=Objectives=
*Students will ask themselves what type of soil best describes their life today.
*Students will seek to be good soil.

=Introduction=
Have you ever planted a garden? Gardening is a lot of work. In 2019 I wanted to plant a garden, it was more work than I thought it would be. First, I needed to create the garden area. To create the garden area I moved 2125 pounds of concrete. I then brought in several loads of dirt and compost. Why did I go through so much work? Because for a garden to grow you must have good soil, a good environment. If I take a seed and place it on a concrete block it will not grow into a vegetable.

The Word of God is a lot like a seed, in the right soil the Word grows and transforms a person. However, if the soil is bad, then all sorts of things can go wrong.

=Main Body=

*Jesus spent somewhere around three years teaching the people in the Roman provinces of Judea and Galilee about God, and the way in which God desires us to live. A key method Jesus used in teaching was that of a parable. A parable is a short story that illustrates a spiritual lesson. Jesus spoke in parables and explained those parables to his disciples.
*In verse 3 we have an imperative or command "Listen". Jesus uses a present imperative second person command. Literally, he says "you all listen." Jesus is telling us to listen up, what He is about to say is important. You don't want to miss this message, this message can change your life!
==Bad Soil==
===The Wayside (V. 4)===
*The idea here is that the seed lands on hard-packed ground, perhaps a path or other trail. If you were to lay a bunch of seed on a packed road, then no matter how much you watered you wouldn't expect the seed to grow. The seed will simply not get started.
*Scholars have debated how seed was planted in first-century Palestine. Some have argued that a farmer would scatter seed and then go over that scattered seed with a plow to bury it in the soil. <ref>Strauss L. Mark, Mark: Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2014 </ref>
*Compare with Matthew 13:19 where we are told that people hear the Word, but fail to understand it resulting in the missed opportunity to germinate.
*What does this mean for you today? If there is something you don't understand, then you need to ask. We are talking about important information, if you have questions, then you should ask.

Seekers need to soften their hearts and seek answers so the Word of God can penetrate and take root.

===Stony Ground (V. 5-6)===

*Some of the worst ground for growing a garden is ground in which there is only a thin layer of topsoil on top of solid rock. If you place a seed in this ground, then it will germinate and begin to grow. However, there is not much room for the roots to penetrate into the ground. What happens on a hot sunny day? The topsoil dries out, the plant is unable to draw water from lower in the soil and the plant withers and dies. Let me take this just a little further.
*Someone might argue that the sun has actually killed this plant through its scorching heat. In fact, this is sort of correct. The sun has scorched the plant, but the sun was actually necessary for growth. What has happened is that the sunlight that is a necessary component of growth has in fact destroyed the plant because the plant was not properly rooted in good soil. For a plant that is not rooted in good soil, the very thing that should cause growth, actually destroys.

*In Mark 4:16 and 17 we see that the seed that is sown on stony ground does sprout, but as soon as trouble comes it fades away.

Seekers must go deep, don't be content with a surface level understanding of God, you must go deeper.

===Among Thorns (V. 7)===

*I hate weeds. Every year I spend quite a bit of money on weed killer for my own lawn. In suburban America people take great pride in having dark green manicured lawns without a single blemish. We purchase chemicals and fertilizer all to achieve this goal of having a nice green lawn.
*In a garden there is always competition between the good plants and the weeds. You see, there are limited resources in the garden and everything is competing for access to these resources. You cannot have a lush vegetable surrounded by weeds, the weeds will take resources from the vegetable.

*Mark 4:18-19 tells us that there are some significant distractions that can choke the Word: cares of the world, riches, desires of the world. We, like the garden, have a limited number of resources. We don't have all the time in the world, all the wealth in the world,nor all the friends in the world. We are limited. How do you want to spend your resources?
*Note: The seduction of the world may not destroy the plant, but it will keep the plant from producing fruit and accomplishing its intended purpose.
*You must get rid of the cares of the world and instead focus on Christ.
*Ideally, you want your soil to be free of weeds, but just like a garden we often miss a small weed in the soil. The trick is that as soon as we see the weed we must pluck it out and keep it from competing.

Seekers must not lose their focus on their Savior.

==Good Ground (V. 8)==

*Mark 4:8 uses three ideas to describe the one represented by good soil and each of these can be contrasted with the conditions of the bad soil. In good soil we see a progression. The seed sprouts, grows, and produces. The analogy for us is that we must accept the Word, grow, and bear fruit. Let's take a minute to talk about the fruit. The text talks about the seed yielding thirty to sixty fold. The result of this crop yielding thirty to sixty fold is an excellent harvest. It is ultimately only God that can bring the harvest and we should expect excellence in what He does.

Seekers should toil and labor to receive, hear, and bear fruit from the Word of God.

==Caring for Your Soil==

*So what do you need to do? What does this mean for you? Let's dig into our own life and ask some hard questions.

===Step 1===
*Remember that the first step in any plant is germination.
*In Acts 2 Peter preached a compelling sermon in which he argued that Jesus Christ was the Savior of the world. At the conclusion of his sermon the people asked the most important question they would ever ask.
**Acts 2:37 "Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, 'Men and brethren, what shall we do?'"<ref>NKJV</ref>.
**Peter responded Acts 2:38a "Then Peter said to them, 'Repent...'" (Note: Peter said more but we will get to that in another lesson).
*What does it mean to repent?
**The Greek word for repent here is μετανοησατε and has the idea of changing direction or heart. Peter is calling on these Jews who had previously rejected Jesus to change direction and accept Jesus as the solution to their problem of sin. This message of repentance is central to the Bible. It is of upmost importance that if you have not yet repented and turned to Christ that you do that right here, right now. I mean it, pull one of us aside and tell us that you need to repent and turn to Jesus. Nothing that I am about to say is more important than that one act.

===Step 2===
*Remember that any plant needs good soil if it is to grow.
*We must first realize that trials and persecution are not just a possibility but rather an expectation. Jesus promised as much in Mark 13:9-13. However, the trials and persecutions result in our own spiritual growth. Look at Job 23:10 and James 1:3. So we need to accept that we will be tried but these trials will be for our good if we have the right soil.
*Now for me personally, I have not experienced significant persecution and while my trials have seemed to be significant for me, they are nothing compared to what others experience around the world. But even today, around the world, probably nothing compares to what Mark's readers would have experienced. Mark may have been writing to people in the city of Rome under the emperor Nero. Nero was known as an extravagant tyrant who persecuted Christians. In fact, some hold that under Nero Christians were burned on stakes to light the city of Rome. Mark's readers would have had every reason to cry out and wither in the face of such persecution. What does Mark call his readers to do? Put down deep roots into good soil!

*So, how do you make the soil of your heart good for growth?

**We must grow in grace and knowledge according to 2 Peter 3:18.
**In our next lesson will will study this further.

===Step 3===
*Remember even a sprouted plant that has grown may not produce fruit. Weeds can get in the way.
*Notice in Mark 4:18-19 that it is the care of this age and deceitfulness of wealth that choke out the plant. 1 John 2:17 tells us that "And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever."<ref>NKJV</ref>.
*So, how do we remove the weeds?
**We must realize what this life is and what eternity is. Only by looking at life through the lens of eternity can we remove the weeds.

====Scratch Work for turning Step 2 into its own lesson====
***Hebrews 6:1-8
***1 Peter 2:2-3
***Colossians 1:9-10
***Colossians 2:6-7
***Hebrews 5:12-14
***2 Peter 1:5-8
***Ephesians 4:13-24

=Conclusion=

Seekers must work to prepare and maintain good soil so the Word of God can be effective in their life.

=References=

Mark 4:1-8

2019-05-02T00:33:24Z

Ewakefield2: /* Good Ground (V. 8) */

Mark 4:1-8

2019-05-02T00:32:49Z

Ewakefield2: /* Stony Ground (V. 5-6) */

Mark 4:1-8

2019-05-02T00:32:29Z

Ewakefield2: /* Main Body */

Mark 4:1-8

2019-05-02T00:16:41Z

Ewakefield2: /* Introduction */

=Objectives=
*Students will ask themselves what type of soil best describes their life today.
*Students will seek to be good soil.

=Introduction=
Have you ever planted a garden? Gardening is a lot of work. In 2019 I wanted to plant a garden, it was more work than I thought it would be. First, I needed to create the garden area. To create the garden area I moved 2125 pounds of concrete. I then brought in several loads of dirt and compost. Why did I go through so much work? Because for a garden to grow you must have good soil, a good environment. If I take a seed and place it on a concrete block it will not grow into a vegetable.

The Word of God is a lot like a seed, in the right soil the Word grows and transforms a person. However, if the soil is bad, then all sorts of things can go wrong.

=Main Body=

*Jesus spent somewhere around 3 years teaching the people in the Roman provinces of Judea and Galilee about God, and the way in which God desires us to live. A key method Jesus used in teaching was that of a parable. A parable is a short story that illustrates a spiritual lesson. Jesus spoke in parables and explained those parables to his disciples.
*In verse 3 we have an improve or command "Listen". Jesus uses a present imperative second person command. Literally, he says "you all listen." Jesus is telling us to listen up, what He is about to say is important. You don't want to miss this message, this message can change your life!
==Bad Soil==
===The Wayside (V. 4)===
*The idea here is that the seed lands on hard-packed ground, perhaps a path or other trail. If you were to lay a bunch of seed on a packed road then no matter how much you watered you wouldn't expect the seed to grow. The seed will simply not get started.
*Scholars have debated how seed was planted in first-century Palestine. Some have argued that a farmer would scatter seed and then go over that scattered seed with a plow to burry it in the soil. <ref>Strauss L. Mark, Mark: Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2014 </ref>
*Compare with Matthew 13:19 where we are told that people hear the Word, but fail to understand it resulting in the missing the opportunity to germinate.
*What does this mean for you today? If there is something you don't understand then you need to ask. We are talking about important information, if you have questions then you should ask.

Seekers need soften their hearts and set answers so the Word of God can penetrate and take root.

===Stony Ground (V. 5-6)===

*Some of the worst ground for growing a garden is ground in which there is only a thin layer of topsoil on top of solid rock. If you place a seed in this ground then it will germinate and begin to grow. However, there is not much room for the roots to penetrate into the ground. What on a hot sunny day? The topsoil dries out, the plant is unable to draw water from lower in the soil and the plan withers and dies. Let me take this just a little further.
*Someone might argue that the Sun has actually killed this plant through its scorching heat. In fact, this is sort-of correct. The Sun has scorched the plant, but the sun was actually necessary for growth. What has happened is that the sunlight that is a necessary component of growth has in fact destroyed the plan because the plant was not properly rooted in good soil. For a plant that is not rooted in good soil the very thing that should cause growth actually destroys.

*In Mark 4:16 and 17 we see that the seed that is sown on stony ground does sprout, but as soon as trouble comes it fades away.

Seekers must go deep, don't be content with a surface level understanding of God, you must go deeper.

===Among Thorns (V. 7)===

*I hate weeds. Every year I spend quite a bit of money on weed killer for my own lawn. In suburban America people take great pride in having dark green manicured lawns without a single blemish. We purchase chemicals and fertilizer all to achieve this goal of having a nice green lawn.
*In a garden there is always competition between the good plants and the weeds. You see, there are limited resources in the garden and everything is competing for access to these resources. You cannot have a lush vegetable surrounded by weeds, the weeds will take resources from the vegetable.

*Mark 4:18-19 tells us that there are some significant distractions that can choke the Word: cares of the world, riches, desires of the world. We like the garden have a limited number of resources. We don't have all the time in the world, all the wealth in the world, all the friends in the world. We are limited. How do you want to spend your resources?
*Note: The seduction of the world may not destroy the plant, but it will keep the plant from producing fruit and accomplishing its intended purpose.
*You must get rid of the cares of the world and instead focus on Christ.
*Ideally, you want your soil to be free of weeds, but just like a garden we often miss a small weed in the soil. The trick is that as soon as we see the weed we must pluck it out and keep it from competing.

