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Online Bible Study

Online Bible Studies Are Moving!

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January is one of the best times for starting online Bible studies. 

As the new year rolls in, many of us experience waves of excitement and hope for what’s to come. We plan practical steps for growth, goal achievement, and making the year a great one. But, it can be difficult to keep resolutions. We often lose steam by the time February arrives. 

Online Bible studies are a practical step to ensure you don’t lose momentum on your Bible reading goals and plans. 

What’s changed for 2021?

Historically, we’ve hosted our online Bible studies in two ways. We initially ran our studies through a blog platform (like this one). More recently, we’ve held online Bible studies through Facebook Groups. Although these have been solid options that have been useful to facility great study and discussion, we are getting an OBS hosting facelift for 2021. We’re joining LifeWay’s Online Bible Study platform.

What is this “new platform”?

If you’ve done a LifeWay associated Bible study in the past, you may already have experience with the platform! The LifeWay Online Bible study platform, which previously only hosted LifeWay Women’s studies, has undergone changes to be able to include both men’s and women’s studies, as well as studies suitable for a mixed audience. Further changes have updated the user experience to be even more welcoming and easier to use!

When can I try it out?

Two Bible study options will give you a chance to try a Groups Bible study on the updated OBS platform, starting this January. Don’t miss out!

Battle Plan for Prayer (Alex Kendrick & Stephen Kendrick)

Launching Tuesday, January 5, 2021

This is an eight-week video-based Bible study that helps you develop a deeper walk with God as you seek the Lord for your battles. Through this study, you’ll be equipped to create their own prayer strategy, learning to be specific and deliberate in prayer. This study features teaching by Alex Kendrick and Stephen Kendrick on the following topics: what prayer is and is not, why God wants us to pray, specific areas of prayer, specific strategies for prayer, and more.

U-Turns (Tony Evans)

Launching Wednesday, January 6, 2021

This is a six-week video-based Bible study about God’s direction over your life. Dr. Tony Evans shows you the reality of human freedom, the consequences that come from bad choices, and the way to reverse the consequences. By aligning your life choices under God’s Word and pursuing an intimate relationship with Him, you can experience the abundant life Jesus has for you. You get to choose whether or not you want that and sometimes, you get to witness God change the direction of your life.

How do I sign up

It’s simple. Click on the study titles above to visit the associated Online Bible study’s page on the updated platform. On that page, you’ll see instructions about how to register and how the Online Bible study experiences work. If you have more questions about online Bible studies, check out this post.

What is an online Bible study?

If you’re not familiar with this type of study, our online Bible studies are simple to understand and easy to join. Each study corresponds to a printed (or digital version) of a Bible study from LifeWay groups. When you sign up for the OBS, you gain access to the teaching videos that are typically 10 – 20 minute sessions that are typically accessed through purchasing a Bible study leader kit. But, with OBS, we offer these videos for free!

Each week, we post a video that corresponds to a session in the printed (or digital version) of the Bible study and post questions. Anyone joining the OBS is able to answer questions and comment back to others who also answer. These studies build community with people across the US (and abroad!) and encourage an enriching Bible study experience within the virtual group.

You don’t want to miss out. See you there!

Group Leadership

Three Ways to Improve Your Bible Reading

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By Susan Hill

Charles Spurgeon said, “Nobody ever outgrows Scripture; the book widens and deepens with our years.” Sadly, biblical literacy is on the decline. A poll in Christianity Today revealed that only 19 percent of church-going Christians read their Bible every day.1 Tape-recorded readings of the Bible have proven that an individual can read through the entire Bible in seventy-one hours. That means it would take no more than 15 minutes each day to read through the Bible in less than a year.2 Perhaps you already engage in Bible reading every day and want to make the most of your time in God’s Word. Or maybe you’ve not been in the habit of spending time in the Scriptures, but would like to start. Here are three suggestions for getting the most out of Bible reading.

Pray before you read. The Psalmist wrote, “Open my eyes so that I may contemplate wondrous things from your instruction.” (Psa. 119:18) One of the roles of the Holy Spirit is to illuminate the Scriptures for us in a way that helps us understand them (1 Cor 2:14). When I approach the Scriptures, I want to learn things that I couldn’t know apart from the Holy Spirit revealing them to me. So before beginning my Bible reading, I often pray, “Holy Spirit, I pray you will teach me things I could not know apart from you.” Also, as I come across things in the text that I don’t understand I ask God to reveal the meaning. The answer doesn’t always come right away, but I’ve learned that if I continue to pursue the meaning of a text and pray for guidance, the answer comes.

