Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Adult Sunday School Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/bb/bb20001217.htm

LESSON PREPARATION FROM THE BIBLE MADE SIMPLE
Example: The UNIVERSAL GRACE In God's Salvation Offer
(John 3:16)
  1. Introduction
    1. To teach how to prepare a lesson from the Bible, it may be best to use a well-known Bible passage. That way one can readily focus on how to frame the lesson without being distracted by complexities in the text.
    2. This lesson shows how to prepare a Bible lesson in simple form by using the well-known John 3:16 text:
  2. Lesson Preparation From The Bible Made Simple.
    1. One must have spiritual qualifications to prepare any lesson from the Bible as follows:
      1. Scripture has spiritually discernible truths the Spirit clarified to the godly, 1 Cor. 2:9-13; Jn. 14:26. It is thus necessary for the teacher to be saved (Jn. 3:16) and have his sins as a believer confessed (1 Jn. 1:9) and to obey God in all areas of life (1 Jn. 2:3) to be led of the Holy Spirit to interpret His Word.
      2. Also, one must have some degree of accurate theological knowledge to be able to get his bearings in properly interpreting a Bible passage. This takes sitting under sound teaching for a while, 2 Tim. 3:14.
      3. Third, God has supplied some believers with a supernatural gift of teaching, 1 Cor. 12:4-5, 29. Though any believer can understand Scripture's truths (1 Jn. 2:27), only those supernaturally gifted by God as teachers can present its truths well. This means one must evaluate from his experience, desire and "feedback" from other Christians IF he has a spiritual teaching gift prior to teaching the Word!
      4. God assigns a believer to a ministry of teaching under organized local church leadership, cf. Col. 4:17 et al. He should hence teach in direct response to GOD'S assignment to experience God's blessing!
    2. IF these are in order, here is how to prepare a lesson from Scripture: (We will use John 3:16 as practice.)
      1. We first submit our minds to what John 3:16 actually SAYS to avoid spiritual darkness, Isaiah 8:20.
      2. We also commit to teaching precisely what that text says in accord with 2 Tim. 4:1-2; 1 Pet. 4:10-11.
      3. Then, as we read John 3:16, we note it says with its context (of John 3:14-15) that the saving work of God in John 3:16 is illustrated by the event of Israel's being saved from the fiery serpents in Numbers 21:5-9: the introductory word "For" (KJV and NIV) in John 3:16 expands on what John 3:14-15 says.
      4. Then, in reading Numbers 21:5-9 for clarity, we note some revealing facts: (a) Israel's sin had led to God's sending the punishment of lethal serpents in Numbers 21:5-6. (b) Israel repented, and asked Moses to pray that God would remove the serpents, Numbers 21:7a,b. (c) Moses prayed (Numbers 21:7c), and God told him to make an image of a serpent, lift it up on a pole and inform anyone who had been bitten himself to look at the image by faith in God to be healed of his lethal bite, Num. 21:8.
      5. In Jesus' reference to that event in John 3:14-15, His point was that individuals who believed in Him, as in Moses' day would similarly individually be saved in God's plan of the salvation of the soul.
      6. In the broader John 3 context, this teaching follows Christ's talk with theologically conservative ruler, Nicodemus on how a Jew could enter God's kingdom, 3:3-4. Though Nicodemus felt salvation was by birth as a Jew, or by keeping the Law, Jesus revealed it to be by spiritual birth via individual faith!
      7. Thus, the lesson of John 3:16 is this: "Lesson: God's LOVE for all individuals on earth is such that He sent His Son into the world so that, regardless of any other consideration, ANY individual who MERELY BELIEVES in God's Son will be saved from eternal damnation unto God's kingdom."
      8. Having done our Bible study homework, we can now organize the material into lesson form as follows:
        1. We write out the main truth to be taught near the bottom of a page of paper. That way we know where to end up in constructing the lesson. Hence, we there write: "Lesson: God's LOVE for all individuals is such that, irrespective of any other consideration, ANYONE who MERELY BELIEVES in Christ will be saved from eternal damnation unto God's kingdom."
        2. Then, we write an introduction near the top of the page as follows: "Need: [keeping Nicodemus' initial views in mind] Does God play favorites due to some inherent qualification or due to some deed done by a select group, making it easier for them to enter His kingdom than other people?"
        3. We next explain how the "Need" question near the top of the page is answered by the "Lesson" stated at the bottom, and this explanation forms the lesson development (see the next page).
        4. Then we check this explanation's flow of thought by reading first only the main points (I, II, III, etc.) to see if the lesson flows well. If not, we rewrite these points until they flow well. We do the same with the secondary points (A, B, C, etc.) and the tertiary points (1, 2, 3, etc.) in that order.
        5. Then, we add the Title at the very top of the page and the Application at the very bottom.