A tool for equipping children, teenagers and families to study the Bible for themselves

Transcription

1 A tool for equipping children, teenagers and families to study the Bible for themselves Inductive Bible Study with your KKI teams

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3 Contents 1. Explanation of the multi-generational inductive Bible study tool 2. Sample introduction pages for the books of Philippians and James* 3. Twelve printable pages for studying Bible books of up to six chapters* You are welcome to print and use these pages in your study journals for the young people and families in your team. You would need, however, to create your own front cover, perhaps with the theme of your camp/outreach and the name of the Bible book that you ll be studying together. If you choose to include the scripture text in the booklet, you would need to create and include those pages too, interspersing the Bible text with the question pages for each chapter. If you re planning to do double sided printing, we recommend including a blank page next to the front and back covers, as is the case with this manual. Appendix 1. What is inductive Bible study? 2. Simple Bible book study as used in the Principles in Child and Youth Ministry (PCYM) training course 3. Examples of how the inductive study questions could be answered 4. Links to further resources (back cover) Growing in God Bible Study in the Book of Philippians Faith in Action Bible Study in the Book of James Name: Name: Studies in 2nd Peter

4 Equipping young people to study the Bible for themselves There s been much talk in YWAM recently about the theme of ending Bible poverty in our generation. In part, this involves a commitment to seeing the scriptures being translated into the 1800 or so languages that don t yet have any part of the Bible available to them. It also involves working to distribute the Bible to people who don t have one, as well as educating and encouraging people to read and study the Bible for themselves. In KKI, we have often been involved in these last two aspects: educating young people about Bible truths and equipping them to read and study the Bible for themselves. One example of this was the inductive Bible study activities pioneered by KKI South Africa in the 1990s and early 2000s. These youth Bible study materials were based on a short, inductive "book study" assignment that was part of the written work in the Child and Youth Ministry course in Cape Town. PCYM students did three different kinds of Bible study during their training school, in order to equip them to base their ministry with young people and families upon the strong foundation of the Word of God. If you are not familiar with how to do a book study in this way, you ll find a sample PCYM assignment in the appendix. The study material in this pack was used mainly with young people aged 10-19, and we began by studying short books such as the letters in the New Testament. We answered the "preliminary questions" for them on an introductory page telling the kids when the book was written, by whom, why it was written, etc. This curriculum pack contains sample introduction pages for the books of James and Philippians. You could create similar intro pages for whichever book you choose to study with your group of young people or families. You can simply let the kids read the scripture text in their own Bibles or, if you want, your booklet could include the full text of the Bible book in a translation that is different from the one commonly used by your group. This allows them to circle or underline words and ideas within the text. The introduction page could encourage the young people to read each chapter several times, and to read it in various other translations and languages if available. After answering background questions in the introduction page, we took several of the "chapter" questions that seemed relevant and packaged them in a way that was easy for young people to follow. The ones we chose were: 1) giving the chapter a short title 2) identifying what you believe to be the key verse 3) making a list of repeated words or concepts 2) an outline / breakdown of the chapter 5) finding the names of God used in the chapter 6) listing anything you don t understand 7) personal application (write a letter to God) 8) memory verses (fun activity in action groups)

5 We worked through the first chapter all together in an interactive workshop with all of the young people involved, sometimes working alone and sometimes working in pairs or groups. It was amazing to see how quickly they grasped the concepts and how well they managed to do it. Because the questions were the same for every chapter, the young people got used to working with the same concepts again and again - at least four or five times, depending on the length of the book chosen. The New Testament letters are often a good place to start, and there are several that have 3 to 6 chapters. In this pack, you ll find sufficient pages for a book of up to six chapters. During that first day, where we all did the study together, we kept repeating that there was "no one correct answer." Different kids might give quite different titles to the chapter, or have a different idea of which was the key verse in it. But often there was a lot of overlap; everyone noticed the same repeated words, and often the key verse was so obvious that everyone chose the same one. In the appendix of this curriculum package, you ll find a sample of the kind of answers that might be given - using 1st John chapter 1 as an example. After the first day, when we were sure that everyone understood what to do, the children and teenagers did the study on their own in the time slot given for quiet time, and then discussed and processed their questions in their action groups (small groups.) Each chapter was spread over two days. They did the very last part (memory madness) in their groups, choosing a verse from the chapter and preparing to present it in a way that would teach the whole camp/team to memorise it. Every two days, when we gathered as a whole team, we talked through some of the themes and issues arising from the chapter they'd just completed, answered any questions about things that had been unclear, and then made space for all of the groups to present their memory verses. Songs, raps, dances, sign language, chants... there were so many different and creative ways that they used to present those verses and it was always a really fun time. Needless to say, by the end of the camp, all the team members were able to recite about 24 memory verses from the book we d studied, in enthusiastic and creative ways. The format we used when studying a whole Bible book during a camp and outreach was to spread each chapter over two or three days; so they read the same chapter every day, interacting with and praying through the different study questions. If you are holding a camp that is more focused on Bible study itself, you could do a whole chapter every day and allow more time for the different aspects of the study. I trust that this simple format will inspire you to develop more resources to motivate young people to love the Word of God and enjoy engaging with the Bible for themselves. Barbara

