There are many published Bible study guides available for small groups, but if you're leading a Bible study group it's also worth considering writing and leading your own studies. This is a great skill to develop and can lead to some of the best studies. So what is involved in preparing a study? There is no one right way to go about it, but the following thoughts will perhaps be of some help.

1. Study the Passage for Yourself⤒🔗

Usually it will be worth spending an hour or so studying the passage (though more time is always possible!). There are a few things you'll want to do as you study the text:

1. Define the limits of the text. Go for a clear unit of thought, ignor­ing chapter and verse divisions if necessary. Make sure the passage is a manageable size.
    
2. Look carefully at the context. Who is it by? Who is it written to? What do we know about them that affects the way we should understand the text? Are issues of geography or culture significant? Where does it come in the book? How is it con­nected to what is before and after? What period of biblical history does it fit into?
    
3. Think about the structure of the passage. How does it fit together? Are there sections within it? How are they related?
    
4. View the passage from a God-cen­tred perspective. Ask, what is God saying or doing in this passage? How does this passage speak of Christ and our need of him? Where does this fit in the unfolding story of salvation?
    
5. Spend time on the details. Are there key words or ideas you need to find out about? Are there parallel passages to look at or quotes from Old Testament passages to look up? Maybe look up a commentary, use a Bible dictionary, or check a con­cordance.
    
6. Finally, try to pull together the main ideas of the text. As you go through the passage note all the key ideas. What strikes you as important, fresh, helpful, significant? What is the main point of the passage as a whole?

After that kind of study of the text you are ready to think more about application the personal challenge of the passage. Again, there are a few things worth considering:

1. How does this passage help us develop in our relationship to God Father, Son and Holy Spirit?
    
2. What does it show us about our­selves about human nature, believers, unbelievers and what difference should knowing that make to the way we think and act?
    
3. Does the passage call us to believe (or reject) something, to do (or not do) something, or to feel (or not feel) something?
    
4. Who is the passage aimed at be­lievers or unbelievers, the church or individuals, people going well or people who are struggling?
    
5. Ask yourself, how can I make this personal and specific? Apply it to your own life and spend time in personal prayer.

In studying and applying the text, you don't have to have all the answers, solve all the problems or produce heaps of material. Just try to get your head around the main things. Once you've done that, you're ready for the second part of preparation....

2. Plan how to Lead the Group Study←⤒🔗

The way we lead a study needs to be shaped by the aim of small group Bible study. I believe it is helpful to think of the aim as stimulating spiritual conversation centred on the study of God's Word so that as the people in the group teach and encourage each other they grow in their relationship with each other and with God.

That means that in preparing to lead a Bible study we are not preparing a lesson or lecture. We're preparing for a guided interaction on the text. The following things are therefore helpful:

1. Plan to give a very brief introduction just one or two minutes. State the obvious things the subject, the basic situation, the characters, the issue. Maybe say how you've found it exciting, challenging, difficult, totally confusing or what­ever. And say how you are going to approach it.
    
2. Work out how you'd like the group to approach the passage. Will you take it as a whole, or section by section, or verse by verse, or begin with context, or start with a contem­porary problem, or begin by going for the main thing, or start with the structure... Think about how you'd like the study to progress and vary your approach from time to time.
    
3. Plan a few leading questions for the analysis of each section. It's always useful to work out the first ques­tion you will ask. And it's helpful to have some key analysis ques­tions to use along the way. And what are some curly or provoca­tive questions you could throw in if things are sluggish?
    
4. Think about how you will steer the group toward application. What application questions will you ask? How will you get them to open up more personally? Is there a relevant contemporary problem or dilemma you can pose? Is there some per­sonal application you can share?
    
5. Plan how you will wrap it up. Try to end with a focus on the main idea and on key applications. So think about where you would like the study to land and in the last few minutes go there. Leave the group with a main thought, chal­lenge, or encouragement.

This might sound like a lot of work but it doesn't have to be. I usually spend a couple of half hour slots studying the passage (Part 1) and then about 15 minutes working out my plan of attack (Part 2). I'd rather not have everything totally sorted because one of the beauties of leading this way is that it is flexible. You're not trying to answer some obscure question in a study guide written by someone else, or get through a set number of ques­tions. You're not presenting a lecture or a sermon. Rather, you're leading your group as you wrestle with a Bible passage together, thinking about what it means and what difference it should make to the way we live. As you lead, you will discover new things yourself, you'll find there are some red herrings worth following, and you'll realise that your own study only scratched the surface of what's there. Leading a study this way is both stimulating and enjoyable.