Monday, September 29, 2025

Bill was sitting in a large Sunday-school class one morning, waiting for the lesson to begin. The teacher of the class went to the front of the room and announced: "This morning we have a special treat. Bill has agreed to speak to us." A wave of panic swept over Bill as he remembered being asked to do this several weeks earlier. He had completely forgotten about it! Slowly rising to his feet, he went to the podium, his mind racing wildly. What would he do? What would he say? He quickly decided to talk on what he had read in his quiet time that morning. The lesson was not very memorable for the class, but he never forgot it!

Effective Bible study leadership demands careful preparation. Yet many wait until the last minute and then hastily throw something together. Is it any wonder that their ministry is bland and ineffective? This chapter and the next two will give you the basics on how to prepare whether you use a guide or write your own questions.

Prayerfully consider how much time you should spend in preparation. A Bible discussion normally requires about two hours of preparation, although this will vary from person to person. This time should be devoted to prayer and Bible study.

Prayer

In John 15 Jesus gave us this warning: "Apart from me you can do nothing." Of course you can do something. You can carefully prepare and even lead an apparently effective study. But apart from the Lord, it will have no spiritual value. Paul recognized this fact when he wrote, "The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds" (2 Cor 10:4–5). The Lord is the only one who can demolish spiritual strongholds in our lives—those areas where we most need to grow. He is the only one who can transform our efforts from mere activity into life-changing ministry. Time spent in prayer is not time wasted. It is essential!

1. Pray for yourself. Ask God to help you to understand and apply the passage to your own life. Unless this happens, you will not be prepared to lead others. Charles Spurgeon, a great preacher of the nineteenth century, once wrote that he always meditated on Scripture "for my own soul's comfort—not in the professional style of a regular sermon maker, but feasting upon it for myself. I must know the preciousness of the doctrine in my own experience."

Ask God to help you understand the passage and the study questions so you will be able to concentrate on helping the group members learn from Scripture.

Ask him to fill you anew with his Spirit so you will be free from the self-consciousness that can so easily interfere with the work of God's Spirit in the group.

2. Pray for the members of the group. Think of them individually: their strengths, weaknesses, interests and knowledge of Scripture. Pray that God will enable them to discover something of the richness and challenge of the passage. Let Paul's prayer be your model. "And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you will be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God" (Phil 1:9–10).

Bible Study

Having immersed yourself and the group in prayer, you are ready to begin studying. Martin Luther compared Bible study to gathering apples. "First I shake the whole tree, that the ripest may fall. Then I climb the tree and shake each limb, and then each branch and then each twig, and then I look under each leaf." Here's how you can follow his advice:

1. If you are studying a book, start by reading it from beginning to end. This overview will help you grasp the theme of the book. Ask yourself how each chapter contributes to that theme. Pay special attention to the context of the passage your group will be studying. If the book is too long to read in one sitting, scan its contents, paying special attention to paragraph and chapter headings.

2. Next, read and reread the passage for the study you will be leading. Try to discover the central idea of the passage. Then ask how its parts contribute to that central idea. At this point your primary goal is to understand what the author was saying to his original readers and why he was saying it.

3. While you study, have a dictionary and a Bible dictionary handy. Use them to look up any unfamiliar words, names or places.

4. Once you have understood the central idea of the passage and how it applied to the original readers, think about how it applies to similar situations today. In what ways does it speak to your own needs and the needs of your group? What encouragement, counsel, commands or promises does it offer?

Do a thorough study of the passage before you begin working through the study guide. (For additional ideas on how to study a book or passage, see chapter five.)

5. Carefully work through each question in the study guide. (If you are not using a guide, see chapter six.) Spend time in meditation and reflection as you formulate your answers. Philip Henry wrote, "A garment that is double dyed, dipped again and again, will retain the colour a great while; so a truth which is the subject of meditation."

6. Write your answers on a sheet of paper or in the space provided in the study guide. Writing has an amazing effect on the mind. It forces us to think and to clearly express our understanding of the passage. It also helps us to remember what we have studied.

7. If the guide you are using has leader's notes, familiarize yourself with those written for the study you are leading. Such notes are usually designed to help you in several ways. First, they tell you the purpose the study guide author had in mind while writing the study. Take time to think through how the study questions work together to accomplish that purpose. Second, the notes provide you with additional background information or comments on some of the questions. This information can be useful if people have difficulty answering or understanding a question. Third, leader's notes can alert you to potential problems you may encounter during the discussion. If you wish to remind yourself of anything mentioned in the leader's notes, make a note to yourself below that question in the study.

A seminary professor used to refer to the "parable of the peanut machine" (since there was a peanut machine in the basement of the library). The parable is very simple. You put in a penny and get a penny's worth of peanuts! The Bible says it this way: "A man reaps what he sows" (Gal 6:7). Good Bible discussions rarely happen by accident. They are the result of careful preparation.

Nyquist, James F., and Jack Kuhatschek. 1985. Leading Bible Discussions: Completely Revised & Expanded. Second edition. A LifeGuide Bible Study. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

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The Dead, the Faithful & the Lukewarm

In Revelation 3 the risen Lord exhorts Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea, exposing spiritual deadness, commending steadfast faith and rebuking lukewarm complacency, urging each to repent and walk in the fullness of His kingdom.

