Archive for 31 Days to a Better Teacher – Page 2

The Look: Grapple with the Truth

Hook, Book, Look and Took remain excellent handles for structuring, developing, delivering and evaluating a Bible lesson!  These four simple words were first introduced to me during my seminary days through a required reading book by Lawrence Richards, entitled “Creative Bible Teaching.”  (Lawrence O. Richards, “Creative Bible Teaching,” Moody Press, 1976.)   Occasionally someone says to me, “Gary, we want deeper Bible study.”  I usually respond, “Okay, how much time are you giving to lesson application?”

GET DEEP.  A teacher is to guide people to understand the scriptures and to live it out! From my prospective, you can not get any deeper into scripture than focusing the very words of scripture on Monday morning!  When an in-depth Bible lesson moves the text toward Monday or the ‘work-a-day’ world of the learner, you move the group toward genuine deeper- life Bible study.  I do not want to be too redundant, but these elements all fit together.  A life application Bible lesson requires giving time within the lesson for all of these elements:

  1. Book – what does the passage say?  Do not try to apply something that is not there.  A life lesson must get into the Book and discover the truth of the scripture passage.  The learner must take a serious look at what the text says before he or she will move to make adjustments in their life.
  2. Look – how should this truth impact our lives?  Examine how the Bible lesson should impact life on Monday morning and throughout the coming week.  Seldom will the learner understand and internalize the truth unless they can interact or relate to the truth.  Most often application requires learner involvement and participation. 
  3. Took – how will I adjust my life?  Give a brief invitation.  (I will deal specifically with Took in my next post). Every lesson needs a closing moment to allow the learner to decide if what they have experienced is to be life-changing.  Application does require a broad Look at how the passage applies to us, but it also requires a personal Look at how it applies to me.

RELIVANCE. Many Bible teachers have wrestled with the desire to dig deeper into the Word of God. I just want to caution the Bible teacher to make sure each lesson has adequate time for life-changing application before you strive to go any deeper.  I am not always sure what a teacher really wants when they ask for deeper life lessons.  In my mind, most ongoing Bible study should be a “ministry of encouragement to live out God’s word.”  Relevance is essential for life-change, spiritual growth and living God’s word. 

LEARNER INVOLVEMENT. Many Bible teachers have wrestled with learner involvement and relevance during lesson application time.  Remember, application usually requires some learner involvement and therefore, some creativity.  Often teachers have a class member(s) who are reluctant to participate in any way and at the same time have a class member(s) who dominate the class time and can cause “rabbit chasing.”  This “rabbit chasing” is not Bible study! It may seem as though the best way to comfortably control the situation is to lecture most of the hour. 

TRIADS?  To bring balance to class time, I urge teachers to consider discussion triads when asking questions, seeking opinions or getting reactions.  Clusters of three, with an assignment that can be completed in a few moments, allows the leader to guide discussion, and still guard the time. 

PREPARE FOR A DECISION. Again, the Look, the lesson application element, is aided by learner involvement, implication and self-evaluation.  Look allows the learner to prepare this heart for the final moments of class time where he must decide if he will place this truth into life.

When Application Hurts

I’ll never forget Sue’s declaration to the class that day. “If you knew what my ex son-in-law did to my daughter, you could not love him either!” One sympathetic lady tried to help through assuring words, “I’m sure God understands how a mother’s heart hurts when someone hurts her children.” Then another jumped in, “We understand how you feel. Some people are just mean and find joy in hurting others.” This class had just finished studying God’s Word that clearly teaches us to love one another, but now they were helping a friend justify not loving others. The verse that spurred the Sue’s outburst was in 1 John 4.

If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother, he is a liar. 1 John 4:20 (HCSB)

The case study I used at the beginning of the session helped learners understand how they could apply this familiar teaching. Sue surely was being convicted by the Holy Spirit to rid her heart of the hatred she had for this man who hurt her daughter.  She obviously knew it was hurting her relationship with God. But when the rest of the class turned their minds toward what they felt instead of what scripture taught, something had to happen.

In a caring tone of voice I thanked her for sharing how studying God’s Word was challenging her in an obviously painful way. I added how I also understand how moms and dads hurt when their children hurt.  I honestly admitted I would prefer someone hurt me instead of anyone else in my family. After a short pause, I held up my Bible and asked everyone to look back at 1 John 4:20.  I said, “But what does scripture say about this?  Does it say you don’t have to love someone who hurts you or someone you love? Does it list exceptions or other circumstances? Let’s prayerfully read that verse again. We did.

Sue is now crying quietly.  I walked over to her, placed my hand on her shoulder and said, “Living the Christian life is hard, isn’t it. I can tell you from personal experience I don’t have all the answers to loving others either—especially when they mistreat you or those you love. Let’s use this time to think of our own situations when we found reason to justify why God would not expect us to love one another.  Let’s also use this time to surround Sue and pray specifically for this circumstance.”  I asked Sue how she wanted us to pray for her. She repeated her statement but acknowledged she knew God wanted her to love this young man. I responded, “Okay, so can we thank God for reminding you of His truth from scripture, acknowledge that today you don’t want to love this man BUT you want God to change your desires so you can come to want to love the young man?” Sue said certainly.

The class surrounded Sue and desperately prayed for her. I turned to Phil. 2:13 and quoted one of my life verses. I told Sue that verse helps me when I know what I’m supposed to do but I don’t feel like doing it then.  I claimed that promise for myself, Sue and the rest of the class.

For it is God who is working in you, [enabling you] both to will and to act for His good purpose. Phil 2:12-13 (HCSB)

That day some will think that was a failed Bible study. I think it was one of the best experiences ever because adults wrestled with what they studied when the truth was very painful.  Some think application is a learning activity that ends with the Bible study session. Regardless of the age of learners, I say application is begun during Bible study and continues for hours, days, weeks, months, and maybe years following as we wrestle with how to do what we know God wants us to do through the study of His Word.

When painful application occurs in your Bible study sessions, thank the person for sharing something so personal and painful. Acknowledge all Christians wrestle with how to live the Christian life. ALWAYS go back to scripture and focus on the truth from God’s Word. Pray with and for the person. Try to include at least some brainstorming for ways to begin trying to do what you know God wants you to do.  In Sue’s case, she could only commit to asking God to change her heart. Others in the session chose to talk to someone they really didn’t love. Some decided to start behaving like they loved someone by inviting them to an activity with friends, spending time with them trying to get to know them, etc.

God does work in us and through us to help our desires match His good and perfect will. What better place to make some of those discoveries than in life changing Bible study that includes applying scripture to life.

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Belinda Jolley serves as the Director of the Adult Ministry Office of the South Carolina Baptist Convention. Belinda and her husband, Steve, enjoy starting new classes at First Baptist Church in Rock Hill, South Carolina.

Preparation for teaching…Personal Bible Study

We have personal responsibility as we prepare to teach the Word of God to our classes.  We must be prepared ourselves.  This does not mean just read over the lesson, but really letting the lesson get into our hearts.  This preparation begins on Sunday afternoon, in reading through the text for next week.

I remember a precious lady in Greenville, Mississippi telling me how she would get herself ready to teach each week.  “I read the text for next Sunday on Sunday afternoon.  That gives me time to start thinking about what God wants me to know.  Then, I read it every day of the week as I begin my study.  But, I will read it in several different translations through the week just to see if any other translation has just a little different twist on the context.  I let that sink into my heart.  I make my personal notes on what the text is saying to me.  I want the text to get into my heart.”

As we teach, we really learn the most, grow the most, and receive the greatest blessing.  As we are spiritually impacted by the lesson, we can expect to have greater impact on those we are teaching, no matter what their age.

We not only read the text daily, but make notes of what the text is saying to us and how it applies to our life.  If we want to receive all that God has for us we must be open to the Holy Spirit giving us insight and understanding.  We now combine personal study with insights we gain from reading the leader’s guide and other personal resources and God begins to put His Word deep into our hearts.  As we let the text, and the Bible study lesson takes hold of our heart, we are more apt to be effective in communicating His truth each week.

It is personal preparation each day, listening to the Word, reading the Word, and letting it get into our hearts that will make us more effective communicators of His truth.

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Kiely Young-Director, Sunday School; Mississippi Baptist Convention Board

Preparing a Lesson

Our guest writer for our blog today is Dwayne McCrary. Dwayne is a Sunday School teacher and also writes and edits Bible study lessons at LifeWay. In other words, Dwayne actually teaches in the local church what he helps produce at LifeWay. We have asked Dwayne to share the steps he takes in preparing a lesson.

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It always fascinates me to hear another fan at a sporting event that seems to know exactly what the coach should do. To add to the experience, he is usually not shy about sharing his wisdom with others, making sure everyone knows what play should have been called, which player should have been substituted, or what defense should have been run. Just once I would love to see a coach walk up in the stands and hand over the coaching duties to that fan. Then we would find out if he really knew what he was talking about. It’s easy to tell people how they ought to do something until you are the one doing it.

For 23 years, I served on a church staff coaching Sunday School teachers. Now I’m one of those Sunday School teachers. To be honest, there are other things I need to do (and want to do) besides spend all my free time preparing a lesson. I don’t have the luxury of using office time to prepare a lesson (staff folks forget that sometimes). At the same time, I have rediscovered the fact that I can’t wait until the last minute to prepare if I want my class members to consistently have a great experience.

Many of the things I coached others to do I still do, but I do them in a different time frame. For example, Sunday afternoon is a great time for me to get stuff done…usually after a nap. I would have never suggested teachers begin to prepare that early, but that’s when I begin.

