God’s Word for Work - Guide for Bible Study Leaders

God’s Word for Work is a simple, easy, free way for you to have an online Bible study. Explore God's guidance and purpose for your work today. Use it with friends, co-workers, your small group, anyone you want to study the Bible with!

No preparation is needed. All you have to do is gather your group using an online video-conference service. Then, share your screen and play the video we provide. The video walks you through a complete Bible study, including the Bible passage, commentary, prayer, and time for group discussion. Each session is designed to last 45 minutes. You can go longer if you want. You can do all the sessions or pick the ones you want.

A Guide for God's Word for Work Bible Study Leaders

How to be a Bible Study Leader

1. Say, “Yes!” to exploring God's guidance and purpose for your work today with friends.

2. Make a list of people to invite to your God’s Work for Work study. A goal might be 20 names.

3. Invite each person on your list to join you to try out one study. Many people will be more willing to check out a single study to see if they like it, rather than agreeing up front to join a multi-week ongoing study. For more guidance on invitations including sample text and images, click here.

4. An in-person invitation is best, second best is by phone, and email is a distant third best.

5. In your invitation consider telling these two things:

• What you personally get out of these studies.
• What the person that you are inviting will get from the studies.

6. Post about your study if appropriate in (for example) your church newsletter, on the office bulletin board, or in your neighborhood coffee shop. Remember though that personal invitations are almost always more effective than email lists or flyers.

7. Get started when you have 3-6 people ready to join you!

8. After you meet, encourage your participants to invite their friends to attend.

Requirements to be a Bible Study Leader

1. Curiosity… in both what the Bible says and also in what other people think.

2. Being willing to personally engage with the videos. You are learning along with the rest of the group. Your role is not to be the teacher. You are there to draw out what people think.

3. Being prepared to ask discussion questions, and to give everyone in your group the opportunity to share their thoughts.

Not Required

1. Prior experience as a Bible study or church leader.

2. Expertise in the Bible. You do not need to be a Bible expert to be a leader. The only “expert” in this study is the Theology of Work Bible Commentary that is read in the video.

Meeting Agenda

1. Leader gathers the group in an online meeting.

2. Leader shares screen and audio.

3. Leader plays video. The video includes:

• Introduction to God's Word for Work
• Opening prayer
• Bible reading
• 1 minute for quiet reflection
• Reading from the Theology of Work Bible Commentary covering the Bible passage

4. Leader pauses the video and the group discusses the readings.

5. Leader resumes the video with the closing prayer.

Sample Discussion Questions:

1. Did anything bubble to the top when you heard it read out loud?

2. What does this mean for your work?

3. I wonder what someone else thinks…

Feel free to come up with your own questions. Here are a few more possibilities.

• How did the passage make you feel?
• Is there something specific that this passage makes you want to try doing this week?

Ready to Get Started?

Go for it!!

All of us at the Theology of Work Project are so excited about what God will do through these studies in your life and the lives of your friends!

While there is no requirement to register your group, we’d love to learn about it! Please let us know at gwfw [at] theologyofwork.org.

And if you have further questions, please email us as well at gwfw[at] theologyofwork.org.

Click to see the complete list of God's Word for Work studies.

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