Content - Bible Study Category

Bible Studies for Every Kind of Small Group

Tue, 08 Jul 2025 18:21:00 GMT

Find the Right Bible Study for Your Group

Choosing the right study can make all the difference for your small group. Whether you're seeking in-depth discipleship, practical ministry tools, or studies designed for a specific demographic, we’ve got something for every group. Check out these trusted resources to help your group grow in faith.

How Studying the Bible Together Builds Vital Spiritual Community

Thu, 01 Jun 2023 14:39:00 GMT

How Studying the Bible Together Builds Vital Spiritual Community

Terry Wildman on the Making of the "First Nations Version," a New Indigenous Bible Translation

Fri, 21 Oct 2022 15:34:00 GMT

Years ago, Terry Wildman encountered a version of the New Testament in Hopi, but he could not find anyone who could read it. For so many Natives, understanding their own languages is a skill that has been lost because of colonization, yet reading the Bible in modern-day translations still leaves something to be desired. That experience planted a seed in Terry that eventually became the First Nations Version of the New Testament that reflects the oral storytelling of Native cultures. In this interview, you’ll learn about the collaboration between representatives from multiple Native tribes and better understand why certain words resonate more strongly for Native readers (or can even potentially cause trauma and need to be avoided).

Can you tell us the origin story of how you came to translate the First Nations Version?

Terry Wildman: As I began to learn about my Native heritage and visit places where Native people were, Creator called me out into the Arizona-New Mexico area, and I connected with a ministry up on the Apache Reservation. I was so surprised that there seemed to be extraordinarily little of the culture in the Native churches on the reservation. It was like the only thing Native about them seemed to be that some of them spoke their language. Then we got an invitation to pastor an American Baptist church, on the Hopi Indian Reservation, at a mission that was over 100 years old. It had been founded about 100 years earlier. I found myself living more closely among very traditional people, and I felt I had a lot to learn. But one thing I learned as the pastor was that we had a storage room in the fellowship hall. And in the storage room, I opened a box. I got curious, snoopy; you know? “What's in here?” Because we were reading the NIV (New International Version) Bibles in our churches. And we used to joke about it: NIV, "New Indian Version." Because so many of the Native churches were using the NIV Bible. But what happened was, I found a box of New Testaments translated into the Hopi language. And I was so excited. I thought, "Oh, man, I wonder how this translation works. I'll get somebody to read it for me."

I found a box of New Testaments translated into the Hopi language. And I was so excited. I thought, "Oh, man, I wonder how this translation works. I'll get somebody to read it for me." And that was an awakening right there. Because I discovered that no one could read it.

And that was an awakening right there. Because I discovered that no one could read it. No one in our church could read it. No one in other churches could read, I couldn't find anyone. And I discovered later the reason was that in the boarding schools, they never taught us, Hopi, they taught us English. They didn't teach us how to read these translated Bibles. Later, we found out that across Turtle Island, which we call North America, this was true. Most of our Native people cannot don't speak their language, let alone read their language. I talked to a traditional or, a friend who's a Native Navajo. And he told me that 1-2%, maybe 1%, could read the Bible in Navajo. That was the beginning of, wow, you know, this is eye-opening. And so, the seeds of an idea that we needed a translation in English began to germinate you know, be planted, I should say. They weren't germinating yet, but it was planted.

Can you give us a little insight into what it was like for you to work with a translation council to produce this version?

Wildman: So, what happened was the President and CEO at OneBrook Wayne Johnson, contacted us, and we agreed to work together. We began a partnership with this Canadian organization, which is a member of the Wycliffe Global Alliance of translators. They suggested that we put together a council. So, we decided on twelve Native people, and because Darlene and I had been traveling for years and years on the road, making relationships across this Turtle Island, North America, I knew a lot of people.

When we got the council involved, I had to submit all my work to the council. We had to work together and figure out how we were going to word things. And because there are so many different tribes and so many different tribal cultures, we had to figure out commonalities between all our tribal people and use some of the more common ways of speaking more traditionally, as the elders might speak. We went through over 100, almost 200, key terms, and we decided together, here's how we're going to say those in English. Here's how we're going to translate "kingdom." Here's how we're going to translate "sin." Here's how we're going to translate "priest,". It’s still in English, but here are the word choices we're going to use that relate to our Native people.

Can you give an example of some of that?

Wildman: Absolutely. One of the things that's happened because of the boarding school experiences and the church involvement in those boarding schools there are some words that trigger a defensiveness for Native people. And those words have to do with, for example, "church." So, we said, okay, we don't want to use the word "church." And besides, does anybody know what the word "church" means? Where did that word come from anyway, even in English? Does anybody know "c-h-u-r-c-h" it only has meaning because we grew up as believers knowing, that it wasn't the building, it's a gathering of people. People don't know that, and the word "church" has colonial baggage attached to that. So, instead, we decided on a relational term for this ecclesia, this gathering we're the called-out ones, we're being called out of the world into a family. So, we call the church the "sacred family," Creator's sacred family. And in the back of the translation, we have a glossary of why we translated a lot of these especially important words.