Seekers must not lose their focus on their Savior.

==Good Ground (V. 8)==

*Mark 4:8 uses three ideas to describe the one represented by good soil and each of these can be contrasted with the conditions of the bad soil. In good soil we see a progression. The seed sprouts, grows, and produces. The analogue for us is that we must accept the Word, grow, and bear fruit. Let's take a minute to talk about the fruit. The text talks about the seed yielding thirty to sixty fold. The result of this crop yielding thirty to sixtyfold is an excellent harvest. It is ultimately only God that can bring the harvest and we should expect excellence in what He does.

Seekers should told and labor to receive, hear, and bear fruit from the Word of God.

==Caring for Your Soil==

*So what do you need to do? what does this mean for you? Let's dig into our own life and ask some hard questions.

===Step 1===
*Remember that the first step in any plant is germination.
*In Acts 2 Peter preached a compelling sermon in which he argued that Jesus Christ was the Savior of the world. At the conclusion of his sermon the people asked the most important question they would ever ask.
**Acts 2:37 "Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, 'Men and brethren, what shall we do?'"<ref>NKJV</ref>.
**Peter responded Acts 2:38a "Then Peter said to them, 'Repent...'" (Note: Peter said more but we will get to that in another lesson).
*What does it mean to repent?
**The Greek word for repent here is μετανοησατε and has the idea of changing direction or heart. Peter is calling on these Jews who had previously rejected Jesus to change direction and accept Jesus as the solution to their problem of sin. This message of repentance is central to the Bible. It is of upmost importance that if you have not yet repented and turned to Christ that you do that right here, right now. I mean it, pull one of us aside and tell us that you need to repent and turn to Jesus. Nothing that I am about to say is more important than that one act.

===Step 2===
*Remember that any plant needs good soil if it is to grow.
*We must first realize that trials and persecution are not just a possibility but an expectation. Jesus promised as much in Mark 13:9-13. However, the trials and persecutions result in our own spiritual growth. Look at Job 23:10 and James 1:3. So we need to accept that we will be tried but these trials will be for our good if we have the right soil.
*Now for me personally, I have not experienced significant persecution and while my trials have seemed to be significant for me, they are nothing compared to what others experience around the world. But even today, around the world, probably nothing compares to what Mark's readers would have experienced. Mark may have been writing to people in the city of Rome under the emperor Nero. Nero was known as an extravagant tyrant who persecuted Christians. In fact, some hold that under Nero christians were burned on stakes to light the city of Rome. Mark's readers would have had every reason to cry out and wither in the face of such persecution. What does Mark on his readers to do? Put down deep roots into good soil!

*So, how do you make the soil of your heart good for growth?

**We must grow in grace and knowledge according to 2 Peter 3:18.
**In our next lesson will will study this further.

===Step 3===
*Remember even a sprouted plan that has grown may not produce fruit. Weeds can get in the way.
*Notice in Mark 4:18-19 that it is the care of this age and deceitfulness of wealth that choke out the plant. 1 John 2:17 tells us that " And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever."<ref>NKJV</ref>.
*So, how do we remove the weeds?
**We must realize what this life is and what eternity is. Only by looking at life through the lens of eternity can we remove the weeds.

====Scratch Work for turning Step 2 into its own lesson====
***Hebrews 6:1-8
***1 Peter 2:2-3
***Colossians 1:9-10
***Colossians 2:6-7
***Hebrews 5:12-14
***2 Peter 1:5-8
***Ephesians 4:13-24

=Conclusion=

Seekers must work to prepare and maintain good soil so the Word of God can be effective in their life.

=References=

Mark 4:1-8

2019-05-02T00:15:12Z

Ewakefield2: /* Objectives */

=Objectives=
*Students will ask themselves what type of soil best describes their life today.
*Students will seek to be good soil.

=Introduction=
Have you ever planted a garden? Gardening is a lot of work. In 2019 I wanted to plant a garden, it was more work than I thought it would be. First, I needed to create the garden area. To create the garden area I moved 2125 pounds of concrete, I then brought in several loads of dirt and compost. Why did I go through so much work? Because for a garden to grow you must have good soil, a good environment. If I take a seed and place it on a concrete block it will not grow into a vegetable.

The Word of God is a lot like a seed, in the right soil the Word grows and transforms a person, but if the soil is bad then all sorts of things can go wrong.

=Main Body=

*Jesus spent somewhere around 3 years teaching the people in the Roman provinces of Judea and Galilee about God, and the way in which God desires us to live. A key method Jesus used in teaching was that of a parable. A parable is a short story that illustrates a spiritual lesson. Jesus spoke in parables and explained those parables to his disciples.
*In verse 3 we have an improve or command "Listen". Jesus uses a present imperative second person command. Literally, he says "you all listen." Jesus is telling us to listen up, what He is about to say is important. You don't want to miss this message, this message can change your life!
==Bad Soil==
===The Wayside (V. 4)===
*The idea here is that the seed lands on hard-packed ground, perhaps a path or other trail. If you were to lay a bunch of seed on a packed road then no matter how much you watered you wouldn't expect the seed to grow. The seed will simply not get started.
*Scholars have debated how seed was planted in first-century Palestine. Some have argued that a farmer would scatter seed and then go over that scattered seed with a plow to burry it in the soil. <ref>Strauss L. Mark, Mark: Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2014 </ref>
*Compare with Matthew 13:19 where we are told that people hear the Word, but fail to understand it resulting in the missing the opportunity to germinate.
*What does this mean for you today? If there is something you don't understand then you need to ask. We are talking about important information, if you have questions then you should ask.

Seekers need soften their hearts and set answers so the Word of God can penetrate and take root.

===Stony Ground (V. 5-6)===

*Some of the worst ground for growing a garden is ground in which there is only a thin layer of topsoil on top of solid rock. If you place a seed in this ground then it will germinate and begin to grow. However, there is not much room for the roots to penetrate into the ground. What on a hot sunny day? The topsoil dries out, the plant is unable to draw water from lower in the soil and the plan withers and dies. Let me take this just a little further.
*Someone might argue that the Sun has actually killed this plant through its scorching heat. In fact, this is sort-of correct. The Sun has scorched the plant, but the sun was actually necessary for growth. What has happened is that the sunlight that is a necessary component of growth has in fact destroyed the plan because the plant was not properly rooted in good soil. For a plant that is not rooted in good soil the very thing that should cause growth actually destroys.

*In Mark 4:16 and 17 we see that the seed that is sown on stony ground does sprout, but as soon as trouble comes it fades away.

Seekers must go deep, don't be content with a surface level understanding of God, you must go deeper.

===Among Thorns (V. 7)===

*I hate weeds. Every year I spend quite a bit of money on weed killer for my own lawn. In suburban America people take great pride in having dark green manicured lawns without a single blemish. We purchase chemicals and fertilizer all to achieve this goal of having a nice green lawn.
*In a garden there is always competition between the good plants and the weeds. You see, there are limited resources in the garden and everything is competing for access to these resources. You cannot have a lush vegetable surrounded by weeds, the weeds will take resources from the vegetable.

*Mark 4:18-19 tells us that there are some significant distractions that can choke the Word: cares of the world, riches, desires of the world. We like the garden have a limited number of resources. We don't have all the time in the world, all the wealth in the world, all the friends in the world. We are limited. How do you want to spend your resources?
*Note: The seduction of the world may not destroy the plant, but it will keep the plant from producing fruit and accomplishing its intended purpose.
*You must get rid of the cares of the world and instead focus on Christ.
*Ideally, you want your soil to be free of weeds, but just like a garden we often miss a small weed in the soil. The trick is that as soon as we see the weed we must pluck it out and keep it from competing.

Seekers must not lose their focus on their Savior.

==Good Ground (V. 8)==

*Mark 4:8 uses three ideas to describe the one represented by good soil and each of these can be contrasted with the conditions of the bad soil. In good soil we see a progression. The seed sprouts, grows, and produces. The analogue for us is that we must accept the Word, grow, and bear fruit. Let's take a minute to talk about the fruit. The text talks about the seed yielding thirty to sixty fold. The result of this crop yielding thirty to sixtyfold is an excellent harvest. It is ultimately only God that can bring the harvest and we should expect excellence in what He does.

Seekers should told and labor to receive, hear, and bear fruit from the Word of God.

==Caring for Your Soil==

*So what do you need to do? what does this mean for you? Let's dig into our own life and ask some hard questions.

===Step 1===
*Remember that the first step in any plant is germination.
*In Acts 2 Peter preached a compelling sermon in which he argued that Jesus Christ was the Savior of the world. At the conclusion of his sermon the people asked the most important question they would ever ask.
**Acts 2:37 "Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, 'Men and brethren, what shall we do?'"<ref>NKJV</ref>.
**Peter responded Acts 2:38a "Then Peter said to them, 'Repent...'" (Note: Peter said more but we will get to that in another lesson).
*What does it mean to repent?
**The Greek word for repent here is μετανοησατε and has the idea of changing direction or heart. Peter is calling on these Jews who had previously rejected Jesus to change direction and accept Jesus as the solution to their problem of sin. This message of repentance is central to the Bible. It is of upmost importance that if you have not yet repented and turned to Christ that you do that right here, right now. I mean it, pull one of us aside and tell us that you need to repent and turn to Jesus. Nothing that I am about to say is more important than that one act.

===Step 2===
*Remember that any plant needs good soil if it is to grow.
*We must first realize that trials and persecution are not just a possibility but an expectation. Jesus promised as much in Mark 13:9-13. However, the trials and persecutions result in our own spiritual growth. Look at Job 23:10 and James 1:3. So we need to accept that we will be tried but these trials will be for our good if we have the right soil.
*Now for me personally, I have not experienced significant persecution and while my trials have seemed to be significant for me, they are nothing compared to what others experience around the world. But even today, around the world, probably nothing compares to what Mark's readers would have experienced. Mark may have been writing to people in the city of Rome under the emperor Nero. Nero was known as an extravagant tyrant who persecuted Christians. In fact, some hold that under Nero christians were burned on stakes to light the city of Rome. Mark's readers would have had every reason to cry out and wither in the face of such persecution. What does Mark on his readers to do? Put down deep roots into good soil!

*So, how do you make the soil of your heart good for growth?

**We must grow in grace and knowledge according to 2 Peter 3:18.
**In our next lesson will will study this further.

===Step 3===
*Remember even a sprouted plan that has grown may not produce fruit. Weeds can get in the way.
*Notice in Mark 4:18-19 that it is the care of this age and deceitfulness of wealth that choke out the plant. 1 John 2:17 tells us that " And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever."<ref>NKJV</ref>.
*So, how do we remove the weeds?
**We must realize what this life is and what eternity is. Only by looking at life through the lens of eternity can we remove the weeds.

====Scratch Work for turning Step 2 into its own lesson====
***Hebrews 6:1-8
***1 Peter 2:2-3
***Colossians 1:9-10
***Colossians 2:6-7
***Hebrews 5:12-14
***2 Peter 1:5-8
***Ephesians 4:13-24

=Conclusion=

Seekers must work to prepare and maintain good soil so the Word of God can be effective in their life.

=References=

Studying a Passage for Lesson Planning

2019-03-03T22:58:04Z

Ewakefield2: /* Important Questions */

=Objectives=
*Teachers will learn to observe what a passage says.
*Teachers will learn to see how a passage fits in a wider context
*Teachers will leave with a set of ideas about a passage that they can use as they look through other teacher's resources.

=Introduction=
*Consider the following image. How many squares do you see?

