Video Transcript: Lesson 4 Section 2
Teaching is a high calling, and one of the spiritual gifts talked about in the Bible. The teacher plays an important role in communicating truth and shaping a student's response to that truth. The main task in teaching is to figure out what God is doing in our lives, and then pass on that knowledge to others. To accomplish this, the teacher must become a student themselves. Before we get into practical ways to craft a lesson plan, we should start with an awareness of the critical role of the Holy Spirit in the teaching process. The Holy Spirit works through the teacher to produce lasting change in the lives of students. There are three important ways this happens. First, the mind of the student is opened as they gain knowledge through their personal study of God's Word. The Holy Spirit is involved in this process of revealing truth. The teacher also engages the emotions of the student, so they are motivated to change their beliefs and behavior. Finally, the teacher challenges the students will by calling for action and repentance in response to Scripture. It is through the surrender that the Holy Spirit works in the student to bring about life transformation. A good analogy and understanding the role of a teacher is to consider the process of baking a cake. For it to taste good, and be nutritious. You must begin with quality ingredients. eggs, fresh milk, flour, sugar, and whatever else the recipe calls for. Using spoiled milk or cheap chemical substitutes will not produce something delicious. In the same way, a Bible study depends on insights from the teachers own study of God's word. It is essential that teachers are searching scripture for new insights to share with others. It's like having fresh ingredients for a cake. simply repeating someone else's insights or trying to apply scripture with little personal reflection is less than helpful for your students. A second thing we can learn from our example of baking a cake is that quality ingredients are not enough on their own. They must also be presented well. In order to be a delicious and beautiful product. A teacher must determine how to present the insights gained from their own study of the Bible. The best way to do this is to prepare well and make a lesson plan. Your lesson plan should be based on the spiritual needs of your audience. An effective lesson plan will enable students to receive and reflect on new knowledge and begin to live out these truths in their daily lives. To do this, you must first take some time to understand the spiritual needs of those who will be teaching. Start by asking who is going to be there? Name some of the students and picture their faces? What issues are they wrestling with? Where they are in their journey to know God? Pray over them before they even show up for the Bible study. Next, consider the culture of your ministry. What is the learning environment? Like? What are the things that are helping teens experience life transformation or hindering them? Think of the students church community? Can you name five areas that people tend to struggle with? Finally, consider the outside influences that shape your spiritual community. Who are these teens interacting with outside church? What do those people say about the Bible or faith? Reflecting on your answers to these questions will make you more sensitive to the spiritual needs of your students. It will help you better understand the context you are teaching in so you can focus the purpose of your Bible study. Once you have identified the spiritual needs of your audience, the next step is to consider your students learning limitations. Faith development in your students requires healthy intellectual and emotional development so that they can make sense of their faith decision within their worldview. a teenager's mental and emotional level of development will impact his or her ability to learn and apply principles from the Bible. We must understand how God made our brains so we can teach and disciple teenagers effectively. It is sometime between ages 11 and 13 for girls, and after age 14 For boys that the brain finishes developing. It is at this stage that abstract thinking, emotional intelligence, and risk assessment is now possible. Keeping this in mind when teaching God's word it is crucial to take abstract concepts from Scripture and make them relatable to the issues teenagers are facing every day. Teenagers can reflect upon a truth and its implications in Bible study. Then apply the lesson when they face a challenge in their daily lives. In this way, God's word comes to bear on God's world. One way to help students with this integration is to develop a teaching plan that rotates between studying books of the Bible, and discussing practical life issues. For example, you could read the Gospel of John over a period of a few weeks, and then have a topical study of challenges that face families. older teenagers will need to be introduced to a systematic analysis of theology. Helping students develop a language to express their beliefs will move
their faith into maturity. It is important that these doctrines are in agreement with your church's theology. So discuss with your church leaders what the topics should be, and how to approach them. Now that we have considered the spiritual needs of our students and thought about their learning limitations, there was one more step before you're ready to begin teaching your Bible study. And it's an important step studying the Bible passage you will be teaching on. There were two great approaches to understanding scripture. First, develop a passage outline, then develop a truth outline. Let's look at both of these then try them out together. A passage outline helps you identify God's intended eternal message. By understand what is happening in the story. Divide the passage into natural sections based on plot or theme. Then write a short summary of each section. Let's try crafting a passage outline for the narrative in Daniel chapter one. Pause this video and read the chapter. Look for natural breaks in the story that make good sections. Write a one sentence summary of the events in each section. Once you have this written down, resume this video let's see how your passage outline turned out. Here is a possible outline of Daniel chapter one. Verses one to two introduce us to the historical setting for the crisis. verses three to seven show the changes the exiled young men are facing. verses eight to 14 show Daniel taking a stand for what he believes he must obey. In verses 15 to 21 we see God honoring Daniel and his friends for their faithfulness. Your passage outline might have turned out a little differently from this one and that's okay. There is no one way to do this. Now that you have a working passage outline, the next step is to craft the truth outline of the passage. A truth outline requires you to take the statements of the passage outline and consider how each relates to the overarching truth of the story. This forms your basic outline for teaching the passage. The truth outline addresses the spiritual needs of your students and the transformation you desire to see in their lives. So keep in mind that your truth outline for the same passage may need to change depending on your audience. Let's try it out. Pause the video and develop a truth outline from the passage outline you created for Daniel chapter one. Write a statement for each section that expresses an eternal biblical truth. Write each one in a way that is relatable to your target audience. After you have created the truth outline, resume the video. Here is one possible truth outline for Daniel chapter one. verses one and two show that God allows crisis to happen in our lives. versus three to seven show the crisis may tempt us to change our beliefs and behavior. verses eight to 14 teach that we must live by God's truth, regardless of the consequences. Verses 15 to 21. Show that we should expect God to work in all situations. Again, this is just one example and could look very different depending on the age and faith maturity of the students you are teaching. Take the time to develop both the passage outline and the truth outline. This is an important two step process that will not only help you understand Scripture better, it will reveal new truths to share with your students and build your own spiritual life. Once you have outlined the passage and know how you want to teach it, you are ready for the final step of crafting your lesson plan. The last point of preparation is to identify the possible applications of the biblical truth in the lives of your students. Ask yourself What do I want my audience to do about this truth? The process of faith development starts with new knowledge of God's truth shaping our motivations and values. Changing beliefs should result in a change of behavior. Studying the Bible doesn't just help us know what is right, but to act on what is right as well. When identifying application points for your students consider the following. How should these action steps be different based on the spiritual maturity of the student? What would you suggest for someone just beginning to ask questions about God and faith versus a teenager who has been a Christian for some years? Another helpful thing to consider is how existing relationships can help. What support does a student need from their family, friends, peers at school, church or community. spiritual support is extremely important for healthy growth and a faith that lasts. This is a lot of information to take in. But these steps and questions can help you be an effective teacher of God's Word. Remember, it is our role not just to inform, but to help students transform as they learn and apply scripture to their daily lives.