Lead a Bible Study Group
Do you desire close friendships and strength for the Christian life? Don’t let the question of how to start a men’s Bible study keep you from the great adventure of growing with other men. We’re here to help make it easy!
No experience is required, and you don’t need to be a Bible scholar, pastor, or teacher to start a men’s Bible study. If you want to see men connected in meaningful relationships and growing as disciples of Jesus Christ, then you’re qualified!
Join thousands of men who meet in small groups around the world to watch and discuss how to apply the Bible study each week.
Preparing for Your First Week
Ask some men you would like to meet with if they would like to be in a discussion group that would view the Bible Study and discuss some follow-up questions. This can be a group from your work, church, neighborhood, hobbies, or a combination. The optimum starting size for the group would be four to six men. (Some groups grow as large as 40 in time.)
Inform the men that you would like to view one Bible Study per week and set a time for your first meeting (a suggested format is below). Choose from hundreds of messages and dozens of series here.
There are three discussion questions for each weekly study. You can print these from the page on the website where you are viewing the video. Here is a good schedule for a one-hour meeting:
- 35 Minutes to Watch the Bible Study on Video
- 20 Minutes for Discussion Questions
- 5-10 Minutes of Group Prayer
- End Promptly at the Scheduled Time
Facilitating Discussion
Every Friday morning since 1986, Pat Morley, along with other teachers from Man in the Mirror, has taught a Bible study to men. He doesn’t beat men up. He assumes men attend because they’re trying to better themselves. So the focus is to explain the Bible in a relevant way so men can go and immediately apply it in their everyday lives.
We call it “grace-based, application-oriented Bible study.” As the facilitator of a discussion group, you, too, should keep the focus on grace and practical application.
For each video message, we provide a printable handout with three discussion questions. If possible, try to divide your time evenly between the questions. But it’s more important to talk about the real things men are experiencing than it is to answer every single question.
Make sure that everyone gets “air time.” Your role is to encourage each man to share his thoughts. If someone dominates the time, privately ask them to help you draw out the more reserved members of the group. If someone asks you a question beyond your expertise, simply say so.
View or print this handout for more suggestions.
For a how-to on starting or leading an online group, click here.