{| class="wikitable"
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:left;" |
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:center;" |
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:right;" |
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:right;" |
|- style="vertical-align:middle;"
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:left;" |
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:center;" |
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:right;" |
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:right;" |
|- style="vertical-align:bottom;"
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:left;" |
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:center;" |
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:right;" |
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:right;" |
|- style="vertical-align:bottom;"
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:left;" |
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:center;" |
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:right;" |
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:right;" |
|}

To see the answer select the text between these two There are 30 squares words.

In order to be effective in studying the Bible and teaching the Bible we must learn to observe.

=Main Body=
==What Does the Passage Say?==
===Observation===
*Take a moment, compartmentalize away everything you have previously learned and now read Acts 10:1-3 with fresh eyes. Write down as many observations about the passage as you can. These observations should be just plain facts about the passage. Try not to get caught up in previous knowledge or anything like that, just make observations about what the passage says. See if you can come up with 21 observations.

{|
|-
| *Cornelius was a man
| *Cornelius was in Caesarea
| *Cornelius was a centurion
|-
| *Cornelius was part of the Italian Regiment
| *Cornelius is identified as "a certain man"
| *Cornelius was devout
|-
| *Cornelius feared God
| *Cornelius had a household
| *Cornelius' household feared God
|-
| *Cornelius gave alms
| *Cornelius was generous
| *Cornelius gave to people
|-
| *Cornelius prayed to God not a lesser idol
| *The story takes place during the ninth hour
| *Cornelius saw clearly
|-
| *Cornelius had a vision
| *Cornelius interacts with an angel
| *The angel was from God
|-
| *The angel had to come, he wasn't already there
| *The angel spoke to Cornelius
| *The angel knew Cornelius' name
|}

As you can see, these approximately 60 words of text contain a whole lot of information. For most of us, when we read, we miss a lot of information. This is not always a bad thing, after all, we need to get to the main point of the text. However, when we are teaching a text it can be helpful to carefully look at the text to see what all is in the text.

===Important Questions===
Anytime you are looking at a passage of Scripture it is important to ask yourself a few key questions, who? what? when? where? how? and why?
*Again, try not to think about anything other than the passage and answer the following questions:
**Who? Cornelius
**What? Spent time praying
**When? At the ninth hour
**Where? Caesarea
**How? He saw an angel of God clearly in a vision
**Why? Probably because he feared God and spent a significant amount of time in prayer

*Now try the same activity on one of the following passages:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|Acts 10:4-6
|Acts 10:9-13
|Acts 10:14
|-
|Acts 10:15-16
|Acts 10:17-18
|Acts 10:19-20
|-
|Acts 10:21
|Acts 10:22-23
|Acts 10:24-29
|-
|Acts 10:30-33
|Acts 10:34-43
|Acts 10:44-48
|}

 
 

==Making Sense of the Passage==
At this point you have probably only read a few paragraphs of the passage. As we study the process of preparing a lesson, we have much to learn, so rather than go through the steps for every single paragraph in Acts 10, (certainly a useful activity) we are going to move forward in the planning stages. Take a few minutes and read through Acts 10 in its entirety.
===Background===
Now that we have discussed what the passage actually states, it is time to start filling in the larger contextual and cultural details. Several questions will help us to fill in these details.
*To whom was the passage written?
 
*When was the passage written?
 
*Why do you suppose the passage was written?
 
*What cultural artifacts do you see in the passage that might not be present in the culture of those to whom you are giving the lesson?
 
===Purpose===
*Why do you think the writer chose to include this narrative? What were they trying to do?
 
*Create a brief outline of the passage. One is provided below but before looking at the outline below try to make your own.

**I. Setting the stage acts (verses 1-8)
***a. Cornelius (verses 1-2)
***b. A surprise visitor (verses 3-4)
***c. A surprise request (verses 5-8)
**II. Setting the stage acts 2 (verses 9-23)
***a. Peter (verses 9-16)
***b. A surprise visitor (verses 17-18)
***c. A surprise request (verses 20-23)
**III. An Ordained Meeting (verses 24-33)
***a. God calls all people not just Jews (verses 24-29)
***b. God has provided preachers to spread His word (verses 30-33)
**IV. The Purpose (verses 34-43)
***Jesus is Lord (verses 34-38)
***Jesus is Savior (verses 39-43)
**V. The Result (verses 44-48)
***a. God can save gentiles (verses 44-46)
***b. God brings gentiles into the church (verses 47-48)


*Now that you have an outline try to write a single sentence using fewer than 10 words that summarize the entire passage.
Divine appointments demonstrated Christ's salvation is for Jews and Gentiles.
*Finally, write a propositional statement, something that you want your students to walk away with. For example, "we must individually accept the gift of salvation that Christ offers to all mankind."

==Using Resources==
There are a lot of resources available ranging from commentaries, outlines, and other summaries to specific dictionaries. Each of these resources is useful, but I think it is most useful to first go through the steps above so that you have an understanding of the passage. This will help you identify and distinguish opinion from fact. Some people have really good opinions, but others have very bad opinions. The steps above will help you sort through what others have said so that you can more objectively interpret scripture.
====Some Outside Resources====
===Other Translations===
As a next step it can be very helpful to begin looking at the passage in other translations. As you do so you might ask yourself the following questions:
*Are there significant differences between translations?
*Are there places where one translation helps make sense of a phrase over another translations? (Note: you also should weigh the trustworthiness of the translation in this process.)
*Are there words that one translation uses that my audience will understand better? Can I use these words while still being faithful to the text?

===Commentaries===
Commentaries general provide some deeper background, culture, and overview of a passage. A good commentary can really help a passage come to life. For the purposes of this discussion we will not get much into commentaries. However, a few commentaries are worth particular mention. Both the Bible Knowledge Commentary and the Bible Exposition Commentary are good resources for general study. I would not classify either resource as a scholarly resource, but for the purpose of planning a lesson, both commentaries have excellent material.

===Dictionaries===
Bible dictionaries come in all sorts of levels. Some Bible dictionaries are closer to commentaries while others are simple dictionaries. Some dictionaries work in English while others are in the original language of the text. Using a Bible dictionary can be extremely useful for studying a passage.

===Specialized Curriculum===
In many cases you may have access to a specific curriculum that was designed for a Sunday School class or VBS. These curriculums can be very useful, but they can also be a crutch. My advice is that before using a curriculum you first go through the preparation steps outline above. Once you have taken these steps then you can go to the curriculum and use the curriculum to supplement your work. What follows are some general guidelines for using curriculum.

*Look for learning objectives, read those objectives, and ask yourself, are objective specific, measurable? If not, rewrite them so they are.
*Do the learning objectives fit the passage? At this point you should have a good grasp of the passage and you should be able to see how the learning objectives match the passage. If the objectives do not match the passage then you should alter the objectives or look for a better passage.
*Next, skip over the introduction, activities and pre-lesson material, before we get to any of that we want to look at how the curriculum will handle the passage itself. Read through the curriculums handling of the passage. Ask yourself the following:
**Is there anything I missed in the passage that the curriculum is bringing out?
**Is there anything the curriculum authors missed in the passage that I found?
**Is there good reason to other omit or include those observations? In particular, do they support the learning objective? If they do then you should consider including them.

After walking through these steps you are now in a position to use the curriculum to plan out a full lesson plan. For further help on planning the lesson plan we refer you to [[Introduction to Lesson Planning]].

Studying a Passage for Lesson Planning

2019-03-03T22:56:23Z

Ewakefield2: /* Important Questions */

=Objectives=
*Teachers will learn to observe what a passage says.
*Teachers will learn to see how a passage fits in a wider context
*Teachers will leave with a set of ideas about a passage that they can use as they look through other teacher's resources.

=Introduction=
*Consider the following image. How many squares do you see?

{| class="wikitable"
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:left;" |
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:center;" |
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:right;" |
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:right;" |
|- style="vertical-align:middle;"
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:left;" |
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:center;" |
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:right;" |
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:right;" |
|- style="vertical-align:bottom;"
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:left;" |
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:center;" |
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:right;" |
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:right;" |
|- style="vertical-align:bottom;"
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:left;" |
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:center;" |
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:right;" |
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:right;" |
|}

To see the answer select the text between these two There are 30 squares words.

In order to be effective in studying the Bible and teaching the Bible we must learn to observe.

=Main Body=
==What Does the Passage Say?==
===Observation===
*Take a moment, compartmentalize away everything you have previously learned and now read Acts 10:1-3 with fresh eyes. Write down as many observations about the passage as you can. These observations should be just plain facts about the passage. Try not to get caught up in previous knowledge or anything like that, just make observations about what the passage says. See if you can come up with 21 observations.

{|
|-
| *Cornelius was a man
| *Cornelius was in Caesarea
| *Cornelius was a centurion
|-
| *Cornelius was part of the Italian Regiment
| *Cornelius is identified as "a certain man"
| *Cornelius was devout
|-
| *Cornelius feared God
| *Cornelius had a household
| *Cornelius' household feared God
|-
| *Cornelius gave alms
| *Cornelius was generous
| *Cornelius gave to people
|-
| *Cornelius prayed to God not a lesser idol
| *The story takes place during the ninth hour
| *Cornelius saw clearly
|-
| *Cornelius had a vision
| *Cornelius interacts with an angel
| *The angel was from God
|-
| *The angel had to come, he wasn't already there
| *The angel spoke to Cornelius
| *The angel knew Cornelius' name
|}

As you can see, these approximately 60 words of text contain a whole lot of information. For most of us, when we read, we miss a lot of information. This is not always a bad thing, after all, we need to get to the main point of the text. However, when we are teaching a text it can be helpful to carefully look at the text to see what all is in the text.

===Important Questions===
Anytime you are looking at a passage of Scripture it is important to ask yourself a few key questions, who? what? when? where? how? and why?
*Again, try not to think about anything other than the passage and answer the following questions:
**Who? Cornelius
**What? Spent time praying
**When? At the ninth hour
**Where? Caesarea
**How? He saw an angel of God clearly in a vision
**Why? Probably because he feared God and spent a significant amount of time in prayer

*Now try the same activity on one of the following passages:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|Acts 10:4-6
|Acts 10:9-13
|Acts 10:14
|-
|Acts 10:15-16
|Acts 10:17-18
|Acts 10:19-20
|-
|Acts 10:21
|Acts 10:22-23
|Acts 10:24-29
|-
|Acts 10:30-33
|Acts 10:34-43
|Acts 44-48
|}

 
 

==Making Sense of the Passage==
At this point you have probably only read a few paragraphs of the passage. As we study the process of preparing a lesson, we have much to learn, so rather than go through the steps for every single paragraph in Acts 10, (certainly a useful activity) we are going to move forward in the planning stages. Take a few minutes and read through Acts 10 in its entirety.
===Background===
Now that we have discussed what the passage actually states, it is time to start filling in the larger contextual and cultural details. Several questions will help us to fill in these details.
*To whom was the passage written?
 
*When was the passage written?
 
*Why do you suppose the passage was written?
 
*What cultural artifacts do you see in the passage that might not be present in the culture of those to whom you are giving the lesson?
 
===Purpose===
*Why do you think the writer chose to include this narrative? What were they trying to do?
 
*Create a brief outline of the passage. One is provided below but before looking at the outline below try to make your own.

