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16 Bible Studies for Your Small Group
If you're like most small-group leaders, you often feel overwhelmed trying to find study material. In this helpful guide, Ryan Lokkesmoe gives ice-breaker questions, key Scripture passages, discussion questions, and a guide for leading prayer time so you and your group can draw nearer to God and each other while you enhance your study of the Word.
160 pages, Hardcover
Published September 1, 2020
30 people are currently reading
2 people want to read
About the author
Ryan Lokkesmoe
9 books7 followersRYAN LOKKESMOE PhD is the Lead Pastor of Real Hope Community Church in the Houston area. He earned his master's degree in New Testament at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and his doctorate in New Testament at The University of Denver. Ryan is the author of Blurry: Bringing Clarity to the Bible (CLC Publications), and has written Small Group curriculum for LifeWay as well as articles for the Lexham Bible Dictionary. Ryan previously served as the Small Groups Pastor at a multi-site church. He lives in Richmond, TX with his wife Ashley and their two children.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
December 5, 2020
This is a wonderful resource for anyone wanting to create or contribute to a Bible study group. Author Ryan Lokkesmoe shares sixteen relevant topics and devotes a chapter to each one. In each of the sixteen chapters he offers suggestions and he uses the same format with social tips, key ideas in the study, study questions, and prayer prompts. Lokkesmoe also includes many scripture references to help increase our understanding.
16 Bible Studies for your Small Group is easy to use and both novice and seasoned Bible students should benefit from this book. It would also be the perfect addition to a church library.
I received a copy of this book from Bethany House Publishers. There was no requirement for a favorable review and no monetary compensation was given. These are my own thoughts.
16 Bible Studies for your Small Group is easy to use and both novice and seasoned Bible students should benefit from this book. It would also be the perfect addition to a church library.
I received a copy of this book from Bethany House Publishers. There was no requirement for a favorable review and no monetary compensation was given. These are my own thoughts.
January 20, 2021
I was given this book by Bethany House Publishing in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.
This book is filled with a variety of topics to cover in a small Bible study group. At the beginning of each lesson are icebreaker ideas to help focus the group and discover how things are since previous meeting. Then the lesson begins with a Bible reading, questions and commentary followed by key points to help others to connect with what has been taught. Each lesson is followed by prayer, either led by the leader or by one of the group. There are sample prayers given. All together each lesson is less than 10 pages long.
I believe this book would be a great choice for those who want to lead a small group but are not sure where to start. It is a great resource and guide book.
I recommend it highly.
September 18, 2020
[Note: This book was provided free of charge by Bethany House books in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.]
This book was somewhat disappointing. I came into this book with somewhat high expectations, that the book would contain deeply interesting and striking examples of Bible studies that one could have with a small group. My expectations spring in large part from my experience, as I have been the part of quite a few small groups in which there has been scintillating biblical discussion of deeply interesting passages and topics. But this book simply doesn't measure up to those high expectations. Indeed, it appears that many of the Bible studies provided as samples in this book exist for the main part of seeking to justify and build up the small group itself. If this was done intentionally, it would seem to indicate that this particular book is designed for the forming and storming and perhaps norming of a small group fellowship where one has to hash out standards of behavior and where one is encouraging an attitude of love towards other members of the small group. This is not a book that is designed for well-performing groups that want striking and deep and insightful studies, but is designed to teach the basics of how to behave in a small group, for what it's worth. That is certainly a necessary task, just a more basic task than I was expecting.
This book is relatively short at about 150 pages or so, and it is divided into a simple format, with sixteen studies on various topics being bookended by an introduction that encourages ever deepening study of the Bible (which assumes that these studies are likely to be deeper fare than the reader is used to) and a conclusion that discusses what it means to be the church. IN between, the sixteen Bible studies discussed cover shockingly straightforward material. For example, the book opens with studies on fellowship with God (1), as well as fellowship with brethren (2), which would hardly appear to be in dispute with a group of believers who was assembling together as part of a small group. After these very basic justifications of the existence of fellowship, there are equally basic and practical exhortations to love one another (3), keep gathering (4), put each other first (5), and build each other up (6). After that there are studies on how to be clothed in Christlikeness (7), how to be humble and hospitable (8), how to dodge divisions (9), and be givers of courage (10). The author takes task with judgmental people in a rather judgmental way (11), discusses how to be sacrificial sharers (12), and then closes with a set of studies designed to look at the roles of members as fellow servants and co-heirs (13), citizens and soldiers (14), workers (15), and prisoners and co-sufferers (16).
If you need or would greatly be able to use a book like this, it is likely that you are setting up a small group that does not have much experience in how to work. It does appear at least from this book that the author expects small groups to be something that a congregation would want to set up and look for some basic and fundamental material to work with. It is possible, of course, that at a later time the author may revisit this particular subject and create a series that has increasingly more challenging and exciting Bible studies that can take a well-functioning small group into the depth of biblical study and reflection about a great many subjects including specific passages that the group may find to be of interest, although the format included here seems to be too superficial to deal with deep doctrinal questions as only a few verses can be discussed with the sort of questions and approach the author takes with the material. Still, there is at least a bit that this book indicates could be done with the format of small groups that the author favors that would allow for interesting discussions of suitably small subjects.
