EDUCATION: Adult Bible Study

In my experience, adult Bible study is a challenge. It's a challenge to teach, and often a challenge to attend. People want to learn more about God, His Word, and their faith. They do! They also have a LOT of questions! Not to mention that many have ideas that do not fit with the teachings of the LCMS. Do they not know the doctrines of the church? No. Far more than any pastor wants to acknowledge do not know what the church teaches.

So, why is adult Bible study attendance so poor? My theory is that it's because nobody trains those who teach adults. For years... maybe hundreds of years... the way adults are taught in the church is by lecture. We hear a sermon and then go to Bible study for a longer sermon. Why? There are probably many reasons and among them somewhere could be any of these:

• pastors haven't been taught how to facilitate discussion well. 
• pastors think they teach well. 
• pastors don't know the difference between good questions (those that require thought) and bad questions (those that require no thought).
• pastors are afraid they won't be able to answer some questions people will ask.
• people think that if their pastor is funny that he's a good teacher. 
• they don't know what a good class is because they've never attended one.

No matter how many times I try to encourage people to improve adult education in the church, I get few who are interested in learning how to teach better. They're not interested in attending a seminar or a workshop. Not even my own pastors are interested! So, I decided to show them. I signed up to teach an adult Bible class. It was called What do you believe? Why do you believe it? and my husband (who has an M.Div. from Concordia Seminary in St. Louis) team-taught with me. We only had 5 weeks (the church has 5 week classes all year) and we came up with the following topics for each week:

1. The Lord's Supper
2. Baptism
3. Worship
4. Means of Grace
5. Prayer

Discussion is the key to learning so my goal is always to get people in the Bible, talking to each other, and coming up with questions. What are you curious about? What do you want to know more about? What don't you understand? Here's how it works:

• Ask a leading or focusing question. 
• Give them Bible verses. 
• Ask a major question, pose a problem, or give them a real life scenario to consider. 
• Provide questions for them to consider and discuss. 
• Give them a tool to ask questions anonymously (sometimes people don't want the microphone). I have a question jar. 
• Leave plenty of time to answer questions they can't answer through the Bible verses and table discussion. 

We had about 40 students and they had such great discussion at their tables that they developed more questions as they discussed. They key here is that you can't just let them discuss without giving time to clarify any issues that come up or came up. We don't want them to leave thinking things that aren't Biblically accurate. Our class had SO many questions and the whole class discussion was so dynamic that we stayed on that topic for 3 weeks!!! It was fabulous!! People came up after every class to tell us how much they loved the class and how much they were learning. After the last class a man came up and gave me a note that said, "Thank you! I can't wait until your next one!" 

Friends, let's have that response from every participant at every adult Bible study! Download the teacher's notes for the lesson about baptism here. If you need help learning how to teach adults better, please contact me!

FAMILY: Luther's Rose Cut-Out

I just found this and it's so cool I have to share!! It's a Luther Rose cut like a paper snowflake. I believe it was created by a woman named Kelly Klages, at least she's the one who posted the directions.  Wouldn't this make a cool children's message? I recommend you have most of the cutting done before you get there. It's a bit complicated for kids.

SERVICE: Operation Christmas Child

This is a great idea for service, especially for kids for Christmas. Get on it though because collection week is 

NOVEMBER 12 - 19, 2018!!!

It's really easy to do and means the world to kids all over the world! All you need is a shoe box and people who want to give. You can find out more information on the Samaritan's Purse website. Click the link below.

OPERATION CHRISTMAS CHILD

Find out more here!

CHRISTMAS: The Many Names of Jesus Ornaments Part 2

I've posted before on Christmas ornaments called The Many Names of Jesus. Writing on the bulbs in that one can be hard for kids so I recently created these. Kids can easily create these! Check them out and if you want more detailed directions, contact me or you can find them and others in my Advent devotions for kids book that will be out very soon.

H.S. YOUTH: Think Tank

I saw a video the other day on a site called Table Talk from the Hope Channel. It's four guys at a table who are told to bring a Bible and their brain. When they arrive they're provided a list of topics and told to discuss. There are no scripts and no rules. All I could think about is HOW COOL that would be to get the youth talking and having to defend their beliefs. Here's how it would work.

Think Tank

(download pdf version here)

A card table and 4 chairs sit in the middle of the room (the Think Tank). The remaining students sit around the table. If you have a large number of students you'll want to break them up into groups so that you have more than one set of table and chairs. 

VARIATION: Put students in teams of 4. One sits in the chair and the other 3 sit behind him/her for support. They will work as a team.

The goal of this exercise is to have students discuss statements surrounding a provided topic. The students surrounding the table, or on the same team, will provide questions or information to the one in the seat to defend their belief, refute or challenge the other 3 sitting at the table. After a chosen amount of time, the person sitting at the table rotates and a new topic is chosen until everyone has had a chance to sit at the table.

