1 BibleTime Leader Manual www.bibletime.org OneBody
2 We welcome all of you who want to read the bible through BibleTime. BibleTime is a bible reading movement and is being used in 20 different countries in 5 different languages. To know the will of God is the greatest knowledge. To do the will of God is the greatest achievement. -George W. Truett Yes, it is true that the greatest knowledge and the achievement is to know and to do the will of God. That is why God gave us a written scripture, the bible. Our absolute commitment to the word of God is the only way to know and understand God more deeply. This is why your church has decided to read the word of God. However, in order to succeed in something, you have to first know the strategy. A good work will never be accomplished by itself. In the other hand something that has an eternal value requires a lot of effort and wisdom. What is the secret of the churches that experience God s abundant truth through BibleTime? Let s find out what that secret is. The secret of a church that has succeeded in reading the bible through BibleTime can be divided into three parts. And the three parts are: Students Parents Teachers Students - It is a special privilege to read the bible when you are still a teenager. The great and faithful bible characters like Joseph, Moses, David, and Daniel, all got to know who God is and put their faith in the word of God ever since they were little. If we do not read the bible ever since we are little, we will not be rooted in the streams of living water, but we will be rooted in the world. Being rooted in the world makes us impossible to reach the unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature. (Ephesians 4:13) We have to store up the firewood in our spirit by reading the word of God in the early stage so that we will be ready to be filled with the Holy Spirit to be used by God. Therefore, even if it requires us to get rid of other church programs, we must succeed in reading the word of God. Our victory comes from the Word of God and not from sources of entertainment.
3 Parents - Why do the parents have to participate? There is a research study that states that the church has lost the students after the Sunday School system has been adopted in the church. It was because parents left their children in Sunday School unlike the Puritans who taught and discipled their children by themselves. Sending the children to Sunday School for about three hours a week is not enough for them to grow in faith. The primary responsibility of discipling our children lies on the parents and not the Sunday School teachers. Therefore, each family must set a schedule to read the bible through BibleTime and read it with the children. This is the duty as a teacher. You have to become a helper to continue family bible reading time. When this works, not just the children but also the whole family becomes strong in the Word of God, and eventually the whole church will become strong in the Word of God. Successful teachers produce successful families. Teachers - The teachers must read the bible as well. A teacher that fails to make the students read the bible will eventually fail as a teacher. Moreover, a teacher that fails to read the bible will eventually fail as well. If a teacher reads the same passage from the bible with the students then the teacher will have a deeper fellowship with the students in the word of God. What does it mean to have a fellowship in the Word of God? It means that the fellowship does not end with just our daily conversations, but with a conversation that exchanges spiritual nourishment. For example, a teacher might say, I found more about wisdom from the passage that I read from the book of John today, how about you? Then the student will answer, Yes, I was very blessed by the passage too. In the same way, if the students are trained to have a fellowship in the word of God, then they will grow to be more mature and independent Christian. So far, we have learned about the three groups that produce a bible reading church. Then now, how can we start this specifically? We can start this with the bible commitment worship service. If we just pass out BibleTime to the students without bible pledge, only 20% of the students will read it, but if we start with the bible commitment worship service, then more than 70-80% of the students will join the bible reading movement. Through this worship service, the students make a pledge before God and people to read the bible every day, every year, throughout the rest of their lives. By making this pledge, the students learn how important it is to read the bible. For this worship service, we prepared the bible pledge sheets and the bible reading commitment banners along with BibleTime. One thing that we have to remember is for the whole family members to participate and make a bible pledge as well. As they raise their right hand and make a pledge, the Holy Spirit will touch their hearts. If some of the students do not have parents, then the teacher can do it with the student. After finishing the pledge, please congratulate each other and give God a round of applause, then pass out BibleTime. Also, we have prepared video clips that will help the bible commitment worship service. You can download them at www.bibletime.org. We also have
4 teachers who are trained to give a seminar on reading through the whole bible. So, if you are interested, please contact us and we will arrange the seminar to begin after the service. We introduce a special program. That is the program that makes a commitment to support one BibleTime to an orphan every time a student succeeds in reading BibleTime every month. This not only helps the orphans to read the bible, but also encourages the students to read the bible as well. OneBody will help the orphans in a country picked by the church to read the bible daily. To support the orphans, you can check out the transaction process at www.bibletime.org. What should we do after the bible commitment worship service? A. This is what we should do on Sundays First, the most important thing is to make the students bring BibleTime to church every week. If they do not do this, they will fail 90% of the time. Give a crown sticker to the students who have finished a week s worth of BibleTime and put a monthly sticker for the students who have finished BibleTime for that month. More than 90% will succeed by just doing the weekly check-up. Secondly, read the passage for Sunday together with the students and share one verse that has touched their hearts at the end. For example, the teacher share things like, This verse on Tuesday really touched my heart. God was rebuking me through this passage, so I repented and I thanked God. Through this kind of sharing time, the students will get to learn how to read the bible, and know that the teacher is reading with them throughout the week. Third, put up the BibleTime Reading Chart on the wall at the church and put the sticker on the chart every week. It will be a tool that encourages each other to continue to read the bible. B. Follow these instructions during the weekdays. We will tell you how to succeed in reading the bible. Excellent teachers not only take care of the students on Sundays, but also on weekdays. First, the teacher needs to help the student to read the bible daily with the family. Helping the parents is more important than helping the student when it comes to church-school ministry. After the bible commitment worship service, have a meeting with the parents and make them set a schedule for Family Bible Time, and help them keep the schedule. You can download a video clip that you can show to the parents at www.bibletime.org. Through this system, the teacher not only helps the student, but also the whole family members. The part that needs to be restored urgently in the body of Christ is the family that read the Word of God. This is the great mission for the church-school teachers. Second, If the students use smartphones, the teacher can share the word of God through group chatting app, such as Whatsapp, GroupMe, WeChat or MessageMe. For example, a teacher can say
5 things like, My verse of the day was this and I learned this through this verse. How about you? What was today s one verse for you guys? If the students do not have smartphones, the teacher can share the word of God through an e- mail or a phone call. Even though this fellowship might be brief, the word of God can be deeply rooted in the heart of the students when the teachers share the word of God daily with them. Now, we believe that you are able to see the big picture. We strongly encourage the churches to also have bible quiz contests and bible verse memorization contests on a monthly basis. And it would be unforgettable if the teachers give the students gold medals after they go through the whole bible. Also, you can remind them of the importance of reading bible by showing them inspiring video clips each month from www.bibletime.org through a projector. You can download all the helpful resources at www.bibletime.org. The greatest expectation that God and your pastors have for the church, is that the church will become a biblical church that is to read and obey the Word of God. BibleTime makes this possible.