This book was somewhat disappointing. I came into this book with somewhat high expectations, that the book would contain deeply interesting and striking examples of Bible studies that one could have with a small group. My expectations spring in large part from my experience, as I have been the part of quite a few small groups in which there has been scintillating biblical discussion of deeply interesting passages and topics. But this book simply doesn't measure up to those high expectations. Indeed, it appears that many of the Bible studies provided as samples in this book exist for the main part of seeking to justify and build up the small group itself. If this was done intentionally, it would seem to indicate that this particular book is designed for the forming and storming and perhaps norming of a small group fellowship where one has to hash out standards of behavior and where one is encouraging an attitude of love towards other members of the small group. This is not a book that is designed for well-performing groups that want striking and deep and insightful studies, but is designed to teach the basics of how to behave in a small group, for what it's worth. That is certainly a necessary task, just a more basic task than I was expecting.
This book is relatively short at about 150 pages or so, and it is divided into a simple format, with sixteen studies on various topics being bookended by an introduction that encourages ever deepening study of the Bible (which assumes that these studies are likely to be deeper fare than the reader is used to) and a conclusion that discusses what it means to be the church. IN between, the sixteen Bible studies discussed cover shockingly straightforward material. For example, the book opens with studies on fellowship with God (1), as well as fellowship with brethren (2), which would hardly appear to be in dispute with a group of believers who was assembling together as part of a small group. After these very basic justifications of the existence of fellowship, there are equally basic and practical exhortations to love one another (3), keep gathering (4), put each other first (5), and build each other up (6). After that there are studies on how to be clothed in Christlikeness (7), how to be humble and hospitable (8), how to dodge divisions (9), and be givers of courage (10). The author takes task with judgmental people in a rather judgmental way (11), discusses how to be sacrificial sharers (12), and then closes with a set of studies designed to look at the roles of members as fellow servants and co-heirs (13), citizens and soldiers (14), workers (15), and prisoners and co-sufferers (16).
If you need or would greatly be able to use a book like this, it is likely that you are setting up a small group that does not have much experience in how to work. It does appear at least from this book that the author expects small groups to be something that a congregation would want to set up and look for some basic and fundamental material to work with. It is possible, of course, that at a later time the author may revisit this particular subject and create a series that has increasingly more challenging and exciting Bible studies that can take a well-functioning small group into the depth of biblical study and reflection about a great many subjects including specific passages that the group may find to be of interest, although the format included here seems to be too superficial to deal with deep doctrinal questions as only a few verses can be discussed with the sort of questions and approach the author takes with the material. Still, there is at least a bit that this book indicates could be done with the format of small groups that the author favors that would allow for interesting discussions of suitably small subjects.
October 3, 2020
Book Review--16 Bible Studies for Your Small Group
If you are looking to start a Small Group Bible Study this Fall this book has some useful information that just might help you decide what type of study you want to lead.
Ryan Lokkesmoe is the lead pastor of Real Hope Community Church in the Houston, Texas area and he has not only included 16 Bible Studies that are easy for anyone to lead, he also includes Icebreaker Questions, Study Questions, Application Points, Prayer Prompts, and much more. He pretty much gives you all the info you need to easily lead a bible study either online or in your home. He brings a three fold approach to leading the studies: Social--Study--Prayer.
A few of the Studies that particularly appealed to me were "Love One Another", "Clothed in Christlikeness", and "Givers of Courage" these were studies I felt my neighborhood small group would most benefit from.
But all the studies are good material and could be done with new believer groups as well as with seasoned believers depending on your group and/or your needs.
So if you are looking to start up a small group study but just don't know where to begin, this book might be your answer and a great resource for the future.
I was given a copy of this book by Bethany House Publishers in exchange for an honest review. All comments are my own.
If you are looking to start a Small Group Bible Study this Fall this book has some useful information that just might help you decide what type of study you want to lead.
Ryan Lokkesmoe is the lead pastor of Real Hope Community Church in the Houston, Texas area and he has not only included 16 Bible Studies that are easy for anyone to lead, he also includes Icebreaker Questions, Study Questions, Application Points, Prayer Prompts, and much more. He pretty much gives you all the info you need to easily lead a bible study either online or in your home. He brings a three fold approach to leading the studies: Social--Study--Prayer.
A few of the Studies that particularly appealed to me were "Love One Another", "Clothed in Christlikeness", and "Givers of Courage" these were studies I felt my neighborhood small group would most benefit from.
But all the studies are good material and could be done with new believer groups as well as with seasoned believers depending on your group and/or your needs.
So if you are looking to start up a small group study but just don't know where to begin, this book might be your answer and a great resource for the future.
I was given a copy of this book by Bethany House Publishers in exchange for an honest review. All comments are my own.
December 5, 2020
This book was very unique writing and compelling to read with that also very helpful with a small group to follow up into individual basic subject to get from the main important of Bible for easy to access and understanding for a personal or small group to studies. This book will guide all Christians that had a hard time digging deep to getting to know God work in a short time before going to the next step. I highly recommend to everyone must to read this book. “ I received complimentary a copy of this book from Bethany House for this review”.
April 10, 2023
I like these studies! There is a lot of info in each study. Our small group meets for about 45 minutes, so these were a little long for us.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews