How to do a Discovery Bible Study (DBS)

A Discovery Bible Study (or a DBS) are simple Bible studies that help your non-believing friends discover who Jesus is and how they should respond to Him. This resource is broken into four sections:

  1. DBS Guide

  2. 7 Stories of Hope (suggested DBS passages)

  3. DBS Group Guidelines

  4. What’s Next?

DBS GUIDE

1) LOOK BACK

Ask each other:

  • What are you thankful for?

  • What is causing you stress?

  • Retell story from the previous meeting.

  • What did you do differently because of this story?

2) Read the new passage

One person reads the new Bible passage out loud, and the rest follow along. Someone else retells the story and others fill in what is missing.

Ask these questions:

  • What did you like about this passage?

  • What challenged or inspired you most?

  • Did anything concern you? Why?

  • What does this passage teach us about Jesus?

  • How would you describe who He is/ what He is like from this passage someone else?

  • Discuss what this passage says about humans (i.e. What do we learn about who we are: our nature, our sin problem, examples to avoid or follow, etc.)

  • If these things are true about Jesus, what do you think a proper response would be?

  • What would be keeping you from following Jesus today?

3) Set some goals

Ask each other:

  • What does this passage demand of me? (What truth has caught the attention of my heart or mind? How does God want to transform my heart, thinking, habits, relationships? What do I need to do in response to this passage?)

  • Who could I tell about what we learned about God from this passage?

  • Who can I invite to study the Bible with us?

7 stories of hope (dbs passages)

These passages point specifically to the hope of the gospel: who Jesus is and what He came to do. Read one per session.

  1. Luke 7: 36-50: Hope for the Rejected

  2. Luke 18:9-17: Hope for the Non-Religious

  3. Luke 19:1-10: Hope Changes things

  4. Matthew 18:21-35: Hope Forgives

  5. Luke 22:66 – 23:25: Hope Through Death

  6. Luke 24: 1 - 20: Hope Rose from the Dead

  7. Luke 15: 11-32: Hope is Waiting for You

Group guidelines

Read these five guidelines to the group as you begin the first three or four sessions.

  1. Everyone shares in sentences, not paragraphs.

  2. Focus only on what this passage is saying, not on other passages.

  3. Focus only on what this group is seeing.

  4. Give people time to respond. Silence is OK.

  5. The facilitator should facilitate discussion, not teach.

What’s next?

Not ready to follow Christ:

  • If they are not ready to follow Christ before or by the end of the seven meetings, make sure they are still invited into the life of your missional community. Make sure they know they belong even though they don't believe.

  • Invite them to read the Bible on their own and regularly talk with them about what they are learning about God and if they are ready to follow Him.

If they do choose to follow Christ:

  • Weave them into your Missional Community. This is CRUCIAL because they need Biblical Community to help them follow Jesus.

  • Take them through FOUNDATIONS. These are topical studies we have created that will equip new believers in the basics of the Christian Faith. Meet weekly and go through the resources with them until they complete them.

How to use the BibleProject App

As we have been using the app, we wanted to give you some pro tips for navigating through the app easily. The app is broken into five major sections. We will break down each major section below:

  • Journey takes you on a guided reading tour through the first five books of the Bible to help you explore the five books in various MOVEMENTS. Movements are collections of stories/ poems within a specific book that are carefully arranged together in a meaningful way. Movements are how the original Biblical writers organized each book to communicate the main points, and help people see the story of the Book.

    In Journey, you will see how the original audience would have read the Bible, tracing important themes throughout each movement to see the unified storyline of the Bible that leads to Jesus. As you read, you will also have access to helpful videos and podcasts for you to dive deeper and capture your imagination for the Bible!

    Make sure you watch the first two videos in Journey or this section will not make sense: Movements & Links

    NOTE: This is an exciting, fresh, and ancient way to read the Bible! However, if you are brand new to the Bible, we would encourage you to check out one of our curated plans below:

    SUGGESTED READING PLANS

  • Skills are specific studies in the Bible that will help you develop reading skills to experience the Bible the way it was designed. This section is divided into three subsections:

    1. Patterns: Trace similar words, images, and themes throughout the Bible that form patterns. Dig deeper into these patterns that connect the entire Biblical story.