The reality of Christian publishing, and publishing more broadly, is that Native voices are still so underrepresented. Can you give us your thoughts on how the writing and publishing journey might be different for Native authors?

Wildman: You know, that's an amazing question. And I don't even know if I have the answer for you for that. I do know that a lot of Native people have a lot to share. And that our sharing has been undervalued within the body of Christ. And our culture has been undervalued. And so, I think what it will take to work with Native people, and Native authors is humility. It requires the dominant culture to say, "We don't know who you are; we are depending on you to tell us who you are. And we're not going to tell you how to do that. We're going to let you do it in the way that's most meaningful to you." And that's one thing I appreciated when InterVarsity Press decided to publish this. They assured me that they would not be trying to reword it for us, they would let us do the wording. They would only look at sentence structure, for any errors. And if they found anything, they would just ask questions, and let us make the decision. And that's exactly what happened.

A Conversation on Savoring Scripture with Andrew Abernethy

Thu, 14 Jul 2022 15:34:00 GMT

Drawing from his experience training students to study the Bible, Andrew Abernethy provides a holistic six-step method for Bible study in his book Savoring Scripture. In this interview, he shares how Christians can rediscover the joy in reading Scripture in a way that combines textual analysis and the transformation work of the Holy Spirit.

What are some factors that cause people to lose their enjoyment in reading Scripture?

Andrew Abernethy: Helping readers kindle joy in reading the Bible depends entirely on why we read the Bible. Often, we settle for making Bible study an end in itself. We master factoids. We check “read the Bible” off the to-do list of our guilty evangelical consciences. We draw on academic training to discern what a passage might have meant originally. Over time, our enjoyment diminishes. What we lose sight of is that the Bible is a means but not the end. The aim of reading the Bible is to savor and respond to the living God who makes himself known and speaks through Scripture today.

What sorts of people do you think will appreciate Savoring Scripture?

Abernethy: My sense is that lots of professors see a gap between academic biblical studies and spiritual formation. In most books on how to read the Bible, the focus is on figuring out what a passage meant historically. As a result, students end up feeling like they are on a remote island, disconnected from God and what God might have to say to us today. Professors will be glad to have a resource to assign to students that will help their faith soar rather than sour as they also develop foundational academic skills in Bible reading.

Alongside its use in classrooms, I hope churches will value Savoring Scripture too. Many in the church feel lost when reading the Bible. They have been told, “read your Bible,” yet they receive no guidance on how to do so profitably.

You present six steps for reading the Bible. How did you choose and develop these steps?

Abernethy: The six steps (posture, flow, context, whole Bible, savor God, respond faithfully) stem from my years of teaching biblical interpretation and my own personal journey. Early in my teaching career, I followed the standard academic path of helping students develop skills in reading a passage according to its flow of thought and genre (step 2) and in factoring in historical and book contexts (step 3). Given my interests in biblical theology, I next began including more guidance on how to read a passage in light of the entire Bible, centered on Jesus (step 4). Eventually, steps 1, 5, and 6 fell into place for me after a season of spiritual renewal through Bible reading while on a sabbatical. If I wanted to teach students to read the Bible according to its own nature as God’s Word, then I needed to include our dependence on God to make himself known (step 1). I sought to offer clarity on the aim of communion with God through Scripture (step 5). I then moved away from the idea of application, which seems so impersonal and human centered, to speak of responding faithfully to what God is saying through his Word today (Step 6). Pretty soon after these steps fell into place I sensed God calling me to write this book.

Have you found that any of the steps particularly resonate with students? Are any particularly challenging?

Abernethy: By far, the steps my students love the most are 1, 5, and 6. They realize these are a bit outside of the academic box, and they love being able to integrate academic study with engagement with God in real life.

The most difficult step tends to be reading a passage for its flow of thought (step 2). Students are so used to picking bits and pieces from a passage that they find it challenging to follow its flow and see what the passage is driving it. This might be the most time-intensive step, yet students regularly speak of it as the most important.

Your process begins with our posture in reading Scripture, which should include teachability and childlikeness. Why are these important?

Abernethy: Think of it this way. The Pharisees and scribes of Jesus’s day knew the contents of the Bible more than any of us today. Yet, they were completely off the mark because they assumed they had Scripture figured out. Jesus counters this assumption. He praises God for making himself known to “children” rather than to the “wise and learned.” If we start the process of reading Scripture from a posture of teachability and childlikeness, this will position all of us—whether veteran or newbie Bible readers—to hear from God throughout the rest of the steps.