6 Guardrails to Help You as You Prepare Your Bible Study Session
How do I know what to cover in a Bible study session? Do I have too much content? These are important questions to answer, especially if you are starting to lead or teach Bible study for the first time. Come to think of it, these are important questions to answer if you’ve been leading and teaching for a long time!
When you love to study; and dates, locations, and original Greek words make you giddy; you will be tempted to share ALL that you have learned during your preparation. It is challenging to know when you have too much content, or when you’ve not covered what’s most important. I’ve included a few questions to consider as you prepare for your Bible study sessions.
Guardrail #1
Did you cover the most pressing questions in the text? If you cover a number of details and Greek words, but the most pressing questions are unaddressed, you need to edit the details and address the questions. For example, the questions that will most likely surface during the study of Colossians chapter 1 are:
What does it mean that Jesus Christ is the firstborn of the dead?
What does Paul mean in verse 24 when he says, “I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions…?”
Address the pressing questions even if you are still grappling with them. You can say, “I really wrestled with this one. (Or, I am still wrestling with this one!) Here is what I discovered as I prepared.” This communicates that you are a co-learner as well as a teacher. And it's honest.
Guardrail #2
Did you prayerfully consider your audience? Ask God for his direction as you prepare to lead a particular group. He delights in giving counsel! Also, consider how well your participants know the Bible. For example, I lead a Bible study at my church, and I lead a Bible study in my home with a group of high school students. Although I will address the most pressing questions of the text in both groups, the way in which I address them will be different. The illustrations I use will be different. I am especially careful to not use "Christian-ese" in the high school group, because several are not Christians, and most are being introduced to the study of Scripture for the first time.
guardrail #3
Did you point your participants to the layers of God’s character revealed in the text? The ultimate goal of Bible study is to know and love God. Beware of highlighting details that were discovered and not getting around to highlighting what (and Who!) is paramount.
guardrail #4
Did you give a call to action? Move your participants to action or change. If you feel you don’t have time to give a call to action, you might be elevating content above heart change.
guardrail #5
Did you make it memorable? People will not act on what they don’t remember. Overloading participants with too much content makes it more challenging for them to remember what they learned. If you feel you do not have time for a helpful visual or illustration, you probably need to whittle down your lesson. Our model teacher, Jesus, was careful to use familiar visuals as he taught. “I am the vine, you are the branches… A farmer went out to sow his seeds… Consider the birds of the air…”
Guardrail #6
Did your participants have time to share? Collaboration and discussion can feel hard for a teacher. You will be excited to share all that you discovered! But so will they. Give women an opportunity to articulate what they learned while they studied the Bible.
This is certainly not an exhaustive list, but it is a good place to start. Remember, God is delighted that you are gathering people around the study of his Word. It delights him to reveal himself! His Spirit will be faithful to counsel and move and inspire those we are leading and teaching.