DISCOVER
God through His word
Summary
**SUMMARY** Discover Groups are designed to disciple unbelievers. That’s correct, we “disciple unbelievers.” Most Christians think that’s “putting the cart before the horse,” but did you know that’s what Jesus modeled for us? He didn’t ask any of the disciples if they believed He was the Son of God before asking them to follow Him. In fact, no one could be born again until after Jesus died on the cross and was raised from the dead. That means that every single one of Jesus’ disciples––hundreds of them––were unbelievers, and yet, the Bible calls them His disciples. Starkly different from typical Bible studies, a Discover Group has no prepared lesson. The Scripture passage is the lesson. Therefore, all Discover Group lessons were written by God Himself. And we have no teacher; at least no human teacher. The teacher is the Holy Spirit. When working with unbelievers, we must be careful not to explain Scripture. If you do, they will see you as the authority instead of seeing God’s Word as the authority. It may feel good to be valued for your knowledge, but it will completely squash the Group’s ability to replicate. Why? Because unlike God, you can’t be everywhere at once, and you can’t speak timely and relevant messages to each and every person in the world. By allowing people to discover God through His Word, they will begin believing that the Scripture is, and has, all the answers they need. If we want to disciple people who look to the Scripture and the Holy Spirit for answers to their questions, we cannot be the answer people. We must instead help them to discover what God says to them in His Word. The discovery process is essential to the replication of Discover Groups. If Groups do not learn to go to the Scripture and rely on the Holy Spirit to answer their questions, they will not grow as they should, and they will not replicate much, if at all. **WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY?** ***Hebrews 4:12-13 12** For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13 And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.* ***2 Timothy 3:16-17** 16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.* ***Isaiah 55:6-11** 6 “Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; 7 let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. 8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. 10 “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, 11 so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.* ____________________________________________________________________ Copyright © Solid Lives, 2021 All rights reserved.
Lead a Group
A Discover Group (DG) should feel very natural and comfortable for those attending. If it’s not, they won’t want to return. Therefore, you’ll want to train the Person of Peace and/or DG Leader to do simple things such as smile, greet each person warmly, and make sure everyone is comfortable. These things are especially important if the Group is new. **The Format of a Discover Group can be remembered with the formula, “4-3-4.”** 4 Opening Questions 3 times through a Passage 4 Study Questions **4 Opening Questions** 1. What are you thankful for? 2. What is the biggest challenge or problem you’re facing today? How can we help? 3. Do you know someone who needs help this week? How can we help? 4. (Starting the second week) How did you do obeying and sharing what you learned last week? **3 Times through a Passage** **Read, Reread, Retell** **Read:** Read today’s Scripture passage, not too fast **Reread:** Read the Scripture passage again **Retell:** Have one person retell the Scripture passage in their own words, and let others join in to help them remember **4 Study Questions** 1. What does this passage teach us about God? 2. What does this passage teach us about people? 3. If this is God’s Word, what should you do? 4. Who should you share with this week? **DISCOVER GROUP TIPS** 1. Stick with one passage 2. Don’t display your knowledge 3. Pass off the facilitation almost immediately 4. Meet on their turf 5. Allow anyone to ask, “Where did you see that in the passage?” Within the first few weeks of the Discover Group, the natural spiritual leader of the Group will become obvious. Sometimes it is not the Person of Peace, but it should be someone that the Group respects and is willing to follow. As soon as you identify that person, hopefully in the first week or two, you should begin transferring the facilitation of the Group to him/her. At this point your role is changing. You are transitioning from being “facilitator” to being an “outside leader.” You will now teach, coach, and mentor the “inside leader” over the next year or two. As the inside leader matures, you will become less and less visible. Your responsibility as outside leader can be remembered with this mantra: Model, Equip, Watch and Leave. M = Model – You are saying, “Watch me do it.” You’ll intentionally do it in a way that’s easily replicated. E = Equip – You will equip the inside leader—using only Scripture—to grow in their relationship with God and in their leadership. W = Watch – You will watch the inside leader to ensure that what you taught is being accurately followed. L = Leave – You will gradually, not suddenly, transition out of the process as you observe lessons are being learned and replicated in others. Within a few weeks of starting the Discover Group, you as the disciple-maker will stop attending. You will continue guiding, coaching and encouraging them to assure that the Group continues to meet and hear from God. Your goal is to make disciples of this family so that they take on the responsibility of reaching and discipling their community for Christ. ____________________________________________________________________ Copyright © Solid Lives, 2021 All rights reserved.
Story
**UNLIKELY AGREEMENT** There was a man who was trained with these principles, and he was being convicted for not sharing his faith with his unbelieving co-workers. He became convinced that God had placed him in that exact cubicle and job for a reason – to tell his co-workers about Jesus. He began by laying a foundation of prayer and asking some close friends to hold him accountable for sharing his testimony. He started going to lunch with six of his colleagues. He told them how the Bible had radically changed his life and asked if they would like to read it with him to learn what it says about God and people. Some of them rejected the suggestion outright, and others simply remained silent. Undeterred, he said to others: “I’ve never fully shared with you my life story. Could I share with you over lunch how Jesus changed my life?” He got a lot of “No’s.” Then one day, he asked one of the managers, a known atheist, if he would like to study the Scriptures. The manager had been one of the silent people in the lunch group, but when asked one-on-one, he responded, “Sure. Why not?” Another co-worker also said, “Yeah, I’ve never really read the Bible before.” John was surprised! These guys were the two he had thought least likely to come! So on the first week, he printed out a short Bible story, and the group read through it. He asked what it said about God and about people. He then asked: “If this is true, how should you apply it in your life?” They were intrigued and kept coming to study. Word got around the office, and in a couple of months, most of those in the office were attending the lunch gatherings. It wasn’t a scary or intense time. People walked in, picked up a sheet of paper, and started talking about it. As they continued to meet, barriers began coming down. His approach was simple and straightforward. And then, it began to move beyond the office as the attendees began to tell the stories to their family and friends. ____________________________________________________________________ Copyright © Solid Lives, 2021 All rights reserved.