Your First Question at Youth Bible Studies

So you’ve had some food, played a game, prayed and read your passage – now it’s time for the study. What do you do? What’s the first question? How do you start off in a way that sets a direction that will bring these young people on in their walk with God and their relationship with the Bible?

This first question should 1. draw them back into the passage not away from it, 2. leave room for misunderstanding and vulnerabilities, 3. give space for different opinions, 4. not be an excuse for the opening portion of a sermon and 5. simply get them talking as a group.

“This simple question is your chance to establish Bible, group, individuality and agenda – on their terms – in one swoop!”

My first question is always, without exception the same: “What did you notice?”

I might milk it a bit: “So what did you notice, anything at all, what did you like, not like, what sounds cool, what doesn’t make any sense … what jumped out at you, for any reason whatsoever?”

Starting with this question has often meant totally abandoning the rest as we have been jumping around the whole passage through what they noticed well into the evening.

There are some important followups that keep things moving and opening like: ‘why did that jump out?’ or ‘so what do you think that means?’ or ‘how would that look today?’ or ‘can you see anything else in there that points to that? And of course each time something is noticed, you can make it communal, ‘so everybody, what do you think that means?’ or ‘turn to someone else and explain that in your own words’ or ‘does anyone know the answer to that?

This simple question is your chance to establish Bible, group, individuality and agenda – on their terms – in one swoop. Don’t underestimate it’s power and always give it room. Youth Bible Studies are always worth it!