6 The Bible is a powerful book. Such a rich treasure lies within its pages; it s like an instruction manual for our lives. Over the next few pages, we would like to take you on an adventure, a trip of discovering the Bible for yourself. There are many ways of studying God s Word but, sadly, lots of people never do it because they don t know how to get started. This booklet will equip you with a tool that you can use in the future to study the Bible for yourself. We are going to learn one way of studying a whole book of the Bible and applying it to our own lives. A good place to start... Before studying a whole book of the Bible, it is helpful to know a bit more about who wrote it and why. You can try to find out answers to the following questions: 1. Who was the author? We re going to be studying the book of Philippians. It was written by the apostle Paul, a missionary who also wrote twelve other books of the New Testament. 2. Who was he writing to/for? This is a letter written to Christian believers in Philippi, a city in northeastern Greece. Paul had spent a few days there during his second missionary journey. While he was there, Paul was thrown into prison, but God sent a miraculous earthquake to break open the prison and set him free. (See Acts chapter 16.) The church that Paul planted in Philippi was the first ever church in Europe. 3. When and why was the book written? Who? When? Who to? Why? 4. What is the book about? Paul has heard that the Philippians are in danger of missing it by believing in false teachings and allowing disunity to creep into their group. He challenges them to follow the example of Jesus Christ and to be joyful in all circumstances. He tells them about his life goal - to know Christ - and he encourages them to put all their efforts into pressing on with God, so that no one will miss the goal and fail to win the prize. Paul wrote this letter around 60AD - almost thirty years after the death of Jesus. He was being held prisoner in the city of Rome, awaiting trial because of his faith in Jesus. He wrote to encourage the Philippians, and to thank them for sending him some money.

7 The Bible is an amazing book. Such a rich treasure lies within its pages; it s like an instruction manual for our lives. Over the next few pages, we would like to take you on an adventure, a trip of discovering the Bible for yourself. There are many ways of studying God s Word but, sadly, lots of people never do it because they don t know how to get started. This booklet will equip you with tools that you can! use in the future to study the Bible for yourself. We are going to learn one way of studying a whole book of the Bible and applying it to our own lives. A good place to start... Before studying a whole book of the Bible, it is helpful to know a bit more about who wrote it and why. You can try to find out answers to the following questions: 1. Who was the author? We re going to be studying the book of James. It was written by a disciple called James, possibly the apostle James who was the brother of Jesus. (See Gal 1: 19) 2. Who was he writing to/for? This is a letter written to Christian believers of the twelve tribes. This might mean people of Israel who had become believers in Jesus Christ, or it might simply be a way of describing the Christian church, scattered throughout the world. 3. When and why was the book written? Who? When? Who to? Why? 4. What is the book about? James s letter is full of practical tips for everyday life as a Christian. It talks about facing trials, dealing with temptation, putting our faith into action, overcoming the devil, and honouring God by the way we use our tongue/speech. James says that true faith will show itself in action and make a difference in the complicated and sometimes unjust world that we live in. This was possibly the first New Testament book ever written - probably only 10 or 20 years after the death of Jesus. James was writing to warn the early believers about some habits they had fallen into that were not in line with what they believed: things like favouritism, slander, pride and the misuse of wealth.

8 CHAPTER 1. Give the chapter a title (one line explaining the main idea.) 2. What do you think is the key verse? (write it here) 3. List the words or ideas that are repeated. 4. Write an outline of the chapter. 5. How is God mentioned in this chapter? (What names are used?) 6. Is there anything you don t understand in this chapter?

9 What is the most important thing you have learned from this chapter? Write a letter to God, prayerfully applying it to your own life. In your action group, decide on a verse to memorise from this chapter, and then work out a creative way of presenting it to the rest of the team.

