spiritual teenagers, or mature adults? (For discussions on how to shepherd people at different spiritual levels, see passages such as 1 Peter 2:2; 1 Corinthians 3:1–3; and Hebrews 5:11–6:1.)

• In what areas do they need to grow? Do your group members need more knowledge about beliefs and doctrine? Do they need to learn the disciplines or practices of the Christian life? Do they need to understand the virtues of the Christian life or the fruit of the Spirit? There are several effective tools you can use in your group to assess their spiritual maturity in these different core competencies (e.g., The Christian Life Profile Assessment Tool by Randy Frazee).

• How do they learn best? Do participants in your group tend to learn best through application-oriented discussion? Do they learn best by doing, hearing, or reading—or is it a combination? Would individuals learn better in a group, or would some one-on-one mentoring be helpful?

Question #3: What do you believe?

Principle: Teach sound doctrine (Titus 2:1). 

As you choose curriculum, be sure it leads you to study God's Word, not just someone's opinions—even opinions that relate to Scripture. Satan is sneaky. He can, without a group even realizing it, knock you off track through innocent-sounding questions. Be careful! A writer can easily move a group to consider his opinions about a doctrinal stance by asking a series of questions that lead the conversation in a certain direction.

Be sure to examine a potential Bible study closely before using it in your group. If you don't feel confident or competent to examine a curriculum for doctrinal purity, ask a church leader to do so first. As a help, CFCC has put together a database of studies that align with our doctrine that leaders have used. You can sort this list by author, topic, and other helpful categories. You can download it below.

Question #4: What are your group's capabilities and limitations?

Principle: A group agreement can help establish some basic ground rules for Bible study selection.
 Here are some things to keep in mind as you think about what your group is capable of, and what it needs:

• Depth of studies. Are the studies too deep? Not deep enough? Just right for your group? 

• Homework. Has your group agreed to do homework between studies? Doing some work between studies can be a good approach for deep discipleship, but it also can tend to close a group, since no one wants to come to a group and be the only one not to have the assignment done. If you do choose to use studies that include some homework, how much is appropriate? Be sure the homework expectations are clear before looking for a study.

• Length of study. How many weeks will the study take? Know the attention span of your group! Most groups get antsy with more than a six- or seven-week study. Shorter always seems better, but discuss this with your group first.

• Length of time in each study. How much time will you spend in Bible study during each session? Are there too many questions for the time allotted by the group? Will projects take too long to complete?

• Good questions. Will the questions in the study lead to discussion and lively interaction, or do the questions sound like a pop quiz looking for one-sentence answers? Also, consider how many questions are enough for a good discussion. Some Bible studies include 15 or more questions. That may be way too many for most groups unless all you are getting is one person answering each question. But that is not a discussion! Sometimes 2 or 3 good application-oriented questions are enough for a stimulating, interactive, life-changing discussion around God's Word.

Question #5: What are your own capabilities and limitations?

Principle: Know yourself. Don't get in over your head. 

Here are a few things to think about when it comes to evaluating your own limits as a leader.

• Functionality. How easy is the study to use? Does it include everything you need? Does it come with a leader's guide and other leader helps? Is it organized so that it is easy to follow? Does it include suggested times for sections and activities? Does it provide options so you can make choices based on your leadership style and your group's personality and interests?

• Prep time. How long will it take to prepare for meetings? Do you have to spend an inordinate

  amount of time finding materials for the study, or is everything self-contained? Will you have to spend a lot of time trimming the study to fit your group's schedule? Will you have to do a lot of work making the study fit your group?

• Passion. Do you like the study? Can you get excited about it each week? If you're not interested in the subject or the style of the study yourself, your group will quickly catch your lack of enthusiasm, dooming the study. The answer to this one may depend on the answers to numbers one and two above. If you know the study will help the sheep grow spiritually, then you, as the group leader, should have no problem getting excited about leading the study.

Ask yourself these 5 questions and you’ll be on your way to choosing the right study for your group!

MICHAEL MACK is the author of Small Group Vital Signs and is a SmallGroups.com Editorial Advisor; copyright 2003 Christianity Today.

