Free Discussion Guides – Brewery Ministries

On this page you can download the discussion questions we develop and use them to start your own discussion group. Get friends together to discuss at your home, at a restaurant, brewery, coffee shop, or use them at a church for a small group, class or Bible study. Feel free to modify them using Microsoft Word or any PDF editor to meet your specific needs.

Download Free Discussion Guides: Click on a series below

**Jesus’ teachings from the Sermon on the Mount** (Companion questions for Bible Project Podcast): What’s the gist of what Jesus taught? We thought Bible Project’s podcast series was so good that we decided to talk about it! Try these questions out with friends. Listening to the podcast is optional.

**All-Purpose Discussion Guide:** Use these general discussion questions to study any passage of the Bible. The questions will help your group investigate the context and background of any passage and give you the tools to interpret it well.

**Overview of the Bible Discussion Series:** Learn the main storyline and how the Old Testament connects to the New Testament. This series also introduces you to how the Bible’s original audience thought, which can help you understand context so you can learn to interpret the Bible when you read it on your own. Bible knowledge required: None

**Does God Exist? Casual Exploration for Skeptics.** This series takes a philosophical approach to discussing God’s existence, focusing on questions people might have before they feel ready to begin reading the Bible. Bible knowledge required: None

**Exploring Jesus in the Book of Mark.** This series puts Mark’s account about Jesus’ life under a microscope. We’ll look at what Jesus was like, what he taught and why his story matters. We’ll help you trace his story to its roots and see how his peers would have viewed him and his teachings. You’ll learn cultural context and historical background that can help you make an informed decision about who Jesus is. Some Bible knowledge is recommended but not required. For those who are new to the Bible, we recommend starting with the Overview of the Bible series.

**Miscellaneous Scripture Studies.** This series analyzes interesting chapters of the Bible that don’t fit into a larger series.

**Movies Are Spiritual series**. Watch a movie and discuss spiritual themes you see in the film. This series is designed to help you start discussing God with friends in the most casual way possible. It’s light and helps others think about concepts from the Bible without actually cracking open the Bible, which makes it a great warm-up for those who aren’t quite ready to dive into one of our more serious Bible studies just yet. No Bible knowledge required. Go even deeper into the movies by listening to the *Movies Are Spiritual* companion podcast.

More information about our discussion guides:

If you’re interested in having spiritual conversations with others but don’t feel like you have enough knowledge or skills, you’re in luck. Our discussion guides are designed to enable anyone to explore with a friend or group. They’re intended to be a more casual form of spiritual exploration that doesn’t feel like a church service; instead they’re a more collaborative experience that promotes open sharing. We hope they’ll be useful for those who are spiritual and non-religious. Here are some ways you might be able to use the discussion guides:

To explore faith with friends or family at your home, a coffee shop, restaurant or brewery
Start your own casual small group
As a casual alternative to a typical Bible study or Sunday School
Get creative! Come up with a new way to use the discussion guides

These guides are not intended to promote a particular tradition or denomination. Instead, they are written under the assumption that God is speaking to everyone. It might sound weird, but the Bible wasn’t actually written to us! That’s not to say it isn’t relevant. What we mean is, it was written to people living in a different culture and time period. This means in order to get the most out of the story, we need to rediscover the original context so we can see the deeper meaning that might be invisible to a modern reader. A really cool example comes from Mark Chapter 6. There’s a weird story about Jesus walking across a lake on the water. At first it just seems like a story about Jesus having superpowers. Is he one of the X-Men?? All jokes aside, when we dig into the cultural context we discover that ancient people thought gods walked on water. Ancient Jews believed God walked on water (a view we can see in Job 9:8 in the Old Testament). What happens when we apply that ancient belief to the story about Jesus walking on water? It unlocks a deeper meaning that was obvious to the Bible’s original audience, but we may not initially see today. That’s the sort of thing you get to discuss and puzzle over when you use the discussion guides.

We hope these discussion guides are fun and help you gather the information you need to make your own informed decision about who Jesus is. The discussion questions contain all of the historical background and context needed for discussion; they do not require a pastor or trained teacher. This allows you to sit back and let everyone share what they’re really thinking and feeling. Simply print off the discussion questions or pull them up on your phone and start conversation. No presentation or public speaking required (whew)! We add more guides to our library regularly, so check back soon!