This is the final post in a series on starting Discovery Bible Studies to share Jesus.
Start at the beginning.
In this guide we’ve outlined six major steps to effectively launch a Discovery Bible Study:
These six steps will guide you all the way through finding and inviting people into your study to catalyzing a gospel movement, where the good news of Jesus expands far beyond the reach of your original group.
We’ve covered a lot of ground, so we want to summarize the main components of a DBS one more time. There are 11 key questions that shape a powerful time of discovery. We’ve looked at these questions in groupings to better understand their purpose, but it’s helpful to see how they all flow together. Here’s what the full discovery process looks like:
Connect:
How did God show up in your life this week?
What are you thankful for?
What is causing stress in your life right now?
Did you do what you said you would do last time? (Did you follow through on your “I will” and “I will tell” statements?)
Discover:
What does the passage say? (Repeat it in your own words.)
What does the passage mean? (What does it tell us about God? About people?)
Where did you see that in this passage? (Used if discussion strays from the passage.)
(If this is God speaking…) What will you do about it?
Multiply:
How can we help one another in our group?
Who else (outside of our group) can we show kindness to?
Who can we tell and how can we tell what we are learning?
Now It’s up to You
As you’ve learned how a DBS works, have people come to mind who could benefit from being in this kind of a group? Do you know people who might be ready to discover God? Take a minute or two right now to pray over those people and make a plan. Tell someone you trust that you want to do this. Maybe they’ll be inspired to join you and start a group of their own!
We call this a beginning guide because there are many other factors that will support you in successfully launching a Discovery Bible Study. These factors include how to meet and connect with non-believers in the first place, how to start genuine spiritual conversations with people that aren’t religious conversations, what actions to take if no one accepts your invitation to study the word, and how to join with other believers to strengthen and multiply your effectiveness.
One very helpful resource that digs into those topics is a booklet from CRM’s Accelerate team called Activating Gospel Movements: An Eight Step Guide. The folks at Accelerate are committed to helping people around the world live this out. Contact us if you'd like a copy of Accelerate's ebook. You can also check out some of the other posts in our series on Disciple Making Movements listed below!
Learn More:
Read more about how Discovery Bible Studies fit into a Disciple Making Movement strategy.
Not sure how to have spiritual conversations? This article could help!
Stuck in the process, or wanting to take this to the next level? Contact us at info@novo.org to get more training or coaching.
Dig In and Do It
Our DBS page offers a wide range of resources to help equip you for mission.