**I. Setting the stage acts (verses 1-8)
***a. Cornelius (verses 1-2)
***b. A surprise visitor (verses 3-4)
***c. A surprise request (verses 5-8)
**II. Setting the stage acts 2 (verses 9-23)
***a. Peter (verses 9-16)
***b. A surprise visitor (verses 17-18)
***c. A surprise request (verses 20-23)
**III. An Ordained Meeting (verses 24-33)
***a. God calls all people not just Jews (verses 24-29)
***b. God has provided preachers to spread His word (verses 30-33)
**IV. The Purpose (verses 34-43)
***Jesus is Lord (verses 34-38)
***Jesus is Savior (verses 39-43)
**V. The Result (verses 44-48)
***a. God can save gentiles (verses 44-46)
***b. God brings gentiles into the church (verses 47-48)


*Now that you have an outline try to write a single sentence using fewer than 10 words that summarize the entire passage.
Divine appointments demonstrated Christ's salvation is for Jews and Gentiles.
*Finally, write a propositional statement, something that you want your students to walk away with. For example, "we must individually accept the gift of salvation that Christ offers to all mankind."

==Using Resources==
There are a lot of resources available ranging from commentaries, outlines, and other summaries to specific dictionaries. Each of these resources is useful, but I think it is most useful to first go through the steps above so that you have an understanding of the passage. This will help you identify and distinguish opinion from fact. Some people have really good opinions, but others have very bad opinions. The steps above will help you sort through what others have said so that you can more objectively interpret scripture.
====Some Outside Resources====
===Other Translations===
As a next step it can be very helpful to begin looking at the passage in other translations. As you do so you might ask yourself the following questions:
*Are there significant differences between translations?
*Are there places where one translation helps make sense of a phrase over another translations? (Note: you also should weigh the trustworthiness of the translation in this process.)
*Are there words that one translation uses that my audience will understand better? Can I use these words while still being faithful to the text?

===Commentaries===
Commentaries general provide some deeper background, culture, and overview of a passage. A good commentary can really help a passage come to life. For the purposes of this discussion we will not get much into commentaries. However, a few commentaries are worth particular mention. Both the Bible Knowledge Commentary and the Bible Exposition Commentary are good resources for general study. I would not classify either resource as a scholarly resource, but for the purpose of planning a lesson, both commentaries have excellent material.

===Dictionaries===
Bible dictionaries come in all sorts of levels. Some Bible dictionaries are closer to commentaries while others are simple dictionaries. Some dictionaries work in English while others are in the original language of the text. Using a Bible dictionary can be extremely useful for studying a passage.

===Specialized Curriculum===
In many cases you may have access to a specific curriculum that was designed for a Sunday School class or VBS. These curriculums can be very useful, but they can also be a crutch. My advice is that before using a curriculum you first go through the preparation steps outline above. Once you have taken these steps then you can go to the curriculum and use the curriculum to supplement your work. What follows are some general guidelines for using curriculum.

*Look for learning objectives, read those objectives, and ask yourself, are objective specific, measurable? If not, rewrite them so they are.
*Do the learning objectives fit the passage? At this point you should have a good grasp of the passage and you should be able to see how the learning objectives match the passage. If the objectives do not match the passage then you should alter the objectives or look for a better passage.
*Next, skip over the introduction, activities and pre-lesson material, before we get to any of that we want to look at how the curriculum will handle the passage itself. Read through the curriculums handling of the passage. Ask yourself the following:
**Is there anything I missed in the passage that the curriculum is bringing out?
**Is there anything the curriculum authors missed in the passage that I found?
**Is there good reason to other omit or include those observations? In particular, do they support the learning objective? If they do then you should consider including them.

After walking through these steps you are now in a position to use the curriculum to plan out a full lesson plan. For further help on planning the lesson plan we refer you to [[Introduction to Lesson Planning]].

Studying a Passage for Lesson Planning

2019-03-03T22:55:29Z

Ewakefield2: /* Important Questions */

=Objectives=
*Teachers will learn to observe what a passage says.
*Teachers will learn to see how a passage fits in a wider context
*Teachers will leave with a set of ideas about a passage that they can use as they look through other teacher's resources.

=Introduction=
*Consider the following image. How many squares do you see?

{| class="wikitable"
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:left;" |
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:center;" |
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:right;" |
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:right;" |
|- style="vertical-align:middle;"
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:left;" |
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:center;" |
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:right;" |
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:right;" |
|- style="vertical-align:bottom;"
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:left;" |
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:center;" |
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:right;" |
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:right;" |
|- style="vertical-align:bottom;"
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:left;" |
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:center;" |
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:right;" |
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:right;" |
|}

To see the answer select the text between these two There are 30 squares words.

In order to be effective in studying the Bible and teaching the Bible we must learn to observe.

=Main Body=
==What Does the Passage Say?==
===Observation===
*Take a moment, compartmentalize away everything you have previously learned and now read Acts 10:1-3 with fresh eyes. Write down as many observations about the passage as you can. These observations should be just plain facts about the passage. Try not to get caught up in previous knowledge or anything like that, just make observations about what the passage says. See if you can come up with 21 observations.

{|
|-
| *Cornelius was a man
| *Cornelius was in Caesarea
| *Cornelius was a centurion
|-
| *Cornelius was part of the Italian Regiment
| *Cornelius is identified as "a certain man"
| *Cornelius was devout
|-
| *Cornelius feared God
| *Cornelius had a household
| *Cornelius' household feared God
|-
| *Cornelius gave alms
| *Cornelius was generous
| *Cornelius gave to people
|-
| *Cornelius prayed to God not a lesser idol
| *The story takes place during the ninth hour
| *Cornelius saw clearly
|-
| *Cornelius had a vision
| *Cornelius interacts with an angel
| *The angel was from God
|-
| *The angel had to come, he wasn't already there
| *The angel spoke to Cornelius
| *The angel knew Cornelius' name
|}

As you can see, these approximately 60 words of text contain a whole lot of information. For most of us, when we read, we miss a lot of information. This is not always a bad thing, after all, we need to get to the main point of the text. However, when we are teaching a text it can be helpful to carefully look at the text to see what all is in the text.

===Important Questions===
Anytime you are looking at a passage of Scripture it is important to ask yourself a few key questions, who? what? when? where? how? and why?
*Again, try not to think about anything other than the passage and answer the following questions:
**Who? Cornlius
**What? Spent time praying
**When? At the ninth hour
**Where? Caesarea
**How? He saw an angel of God clearly in a vision
**Why? Probably because he feared God and spent a significant amount of time in prayer

*Now try the same activity on one of the following passages:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|Acts 10:4-6
|Acts 10:9-13
|Acts 10:14
|-
|Acts 10:15-16
|Acts 10:17-18
|Acts 10:19-20
|-
|Acts 10:21
|Acts 10:22-23
|Acts 10:24-29
|-
|Acts 10:30-33
|Acts 10:34-43
|Acts 44-48
|}

 
 

==Making Sense of the Passage==
At this point you have probably only read a few paragraphs of the passage. As we study the process of preparing a lesson, we have much to learn, so rather than go through the steps for every single paragraph in Acts 10, (certainly a useful activity) we are going to move forward in the planning stages. Take a few minutes and read through Acts 10 in its entirety.
===Background===
Now that we have discussed what the passage actually states, it is time to start filling in the larger contextual and cultural details. Several questions will help us to fill in these details.
*To whom was the passage written?
 
*When was the passage written?
 
*Why do you suppose the passage was written?
 
*What cultural artifacts do you see in the passage that might not be present in the culture of those to whom you are giving the lesson?
 
===Purpose===
*Why do you think the writer chose to include this narrative? What were they trying to do?
 
*Create a brief outline of the passage. One is provided below but before looking at the outline below try to make your own.

**I. Setting the stage acts (verses 1-8)
***a. Cornelius (verses 1-2)
***b. A surprise visitor (verses 3-4)
***c. A surprise request (verses 5-8)
**II. Setting the stage acts 2 (verses 9-23)
***a. Peter (verses 9-16)
***b. A surprise visitor (verses 17-18)
***c. A surprise request (verses 20-23)
**III. An Ordained Meeting (verses 24-33)
***a. God calls all people not just Jews (verses 24-29)
***b. God has provided preachers to spread His word (verses 30-33)
**IV. The Purpose (verses 34-43)
***Jesus is Lord (verses 34-38)
***Jesus is Savior (verses 39-43)
**V. The Result (verses 44-48)
***a. God can save gentiles (verses 44-46)
***b. God brings gentiles into the church (verses 47-48)


*Now that you have an outline try to write a single sentence using fewer than 10 words that summarize the entire passage.
Divine appointments demonstrated Christ's salvation is for Jews and Gentiles.
*Finally, write a propositional statement, something that you want your students to walk away with. For example, "we must individually accept the gift of salvation that Christ offers to all mankind."

==Using Resources==
There are a lot of resources available ranging from commentaries, outlines, and other summaries to specific dictionaries. Each of these resources is useful, but I think it is most useful to first go through the steps above so that you have an understanding of the passage. This will help you identify and distinguish opinion from fact. Some people have really good opinions, but others have very bad opinions. The steps above will help you sort through what others have said so that you can more objectively interpret scripture.
====Some Outside Resources====
===Other Translations===
As a next step it can be very helpful to begin looking at the passage in other translations. As you do so you might ask yourself the following questions:
*Are there significant differences between translations?
*Are there places where one translation helps make sense of a phrase over another translations? (Note: you also should weigh the trustworthiness of the translation in this process.)
*Are there words that one translation uses that my audience will understand better? Can I use these words while still being faithful to the text?

===Commentaries===
Commentaries general provide some deeper background, culture, and overview of a passage. A good commentary can really help a passage come to life. For the purposes of this discussion we will not get much into commentaries. However, a few commentaries are worth particular mention. Both the Bible Knowledge Commentary and the Bible Exposition Commentary are good resources for general study. I would not classify either resource as a scholarly resource, but for the purpose of planning a lesson, both commentaries have excellent material.

===Dictionaries===
Bible dictionaries come in all sorts of levels. Some Bible dictionaries are closer to commentaries while others are simple dictionaries. Some dictionaries work in English while others are in the original language of the text. Using a Bible dictionary can be extremely useful for studying a passage.

===Specialized Curriculum===
In many cases you may have access to a specific curriculum that was designed for a Sunday School class or VBS. These curriculums can be very useful, but they can also be a crutch. My advice is that before using a curriculum you first go through the preparation steps outline above. Once you have taken these steps then you can go to the curriculum and use the curriculum to supplement your work. What follows are some general guidelines for using curriculum.

*Look for learning objectives, read those objectives, and ask yourself, are objective specific, measurable? If not, rewrite them so they are.
*Do the learning objectives fit the passage? At this point you should have a good grasp of the passage and you should be able to see how the learning objectives match the passage. If the objectives do not match the passage then you should alter the objectives or look for a better passage.
*Next, skip over the introduction, activities and pre-lesson material, before we get to any of that we want to look at how the curriculum will handle the passage itself. Read through the curriculums handling of the passage. Ask yourself the following:
**Is there anything I missed in the passage that the curriculum is bringing out?
**Is there anything the curriculum authors missed in the passage that I found?
**Is there good reason to other omit or include those observations? In particular, do they support the learning objective? If they do then you should consider including them.

After walking through these steps you are now in a position to use the curriculum to plan out a full lesson plan. For further help on planning the lesson plan we refer you to [[Introduction to Lesson Planning]].

Studying a Passage for Lesson Planning

2019-03-03T22:55:05Z

Ewakefield2: /* Important Questions */

=Objectives=
*Teachers will learn to observe what a passage says.
*Teachers will learn to see how a passage fits in a wider context
*Teachers will leave with a set of ideas about a passage that they can use as they look through other teacher's resources.

=Introduction=
*Consider the following image. How many squares do you see?

{| class="wikitable"
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:left;" |
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:center;" |
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:right;" |
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:right;" |
|- style="vertical-align:middle;"
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:left;" |
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:center;" |
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:right;" |
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:right;" |
|- style="vertical-align:bottom;"
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:left;" |
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:center;" |
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:right;" |
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:right;" |
|- style="vertical-align:bottom;"
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:left;" |
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:center;" |
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:right;" |
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:right;" |
|}

To see the answer select the text between these two There are 30 squares words.

