Leading | Knowable Word

Knowing Your People Helps You Ask Better Questions

May 5, 2025 By Ryan Higginbottom

Tegan Mierle (2016), public domain

One of the underused gems on this blog is Peter’s series on How to Lead a Bible Study. It’s thorough, practical, helpful, and winsome. If you haven’t read those articles, I recommend it.

Loving Your People

One dynamite entry in Peter’s series is One Vital Behavior Determines the Success of Your Teaching Ministry. In that post Peter writes about the importance of leaders loving their people. Leaders are called to this investment, and without love their teaching will be like a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.

But what effect does this love have within a small group? Peter explains what happens when a leader gets to know the people within the group.

It makes the leader’s application more relevant.
It shows the people Christ.
It sharpens the leader’s insight.
It bolsters the leader’s credibility.

Yes, I can see it! When I am actively building relationships with my small group members, it makes me more effective as a leader and it conveys greater benefits to my friends during our meetings.

After a recent small group meeting, I was reflecting on one of my subpar questions. I came back to this point about knowing my people. Had I remembered the experiences and backgrounds of my friends, I would have asked better questions.

The Questions to Avoid

Knowing my friends helps me avoid certain questions. For example, if one of my small group members has a grown child who has turned away from Christ, I probably will not ask a launching question related to apostasy. Instead of warming this person up for participation in the discussion, it might have just the opposite effect.

There are other sorts of questions I might avoid if I know my friends’ backgrounds and personalities.

When I know there is pain, bitterness, or sensitivity related to a certain issue, I won’t ask that person for a comment on an application related to that issue.
If a group member has an issue about which they are outspoken and passionate, I will be careful when we discuss that topic. Having a person like this in the group also makes me careful about just how open-ended my questions are.
Some people learn and grow more by listening and processing instead of speaking. Some people who are going through heavy or sad events in their lives benefit from attending a small group but not participating much. Knowing my people can help me recognize and respect this.

I’m not saying that small groups should avoid all difficult or sensitive topics. But some times are better than others for those discussions. My small group time is limited, so in my attempt to keep our meeting length reasonable—and, often, in an effort to respect and love a hurting friend—I’ll try to have some of those hard conversations outside of small group.

The Questions to Ask

As I’ve gotten to know my small group members, I realize just how much work God has done in their lives. And I want the rest of my group to know it too!

It is a great encouragement, especially to younger believers, to hear of testimonies to God’s goodness and faithfulness to his people. This can give boldness and practicality to application discussions within a small group.

If a member of your small group has a history of beginning evangelistic conversations with friends, ask them to share an example when discussing application related to spreading the gospel. (It’s not a bad idea to warn/ask them ahead of time!)
Suppose one of your application questions will emphasize the training/growth that’s necessary as a disciple of Jesus. If some of your small group members have a sports background, you could incorporate athletic training into a targeted launching question.
Depending on the purpose of the group and the relationships within it, you could invite a friend to share a doubt or question about the Christian faith. If a member is weighed down by questioning their salvation and someone else in the group has wrestled with that same concern, this might be a valuable conversation to have as a group.

Closing

One of the great benefits of small group Bible studies is the interaction between group members. When a leader knows the people in the group, they can ask and avoid certain questions to make that interaction even more valuable.

This post was originally published in 2018.

A Check-Engine Light for My Small Group Preparation

June 19, 2023 By Ryan Higginbottom

Preparing for a Bible study meeting can take a lot of energy. But the amount of time it takes can vary from passage to passage and leader to leader.

Since we can always put in more time to read, pray, and think, how do we know when we’re done? How can we tell when the study is ready?

I’m not sure there’s a universal answer to that question. However, I think there are indicators that show up when we haven’t prepared enough. In this article, I’ll share one of my indicators in the hope that it might help others to discover theirs.

The Relationship Between Preparation and Explanation

My small group preparation falls into two phases. First I study the passage; then, I think through the discussion about the passage I hope to have with my small group.

If my preparation time is shortened in any given week, it’s likely the second phase that suffers. And while I’m seldom conscious of how much focused time I’m spending on my study, I have identified a helpful litmus test for under-preparation.

For me, there’s an inverse relationship between my preparation time and how much talking I do during the Bible study meeting. The less prepared I am, the more I talk, and the more prepared I am, the less I talk.

Perhaps this is surprising. After all, if I’m more prepared, wouldn’t I have more to say?

