Leaders

Campus Bible Study Leaders

Welcome to Term 1!

We hope you’re feeling excited for the start of a new year and (God willing) a return to a more ‘normal’ and ‘in-person’ year on Campus! Thank you for partnering with us as leaders on Campus as we together seek to reach UNSW and shepherd God’s flock. We thank God for you and pray for you as you serve in this way – and so do let us know if we can do anything to support you as you lead!

Below is some information that we hope will serve you as you lead – knowing what is happening and what is coming up.

Thanks!

Tim & Kitty

Leading a Bible Study

Bible Studies are an excellent context for teaching, training, pastoral care, community, evangelism, modelling, support, outreach, and… you get the idea 😉 They are a really valuable ministry and we are very thankful for your service in this area!

The general structure will be meeting for an hour each week of Term. In your hour, aim to spend roughly 30–40 mins understanding and applying God’s word, 15 mins in prayer, and a bit of relational bump-time, culture setting, announcements, and buffer time around the edges. See what works for your group.

Alongside this, we would love you to model and encourage engaging with The Bible Talks. You might go together as a Bible Study or join with other groups from your faculty—ask the trainees in your faculty about the options. If some can’t make it, encourage them to catch-up on the Podcast (you can find it on Spotify or Apple Podcasts).

Especially for first years and those new to growth groups, keep reaching out and connecting personally with those in your group. Keep an eye out for all your members! You don’t have to do this alone! Do organise for others in your group to meet with or follow-up with other group members. 

Let’s keep being prayerful in our leadership, and if we can do anything to support you, just ask!

 

Key Dates

  • Week 1 : Welcome Lunches – Tues, Wed, Thurs, 12-1pm in the Quad
  • Week 6 : Flex Week – come for a CBS Day!
  • Week 8 : Easter Mission
  • Mid Year Conference : 22-26 May

Teaching Overview

This term we are working through Colossians in Bible studies and 1 Corinthians 1-7 at The Bible Talks! Both are wonderful books that we pray will teach us deep gospel truths and equip us to faithfully live for our Lord

We’ve chosen Colossians for our Bible studies to help give us all a great foundation for our time at Uni – especially those who are just starting!

In week 1, there’s a pre-written study on Colossians 1:1-14 to help you get started for the term.

Bible Studies: Col 1:1-14

The Bible Talks: 1 Cor 1:1-18

Bible Studies: Col 1:15-23

The Bible Talks: 1 Cor 1:18-31

Bible Studies: Col 1:24-2:5

The Bible Talks: 1 Cor 2

Bible Studies: Col 2:6-23

The Bible Talks: 1 Cor 3

Bible Studies: Col 3:1-17

The Bible Talks: 1 Cor 4

Bible Studies: 1 Cor Topical!!

The Bible Talks: 1 Cor Topical!!

Bible Studies: Col 3:18-4:1

The Bible Talks: 1 Cor 5

Bible Studies: Walk-up evangelism!

The Bible Talks: Easter Bible Talks

Bible Studies: Col 4:2-18

The Bible Talks: 1 Cor 6

Bible Studies: Celebration! (or catch-up study)

The Bible Talks: 1 Cor 7

Training

Leader's Training

We will meet for a combined leaders’ training during the CORE Theology hours in week 1 (Tues 4pm and Thur 2pm). If at all possible, it is expected that you will be at one of these hours. Let a trainee in your faculty know if you can’t make it and we will see if we can arrange another catch-up.

During the rest of term, you will receive ongoing support and training in your faculties.

Core

We expect that you will have completed Strand 4 – Serving Growth Groups by the time you are a Campus Growth Group leader, but if not, do it in your first term of leading (hopefully you have chatted with your ministry trainee about this!). 

Easter Mission

In week 8, we will make the most of Easter for reaching our Campus! The Bible Talks will be a standalone evangelistic series and we will take the week in Bible study to get out on campus for walk-up to share the good news of Easter and invite people to the talks. Do make the most of this great opportunity to share the gospel in your groups – pray in advance and follow-up by sharing stories afterwards. 

1 Timothy 4:15-16

Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress. Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.

English Standard Version

Expectations

Hopefully you all went through this with a trainee before you committed to leading, but if not, these are our broad expectations of Bible study leaders.

“Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress. Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.” 1 Tim 4:15-16

Practice these things (What is your role as a leader?)

  • Pray for your group (pray for the individuals, for your time together, for growth and evangelism – if you desire your group to be or achieve something, pray for it)
  • Attend a leaders’ team and work with your co-leader to faithfully prepare for the study
  • Work out how to care for your group (this doesn’t mean doing everything yourself!) – aim for everyone in your group to be met up with 1-1 at least once in the Term (which may be you and your co-leader diving up the group for one-off catch-ups, or dividing up the group to meet in a number of 1-1s…or even Bible Triplets!)
  • Follow up group members, particularly unbelievers and those not coming regularly
  • Seek to train up other leaders in the group (start by giving them responsibilities in small ways, but it could also mean asking them to lead a study)
  • In a mixed group, the expectation is that the male will lead the studies, rather than the female. Yet they are both in a leadership position, and so are to prepare together and to look after the group together (1 Tim 2:8-15, 1 Cor 11).
  • Engage in personal evangelism – model, pray for and encourage evangelism in your group
  • Be an active and regular member of your local church

Keep a close watch on yourself (What areas of godliness have you been growing in? What are you struggling with?)

  • See 1 Tim 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-9 for expectations of leaders regarding godliness (self-controlled; humble; growing in maturity; not a recent convert; not addicted to alcohol; not greedy; sexual purity). In summary, people who are growing in maturity.
  • Show progress in godliness (1 Tim 4:15-16) – this is to be an encouragement and example to your group
    Be above reproach in your godliness (is there anything that you don’t want exposed?)
  • Don’t date an unbeliever

And on the teaching– these are taken from AFES doctrinal statement (What do you disagree with? What don’t you understand?)

  • The divine inspiration and infallibility of Holy Scripture as originally given and its supreme authority in all matters of faith and conduct.
  • The unity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit in the Godhead.
  • The universal sinfulness and guilt of humanity since the fall, rendering men and women subject to God’s wrath and condemnation.
  • The conception of Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit and his birth by the virgin Mary.
  • Redemption from the guilt, penalty and power of sin only through the sacrificial death, as our representative and substitute, of Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God.
  • The bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
  • The necessity of the work of the Holy Spirit to make the death of Christ effective in the individual sinner, granting him or her repentance towards God, and faith in Jesus Christ.
  • The indwelling and work of the Holy Spirit in the believer.
  • The expectation of the personal return of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Persist in these things (How are you growing yourself and your group?)

  • Commitment to regular personal Bible reading and prayer
  • Commitment to personal evangelism
  • TBT
  • MYC
  • Core theology
  • Core training (if you haven’t done Growth Groups, it’d be great to do that as you lead a Bible study)
  • Faculty leaders’ team where possible, and combined leaders’ training in Wk 1 of each Term (during the Core Theology hours)

CORE
TRAINING

Because the Christian life is about service, CORE Training is a series of practical small group training courses. They will equip you to know and share what you believe, to read the Bible on your own and with others, to lead a Bible Study group, and help you transition from Uni to the rest of your life!

Make the most of your university years to be equipped to serve now and well into the future!

CORE
THEOLOGY

If God has made the world and the Bible tells us how we are to live in the world, theology is all about knowing God truly and learning to view the world with His eyes.

CORE Theology is a fun and engaging weekly seminar that won’t let you sit back with indifference. Wherever you are, we want to stretch your thinking and firm-up your foundation to live rightly in service of God and others!