This is the second post in a series on starting Discovery Bible Studies to share Jesus.
Read the first post here.
Step 2: Connect
You’re really doing this! God has led you to a person of peace: they’ve gathered a small group around them, figured out the best way to meet, and brought you together at the chosen place. What do you do now?
You might be tempted to jump straight into Bible study, but we’re going to stop you right there. While the Bible is our central tool to discover Jesus in a DBS, there are some other crucial elements to making disciples, which is our ultimate goal. Before you get into scripture, take time to connect.To continue using our coaching analogy, you could consider this a pre-game warm-up. It’s much more than an icebreaker for the group, and we’ll explain why.
There are three key questions that make the connect time an intentional part of the discipling process. These questions not only help participants to connect on a personal level, but begin to instill the DNA of Christian fellowship into the group from the very beginning.
The three connect questions are:
How did God show up in your life this week?
What are you thankful for?
What is causing stress in your life right now?
The first two questions lay the groundwork of worship (recognizing God’s presence and giving thanks). The third one steers participants toward intercession (expressing need) and creates opportunities to meet those needs (fellowship). Those of us in the church are familiar with small group dynamics that include open sharing, discussion of deep life topics, and requests for support. But for many outside the church this is a foreign space. The fellowship and connection within a discovery group are things many people long for and rarely experience. The connect time is a powerful space to open hearts wider to the word of God.
After you have connected, it’s time to move into scripture. We’ll walk you through the Discovery Bible Study method in step three.
Discover
Explore what the Bible says about fellowship.
Read Acts 2:42-47 and Hebrews 10:24-25.
Ask, “What do these passage tell me about the Church and fellowship?”
Dig In and Do It
Our DBS page offers a wide range of resources to help equip you for mission.