1. science
2. social science
3. linguistics
4. translation

Bible Study
“For the word of God is
living and active. Sharper
than any double-edged
sword, it penetrates even
to dividing soul and spirit,
joints and marrow; it
judges the thoughts and
attitudes of the heart.”
Hebrews 4:12
Leader Study
Series Objective: Students and Leaders will read an entire book of the Bible together, getting practical
about engaging with Scripture, and hearing what God might be saying to us through it as we read.
Overview: The books and letters of the Bible were meant to be read like any other book or letter- front to
back. It is SO good to spend time meditating on a verse or two, but if we want to grow in our knowledge of
God, we need to also do more than that; Let a book of the Bible tell its whole story, hear the unique voice of
the author, understand the chronological timeline of the events we’re reading about, and see its themes
and emphases.
The Gospel of Mark: For the rest of the semester, we’re going to read the Gospel of Mark, one of four
biographical books about Jesus’ life. Mark is the shortest of the Gospels, with only 16 chapters, but we will
read 2-3 chapters a week, underlining, making notes, asking questions (PLEASE email any of us with
toughies), and reflecting about Themes, Repeated Words, God/Jesus/Spirit Learnings, Contrasts, and
Interesting Questions in each chapter.
This will be an important series for several reasons:
1) Scripture Focused: It is an opportunity to spend a semester being completely focused around one
book in Scripture and the questions that naturally come up through it. We pray that kids get familiar
with their Bibles!
2) Spiritual Discipline: We’re engaging in the spiritual discipline of studying Scripture, which gives God
an opportunity to speak into our lives in new ways. We’re also learning practical ways to read and
engage with scripture on our own or with friends.
3) Resource Exposure: It gives us exposure to resources that can be used in the future as we study the
Word.
Lead this however you want to, but please be sure to read aloud through the chapters that you will be
discussing with your group during your time together (which shouldn’t take more than 10 minutes). We have
provided you with some basic questions that will remain the same each week to process as you read with
your group (and can be used with ANYTHING you read in Scripture), but we ask that you would come with
your own questions and discussion points as well.
Here are a few good resources we have found that we hope will help you prepare.
www.blueletterbible.org/study/intros/mark.cfm (Overview and intro to Mark)
www.gracemontclair.org/biblestudy/summary/category/mark (This is the study we are using for Mark)
www.intervarsity.org/bible-studies/bible-study-of-mark-intro (Pointers on ways to lead Bible Studies)
This leader packet is short, on purpose! Our hope is that the reading itself will be enough to ignite
conversations and questions. We want students to realize that they can read the Bible and understand it
without all sorts of bible study guides, or a pastor leading them through it. Hopefully, you will learn together
how to read, ask questions, and get them answered.
Bible Study
Read
Ideas for Reading with your Group:
Please make sure students have their Bible’s out and a
pen or highlighter.
Read Out Loud:

Go around and have each student read a
paragraph until you’ve read the two chapters OR

Go section by section, stopping after each section
to discuss the ‘Basic Questions’ [found below].
Read Silently:

Give 5-10 minutes for silent reading, then come
together and discuss section by section [chapter
sections are denoted by italicized subtitles] OR

Assign each student a different section to read
silently, and then come together and have each
student answer the Basic Questions for their section.

Have students read the chapter and highlight or
underline Themes, Repeated Words,
God/Jesus/Spirit Learnings, Contrasts, and
Interesting Questions.
Come up with something on your own!
Basic Questions
After each chapter, discuss the following:

What verse or topic stood out to you? Why?

What questions did you have?

What did you realize about God/Jesus/Holy Spirit
from reading these chapters?

What did you realize about yourself?

Why do you think the author wrote this?

What are a few practical applications of this for us
today?
Dig Deeper:
To go deeper on your own, choose a book, and go
through this 5 week study.

Week 1-Birds Eye View: Read the book as many
times as possible daily. Highlight & take notes.

Week 2-Chart It Out: Make notes in each chapter of
themes/events, repeated words, what it says about
God/Jesus/Spirit, contrasts, & interesting things or ?s
you have [See Book Study Chart Ex. On Other Side]

Week 3-Outline: Write an overview of the entire
book first [theme, author, chronological place in
Bible, setting, purpose, major characters, key verses,
ideas], then do the same for each chapter [at least
noting main event/subjects] & 3 bullet points
describing content.

Week 4-Zoom In: Choose something that seems
interesting to you [passage, chapter, character,
parable, repeated theme or phrase, event, etc].
This is a time to dig into Bible dictionaries,
commentaries, concordances, word studies, and
other supplemental resources.

Week 5-Summarize: Write a summary of what
you’ve learned from this book study. Call it
“Principles from the book of ________”, Make a note
about how your study has made a difference in
your values & actions.
Resources
Apps
You Version: The Bible App [Free]

Includes all our recommended translations & more,
has audio on several (NLT, ESV, NIV), & has reading
plans.
Blue Letter Bible App [Free]

Includes the ESV translation, & has a feature that
allows reader to click on verse number to see the
verse in many translations, read commentaries on
the verse, see dictionaries & look at concordances.
Online Resources
www.biblegateway.com

Includes all our recommended translations, & has
links to several commentaries.
www.blueletterbible.org

Similar to the app, but includes more resources and
is slightly more user friendly.
Books
How to Read the Bible for All It’s Worth by Gordon Fee
Recommended Bibles
The Quest Bible
Student Study Bible
Study Bible
Recommended Translations
TNIV [Today’s New International Version]
NIV [New International Version]
NLT [New Living Translation]
ESV [English Standard Version]
The Message
Book Study Chart Example
Book of the Month Bible Study
Chapter
1
2
3
4
5
Themes/Events
Repeated Words
God/Jesus/Spirit
Contrasts
Interesting/?'s
Community Time Ideas





Do Community Time LAST: One way to let groups hear from each other is to go to
groups right away, talk about the chapters, and then get together at the end to let
each group share an insight. This has worked REALLY well in past years & could be
done every week!
Scripture: You can get creative and read through portions of the Scripture together
and ask students and leaders for reflections on what they read or heard. This has
worked really well in some houses because it’s fun for people to hear what people in
other groups have to say.
Prayer Experience: Use Scripture to help draw them deeper to prayer
Message/Story: Have a leader share how God used the text in their lives.
Group Memorization: Choose a line from Scripture and have students get comfortable
and close their eyes, have them take 5 deep, slow breathes, then have them repeat
the scripture in small increments for 5 minutes (call and response style) to memorize a
passage.
Outside Voices
Quotes from Scholars & Practitioners on Studying the Bible
“It is not legitimate to say, ‘l am unhappy with my church because my pastor’s sermons aren’t feeding me.’
However, it is proper criticism to say, ‘My church does not teach me to feed myself.’ Christians, after being
taught to study the Bible on their own, should find their daily spiritual diet in the regular reading, studying,
memorizing, and meditation on God’s Word. Then the sermon becomes the dessert—not the main course. It
becomes that motivational time where the tribal leader of the congregation connects with his people.... let’s
release ourselves from the bondage of depending on the Sunday sermon for the primary spiritual diet.”
-Bill Hull, Executive Director of the Evangelical Free Church
Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the
believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity. Until I come, devote yourself to
the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching.
1 Timothy 4:12-13
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,
2 Timothy 3:16-17
They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the
road and opened the Scriptures to us?” Luke 24:32