Drawing on the Strength of Small Groups

Let’s not forget, the chief advantage of a Bible study is interaction. The discussion and conversation we have as a group can turbo-charge our engagement with a passage of Scripture.

Therefore, as a leader, I prepare with the goal of interaction. I try my best to write questions to draw my friends into the Bible and help them see what I have seen.

The less prepared I am, the less time I’ve likely had to spend on my questions. So, my explanations take the place of discovery and learning among my group members. I’m serving my friends a filet instead of helping them wrestle the fish into the boat.

It’s often the interpretation phase of Bible study that gets short-circuited. In my head, I know the interpretive dots must be connected, so I connect the dots myself instead of posing the questions that help my friends draw the line between points A and B.

The result is not always a disaster. Some people in my group might not even notice. But I can tell, and our application never seems quite as sharp when we haven’t arrived together at the author’s main point.

A Light of Your Own

Talking too much—trying to give too many explanations myself—is my check-engine light. It tells me that I didn’t spend enough time on the right things as I got ready for my small group. For future meetings, I’ll need to carve out focused time to plan for the small group discussion. (For those with similar struggles to me, you might find this question-writing worksheet helpful. I still do!)

Your indicator light might be different from mine. One way to make progress thinking through your own leadership is to meet with a trusted friend from the group after the Bible study. Specific, loving feedback can go a long way toward helping you grow.

How to Help Others Apply the Bible

October 11, 2021 By Ryan Higginbottom

The church is a body, linked together in union to Jesus Christ. We need one another.

At Knowable Word, though we aim to help ordinary Christians learn to study the Bible for themselves, we do not expect or desire any believer to cut themselves off from from the body. As we need one another in general, we also need one another in Bible study.

We encourage Christians, as they are able and have opportunity, to study the Bible with other believers. Fellow disciples can offer great help in the observation and interpretation phases of examining the Scriptures. But, frankly, there are books, videos, and other resources that can offer significant help with these phases. Christian community fills an irreplaceable role when it comes to application.

I’ve previously written about how to apply the Bible in community, and in that article I focused on peer relationships. Therefore, most of this post will focus on helping others to apply the Bible as a teacher or leader.

Helping as a Friend

Application is the most personal stage of Bible study. The way a person takes a Scriptural truth and works it out has much to do with the specifics of their life—their relationships, their history, their fears, their pressures. This is where friends are essential; when others know the details of our lives, they can show us the shaded corners of our garden that are overrun with weeds. This mostly happens through longer conversations and patient questions.

A one-on-one friendship in which each person wants the best for the other is pure gold for a follower of Jesus. This is love. This is a rare opportunity to help another person believe, trust, and obey the Lord.

If you are blessed with such a friendship, thank God! And be willing to both offer and accept suggestions about Bible application in this context. If you do not have such a friendship in your life, pray earnestly that God would provide.

Helping as a Leader

Those who teach or lead others in the church have the blessing (and responsibility) to help with Bible application. While this is a natural and expected part of Bible study, it can be difficult for leaders to find their groove.

Most teachers are comfortable talking about observation and interpretation—that’s their bread and jam. But application is tough. It’s personal, as we’ve mentioned, and it’s often last, meaning it frequently gets cut in favor of earlier material. My sense is that teachers are much less practiced when it comes to bringing application in for a landing.

I see at least three ways for a leader to help others apply the Bible. The order below is not necessarily my suggested order during a class or study, merely the most natural way to discuss the options in this article. Additionally, any one attempt at encouraging application need not involve all three of these suggestions. (I’d propose a thorough mixture over time, however.)

Ask Application Questions

When it is time to turn to application in a Bible study, questions are natural. The intention here is to provoke others to consider areas where the main point of your Bible passage might have some corrective use.

When a leader knows their group well, targeted questions provide traction. There may be common situations for the group (a transition or event at church) or known experiences within the group (illnesses, difficult relationships, loss of work) that are ripe for questions to spark prayerful contemplation.

For an article-length example of application questions, see 40 Application Questions From Isaiah 40.

Give Personal Examples

When a teacher gives application examples from their own life, it serves at least two purposes. It moves the idea of application from vague to specific, and it shows that the leader has been affected by the very Scriptures they are urging their group to consider.

My friend’s application will likely not be mine. But when that friend tells me about the way God is helping them to obey the Scriptures, it gives me hope that I will find that same help in my life.

