The CHARA Bible Study Guide can be used as your go-to guide for personal or group Bible study on its own or as a supplement to any existing guided Bible study.

The hope and intent of the CHARA Bible Study Guide is to equip you to learn how to study the Bible. It does this by providing a handful of Bible study questions that fall in the categories of Context, History, Author, Research, and Apply, that you can use on any passage in the Bible.

The guide works well in groups with varying backgrounds and beliefs because it is designed to help you discover the original intended meaning and purpose of the text, which can diffuse tension when differences in personal interpretation arise.

When it comes to what to study in the Bible, your options are just about limitless. Should we study the Old Testament or New Testament? One of the Bible’s 66 books? Or a portion of one or more books? A topic, such as hope or anxiety? A theme, like redemption or faith? Or a genre, such as psalms or parables?

In the midst of all these options, the question looming in every Bible study leader’s mind is “What should we study!?!”

As we see it, there are two main options:

1. THE BIBLE – Simply read and study the Bible on our own without a guided Bible study. Many of us are so used to going from one guided Bible study to the next, that we tend to forget that we can just open our Bibles together and read the Bible on its own terms. A skill that is honed with practice over time, but it sure is worth it when you give yourself permission to let the Holy Spirit lead and give a fresh perspective and added clarity to even the most familiar of passages.

The Challenge:

This poses a couple challenges to a leader. One is figuring out what questions to ask your group each week. This takes more time upfront and may sound intimidating to some. Another challenge is that without guidance people’s interpretations of scripture may be different from each other or they may not align with the Bible’s intended meaning.

How The Chara Project Can Help:

The CHARA Bible Study Guide was designed to help you know what questions to ask when studying the Bible to discover the original intended meaning and purpose of the text. The beauty of leveraging the CHARA Bible Study Guide is that you can use it to study whatever you want! It also works well in groups with varying backgrounds and beliefs because it helps diffuse tension when differences in personal interpretation arise, as everyone learns to read the Bible on its own terms.

If you choose to simply use your Bible paired with the CHARA Bible Study Guide to facilitate your group Bible study, pick out a handful of CHARA questions that will help unlock the original message and meaning. Ask questions in the order that makes the most sense to guide the conversation. Feel free to rephrase and adapt the questions to the passage you’re studying. Just note the Key Principles to ensure Biblical accuracy.

For examples on how the Chara Project team uses the CHARA Bible Study Guide with different passages, check out the CHARA in Action Bible Studies and the Chara Project podcast available on YouTube and most podcasting sites.

2. A GUIDED BIBLE STUDY – A guided Bible study walks you through a book, section, theme, or genre of the Bible, by providing daily or weekly readings and questions. These often include group discussion questions and sometimes a short video to accompany each week’s lesson, making them an easier and more accommodating choice for many leaders and groups.

The Challenge:

We have found, however, that many guided Bible studies are predominantly written to an audience that the author assumes already has an understanding of concepts and language used throughout the Bible. This familiarity doesn’t always exist in groups with people newer to the Bible or from different faith backgrounds. Also keep in mind that although your neighbors may be open to exploring the Bible, they don’t necessarily know or trust the same Bible teachers and authors you’ve grown to love.

How The Chara Project Can Help:

Because the Chara Project is passionate about studying the Bible with neighbors, our resources are designed for anyone, regardless of faith background or Biblical knowledge. Our aim is not to tell you WHAT to think, but HOW to think – keeping the focus solely on what the Bible says, not what others say.

Because of this, we provide two options for you to consider as you use guided Bible studies:

1. Supplement any guided Bible Study with the CHARA Bible Study Guide – When desired, the CHARA Bible Study Guide can be used alongside any guided Bible study to ask additional questions that help your group dive deeper into scripture and stay focused on its original purpose, as well as tackle any assumptions that we may bring to the text.

If you choose to supplement your guided Bible study with questions from the CHARA Bible Study Guide, pick out a handful of CHARA questions that will help unlock the original message and meaning of the passage more deeply. Feel free to rephrase and adapt the questions to the passage you’re studying. Just note the Key Principles to ensure Biblical accuracy.

2. Access the Chara Project Guided Bible Studies – Chara Project Bible Studies are designed to not only help you uncover the original intended meaning of the text, but also learn how to study the Bible in the process. These Bible studies don’t assume you have a baseline knowledge of the Bible, so they will meet your group where they are at, as they discover God’s Word for themselves.

1. 1. CHARA in Action Bible Studies – 30+ individual Bible passages that leverage questions from the CHARA Bible Study Guide to uncover some of the more popular and misunderstood verses in the Bible. Think of these as mini-Bible studies, pre-built just for you, so you can mix and match which Bible passages you think would be best for your group. A corresponding video/podcast is available to help guide you through the answers if you get stuck.
   2. The Parables Bible Study – a 13-week study on some of the well-known and not-so-well-known parables that Jesus told.
   3. Loving Your Neighbor Bible Study – a 3-week companion Bible Study to the Neighbor Guide that looks at 3 passages where we learn from Jesus on how to engage with our neighbor and love them well.
   4. The Upper Room Bible Study – 6-week study on Jesus’ final words to His disciples in John 13-17
   5. Finding Joy Bible Study – 3-week study in three life-altering Biblical passages that will explore how we can find true joy

We’ve learned not to put limits on who we invite to Bible study. God keeps surprising us by bringing new people into our homes and our hearts. Don’t be afraid to invite people outside your faith tradition or who’ve never done a Bible study before. You may be surprised at who is interested in studying the Bible in community.

In Luke 10:27, we see Jesus state the two greatest commandments: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” Immediately following this, Jesus introduces the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37), to challenge His followers to reconsider who their neighbor was and how to love them well, regardless of their differences.

