Asking Good Small Group Questions: An Example

You can tell me what qualities you like in a dessert all you want, but eventually I’m going to ask you to get specific.

Similarly, laying out principles for good questions to ask in a small group Bible study is all well and good. But leaders need examples for clarity and motivation.

1 Thessalonians 1

Today I’m sharing a Bible study I led on 1 Thessalonians 1 for my church small group. I am far from a perfect example, so please take this simply as one man’s effort to point in a helpful direction.

As evidence of how much I have to learn, I made several improvements to the study in the process of writing this article! Thinking carefully about good questions has been stimulating.

After the study, I’ll explain how these questions illustrate the six characteristics I described in my last post. I’m numbering my questions here in order to make later referencing easier.

Bible Study Plan

Here’s the outline of the study.

1. Launching question: Can anyone tell us about an experience you’ve had sharing your testimony of coming to faith in Christ?
2. Give background on the Thessalonian church. It was a young church!
3. What do you observe about Paul’s thanksgiving in verses 2–3?
   • Follow-up: What is significant about the items Paul mentions?
4. What evidence does Paul give that God has chosen the Thessalonians?
   • Follow-up: Does the power and conviction in verse 5 refer to Paul or the Thessalonians? How do you know?
5. Why does Paul mention God’s choice?
6. Note that Paul is speaking of the Thessalonians’ experience chronologically.
7. What happened to the Thessalonians after the gospel came to them? (See verses 6–7.)
   • Follow-up: What is the difference between the way Paul uses “imitator” and “example”?
8. What is significant about the locations Paul mentions? (See verses 7–8.)
9. What were people saying about the Thessalonians? Why does Paul highlight these things?
10. The main verbs in verse 9–10 are “turn,” “serve,” and “wait.” How are these actions important for young Christians?
    • Follow-up: How are these actions important for more mature Christians?
11. Does Paul intend verses 9–10 to be a summary of the Christian life? How do you know?
12. How does the gospel relate to verses 9–10?
    • Follow-up: How do verses 2–8 relate to verses 9–10?
13. What is Paul’s main point in writing chapter 1? How do you know?
14. What implications does this have for us? What implications does this have for our work making disciples?

Reviewing These Questions

I have tried to write these questions with my list of six characteristics in mind. Let’s see how those qualities affected my questions.

A good question is asked in a natural order.

While my launching question is personal, none of my other questions get personal until the end. I’ve also tried to ask easier, observational questions (like questions 3 and 4) before harder, interpretive questions (like questions 5, 8, or 11).

A good question is honest.

While I have studied this passage quite a bit, I know that others in my group have much to teach me. So I want my questions to be open and inviting (like the follow-up to question 3 and questions 8 and 10). I also avoid fill-in-the-blank questions–it’s actually for this reason that I state some observations (see #6 above) instead of asking about them. I don’t want my group to feel they must read my mind.

A good question is tethered to the text.

In many of my questions, I use specific language from the passage or verse numbers. In other places, when I ask, How do you know?, that is my effort to direct my friends back to the Bible for their reasoning.

I have made room for people to speak from their different perspectives and experiences (see questions 10, 12, and 14). But ideally all such discussion will spring from the words of God.

A good question is understandable.

I’ve tried to avoid long or complicated questions. My longest question above is question 10, and I would ask this twice before inviting responses.

A good question is purposeful.

When putting this study plan together, I wrote down the main point of the passage and then wrote the questions to lead my group toward that conclusion. My hope was that when I asked question 13, my group would have a solid answer.

A good question is prayerfully considered.

In my planning I tried to imagine the responses that each question could provoke. If the question was ambiguous or unclear, I tried to write with more focus. This lead to several inquiries with immediate follow-ups prepared.

I’ve written this before, but it’s worth repeating. Preparing good questions is time-consuming, demanding work.

Encouraging Conversation

This two-post series on good questions is part of a larger effort to help Bible study leaders encourage conversation in their meetings. In my next article, I’ll write about creating an atmosphere within a Bible study that invites interaction.