Small Group Leaders and Ministry Blog

Study Gateway’s Top 10 Bible Studies for 2022

At StudyGateway.com, the world's leading subscription service for streaming video Bible studies, 2022 has been a very exciting year for new Bible studies! Of the top ten most-watched studies of ...

In the Beginning...

The first study in The Jesus Bible Study Series, Beginnings, is designed to usher you through the first act of God’s story, which is revealed most fully in the opening two chapters of the book of Genesis. Later biblical authors also wrote about God’s creation and the purposes behind his work, so we will pull from those portions of Scripture as well as we go along.

Your Viewing Guide to Christmas Bible Studies for Small Groups or Families

Christmas video Bible studies are the perfect way to bring together your people during the month of December, prepare your heart for the season, and study the birth of Jesus with fresh perspective! Can’t decide which Christmas video Bible study to do? Here’s your viewing guide to four popular Christmas studies to help you choose the best one for your small group.

Waiting for God’s Timing

We ask God for something, and seemingly nothing happens. We want Aunt Martha healed, but she remains sick or even dies. We want that promotion, but someone else gets it. Instead of getting the answer we want, we often get silence. We struggle like Job. “I cry out to you, God, but you do not answer; I stand up, but you merely look at me” (Job 30:20 NIV).

Mental Health: Could Your Small Group Use Some Help to Support Each Other?

Studies show that 1 out of every 4 adults in America will be affected by mental illness at some point in their lifetime. 

I decided to dedicate Season Two of our podcast, Study Gateway’s First Listens, to this universal and timely issue of mental health. I have curated a collection of sessions from seven Bible studies that speak to different aspects of mental health.

Reading the Gospel of John: Believing in Jesus

Special Note to the Reader: The purpose of the Gospel of John is explicitly stated at the end of the Gospel (20:30–31). Because that passage is so important to understand how this Gospel works, we begin with it. The purpose is to enhance faith in both believers and to promote faith among those who are not yet believers. If we keep this in mind as we read the Gospel, we will read the Gospel as John wants us to.

5 Keys to Success for the Introverted Small Group Leader

The struggle of the introvert who is leading a small group is real. We tend to script the personality and traits and even physical stature we think a leader should possess. And, they might feel the pressure of expectations, expressed or assumed, that they will perform as a leader the same way a charismatic people-magnet person would. But the most extroverted person is not always the best small group leader.

Abide Bible Course: Five Practices You Can Use to Engage With the Bible

These five daily devotions are based on Randy Frazee and Phil Collins' Bible study, The Abide Bible Course. will walk you through five innovative practices that will take you beyond ...

The Strength That Prevails - Resilient

Right now, we’re in a sort of global denial about the actual cost of these hard years (which are not over). We just want to get past it all, so we’re currently trying to comfort ourselves with some sense of recovery and relief. But folks, we haven’t yet paid the psychological bill for all we’ve been through. We would never tell a survivor of abuse that the trauma must be over now that the abuse has stopped. And yet that mentality is at play in our collective denial of the trauma we’ve been through.

5 Ideas for Inspiring Your Small Group Prayer Time

Need a prayer reboot for your church small group? Get creative + designate prayer champions! By Shelley Leith, Study Gateway  Be persistent and devoted to prayer, being alert and focused ...

Fearful About Leading a Church Small Group? 3 Lies You Need to Stop Believing

Have you been thinking about starting a small group Bible study, or leading one, but you’re hesitating because you’re afraid no one will want to come, or you don’t think you have the gift of hospitality, or you don’t feel qualified? Let’s talk about that!

3 Reasons Food is So Important to Small Group Fellowship

Sharing a Meal Together: An Underestimated Fellowship Builder by Shelley Leith, Study Gateway Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and ...

Is Attendance Declining in Your Church Small Group?

How to meet people’s needs so they keep coming back to your small group! Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not ...

3 Tips for Starting a Church Small Group That Works

May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and increase your numbers until you become a community of peoples. – Genesis 28:3 Have you ever been a member of a church small ...

The 7 Markers Your Congregation is Growing in Spiritual Maturity

Organic Disciples is a book by Kevin & Sherry Harney What is spiritual maturity? We are God’s ambassadors. His mouthpieces. The presence of Jesus in a world that desperately needs to see the face of the Savior. The truth is, none of us is the...

Is Prayer Important? Philip Yancey

According to Gallup polls, more Americans will pray this week than will exercise, drive a car, have sex, or go to work. Nine in ten of us pray regularly, and three out of four claim to pray every day. To get some idea of the interest in prayer,...

Free Resources

Using How (not) to Save the World with your church or small group?

Using How (not) to Save the World with your church or small group?

Here are some tools to help: 

The Small Group Tool Kit includes two mobile-friendly invitation cards, reflection cards to enhance your small  group experience, and a worship song playlist curated by Hosanna Wong that can beplayed during small group meetings or personal Bible study time. 

The Church Tool Kit includes a downloadable poster, bulletininsert, invitation card, and Power Point slide.

Is your church talking about anxiety, depression and mental health issues? You should be.

Is your church talking about anxiety, depression and mental health issues? You should be.

Shawn Johnson, lead pastor of Red Rocks Church, gives a
searingly honest portrait of anxiety and depression and shows readers how to fight back and live free. He also has put together three free tools pastors can use to help their congregation have a productive conversation around mental health, including a discussion guide, sermon notes and key Scripture verses.