When Jesus came and walked this earth for thirty years He showed us what love looks like. Over and over again in the four gospels, Jesus challenged us to love those outside the comfort of our community.

“If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that.” (Matthew 5:46-47, NLT)

The joy and hope that Jesus offers through the message found in the Bible is available to all, and just as it was back then, some of those most drawn to Jesus might very well surprise you, they might be outside your community (Luke 15:1).

Our prayer is that your group reflects Jesus’ love in such a way that your community expands beyond what you could ever have imagined. If this feels uncomfortable or intimidating at first, we’ve been there.

And, yet, it has been our experience that doing Bible study with people who come with different beliefs, backgrounds, and experiences has provided some of the most rich and purposeful conversations and community. Different perspectives encourage everyone to take a fresh look at the Bible and understand what they believe and why. With humility, we can all focus on that which truly matters – making much of Christ, knowing and glorifying Him, and less of ourselves.

We have all been there. And if we’re honest, there are many days that we still feel like we don’t know enough about the Bible! We’ve come to discover, among other students of the Bible, that the more you know, the more you realize you don’t know. Rather than be discouraged by this news, this should encourage you that studying the Bible is a joyful life-long journey, not a destination.

You don’t have to be a Bible expert to lead a group. Bible study isn’t merely about getting smarter, it’s about life transformation in Christ which manifests as love – loving God and loving others. How well you love speaks louder than how much you know or how well you lead.

That being said, even though you may not have all the answers, it helps to know how to find them. The CHARA Bible Study Guide will teach you what questions to ask when studying the Bible and how to stay focused on the original intended meaning of the text. It serves as a go-to guide to help you find the answers you’re looking for. We also encourage you to seek out a friend or mentor who knows the Bible well.

And, remember, you don’t have to know the answer to every question on the spot. Friends will be okay with you responding, “I’m not sure, but I’d love to look into that and get back to you.” This encourages further thought and conversation and gives others the freedom to do the same when they don’t have answers.

Our advice to the leader of a group that struggles to talk is to listen. Yes, listen. We know this may sound a bit absurd. It is, after all, difficult to listen to someone who doesn’t talk. But hang with us and avoid the temptation to fill the space by talking more. Listening is the first step to opening up dialogue and vulnerability within a group. Here are a few things we suggest listening for:

• LISTEN as you take time before you start to learn what’s going on in each other’s lives. This social time allows you to better understand where each other are coming from and respond in a wise and helpful way that makes people feel heard and valued. Be patient. Vulnerability takes time and is built on a foundation of trust.
• LISTEN to the responses as you ask a few application or reflection questions related to your Bible study. This allows you to gain a glimpse into what God is showing them in His Word and steer the conversation toward what is already on their hearts and minds.
• LISTEN for ways to relate to your group and vulnerably share how a similar experience made you feel. Just be careful not to hijack the conversation, but instead invite others back in by asking if they’ve experienced anything similar.
• LISTEN for threads to pull on – casual statements that indicate there’s a whole lot more going on that’s not being said- and gently inquire with, “Tell me more about that” or “What is causing you to feel ______ (anxious, overwhelmed…)?”
• LISTEN to observations, comments, and questions and ask follow up questions that will encourage them to explain further, like “I’m really interested in what you’re saying, can you help me understand what you mean?” This gives people who are quieter or more reserved permission to open up and share with the group. It may also inspire others to share their perspective or thoughts as well.

A few other tips that may be worth trying include:

• Break the ice with a short video (some Bible studies have a weekly video and discussion questions to get things started),
• Ask if someone else would like to read the Bible passage, or what their Bible translation says.
• Ask if anyone has any helpful notes in their Study Bible to share, especially if there’s a part that is difficult or confusing.
• Check out the Neighbor Guide for more insights on how to engage your neighbors who don’t feel comfortable sharing in a group.

Let’s face it, some tangents can be helpful or insightful, but many are not. In this case, your goal is to steer the conversation back to the Bible.

If it becomes a habit, try saying, “I’d love to make sure we have time to hear more of your story. Can we find a time to do that later?” or “That sounds really interesting and I’d love to hear more about that later. There are a few more things in the study that I want to make sure we don’t miss before we’re out of time today.”

If a few people are dominating the conversation, look for opportunities to pull quieter people in by asking, “What about you [NAME], have you ever experienced that?” or “What do you think about ______?”

Check out the Neighbor Guide for more insights on how to engage your group if they stray off topic, specifically on how to set clear expectations and center conversations around the Bible (Tip #10).

The more diverse the group, the more diverse the perspectives and opinions. At some point, you will disagree. This is true for all groups, but especially when studying the Bible with people who come with different beliefs, worldviews, cultures, and experiences.

Respectfully listening to others helps people feel known and loved, but does not mean you agree with them. Be willing to accept someone’s point of view as their own by giving people space to process and share without interruption, fixing, or hijacking the conversation.

If someone says something you disagree with, you can listen and say “I’m not familiar with what you’re saying, I’m interested in hearing more about…” and determine whether that conversation would be better served one-on-one later.

Your goal is to focus on curiosity, not criticism and respond with truth and love. The honest truth is that if there’s not a foundation of love and trust, no one is likely to hear anything you say anyway. If you want to have an impact in the lives of others, start by loving them well.

As you experience differences, make sure you have communicated clear expectations and guidelines for your group(see our example guidelines in the Neighbor Guide). Also use the CHARA Bible Study Guide to help ask questions that diffuse tension when differences in personal interpretation arise, and draw out the original Biblical meaning and purpose of a passage.

Check out the Neighbor Guide for more insights on how to engage your neighbors that may disagree or have a different perspective.