Discovery Bible Study

One of the most important tools for working with interested enquirers and nurturing people into discipleship is Discovery Bible Study - a format in which you look at Jesus together using (initially) the Gospel contents.

The exact nature of the time together can be tailored to suit the person or group you are working with. For example we have used a very simple meal + short video + story of Jesus + basic prayer exercise sitting with one or two families, and used a more classic sitting just with the gospel text with a faith seeking adult. The crucial thing is to help people look for themselves, putting the word 'Discovery' in Discovery Bible Study! The prayer is that people discover who Jesus is, believe and receive Him (John 1:12).

Ultimately we desire that people are spiritually reborn (John 3), rather than simply benefiting from our own Biblical understanding and wisdom. That probably means holding back in the early stages - giving people time to process and receive the initial nuggets they are discovering - resisting the temptation to heap on more complex information. That became obvious to me when sitting with someone who was born in another country, another culture and another belief system. Using the gospel story before us (Jesus healing the paralytic) we discussed who the story suggests Jesus is. The person's answer was in one sense correct, but their bigger answer included aspects that are questionable. As a theologically trained person I could have easily weighed in with something like "Ah, but that isn't right because ...". However I pinched myself, reminding myself 'This is session number 1! Hopefully we can sharpen the lens on this point in future sessions as they discover further ...".

As we discover together we encourage to apply: to receive Jesus and follow requires action on the part of each person. This can be introduced in the very first session, and is about modelling obedience to Jesus from the beginning. A Discovery Bible Study isn't simply studying for the increase of head knowledge: it is helping a person (or a group) discover for themselves, and learn to put into practice what Jesus is telling each of them to do.