Learning library
Choosing & Designing Bible Study Plans
How to choose a proven Bible study plan — or design your own for a real person or group — for a Discovery Bible Study. Assumes you already know the DBS cycle.
In a Discovery Bible Study the leader never teaches — so the passages you choose are the one place the group’s direction lives. That responsibility stops a lot of us before we start: “What if I pick the wrong passages?” This class takes the fear out of it.
By the end you’ll be able to:
- Explain why the passage list — not the facilitator — carries a group’s direction.
- Name the proven ready-made lists and match each to the person it fits.
- Apply the four rules for building a list: audience first · short & story-shaped · a sequence toward Jesus · finish-able.
- Build a real 3–8 passage list for a specific person or group, and pressure-test it.
- Leave with a dated commitment to start or finish a list.
This class assumes you already know the DBS cycle (eat → digest → grow, the four questions). If you don’t yet, start with How to Do a Discovery Bible Study first. Work through one short chapter at a time; the last chapter keeps the four rules and the proven-lists table in one place for you.
Chapters
0 of 10 complete
- Start HereWhat this series covers, and why passage selection carries the group.
- Why the List Matters More Than You ThinkBecause the facilitator never teaches, the passage list *is* the theology of the group.
- How Jesus and Philip ChoseTwo biblical examples — start where the person is, move toward Jesus.
- Borrow Before You Build: The Proven ListsA tour of the ready-made lists and the one question that picks between them.
- Always Start with the Prodigal SonThe one reliable default entry passage — and why it works with almost anyone.
- Rules 1 & 2: Audience First, Keep It ShortDecide the audience before anything, and keep passages short and story-shaped.
- Rules 3 & 4: Point to Jesus, Make It Finish-ableOrder the sequence toward Jesus, and keep every study finish-able in one sitting.
- Build Your Own List (Do It Now)Move from watching to doing — build a real list for a real person, then pressure-test it.
- You Don't Need a Perfect ListFreedom from perfectionism — the power is in the Word; God gives the growth.
- Your "I Will" and What's NextTurn learning into a dated commitment — and a reference to keep.
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