Discovery Bible Study
We use our Bible school classes to bring the Word of God into the lives of people. From when I was just a little guy, I remember going to Bible classes on Sunday morning before the worship. I also went to Wednesday night Bible classes and had some amazing teachers that helped me ingrain the word into my heart. Do you remember those contests to see how many scriptures you could memorize in a quarter, or the Bible drills where you found certain Bible texts, or even who could find the book of Malachi the fastest? These activities brought the Bible into our lives when we were young and provided us a foundation as we grew.
A Simple Approach
People still need those foundational Bible activities and ideas in their lives. The question is how do we facilitate this in a fast-paced world where Bible classes are no longer emphasized and church attendance has declined from an average of 120 to now around 80 just in the past 25 years?
One way to do this is through what has been called Discovery Bible Study, or DBS. Discovery Bible Study is a simple, group-based method for helping people engage with the Bible. While the insights and process of DBS are not new, David and Paul Watson put it into a simple, easy to use package they termed Discovery Bible Study. You can watch a helpful video on DBS here.
The DBS method is a question-based rather than teacher-based approach to Bible study. The important difference between these two paths is that a teacher-based approach requires some sense of expertise where a question-based approach can be done by anyone. Discovery Bible Study is based around a series of simple questions that anyone can easily facilitate.
Three Beginning Questions
Here is how I have done Discovery Bible Studies in homes, small groups, Bible classes, and even with whole congregations.
Begin the session with these 3 simple questions:
- What are you thankful for this week?
- What has caused you stress this week?
- Do you know someone who needs our help? How can our group help them?
These questions get the group talking about significant emotions and events in their lives, and it helps them start thinking about people outside of the group. It also gets them ready to explore in a more personal way what the Bible has to say about how to live life.
After the first questions have been answered, pause and pray to give God thanks for all the things for which people have expressed gratitude, to ask his help for the stressful things mentioned, and to pray for those situations or people that were identified as needing help.
Engaging the Scripture
Next, move into the Bible passage for the study. A good DBS passage is a bit longer than you might think. Gospel stories are usually good lengths for a DBS, so your group might consider starting in one of the four gospels. Look for a passage that is 10 to 20 or even 25 verses long. Likewise, the Old Testament narrative books make good DBS studies, or you might break a New Testament letter up into sections for exploring the Scripture using this method.
To begin, ask two people to read the passage all the way through, each from different versions. This gets more people participating and it lets everyone hear the passage a little bit differently each time.
Before we read, I ask someone to volunteer to be a reteller of the story. A reteller is someone who will listen closely as the passage is read and then retell the passage in their own words. Then the whole group fills in anything important that may have been left out. This read-read-retell sequence gets the whole group involved by listening and engaging with the Bible.
Exploring the Text Together
Next, we ask a series of three questions about the Bible text that the group discusses together.
- What does this passage say about God (or Jesus or the Holy Spirit)?
- What does this passage say about people?
- What does this passage say about living?
Let the group bring their ideas. As a facilitator you can always ask them, “Where do we find that idea in this text?” Always guide the group back to the text, asking what the Bible is saying to them. Remind them that these stories have a purpose: to help us know how to live well as people of God.
Living It Out
The final Bible questions are about obedience. “How can I live out the meaning of this text this week?” You can follow up with these three questions to help extend this application of the Bible passage:
- What in this text do you think you are doing well?
- What might you need to change in your life based on what you read?
- Do you know someone who needs to hear this and how would you go about sharing it with them?
Enjoy discovering how easy, fun, and helpful Discovery Bible Study is in your church.
You may also be interested in these other resources:
Spiritual Discernment For Challenged Churches
 Dr. Stan Granberg Heritage21, Board Member [email protected] (501) 214-0340 Heritage21, 629 West Main Street, #10210, Oklahoma City, OK 73102 |