In order to be effective in studying the Bible and teaching the Bible we must learn to observe.

=Main Body=
==What Does the Passage Say?==
===Observation===
*Take a moment, compartmentalize away everything you have previously learned and now read Acts 10:1-3 with fresh eyes. Write down as many observations about the passage as you can. These observations should be just plain facts about the passage. Try not to get caught up in previous knowledge or anything like that, just make observations about what the passage says. See if you can come up with 21 observations.

{|
|-
| *Cornelius was a man
| *Cornelius was in Caesarea
| *Cornelius was a centurion
|-
| *Cornelius was part of the Italian Regiment
| *Cornelius is identified as "a certain man"
| *Cornelius was devout
|-
| *Cornelius feared God
| *Cornelius had a household
| *Cornelius' household feared God
|-
| *Cornelius gave alms
| *Cornelius was generous
| *Cornelius gave to people
|-
| *Cornelius prayed to God not a lesser idol
| *The story takes place during the ninth hour
| *Cornelius saw clearly
|-
| *Cornelius had a vision
| *Cornelius interacts with an angel
| *The angel was from God
|-
| *The angel had to come, he wasn't already there
| *The angel spoke to Cornelius
| *The angel knew Cornelius' name
|}

As you can see, these approximately 60 words of text contain a whole lot of information. For most of us, when we read, we miss a lot of information. This is not always a bad thing, after all, we need to get to the main point of the text. However, when we are teaching a text it can be helpful to carefully look at the text to see what all is in the text.

===Important Questions===
Anytime you are looking at a passage of Scripture it is important to ask yourself a few key questions, who? what? when? where? how? and why?
*Again, try not to think about anything other than the passage and answer the following questions:
**Who? Cornlius
**What? Spent time praying
**When? At the ninth hour
**Where? Caesarea
**How?He saw an angel of God clearly in a vision
**Why?Probably because he feared God and spent a significant amount of time in prayer

*Now try the same activity on one of the following passages:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|Acts 10:4-6
|Acts 10:9-13
|Acts 10:14
|-
|Acts 10:15-16
|Acts 10:17-18
|Acts 10:19-20
|-
|Acts 10:21
|Acts 10:22-23
|Acts 10:24-29
|-
|Acts 10:30-33
|Acts 10:34-43
|Acts 44-48
|}

 
 

==Making Sense of the Passage==
At this point you have probably only read a few paragraphs of the passage. As we study the process of preparing a lesson, we have much to learn, so rather than go through the steps for every single paragraph in Acts 10, (certainly a useful activity) we are going to move forward in the planning stages. Take a few minutes and read through Acts 10 in its entirety.
===Background===
Now that we have discussed what the passage actually states, it is time to start filling in the larger contextual and cultural details. Several questions will help us to fill in these details.
*To whom was the passage written?
 
*When was the passage written?
 
*Why do you suppose the passage was written?
 
*What cultural artifacts do you see in the passage that might not be present in the culture of those to whom you are giving the lesson?
 
===Purpose===
*Why do you think the writer chose to include this narrative? What were they trying to do?
 
*Create a brief outline of the passage. One is provided below but before looking at the outline below try to make your own.

**I. Setting the stage acts (verses 1-8)
***a. Cornelius (verses 1-2)
***b. A surprise visitor (verses 3-4)
***c. A surprise request (verses 5-8)
**II. Setting the stage acts 2 (verses 9-23)
***a. Peter (verses 9-16)
***b. A surprise visitor (verses 17-18)
***c. A surprise request (verses 20-23)
**III. An Ordained Meeting (verses 24-33)
***a. God calls all people not just Jews (verses 24-29)
***b. God has provided preachers to spread His word (verses 30-33)
**IV. The Purpose (verses 34-43)
***Jesus is Lord (verses 34-38)
***Jesus is Savior (verses 39-43)
**V. The Result (verses 44-48)
***a. God can save gentiles (verses 44-46)
***b. God brings gentiles into the church (verses 47-48)


*Now that you have an outline try to write a single sentence using fewer than 10 words that summarize the entire passage.
Divine appointments demonstrated Christ's salvation is for Jews and Gentiles.
*Finally, write a propositional statement, something that you want your students to walk away with. For example, "we must individually accept the gift of salvation that Christ offers to all mankind."

==Using Resources==
There are a lot of resources available ranging from commentaries, outlines, and other summaries to specific dictionaries. Each of these resources is useful, but I think it is most useful to first go through the steps above so that you have an understanding of the passage. This will help you identify and distinguish opinion from fact. Some people have really good opinions, but others have very bad opinions. The steps above will help you sort through what others have said so that you can more objectively interpret scripture.
====Some Outside Resources====
===Other Translations===
As a next step it can be very helpful to begin looking at the passage in other translations. As you do so you might ask yourself the following questions:
*Are there significant differences between translations?
*Are there places where one translation helps make sense of a phrase over another translations? (Note: you also should weigh the trustworthiness of the translation in this process.)
*Are there words that one translation uses that my audience will understand better? Can I use these words while still being faithful to the text?

===Commentaries===
Commentaries general provide some deeper background, culture, and overview of a passage. A good commentary can really help a passage come to life. For the purposes of this discussion we will not get much into commentaries. However, a few commentaries are worth particular mention. Both the Bible Knowledge Commentary and the Bible Exposition Commentary are good resources for general study. I would not classify either resource as a scholarly resource, but for the purpose of planning a lesson, both commentaries have excellent material.

===Dictionaries===
Bible dictionaries come in all sorts of levels. Some Bible dictionaries are closer to commentaries while others are simple dictionaries. Some dictionaries work in English while others are in the original language of the text. Using a Bible dictionary can be extremely useful for studying a passage.

===Specialized Curriculum===
In many cases you may have access to a specific curriculum that was designed for a Sunday School class or VBS. These curriculums can be very useful, but they can also be a crutch. My advice is that before using a curriculum you first go through the preparation steps outline above. Once you have taken these steps then you can go to the curriculum and use the curriculum to supplement your work. What follows are some general guidelines for using curriculum.

*Look for learning objectives, read those objectives, and ask yourself, are objective specific, measurable? If not, rewrite them so they are.
*Do the learning objectives fit the passage? At this point you should have a good grasp of the passage and you should be able to see how the learning objectives match the passage. If the objectives do not match the passage then you should alter the objectives or look for a better passage.
*Next, skip over the introduction, activities and pre-lesson material, before we get to any of that we want to look at how the curriculum will handle the passage itself. Read through the curriculums handling of the passage. Ask yourself the following:
**Is there anything I missed in the passage that the curriculum is bringing out?
**Is there anything the curriculum authors missed in the passage that I found?
**Is there good reason to other omit or include those observations? In particular, do they support the learning objective? If they do then you should consider including them.

After walking through these steps you are now in a position to use the curriculum to plan out a full lesson plan. For further help on planning the lesson plan we refer you to [[Introduction to Lesson Planning]].

Studying a Passage for Lesson Planning

2019-03-03T22:54:27Z

Ewakefield2: /* Important Questions */

=Objectives=
*Teachers will learn to observe what a passage says.
*Teachers will learn to see how a passage fits in a wider context
*Teachers will leave with a set of ideas about a passage that they can use as they look through other teacher's resources.

=Introduction=
*Consider the following image. How many squares do you see?

{| class="wikitable"
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:left;" |
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:center;" |
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:right;" |
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:right;" |
|- style="vertical-align:middle;"
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:left;" |
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:center;" |
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:right;" |
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:right;" |
|- style="vertical-align:bottom;"
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:left;" |
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:center;" |
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:right;" |
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:right;" |
|- style="vertical-align:bottom;"
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:left;" |
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:center;" |
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:right;" |
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:right;" |
|}

To see the answer select the text between these two There are 30 squares words.

In order to be effective in studying the Bible and teaching the Bible we must learn to observe.

=Main Body=
==What Does the Passage Say?==
===Observation===
*Take a moment, compartmentalize away everything you have previously learned and now read Acts 10:1-3 with fresh eyes. Write down as many observations about the passage as you can. These observations should be just plain facts about the passage. Try not to get caught up in previous knowledge or anything like that, just make observations about what the passage says. See if you can come up with 21 observations.

{|
|-
| *Cornelius was a man
| *Cornelius was in Caesarea
| *Cornelius was a centurion
|-
| *Cornelius was part of the Italian Regiment
| *Cornelius is identified as "a certain man"
| *Cornelius was devout
|-
| *Cornelius feared God
| *Cornelius had a household
| *Cornelius' household feared God
|-
| *Cornelius gave alms
| *Cornelius was generous
| *Cornelius gave to people
|-
| *Cornelius prayed to God not a lesser idol
| *The story takes place during the ninth hour
| *Cornelius saw clearly
|-
| *Cornelius had a vision
| *Cornelius interacts with an angel
| *The angel was from God
|-
| *The angel had to come, he wasn't already there
| *The angel spoke to Cornelius
| *The angel knew Cornelius' name
|}

As you can see, these approximately 60 words of text contain a whole lot of information. For most of us, when we read, we miss a lot of information. This is not always a bad thing, after all, we need to get to the main point of the text. However, when we are teaching a text it can be helpful to carefully look at the text to see what all is in the text.

===Important Questions===
Anytime you are looking at a passage of Scripture it is important to ask yourself a few key questions, who? what? when? where? how? and why?
*Again, try not to think about anything other than the passage and answer the following questions:
**Who? Cornlius
**What? Spent time praying
**When? At the ninth hour
**Where? Caesarea
**Why?Probably because he feared God and spent a significant amount of time in prayer
**How?He saw an angel of God clearly in a vision

*Now try the same activity on one of the following passages:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|Acts 10:4-6
|Acts 10:9-13
|Acts 10:14
|-
|Acts 10:15-16
|Acts 10:17-18
|Acts 10:19-20
|-
|Acts 10:21
|Acts 10:22-23
|Acts 10:24-29
|-
|Acts 10:30-33
|Acts 10:34-43
|Acts 44-48
|}

 
 

==Making Sense of the Passage==
At this point you have probably only read a few paragraphs of the passage. As we study the process of preparing a lesson, we have much to learn, so rather than go through the steps for every single paragraph in Acts 10, (certainly a useful activity) we are going to move forward in the planning stages. Take a few minutes and read through Acts 10 in its entirety.
===Background===
Now that we have discussed what the passage actually states, it is time to start filling in the larger contextual and cultural details. Several questions will help us to fill in these details.
*To whom was the passage written?
 
*When was the passage written?
 
*Why do you suppose the passage was written?
 
*What cultural artifacts do you see in the passage that might not be present in the culture of those to whom you are giving the lesson?
 
===Purpose===
*Why do you think the writer chose to include this narrative? What were they trying to do?
 
*Create a brief outline of the passage. One is provided below but before looking at the outline below try to make your own.

**I. Setting the stage acts (verses 1-8)
***a. Cornelius (verses 1-2)
***b. A surprise visitor (verses 3-4)
***c. A surprise request (verses 5-8)
**II. Setting the stage acts 2 (verses 9-23)
***a. Peter (verses 9-16)
***b. A surprise visitor (verses 17-18)
***c. A surprise request (verses 20-23)
**III. An Ordained Meeting (verses 24-33)
***a. God calls all people not just Jews (verses 24-29)
***b. God has provided preachers to spread His word (verses 30-33)
**IV. The Purpose (verses 34-43)
***Jesus is Lord (verses 34-38)
***Jesus is Savior (verses 39-43)
**V. The Result (verses 44-48)
***a. God can save gentiles (verses 44-46)
***b. God brings gentiles into the church (verses 47-48)


*Now that you have an outline try to write a single sentence using fewer than 10 words that summarize the entire passage.
Divine appointments demonstrated Christ's salvation is for Jews and Gentiles.
*Finally, write a propositional statement, something that you want your students to walk away with. For example, "we must individually accept the gift of salvation that Christ offers to all mankind."

