Small Group Bible Study
WHY SMALL GROUP STUDY?
Small Group Bible Study
WHY SMALL GROUP STUDY?
The five qualities listed below, all found in the early church at Jerusalem, had one important consequence: growth. Obedient believers are still concerned about growth and rightly so. Through the years many growth formulas have been suggested. Some have value, but the Church at Jerusalem, without man’s formulas or statistics, experienced growth. Their total commitment led to a joyous lifestyle that was irresistible to those outside its ranks.
1. The Birth of the Church (Acts 2:38-39). Obviously the Apostles could not deal with 3,000 converts without organization. But the organization was not as important as what they did.
2. They Continued Together (Acts 2:41-42). First, the Apostles taught. They built a Christian faith on top of a Jewish foundation. The believers had fellowship (sharing, communion, participation).
3. They Were Benevolent (Acts 2:44-45). The Church in Jerusalem had a genuine care and concern for the needy.
4. They Were Unified (Acts 2:46). Another characteristic of the early Church was unity: “With one accord” (KJV & NKJV), “By common consent” (Phillips), “With one mind” (NASB and NEB). “With united purpose” (AB), “With glad and generous hearts” (RSV), “To meet together” (NIV), “Continuing with one mind” (NASV).
5. They Were Joyous (Acts 2:47). Their happiness was apparent to everyone.
Why Teach the Bible to One or a Few?
The motive determines the deed. Our Lord taught that even prayer may bring condemnation if it is offered in pride and for selfish reasons. So Small Group Bible Study teaching may be a noble or an ignoble occupation according to the motives that prompt it.
If we teach the Bible so others might see us; so others may perceive how holy we are; so others might know what earnest believers we are; might see how devoted we are to God and others; might know how self-sacrificing and loving we are; then our toil might bring us honor from others for a while, but none from God. Such teachers “have their reward.”
Or even if we teach God’s Holy Word from a sense of duty, or because we are interested in human nature, or because we want to test some pedagogical theory, or because we enjoy the feeling of power that comes from presiding over others and molding them to our will – none of these motives will earn us the Master’s “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
The one aim of devoted and serious Bible teaching is to bring souls to the Savior. Therefore the one motive for Bible teaching which is satisfactory and finally sufficing is love of Jesus Christ. We must love others – that follows from love of Christ, for they are His children. We must love the work in all its many details; and we shall, because it is His work. We forget the work because of the depth of our love for Him.
This compelling love of Jesus Christ will alone carry us over the many difficulties and discouragements of our calling. Children may be unlovely, parents may be unappreciative, our pedagogical theories may fail and we may conclude that we are very poor teachers; but Christ is not a poor teacher, and Christ is not unappreciative, and we are laboring with Him and for Him.
If we have been working from any of the lower motives, our work has been unsatisfactory. As we transfer our hearts to the true motive, our teaching will take on a glory and a joy that we could never have imagined before, producing results never believed possible. What we as poor human workers could never accomplish is easily and happily done by the divine partnership.