Meditate on the text. There’s a time and place for reading large sections of Scripture in one sitting, but it’s also beneficial to read a small section (perhaps a chapter or two) and choose a key verse upon which to meditate. Unfortunately, many Christians in the West have abandoned the practice of meditation because it has become associated with Eastern religion. But meditation is a thoroughly biblical concept. Psalm 119:15 says, “I will meditate on your precepts and think about your ways.” Meditating on Scripture will increase our understanding of the text. People often claim they don’t know how to meditate, but that’s not true. If you are capable of worrying you already know how to meditate. To meditate is to turn something over and over in your mind and to think about it from every possible angle.

Interact with the text. As we read the text it’s crucial that we ask ourselves, “What did the original author intend to convey in this passage?” It’s important to take note of the context and look at the surrounding verses. Be sure to ask questions of the text. What is God revealing about Himself in the passage? Does the passage contain truths about God that prompt you to praise Him? Are there imperatives in the text that motivate you to pray for the grace to obey? Does the passage lead you to confession because it sheds light on your sin? Incorporating God’s Word into your prayer life will bring vitality to your prayers like nothing else. Hebrews 4:12 says, “ For the word of God is living and effective and sharper than any double-edged sword, penetrating as far as the separation of soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”

As Christ-followers we are called to be people who study and obey the Word of God—and in doing so, we’ll come to know the Author. There’s nothing more satisfying than pursuing a relationship with Christ through the study of God’s Word, so let’s be people who are immersed in the Scriptures. 

  1. http://www.christianitytoday.com/edstetzer/2014/october/biblical-illiteracy-by-numbers.html
  2. Donald S. Whitney, Spiritual Disciplines For the Christian Life, (NavPress, 1991, 33).

Susan Hill is a writer, Bible teacher, and full-time editor at LifeWay. She is the author of Dangerous Prayers: 50 Powerful Prayers That Changed the World, as well as numerous devotional books. She and her husband John live near Nashville, TN with two unruly Golden Doodles. 

 

Group Leadership, Uncategorized

Six Practices for Managing Your Group’s Prayer Time

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One of the challenges of leading a Bible study group is managing the time dedicated to prayer requests. We’ve all been in a group when prayer requests took the majority of the group study time.

Don’t get me wrong—I’m a big fan of prayer! The Lord’s house is to be a house of prayer. But as group leaders, you and I must learn to manage the limited time we have with our group members. That includes managing the prayer time so that needs are lifted up to God, while also allowing time for the other important elements of group life. 

Here are six ways you can more effectively manage your group’s prayer requests. These can help ensure that you are addressing people’s needs while still providing a well-rounded Bible study experience that is balanced and effective. 

Assign the prayer requests.   I will often write prayer requests on the marker board in my group’s meeting place at the church. One by one, people tell the group what kind of needs they have, and I list them one by one. I then ask group members to volunteer to take turns praying for the requests. Too often in groups, a list of requests are written on a marker board, but each request is not prayed for. Instead, someone offers a “generic” prayer and the study begins. I much prefer making sure that people’s specific needs are carried to the throne of grace.

Use “the basket method.” 3 X 5 index cards are perfect for gathering the prayer requests of group members. Use standard index cards (one per person) and ask group members to write down their prayer requests on one side of the card. Then ask them to turn the card over and write their name and contact information on the card’s reverse side. Cards are then placed in a basket (it doesn’t matter what type) as it is passed around the group. Once all cards are in the basket, reverse the process and ask group members to reach in and take one of the index cards. Ask group members to pray for the need on their index card throughout the week, and contact the person who made the request sometime during the week to let them know their request is being prayed for. In a larger group, this can save a significant amount of time, and all prayer needs will be covered. In addition, relationships can be strengthened as individuals receive messages from fellow group members that they are praying for the specific need.

Pray in smaller groups.  It can be intimidating to pray out loud in a big group, so consider dividing your group into smaller ones. People who will not speak up in a group of 15 or more people will often talk in a group of 3 to 4 people. Breaking your groups into triads or quads may be just the thing to encourage people to pray out loud for their fellow group members. If your group is a virtual group, and if you use Zoom, don’t forget to use the “breakout room” feature to divide your group into smaller ones online.

