Something Greater

Bible Study: My Method (Currently) How do you teach others about the Bible? What study method seems to help you most in understanding and communicating the truth contained in God's Word? For about a year now I've been thinking about how I best learn and teach. Gradually I've established a habit of study that seems to fit my mind and personality, and I'd like to share it with others. Perhaps it, or some form of what I describe, will help others develop their own style of study and communication. Note: The following steps have their genesis in a book titled "Miraculous Movements", by Jerry Trousdale, copyright 2012 by CityTeam, published by Thomas Nelson, Inc. I've adjusted and adapted Jerry's original ideas to fit my own preferences. My method of studying and preparing to teach from the Bible involves four distinct steps: Brief Overview Main Ideas and Key Verses Trust and Obey Digging Deeper I tend to follow these four steps in order, b...

Psalm 13: Consider And Answer Me To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me? Consider and answer me, O Lord my God; light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death, lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed over him,” lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken. But I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, because he has dealt bountifully with me. What do you think? David felt as if God had forgotten him - as if God had mislaid him, or was oblivious of him. In this emotional song, David says that he feels this way because of enemies and foes (hateful people; crushing, crowding things). What circumstances have recently made you feel this way? David begs God to "consider" (to look ...

Psalm 12: The Godly One Is Gone To the choirmaster: according to The Sheminith. A Psalm of David. Save, O Lord, for the godly one is gone; for the faithful have vanished from among the children of man. Everyone utters lies to his neighbor; with flattering lips and a double heart they speak. May the Lord cut off all flattering lips, the tongue that makes great boasts, those who say, "With our tongue we will prevail, our lips are with us; who is master over us?" "Because the poor are plundered, because the needy groan, I will now arise," says the Lord; "I will place him in the safety for which he longs." The words of the Lord are pure words, like silver refined in a furnace on the ground, purified seven times. You, O Lord, will keep them; you will guard us from this generation forever. On every side the wicked prowl, as vileness is exalted among the children of man. WHAT DO YOU THINK? Tell about a time when you felt alone in...

Psalm 11: The Lord Is In His Holy Temple (To the choirmaster. Of David.) In the Lord I take refuge; How can you say to my soul, "Flee like a bird to your mountain, for behold, the wicked bend the bow; they have fitted their arrow to the string to shoot in the dark at the upright in heart; if the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?" The Lord is in his holy temple; the Lord's throne is in heaven; his eyes see, his eyelids test the children of man. The Lord tests the righteous, but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence. Let him rain coals on the wicked; fire and sulfur and a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup. For the Lord is righteous; he loves righteous deeds; the upright shall behold his face. Psalms 11:1-7 (ESV) WHAT DO YOU THINK? To whom is David speaking when he says, "You"? A person? A devil? A circumstance? What modern foundations of or life, speaking politically a...

Psalm 10: Standing Far Away "Why, O Lord, do you stand far away? Why, O Lord, do you stand far away? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble? In arrogance the wicked hotly pursue the poor; let them be caught in the schemes that they have devised. "For the wicked boasts of the desires of his soul, and the one greedy for gain curses and renounces the Lord. In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him; all his thoughts are, There is no God. "His ways prosper at all times; your judgments are on high, out of his sight; as for all his foes, he puffs at them. He says in his heart, I shall not be moved; throughout all generations I shall not meet adversity. "His mouth is filled with cursing and deceit and oppression; under his tongue are mischief and iniquity. He sits in ambush in the villages; in hiding places he murders the innocent. His eyes stealthily watch for the helpless; "He lurks in ambush like a lion in hi...

Psalm 9: Forever Enthroned "To the choirmaster: according to Muth-labben. A Psalm of David. "I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds. I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High. "When my enemies turn back, they stumble and perish before your presence. For you have maintained my just cause; you have sat on the throne, giving righteous judgment. "You have rebuked the nations; you have made the wicked perish;   you have blotted out their name forever and ever. The enemy came to an end in everlasting ruins; their cities you rooted out;   the very memory of them has perished. "But the Lord sits enthroned forever; he has established his throne for justice,   and he judges the world with righteousness; he judges the peoples with uprightness. "The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. And those who know your name put t...

1 Timothy 4: The Value Of Godliness 1 Timothy 4:1-16 (ESV) What's gone before... Paul described our faith in Christ as a mystery, urging the church in Ephesus to make Christ the foundation of their godliness: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world and taken up in glory. Moving on... "Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer. "If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Chri...