Effective Bible study requires spending enough time and doing enough work and study to accurately represent what a certain passage, theme or topic of Scripture is about, how it was understood by its original audience, and then what the Holy Spirit intended in it for our edification today.
We are going to do a study of the story of David and Goliath to illustrate how I typically go about doing this. The original story is found in I Samuel 17. It has become a favorite for teaching children, and used to illustrate how we can be victorious against overwhelming odds if God is on our side. The expression “David and Goliath” has become a part of our English language. According to the online Oxford Dictionaries, it is “used to describe a situation in which a small or weak person or organization tries to defeat another much larger or stronger opponent.” But, to paraphrase an expression of former radio commentator Paul Harvey, let’s find out “the rest of the story!”
One of the best known fixtures of any church today is the “preacher.” He (or she!) often has a special education, special attire, special titles, special authority, and special tasks. Probably most think that is the way it is supposed to be. But is it? The Apostle Paul in Romans 10:14-15 said that people can believe when they hear, and they can hear if they have a preacher. What were these first preachers like? Would we recognize them today? Would preachers of today have been recognized “back then?” This is a 9 message study we are making together of “Preaching: Messenger, Message, and Method.”
TEXT: Mark 2:1-12
INTRODUCTION:
INTRODUCTION:
We are discussing how to do a series of sermons or lessons on lesser-known Biblical characters. This allows our audience or class to learn about people and stories they have probably never known about before. At the same time, making good application should provides a fresh and memorable way to grasp the Biblical lessons from the text.
One wonderful way of preaching or teaching a series from Scripture is through presenting “mini-biographies” of lesser known Biblical characters. Now, doing extended studies on the major characters – Abraham, Moses, David, Jesus, Paul, and such – is certainly rewarding as well. But the major characters have many chapters in the Scriptures devoted to them and are usually already well-known to our hearers.
In 2011 at the Tanglewood Church of Christ in Odessa, Texas we presented a 38 lesson series on the apostle Paul, entitled, “I, Paul: The Life of the Great Apostle.” It was a comprehensive and in-depth examination of the historical record of the New Testament, plus the cultural and historical background, together with Paul’s writings – all woven into a narrative of his life (as much as we can know of it) from birth to death.
In the Winter 2008 term at Sunset International Bible Institute, I taught the “Effective Bible Study” course to 49 students. MP3 files of all 13 class sessions are now available to listen to or download without charge by clicking on the link below. All handouts and presentation materials used in the class are also available for download or viewing. If you would like to have a copy of all the MP3 files, handouts, and presentation materials shipped to you on CD for use on your computer, you may order this series through our store.
The Book of Jeremiah in the Old Testament provides a first-hand account of the death throes of the nation of Judah as it struggled against the judgment of Jehovah before succumbing to the might of Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian Empire in 587-586 BC. It is the second longest book in the Bible, just behind the Psalms in size. We have available two separate series I taught on Jeremiah.