Email requests after the group Bible study.  After hearing your group member’s prayer requests (and writing them down, of course), set aside time after your group’s Bible study and send out the requests via email (when recording on a marker board, use your smartphone to capture a picture of the requests). This way everyone in the group will have a current list of the group’s prayer requests each week. 

Use email to generate the prayer requests. On occasion when I can see that the Bible study is going to run long, I will say something like, “I’ll send an email to the group later today, and summarize the study for us and those who were not here today. If you have a prayer need this week, just ‘reply all’ and let us know what it is. We’ll jump into action and begin praying for you.” I then control the length of the prayer time by simply praying for the Lord’s blessing on the group, our study time together, and those not present. When I’m running short on time, this allows me to complete the Bible study, but still make sure that requests are known and prayed for during the week.

Use your Care Groups to pray for needs. Not every group is organized into Care Groups, but these are especially helpful when it comes to praying for the needs of group members. A Care Group is simply a subgroup of your Bible study members. These groups are typically 4 to 6 people and function best if the members are the same gender (husbands and wives will be in two different Care Groups). At the end of a Bible study, the group can break down into Care Groups to pray. 

Other than serving as the manager for LifeWay’s ongoing adult Bible studies and as the Director of Sunday School, Ken is an 18-year church education staff leader and blogs regularly about Sunday School and groups ministry at kenbraddy.com.

 

Group Leadership

Pray the One Anothers Over Your Group

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by Jared Musgrove

We are facing the greatest one another challenge of our age.

How do we continue to practice the 31 (over 50, if you count those repeated) individual commands of the New Testament that involve our direct, physical ministry to one another and to our neighbors when we have continued physical distancing, a tense (isn’t that putting it mildly?) election year, and wildly differing considerations, convictions, and information around health?

We can get off track focusing on the frustrations of even one of these matters, let alone all at once, which is what the world is asking us to do.

But, for the church, the story is not the pandemic. The story is the continued movement of God through one another.

Now more than ever, we need groups to lead the pursuit of biblical friendships and practice the “one another” commands, using all our gifts to share the gospel, together.

A very practical step you can take is to pray these One Another passages over your group. Whether meeting in person, over a video call, or some hybrid, you can tangibly ask the Lord to make these commands an increased reality of your shared ministry and multiplication. They’re both your game plan and prayer list.

1. “…Be at peace with each other.” (Mark 9:50)

2. “…Wash one another’s feet.” (John 13:14)

3. “…Love one another…” (John 13:34)

4. “…Love one another…” (John 13:34)

5. “…Love one another…” (John 13:35)

6. “…Love one another…” (John 15:12)

7. “…Love one another” (John 15:17)

8. “Be devoted to one another in brotherly love…” (Romans 12:10)

9. “…Honor one another above yourselves. (Romans 12:10)

10. “Live in harmony with one another…” (Romans 12:16)

11. “…Love one another…” (Romans 13:8)

12. “…Stop passing judgment on one another.” (Romans 14:13)

13. “Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you…” (Romans 15:7)

14. “…Instruct one another.” (Romans 15:14)

15. “Greet one another with a holy kiss…” (Romans 16:16)

16. “…When you come together to eat, wait for each other.” (I Cor. 11:33)

17. “…Have equal concern for each other.” (I Corinthians 12:25)

18. “…Greet one another with a holy kiss.” (I Corinthians 16:20)

19. “Greet one another with a holy kiss.” (II Corinthians 13:12)

20. “…Serve one another in love.” (Galatians 5:13)

21. “If you keep on biting and devouring each other…you will be destroyed by each other.” (Galatians 5:15)

22. “Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.” (Galatians 5:26)

23. “Carry each other’s burdens…” (Galatians 6:2)

24. “…Be patient, bearing with one another in love.” (Ephesians 4:2)

25. “Be kind and compassionate to one another…” (Ephesians 4:32)

26. “…Forgiving each other…” (Ephesians 4:32)

27. “Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs.” (Ephesians 5:19)

28. “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.” (Ephesians 5:21)

29. “…In humility consider others better than yourselves.” (Philippians 2:3)

30. “Do not lie to each other…” (Colossians 3:9)

31. “Bear with each other…” (Colossians 3:13)

32. “…Forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another.” (Colossians 3:13)

33. “Teach…[one another]” (Colossians 3:16)