I start by evaluating the lesson from that day. I keep a notebook and record insights gained about members and their needs, actions I promised to take, and general teaching observations that will make me a better teacher. If there are promises I made, I add that to my to-do-list for that week. The next thing I do is read the Bible passages for the next lesson, listing key words, people, places, and actions. That list will be what moves me to the next step.

I take that list and define the key words, people, and places. This is where I do what most would call real Bible study, using the leader resources provided, study Bibles, and commentaries. As I do this work, I begin to list potential application points. By the end of this study time, I have answered two big questions: What does this Bible passage mean? What does this Bible passage mean to me?

I then take a look at the potential application points and determine a lesson focus for my class. This is where knowing the needs of the people in my class is important. I put together a statement of what I hope to see happen in the lives of the learners as a result of this study, usually starting with the Lesson Goal in the Leader Guide.

Next I outline steps to introduce the lesson (why study it), examine the Bible passages (what does it say), and challenge people to reflect on what these truths mean for them (what do they do with what they discover). The plan revolves around the direction statement. In my class, we use Explore the Bible by LifeWay as a guide. I start with the teaching suggestions provided in the Leader Guide and tailor the plan for my class.

By doing this early in the week, I have time to dig deeper into questions, refine the plan, and gather what I will need. It also takes some of the pressure off. Now I can let life happen without being uptight about when I will find time to get ready for Sunday. As I gather what I need, it goes in a bag so I know where it is when I get ready to head out on Sunday (my wife teaches a preschool class and I learned this from her).

Eventually, I write my plan on a sheet of paper (usually on the back side of the list of key words, places and things, folded in half). Some of it is word-for-word from the Leader Guide, but I still do it. Writing it serves as way to review and it communicates to my class that I prepared.

On Sunday, I take one more look at my notes, grab the bag, and head out. I want to make sure I get there first to double check the room and to set the tone for that Bible study experience. When the first person arrives, I follow my plan, adjusting as needed. Every class experience takes a few unexpected twists and turns–it never happens exactly like I plan it, but it does come close most of the time.

If you wanted to list my steps for preparing, they would look like this:

  • Evaluate and record;
  • Read the passages;
  • Define key words, people and places;
  • Determine a lesson focus;
  • Outline teaching steps;
  • Dig, refine, and gather;
  • Get there first;
  • Follow the plan, adjusting as needed.

 

It takes a little time to do this, but that’s true for anything worth doing. The next time you see that fan telling others how he would do it, remember there’s a difference when you’re the one who actually has to do it. Make sure you’re ready just in case someone hands their clipboard over to you.

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G. Dwayne McCrary is an Editorial Project Leader for LifeWay Christian Resources and teaches an adult Sunday School class at Northside Baptist, Murfreesboro, TN. He previously served churches in Texas and Tennessee.

Variety is the Spice of Life: Creative Ways to Communicate Content

What is the worst teaching method?  It’s the method you always use.  Most of us fall back on one style of teaching week after week.  If you want to keep your members interested and engaged, you need variety.  Try something new (to you) to communicate biblical content. 

As you teach, your goal is not to tell your class everything you know.  Your goal is to lead members to interact with the Scripture and discover for themselves what the Lord is saying.  Biblical truths that member discover for themselves will have more lasting impact on their lives. 

Here are some ideas for communicating biblical content.

  • Ask questions about biblical content.  Ask questions that members can easily answer from the text such as “What three things did Jesus say to the religious leaders.”  This helps members interact directly with the text.  Content questions are a starting point; you will need other types of questions to help members apply biblical truth.
  • Develop others.  Enlist someone ahead of time to give a brief report about the text such as historical setting, a key idea, or a difficult interpretative issue.
  • Use various translations.  If your class is like most, members come with a variety of Bible translations.  One way to shed light on the meaning of the biblical passage is to allow members to read from the various translations.
  • Use smaller groups.  Unless your class has three persons or less, you can use smaller groupings of the class to allow members to interact more directly with the Bible.  Assign each group a portion of the Scripture with a list of appropriate questions; then let them report back to the whole class. 

Biblical narratives (stories) create more possibilities for creative teaching.

  • As you use smaller groups, have the group tell the story to the rest of the class and answer questions about the story.
  • Tell the story in your own words, rather than reading it.
  • Use dramatic reading.  Assign parts and have them members the Scripture passage as a drama.

Let me encourage you to try something new.  Too often I’ve heard, “My class would never do that.” However, when they tried a new teaching method, they were pleasantly surprised by how it was received.  Your class may be tired of the same old thing.  What is one new idea you could use this week as you communicate the truth of God’s word? 

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Bob Wood is the Church Growth Ministries Team Leader, Baptist State Convention of Michigan.  His desire is for churches to be more intentional about fulfilling the Great Commission.