Making Prayer Meaningful

For many Life Group participants, group prayer is one of the most meaningful activities the participate in. Not only are you able to connect with God, but you’re also able to hear what’s on the hearts of the people in the group. This creates a deep connection that a bible study can’t form on its own.

For some group leaders the prayer time comes easily while others dread it. True, it can be a life-giving time, but if it’s drawn out too long, or if people get off-track, it can be draining. So what can you do as a leader to make sure your group’s prayer time is a positive experience?

Consider these areas commonly needing improvement.

1. Who is the main character of your group's prayer time? At first you may say: "God, of course." But who do most of your prayers really center around? God and his character? The nations? The orphans and widows? Or you and the people in your group?
   
   This is crucial. You were created to be a part of something bigger than yourself. Most of the prayers in the Psalms, for example, are filled with praises for God—with requests for his help coming only in the last verse or two. If we really are here only by God's grace, our prayer life should be fueled by God-focused minds and hearts.
   

2. How is the Bible involved? It is not uncommon to find a big disconnect between a group's Bible study time and its prayer time. During Bible study, everyone has a Bible open and pages flipping. But when the leader transitions into prayer, just about everyone shuts their Bibles and puts them away to begin explaining to one another what they need to see or hear from God. The irony is that God's Word contains all of his promises, and it is sitting right there—unused. Is the Bible just a textbook for your group, or is it something more—as 2 Timothy 3:16–17 suggests it should be?
   

3. Who is praying—and with whom? This is a straight-up group dynamics question. Are you praying in one large circle with everyone in the group? If so, chances are good the same people (if any) are volunteering over and again. You may have created an unnecessarily large barrier to a vibrant prayer life. Are guys praying with girls? Are new Christians praying only with other new Christians? What is the setup?
   
   The "Ideas for Moving Forward" section presents a couple of ways to shake this up. Simply rearranging the size or make-up of the group can open the door to more and deeper participation.
   

4. How are you preparing for your group's prayer time? I know you feel obligated to say, "I could always be doing more." But it's important simply to look at what is happening so you can brainstorm a starting point. Are you putting enough effort into your group's prayer time?
   
   As the leader, you set the tone for your meeting, including the prayer time. Your preparation not only shows that it's important to you, but also ensures that you'll have focus and a plan. Preparation may include gathering necessary supplies, thinking through how you will break the group into subgroups, or deciding how you will clarify the purpose of the prayer time.

Ideas for Moving Forward

Now that you've considered common problem areas, here are some ideas for breaking free from prayer normalcy. These are simple concepts I've seen provide great help for moving groups into rich seasons of prayer.

• Index cards. Give each person an index card at the start of each meeting. Ask everyone to write their prayer requests on the card at some point before prayer time. Here's the secret: people will write the "need to know" information on these cards without all the side-track stories they would share if given the chance. When everyone is finishedwriting, collect and redistribute the cards for prayer time and have each person in the group pray for the needs on the card they receive.

• Subgroups. Divide into groups of three. Sharing takes way less time here and usually will draw out the prayer needs of someone who wouldn't share with 10 to 15 people.

• Single-gender prayer groups. Men and women become much more transparent when they are speaking only with others of their gender. And that is a good thing. I encourage you to try this and see what happens.

• Prepare. Come to the prayer time with an agenda for what you will pray for. Check in with your church leadership (pastor, elders, director, coach) to see what the entire church or organization is praying for. Maybe even hand out a prayer guide that walks everyone through what the group will be praying for that night. This is a great way to keep things fresh in the group. You may even try devoting an entire meeting to prayer. (Bonus: collect individual prayer requests, written or by email, and send them to the group so they can pray throughout the week.)

• Pray through Scripture. Find a resource like For the Love of God by D.A. Carson or Oswald Chamber's My Utmost for His Highest to help your group think and pray through passages of Scripture. Consider memorizing a passage of Scripture together and pray the promises of God in those passages each time you pray.

• Delegate prayer time to another group member. As a group leader, part of your role is to raise up more disciple makers. The prayer element of your group is a great one to delegate to someone you are hoping to see take an increased leadership role or eventually serve as a group leader.

  As a Life Group Leader this all starts with you. God designed prayer to be a holy, worship-filled communion between you and him. Do not settle for anything less!