Sunday School Blog

Study the Bible By Asking Yourself Questions

One of my favorite methods of Bible study is to ask myself the W questions - Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How.  I've started using this method with every lesson that I prepare. 

The idea is to create questions out of the portion of Scripture that you're studying using the W words.  Sometimes you'll be able to answer yourself right away, and other times these questions will clue you in to something that you have to study more in-depth.

For example - I'm currently working on the next lesson in the Psalm 23 study I'm writing for this blog.  The focus for the next lesson is the first part of verse 3 - "He restores my soul."  Only four words.  How much could this question method actually help?  The following are some questions and answers in my notes:

• Who restores my soul?    My Shepherd (Jesus) restores my soul.  No one else is capable of the type of restoration that I need.  And I can't do it myself.  He is the only one that knows how to restore me or that has the power to do it.  Trying to get other people to restore me will only wear them out and lead to an even greater need for restoration.
• Who needs restoration?  I need restoration.  I'm not the only person in the world that doesn't need restoration.  There's no shame in needing Jesus to restore me.  It's part of the human condition.
• What needs to be restored?  My soul needs restoration.  Is this talking about my soul as separate from my spirit and body? If so, my soul is made up of my mind, will, and emotions.  So each of these aspects could need restoration.
• What is it to be restored?  Need to look for other places in Scripture that talk about soul restoration.  Also need to do a word study of the original Hebrew word.
• Why do people fight restoration? Could be that they don't trust Jesus with everything.  Maybe they've been disappointed in the past and are scared of being disappointed again.  Or maybe they just don't understand Jesus' true character, His kindness.

As you can see, this is a bit like having a little discussion group with me, myself, I, and the Holy Spirit.  Asking myself one question leads to surprising thoughts and other questions.  Call me a nerd (wouldn't be the first time), but it's downright fun. 

Notice that this step in the lesson preparation process happens before looking at commentaries, Bible dictionaries, or any other type of reference material. As a matter of fact, asking myself these questions pointed out to me some reference materials I need to better understand the topic.  Now I can look at those reference materials with focus.

Another benefit of asking myself questions is that I'm giving the Holy Spirit the opportunity to teach me and guide me to a focus for the particular lesson.  After asking myself a number of questions for this Psalm 23 verse, I started to focus on soul injuries.  It may be the focus on the lesson, but we'll see what happens as I continue to study.

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Teach Boldly

Teaching a hard message can be intimidating.  Standing in front of a group of people and even just reading out loud a portion of Scripture that may not be received well may make the teacher want to sink into the floor and let the earth close over them.

I once taught out of Matthew on the subject of divorce to a group of single adults, some of whom have been divorced.  I wondered, "Will they come back?"  It's tempting to water down the message so that people won't feel uncomfortable and still like you.

Scripture has a message for teachers - speak boldly. 

• Acts 4:31 - "After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly."
• Acts 9:28 - "So Saul stayed with them and moved about freely in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord."
• Acts 14:3 - "So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for the Lord, who confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to do miraculous signs and wonders."
• Acts 19:8 - "Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God."
• Acts 28:31 - "Boldly and without hindrance he preached the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ."

A bold message is not a watered down message.  But it is also not unkind. 

Colossians 3:12 - "Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience."

A bold message should be tempered with kindness.  It is not an opportunity "set people straight."  That is not our job as teachers.  As teachers, we're called to present truth with kindness and let the Holy Spirit do His work. 

In my lesson on divorce to single adults, I did not avoid the truth that divorce is not to be taken lightly and clearly stated that marriage is a spiritual covenant and not merely a legal transaction.  But, knowing that God meets us where we are, we then focused on how a single person should approach dating in order to have success in marriage in the future.  The entire lesson hinged on seeing marriage through God's eyes.  It was not an opportunity to spend 45 minutes condemning those that have been divorced, especially since I didn't know all of the particulars in each person's situation.  Instead, it was an opportunity to lovingly present truth and encourage future actions based on that truth.

So speak kindly and boldly.  And let the Holy Spirit do His work.

Now it's your turn - how can we temper boldness with kindness?

Staying on Track With Lesson Handouts

The first few months that I taught, I felt like the teaching time during Sunday School class was chaotic.  I studied for hours to build a cohesive lesson, but somehow the class always got off track and started down all number of rabbit trails.  My efforts to bring the class back on target usually failed and class would end without us covering what I had hoped.

Some teachers don't mind getting off on rabbit trails and are more than willing to throw a lesson out the window to go wherever the Spirit leads, so to speak.  This may be valid sometimes, but I've found that it isn't always the Holy Spirit that gets us off track.  A lot of the time the rabbit trails are fruitless and boil down to just chit-chat that may not have any spiritual relevance.  And those that were interested in the lesson and wanted to see where it was going leave frustrated with the people that dominated the conversation and pushed it into unexpected territory.

