Video Transcript: Lesson 4 Section 4

When preparing to teach a Bible study, it is important to create an effective lesson plan. This  will guide you and clearly communicating the truth of the passage to your students. In the  previous section, we learned how to summarize the Bible passage you were teaching into one  concise thought, called the focus statement. Now we will look at how the focus statement  forms the foundation of your lesson plan. A good way to think of this is to picture the focus  statement as the spine of the body. It connects the limbs together and makes their movement possible. In a Bible study, the focus statement connects the key ideas so that the whole study communicates God's truth. There are five steps in preparing a lesson plan. Each of the five  tasks links to your focus statement to accomplish the purpose you have determined for the  study. The first two tasks of the Bible study are linked. They are to create interest in your  students to learn the key idea of the passage and to expose their need to learn this particular  truth from God's Word. Let's explore these two more deeply Before looking at the other steps.  Don't assume your students want to learn about the subject at hand. You may find it very  interesting, but you may have to convince them it is worth their time and attention as their  teacher, the understanding and enthusiasm you yourself have for the topic can create  interest for your audience. The second task of exposing their need can be accomplished by  showing your students the purpose of the Bible study. being excited about the topic, and then  clearly showing it's important can create a desire to learn. Without this, God's truth may fall  on hardened hearts. The word purpose is an easy way to remember the steps you can take to  create interest and expose the need. Let's look at what each of the letters stand for. To create  this purpose, start by stating the problem that needs to be solved. For example, looking at  John chapter three, verse 16, we might say the problem is that when we die, we will be  separated from God and we will receive eternal punishment. In the study, you can discuss  how in this world we experience being separated from God in the next we feel a lack of peace, or brokenness, or a sense of hopelessness when facing difficulty. Secondly, we must  communicate the urgency of the situation. Now that we have identified a problem, our  students need to understand the urgent consequences of remaining in it. Next, list reasons we should care. The consequences must feel personal to the audience if they are going to take  action. In the example from John chapter three, explain why your students should care about  being separated from God due to their sin. You can involve them in the process of finding  those reasons. Ask them to list some problems they have faced, or things that make them  sad, then show how those are a consequence of our separation from God. Now that students  have identified reasons why they should care about the problem, it's a good time to show  your personal connection to the issue. discussing how the issue has impacted your life will  build trust and connection to your students. You might give examples of your own questions,  doubts and experiences with the topic. It's okay to talk about your struggles. Our goal as  teachers should never be to pretend we are perfect. The result of you discussing your  personal connection to the topic is that the audience will recognize you as one of them. They  will want to listen to your advice, because they will recognize that you have gone on this  journey too. The humility you show will strengthen the learning experience and give you a  platform to be heard. The next step is to tell a story to illustrate the key issue. A personal  story from your own life is the strongest teaching tool as you can tell it with great detail and  emotion. However, if you do not have an example from your life, you can tell a historical story or something you heard from someone else. stories told through videos are also a great  source that will create interest for your students and vary the pace of the study. The last  teaching method is to design an experience that demonstrates the issue. Think about a  learning activity or game that could tie into the topic. Students learn better when they have  approached an idea in multiple ways. getting them involved in a hands on activity will mean  they are more likely to remember the lesson. Those are the needed to communicate the  purpose of the Bible study. This in turn accomplishes the first two tasks of an effective lesson  plan, creating interest and exposing need. These steps should not be skipped. If we are giving answers to questions no one is asking. Our students will not care about the information. No  matter how good it is. Knowledge that does not address a need is perceived as irrelevant.  Now that we have completed our purpose for this study, we're ready to move on to the third  task of an effective lesson plan. The third task is to explore God's story. Ask yourself, What 

does God say about this problem? Then look for the answers, then connect them to the Bible  passage you will be teaching about. A good way to get started is to discuss the historical  context of the Bible passage. A simple way to identify the context is to ask four key questions. First, who is the author, the audience and the main characters of the story? What do we know  about them? Second, when in history do the stories events take place? What are the cultural  differences between that era? And now? Third, where does the story take place? And lastly,  what style was the passage written in? These questions help us understand God's big picture  and the message he intended for us to grasp. We continue to explore God's story by  identifying spiritual themes that run through the passage. A good way to do this is to write a  passage outline. Divide the Bible story, your teaching into natural sections based on plot or  theme. Then write a short summary of each section. This helps you further identify God's  intended eternal message by understanding what is happening in the passage. Once we have explored God's story, the fourth task is to visualize the principal. To do this, you will discuss  the implications of the biblical principles identified in the Bible study. support any insights you have gleaned from the passage with applications and illustrations drawn from real life. This  requires you to consider how each summary statement from your passage outline relates to  the overarching truth of the Bible. Go back through your passage outline and write a new  statement for each section that summarizes God's eternal truth. This is called a truth outline.  Help your students see how scripture addresses their spiritual needs, and the benefits of  obeying the biblical principle. The fifth and final task of your lesson plan is to apply what has  been learned in the form of an invitation to follow. This is at the heart of everything we do in  ministering to youth. Our sincere desire is that they will choose to accept the invitation to  follow Jesus. Any lesson we're teaching should include a way to do that. The invitation to  follow should address the need you identified for your students at the start of planning the  Bible study. Look back on that to remind yourself of your goal. Also, consider the variety of  students you may have in your group. There may be a different application point for each one of them. The invitation to follow should be relevant to students in different stages of faith  development. Ask yourself how your invitation would apply to someone just beginning their  journey with Jesus. What about a teenager who is already a devoted believer? What about  those who have not yet responded to the Gospel message in faith? You may need to  customize the invitation you give to speak to the different levels of spiritual maturity  represented in your group. Following the steps in this section will help you create an effective  lesson plan for your Bible study that will present God's truth along with ways to meaningfully  respond