De kringleider bereidt de kringavond voor door zich goed in te lezen op het bijbelgedeelte dat die avond besproken zal worden. We nemen als voorbeeld 1Joh.3:11-17. Het bestuderen van een bijbelgedeelte gebeurt in principe op dezelfde wijze als de in de vorige paragraaf besproken ‘hoofdstuk-analyse’. Het is dan ook het beste dat de kringleider bij zijn voorbereiding om te beginnen de eerste 4 stappen die daar besproken worden doorloopt.

Step 1
Het bijbelgedeelte meerdere malen lezen en herlezen. (zie Chapter Analysis).

Step 2
Writing down the observations (see Chapter Analysis).

Step 3
Ask content questions to the text (see Chapter Analysis). Since there will be another step in which questions will be formulated later, we want to give a few examples of content questions here from our text section. We ask these questions primarily from the translation used by yourself. In the example discussed here, that is the NBG51 translation.
By verse 11: What does John mean by "from the beginning"? Who are the "we" mentioned? By verse 12: Why did Cain kill Abel? At verse 15: Whoever hates does not have eternal life? How can this be reconciled with the fact that God is love? At verse 16: How did Jesus lay down His life for us?

Step 4
Comparing Scripture with Scripture (see Chapter Analysis).

Step 5
Formulating practical in-depth questions.
At step 5, preparation for the circle discussion takes a different path than the "Chapter Analysis. In preparation for the circle discussion, it is important to formulate deeper questions. These questions are not aimed at helping to explain the text, as in steps 1-4, but at its application in one's own life. They are questions such as "How do you experience this?", "How do you deal with this?", "What appeals to you in this?", "Why? Prepare these questions and formulate them as clearly as possible. This will help you give some depth to the conversation on circle night. For clarification, some questions to 1Jn.3:11-17 as an example.
At verse 11: Is there a difference between loving "believers" and "unbelievers? What difference? By verse 13: Why should the world hate us (sometimes)? At verse 14: That hating leads to killing is understandable, but what is the similarity between loving and living? By verse 16: How do we make a commitment to our "brothers"? Do we not have to do this for our 'neighbor'? At verse 17: What do you understand by 'suffering want' in the Netherlands today?