Give Application Suggestions

This strategy is like scattering seed on the ground. A teacher throws out suggestions for applications and sees where they may take root.

If a leader has applied the Bible themselves, they likely have considered a lot of applications before the class or meeting. The more specific a suggestion, the better. One of these suggestions may inspire a similar (or wildly different) application in a group member.

Conclusion

There are as many ways to faithfully apply the Bible as there are Christians reading the text. Having conversations with other believers about this application is like adding Miracle-Gro to the soil of a Christian’s life.

Once we realize just how much we need each other, we can joyfully and humbly embrace the privilege of bringing God’s Word to bear in one another’s lives.

Bible Study Leaders: Watch the Clock!

September 4, 2017 By Ryan Higginbottom

Jiyeon Park (2017), public domain

One of the most practical—but least expected—pieces of advice I give to Bible study leaders is to wear a watch.

I know it’s easy to keep track of time on your phone. And maybe you can consult your phone in a way that isn’t obvious or distracting. But a Bible study leader needs to monitor the time, and there’s nothing quite like a watch.

Love Each Other

As a Bible study leader, I’ve far too often lost track of time. I’ve ended the study late, put a strain on the parents in the room, and inconvenienced those for whom driving later at night is difficult.

We don’t often consider time management when leading a Bible study, but it has much to do with how well our friends learn from and apply the Bible. When we rush, we can miss the supporting truths and observations on which a solid interpretation rests. When we proceed too slowly, we risk boring our friends and ruining the interaction that is so vital to a good Bible study.

The way we structure the time within our group study can have a huge effect on the way we engage with the Scriptures. Let’s take a look at six different time-related ways we can love our group members.

1. Start on time.

Try to arrive a few minutes early and begin at the agreed-upon hour. I’m not advocating you cancel any built-in mingling and conversation time. But when it’s time for the Bible study portion of the meeting, be faithful to that committment.

2. End on time.

This is even more important than the previous point. When you’re setting up the group and inviting folks to join, make sure you allow enough time for your intended purposes. Then honor the committment your friends make to the group by ending on time.

3. Manage the other parts of the meeting.

Most small group meetings include other aspects of fellowship besides Bible study. Perhaps it’s a meal, a time for prayer, singing, or door-to-door evangelism. Try to stick to a rough schedule that everyone knows so that no one is surprised and the gathering flows as expected.

4. Plan the pacing of your study.

As you get to know your group, you’ll have a sense of their interests, their strengths, and their weaknesses. You’ll learn roughly how long it will take to discuss certain passages. As you prepare your Bible study, in addition to the questions you will ask and the applications you will raise, plan out the time. Divide your study into well-defined sections so you can press the accelerator or the brake as needed.

5. Plan time for application.

Application often comes last in our Bible studies. This makes sense, since good observation and interpretation are critical before we can engage in honest application.

But application is hard. It involves a raw look at ourselves, our group, and our church or organization, confessing our failures and pressing the truth of Scripture into those areas for obedience. It takes time.

We have to do better than tacking on a half-hearted two minutes of application to the end of our studies. To nurture application-focused discussion during which real transformation can happen, set aside at least 10 minutes for this part of the conversation.

6. Be flexible and gracious.

In advocating an eye to the clock, I’m not arguing for cold schedule-keeping. All that we do as Christians, and especially as leaders, needs to flow out of love for God and neighbor.

Sometimes love—and a sensitivity to the work of the Holy Spirit—demands flexibility. On a few occasions I’ve ditched my Bible study plans entirely in favor of encouraging, praying for, and lamenting with a brother or sister with a tremendous spiritual burden. People are more important than plans.

Additionally, sometimes the Spirit is at work during a group discussion when the meeting time ends. I suggest announcing to the group that the meeting is over and acknowledging that some people may need to leave. Offer to stay and continue the conversation with those who are able and interested.

Mind the Time

By keeing an eye on the time, we love and serve those in our small groups. This isn’t easy, and it is a skill we develop with experience. As you pray for your group, ask God to help you use and manage the group’s time for the group’s good and God’s glory.

How I Prepare a Bible Study

June 20, 2014 By Peter Krol

Here are 5 practices for preparing effective Bible studies, and here is a sample of the notes I develop when I lead a study. So much for the ideology and the fruit of my preparation, but what do I physically do? How do I employ this ideology to develop a discussion plan that will hit the target?

