Each meeting covers one lesson. The passage, questions and notes are all on the lesson page, and group members can print their own copy.
Leaders need only this guide: first the flow that is the same every time, then the focus points and tips for each lesson.
A lesson takes about an hour. Meet weekly or every other week — whatever fits your group.
Each Meetingabout 55 min
Snacks and catching up
10 min
Read together
10 min
Discussion
25 min
This week
5 min
Close (prayer optional)
5 min
Opening: Start with last time’s ‘This week’: ‘Did you do it? How did it go?’ For the first lesson, ask everyone to say in one sentence why they want to read about this person. The leader goes first.
Read together: Take turns reading the passage, a few verses each. The leader reads the short notes between sections.
Discussion: You don’t need to discuss every question in ‘Think It Through.’ Pick one or two from each group, add this lesson’s focus points, and that is plenty.
This week: Read it together, and ask each person to decide on the one small thing they will do this week.
Close: You can pray using a verse from the lesson. If some aren’t used to praying aloud, a minute of silence together is fine too.
Lesson 1 · Depart from Me, for I Am a Sinful ManLuke 5:1-11
Focus 1 (v. 5): “Master, we worked all night and caught nothing; but at your word I will let down the net” (v. 5). Ask the group: is there something in their lives they have ‘worked at all night’?
Focus 2 (vv. 8–10): Simon says ‘depart from me’; Jesus says ‘don’t be afraid.’ Ask the group what they notice when these two sayings are set side by side.
Focus 3 (This week): Each person chooses one ‘there’s no point’ small thing. Next time, ask one another: did you do it? What were you thinking as you did?
Leader tip: This lesson is easily taught as ‘just obey, and you will get a big catch,’ or as a study of Peter’s ‘impulsive personality.’ The passage says neither: the catch is recorded after Jesus’ word, not as a method; and the passage does not analyze Simon’s character — it records what he said and did, and how Jesus treated him. Question 10 touches self-blame and guilt; don’t press, and let people share only if they want to.
Focus 1 (vv. 24–27): The disciples got into the boat because Jesus told them to, and still the wind and waves came. Ask the group: have they had times of ‘I was doing the right thing, and the wind still came’?
Focus 2 (vv. 30–31): Jesus first stretched out his hand and took hold of Peter, and then asked why he doubted. Ask the group to notice this order and say what they see.
Focus 3 (This week): Each person writes down one ‘wind’ that frightens them. Next time, those who are willing can say: did you pray that one line this week?
Leader tip: This lesson is most easily taught as ‘enough faith lets you walk on water,’ or ‘you sank because your faith was too small, so try harder to believe.’ The passage says neither: when Peter began to sink, Jesus rescued him first and asked him after. Read “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” (v. 31) as it stands; don’t turn it into a sermon of rebuke aimed at the group. Don’t analyze Peter’s personality either; the passage does not say why he stepped out. Some in the group may be in great fear right now; don’t press on questions 10 and 11, and let people share only if they want to.
Focus 1 (vv. 13–16): ‘Men say’ and ‘you say.’ Ask the group: where did their own knowledge of Jesus come from?
Focus 2 (vv. 21–23): Within a few verses, the same Peter is called ‘blessed’ and told “You are a stumbling block to me” (v. 23). Ask the group to notice the reason Jesus himself gives: “you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of men” (v. 23).
Focus 3 (This week): Each person writes one ‘You are …’ sentence of their own. Next time, those who are willing can read theirs aloud.
Leader tip: The ‘rock’ and ‘the keys’ in vv. 18–19 have been understood in different ways in church history; this lesson does not discuss church structure or denominational differences. If someone in the group asks, you can say ‘this lesson only reads what Jesus said to Peter.’ Don’t present Peter as an impulsive man, and don’t teach it as ‘Peter was possessed by Satan’; Jesus’ own explanation is in verse 23. Question 11 touches disappointment with God and not understanding him; don’t press, and let people share only if they want to.
Focus 1 (vv. 3–5): After “the Father had given all things into his hands” comes “He took a towel and wrapped a towel around his waist.” Ask the group what they see when these two are put side by side.
Focus 2 (vv. 6–9): Peter went from “You will never wash my feet!” to “not my feet only, but also my hands and my head!” Ask the group: what makes it hard to let others do things for us?
Focus 3 (This week): Each person does one small task no one will notice. At the next meeting, ask one another: what did you do, and what was in your heart as you did it?