34. “…Admonish one another (Colossians 3:16)

35. “…Make your love increase and overflow for each other.” (I Thessalonians 3:12)

36. “…Love each other.” (I Thessalonians 4:9)

37. “…Encourage each other…”(I Thessalonians 4:18)

38. “…Encourage each other…” I Thessalonians 5:11)

39. “…Build each other up…” (I Thessalonians 5:11)

40. “Encourage one another daily…” Hebrews 3:13)

41. “…Spur one another on toward love and good deeds.” (Hebrews 10:24)

42. “…Encourage one another.” (Hebrews 10:25)

43. “…Do not slander one another.” (James 4:11)

44. “Don’t grumble against each other…” (James 5:9)

45. “Confess your sins to each other…” (James 5:16)

46. “…Pray for each other.” (James 5:16)

47. “…Love one another deeply, from the heart.” (I Peter 3:8)

48. “…Live in harmony with one another…” (I Peter 3:8)

49. “…Love each other deeply…” (I Peter 4:8)

50. “Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.” (I Peter 4:9)

51. “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others…” (I Peter 4:10)

52. “…Clothe yourselves with humility toward one another…”(I Peter 5:5)

53. “Greet one another with a kiss of love.” (I Peter 5:14)

54. “…Love one another.” (I John 3:11)

55. “…Love one another.” (I John 3:23)

56. “…Love one another.” (I John 4:7)

57. “…Love one another.” (I John 4:11)

58. “…Love one another.” (I John 4:12)

59. “…Love one another.” (II John 5)

*From Carl F. George, Prepare Your Church for the Future (Tarrytown: Revell, 1991), 129-131.

Dr. Jared Steven Musgrove is Groups Pastor at The Village Church in Flower Mound, TX and co-founder and Executive Director of communityleadership.org. He is married to Jenny and father to Jordan and Joshua.

Uncategorized

Happy Are Those Who Mourn

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By Dr. Derwin L. Gray

Over the years of sitting at Jesus’ feet, I’ve found that the more time I spend with Him, the more I am connected to His heart. And somehow, in a way that only He understands, I am a better person because my love for people and their plight increases. 

Mourning is necessary for Christians to understand and embrace. So often we are bombarded with messages of positivity and “keeping it moving.” We don’t take the time to slow down, feel pain, and mourn with those who are mourning. We want to move past those painful feelings and get back to the happy feelings. I have learned, however, that taking the time to sit in the pain is necessary for discipleship. There is no other option than to know God in our suffering and the suffering of others.  

Lament

The Bible speaks of “lamenting.” Lamenting is a holy hurt. But the hurt is a pain that pushes us deeper into faith, hope, and love. 

Deeper into faith in Jesus and His redemptive purposes. 

Deeper into hoping, which is a knowing that one day all things will be made new. 

Deeper into loving people. 

In the midst of human suffering, having someone who cares for you, comforts you, prays with you, reads Scripture over you, and nurtures you through the rising river of pain is a gift. It’s as if God heals us as we become instruments of healing touch. 

Those who lament will be cemented in God’s comfort. God’s comforting grace will be experienced in the present through the Spirit’s presence, and in the future, when ultimate redemption is realized in the new heavens and new earth. Just like the cross, out of great sorrow, comes great comfort. Happy are those whose hearts break for what breaks God’s heart, for they will be comforted.

Hope has a name, and it’s Jesus. Through His cross and resurrection, our bodies, along with all of creation, will be made whole. But until that time, God lovingly enters our suffering and is broken on a cross to heal our brokenness. Our hope is not a mere wish, but an assurance, because God, through the Holy Spirit, is pouring His love into our hearts. 

Lament moves us to action. 

Happy are those who lament, for they will be cemented in God’s comfort. 

Help Others Mourn

How do we help our people mourn? There is no perfect formula, but I humbly offer these suggestions:

  1. Slow down. Do not rush past sin, hurt, and sadness. Take time to sit in it. Allow the Holy Spirit to speak through these feelings and do a work in you. As you experience suffering and mourn it, you will be conformed to the image of Christ. 
  2. Pray. Talk to God about what is going on. Cry out to Him. Scripture is filled with God’s people crying out to Him. If you don’t have the words, know that the Holy Spirit groans on your behalf. 
  3. Read Scripture. Again, we see many examples in Scripture of God’s people crying out to Him. Spend time in the Psalms. Remember God’s promises written in the Scriptures. 
  4. Allow lament to move you to action. We have seen many instances, both in Scripture and in recent history, where lament moves people to action. They see hurt happening around them and decide to do something about it. Ask God how He is calling you to move to action. 
  5. Spend time in community. God has given us a family to walk through difficult seasons together. Don’t try to go through mourning on your own. Lean on each other. 