    2. Style: The Bible is ancient literature written in many different styles. Learn more about these specific styles to develop the skills to read each part of the Bible well.

    3. Structure: the Bible is literary art, and each book is crafted in a way to contribute to the entire storyline of the Bible. See how recognizing structure can bring the whole story to life.

  • This is the built in Bible that you can use for free! Once you click into this section, at the top of the screen, you can select from the two major sections of the Bible (the Old and New Testament). Within each testament, you can select the individual book.

    • Pro tip: From the three options "Traditional, Hebrew, or Storyline", we recommend Storyline. This feature orders the books in a way that makes following the story of the Bible easier.

    You can also change the translation of the Bible. Out of the current translations available, we recommend the NIV or NASB.

    Lastly, BibleProject has included Resource References at the beginning of many chapters and on many verses. You will see if there is a resource attached to a specific chapter/ verse if it is highlighted in BLUE. These resources include helpful videos, podcasts, and blog posts to better understand the context of what you're reading. We use all of these resources to dive deep into the Bible!

  • This section includes all of BibleProject's video library organized into multiple subsections:

    • Recommended videos

    • How to read the Bible series

    • Theme videos

    • Word Studies

    • Book Collections

    • Visual Commentaries

    • Book Overview Videos (separated by both Old and New Testaments)

  • This section includes their entire podcast library organized into multiple different topics. Jump in to explore your curiosity!

  • Click the 🔍 icon in the app, and type in the passage you are reading. You will then be given specific videos, blog posts, and podcasts to help you with whichever book you are in.

 

Suggested Bible Reading Plans

Reading plans can you help you know where to start in the Bible and help keep you on track. However, there are 1000s of plans out there, so which one do you choose? We have curated a list of our favorite plans broken into various categories. Every plan below has short videos from the BibleProject to help you understand context.

  • As you are reading, make sure you are studying the text using the REAP Method. We also would highly suggest the following tools to help you along the way:

    • BIBLEPROJECT BLOG: these are short blogs/ commentaries written by the BibleProject team that will help you go deep into any given book you are studying. Click the 🔍 icon on the webpage, and type in the passage you are reading. You will then be given specific videos, blog posts, and podcasts to help you with whichever book you are in.

    • BIBLEPROJECT APP: this is their website put into an app. It houses BibleProject's entire video/ podcast/ blog library. Read our tips on how to use this incredible resource.

 

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Reading plans

  • INTRODUCTION TO THE CHRISTIAN FAITH

    This 8 day reading plan is designed to introduce the main beliefs of Christianity through a study of the overarching storyline and themes of the Bible.

    Click Here

    HOW TO READ THE BIBLE PLAN

    The Bible is the most influential book in human history, but what is it exactly? This 19 day reading plan is designed to introduce you to the Bible and its unique design, various genres, and unified story.

    HTRTB Plan

    JOURNEY THROUGH LUKE & ACTS

    This 40 day plan is broken into two parts. Combined, they take you through the life and teachings of Jesus (Luke) and the start of the early Jesus Movement (Acts).

    Part 1: Luke

    Part 2: Acts

  • NEW TESTAMENT IN A YEAR

    This Plan will lead you through the New Testament in one year. Each book includes videos specifically designed to enhance your understanding and engagement with God's precious Word.

    NT in a year plan

    F260 READING PLAN

    The F-260 is a two hundred and sixty day reading plan that highlights the foundational passages of Scripture that every disciple should know. This plan does not include the BibleProject Videos, but you can easily access them on their website or app. See note at the beginning of this page.

    F260 Plan

    ONE STORY THAT LEADS TO JESUS

    This plan takes you through the entire Bible in a year, incorporating over 150 animated videos from BibleProject to engage you in the Bible’s brilliant literary design and flow of thought.

    One Story Plan

  • READ SCRIPTURE PLAN

    This is an app developed by ReadScripture in collaboration with the BibleProject. It provides a similar layout to the "One Story that Leads to Jesus" plan, but allows you to take it at your own pace. Just go to settings to turn on the self-paced feature. Also, if you want to go DEEP into the Bible, make sure to take their "Scripture Labs" on the app.

    Read Scripture Plan

    JOURNEY | BIBLEPROJECT APP

    ourney takes you on a self-paced guided reading tour through the first five books of the Bible to help you explore the five books in various MOVEMENTS. Go beyond chapters and verses to experience sections of Scripture intended to be understood together.

