Biblical Equipping Weekly Guide
Price: $4.95

Biblical Equipping: God's Word in Your World
Price: $11.95

ChristCare Equippers' Sharing the ChristCare Series Kit

Caring Criticism: Building Bridges Instead of Walls
Price: $9.95

Final Gifts: Understanding the Special Awareness, Needs, and Communications of the Dying
Price: $17.00

A Simple Man Sharing God's Word in Biblical Equipping

by Rodney Serbus, Equipper
and ChristCare Group Member

Download a full-color version of this story in Adobe Acrobat PDF format.

First of all I am a simple man who lives a simple life. There is nothing complicated about me. I know that God loves me unconditionally even with all my faults. I am thankful for His mercy and grace. Glory be to God.

When I look at my life now and compare it to where I was even five years ago, I see tremendous differences. I have been reading the Bible more than ever before--there is so much in it. It fills me with a great sense of peace and joy, and I have grown to a new level of understanding what God wants of me. I can surely say I am a happier person.

A significant part of my personal and spiritual growth has been because of the Biblical Equipping¹ I do with my ChristCare Group. The only way I can describe Biblical Equipping is--WOW! It has given me a totally new understanding of God’s Word, and I grow closer to God each time I go through Biblical Equipping.

To give you a taste of how it works, I’d like to walk you through the eight steps of the Biblical Equipping cycle.

Biblical Equipping Together

ChristCare Group members work through steps one through five together in our group meeting.

1. Share

Biblical Equipping begins with group members sharing about themselves with one another. We might share how God led us to a deeper understanding of His Word since the last meeting or our successes and shortcomings in living God’s Word. As we share, we discover we are all alike in so many ways. We grow to a new understanding of ourselves and each other.

2. Hear

In this step, we hear God speaking to us in the Bible. We begin with a moment of silence, during which I pray that God would open my heart and mind to His Word. We then take turns reading the passage for that meeting out loud. Hearing the Scripture passage read aloud helps us to realize that God is speaking to each of us--here and now--through His Word.

3. Explore

The next step for our group is to discuss the meaning and context of the passage in the Bible. As we explore the passage together, God opens new doors of understanding, showing us what the verses meant to the writer or those who first heard them. It is amazing to see how the Holy Spirit helps us take a fresh look at what God is saying to us in the passage.

4. Connect

Connect is how we take to heart what our group has just talked about. We look at what God is saying to us in the passage and connect it to everyday examples and real issues in our lives. My friends offer insights and ideas that help me understand God’s will for my life--and I do the same for them.

5. Prepare

In this step my friends challenge me by asking, “Now Rodney, what are you going to do about what we just read and talked about?” We use the prepare step to look ahead to our time between group meetings and help each other find specific ways that we can “do what pleases God in our lives.” This is always easier said than done, so we support and encourage one another to take the steps God has prepared for us. We want Christ to live in our thoughts, words, and deeds.

Biblical Equipping Apart

ChristCare Group members complete steps six through eight individually between group meetings.

6. Obey

We take the ideas from the prepare step and put them into action in everyday life between our group meetings. This is the most difficult step for me--but also the most rewarding, because I find that what I can’t do, God can. Whenever I obey God’s Word, God works everyday miracles in my life. I give my best to God and am so thankful for God’s mercy and grace when I fall short. Obeying God’s Word makes for a happier life for my family and myself.

7. Meditate

Meditating is setting aside time each day to listen to God and think about what God says to me in His Word. Now meditation is a part of my everyday life. I meditate on the way to work. I meditate after I pray and after reading God’s Word. God usually chooses the best time for me, and these are truly peaceful times when I really come closer to God. Of course, I am more teachable at some times than others, but I know that God is talking to me as I meditate--I just need to listen.

8. Reflect

Reflecting is looking back at where I have obeyed God’s Word and where I have fallen short. Reflect is truly an awesome experience because I get a clearer understanding of what God is doing in my life. Sure, I see how far I need to go, but I also see how far I’ve come by God’s grace. Reflecting is not just looking back, it is also a step forward and upward in my faith journey.

Biblical Equipping has brought me to a new and deeper level in my walk with Christ. I am so thankful and grateful for all that God is doing in my life. Every time I open up my mind and my heart to God’s Word through Biblical Equipping, the Holy Spirit helps me to understand the Bible a little bit better, and I come to know more of God’s will for me.

I am neither a saint nor Biblical scholar. I am a simple man sharing how God is working through Biblical Equipping to help me understand His will for my life. I invite you to join a ChristCare Group so that you can experience more of God’s love, mercy, grace, and peace just as I have. It is all about our Lord Jesus. To Him be all glory and honor.

1   Biblical Equipping is one of the four ChristCare Group activities. The other three are community building and care, prayer and worship, and missional service.

Copyright © 2003 by Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, Urbandale, Iowa. Reprinted with permission by Stephen Ministries St. Louis. Congregations interested in beginning ChristCare may reproduce this article to build awareness and support for ChristCare in the congregation.

Want to learn more about Biblical Equipping?
Download a formatted page about Biblical Equipping (in Adobe Acrobat PDF format) that you can use to provide an overview of the Biblical Equipping process to others in your congregation.

Learn about or order the book
Biblical Equipping: God’s Word in Your World by Rev. David A. Paap. This is one of the books read by ChristCare Group Leaders during their initial training.

Learn about or order the Biblical Equipping Weekly Guide, a colorful and concise handout ChristCare Group Leaders can give to members to help them focus on Biblical Equipping Apart.

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