A Prayer for a Season of Mourning

Here is a prayer from my most recent book that I hope will minister to you as you walk through a season of mourning.

Blessed Trinity,
you are not distant or disinterested in us. 

Thank you that I can approach your throne of grace and mercy in my time of need. 

In every moment of every season, including moments of disappointment, doubt, and despair, you have determined to be present with us. 

You enter our worst moments and teach us how to lament and long for a day when all wrongs are made right, when tears of sorrow turn to tears of joy, when hurts are healed. 

Teach me to lament well. Teach me to cry out to you. 

May my lament over our broken world be a battle cry of victory, for in Christ, we are more than conquerors in him who loved us. 

As I lament, encourage my heart and cement me eternally in the truth that nothing will ever separate me from the love of God in Christ Jesus. 

In Jesus’ name, amen. 

This post was originally published here on LifeWay voices. Reposted with permission.

Online Bible Study

Join the Online Bible Study (and Free Giveaway!)

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It’s almost time!

Starting this Tuesday, June 16, we are beginning an Online Bible Study of Help My Unbelief by Barnabas Piper!

What’s the Bible study about?

All of us have questions about faith, but we often feel awkward or uncomfortable asking them. We assume doubt is always a bad thing. God is infinite, beyond our understanding—yet He chooses to reveal Himself in ways that spark our questions rather than settling them all. Instead of making Himself smaller and easily understood, God invites us into a larger faith—one that has room for questions, victories, failures, and mystery. Belief in an infinite God by finite humans is an act of exploration. It’s a process of learning all we can understand and trusting God in all we can’t. Through this Bible study, we will engage with questions about doubt and faith alongside Barnabas Piper.

How does it work?

First, you’ll head over to the Facebook Group to request to join the Online Bible study hosted by us as the LifeWay Groups team.

Once you’ve joined the free group, you’ll look for a new video to be posted every Tuesday. Each week at 7 AM, we’ll post a teaching video from one session of Piper’s Help My Unbelief Bible study. Since there’s six weeks of content, we’ll continue posting for six weeks. (The videos will stay live throughout the duration of the Facebook group, so even if you miss a video one week, you can still go back and review it).

Next, you’ll jump into the discussion. With each video, we’ll be adding a few questions from the Bible study to spark conversation. In the comments section under the video, you can answer the question and engage with other people who are also answering the questions.

Who can join?

The Facebook Group is open to anyone! You can join individually and engage with others in the group. You’re welcome to invite your friends to join the group and even watch the sessions together to discuss in person.

The author, Barnabas Piper, will also be joining the group and will be engaging with discussion questions and sharing additional insight into the content.

What do I need?

The session videos will be provided for free, and they correspond to the sessions in the Bible study book itself. You can get an eBook version of the Bible study book or a physical copy to complete your study experience. Then, you’ll be able to find the additional session material referenced by the videos as well as personal study “devotions” to continue diving into the content each week.

Want a free copy?

We are giving away free copies of the Bible study to equip you to best engage with this online Bible study experience! Complete the form below to be entered into the giveaway.

We look forward to joining you on the study journey!

Giveaway form

by filling out this form you agree to receive more information from LifeWay Groups.
Church Leadership

An Easy Way to Pray for the Unreached

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“Billions of people around the world don’t have anyone sharing a message of salvation with them. What are we to do about this tragedy? How can we pray, give, and go to see God’s glory and name known among the nations?
– David Platt in Something Needs to Change Bible Study

If we truly knew the reality, it would crush us.

It’s not just one person, or two, or three. It’s not even a hundred, or a thousand, or a million. Billions. Billions of people wake up, breath the air the Creator created, and exist in a world that belongs to the Father – without knowing the name of Jesus Christ or the Power of the Almighty God.

Something needs to change.

In our own hearts, in our families, with our friends, in our cities, across the nation, in our world. For, we have something–Someone–that brings change. We do know true reality, and it doesn’t crush us; it empowers us.