==Using Resources==
There are a lot of resources available ranging from commentaries, outlines, and other summaries to specific dictionaries. Each of these resources is useful, but I think it is most useful to first go through the steps above so that you have an understanding of the passage. This will help you identify and distinguish opinion from fact. Some people have really good opinions, but others have very bad opinions. The steps above will help you sort through what others have said so that you can more objectively interpret scripture.
====Some Outside Resources====
===Other Translations===
As a next step it can be very helpful to begin looking at the passage in other translations. As you do so you might ask yourself the following questions:
*Are there significant differences between translations?
*Are there places where one translation helps make sense of a phrase over another translations? (Note: you also should weigh the trustworthiness of the translation in this process.)
*Are there words that one translation uses that my audience will understand better? Can I use these words while still being faithful to the text?

===Commentaries===
Commentaries general provide some deeper background, culture, and overview of a passage. A good commentary can really help a passage come to life. For the purposes of this discussion we will not get much into commentaries. However, a few commentaries are worth particular mention. Both the Bible Knowledge Commentary and the Bible Exposition Commentary are good resources for general study. I would not classify either resource as a scholarly resource, but for the purpose of planning a lesson, both commentaries have excellent material.

===Dictionaries===
Bible dictionaries come in all sorts of levels. Some Bible dictionaries are closer to commentaries while others are simple dictionaries. Some dictionaries work in English while others are in the original language of the text. Using a Bible dictionary can be extremely useful for studying a passage.

===Specialized Curriculum===
In many cases you may have access to a specific curriculum that was designed for a Sunday School class or VBS. These curriculums can be very useful, but they can also be a crutch. My advice is that before using a curriculum you first go through the preparation steps outline above. Once you have taken these steps then you can go to the curriculum and use the curriculum to supplement your work. What follows are some general guidelines for using curriculum.

*Look for learning objectives, read those objectives, and ask yourself, are objective specific, measurable? If not, rewrite them so they are.
*Do the learning objectives fit the passage? At this point you should have a good grasp of the passage and you should be able to see how the learning objectives match the passage. If the objectives do not match the passage then you should alter the objectives or look for a better passage.
*Next, skip over the introduction, activities and pre-lesson material, before we get to any of that we want to look at how the curriculum will handle the passage itself. Read through the curriculums handling of the passage. Ask yourself the following:
**Is there anything I missed in the passage that the curriculum is bringing out?
**Is there anything the curriculum authors missed in the passage that I found?
**Is there good reason to other omit or include those observations? In particular, do they support the learning objective? If they do then you should consider including them.

After walking through these steps you are now in a position to use the curriculum to plan out a full lesson plan. For further help on planning the lesson plan we refer you to [[Introduction to Lesson Planning]].

Studying a Passage for Lesson Planning

2019-03-03T22:52:40Z

Ewakefield2: /* Important Questions */

=Objectives=
*Teachers will learn to observe what a passage says.
*Teachers will learn to see how a passage fits in a wider context
*Teachers will leave with a set of ideas about a passage that they can use as they look through other teacher's resources.

=Introduction=
*Consider the following image. How many squares do you see?

{| class="wikitable"
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:left;" |
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:center;" |
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:right;" |
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:right;" |
|- style="vertical-align:middle;"
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:left;" |
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:center;" |
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:right;" |
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:right;" |
|- style="vertical-align:bottom;"
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:left;" |
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:center;" |
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:right;" |
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:right;" |
|- style="vertical-align:bottom;"
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:left;" |
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:center;" |
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:right;" |
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:right;" |
|}

To see the answer select the text between these two There are 30 squares words.

In order to be effective in studying the Bible and teaching the Bible we must learn to observe.

=Main Body=
==What Does the Passage Say?==
===Observation===
*Take a moment, compartmentalize away everything you have previously learned and now read Acts 10:1-3 with fresh eyes. Write down as many observations about the passage as you can. These observations should be just plain facts about the passage. Try not to get caught up in previous knowledge or anything like that, just make observations about what the passage says. See if you can come up with 21 observations.

{|
|-
| *Cornelius was a man
| *Cornelius was in Caesarea
| *Cornelius was a centurion
|-
| *Cornelius was part of the Italian Regiment
| *Cornelius is identified as "a certain man"
| *Cornelius was devout
|-
| *Cornelius feared God
| *Cornelius had a household
| *Cornelius' household feared God
|-
| *Cornelius gave alms
| *Cornelius was generous
| *Cornelius gave to people
|-
| *Cornelius prayed to God not a lesser idol
| *The story takes place during the ninth hour
| *Cornelius saw clearly
|-
| *Cornelius had a vision
| *Cornelius interacts with an angel
| *The angel was from God
|-
| *The angel had to come, he wasn't already there
| *The angel spoke to Cornelius
| *The angel knew Cornelius' name
|}

As you can see, these approximately 60 words of text contain a whole lot of information. For most of us, when we read, we miss a lot of information. This is not always a bad thing, after all, we need to get to the main point of the text. However, when we are teaching a text it can be helpful to carefully look at the text to see what all is in the text.

===Important Questions===
Anytime you are looking at a passage of Scripture it is important to ask yourself a few key questions, who? what? when? where? how? and why?
*Again, try not to think about anything other than the passage and answer the following questions:
**Who? Cornlius
**What? Spent time praying
**When? At the ninth hour
**Why?Probably because he feared God and spent a significant amount of time in prayer
**How?He saw an angel of God clearly in a vision

*Now try the same activity on one of the following passages:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|Acts 10:4-6
|Acts 10:9-13
|Acts 10:14
|-
|Acts 10:15-16
|Acts 10:17-18
|Acts 10:19-20
|-
|Acts 10:21
|Acts 10:22-23
|Acts 10:24-29
|-
|Acts 10:30-33
|Acts 10:34-43
|Acts 44-48
|}

 
 

==Making Sense of the Passage==
At this point you have probably only read a few paragraphs of the passage. As we study the process of preparing a lesson, we have much to learn, so rather than go through the steps for every single paragraph in Acts 10, (certainly a useful activity) we are going to move forward in the planning stages. Take a few minutes and read through Acts 10 in its entirety.
===Background===
Now that we have discussed what the passage actually states, it is time to start filling in the larger contextual and cultural details. Several questions will help us to fill in these details.
*To whom was the passage written?
 
*When was the passage written?
 
*Why do you suppose the passage was written?
 
*What cultural artifacts do you see in the passage that might not be present in the culture of those to whom you are giving the lesson?
 
===Purpose===
*Why do you think the writer chose to include this narrative? What were they trying to do?
 
*Create a brief outline of the passage. One is provided below but before looking at the outline below try to make your own.

**I. Setting the stage acts (verses 1-8)
***a. Cornelius (verses 1-2)
***b. A surprise visitor (verses 3-4)
***c. A surprise request (verses 5-8)
**II. Setting the stage acts 2 (verses 9-23)
***a. Peter (verses 9-16)
***b. A surprise visitor (verses 17-18)
***c. A surprise request (verses 20-23)
**III. An Ordained Meeting (verses 24-33)
***a. God calls all people not just Jews (verses 24-29)
***b. God has provided preachers to spread His word (verses 30-33)
**IV. The Purpose (verses 34-43)
***Jesus is Lord (verses 34-38)
***Jesus is Savior (verses 39-43)
**V. The Result (verses 44-48)
***a. God can save gentiles (verses 44-46)
***b. God brings gentiles into the church (verses 47-48)


*Now that you have an outline try to write a single sentence using fewer than 10 words that summarize the entire passage.
Divine appointments demonstrated Christ's salvation is for Jews and Gentiles.
*Finally, write a propositional statement, something that you want your students to walk away with. For example, "we must individually accept the gift of salvation that Christ offers to all mankind."

==Using Resources==
There are a lot of resources available ranging from commentaries, outlines, and other summaries to specific dictionaries. Each of these resources is useful, but I think it is most useful to first go through the steps above so that you have an understanding of the passage. This will help you identify and distinguish opinion from fact. Some people have really good opinions, but others have very bad opinions. The steps above will help you sort through what others have said so that you can more objectively interpret scripture.
====Some Outside Resources====
===Other Translations===
As a next step it can be very helpful to begin looking at the passage in other translations. As you do so you might ask yourself the following questions:
*Are there significant differences between translations?
*Are there places where one translation helps make sense of a phrase over another translations? (Note: you also should weigh the trustworthiness of the translation in this process.)
*Are there words that one translation uses that my audience will understand better? Can I use these words while still being faithful to the text?

===Commentaries===
Commentaries general provide some deeper background, culture, and overview of a passage. A good commentary can really help a passage come to life. For the purposes of this discussion we will not get much into commentaries. However, a few commentaries are worth particular mention. Both the Bible Knowledge Commentary and the Bible Exposition Commentary are good resources for general study. I would not classify either resource as a scholarly resource, but for the purpose of planning a lesson, both commentaries have excellent material.

===Dictionaries===
Bible dictionaries come in all sorts of levels. Some Bible dictionaries are closer to commentaries while others are simple dictionaries. Some dictionaries work in English while others are in the original language of the text. Using a Bible dictionary can be extremely useful for studying a passage.

===Specialized Curriculum===
In many cases you may have access to a specific curriculum that was designed for a Sunday School class or VBS. These curriculums can be very useful, but they can also be a crutch. My advice is that before using a curriculum you first go through the preparation steps outline above. Once you have taken these steps then you can go to the curriculum and use the curriculum to supplement your work. What follows are some general guidelines for using curriculum.

*Look for learning objectives, read those objectives, and ask yourself, are objective specific, measurable? If not, rewrite them so they are.
*Do the learning objectives fit the passage? At this point you should have a good grasp of the passage and you should be able to see how the learning objectives match the passage. If the objectives do not match the passage then you should alter the objectives or look for a better passage.
*Next, skip over the introduction, activities and pre-lesson material, before we get to any of that we want to look at how the curriculum will handle the passage itself. Read through the curriculums handling of the passage. Ask yourself the following:
**Is there anything I missed in the passage that the curriculum is bringing out?
**Is there anything the curriculum authors missed in the passage that I found?
**Is there good reason to other omit or include those observations? In particular, do they support the learning objective? If they do then you should consider including them.

After walking through these steps you are now in a position to use the curriculum to plan out a full lesson plan. For further help on planning the lesson plan we refer you to [[Introduction to Lesson Planning]].

Studying a Passage for Lesson Planning

2019-03-03T22:51:25Z

Ewakefield2: /* Observation */

=Objectives=
*Teachers will learn to observe what a passage says.
*Teachers will learn to see how a passage fits in a wider context
*Teachers will leave with a set of ideas about a passage that they can use as they look through other teacher's resources.

=Introduction=
*Consider the following image. How many squares do you see?

{| class="wikitable"
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:left;" |
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:center;" |
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:right;" |
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:right;" |
|- style="vertical-align:middle;"
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:left;" |
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:center;" |
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:right;" |
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:right;" |
|- style="vertical-align:bottom;"
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:left;" |
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:center;" |
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:right;" |
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:right;" |
|- style="vertical-align:bottom;"
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:left;" |
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:center;" |
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:right;" |
| style="height:33px; width:33px; text-align:right;" |
|}

To see the answer select the text between these two There are 30 squares words.

In order to be effective in studying the Bible and teaching the Bible we must learn to observe.

=Main Body=
==What Does the Passage Say?==
===Observation===
*Take a moment, compartmentalize away everything you have previously learned and now read Acts 10:1-3 with fresh eyes. Write down as many observations about the passage as you can. These observations should be just plain facts about the passage. Try not to get caught up in previous knowledge or anything like that, just make observations about what the passage says. See if you can come up with 21 observations.

