Video Transcript: Introduction

Henry - Hello, Henry and Steve here, and we're pretty excited about this topic,  how to lead a Bible study.  

Steve - So what is a Bible study?  

Henry - Good question  

Steve - and a simple answer any gathering where the Bible is used,  

Henry - you know, I want to comment if I mean, we're starting, you know, we  went to Calvin seminary, and honestly, through the four years that I went there to study, we never asked the simple question, what is the Bible study? I think, I  think the whole thing was this deep, incredible ministry training, Bible study. But  what is a Bible study?  

Steve - In some ways, I think because, you know, back then, Bible studies were  not that big of a deal. Both of us were raised in sort of traditional churches. And  a lot of our families, extended families, went to the churches, and that was true  

for a lot of the people that went to the church. And so a Bible study or small  group was really an extended family. After church, we would go to our cousin's  house or go to my grandma and grandpa's house, and we had, in some ways, a  little informal Bible study every week, right? And so I think a lot of families did  that. But then as life, you know, people moved around. You know, freeways  came in, people moved out of the cities. And now one you know, cousins over  here, someone's over there, and then that stopped happening. And so churches  found that they weren't connecting, and all of a sudden they thought we got to  get small groups going in our church, and we got to have Bible studies. And so  maybe we missed, you know, the seminary is like, maybe 10, 15, 20 years  behind,  

Henry – well, we even had Bible study every day. My dad read the Bible, yeah,  every day, and all of that. So you're probably, that's probably why he's never  really paid attention to  

Steve - right, right. Okay, Acts 2:42, they this is that. This is the start of the New  Testament Church. Pentecost happens. Peter preaches a sermon. All kinds of  people become believers, and this is at the end of that they devoted themselves  to the apostles teaching and to fellowship and the breaking of bread and prayer.  And we read there that they did it every day. Yeah, they were like having a Bible  study every single day. 

Henry – It is interesting, I actually looked at the word devoted. It's like devotion,  yeah? Actually, there is a pattern, right? You know, a habit of walking that was  part of their walk.  

Steve - Yeah, that's cool. Okay. Well, why study the Bible? You learn you learn  about God, you learn about yourself, you learn about the world. II Timothy 3:16,  all scriptures God breathed and is useful for teaching rebuking, correcting,  training in righteousness, so that the servant of God will be thoroughly equipped  for every good work.  

Henry - You know, something else that has recently struck me in life about  studying the Bible is it helps you look at all of creation and interpret God's finger  in creation to how he made the world. And you see the creation account in  Genesis. You see humans fall, and you see, you know, the restoration in Jesus  Christ, the old New Testament, and especially in these times when we devote  ourselves to the Bible, we can start interpreting all of creation and see the finger  of God, the fingers of the Lord, right, everywhere, right? So when saying the  Bible has implications not for just your personal salvation, right? It has  implications for everything  

Steve - business, everything society, right, going on in our culture today. It's all,  it's all been all I, you know, I, I majored in psychology, you know, in college and  and when I was done, and then I went to seminary, I started reading the Bible  more. I thought the Bible had more stuff that had everything to do with why  people do what they do, that all the psychology classes well,  

Henry - and I did philosophy as my major, and I thought, Whoa, the Bible is like  the core irresistible self advocacy, just you live up the Bible, and you see it's  true. You see the fallen nature of humanity. You know, psychology and  philosophy talk about the goodness of man, and they talk about tabla rasa and  all that stuff. But the reality is, the Bible sees the truth, right,  

Steve - and it, it's, it's all right, there in the stories, every aspect of it. So it's  really awesome. All right. So, number two, you connect Deuteronomy 6 these  commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them  on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home, when you walk along  the road, when you lie down, when you get up, tie them as symbols on your  hands and bind them on your forehead. Write them on the door frames of your  houses and on your gates. The Word of God is not just informing you of things,  it's actually connecting you to people, to your family, friends, helping you in your  connection to God. So it's not just about informing 

Henry - so it really threads into everything, in every relationship that you have.  Steve - Number three, support,  

Henry – Philippians 4:8, finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever  is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is  admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things.  