Sardis: The Dead Church

Revelation 3 begins with a reminder that the dead church of Sardis should never forget: Jesus holds them in the palm of His hand. He is God, and He sent the Holy Spirit to them as a helper, the One who empowers the elect. They must utilize the power of the Holy Spirit to stay alive and serve Him; otherwise, they would fail in spreading an effective gospel and defeating the spiritual enemy. Without the Holy Spirit they'd have no bite, no power.

Christ must be taken more seriously by this church, and let me tell you, the absolute same is true for the American church.

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If you are wondering where the pages that contained the words "excerpt", "Introducing" or other words indicating I was quoting a book have all gone, I migrated all of them over to Posts and Posted them all on August 18 and August 19 2024. I did that so you could use the search widget that is built in to the blog on the upper right hand corner. You will be happy to know that there are more of them than just the batch that were migrated, there were also lots of posts that contained the same words that did not have to be migrated over, they were there all along. I am really enjoying doing introductions and excerpts because it really makes for powerful and fascinating reading when I do them. You get the feeling you are in a bookstore holding a book in your hand looking at the table of contents and deciding whether or not to buy the book.

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also a fan of Kevin Scott Livermore's book: The Theology of C.S. Lewis (A Topical Summary of his Best Work

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Despite his status as one of the most influential and intelligent Christian authors of the 20th century, C.S. Lewis never thought of himself as a professional theologian. While he was well-read in many types of literary genres, he did not go to Seminary to obtain a Masters in Theology and study a year of Old Testament Hebrew and New Testament Greek. He was not a Pastor who preached sermons to a congregation for many years but a raw, honest philosopher and professor of literature who wrote as well as any Christian of his time could. He had a gift for clearly articulating his perspectives on a variety of issues. Above all, he was humble, in that he had an honest evaluation of both his strengths and his weaknesses. I believe this is one of the main reasons why he is still so enjoyable to read even after all these years. In terms of his theology, Lewis himself said he was an “Anglican but not especially ‘high,’ nor especially ‘low,’ nor especially anything else.” So the theology of C.S. Lewis is not something one can immediately discover by simply perusing a certain book of his to see exactly where he stands on certain doctrinal issues; it is much more subtle and convoluted than that. But in this book, you will find his different thoughts from his many books about certain Christian doctrines and topics pieced together in an easy-to-follow format (Lewis has written nearly 60 books but none of them are on systematic theology). This book offers very clear depictions of his theology concerning subjects such as the doctrine of inspiration, original sin, human depravity, human origins, evolution, intelligent design, theodicy, love and marriage, redemption, grace, new creation, and grief, as his authentic reaction to God after his wife’s death is conveyed. The final chapters also contain all of his greatest quotes arranged and sorted by topic as well as excerpts, quotes, and summaries from most of his books in a quick, easy-to-read, bullet-point format. These last two sections are a particularly great resource to draw from as you can quickly learn about the main points Lewis conveys in his bestselling books.

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Abide in Christ by Andrew Murray is a series of thirty one readings inviting you to live near the throne room of God and not outside waiting. In his own words, Murray writes, "I pray earnestly that our gracious Lord may be pleased to... help those who seek to know Him fully, as He has already blessed it."

Ben Hur: A Tale of the Christ
Ben Hur - A Tale of Christ by Lew Wallace is widely considered one of the most influental works of Christian fiction. The book tells the story of a Jewish prince (Judah Ben-hur) who was made a slave by Roman captors. The story of Jesus' crucifixion is weaved in and, ultimately, Ben-Hur becomes a Christian.
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The Bruised Reed is a book by Richard Sibbes that comforts the despondent and fearful Christian using the words of Matthew 12:20 (which quotes Isaiah), "A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out." Many Christians have found this book to be remedy to doubt and burden.
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Martin Luther wrote this short treatise on the Christian life in 1520.. One of the enduring quotes from this book is, "A Christian man is the most free lord of all, and subject to none; a Christian man is the most dutiful servant of all, and subject to every one". Listen to Concerning Christian Liberty audio.

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The Pilgrim's Progress from This World to That Which Is to Come is a Christian allegory written by John Bunyan and originally published in February, 1678. It is regarded as one of the most significant works of religious English literature, has been translated into more than 200 languages, and has never been out of print. (Summary from Wikipedia) This 1890 edition published by the American Tract Society includes a memoir of the author condensed from his "Grace Abounding," and "Life of Bunyan" by Canon Edmunds Venables.

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The Pursuit of God is a Christian living book written by A.W. Tozer and originally pubished in 1948. It is considered a Christian Classic where Tozer presents his study of a heart thirsting after God.

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Arthur Pink wrote the Sovereignty of God in 1918 and summarizes it as his attempt to examine some of the profoundest questions which can engage the human mind in the light of God's Word. Listen to the Sovereignty of God audio.

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Biblia Search

Biblia Search widget documentation---open this website in Mozilla Firefox, run the widget, right mouse click > select all > right mouse click > copy > open your document > paste, then edit as you see fit. I tried the words "he was sorry" and the resulting block of search results was these two verses:
Matt 14:9 ESV
And the king was sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests he commanded it to be given.

Mark 6:26 ESV
And the king was exceedingly sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests he did not want to break his word to her.

Sometimes you get to start the search over on the host website to get all the results. I was unable to execute a search on the host website until I logged in, then I ran the search on "mine" and got around 500 verses in the Darby version