    This is an exciting, fresh, and ancient way to read the Bible! However, if you are brand new to the Bible, we would encourage you to complete one of the "New to the Bible" plans above first.

    Journey Plan

  • THE WISDOM OF PROVERBS

    God’s own wisdom has been woven into the fabric of the universe, and you are invited to participate. This 32-day plan will walk you through the Proverbs step by step as you train your heart to discern the wise way forward.

    Proverbs Plan

    THE CHARACTER OF GOD

    Discover the trustworthy character of God in this study on the foundational description of God's attributes found in the book of Exodus.

    Character of God Plan

    LIVING IN EXILE

    The books of Daniel and Esther present two complementary perspectives on what it means to be obedient to God while in Exile. Both figures confront their foreign rulers, but in very different ways. In this seven-day plan, you’ll see how God rescues his people and brings hope in some of their darkest historical moments.

    Exile Plan

    GOD’S HEART FOR JUSTICE

    This reading plan will lead you through a brief overview of justice in the Bible, examining what justice is, as well as why and how followers of Jesus should pursue justice today.

    Justice Plan

    TRUSTING GOD THROUGH SUFFERING

    How can we trust God even when we suffer unfairly? Join us for this six-day reading plan to reflect on Job’s story and discover what it looks like to trust God's wisdom even as we face difficult times.

    God & Suffering Plan

 

Prayer Hexagon

This framework guides us beyond our habitual prayers into prayers of adoration, confession, intercession, petition, guidance and warfare, all declaring our utter dependence on God. Don't rush this time! Labor in prayer for your non-believing friends, for the needs of your community/ church, etc.

 
 

NOTE: Pray through every category one at a time. After everyone has had a chance to pray the category, move on to the next. Have someone facilitate, using the brief recaps below to explain how the group should pray each category.

Brief Recap of Prayer Hexagon Categories:

  • The Father’s Character - Jesus shows us that we can interact with God in an intimate manner. He is approachable and close to us yet he is also set apart and worthy of all worship. Spend time worshipping God for who He is.

  • The Father’s Kingdom - Pray for God's Kingdom to advance on earth. Pray for your non-believing friends by name to come to faith.

  • The Father’s Provision- Make requests to God for any needs you or the group has. We can trust that He will provide for our needs.

  • The Father’s Forgiveness - Since you have spent time confessing specific sin already, spend this time reminding each other of the Gospel and the Father's forgiveness and love for sinners. There is nothing you have done or will do that separate you from Him because He has paid the debt for ALL sins, so follow Christ with everything you have! He's worth it!

  • The Father’s Guidance - Pray that God will guide us far from sin and temptation as we seek to His Kingdom in this world.

  • The Father’s Protection - Pray that God would protect us from spiritual warfare as we are doing His mission here on earth.

How to Share Your Faith Naturally and Effectively.

Declaring the gospel makes some of us excited, while some of us extremely nervous. Our hope in this resource is to help equip you with simple ways and steps to make evangelism a natural rhythm of your life. This resource is broken into four sections:

  1. How to identify your mission: Oikos

  2. How to share the gospel

  3. How to get into spiritual/ gospel conversations

  4. How to continue the conversation after the gospel is shared

identify your mission: “oikos” List

Oikos (oy’-kos) in Greek means “family, household” or network of relationships. All of us, whether we are new to a city, or have lived there for a while, have a network of relationships (even if you are unfamiliar with their names!). We live in apartments with neighbors, go to the same coffee shops or gyms, have co-workers, etc. In discipleship group, you will regularly be asked how conversations with your Oikos are going.

For help, we suggest listing all the names of people in your life who are near to you but far from God. The simplest thing you can do right now is build out a list of around 20 people. If you are struggling to think of 20 names, try using the categories below:

  • First names the Holy Spirit gives you

  • Where you live (neighbors, family members, friends, relatives, mail man/woman)

  • Where you work/ study (co-workers, class mates)

  • Where you shop (Grocery story, restaurants, barber shop/ salon, coffee shops)

  • Where you play (gym, sports leagues, teams, clubs).

How to share the gospel: 3 Circles

While there are many helpful ways to share the good news of Christ with people, we have found the 3 circles to be one of the most comprehensive and simple tools to share the gospel with someone.