{|
|-
| *Cornelius was a man
| *Cornelius was in Caesarea
| *Cornelius was a centurion
|-
| *Cornelius was part of the Italian Regiment
| *Cornelius is identified as "a certain man"
| *Cornelius was devout
|-
| *Cornelius feared God
| *Cornelius had a household
| *Cornelius' household feared God
|-
| *Cornelius gave alms
| *Cornelius was generous
| *Cornelius gave to people
|-
| *Cornelius prayed to God not a lesser idol
| *The story takes place during the ninth hour
| *Cornelius saw clearly
|-
| *Cornelius had a vision
| *Cornelius interacts with an angel
| *The angel was from God
|-
| *The angel had to come, he wasn't already there
| *The angel spoke to Cornelius
| *The angel knew Cornelius' name
|}

As you can see, these approximately 60 words of text contain a whole lot of information. For most of us, when we read, we miss a lot of information. This is not always a bad thing, after all, we need to get to the main point of the text. However, when we are teaching a text it can be helpful to carefully look at the text to see what all is in the text.

===Important Questions===
Anytime you are looking at a passage of scripture it is important to ask yourself a few key questions, who? what? when? where? how? and why?
*Again, try not to think about anything other than the passage and answer the following questions:
**Who? Cornlius
**What? Spent time praying
**When? At the ninth hour
**Why?Probably because he feared God and spent a significant amount of time in prayer
**How?He saw an angel of God clearly in a vision

*Now try the same activity on one of the following passages:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|Acts 10:4-6
|Acts 10:9-13
|Acts 10:14
|-
|Acts 10:15-16
|Acts 10:17-18
|Acts 10:19-20
|-
|Acts 10:21
|Acts 10:22-23
|Acts 10:24-29
|-
|Acts 10:30-33
|Acts 10:34-43
|Acts 44-48
|}

 
 
==Making Sense of the Passage==
At this point you have probably only read a few paragraphs of the passage. As we study the process of preparing a lesson, we have much to learn, so rather than go through the steps for every single paragraph in Acts 10, (certainly a useful activity) we are going to move forward in the planning stages. Take a few minutes and read through Acts 10 in its entirety.
===Background===
Now that we have discussed what the passage actually states, it is time to start filling in the larger contextual and cultural details. Several questions will help us to fill in these details.
*To whom was the passage written?
 
*When was the passage written?
 
*Why do you suppose the passage was written?
 
*What cultural artifacts do you see in the passage that might not be present in the culture of those to whom you are giving the lesson?
 
===Purpose===
*Why do you think the writer chose to include this narrative? What were they trying to do?
 
*Create a brief outline of the passage. One is provided below but before looking at the outline below try to make your own.

**I. Setting the stage acts (verses 1-8)
***a. Cornelius (verses 1-2)
***b. A surprise visitor (verses 3-4)
***c. A surprise request (verses 5-8)
**II. Setting the stage acts 2 (verses 9-23)
***a. Peter (verses 9-16)
***b. A surprise visitor (verses 17-18)
***c. A surprise request (verses 20-23)
**III. An Ordained Meeting (verses 24-33)
***a. God calls all people not just Jews (verses 24-29)
***b. God has provided preachers to spread His word (verses 30-33)
**IV. The Purpose (verses 34-43)
***Jesus is Lord (verses 34-38)
***Jesus is Savior (verses 39-43)
**V. The Result (verses 44-48)
***a. God can save gentiles (verses 44-46)
***b. God brings gentiles into the church (verses 47-48)


*Now that you have an outline try to write a single sentence using fewer than 10 words that summarize the entire passage.
Divine appointments demonstrated Christ's salvation is for Jews and Gentiles.
*Finally, write a propositional statement, something that you want your students to walk away with. For example, "we must individually accept the gift of salvation that Christ offers to all mankind."

==Using Resources==
There are a lot of resources available ranging from commentaries, outlines, and other summaries to specific dictionaries. Each of these resources is useful, but I think it is most useful to first go through the steps above so that you have an understanding of the passage. This will help you identify and distinguish opinion from fact. Some people have really good opinions, but others have very bad opinions. The steps above will help you sort through what others have said so that you can more objectively interpret scripture.
====Some Outside Resources====
===Other Translations===
As a next step it can be very helpful to begin looking at the passage in other translations. As you do so you might ask yourself the following questions:
*Are there significant differences between translations?
*Are there places where one translation helps make sense of a phrase over another translations? (Note: you also should weigh the trustworthiness of the translation in this process.)
*Are there words that one translation uses that my audience will understand better? Can I use these words while still being faithful to the text?

===Commentaries===
Commentaries general provide some deeper background, culture, and overview of a passage. A good commentary can really help a passage come to life. For the purposes of this discussion we will not get much into commentaries. However, a few commentaries are worth particular mention. Both the Bible Knowledge Commentary and the Bible Exposition Commentary are good resources for general study. I would not classify either resource as a scholarly resource, but for the purpose of planning a lesson, both commentaries have excellent material.

===Dictionaries===
Bible dictionaries come in all sorts of levels. Some Bible dictionaries are closer to commentaries while others are simple dictionaries. Some dictionaries work in English while others are in the original language of the text. Using a Bible dictionary can be extremely useful for studying a passage.

===Specialized Curriculum===
In many cases you may have access to a specific curriculum that was designed for a Sunday School class or VBS. These curriculums can be very useful, but they can also be a crutch. My advice is that before using a curriculum you first go through the preparation steps outline above. Once you have taken these steps then you can go to the curriculum and use the curriculum to supplement your work. What follows are some general guidelines for using curriculum.

*Look for learning objectives, read those objectives, and ask yourself, are objective specific, measurable? If not, rewrite them so they are.
*Do the learning objectives fit the passage? At this point you should have a good grasp of the passage and you should be able to see how the learning objectives match the passage. If the objectives do not match the passage then you should alter the objectives or look for a better passage.
*Next, skip over the introduction, activities and pre-lesson material, before we get to any of that we want to look at how the curriculum will handle the passage itself. Read through the curriculums handling of the passage. Ask yourself the following:
**Is there anything I missed in the passage that the curriculum is bringing out?
**Is there anything the curriculum authors missed in the passage that I found?
**Is there good reason to other omit or include those observations? In particular, do they support the learning objective? If they do then you should consider including them.

After walking through these steps you are now in a position to use the curriculum to plan out a full lesson plan. For further help on planning the lesson plan we refer you to [[Introduction to Lesson Planning]].

John 21:1-14, Burn the Ships

2019-03-01T01:52:04Z

Ewakefield2:

=Objectives=
*Congregants will determine to keep their focus on Christ's mission for their life even when the dull moments come.
*Congregants will determine to trust Christ's directions for their life.
*Congregants will determine to depend on Christ for their provision.

=Introduction=

=Main Body=

While there is a lot of debate on John 21 one thing is clear. John 21 presents a sort of epilogue to the book of John in which John sees to tie up several loose ends. One of these loose ends is handled in John 21:1-14. In John 20:17 Jesus had commanded Mary not to cling to Him. One might ask the question, does this mean that Jesus is no longer going to provide for His own? John 21:1-14 gives a resounding answer of No!

As Christians we must demonstrate that the very same Jesus who walked the earth and provided for His disciples walks with us and gives us provisions for today.

==Setting the Stage==
*John has just given us a fairly strong concluding remark. He wrote so that "believing you may have life in His name." In what follows John chooses to wrap up a few items.

*In Matthew 28:7 we see that after the resurrection an angel told Mary Magdalene and the other Mary that Jesus would met with the disciples in Galilee. This brings us to John 20:1.

*Verse 1: The sea of Tiberias is another name for the sea of Galilee. The disciples had gone with Jesus to Jerusalem, experienced the most tumultuous events that any of us can possibly imagine including the Triumphal Entry, the Last Supper, the Garden of Gethsemane, the Betrayal of Judas, the Trial of Jesus, the Crucifixion, and the Resurrection, all in the space of one week. If anyone had the right to be unsure of what the future held, the disciples had that right.

*In verse 1 we have a type of introduction to we need in order to understand what is happening. This verse serves to connect this appearance of Jesus to the other two post-resurrection appearances. John uses the phrase μετα ταυτα (after this) a phrase commonly employed in the book. John also uses the verb appeared twice in this introductory verse. This emphasizes the appearance and tells us that this is an important component in this passage. John has already worked hard to show us that Jesus was alive so we must ask why emphasize the appearance? The answer is that John is emphasizing the continuing ministry of Jesus and his presence. John wants us to know that the risen Christ is still present with the disciples and with us today. Christ is present and will continue to be with his disciples for all time. Nothing catches God by surprise and as the disciples emerged from the most trying event of their lives Christ clearly demonstrated that He would continue to minister to them.

==Gone Fishing (Verses 2-3)==

*Verse 2: Notice the party, we have Peter leading the group of seven individuals. Peter is the natural leader of the group but he surely felt ill-equipped. After all, he had been the one who had denied Jesus not just once, but three times. I am sure Peter doubted his role and maybe even felt like an imposter. How could he lead this group of of men when he had failed so miserably?

*Verse 3: In verse 3 we see Peter declaring his intent to go fishing. Why was Peter going fishing? Perhaps Peter needed to support his family, maybe Peter felt shame at his failure and thought God was done with him. In John 16:32 Christ had prophesied that "Indeed the hour is coming, yes, has now come, that you will be scattered, each to his own, and will leave Me alone. And yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me." In this passage we see the disciples scattered and probably back home. In a sense, it really doesn't matter why Peter went fishing, John chose not to comment on that. Instead, what John chooses to highlight for us is how successful Peter was on this fishing trip. The disciples caught nothing! They fished through the night (a common time to fish), but the results were beyond underwhelming.

*Imagine the frustration and questions. Three years earlier, these Galileans had left everything to follow Christ as described in Matthew 19:17 "Then Peter answered and said to Him, 'See, we have left all and followed You. Therefore what shall we have?'" Now, with nothing to show for the previous three years, these men return to fishing but even this is not working. I don't know about you, but I think I would find myself wondering if Christ was still going to provide for His own.

*If you, like me, have ever felt discouraged, have ever wondered if Christ is still going to provide then you are in good company.
**David felt depressed discouragement, so deep that he wrote in Psalm 42:11 "Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; For I shall yet praise Him, The help of my countenance and my God." These are not the words of a man who has never felt pain, these are the words of a man who has felt depression discouragement.
**Moses struggled regularly and even questioned why God was making him the spokesman. In Exodus 5:22 Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Lord, why have You brought trouble on this people? Why is it You have sent me?"
**Jeremiah is known as the weeping prophet, in Jeremiah 20:14 he proclaims "Cursed be the day in which I was born! Let the day not be blessed in which my mother bore me!"
**After victoriously defeating the prophets of Baal Elijah entered a deep valley. Listen to Elijah in 1 Kings 19:4 "But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he prayed that he might die, and said, 'It is enough! Now, Lord, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers!'"

As Christians, we must recognize that there will be challenges and through these challenges we must keep our focus on Christ.

==Still Acting (Verses 4-8)==

*We need to realize that even though Christ completed His salvific mission here on Earth, He is still acting on behalf of His people.

*Verse 4: Notice the details that are present an missing. Who - Jesus, When - Early Morning, Where - On the Shore, How - '''Not given'''. Wait did you catch that, the how is not given. We don't need to know how. No, all we need to know is that Christ was there. In life, there will be times when we don't know how but instead we must trust that Christ will be there. We should also notice the contrast between the disciples fishing at night and Christ in the morning. When we are in the darkest night, the darkest pit of despair, morning breaks with Christ. It is Christ who can bring us out of discouragement, it is Christ alone. Don't make too much out of the disciples not recognizing Christ. It may be that the disciples did not recognize Christ in the early hours of the morning, or maybe there was a supernatural component and Christ was not yet revealing Himself. The point is not why they did not recognize Christ, the point is that they did not recognize Christ. I think that too often, in the pit of discouragement we fail to recognize Christ. We fail to keep our focus on where it should be.

