Is your faith feeling routine, tired, or stuck?
If you're a pastor, you may be asking that about yourself. You may be asking it about your church. Prayer has become a habit we don't feel. Bible reading is something on a list. Church is something we attend.
Here's the good news. You don't need a dramatic turning point to start over. A fresh start can begin on any ordinary day.
I've just published a Bible study for small groups that goes with my Fresh sermon series. It's called Fresh: Following Jesus into a Fresh Start. And I think the best way to use it is the way I'd want my own church to: together.
WHERE THE FRESH START BEGINS
The first lesson is Mark 1:16-20. Jesus walks up to four fishermen at their work and says, "Follow me."
Peter, Andrew, James, and John probably thought a lot about what might have been. In their world, boys were sifted out of schooling at every stage, and by their teens only the chosen few stayed on. These four had probably been passed over. Then Jesus came to them on an ordinary day by the lake, and the call asked only one thing: follow him.
That's the big idea of the whole study. A fresh start in life begins the moment we choose to follow Jesus.
Not a new program. Not a better year. A person.
ONE SERIES, EIGHT WEEKS
The study and the sermon series share the same eight passages:
- Follow Jesus (Mark 1:16-20)
- Worship (Isaiah 1:12-17)
- The Word (Acts 18:9-10)
- Courage (Joshua 1:1-9)
- Mission (Matthew 28:19-20)
- Perspective (2 Kings 6:13-17)
- Church (Matthew 16:18)
- Gospel (1 Corinthians 15:1-4)
It starts with the one essential choice and works outward into the rest of life: genuine worship, a fresh approach to the Word, the courage to move forward, a mission where you already live, a perspective shaped by God's presence, a place in the church, and the gospel at the center of it all.
You preach Mark 1 on Sunday. Your small groups open Mark 1 that week. Same passage. Same week. Two different rooms.
WHY I WANT IT TO BE WHOLE-CHURCH
A sermon is one kind of conversation. You talk, and the church listens. That matters.
But people also need to talk back. They need a room where they can say, "I've been going through the motions," and nobody gasps. That's what a small group is for.
When the pulpit and the small groups run on the same passage, each one helps the other. The sermon gives the group something to talk about. The group gives the sermon somewhere to land.
And your Sunday School classes can join in, too. Everyone is in the same eight passages, at the same time.
WHAT'S IN EACH LESSON
Every lesson gives your group:
- A warm-up to get people talking
- A teaching recap
- The full ESV text of the passage
- Discussion questions that move from observation to application
- A closing prayer
- A share-nudge, one thing to tell someone outside the group this week
And each lesson has two "wrestle" questions. These are honest, unresolved questions. For example, in Lesson 1: The rich young man walked away even though he was moral and had done everything right. Why is it so hard to let go of what has given us security, even when we know it isn't enough?
I don't have a tidy answer for that one. That's the point.
A 60-MINUTE LEADER'S GUIDE FOR ANYONE WHO GATHERS PEOPLE
You don't need a seminary degree to lead this. At the back of the book there's a leader's guide for every week: a session goal, prep notes, a timed agenda, alternate icebreakers, and a leader tip.
The tips are practical. In Lesson 1, for instance: "Some people in the room may be far from God or simply tired of trying. Give them room, and don't rush to fix them."
WHEN TO RUN IT
Eight weeks fits neatly into a season. The Fresh series page puts it this way: every church has a season for a fresh start. The beginning of a new year. A new chapter after a move of God. A moment when the congregation is ready to begin again.
My suggestion (and it's only that): choose your season, put the eight Sundays on the calendar, and give your small group leaders the study before the series begins so they can read ahead.
READ LESSON 1 FREE
I put the whole first lesson on the study's page, along with its full leader's guide. Read it. Try it with a group. If it helps, the rest of the study is waiting.
The study is in print on Amazon. The free first lesson and the week-by-week plan are on the Fresh Bible study page. The sermon outlines are in Sermon Outlines for Busy Pastors: Fresh Sermon Series (also in Volume 3 and Sermon Series Box Set 1).