How to get into the conversation

There is no secret. Engagement starts with the basic elements of conversation and friendship. Before you engage, pray that God would soften your unbelieving friend’s heart.

Lets that about the different layers that make up a person’s life. The first and most basic layer is superficial commonalities and interests. This includes simple things like sports, weather, where you live, etc.

The next layer includes things like their story, family, lies, opinions, etc. Believe it or not, most people don’t have hesitation sharing this with you… they probably have a blog!

The next, deeper layer is thoughts on religion, hurts, hopes, etc. While this is typically a more guarded area of life, it’s also a universal part of the human experience.

The final layer is beliefs about God and reality - the core of how and why people live the way they do, whether they acknowledge it or not. As it did with us, this is where the gospel needs to challenge and change our unbelieving friends.

 

But how do we get there? (Spiraling to the gospel)

Out of a genuine love and affection for the lost, we start just like any other friendship-­‐we get to know them. We take the time to get to know them, spiraling in layer by layer, by simply asking questions. This can happen in one conversation or over the course of several conversations. The point is we want to get to the core, but we don’t want to aggressively intrude, treating them as a project.  

When played out in real life, this relationship building begins to spiral to the gospel, rather than leapfrog the person. And if ever we have gotten to a level of discomfort for the unbeliever, we can easily adjust, rather than alienate.   

As we seek to win our unbelieving friends for Christ, let’s remember to keep it simple. Pray for them, get to know them and appreciate their layers, but most of all, they need to hear the gospel.

how to introduce the gospel

In order to introduce the gospel, I have found a lot of success with the question, “In your experience, what would you say is the main teaching of Christianity?” Because I have spent a lot of time with this person and the topic of religion has been broached, this is not an awkward question. It’s really just asking their opinion. Inevitably, their answer will involve being a good person and MAYBE something to do with Jesus. It’s a good opportunity to ask them if you can share.

Examples of questions in each layer:

LAYER 1: Weather? What do you do for fun? Where are you from? Sports? Hobbies? Entertainment? Technology? Food? Aches and pains? Health?

LAYER 2: How long in our city? Like it here? Family here? What do you do for a living? Where are your parents living? What is your family life? Sisters, brothers? What’s your place in your family? What was it like growing up in your family? Parents still together? Get along with your siblings?

LAYER 3: What religious tradition? What denomination? What was that life? Are you still practicing? What happened? What does your family think?

Transition to layer 4: “From your experience, WHAT WOULD YOU SAY IS THE MAIN TEACHING OF CHRISTIANITY?”

Layer 4: Do you mind if I show you the main teaching of Christianity from the Bible? (Share 3 Circles) What is God like? How can you know? What is man’s problem? What is the solution? Who/ what if your authority?

Keys to remember:

  • Try, and be willing to fail!

  • Don’t limit your evangelism to people you know your “OIKOS”. You don’t have to be BFFs with the person. This process can happen over time, or in 10 minutes (Ethiopian eunuch, guy in Walmart parking lot.)

  • Don’t only share “if you feel led.” Look for opportunities and MAKE opportunities. Be proactive in making opportunities, and reactive to where the Spirit leads!

How to continue a spiritual conversation

At this point, if the person has not expressed faith in Jesus, you need to continue the conversation. Here are some suggestions:

1. DISCOVERY BIBLE STUDY (DBS)

One of the best things we can do with our non-Christian friends is to invite them and their friends to read God’s Word with us. This is called a Discovery Bible Study (or a DBS). These are simple Bible studies that help your non-believing friends encounter who Jesus is and how they should respond to Him.

2. IF THEY RECEIVE CHRIST

  • YOUR FIRST STEP is to weave them into your Missional Community rhythms so they can start Practicing the Way of Jesus in community!

  • Take them through FOUNDATIONS. These are topical studies we have created that will equip new believers in the basics of the Christian Faith. Meet weekly and go through the resources with them until they complete them.

3. NO DESIRE TO FOLLOW OR LEARN MORE

Even if the person expresses no desire to follow Christ or no desire to even meet with you again, the gospel appointment gives you the opportunity to state where you stand and demonstrate the fact that you are a safe person with whom he/she can talk about faith.

Weaving them into your Missional Community could be an appropriate next step so they can see Christian community in a safe, neutral space.

Concluding thoughts

  • Care about evangelism in front of your family. Pray for your neighbors with your children that your neighbors would love Jesus.

  • Be persistent. Be winsome, friendly, and persistent. Assume that God is letting the truth sit until just the right time to save them.

  • Be friends. Just because your non-believing friends are not Christians, don’t forsake being friends with them! Jesus was a friend of sinners! (Matthew 11:16–19; Luke 15:1–4; Luke 19:10).

  • Know where to look for answers. There are a lot of websites and books that you can reference when people ask tough questions (www.carm.org is a great place to start.

  • Teach others to do the same. Model evangelism for others. This stuff is caught more than it is taught. Remember what Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 2:2 what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful people who will be able to teach others also.”

  • Keep trying. Keep praying. Keep trying. And pray some more. Beg God to save people. It is His delight that others worship His son. So don’t stop asking, and hold Him to it! (Luke 11:9-10)

CALEB SPRINKLE | Discipleship Pastor

NOTE OF REFERENCE

Many thanks go to Todd Engstrom and The Austin Stone Church, Austin Texas, for allowing us to use this section from their Missional Community Leader Field Guide for use by Life Church of Charlotte.

Ulterior Motives vs. Ultimate Motives

One of the biggest hangups we struggle with in the process of creating gospel appointments or having gospel conversations is the feeling that we’re being disingenuous or dishonest. In other words, we don’t want to bring up Christ, because we don’t want the person we’re with to think that the only reason we wanted to spend time with them was so we could get them saved. This is a good thing to be worried about, by the way. We don’t want our friends, coworkers, and neighbors to think the only reason we want to develop relationships with them is just so that we can talk to them about Jesus. And so, more often than not, we think we’re being loving and caring by not bringing Him up. This is where an important distinction needs to be made between ulterior motives and ultimate motives.

Ulterior Motives    

Ulterior motives aren’t good, and they’re what we don’t want to be driven or defined by. This is simply because they cause us to pursue people with one goal in mind, and then enable us to ditch them once that goal is (or isn’t) accomplished. I’ve met some of the friendliest people in the world, who ended up being driven by ulterior motives. Initially, they seemed genuinely interested in my life and excited about spending time with me until I didn’t join their “Multi-Level Marketing” team. One guy literally cancelled our lunch and stopped returning my texts when I told him I wasn’t interested in his vision for my financial freedom. That’s disingenuous. That’s anti-gospel and we should avoid that kind of pursuit at all costs. (NOTE: this is not a blanket bash of MLMs. . . just a bash on the kind of tactics that cause us to treat image bearers of God as mere commodities).

Ultimate motives

Ultimate motives, on the other hand, are completely different and actually drive everything we do as followers of Jesus. They are what compel us to seek out the lost and pursue relationships with them, AND keep those relationships even when they do (or don’t) receive Jesus. Jesus, himself, is the perfect example of someone who was driven by ultimate motives. For 3 ½ years he poured his life into a group of 12 men. He taught them, fed them, served them, and ultimately gave his life for them, so that they could live with him in his kingdom. Here’s the thing. . . everything he did with and for them was marked by a single-mindedness and zeal for their eternal well-being. He was motivated by his mission - to seek and save the lost. And yet, at the same time, everything he did for them was marked by humility and faithfulness even when he knew the process would be slow, and all of them would eventually abandon him, (and even betray him!). And yet, Jesus never cancelled his dinner plans with them, or ghosted them on messenger, or unfollowed them on Instagram. Even on the night of his betrayal, he picked up a towel and washed his betrayer’s feet!

SUMMARY

This is what it looks like to be driven by ultimate motives. Like Jesus, we want to see our friends, family, coworkers, and neighbors enter into his kingdom and that desire drives every lunch we schedule, and every conversation we have. It is the most loving, caring, and genuine motive in the world, and anything less is actually uncaring, unloving, and disingenuous!  And yet, at the same time, that ultimate motive compels us to hang in there even if we don’t see immediate results. It compels us to love, serve, and invest with a kind of faithfulness and humility that can only be described as supernatural (empowered by the Spirit). That’s what Jesus did, and that’s what we’ve been called to do as His followers.

BEN DAVEY | Lead Pastor

 
 

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