Jesus died to save sinners, and He rose again. The gospel brings cataclysmicly pulsing, deeply need-meeting, powerfully life-giving hope to the world.

We can stay at the foot of the cross and talk to the One who has changed the world as we pray for unreached people groups. We want to help you start, as in this guide, you will find information about the people of Southeastern Asian countries: their history, their lives, and ways to seek God on their behalf.

We get to pray. It’s our privilege; it’s our responsibility; it has so much power.

Find the guide here and learn more at somethingneedstochange.com.

Father, break our hearts for what breaks Yours. Amaze us with the all-sufficiency of Christ as we pray for Your name to be made known among the nations.  Let your name be exalted above all else.

Something needs to change. Let’s seek the One who brings transformation.

Group Answers Podcast

Group Answers Episode 127: Spiritual Practices in Your Group – Prayer

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 30:42 — 42.3MB) | Embed

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On this episode of Group Answers, Brian and Chris talk to Ken Braddy about best practices for implementing prayer in your group time. Ken serves as the Manager of Adult Ongoing Bible Studies at LifeWay Christian Resources. He manages the work of the editorial teams that create all of the ongoing Bible studies that  LifeWay produces for  adults: Bible Studies For Life, Explore The Bible, MasterWork, The Gospel Project, YOU, and other curriculum.Ken is also the new Director of Sunday School for LifeWay, and the author of Breathing Life Into Sunday School, released on April 15, 2019.

Questions:

  • What would you hope to see and hear in a group’s prayer time?
  • You lead a Bible study group yourself…what have you discovered about ways to help the group pray, and still allow time for Bible study?
  • What other things have you learned about leading a group to pray?

Quotes:

From David Francis’ book, Connect 3, the evolution of prayer in a group: Class, Community, Commission.

Where you would like to see groups go in prayer is to the commission level. They realize they  have the ability to impact people’s lives through sharing the Gospel with others.

Leaders can influence the group by asking for prayer for their gospel conversations with others.

An idea for managing the prayer request time: write requests as they come in on a whiteboard.

Make sure that requests are assigned to group members, or they may not get prayed for.

We will occasionally email out the list on the board and ask members to pray over them this week.

Folks will pray in smaller groups of three and four who would never pray in the bigger group of sixteen.

Episode Sponsor

Blackbaud Church Management connects your staff and congregation, ensuring deeper relationships and effective ministry. To see how to connect your church community with one holistic system, visit hello.blackbaud.com/blackbaudchurchmanagement.

The Group Answers Podcast is a weekly show designed to resource, train, and encourage small group leaders. Each episode considers current trends and resources as well as timeless truths and methods of discipleship. It is hosted by Brian Daniel, a Bible study and discipleship expert in LifeWay’s Groups Ministry, and Chris Surratt, the small group and discipleship specialist at LifeWay and author of Leading Small Groups.

Church Leadership

Praying Daily for the Unchurched and Unaffiliated

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Friends were asked to finish the statement “my day is not complete unless I…” Here are a few of the responses: get a large coffee, floss (this is the friend I worry the most about), eat an apple, check the weather, check social media, get a text or call from (name), workout, eat dessert, make someone smile, and read one Bible verse. Nothing inherently wrong or strange with the actions on the list, with the exception of flossing. 

If a person had asked Arthur Flake this question, his response would have been to pray daily for a lost person by name with the hope to share the gospel with them specifically. Flake greatly impacted the growth of ongoing BIble study groups (what he knew as Sunday School) in the first half of the 1900s. He called on Sunday School teachers to pray every day for the lost people their groups were trying to reach. 

Why Daily? There is a part of me that wonders why we don’t pray every day for people who are lost. We may pray every day for a friend going through a valley season until he or she emerges, so why does that garner our attention more often than a person’s salvation? The needs of these friends are real and pressing but so too is a person’s eternal destiny. Praying daily reminds us of the importance of salvation and of our responsibility to share with others. If sharing Christ is a daily activity, then praying for those with whom we will share should be a daily activity as well. 

Why By Name? Names are important. When we hear a name, images of people with that name immediately flash in our minds. The simple mention of a name can cause us to smile, grimace, or feel other emotions. That name creates an identity that goes beyond a casual glance. Praying for a person by name also moves us beyond casual prayer. How many times have we prayed for “all the missionaries in the world” without a single face or name flashing through our minds? There is just something about praying for someone by name. We become connected to that person in a different way. Compassion, empathy, and urgency come as a result of praying for a specific person.

