Group leader’s guide

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Rooting Path · How to Read the Bible · Lesson 3: Every Verse Has a Home

This lesson in one sentence: A verse needs to be put back in its home: the surrounding verses, the whole book, and to whom it was written.

Timing (about 60 minutes)

Opening5 min
Read Together10 min
Practice Together15 min
Discussion20 min
This Week5 min
Pray for One Another5 min

Opening

Have you ever had your words taken out of context? How did it feel?

Read Together

¹⁰But I rejoice in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your thought for me; in which you did indeed take thought, but you lacked opportunity. ¹¹Not that I speak because of lack, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content in it. ¹²I know how to be humbled, and I also know how to abound. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret both to be filled and to be hungry, both to abound and to be in need. ¹³I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. ¹⁴However you did well that you shared in my affliction.
Phil 4:10–14 · WEB

Give diligence to present yourself approved by God, a workman who doesn’t need to be ashamed, properly handling the Word of Truth.
2 Tim 2:15 · WEB

Practice Together

Split into three small groups, each taking one of Jer 29:11, Matt 18:20 and Rom 8:28, and read five or six verses on either side in the Bible. After five minutes, come back and each group reports: to whom was it written? In what situation? Back in its home, does it mean the same?

Discussion

“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Phil 4:13)—back in its home, how has your understanding of this verse changed?
Paul wrote ‘content’ in chains. Which situation tests your contentment most?
Of the three circles (the surrounding verses, the whole book, to whom it was written), which do you most often miss?

This Week

This week read Philippians 4 from start to finish, then the first 14 verses of chapter 1: see what situation the man who wrote the word ‘content’ was in.

Each person names when they will read Philippians 4 and 1 this week.

Closing

In pairs, pray one sentence for a kind of ‘need’ your partner is going through.

Tips for the leader

Don’t use ‘taking it out of context’ to criticize any pastor, church or book; talk only about the text itself.
Discussing Rom 8:28 may bring up someone’s own pain. Listen first; don’t rush to comfort them with this verse.

General principles for leaders

The leader is not a teacher but someone who walks alongside everyone.
Give everyone a chance to speak; with someone who talks a lot, you can gently say, ‘Let’s also hear from friends who haven’t spoken yet.’
Don’t rush to give answers. If someone is silent, wait a few more seconds.
For a question you can’t answer, you can say, ‘I don’t know either; let’s look it up together,’ and note it down for next time.
What is said in the group stays in the group.
At the opening, the leader can give their own answer first, showing that it can be simple and honest.

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