Steve - So it supports you, it supports your marriage, it supports your family.  Powerful. The last one challenge. Why study the Bible? It will challenge you. 

Henry - Hebrews 4:12 this powerful passage for the Word of God is alive and  active, sharper than any double edged sword. It penetrates even dividing soul  and spirit, joints and marrow. It judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart, 

Steve - you know, and that's, I guess, what I was talking about. When I studied  psychology, I was always interested in why people do what they do, right? Okay, but when I read, started reading the Bible, it not only explained to me why  people around me did what they did, but it explained why I did what I did. It was  like this sword, like, you know, it's like a mirror, and all of a sudden you see  behind, you know, behind the mask. You know, we spend just like Adam and  Eve, when they sinned, they hid from God. Oh, we all do that. We all put our  masks, we all create an image, and so on. And when you read the Bible, the  Bible has a way of getting behind the scenes and helping you see what's really  going on. And sometimes that leads to confession, sometimes that leads to just  wonder, like, you know what life is all about?  

Henry - Yeah, you know, I was theologically thinking about this point of weak  Steve, weirdly enough, I mean, how sometimes a trained Minister mind thinks  about their studies, and it occurred to me, you know, it says In the beginning  was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And then it  was on in John 1 to talk about that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.  And we know the word is Jesus Christ. So when it's just not true because the  words of the Bible are trustworthy, handed down, canonical, infallible, all that,  but it's true because it's very personal Christ, Jesus himself in a relationship with him when the words of Scripture are studied his voice speaks into our life. 

Steve - And I think that, because I hear so many times, people talk about God,  and sort of God is out there. He's a higher being, right? But they don't, they don't do the personal thing, right? But I tell you, if you read the Bible, all of a sudden  God becomes personal and he does show up. Yeah, and it seems to me, if God  isn't personal, then we don't even have to deal with him, right? You don't even 

have to think of him. He exists. But why even bother? It's because he is  personal, because you can talk to him, because he will talk to you, because he  does enter into our life. Yes, he does. So very, very powerful. All right, where go  to the next one? Where to study the Bible? Well, do it at home. Do it at church.  You can do it in your business, right? You can do it in the coffee shop. In other  words, you can study the Bible anywhere? Internet, yeah, there's a group that I  know that that has a little Bible study in a restaurant, in the bar section of a  restaurant, that's where they and they do a bunch of singing, and they study the  Bible.  

Henry - I have a group that I meet with in Florida in the summer online on Zoom, and I'm in person there during the winter, right? So, you know, I think these are  exciting times. Are starting to imagine what we could do for Bible study, right?  

Steve - All right, so when to study the Bible before work? Lunchtime? Saturday  morning, the evening, Sunday. In other words, of course, you can study the  Bible at any time of the day, but the important thing is, you have to find some  place, some schedule, if you just say, Well, I'm going to study the Bible and we'll see what happens this week. Well, you know, good luck, because generally, a  week will go by and you haven't done it.  

Henry - You're talking about the habit. Yes, really late. Yeah, it is fascinating  what you're saying. Because this Florida habit, this Bible said talking about  because it's a habit. I mean, it has really great attendance. We've gone through  the old many books. We all have many books, the New Testament, but if we  didn't have it Thursday morning at 7:15 where the Zoom link is there, and we're  meeting in person. I mean, I would say that we probably read a lot.  

Steve - And if you miss, you know, someone's gonna say, Henry, where were  you last week?  

Henry - Like, yeah, John is really didn't come today, right? Are you okay?  

Steve - Yeah, exactly so. But it's those kinds of things that make all the things in  our lives that we can sort of stick to. You own your own house, and if you're  married, you own your house, and because of that, you see your wife, and that  helps you have a great marriage. It's a structure, yes, so you have to find some  structure, or soon you won't be doing it powerful stuff. All right, with whom do  you study the Bible? Of course, your personal. You should read the Word of God for your own personal connection one, when we call it around here, For where  two or three are gathered in my name, there I am with them. Okay, so when  you're doing it in personal How do you How does this work? 

