Spirtiual growth: Small groups and Bible study resources

Hello,

As you dive into the semester past the initial start up and gathering phase, you will want to focus on the spiritual development of those in your ministry.

Small groups are an excellent way for us to encourage one another in our faith. In Colossians 3:16 Paul says: "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God." So many elements of a small group in one verse! Wouldn't it be great if we didn't just know the Bible well or a lot about the Bible, but rather, that the Word of Christ dwells in us richly?

Here are some things to keep in mind about small groups:

• Small groups are about relationships! Ideally this is a place where students can come and grow. They can share about their joys and struggles, a place they can be real.


• Make sure it is a safe environment. Give people time to share and talk. What is shared in the group stays in the group (talk about that as a small group - people won't share if they are afraid others will talk about it). Be a listener more than a corrector!


• It's good to have a variety of ingredients in your small group time: prayer, ice breaker, vision and bible study.


• As a small group - plan a fun activity together and outreach event.


• Talk about evangelism in your small group! Talk about different people you are sharing your faith with, pray for students to come to know Christ.

We strongly encourage you to check out www.godsquad.com for great and easy to use Bible study materials. Here is a link to the bible study materials: http://godsquad.com/discipleship/biblestudy.htm There are many different kinds of studies, here are a few that are included on the site:

• "Freedom Is" study on Paul's letter to the Galatians. All the topics are related to the Gospel: "The uniqueness of the gospel" "the history of the gospel" "the life of the gospel" etc. There are 10 different lessons.


• 1.5 page studies which have 13 different ones with the theme of "Understanding God, Understanding Ourselves" covering topics such as: Perspective on sin, assurance of salvation, loving others, making right decisions, sharing your faith etc.


• "The God Who Is" with 9 lessons. "God is Love", "Holy, Holy, Holy", "Jesus, the Humble servant"are a few.


• Cru.Com is another series of Bible studies. There is a CD that you could purchase, but if you click on the free sample section there are many listed there that you can download for free.

The great thing about these studies is that they are designed just for you and your audience (college students!). They come with leader's notes, are biblically sound, cover critical topics, have good discussion questions and most won't take a lot of time to prepare. They can be adapted for small groups or larger groups - just break your big group into smaller groups for easier discussion.