My church’s small groups started meeting together again last night, and this week I benefited immensely from reading this practical and insightful new book:

Orlando Saer. Iron Sharpens Iron: Leading Bible-Oriented Small Groups That Thrive. Fearn, Scotland: Christian Focus, 2010. 142 pp.

In the opening chapter (which you can read here), Saer explains three pitfalls and four benefits of small group Bible study (pp. 10–22):

Potential Pitfalls of Small Group Bible Study

1. The vertical pushed out by the horizontal: they can turn into little more than social groups.
2. The message sidelined by the method: members can become addicts to one way of encountering God.
3. The blind led by the blind: meetings can become simply opportunities to pool ignorance.

Benefits of Small Group Bible Study

1. A good place to listen to God: each can help the others study the Bible.
2. A good place to talk to God: each can pray for the others in an informed way.
3. A good place to care for one another: each can carry the others’ burdens.
4. A good place from which to reach the lost: members can work together to advance the gospel.