Henry - Well, for me, I connected to waking up in the morning. Okay, you know,  you know, I have my little schedule  

Steve - connection 2 marriage. So if you're married, you know God is the most  significant thing in your life, all right? And you're if you're married, your spouse is the most significant relationship with God is most important thing in your life, and then the second most important if you're married, is your spouse. So why not  connect those two? Yeah, right, like you're both listening to God. Now your wife  may have her own time with the Lord, but it's unique when you come together.  Hey, what is the Lord been saying to you? What is the Lord  

Henry - the next one's connection Three. Yeah. And we used to when the  families at home, we would have dinner time and read there. But now it's and  then my wife and I would, before we go to bed, share scripture. Now we tend to,  when we eat together, open the word again, right? And then we pray at night  before we go to bed. But it's different times in life, but there's real structure,  right?  

Steve - Like when the kids are little, you have to put them to bed. You might as  well pray with them, read the Children's Bible or something like that, but soon  you're not putting them to bed right. So now you have to find another time. A lot  of families aren't eating together anymore because all the conflicting schedules.  So what are you going to do? Right? You have to find your way. If you want God  at the center of your family, then you have to find a way to put them there, right?  And then connection four, with friends you're talking about, you have in Florida,  a group of friends. Connection five, church, in some ways, the church services  like a Bible study. It's like a big Bible study. 

Henry - it has a lot of people. You've got the singing that they do with it, which is  part of often listening or talking to God, depends on if you're singing to him,  you're listening to God, you're singing a praise song, you're talking to God,  prayers. Very interesting  

Steve – connection Kingdom is what God is doing just beyond, beyond your  church, like, What is God doing in the world? So in a way, what you're doing  right now is sort of a Kingdom Connection. And so just learning about Bible  

studies, or let's say you have an event in your town with all the churches, and in  a way, it's like a Bible study with all these churches. Or maybe you have a group in your town where you meet with the leaders and you discuss things, you pray  together again. It's like having a Bible study outside of your church, and we need that too. 

Henry - Well. I also like about this connection, how this connection is the one  that talks about Bible studies and about the theology of God. It talks about  things like, theology is really a kingdom activity where groups of people that did  groups of Bible studies connect their learning. So in the history of the church,  the concept of Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit came out of a almost a farm  system of Bible studies and. Finally, at the major league Council, they decided  that God is one God being three persons, Father Son and Holy Spirit, which  really was a kingdom gathering of many Bible studies, or many centuries, or  two, three centuries to come up with that. And now today, that's established  doctrine. We believe Father Son and Holy Spirit is the teaching of Bible which  came out of a complicated Bible study prophets, right?  

Steve - And then all of that is in a course. Let's say you take a course on  theology here at Christian leaders, right? You're actually involved in a Bible  study, a Bible study, not only with, let's say Dr Feddes teaches you about  theology. You're not just having a Bible study with Dr Feddes. He's quoting  scripture, but he's talking about other thoughts and ideas that other Christians.  So it's like a Bible study, yeah? So that's sort of the kingdom, yeah. Then we  have connection seven, which is a Bible study with people who perhaps don't go to church or maybe don't even believe in the Bible. Every time you have a  discussion with someone, and you throw in things from the Bible, that person is  inadvertently having a Bible study with you, right? So in a sense, evangelism is  a Bible study,  

Henry - and that also can be the Bible itself, or reading the Bible, or the  interpretation of reality through the biblical lens, is also bringing a Bible study to  people. So it is a powerful, powerful thing.  

Steve - So what you will learn in this class? You will learn learn how to lead and  manage a group, a Bible study group. You will learn how to write your own Bible  study. Wow, that's pretty good. You will learn how to use prayer effectively in the  Bible study, you will learn how to use food and fellowship. Nothing wrong with  

food. No. All right, so that's it. So welcome aboard. This is sort of the intro  session, and then we're going to get right at it in the next session.