I used to go to church on Wednesday nights, Sunday mornings and Sunday nights. I didn't necessarily grow up going three times a week, but when I turned my life over to the Lord, I wanted to learn as much as possible and spend time with other Believer's in His presence. As Christian Preppers watch what is happening in the world, many are understanding that they need to spend more time with others in Christian community. It might be time to start a Bible study for preppers and/or other Believers who want to grow deeper in their relationship with the Lord.
Going back to what I mentioned above, there are few churches that have Wednesday night services anymore. There are even fewer that have a Sunday night. But the desire for many Believers to get together with other Believers, fellowship and spend time in His presence is still important, or at least it should be important!
Many churches have gone to small groups that meet at someone's house. This takes on many forms. Some are promoted by their church, some are just Believers choosing to get together. Some use videos, some use a Christian book, some just read out of the Bible and some use some kind of Bible study curriculum, like Experiencing God.
As we see the world getting crazier, many Bible believing Christians understand the times and are getting serious about their relationship with the Lord. They desire to go deeper into the knowledge of the Word and desire to do that in the company of other Christians who can pray and hold them accountable every week.
If you are in an area where churches don't provide small groups and/or you don't feel confident to prepare a lesson every week, you can use the resources that I'll start providing here on a weekly basis.
My church does an online Bible study through Zoom. The lesson is a previous message with questions written for discussion during our meeting. You can see the first one at the end of this article.
What Can a Home Bible Study for Preppers/Believers Look Like?
- Create a text or email group to touch base with everyone and remind them about the small group. Life gets crazy sometimes and it is easy to forget an evening event, even if you desire to go. A reminder helps a lot.
- In the past, I always had some sort of snack or coffee ready. You can request that a different person brings a snack every week if you want to share the love.
- I always tried to start at the same time. If you wait till everyone gets there, they will get there later and later.
- You will want to start with prayer. This seems like a no brainer, but it needs to be mentioned.
- Ask how everyone's week has been and if there are any praise reports. You are building relationships, community and getting to know other.
- You'll always have someone who dominates the group and who has an answer for every question. Don't look at the questions as something to get through and mark done. The best questions are open-ended and should provide for discussion.
- Use "wait-time." This is a teaching strategy that makes people uncomfortable enough to speak up. Once people become familiar with each other, it won't be as necessary.
- If you are face to face, look down at your notes if someone is directing their answer to you. This will force them to look around at the other people in the group, causing more of a dialogue or discussion among the group. This is another strategy that I try to use when I'm face to face.
- If there are questions that don't have answers, write them down and do a little research to share your findings the next week. You might find that there is someone in the group who loves to do this and report back.
- End the meeting asking for prayer requests. It would be a good idea to have a little notebook to write these down, maybe share them with the group through email and check back on them to mark them as answered.
Different Types of Bible Study Locations
The focus of the above list was a face to face meeting. Our church does Zoom Bible Studies on Tuesday @ 7 pm CST and they work similar. It's amazing how you can connect with people in your area and in other parts of the country nowadays.
In the past, I've met with small groups in restaurants, coffee shops, church cafeterias and school classrooms. Anywhere is possible if you have people who want to get together.
If you would like to start your own Bible study for Preppers or other Believers and would like to use the resource below, you are welcome. I share out the video and questions a head of time through email. We then get together to catch-up, pray and share our insights to the questions and Scripture of the week.
Managing Personal Chaos
Questions for Discussion
- If you could have been right next to Eve when she was being tempted by the snake, what would you have said knowing what you know now?
- Why do you think God waited so long to confront David about his sin with Bathsheba?
- David must have felt guilty and responsible every time something negative happened with one of his kids. How do you think he dealt with it?
- What are signs in someone's life, that can be identified, that point to a life that is in chaos? Think about big signs and some that are not as easily seen.
- What advice would you give to someone who was experiencing personal chaos?
Peace,
Todd
Posted from my blog with Exxp : https://www.preparedchristians.com/bible-study-preppers/