10 CHAPTER 1. Give the chapter a title (one line explaining the main idea.) 2. What do you think is the key verse? (write it here) 3. List the words or ideas that are repeated. 4. Write an outline of the chapter. 5. How is God mentioned in this chapter? (What names are used?) 6. Is there anything you don t understand in this chapter?

11 What is the most important thing you have learned from this chapter? Write a letter to God, prayerfully applying it to your own life. In your action group, decide on a verse to memorise from this chapter, and then work out a creative way of presenting it to the rest of the team.

12 CHAPTER 1. Give the chapter a title (one line explaining the main idea.) 2. What do you think is the key verse? (write it here) 3. List the words or ideas that are repeated. 4. Write an outline of the chapter. 5. How is God mentioned in this chapter? (What names are used?) 6. Is there anything you don t understand in this chapter?

13 What is the most important thing you have learned from this chapter? Write a letter to God, prayerfully applying it to your own life. In your action group, decide on a verse to memorise from this chapter, and then work out a creative way of presenting it to the rest of the team.

14 CHAPTER 1. Give the chapter a title (one line explaining the main idea.) 2. What do you think is the key verse? (write it here) 3. List the words or ideas that are repeated. 4. Write an outline of the chapter. 5. How is God mentioned in this chapter? (What names are used?) 6. Is there anything you don t understand in this chapter?

15 What is the most important thing you have learned from this chapter? Write a letter to God, prayerfully applying it to your own life. In your action group, decide on a verse to memorise from this chapter, and then work out a creative way of presenting it to the rest of the team.

16 CHAPTER 1. Give the chapter a title (one line explaining the main idea.) 2. What do you think is the key verse? (write it here) 3. List the words or ideas that are repeated. 4. Write an outline of the chapter. 5. How is God mentioned in this chapter? (What names are used?) 6. Is there anything you don t understand in this chapter?

17 What is the most important thing you have learned from this chapter? Write a letter to God, prayerfully applying it to your own life. In your action group, decide on a verse to memorise from this chapter, and then work out a creative way of presenting it to the rest of the team.

18 CHAPTER 1. Give the chapter a title (one line explaining the main idea.) 2. What do you think is the key verse? (write it here) 3. List the words or ideas that are repeated. 4. Write an outline of the chapter. 5. How is God mentioned in this chapter? (What names are used?) 6. Is there anything you don t understand in this chapter?

19 What is the most important thing you have learned from this chapter? Write a letter to God, prayerfully applying it to your own life. In your action group, decide on a verse to memorise from this chapter, and then work out a creative way of presenting it to the rest of the team.

20 Appendix 1. Introduction to inductive Bible study 2. Simple Bible book study as used in the Principles in Child and Youth Ministry (PCYM) training course 3. Examples of how the inductive study questions could be answered (Real answers written by a teenager) Before studying the book, chapter by chapter, it can be helpful to read the whole book from start to finish. Sometimes our understanding of the Bible is lacking because we only read a few verses at a time, instead of getting the big picture that comes from reading a book as a whole, just as we d read a letter from a friend. It takes surprisingly little time to read a whole New Testament letter of four to six chapters. An average person, reading aloud at a moderately slow pace, can complete the whole book of Philippians, Colossians or James in only 15 minutes, while the letters to the Galatians or Ephesians would take only 20 minutes each. Because reading aloud is a skill, we recommend that you don t read around the group, expecting everyone to take turns, but simply choose a handful of the very best readers among the staff and young people, and have them read a whole chapter each. You could do this in the morning and evening of the first day of camp (or on two consecutive days), using a different Bible translation each time. It will be a half hour well spent!

21 What is inductive Bible study? Inductive Bible study is a method that doesn t depend primarily on the use of commentaries or study guides. It s based on three simple steps: 1. observation 2. interpretation 3. application The questions in the study booklet are designed to help the young person discover: 1. what does the Bible text actually say? 2. what does it mean? 3. what does it mean for my own life in the 21st century, and how am I going to put it into practice? The first six questions help the young people notice and understand things in the text. The letter to God is a tool to help them prayerfully apply those Bible truths in their own life. In fact, this involves writing a prayer, but we chose to speak of a letter, rather than a prayer, as this seemed to prompt the kids to write more natural, personal communication with God. Pre-teens and teenagers who learned and practised this study method during a KKI outreach reported that it equipped them to study other books of the Bible on their own when they had gone back home again. It is good to encourage the young people to read the Bible in several different translations or languages, if these are are available to them. The paragraph below, for example, was included on the introduction pages of some of the early study booklets in South Africa. did you know? When studying the Bible, it is often good to read the text in several different translations, so that you get a better understanding of what it really means. You could read it in English, and also in Xhosa or Afrikaans. Or you could read the New International Verson and also the Youth Bible (New Century Version.) In this journal, we are including the text from the Good News Bible, so that you can compare it with the version that you normally use in your Quiet Time.

