Video Transcript: How to Lead Traditional Bible Studies

So we're back. We're really gonna get to work here today. So we're gonna, with  this session, we're going to talk about how to do a traditional Bible study. writing  your own, you're using something that you find and we're going to show you, I'm 

going to show you some of the ones that we have it Christian leaders, but also  you can go to read Christian bookstore. Order online is all kinds of Bible studies. Okay, so off the shelf. We have a bunch of, we have some options here. The  Mirrors Connection, we got 21 days to true today. 21. Great women's Bible  study, the marriage connection of amazing couples Bible study. Here's your into  the book of Daniel, here's a Daniel Bible study. I like this as a topical Bible study  on but it was actually from the book of Philemon and Bible study. Philemon of  Bible study. Bible, but this Bible study will give your with like a business men's  group, seriously great Bible study. Here is a Bible study, the book of Ephesians,  very this is extremely popular, I might add. Also popular is the book of Acts, and  is actually the big bug in this one. How did we get here, we have the Jesus  Bible, which is just a great tool to study the Bible and tell us a little more about  the Jesus Jesus Bible. Every book of the Bible, there's something in each book  relating to Jesus, also the Old Testament, and it's all in there. I love this one, the  12 steps 12 steps, like connected to the prayer of serenity class you've done  and now here we have one from the 12 steps, and beyond amazing offer in  churches are at the topical of a Bible study. And I'm glad to share all this  because, in some ways, professor Steve, who I've known for 30 plus years, this  is one of his amazing gifts, to be able to take Bible study topics or Bible study  books and make them into reproducible and transferable Bible studies. So if you are a minister, trained at Christian leaders, Institute, Alliance or college, these  are off the shelf tools for you to access. So I don't ever really publicly thanked  you for the time publicly thanked you for many things, for doing the work and the efforts to put these together. I mean, this is no small thing to do. So what there's  also, you know, there's also hundreds of other Bible studies all over, right? You  don't have to buy all your Bible studies from Christian Leaders Institute, we want you to succeed, right? What's nice about these is they're connected to the seven connections, which is sort of an operating system that we use here for the walk  with God, the habit of relationships, and these Bibles fit that reproducable a lot  of a lot of these Bible studies that would be different than other ones. There's  something for each participant to do every single day, right? So then, maybe you maybe you meet once a week, but there's something for you to do each day,  rather than just doing it, you know, when you get together with your Bible study.  Very powerful. All right. So there's also the writing your own option. So, a lot of  times this is, you know, sort of threatening to a lot of people but, we'll show you  it's not really that difficult and we'll show you to do it. Alright, so the first thing you do is, is find what you're studying. Maybe you're studying John one. Yeah, the  book of John, let's start with John one. So number one, what do you think was  the original message to the original hears of this passage? So let's, let's just 

choose like Luke 15. That's the story of the lost sheep, the last coin, and the two sons, the lost son, and what do you think the original message was? There's a  little practice to Luke 15, where it says Jesus was sitting there eating were the  sinners. And then the the righteous folks, the the teachers of the law, were  complaining that Jesus was doing that. That was sort of the setup. And now  Jesus tells these stories in this context, right? It's important to know that who is  in the audience, right, because it helps you later on with the meeting. So you  start with Well, what You think the original message was to the original hears of  this passage? Now you may have to look some things up? I don't know or it  looks. Sometimes you will know exactly when so who wrote the book of Luke?  Well, Luke did. To whom was it originally written? It was written to a more of a  Greek speaking audience. What was the occasion? What was the occasion for  this particular chapter? Was Jesus eating with the sinners? Right? What was the message for the original, hearers Now, it's interesting, the story of the prodigal  son, especially the one son runs off, and then he comes back, and he's  accepted, and they kill the fatted calf. But then the older son who had never left  home, there was a good son is in the field whining and crying, and, and the  father comes out to him and tries to explain, and then the story just ends. We  don't know what the older son did, right? Because Jesus was speaking to those  Pharisees or those teachers of the law, and saying, I don't know what you're  going to do you're invited too. So it's like, the meaning of the thing is enhanced  by knowing the original stuff. So number two, what do you think is the message  for the people of today? So really, to get the original understanding, and then to  then say, the how does this apply to me, right, so with that particular story, those in the church would be probably tempted to look at that passage and go, well,  I'm the prodigal son and Jesus and God, the Father have welcomed me with  open arms. But really, we're the teachers of the law, right, we're the religious  people around the lawn, and you know, maybe sometimes we think we have  things coming. Because we've gone to church every week, we've done our Bible studies, we've done all the right things that we somehow think we've earned it.  Right. So maybe that's the message for us today. And then what might be the  message for you? So where in my life do I think I'm entitled to God's goodness,  rather than to see it all as a gift that I to even though the I'm the older brother, I  think I've done everything right no, I'm a prodigal son too Right, right. All right.  So right here on option two. So that's one now you know, what we just went  through is kind of complicated. You may have to look at a commentary that's  also why you do ministry. In your you're digging into many capacitors, right?  Really do this? Well, yes. Yes. Off the shelf is easy, because the book is done all the work for you, then you try to do it. And if you've done the training, you want  to give it a go. I think this is a great option. And the nice thing about doing the  training, where you are here getting ministry training, is that it all builds. Like for  instance, you can be overwhelmed by like Luke, the author, Luke writes, first 

time you really find out things about Luke, as you go on. The more you learn, I  just learned something new at the Bible study in the Florida Bible study group  we talked about in the last question. We're doing Acts right now. And it's right  around the second missionary journey where Luke shifts voice from talking  about everything previous to We've sailed. We, often after the disagreement with Barnabas, and then there was a new Silas team, right when that new Silas team started somehow Luke signed on at to that point. Well, now, I have never  noticed that in this way, all the way through Calvin seminary, all the way through  ministry. And now all of a sudden, I've seen this is when Luke signed on. So  your ministry training here, like right now, as you do your first Bible study, or you  do your own, it does feel overwhelming. But after a while, right? And then you do a Bible study again. And again, you learn more, and you you do with what you  know, it doesn't have to be perfect that point is the Holy Spirit was just a windy  place. And the Holy Spirit utilizes you wherever you are. And that's why you're  here getting ministry training to get more knowledge and insights. So writing  your own option two so what? Okay, I'm sorry, what we did, this is still the option  that we were looking at previously, we just looked at how the original saying the  original message, and so on, but now we're turning it on. What might be the  problem that the text is dealing with for the original hearers so now instead of  you know, concentrating on the background all of those things is like, well, what  problem do you see that these people have? So Jesus had a problem because  he was spending time with the sinners. And he's preaching about God's  righteousness. And they're like, Okay, I don't get it. So that would be the  problem. How might the above problem be a similar or opposite problems for us  today? So when you're reading, for example, the book of Acts, we have all the  things that Rome was doing. And some of those things are in our culture today.  But sometimes, it's, it's an opposite product. Right? Okay. So but still to think  about, okay, well, how did that work? Three, where's the hope and salvation in  the text, in the text? So what hopeful thing? So Jesus talks about the prodigal  son, the hopeful thing is both the one who ran away and the one who thinks he  deserves God's love, that God loves each one equally. Both are invited to the  party, and it's up to you. What might be the message of hope and salvation for  us today? Or, or, you know, what is the hope of salvation that perhaps you  need? Right? Now, I want to reflect on this. So in option one, the pre shelf option was the strength of this is that it's off the shelf. You can get going right away.  You can even when you're doing Minister training, you can build on your minister training now, and even bring it into the off the shelf options. And you know, the  more of these that you would do, the better you're equipped to be able to do  your own. Right, you kind of you get to kind of the lay of the land on how things  go. Kind of model after you do this a while. Right, so so the the couple of the  writing your own options that we looked at the first one was the background of  the Bible passage and who wrote it and all those things, and then how it related 

in the second option that was more literary more like the conflict in the text  related to more of, you know, what was the pain that somebody was dealing  with? In some ways, this is, what a good sermon also does is right? What is the  problem that this text is really dealing with? And how does that relate to our  problem today, and if you present it that way, people are interested in solving the problem. You know, what I find too, and maybe this we should talk about now.  And in some ways, the best is when you can see a little bit of both. So that you  know, the story. And that the key is is an interesting story. I mean, to actually get  into the original meaning of the text into the text. Well, tax collectors bid for the  right to take money from everybody. Okay, so you can get caught up in a whole  thing about tax collectors did this and everything like that and everything and,  and that could be the whole sermon, but people go, like, very intellectual, I went  to a seminary now today. But But, but if you get to the trouble in the text, then  you see how Jesus met with the lowest of the low and brought them salvation.  And we Jesus came to seek and save the lost, you, and I are lost. So  Zacchaeus is feeling small in stature, right? Yeah. He knows that he's done  some things that he's probably not proud of. So he's hiding up in the tree to get  a glimpse of Jesus. So then the question is, okay, there's the problem.  Zacchaeus has this issue. He hears about Jesus, but he can't face Jesus in His  brokenness so he hides in the tree. How do you hide it? Yeah. Right, right. I  mean, how is it that you are you feeling insignificant or small, not maybe in  stature, maybe you're in the church and you feel like other people are so smart,  and then you're new to the faith, you don't know your Bible as good as they do?  Or you're You You have all these thoughts, but when you start talking, they don't  come up very eloquently, or whatever it might be. So now all of a sudden, a  really good Bible study is, is opening. Okay, there, there was the problem. We  understand that we get it, we have to talk about it enough to get it. But then now, how does that apply to you and I and this is where a lot of times you'll have half  the people in the Bible study who want to just stay on the intellectual. Let's talk  about the way tax was collected in a Roman Empire and let's talk about how  Jesus and the Pharisees would have related to that and it's In fact, a lot of times  a lot of sermons, teaching type sermons never get into the application. But the  application tends to be where the trouble in the text is. If you can find the trouble in the text, you're like three quarters of the way there, right? Now, you just have  to ask, how do we have that trouble? How to Not sometimes that's, it's, it's hard,  you know, because that was 2000 years ago, right? Things are slightly different.  But a lot of things are often the same. Well, and on the other side, we've seen it, where people are right to the trouble of attacks. And because they have not  done their work to get into what it was originally meant, by the hearers. And the  original history, they also do damage because now they're going to all  applications, applications, applications and it almost becomes subject  subjective, everything is subjective, I feel like I believe God can speak and put 

your finger on the words of the Bible, I do believe that. On the other hand, if you  actually did not get grounded in good learning, you could become a very  dangerous, almost cult leader at times, or you'll read into your trouble into the  text right when the text never meant that at all. Right? Right. You'll take one  word or something and go, Yeah, that's the problem that we're facing. And that's  the teaching I want to do. And then you you make this whole thing. But really, if  you spent the time to figure out what the real context was, that wasn't the  problem, right? This was the problem, right? And then once you clarify that  problem, in the text, based upon the historical what you can know about what it  meant to the original, hearers now that it can be very powerful. sharing the Word of God, it can become a great Bible study of excellent sermon, we call it you,  like you bake it and then becomes half baked. That's experienced ministers,  completely put the ingredients together, and you bake it, let me you know, we  have just enough time. Let me give you an example. When Jesus says I thirst  on the cross, okay? Now, the tendency would be to go, we all thirst, we thirst for  all kinds of different things in lives, we thirst for money, we thirst for significance.  And so now all of a sudden, we're going down the application trail, but we didn't  really take any time to figure out what the context of I thirst meant. So Jesus  says, I thirst. And you can look up words I thirst and thirsty, and you'll find David  as you know, the deer pants for the streams of water. So My soul thirsts for God, thirsting for even given to all these things. And I'm not saying that some of these  things aren't there. But if you look at the whole thing, that they dipped, sponge,  in for, yeah, it was a stalk. As they put a hyssop stalk of hyssop to put the  sponge on this, they dipped it into the wine vinegar, which was symbolic maybe  communion, you know, you can go down that trail. But if you look up, the word  hyssop, you go all the way back to Exodus, and the Passover, because if you  remember that story, the lamb that they were to eat together as a family, so that  Angel of Death would pass over all Israel. Blood in the bowl, and then they had  to put they had to paint that blood over their door frames. But they had a painted with hyssop. So why so the whole context of I thirst is pointing back to the  Passover. And now Jesus is the Passover lamb here on the cross and what they had been doing for hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of years is taking  place right now. And they just did the passover. Yeah. So. So if you look at, you  know, the context of something, all of a sudden it becomes the message there  really is. Don't be so full of your religious observations that you missed Jesus,  right, because the Jews were doing Passover year after year. But then they  finally when the Passover, the point of the Passover comes in Jesus on the  cross, they totally miss it. Right. Exactly. We gotta kill Jesus quickly because of  the Passover, right? It's ironic. It's totally, than the trouble in the text is ultimately  our salvation. Yes. Ultimately, we the angel of death must pass over us. Right?  So all of a sudden it becomes a different sermon than maybe you would have  made it right it'd because I think it becomes wow, like richer like more than the 

just obvious you know, when you say I thirst the obvious thing is we first for  things and you know, we're thirsting for the wrong things, etc, etc. Right? But  this This is like, this is a whole different level. Right? And I've also we have seen  where this really incredible insights from the Old Testament are exposed. And  then people just drop it there and they don't put the application either. They don't really like, bring it home and say, from the angel of death has your name. If you  do not know Jesus Christ, you're in this. This is a problem that would 1000 years back in the cross in some temple where this is painful again, there's the both  and there right. Right powerful. Well, this is a fun discussion. We we get excited  about our lives. This is how we wake up in the day and we think this way, we  want you to think this way to as a minister and get enthusiastic about learning  the word and sharing the word.