Intervarsity, in an article about DBS, shares four important principles to consider.
Never once (and there is no exaggeration here) has the ball fumbled down the field-not once. So far, I’ve done the DBS about 150 times.
Gordon Baines in his article, DBS in a Nutshell, cites six key reasons why he thinks DBS is such a powerful tool: Because of this simplicity anyone can facilitate a discovery Bible study you, new believers, even those who have not yet believed.
It is simple - we read a scripture together and together explore the scripture through a series of questions. It is as well a powerful tool to begin to set the DNA of new believers and begin training them even before they commit to following Jesus. It relies on the word of God and the Holy Spirit rather than on you.ĭBS is in one sense a slow form of evangelism. It allows non-believeing friends to explore scripture in a non-threatening way and provides you a simple format to help them discover God in His word for themselves. If we believe what the Bible says about the Bible, then we should do all we can to help our Muslim, Hindu and Buddhist friends find their way into the Bible, to read it for themselves and allow the word of God and the Holy Spirit to work in their hearts and minds.ĭiscovery Bible Study is a simple tool that you can facilitate. And Paul in his letter to the Romans makes it abundantly clear that " faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ " (10:17). 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” (4:12). The writer of Hebrews tells us that " the word of God is alive and active. So is my word that goes out from my mouth:Īnd achieve the purpose for which I sent it. So that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, Scripture is clear that the word of God is powerful. The Bible's influence should not surprise us. Richard Kronk conducted research on the conversion to Christianity of Muslims immigrants in North America and found that 82% of former Muslims in the study had found or recieved a Bible and read it. There are a lot of images that probably come to mind when you think about evangelizing but I wonder if sitting down and reading the Bible with your Muslim friend is one of them. They need to hear the good news of Jesus. Making disciples begins by helping people who are far from God find their way into a relationship with him. Jesus commanded his followers to make disciples of all nations.
With this article, we'll look at how to use DBS with your friends who are not yet followers of Jesus. In our last post, Introduction to Discovery Bible Study (DBS), we looked at DBS as a discipleship tool to help followers of Jesus enter into a deeper, fuller reading of God's word and move toward greater maturity using DBS.