*Verse 5: Here we see Jesus ask a question to which he already knew the answer, "do you not have any fish we can eat?" Why is Jesus asking such a question? Jesus is making sure the disciples realize their current state. The disciples simply answer "no." Both sides of this conversation are aware of the conditions. However, notice something else about the question. How does Jesus chooses to address the disciples? Jesus addresses the disciples as children (παιδια), "an affectionate address of the spiritual father to those committed to him."<ref>TDNT 5.638</ref> It would seem that Christ is emphasizing that the disciples are no longer just mere disciples but that they now enjoy a special relationship with Christ. Christ, through His death and resurrection gave them the right to be children of God. John 1:12 "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:"

*Verse 6: Jesus gives what might have seen like a ridiculous command. After all, the disciples had spent the entire night fishing, and night was the time to fish. Who does this stranger think he is? No, instead the disciples are obedient and follow the instructions. I personally wonder if thy are not beginning to recognize Jesus already at this point. What is the result of obedience? Abundant blessing, this is nothing short of a miracle, but also notice the miracle. The disciples probably thought they had a problem, namely no fish. Jesus provides a solution, but his solution is so profound that thy surely recognized that what they thought their issue was was not the issue. The real issue was their focus. The problem they should have been concerned with was not whether the fish were biting, no the disciples focus needed to be on Christ.

*Verse 7-8: Peter responds decisively and completely. There is only one appropriate response when you notice that your focus has not been on Christ. You must throw yourself fully and completely into the Savior. It is interesting that John chooses to highlight Peter also putting his outer garret back on. Why would Peter do this? I think that Peter is taking the possessions that he needed with him. In short, Peter is decisively aligning himself with Christ and Christ's mission. In fact, we see in the next verse that Peter had to swim 200 cubits (about 300 feet). As I read this I was reminded of a story. The exact historical details are contested but I will tell one version. Hernan Cortes was the conquistador responsible for the fall of the Aztec empire. The Aztec people were known for their barbarianism. In fact, the Aztec's were known for not completely destroying an enemy so that they could later return to that enemy to get more slaves for their human sacrifices. In 1519 Cortes conquered Veracruz the coastal region opposite Mexico and began his campaign island against the Aztecs. Obviously, there was trepidation on the part of the Spanish sailers and so Cortes was forced to make a decisive command, "burn the ships!" There is no turning back, no past, only the march forward.

As Christians, we must recognize that Christ is still working, still acting today, we must place our focus solely on Him and commit completely to His will.

==Still Caring (Verses 9-14)==

*Verse 9: Here we see that Jesus had done more than merely catching a few fish, no Jesus had prepared a meal. The last time John had mentioned a charcoal fire, it had been the denial of Peter. Now, in sharp contrast we see the Savior. Human failure at a charcoal fire is contrasted with divine provision. In John 15:5 Jesus had proclaimed "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing." Now we see the truth realized, apart form Jesus the disciples had failed. Now with Jesus we see the disciples provided for.

*Verse 10-11: As if it is not enough that Christ provides we get to see another important aspect of Christ's provision. Christ allows us to be part of the mission. Christ had prepared a meal, but now, he allows the disciples to be part of the provision.

*Verse 12: Notice that the fish Peter dragged to shore are not mentioned again. Christ allows us to be part of His work, but it is really never about what we bring to His work, it is about His provision and allowance of us to be part of His work. If we are to keep our focus on Christ we must recognize that it is and always will be all about Christ. Also notice their desire to "question" him.

*The word for question used here is εξεταζω and it involves more than just asking a simple question, it involves a deeper almost cross-examination questioning. The disciples know it is Jesus, but they want to know more. The disciples seek deeper reassurance but John instead emphasizes that they didn't dare ask such questions. Sometimes Christ want us to have the faith of a Child.

*Verse 13-14: If John sought to answer the outstanding questions of "is Jesus no longer going to provide for His own?" then we have a definite answer. Yes, Jesus still provides for His own. John, writing his gospel probably 50 years after the events he described wanted his readers to know that the same Jesus who provided for the disciples during the three years of ministry continues to provide.

As Christians we must realize that the very same Jesus who provided for the disciples will provide for us.

=Conclusion=
==Is your focus on Christ or, in discouragement, have you allowed your focus to slip?==

=References=

Modeling the Shepherd

2019-02-19T02:14:22Z

Ewakefield2: /* Conclusion */

=Objectives=
*Students will see how perfect love models Christ's love for the church as described by Christ in John 10.
=Introduction=
*We often associate Valentine's day with love and the Bible has a whole lot to say about love. In fact, the word love is used in the Bible over 700 times. Take a second and think about a few such passages. Maybe you are thinking of one of the following passages.
**Ephesians 4:2-3: “With all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace."
**Romans 13:8: “Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law."
**Proverbs 3:3-4: “Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man."
**John 15:12: “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you."

*And of course, we have to mention 1 Corinthians 13:4-5: “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs."

*But consider Ephesians 5:25: “For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her." for a minute. What does the love of Christ for the church look like. Consider John 10:1-30.
=Main Body=

The Bible references sheep over 500 times. To the audience in which much of the Bible was written they would’ve have either been pastoral people or at least been familiar with the shepherd’s life. Jesus used the example of a shepherd to teach his disciples. I want to look carefully at the Good Shepherd and as we do so I want you to notice what love looks like. We have a culture in which love looks like all sorts of things, but what does true love look like?

==John 10:1-30==
===John 10:1-6===
*It’s amazing to watch a shepherd, look up a movie on youtube sometime. When a false shepherd calls the sheep there’s no reaction from the sheep at all. However, immediately, when the real shepherd calls the heads perk up and the sheep come running. Let’s read John 10:3 again, John chapter 10 verse 3…The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. The Greek root word used in John 10:3 for hear is ἀκούω and is often translated as a) listen to b) hear, and c) obey. We have a joke at our house are just hearing what I am saying or are you actually listening to what I’m saying. Love, true love, as modeled by Christ and the church results in not just hearing, but listening. True love listens. Consider what often happens, it's the end of the day you’ve heard mom, mom, mom all day, or you've dealt with an upset customer all day, maybe you were inundated with work, and now you get home and your spouse is sharing all about their day – and you’ve zoned out. Right? I’m sure that’s never happened to any of you. Joking aside, there is a difference between true listening from purely physical hearing. We need to have a love for our spouse, and frankly for each other that involves more than just hearing, but listening.

===John 10:7-21===
*True love provides protection for the one to which love is shown. John 15:13 states "Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends." Love is demonstrated by self-sacrifice.

===John 10:22-30===
*We see that the Shepherd knows his sheep. In education one of the most amazing discoveries is that of subject knowledge for teaching. Research has shown that a good teacher does not so much know content as know their students. A good pastor knows his congregants, and a good spouse knows their mate. One of the key aspects of love is that it involves knowledge.

=Conclusion=
*Ephesians 5:25: “For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her." Teaches us that our love here on Earth is a model of Christ's love for the church. The Good Shepherd is a great example of how Christ loves the church so as we work to love each other, and our spouses in particular, ask yourself, how can you better model true love, the love that Christ has for His Church?

== Application:
In application to the church, the next time you ask someone how they are doing, take the time to truly listen to their response. ==

Modeling the Shepherd

Ewakefield2: /* Apologetics = Defending Our Faith */

__NOTOC__
{{DISPLAYTITLE:{{FULLPAGENAME}}}}
==The Authority of Scripture==

*What have you always wanted to know about the Bible and its authority?
 
*What are some ways that people "know" something is true?
 

==Apologetics = Defending Our Faith==
*Do you believe the Bible is true? Why or why not?
 

==Trustworthiness==
===Scripture's Own Attestation===
*What do 2 Timothy 3:16 and 2 Peter 1:20-21 say about scripture?
 
*What does Titus 1:2 teach us about the one who inspired scripture?
 
===Archaeological Evidence===
Archeological evidence abounds. In this discussion we will only cover a few examples. What is important to understand is that the field of archaeology only continues to confirm the Bible.

*What even is described in 2 Samuel 7? (In particular 2 Samuel 7:16 provides a nice summary statement).
 
**The Tel Dan Stele

*What major construction project did King Hezekiah undertake in 2 Kings 20:20?
 
**The Siloam Tunnel

*Whose name is mentioned in Acts 18:12-17?
 
**The Gallio Inscription

We must understand that no amount of archaeology could ever prove the Bible, in large part, because Archeology cannot prove anything. However, archeology gives us insight and perspective on how careful the biblical authors were when they wrote the inspired word of God.

===Transmission===
*Scholars use the term "autograph" to refer to the original manuscripts. We believe that the originals are inspired, not the copies. Is this a problem for us?
 
*If you want to make a copy of a text. What do you do today?
 
*What promise is made in Isaiah 40:8?
 

==The Canon==
===Sixty-Six Books?===
*How would you respond if someone told you "You know, the Bible that you have is only part of the Bible. There is actually a lot more of the Bible you just don't know about?"
 
Could not The Holy Spirit who inspired the scripture also superintend the selection of which books should be scripture?

==The Purpose==
*According to 2 Timothy 3:16, what is the Bible useful for?
**
**
**
**

=Conclusion=
*If the Bible is a reliable authoritative book, what does that mean for you?
 
**Be specific, what does this mean for you tomorrow?
 
**What does this mean for your interactions with others?

Authority of the Bible Handout

2018-09-10T15:43:18Z

Ewakefield2: /* The Authority of Scripture */

__NOTOC__
{{DISPLAYTITLE:{{FULLPAGENAME}}}}
==The Authority of Scripture==

*What have you always wanted to know about the Bible and its authority?
 
*What are some ways that people "know" something is true?
 

==Apologetics = Defending Our Faith==
*Why do you believe the Bible?
 
==Trustworthiness==
===Scripture's Own Attestation===
*What do 2 Timothy 3:16 and 2 Peter 1:20-21 say about scripture?
 
*What does Titus 1:2 teach us about the one who inspired scripture?
 
===Archaeological Evidence===
Archeological evidence abounds. In this discussion we will only cover a few examples. What is important to understand is that the field of archaeology only continues to confirm the Bible.

*What even is described in 2 Samuel 7? (In particular 2 Samuel 7:16 provides a nice summary statement).
 
**The Tel Dan Stele

*What major construction project did King Hezekiah undertake in 2 Kings 20:20?
 
**The Siloam Tunnel

*Whose name is mentioned in Acts 18:12-17?
 
**The Gallio Inscription

We must understand that no amount of archaeology could ever prove the Bible, in large part, because Archeology cannot prove anything. However, archeology gives us insight and perspective on how careful the biblical authors were when they wrote the inspired word of God.

===Transmission===
*Scholars use the term "autograph" to refer to the original manuscripts. We believe that the originals are inspired, not the copies. Is this a problem for us?
 
*If you want to make a copy of a text. What do you do today?
 
*What promise is made in Isaiah 40:8?
 

==The Canon==
===Sixty-Six Books?===
*How would you respond if someone told you "You know, the Bible that you have is only part of the Bible. There is actually a lot more of the Bible you just don't know about?"
 
Could not The Holy Spirit who inspired the scripture also superintend the selection of which books should be scripture?

==The Purpose==
*According to 2 Timothy 3:16, what is the Bible useful for?
**
**
**
**

=Conclusion=
*If the Bible is a reliable authoritative book, what does that mean for you?
 
**Be specific, what does this mean for you tomorrow?
 
**What does this mean for your interactions with others?