22 Bible Book Study (the assignment given to PCYM students) Preliminary Questions: a) Which book have you chosen? b) Who was the author? c) What were the author's circumstances at the time of writing? d) Who was he writing to/for? What do you know about him/them? e) Where, when and why was the book written? Read the book in a few different versions/language translations. f) What is the main theme of the book? What major problems are dealt with and what solutions are given? Now read each chapter in turn. 1) Give the chapter a title - 6 words or less. 2) Note the central idea or lesson from the chapter. 3) Pick out the key verse. 4) Pick out repeating words or ideas. (Eg. gospel/good news/it in Galatians chapter one.) 5) Write an outline (analysis) of the chapter. 6) Write a summary (paragraph) of the chapter. (2 x number. of verses. eg. 36 words for 18 verses.) 7) How is God mentioned/referred to? 8) Questions - note anything that you don't understand. 9) Parallel passages - what other scripture passages express the same idea? 10) Choose a memory verse from the chapter. 11) Choose a verse from for meditation and prayer. 12) List any words, subjects, lessons for further study. 13) Application - write a paragraph, prayerfully applying the teaching of the chapter to your own life.

23 Working with the Study Questions (examples of how to answer the chapter questions) In order to make sure that your young people really understand how to do the Bible study themselves, we recommmend modelling it in an interactive session with the whole team. Taking each question in turn, you could invite different children, teenagers and adults to share their own answers to the questions, and you can clarify anything that hasn t been clearly understood. Because of our commitment to linking the generations, the questions we use in the study booklets are those that are accessible to all (or most) ages. We didn t, for example, include question six from the PCYM study, as writing a resumé or summary paragraph is a literary skill that can be challenging even for some adults. With the questions chosen, we found that even children as young as ten found the study easy to do and understand. If your team includes children younger than ten, you might want to make up a different set of questions for them that are less open-ended and more specifically focused on asking about the content of the chapter; younger children can work through their own questions with a parent, and can still be involved in the discussion, prayer and memory verse activities with their action group. Here, as a model, are real-life answers written by a young person studying the first chapter of the first epistle of John. 1st John chapter 1 1) Give the chapter a title - 6 words or less. Light and Life through Jesus. 2) Pick out the key verse. Verse 7: If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus His Son purifies us from all sin. 3) Pick out repeating words or ideas. Light / darkness!! Truth / lies. Sin / righteousness / purity. Fellowship with God and each other. Seen and heard (testimony of witnesses).

24 4) Write an outline (analysis) of the chapter. Vs 1-4: the authenticity of the testimony, and the reason for writing this letter. Vs 5-10: light and darkness, sin and forgiveness, truth and lies. 5) How is God mentioned/referred to? God the Father; Jesus the Son; the Word of Life. 6) Questions - note anything that you don't understand. What does it mean in verse 6 when it talks about walking in darkness and not having fellowship with Jesus? Is it possible to walk in darkness without knowing it? 7) Write a letter to God, prayerfully applying the teaching of the chapter to your own life. Father, there is no darkness at all in you. Sometimes we get so used to dim lighting that we don't see the areas of darkness in our own lives. Like the times I sit, reading indoors, feeling that the light is enough. It s only when I go outside into the bright sunshine that I realise it was actually kind of a dim light indoors. Shine your light into my life, Lord, to expose any dimness or darkness in my thinking or in my behaviour. Help me, by your Spirit, to walk in the light as you are in the light. Cleanse me and make me a righteous vessel that you can fill and use. 8) Choose a memory verse and present it in a creative way.* 1 John 1 vs 9: If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. * Note that the memory verse might or might not be the same as the verse that the young person identified as the key verse of the chapter. Each action group will agree together on the verse that they want to memorise and present creatively to the rest of the team. Note also that the outline (question four) is very simple in this example due to the short length of the chapter. An outline might more typically break a longer chapter down into three or four different parts.

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26 This material was created and compiled by Barbara Connor Barbara has also written simple Quiet Time materials to help children and teens read their Bibles regularly. Challenge 2013 and Challenge 2014 were used by more than a thousand young people in three different languages. Examples of the Challenge booklets can be found here: Find out more about KKInternational: Find out more about ending Bible poverty: