COTV Leadership Training - Principles of Building a Study Guide and Teaching
COTV Leadership Training • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Introduction: What is our purpose?
The purpose of this portion of our training is to equip the members and leaders within this church family to effectively teach what we have learned from the Word so that our brothers and sisters are encouraged, equipped, corrected, and sanctified by the truth in their pursuit of holiness.
Ephesians 1:4 “4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love”
Full Disclosure - the principles and practices we will walk through in the first part of today’s training come from my process of pulling together study guide materials for our Community Groups. The process I follow is far from perfect, so please do not receive this today as the only way to prepare to teach the Word. That being said, I do believe the core focus of it is biblical and good.
Our primary goal in preparing to teach the Word is not figuring out how the text makes us feel or our opinion on what we think it means. Our aim must be to teach only what the text means in the original language and context. This does not mean that every theological idea we will encounter is black or white (as we saw in 1 & 2 Samuel), but our pursuit must be TRUTH.
Hermeneutics Recap (very short)
Preparing a study guide for individual discipleship begins with the hermeneutical process of discovering what the text actually teaches in context.
Pray for Illumination
The truths of the Scriptures are spiritually discerned, thus we need the Spirit’s help in our understanding of the Truth.
1 Corinthians 2:14 “14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.”
Psalm 119:18 “18 Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law.”
2. Study the Text
Read and Observe the Text
Analyze the Context
Find the Main Point
Find the Application
***Avoid the pitfalls:
Verses out of context
Eisegesis
gnoring the whole counsel of the Word
When we understand the text, our next step is drawing out the main themes and applications of the text through the discussion questions.
Aspects of Good Questions
We have all heard the phrase - “There is no such thing as a dumb question.”
Though this comment is well intentioned and purposed for people to feel comfortable in their possible lack of knowledge in something… I am not going to say certain questions within a study guide are dumb, but I will say a question can be BAD in the sense that it diverts or distracts from the true meaning of the text.
Example: Galatians 1.3-8
3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, 4 who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, 5 to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed.
Bad Question: What does verse 3-8 reveal about Pauls love for the Galatians?
Can we confidently say that Paul love the church at Galatia? Of course. He founded the church there and loved them enough to write to them for their good and God’s glory.
While this is true, it is not the point of the text. There was a problem in Galatia that needed to be addressed. Galatia had departed from teaching the true gospel and embraced another gospel that does not save —> Jesus + Works.
Good questions point us to the Scriptures for understanding. The overarching purpose of our questions in a guide must be the discipleship of an individual or our people at COTV. When we understand what a portion of the Scriptures teach (a command to obey, a promise to remember, a comfort in time of struggle, an attitude to embody, a manner in which to walk…… all of which to the glory of Christ), we as the teacher are leading the body to these truths.
Good questions lead us to define terms. Our discussion concerning the Scriptures (and anything really) can be fruitless if we do not define what we are talking about. Biblical ideas like sin, salvation, justification, judgment, grace, mercy… when we encounter these ideas in the Scriptures and are building a study to better understand tests that include these things, it is always a good idea to redefine (either for yourself as the leader or the group) what the term actually means bibclically.
Good questions encourage discussion. In individual discipleship and a group setting, open-ended questions allow the individuals or group to work towards an answer together based on what has been read. Good questions encourage us to think deeply about what has been spoken and then lead us into discussion with other brothers and sisters as we seek truth together.
Good questions point us to Christ. They point us to the character of Christ, the ministry of Christ, the sacrifice of Christ, the truth concerning Christ. Thes truths are all throughout the Scriptures, not just in the Gospels or NT epistles. Jesus is the central figure of the Scriptures according to his own words.
39 You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me,
25 And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.
Considering Your Audience
Specifically when it comes to applications to the Christian life, the questions we ask may be different dependent on our audience. If you are a mom with kids discipling another mom with kids or preparing a study for a group of only women, there may be certain applications that are unique to who God made you both to be may not apply in the same way to us men…and visa versa.
When preparing a study for a group of believers (like myself, Dalton, and David have done) it is best to tailor Christian application towards the believer in general unless there are specific applications for a certain gender, office, or role within society or the family.
Good Practices In Preparation
Read and re-read the text multiple times and at different times.
Identify a main theme before running off to commentaries and sermons.
Utilize the resources available to you. Wise men and women have gone before us!
Simplify your questions and present them clearly.
Be open to correction when you misunderstand a passage.
Cautions in Preparation
Don’t teach with an agenda. It is about presenting the truth and not our opinions.
Don’t make text what it is not. Eisegesis is dangerous and sows confusion.
It is for His glory and not personal praise.
HOMEWORK: Building a Guide
Text: 1 Thessalonians 4:1-12.
Using this process, study this passage and build a guide like you are preparing it for our Community Groups. Then when we walk through this as a church family in a few weeks, not only will you be prepared but you can compare what you prepared and learned with the COTV guide we send out.
If you would like some feedback on your guide, feel free to send it to me and I will gladly review it and provide some feedback.