Students are asked to bring their Bibles, Small Catechisms, and their brains. Instead of only giving them general topics, they are also given challenge statements. Reasons and or examples must be given for what they say. For example, if a student says, “God created evil,” he/she must also say why they believe that. 

Materials:  Students will need pencils/pens and paper. I would cut letter paper into fourths. 

Process:  Four students are sitting around a table with their Bibles and catechisms. The rest of the students are sitting around or behind them with their books and paper/pencils. They are not allowed to speak, but can pass notes. The leader/teacher introduces the topic. S/he then has a statement written on a piece of paper and reads it aloud. Each student takes a turn responding to the statement. Many of the statements are right or wrong depending on the situation or perspective. Remember that students need to respond with support of their statement. After each person has a turn responding, the students behind or circling the table can write down questions or statements furthering the discussion and pass them to their teammate or, if no teams, anyone at the table. They may also help with support, if needed. If necessary, the teacher/leader can push by asking related questions and if students are headed off in the wrong direction can step in to steer them toward the truth, especially if they veer off into social or political talk without biblical support. Some topics can become great discussions. At the end of the class or after each question, take a minute to do a wrap up so students don't leave questioning a biblical truth or where the Bible stands on an issue.

Also, you can have students send you topics they want to discuss as long as they remain in a biblical context. 

Topics to Get You Started

Good God – Bad World

            God created evil.

            Evil’s existence helps the world find God.

  The world is full of evil because God is testing us.

            God should stop evil in the world.

God is Love

            Love is accepting everything no matter what.

            Love is accepting everyone no matter what.

            If God loves everyone then everyone will be in heaven.

            Love includes discipline.

            God loves you no matter what you believe.

God’s Law

            The law is just mean and nobody needs it.

            If we’re forgiven the law doesn’t matter.

            The law leads people to the gospel.

            I can’t follow the law, so why try?

            I don’t have to follow the law to be a good Christian.

Baptism

            Baptism saves you. That’s all you need.

            If you’re baptized you cannot lose your faith.

            Baptizing babies is wrong.

            We are baptized to show God our faith.

Repentance

            If I don’t repent I won’t go to heaven.

            My sins are forgiven, I don’t need to repent.

Creation

            Evolution and creation can fit together.

            God’s days are longer than our days.

            Evolution makes more sense than creation.

            Believing God created the world takes more faith than evolution.

            Evolution has been proven.

Holy Communion
           The Lord's Supper is something everyone should be allowed to take.
           Telling people they can't take communion at your church is mean.
           I can take communion at my friend's church.
           The Lord's Supper is something we can do without thinking. Just do it!

The 10 Commandments
          The hardest commandment to keep is...
          The easiest commandment to keep is...
          Breaking the commandments really has no effect on my life.
          There are no consequences for not following God’s law.

EDUCATION: Leading Adult Bible Study

I've posted before on adult Bible study in a post called It's Not What You Teach - It's How You Teach and another called A Sage on the Stage?  They are full of information about adults and learning and tips about teaching adults. Then I went to a few adult Bible studies at my church and realized that the people teaching my classes had not read those two posts. It's not funny to respond in a way that makes people not want to participate. It's not engaging to ask questions and be met with silence because nobody can answer them or are so obvious everybody knows the answer. Asking questions that promote discussion is a skill that can be learned. I love the people teaching the classes, don't get me wrong, but how did we get to this place in the church where adult Bible study can be painful to sit through and yet we still don't do anything different?

There are a few things that typically go wrong when facilitating adult Bible study.

• Leaders prepare slides and read them. 
• Leaders just talk while participants sit and listen. 
• Leaders ask questions that stifle discussion. 
• Leaders aren't sure how to stimulate discussion. 
• Leaders are afraid of the questions participants might ask. 
• Leaders unknowingly respond to questions or comments in a way that makes people not want to participate. 

In response to my previous posts and this one, I created a document that can be given to those who lead/facilitate adult Bible study in the church. It's called Tips for Teaching Adults. Please share it with those who volunteer to teach adults at your church. It will encourage them and give them confidence. Find more information on teaching adults in my book, The Art of Teaching the Faith: Preschool to Adult on Amazon.

LUTHERAN SCHOOLS: Morning Meeting Anyone?

I know a number of elementary teachers who use Responsive Classroom's Morning Meeting to start the day. It's a great way to start on a positive note and it helps focus students. Lutheran school teachers may start out with devotions and a prayer. The devotions are usually a short story from a devotion book. But what if we could adapt the Morning Meeting to a Lutheran/Christian school? Well, that's just what I did.

The photo is small, but you can download it here.