Weekly Tip #3 Spring 2017
John 15:4-5
4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
In this powerful teaching from Jesus, directly to His disciples, He instructs them to fully abide in Him. Abide – Greek word Meno meaning: “to stay in a place, to stand against opposition, to hold out, to stand fast, to stay still, to remain, to endure. Also, to remain in the same place over a period of time, to stay.”
In the same way as His disciples, Jesus desires that we remain connected and fully dependent on Him. Let us do all we can to remain in Him. If we abide in Him we can experience much fruit. If we go our own way, no true fruit will be produced. I’m with Jesus – I want to bear much fruit in all areas.
Build Solid Bible Studies
Having excellent Bible studies in your ministry situation, is one of the foundations of a solid multiplying ministry. Your Bible study should be a place where your disciples, and for some who may be seekers, can find a community of believers who have trust, transparency and honesty with each other. Good studies need to be bathed in prayer, help to build relationships outside the group, and ask excellent, discussion oriented questions for every study. Make no mistake, this is hard work. But you can do it.
To prepare your lesson – go here. To plan your lesson – go here. For your first group meeting ideas – go here. Very importantly, how to ask great questions, read this article. If you want to give some further motivation and instruction to your Bible study leaders, bring them together to view the “Video Training” at the top of the page. Be aware that Cru.comm is now the “The Community”.
The importance of having excellent Bible studies in your ministry situation, works to ground your disciples in the foundational material that they can apply for life.
- You will be building disciples with a stronger grasp of good theology and understanding as it applies to their lives.
- You will be providing a good example of how to have an effective Bible study time, therefore multiplying your ministry as you launch them out to lead their own studies.
- You will be teaching transferable, sequential, and simple studies that your leaders will be able to teach.
- The discussion and interaction you provide will encourage new and regular disciples to continue coming back because they feel heard and they feel like they’re coming to see their friends.
With several good Bible studies available, I have settled on three series, that I highly recommend because of the four factors stated above, plus they all look the same therefore giving great consistency and transferability. I would go with The Community, using the Discovery Level, Training Level, and Action Level. In four years of college, you will likely have about 112 weeks of Bible studies. The three series recommended here of The Community, have 116 studies all together. This is some great training and teaching for all your years of college and beyond.
Talk to you next week,
Ben with Cru