Small Group

Jesus treated the whole person, bringing physical, spiritual, emotional, and social healing.

"Bridging the Divide: A Scientist's Search for Faith and Truth" is a delightful interview by NPR with Dr. Francis Collins, Director of the National Institutes of Health in which he shares openly about his journey towards faith in Jesus and his experience being a Christian and a scientist/academic.

Come and discover Jesus as the ultimate caregiver while also reflecting on your own self-care. These discussions are great for those who are just investigating life with Jesus as well as committed Christ-followers.

A Creative Observation activity asks your group to put themselves into the passage and make observations from “inside” the story. This will engage their imagination and add energy and depth to your study. Give one of these prompts a try, or invent your own!

During the third part of the conversation, called “Application”, you’ll help your group put into practice what God has made clear through his Word.

During the second part of the conversation, called “Interpretation”, your group will gain clarity about what the passage means as they share and discuss their questions together.

In this first phase of your group's conversation, called “Observation”, you want to see your group grow increasingly curious about the passage as they look closely at what’s there and share what they’re seeing.

With God's help and a little preparation, you too can create a space where Jesus takes center stage. When preparing, spend about half your time getting to know the passage and the other half preparing to teach. Remember to be prayerful as you work through your preparation. Jesus wants to meet with you even as you prepare.

The goal of a Bible study is not information, but transformation, and this is what the application phase of the conversation is all about. Here are five characteristics of application questions that will help your group respond well to what Jesus is doing in their lives.

The core message is the essential meaning of the passage. If the summary is a paragraph, the core message is a tweet—one key repeatable sentence that participants will remember from the study.