Preparing Yourself

If you are leading the group, be sure to do your homework. One format, of course, is to share and rotate the leading among those of you in the group. If so, it would be a good idea to have all the potential leaders go through this MicroCourse. You might even have some informal meetings together to plan out the course of the Bible study. Remember, there is more than one right way to do it!

Always be in prayer about the Bible study you are leading. Constantly ask God for wisdom in what to share, how to lead, and how to go about each meeting.

If you are leading, your preparation would ideally go deeper than that of the participants. You shouldn’t think you need to be able to answer every question – even those who know the most about the Bible not only often disagree with each other but in the end do not have enough information to answer every question. But a good teacher has more to bring than time and occasion will allow, like an iceberg below the surface.

Ideally, you would read through all the material for the duration of the study before it even begins. For example, if you are studying the book of Philippians, you would have read through the whole book of Philippians before the study starts. Pastor Fetterhoff suggests you keep a notebook at your side as you prepare.

Wisely, she suggests you spend quality time with the text itself in dialog with God before you turn to secondary sources. You will likely want to use other resources too, but spend some dedicated time listening to the text on its own first. You may see something or hear something that you would have missed if your mind was already filled with the voices of others.

Don’t be intimidated. Ideally, you are a learner alongside the group. From this perspective, you won’t create the expectation that you have all the answers. Feel free to serve the group as a researcher. If questions arise in a meeting, do some extra research during the week before the next meeting. You got this!