I lean toward another "philosophy" for class time - sticking to the lesson.  I bathe lesson preparation in much prayer, not just for my understanding of Scripture, but also for the Holy Spirit to reveal to me the the one major topic or point that the class should focus on.  I then build the entire lesson around that point.  Straying completely from the lesson is, in my mind, disobedient to the Holy Spirit.

So how do we stay on track?
Providing the class with a fill-in-the-blank lesson handout will help the class stay on track.  This works because:

• People like to see blanks filled in.  The handout with empty blanks is like a little mystery, and your attendees will want to see the mystery solved.
• Visual learners may become more engaged.  Some people just need to see the words written down.  Listening to someone talk isn't enough.
• Filling in blanks gives attendees something to focus on. If you don't give them a focus, they'll find their own focus, which may or may not have anything to do with the lesson.
• The discussion is more "intelligent."  Since everybody has the same points written out for them and are able to review those points during class, the discussion is more fruitful and on topic than it would be otherwise.
• Seeing the major points laid out in front of them gives the attendees an idea of how much more there is to cover. Let's say you have five major points.  If there is a long discussion around point two, leaving only ten minutes left in class, the class attendees will understand when you choose to move the discussion on to the next point and not fight the change in focus.  They'll "help" you finish class with all points covered.  As a matter of fact, they'll probably insist on having all their blanks filled in.

What should be on the lesson handout?
Some basic information for the lesson handout:

• Date - some class members will want to keep all of their lesson handouts.  Putting the date on the handout will help them to keep things in order.
• Lesson name - this should be something that captures the essence of the lesson.  Don't worry about making it too catchy.
• Major verses that will be covered - so that your class members can turn to them before class begins.
• Major points to cover in class.

Below are some of examples of handouts that I used during a study of Matthew  Hopefully they'll give you an idea of what worked for me.  I also kept a version with the blanks filled in to email to people that couldn't make it to class on a particular Sunday, but wanted to stay up-to-date.

Download matthew_27_handout.doc
Download matthew_15_part_3_handout.doc
Download matthew_18_part_2_handout.doc

Now it's your turn - what have you found to be a good way to stay on track during class?

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Types of Lesson Series

We previously looked at how to prepare a lesson, but before preparing a lesson we need to decide what type of lesson series we're going to teach. 

The two types of lesson series that we're going to look at are topical and verse-by-verse.

First, some definitions:

• Topical Lesson Series - This type of series consists of several lessons focused on a specific topic.  Each lesson may focus on a different portion of the Bible, but all of the lessons are tied to a common theme.  Examples:  Raising Children to Know Christ, Leadership in the Church, How to Deal With Conflict
• Verse-by-Verse Lesson Series - This type of series consists of several lessons focused on a specific portion of the Bible.  Each lesson may focus on a different topic, but all of the lessons are tied to a particular book, chapter, or set of verses.  Examples: The Gospel of Matthew, A Study of James, Life Lessons from Proverbs

Both types of lesson series have advantages:

• Advantages of topical lesson series
  • Class members have mental focus on a specific area for several weeks. For example, I once taught a series on the names of God.  As a class, we spent several weeks focusing on the truth that God wants us to know Him and has revealed various aspects of His character through different names in the Bible.  We studied a different name each week, but the overriding theme was that God wants us to know Him intimately.
  • Teaching several short series on different topics allows you to reach a wider audience. When I first moved to Houston, I visited several churches and finally found a church that I liked enough to consider becoming a member.  Until the pastor announced a multi-month sermon series on parenting.  As a young single woman with no children, I immediately felt like the church would not or could not minister to people in my stage of life.  I moved on and eventually joined another church. 
• Advantages of verse-by-verse lesson series
  • Class members learn the importance of context with each lesson. With topical lessons, it's easy to pull out only the portion of Scripture that "fits" with our topic and run the risk of misinterpretation.  Studying a book of the Bible verse-by-verse means that class members will see what comes before and after each portion of Scripture, helping them in interpretation.
  • The class builds a history to draw on. For example, my class and I did a verse-by-verse study of the gospel of Matthew.  The lesson each week had a different focus, but we recognized overriding themes, such as the kingdom of God.  We were also able to refer back to previous lessons to gain a better understanding of the current lesson. 

The most important factor in deciding a Bible study focus in a class is the make-up of the class itself.  Your class may consist of students of Scripture that are hungry to go in-depth on every verse.  Or you may find that your class has a life focus on a particular area and needs to see what Scripture says about the topic.  The important thing is that Scripture is read, taught, and discussed.  A teacher that "correctly  handles the word of truth" (2 Tim. 2:15) can find a way to teach each type of lesson series in a God-glorifying way.