Dean Thorpe (2014), Creative Commons

Depend on the Lord

Pray often throughout the preparation process.

Figure out what God has said

Read the passage. I use my quiet times to study books of the Bible I’m teaching. I’ll read the passage as many times as I can, at least once a day for a few days before a study takes place.
Underline or circle repeated words. I always begin with this practice. It’s so easy, and it makes important ideas pop out. I have a copy of the Bible dedicated to underlining and writing in the margins.
Comparison and contrast, characters, and connectors. I round out my initial study with the rest of these 4 key observation skills.
Ask and answer interpretive questions and determine the author’s main point.
Connect the main point to Jesus.

Allow the message to change me

Apply the passage to my life and my world. I’m not ready to teach the passage until after I’ve seen how I should change.

Decide how to lead the group toward what God has said

Craft the main point into a single sentence. From this step on, I’m creating my leaders page for the discussion.
Outline the passage. I want to identify the main point of each paragraph or stanza in a single sentence.
Consider my group members and develop 3-5 observation and interpretation questions to stimulate discussion.
Develop application questions for the individuals, the group, and our church. I’ve found it helpful to consider both what we should do/think/desire and why we don’t normally do/think/desire it.
Consider what worldly ideas or practices might obstruct application.

Consider the beginning

Craft a good launching question or story that will promote discussion and investigation. Often, I use the launching question to help people apply the main point of the passage (even before we’ve clarified what that main point might be).

Of course, your preparation doesn’t have to look exactly like mine. What have you found helpful in your preparation to lead Bible discussions?

Sample Bible Study Leader’s Notes

June 13, 2014 By Peter Krol

Last Friday, I listed 5 practices for preparing effective Bible studies.

Depend on the Lord
Figure out what God has said
Allow the message to change you
Decide how to lead your group toward what God has said
Consider the beginning

My notes for leading a discussion on Exodus 12:29-13:16

This week, I offer a sample fruit of this model. Here are the notes I created to help me lead a recent Bible study[1]. You may want to open these notes in another window to follow along as I walk through them.

Background

I led this study for my church small group that met in my home. Our group met weekly, though we held a Bible study at only 2 or 3 of those meetings each month. We began studying the book of Exodus in August, and this study on Exodus 12:29-13:16 was our next-to-last study before breaking for the summer. (We live in a university town, so our lives are ones of utter enslavement to the academic calendar.) We ended with a climactic study on the Red Sea crossing (Exodus 13:17-14:31).

Our group consisted of a few undergraduate students, a few young singles, a few young families, and a few divorcées. We have a good mix of genders, generations, and life situations represented.

My expectations for the study were that participants would read the passage before the meeting and spend some time thinking about the following questions:

What happened that Passover night?
How are the Israelites to remember that night?
Why are they to remember that night?

They were also supposed to sign up to bring something for dinner, but you probably don’t need to know that.

The Bible study part of the meeting lasted 1 hour. We didn’t read the text, but dove right into the discussion.

Launching Question

The first 2 minutes of the study are the most important (see Practice #5 in last week’s post), so I set the tone with this question:

What is the most important thing you would like to be remembered for in the future?

Though this was my first question, it was the very last thing I prepared. Everything else on this page of notes came first, as I studied the passage and grappled with the structure, main point, and list of questions to stimulate discussion.

Once I knew where I wanted to go, I was ready to construct the beginning. I wanted a strong question that would get us thinking about applying the main point of the passage, but without giving the whole thing away too soon.

After 2 or 3 minutes of sharing about what we want to be remembered for, we were ready to hit the text.

Main Point

I keep this item at the top of my notes, because it’s the most important thing for us to get to. The discussion was pretty fluid as people would observe many details in the text and ask interpretive questions. But, though the discussion was fluid, I made sure to steer it in the right direction.

By putting the main point at the top, I’m more likely to make sure we get to it. Ideally, most of what comes up in the discussion will move us toward this point. And the study climaxes when we arrive here.

But sometimes, the group discovers a slightly different main point on its own. In those cases, I won’t require them to conclude what I wrote in my notes. I’ll be open and responsive to the text. I must hold my conclusions loosely if the evidence suggests a better alternative.

Supporting Truths

This section of the notes lays out the building blocks for the main point.

First, I list key themes in the passage (“This very day is special…”). Second, I outline the passage by discovering the main point of each paragraph. Third, I make sure to consider how the passage connects to the mission of Jesus Christ.

