The purpose of the Word section is NOT to have an elaborately-prepared bible study. It's not for you to be the "expert." It's not meant for you to be the "guest speaker" of the week. It's a time for our whole group of imperfect but empowered people to discuss a short section of scripture together. We believe any person attending FoF can contribute to a deeper understanding of the bible passage. Wisdom from people who have been walking with God for many years is vital. But also, sometimes, the best questions and insights come from people who don't even believe or have only recently become Christians. Fresh perspective invigorates the whole group!
The point is that scripture is powerful. It's where God reveals Himself to us and it is beneficial in every meaningful way (2 Tim 3:16-17). So, we suggest that you prayerfully consider the passage you choose, prepare to discuss it, and focus on making the time a group discussion. The passage section you choose should be no longer than the distance from your outstretched thumb to your pinky to allow for deep discussion. One really helpful way to discuss the bible is through facilitating discussion of the chosen scripture passage using the simple questions below. Two similar versions are given.
QUESTIONS:
- What did you like about what we just read?
- What didn’t you like?
- Was there anything that you didn’t understand?
- What did you learn about God from this section?
- Regardless of where you are in your faith right now, if you were to apply what we learned about God to something in your life this week, what would it look like?
Another set of questions could be the following (from Discovery Bible Course):
- Did anything in this passage capture your attention?
- What did you like about this passage?
- Did anything bother you? Why?
- What does this passage tell us about God?
- What does this passage tell us about Man?
- What does this passage tell us about living to please God?
(Since we believe that God’s Word is true, what must we change in our lives to obey God?)
You can change up the questions, intermix them so they reflect how you would like people to draw insight from the Scripture.