Why for the opportunity to share with them? Too many times, we find ourselves asking God to send someone to share Jesus with a family member or neighbor with the understanding that He will send anyone other than us. He may very well send someone else to share with the person for whom we are praying, but He may also be preparing us to have that conversation. 

What would happen if we began to see praying for lost people as a daily necessity? How would that impact the Bible study groups we lead? 

For more on this subject, take a look at Dwayne’s book It Begins with Prayer, releasing Dec. 1, 2019. You can download a free PDF at lifeway.com/trainingresources. 

Praying Daily for the Unchurched and Unaffiliated

Dwayne McCrary is a project team leader for ongoing adult Bible study resources at LifeWay, including the adult Explore the Bible resources. He also teaches an adult group and preschool group every Sunday in the church he attends, and serves as an adjunct at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. 
Church Leadership

Three Things to Share with a Suffering Group Member

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I’ll never forget the first time someone called me looking for comfort in a tragedy. I was a 19-year-old student pastor, and my primary ministerial gifts at that point were ordering pizza and playing Halo. I was actually playing video games when the call came. It was the mom of one of my middle school students, and when I answered she was already scream-crying. It took her several minutes to tell me her daughter had run away from home. She sobbed, “Brandon, I don’t know what to do.”

My heart stopped. My brain shut down. I didn’t know what to do either. Nor did I know what to say. I tried to talk, but no one has ever mumbled so many syllables without any actual words coming out. All I remember was the mother asking me for answers and having nothing to offer. I had nothing to share with her but stutters and awkward silence.

If you disciple others, you likely have had phone calls like that in your past or will have them in the future. The people you disciple will experience pain. They will undoubtedly suffer dark moments. And you have the awesome opportunity to be ready for the moments your brothers and sisters come to you for help. When they call, you have the privilege of pointing them toward comfort.

There are passages all over the Bible that can bring hope to hurting hearts, but one great example is the powerful psalm King David used to preach to his own heart during perhaps his darkest moment of suffering. When David was betrayed and hunted by his own son and in danger of losing everything he had, he knew what to say to his soul in Psalm 3. This Psalm can be a powerful message for those you love when they are seeking comfort in their suffering.

But You, Lord, are a shield around me, my glory, and the One who lifts up my head.” —Psalm 3:3

Here are three things to share with your people when they come to you for comfort:

1. The Lord is your shield.

When those you lead are suffering, remind them God is their sovereign protector. “Lord” means “the Existing One.” Everything else exists secondarily to Him. That means everything that has power only has power to the degree that God allows it to exist. He is sovereign AND He is a shield all around us. Nothing gets to the crying mother or the group member you love without getting through God. When a suffering brother or sister calls, you can tell them they are surrounded on all sides by the sovereign Lord of the universe.

2. The Lord is your significance.

David reminded himself in his suffering that the Lord was his glory. The word “glory” means “weightiness” or “significance.” To desire glory is to desire significance. I’m sure David wanted to be significant. He was the king of the nation of Israel, but when that was being taken from him, he knew where true significance rested. Compared to the glory of God, everything else is weightless. You and the people you disciple will be tempted to find your glory in a career, or a bank statement, or a waist size, but when those sources of false significance are shaken we can remember that we matter at all only because we matter to God. The fact that we matter to Him is stunning. It is a weightiness beyond anything we could hope to scrape together on our own. When you group members suffer, remind them that God is their significance.

3. The Lord is your hope.

The Lord is the lifter of your head. In Psalm 3, David’s life was wrecked. He lost his job. He lost his family. He was homeless. Most of us probably can’t even imagine a moment that dark. But David knew who he belonged to. David had been known to sing of God’s faithfulness and unfailing love. He trusted that the heart of God was filled with love for him, so even as his head hung in suffering, he could say with hope that his sorrow would not last forever. He knew the comforting hand of the Lord would ultimately lift him up. David knew God always lifts the heads of His hurting children. And the suffering souls you shepherd have that hope, too. Our dark moments will never have the last word.

Brandon Hiltibidal is a former church planter and multi-site pastor, and he is now part of the Groups Ministry team at LifeWay Christian Resources. He and his wife have two little girls. You can read about his group ministry and his girls on Twitter: @bmhiltibidal.

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