Now it's your turn - tell us what works for you in choosing a lesson series.

Simple Lesson Titles

I'm not a witty person.  I'm the person that thinks to myself, "It would have been so funny if I'd said ________!" after an interaction. 

My lack of wit became a handicap as I tried to come up with clever titles for my lessons every week.  I would wrack my brain to come up with something cute and funny that would grab your attention.  I'm sorry to say that I usually wasn't successful. 

But then I had an epiphany.  I noticed that a popular speaker gave simple names to many of her messages.  The names conveyed exactly the topic of the message.  Nothing clever.  Just on target.

That I can do!  I decided to try to name my lessons with one word or simple phrase that summarized the major points of the lesson.

This had a few benefits:

• Simple lesson titles made me a better teacher. A simple lesson title taught me to focus on one main topic that I felt the Holy Spirit leading me to cover in that particular passage of Scripture.  Lesson preparation became much more focused as this forced me to cover only major points that supported that topic.
• Class members had a topic to focus on.  They left each class with one word or phrase ringing in their ears that summarized most of what we discussed.  We won't remember every word that was spoken during a lesson, but we can remember a simple phrase that helps us recall some of the major points.
• My angst over lesson titles disappeared.

Please allow me to give you some examples.  The following are some of the titles that I used as we studied the gospel of Matthew:

• Fear, Doubt, & Courage (Matthew 14:22-36)
• How to Recognize a Good Christian Leader (Matthew 20:20-28)
• Devoting Time to God (Matthew 15:29-39)
• Learn How to Worship (Matthew 21:12-17)
• Fearless Devotion (Matthew 10:24-39)

Comment and tell us how you come up with lesson titles!

Bible Study Software

I love books.  I love to look at them and touch them. Sometimes even smell them. I am an official Bookworm.

Preparing to teach a Bible study provides ample opportunity to be surrounded by great books, what with commentaries, word studies, and the Greatest Book of All (the Bible). But there's a better way. I have grown a love that is wide and deep for Bible study software. Here are my favorites:

• PC Study Bible - I use this to prepare for any Bible teaching endeavor. Noteworthy features are numerous Biblical translations, original word study, commentaries, Bible dictionaries, pictures, maps, and concordances. You can copy text from the software to your notes and even get a reference with the copied text. You install the software on your computer, so you don't need to be online to use it. It's a little on the pricey side, but I've found it to be well worth the money.
• Bible Gateway - This is a nice online tool that you can use for word searches and Scripture lookup and several different Bible translations. I like to use it to link Scripture references from my blog. They also provide the html code to add the search feature or a verse of the day to your class website or blog.
• Crosswalk Bible Study Tools - Crosswalk provides online access to the same types of tools as the PC Study Bible. One noteable addition is that the Strong's lexicon provides an audio file of how to pronounce the word in its original language. Here's "psalm" as an example. Also, since these are online tools you can link to them from your class website or blog.

What Bible study software do you use?

How to Prepare a Lesson

The primary task of a Sunday School teacher is to prepare a good lesson for the class members, one that will communicate God's Word effectively and in a way that the participants find relevant to their lives. 

Every teacher has their own way to prepare for a lesson, but here's some basics:

1. Read the passage through several times in a translation like NIV or NASB. 
2. Create who/what/where/when/how/why questions out of the passage.  Answer them if you can.  If not, look for the answer.  A Bible dictionary may be helpful at this point, such as the Holman Bible Dictionary.
3. Read the passage in other translations and create/answer more questions.
4. Make a note of any particular verse/phrase/thought that stands out to you.
5. Read related passages and make some notes on how they enlarge your understanding of the target passage, especially as related to the main point of the passage that stands out to you.

By this point, you should have a pretty good idea of what you'll be focusing on in your lesson and a basic outline of the points that you'll cover.

If you have access to other study materials (and if you're reading this blog, you do have online access), then the following are additional steps you can take.

1. Do a word study of key words in the passage.  Using an Englishman's concordance may be helpful.
2. Read at least one good commentary on the passage.  It's important to do this step later rather than sooner so that they do not shape your understanding of the passage.  Rather, commentaries should enhance the conclusions that you've already drawn or give you information that you may not be able to find any other way, such as cultural or historical information.  You may have some of your answers from steps 2 and 3 answered in commentaries.  Or you may find something new.  If used correctly, commentaries can serve as a small group of sorts, as if you're sitting down with the authors and discussing the passage.

But the most important thing to do, before doing anything else, is to pray for the Holy Spirit to teach you as you study.  And continue to pray throughout your study.  Thank Him for each revelation.  With the Holy Spirit guiding you, you'll look forward to each new lesson as an adventure!

Do you have any helpful tips for preparing a lesson?  Share your tips in the comments!  You may be helping someone more than you know.