In the meeting, I don’t walk through these items. They’re in my notes to serve as reminders. When the discussion gets close to something in this section, I want to take advantage of the opportunity to lead the people there.

Observation/Interpretation Questions to help lead to main point

In this section of the notes I list the questions that I will use to stimulate discussion. In this case, I had emailed these questions to the group before the meeting, so I was able to work through them in order. Each question led to a treasure trove of observation and interpretation of the text. I won’t let people get away with an answer without mentioning a verse number or a specific observation that supports what they say.

Applications

This section of the notes lists a range of possible application questions I could ask the group. I rarely have time to ask all of them, but I want to be prepared to lead the group in many different directions.

We want to make both inward and outward application. We should consider head, heart, and hands. And we can consider both individual and corporate application. I try to hit every one of these areas over time, since we’re rarely able to hit every area in every study.

Conclusion

So you can see I don’t use these notes as a script, but as a prompter. I plan the launching question and the first observation question, and then I hope for the best and do what I can to keep us moving toward the main point and application. And I pray, of course. Always pray!

———————-

[1]This model for preparing and leading a Bible study is heavily influenced by Colin Marshall’s terrific book, Growth Groups.

Thanks for visiting Knowable Word! If you like this article, you might be interested in receiving regular updates from us. You can sign up for our email list (enter your address in the box on the upper right of this page), follow us on Facebook or Twitter, or subscribe to our RSS feed.

How to Start a Bible Study

May 9, 2014 By Peter Krol

Perhaps you’ve never led a Bible study because you didn’t know how to get started. Be encouraged; it’s not rocket science. If you meet with at least one other person, read the Bible, and discuss the text, you’re off to a great start. God can use you, even if you have no idea what you’re doing!

Jake and Lindsay Sherbert (2011), Creative Comons

Jake and Lindsay Sherbert (2011), Creative Commons

As you go, you may find a few more tips helpful to increase your effectiveness.

1. Know the group’s purpose

Are you reaching out to new people or building relationships with existing friends? Will you focus on what the Bible says (communicating the gospel), or on how to study it (training others in OIA skills)? Will you target a certain audience (men, women, teens, couples, retirees, etc.)?

2. Clarify your expectations

Do you expect people to prepare for the meeting, or is it okay if they simply show up? Do you want them to commit to attending, or will you keep commitment low?

3. Communicate your expectations

As you recruit people to the study, you should communicate your expectations to them. You don’t want people to show up expecting a movie night, shocked when you pull out a Bible and begin asking questions. Depending on your expectations, you may communicate along these lines:

“A few of us will get together to discuss the Bible. We’ll just read a passage and discuss it. You don’t have to talk. You don’t even have to agree with what the passage says. You just have to be honest about what it says.”
“I’m starting a Bible study for people who want to get deeper into the Word. We’ll meet every other week for 6 months, and we’d like to have some consistency from meeting to meeting. We’ll all read the passage at least once before we come so we can dive right in to the discussion. Would you be interested in joining us?”
“Our group will focus on learning how to study the Bible. We expect people to treat it like a class, with homework before each meeting.”

4. Give it a clear start and end time

You can include these details as part of your expectations. People often want to know what time the meeting will begin and end so they know how to plan. It can be tempting to say, “what time works for you?” but I don’t recommend it unless you’re meeting with a key person one-on-one and you just need to work out your schedules. It’s usually better to give a specific time, and—if nobody can make that time—change the time as needed. This gives people clear direction.

In addition to starting and ending times for each meeting, it can be helpful to have starting and ending dates for the group. People might be less motivated to attend if the commitment feels endless. And with a determined end date, you’ll be able to end the group and re-evaluate the group’s direction. You could always have a 6-week or 6-month study, followed by another 6-week or 6-month study, followed by another.

5. Recruit!

People often need multiple invitations before they will come. As you recruit, you can build your relationships with people and embody Christ’s love to them. Let them know how much you care and how much you want them to attend. Let them know of the group’s vision and how the group will help them (to figure life out, to draw closer to Christ, to learn how to study the Bible, etc.). Jesus didn’t simply announce openings for disciple positions, hand out a flyer, and wait to see who would show up. He passed alongside the Sea and recruited those whom he wanted (Mark 1:16-20). Paul followed the same approach (Acts 13, 14, 16, 17, etc.).

Think about your first Bible study or church experience. Did you just show up on your own, or did others recruit you?