Leader tip: This lesson is easily taught as ‘Peter was too impulsive; he spoke without thinking.’ The passage does not analyse Peter’s character; it records what he said and how Jesus answered, so don’t supply his psychology. Teach vv. 14–15 (‘wash one another’s feet’) as Jesus giving an example; don’t develop it into a debate about churches practising foot washing as a rite. Don’t press anyone on question 11 about words they could not keep; let those who wish to share do so. Vv. 37–38 only preview the denial; the event itself belongs to the next lesson.
Focus 1 (vv. 31–32): “but I prayed for you” was said before Peter fell. Ask the group what is in their hearts as they read it.
Focus 2 (vv. 56–60): Three denials, each one further away. Ask the group to look together at how the three answers change in the text; there is no need to discuss ‘would I do the same.’
Focus 3 (v. 61): “The Lord turned and looked at Peter.” The passage does not say what kind of look it was. Ask the group to share how they felt reading it; the leader does not need to settle it for the text.
Leader tip: This lesson touches failure and shame, and someone may be carrying a ‘rooster’ thing of their own. Question 10 is for each person to write alone, not to share in the group, and don’t invite anyone to tell the group about their own failure. Don’t teach it as ‘falling is no big deal,’ and don’t teach it as ‘Peter was too weak; let’s not be like him.’ The passage records that he followed into the courtyard, records that he denied him three times, and records that Jesus had already prayed for him. Don’t add ‘rebuke’ or ‘love’ to the look in v. 61. Leave the restoration for the next lesson; this lesson stops at v. 62 and at Jesus’ words “when once you have turned again” (v. 32).
Focus 1 (vv. 9–13): The fire, the fish and the bread on the beach. Ask the group to notice what Jesus did before he questioned Peter.
Focus 2 (vv. 15–17): Three questions, and three times the sheep are handed over. Ask the group: what did Jesus not ask, and what did he ask?
Focus 3 (This week): Each person reads verses 15–17 with their own name in it; anyone who wants to can share next time the sentence they wrote.
Leader tip: WEB uses two English words in these questions (‘love’ and ‘have affection for’). This lesson does not build a teaching on the difference — scholars do not agree on it, and the Chinese Bible does not show it; read ‘three times’ and “Feed my sheep” (v. 17) as written, and that is enough. Also don’t teach it as ‘falling is no big deal,’ and don’t press anyone in the group about how they have fallen; the restoration starts with the Lord coming to find him, not with a man earning his way back. For verses 18–19, teach only what the passage says, “by what kind of death he would glorify God” (v. 19), and not the later stories of how Peter died. Questions 10 and 11 are for each person to write alone, not to share in the group.
Focus 1 (vv. 13–16): “Not so, Lord” (v. 14). Ask the group: what ‘not so’ might still be in the heart of someone who already follows the Lord?
Focus 2 (vv. 28, 34–35): From “an unlawful thing” (v. 28) to “Truly I perceive that God doesn’t show favoritism” (v. 34). Ask the group to notice what it was that changed Peter.
Focus 3 (This week): Each person thinks of someone they don’t usually go near; next time, ask one another: did you say that word to them?
Leader tip: Don’t teach this lesson as ‘Peter finally became a hero.’ In the passage Peter is still saying ‘not so,’ still “very perplexed in himself” (v. 17), and back in Jerusalem people still contend with him; the main actor in this lesson is the God who moves first. Read “This was done three times” (v. 16) as written, and don’t link it by number to the three denials or the three questions in John 21. If question 10 touches on prejudice, don’t press; let those who want to speak do so.
Principles
The leader is not a teacher, but someone walking alongside everyone else.
Give everyone a chance to speak. If some talk a lot, you can gently say, ‘Let’s hear from those who haven’t spoken yet.’
Don’t rush to give answers. If there is silence, wait a few more seconds.
If you can’t answer a question, it’s fine to say, ‘I don’t know — let’s look into it together,’ and come back to it next time.
What is said in the group stays in the group.
At the start, the leader can share their own answer first. Keep it simple and honest.
In the lessons, words in double quotes with a reference are scripture. What the passage does not say, we can only guess; guessing is fine, as long as we say we are guessing.
Don’t press on painful things. If someone becomes upset, stay with them after the meeting; if needed, involve a pastor from their church or a professional counselor.