Preparing To Teach The Word

small groups

This handout was written by Dave Argue.

STEP ONE - DECIDE ON A DIRECTION

First you must ascertain what he/she is going to teach the group. How? Here are some suggestions:

Seek to understand what the group's needs are. Question them. Meditate on this.
Look inside yourself and see where you are growing. Perhaps that is what you should share.
What are the group's interests? This may provide a key, but may be different than #1!
It is good at the start to consider carefully what is easy to teach. Begin there. (i.e. History, Gospels, Epistles, Poetry, Prophecy)
Pray until something begins to crystallize in your heart.
Share your insights and convictions with your Resource leader or with others in small group leadership.

Note: Step one is vital. If you don't know where you are going, prepare for chaos!

STEP TWO - DEVELOP THE STUDY

Though there are many types of studies possible, you probably will be dealing in one of the following two areas.

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AN EXPOSITORY STUDY

An expository study starts with the scripture (a specified passage) and branches out into life application (variety of applications).

Secure a good copy of the text that will be studied. (Recommended are New International Version (NIV), New American Standard (NASB), Revised Standard (RSV), Good News Bible (GNB or TEV).
Set the text out in a fashion so that it can be interacted with easily. lt's recommended that you photocopy it and paste it up on a full sheet of paper.
Immerse yourself in the text.
- Read it over and over until you are very "at home" with it.
- Using a pencil, jot down questions you have, words that look significant, phrases that are repeated, etc.
- Spend time praying that the Holy Spirit will open your eyes to truth (Make sure that you read the entire chapter/book, to get the context.
- You may wish to check out the marginal references as well.
Identify the flow of truth in the passage. e
- Try to give each paragraph of text a title -your own.
- If dealing with a book, cluster the paragraphs together and give them a heading - this will be a sectional heading.
- In this process, you will find yourself regrouping a lot and changing your titles, etc. This is exactly what is needed-interaction with the text!
Now, and only now, go to critical helps for answers to questions that you still have about the meaning of the text for its day.
Consult historical/critical commentaries for that passage. (See bibliography.)
- You may wish to consult more devotional commentaries too, for added sense of warmth and to see how others have "taught" this passage too.
- Add the insights gleaned in this step to your text page - perhaps with a pen of a different color, so you can keep your sources straight.
Add Step 4 and Step 5 together to come up with a basic sense of what the text is saying. Note: This is the truth of the passage for the day in which it was written.
Now spend time in prayer and meditation about what God wants to say to you - and then to the group - through this passage. (Write down your thoughts. They may be very random at first. Write everything that comes to mind.)
Sort out the thoughts that you have into a specific and coherent outline of truth for the group. The truth should flow from introduction, to main body of thought, to conclusion and application. Keep this in mind-what is the main truth that you are seeking to convey? Build everything around that!
It is time now to consider additional methods of presenting what you have.
- Printed information made available.
- A quiz-to get heads going?
- Questions to ask as you teach.
- Visuals to use.
- Illustrations to make the truth real.
- Group activity to apply what has been taught.
Pray again and write up your final notes in a neat, legible form so that you can refer to them easily.
Share with the group what God has given you.
Evaluate what God did in what you shared.
- Did the message come across clearly?
- Were there spontaneous effects that occurred? Comments? Prayers? Etc.?
- Were there goals determined for life changes that seemed to come out of the message?
- What did the study do for you?

A TOPICAL STUDY

A topical study starts with a specific life situation or problem and combines scriptures from all over to answer or present its truth.

What is the question, topic, etc., to be considered? Make sure that it is stated well.
Get in touch with where the group is on the issue and where culture is on the issue. This can be done by conversation, reading magazines, etc.
Pray and wait on God, asking His Spirit to speak to you. Have a blank sheet of paper and your Bible with you. Mter praying for the Spirit to direct you, then begin to jot down everything that comes to you in any order at all.
- Ideas concerning the topic.
- Scriptures that refer in some way to the topic.
- Personal feelings about the topic.
- lllustrations about the topic.
- Stay with this step until you "run dry" (nothing more comes in 70 minutes).
Search out the Word on the matter. (Note: It is what the Word says about the matter that is our concern!) Start on this step with what seems to be the most basic scripture. You don't have anv scriptures in mind after Step 3? Well, try this:
- Check out some key words that might apply to the topic in a concordance.
- Search for the subject in a Bible Dictionary or Encyclopedia.
- Ask friends that might be more mature in the word.
- Consider illustrations about the topic.
- Note: the point of this is to get you into the basic passages of scripture, not into the opinions of others - at least not yet.
Go to the major passages and seek to understand them. (Apply steps 1-5 of expository method here.) Finally, go on to the more minor passages.
Now, seek to arrange your material into a cohesive whole - a complete statement of what the scripture says on the issue.
Now, seek to get into supplemental works of theology, popular Christianity, ethics, articles from magazines, etc.
Seek now to sort out any divergences between 6 and 7.
Arrange the final draft of where you are going, applying as well the ideas mentioned in the expository method 8-12.

For more instruction and further study, we recommend the following:

The NIV Study Bible, (Zondervan: 1985).
Using the Bible in Groups, Roberta Hestenes, (Westminster: 1983).
Leading Bible Discussions, James Nyquist & Jack Kuhatschek, (Inter-Varsity Press: 2nd edition 1985).
Lead Out: a Guide for Leading Bible Discussion Groups, The Navigators, (Nav Press: 1974).
The Joy of Discovery in Bible Study, Oletta Wald, Revised Edition, (Augsburg Publishing: 1975).

Nor Cal / Nev College Ministries