How to STUDY God's Word

Goals for this Week’s Study:

  • Review Sunday Morning’s Message.
  • Help everyone get started on a plan to read & STUDY God’s Word.
  • Encourage everyone to continue reading their plan. See what struggles they may already be facing and help them overcome them.

Getting Started:

Open your group with prayer. Pray that the Holy Spirit help you observe and apply God’s WORD to your life.

Quickly recap Sunday’s message for those that missed Sunday or do not attend Better Life Church (if everyone in your group was there for Week 1 of BASIC, feel free to skip the recap).

Recap:

Can I TRUST the Bible?

Pastor Daniel said, the Bible was written over the span of 1600 years. It contains 66 books, written by 40 authors, on 3 different continents, in 3 different languages. Through all of that it has one central THEME – the Redemption of mankind. It has one villain, Satan, and one hero, Jesus Christ!

He told us that we can TRUST the Bible because:

  1. Unity – One central theme – redemption of mankind
  2. Fulfilled Prophecy – Over 300 prophecies (statements about future events) fulfilled in 1 man, Jesus Christ!
  3. Science – So many people think the Bible and science contradict one another, but they actually complement each other. Scripture references Pastor Daniel mentioned were: Isaiah 40:22, Job 26:7, and the book of Jeremiah says that there are too many stars to count! For further study here, I recommend, The Case for the Creator – Lee Strobel.
  4. Preservation – Pastor Daniel mentioned that the events of the Bible happened in public! There were plenty of opportunities for eye witnesses to discredit God’s Word, but it has stood the test of time!

Because we can TRUST God’s Word, we place ourselves under it’s absolute authority. 1 Thessalonians 2:13.

In 2 Timothy 3:16 – 17 we learn that all scripture is inspired by God. It also will:

  • Teach us what is true.
  • Convict us when we’re wrong.
  • Shows us how to do what’s right.
  • Prepares and equips us to fulfill His purpose in our lives!

S.O.A.P.

Explain to everyone that in today’s group we are going to study God’s Word using the SOAP method.

S – Scripture
O – Observation
A – Application
P – Prayer

Scripture:

Look below to determine what scripture you will use for your group (feel free to use another day’s scripture based on the needs of your group members).

  • Sunday/Monday (Day 1) – John 1:35 – 50
  • Tuesday (Day 2) – John 3:1 – 21
  • Wednesday (Day 3) – John 4:1 – 40
  • Thursday (Day 4) – John 6:1 – 15
  • Friday/Saturday (Day 5) – John 7:37 – 39

Read the scripture aloud. You can read the entire selection out loud, ask different ones to read, ask everyone to read silently, or whatever feels most natural in your setting.

Observation:

DISCUSS: To get the ball rolling on discussion, ask everyone if they’ve ever had a fresh revelation about a verse or passage that you’ve read many times before? Why does this happen?

After reading the day’s scripture, ask the following questions to “observe” the text. NOTE: Not all questions may be able to be answered about every passage.

  1. WHO is present in the scripture?
  2. WHAT is happening in the scripture?
  3. WHEN is this happening?
  4. WHERE is this taking place?
  5. WHY is this taking place?
  6. HOW is this taking place?
  7. After answering the above questions, make an observation statement. Ask group members to share if they are comfortable.

Application:

For application, there is only question:

8. What do you need to do NOW to apply what you’ve learned to life?

Prayer:

Take some time to allow group members to share how they are going to apply these truths to their life. Pray for strength to take these steps!

Invite everyone to come back next week to Week 2 of Basic series as Pastor Daniel is going to be talking about “How to Pray.”

Adam Eldridge