Special session (9/3/18)
Today half of the cell went to listen to Don Carson.
So we decided to do something different with the other half!
We did the Giftworks spiritual gifts inventory and asked ourselves the question: "How would would we prepare to lead the study scheduled for today?" (i.e. What principles and practices would be helpful if one were to prepare to lead a small group in this study?)
We identified the following:
1. Read the scripture passage (Jn 4:27-42 here) carefully and seek to understand it before looking at the study material. Scripture (= the Word of God) trumps study material (= the word of man) in importance. The Bible cannot be wrong. Study materials, on the other hand, can be badly written.
2. Doing word study in the original language (Greek here) carries risks of the leader setting himself/herself above his/her group members. Knowledge of the original language should not get in the way of inspiring group members to say to themselves, "I can understand the Bible for myself too!". It is possible to look at different translations if we want to catch the nuances of the original language. I personally would do word studies (the free Blue Letter Bible app is great here) if the verse is contentious, if there is a great illustration to be had, or if there is nice word-play in the original that the English does not capture. Commentaries will often mention this and do our work for us.
3. It's nice for our group members to ask questions, but much of good leading consists of the leader identifying the right questions to ask the group. We can ask questions about key concepts (e.g. 'food', 'harvest' and 'wages'), but it is important to ask how these key concepts relate to the topic of evangelisation.
4. So for a preview of my questions for next week (only readers of the blog will know what's coming!), I would ask:
What is Jesus saying about evangelism here?
Who is being evangelised in this passage?
Why was the evangelisation successful?
Of course, I would also ask, "What does Jn 4:27-42 have to do with the study topic?"
And I foresee that we will also remind ourselves of what it takes to be saved :)
So we decided to do something different with the other half!
We did the Giftworks spiritual gifts inventory and asked ourselves the question: "How would would we prepare to lead the study scheduled for today?" (i.e. What principles and practices would be helpful if one were to prepare to lead a small group in this study?)
We identified the following:
1. Read the scripture passage (Jn 4:27-42 here) carefully and seek to understand it before looking at the study material. Scripture (= the Word of God) trumps study material (= the word of man) in importance. The Bible cannot be wrong. Study materials, on the other hand, can be badly written.
2. Doing word study in the original language (Greek here) carries risks of the leader setting himself/herself above his/her group members. Knowledge of the original language should not get in the way of inspiring group members to say to themselves, "I can understand the Bible for myself too!". It is possible to look at different translations if we want to catch the nuances of the original language. I personally would do word studies (the free Blue Letter Bible app is great here) if the verse is contentious, if there is a great illustration to be had, or if there is nice word-play in the original that the English does not capture. Commentaries will often mention this and do our work for us.
3. It's nice for our group members to ask questions, but much of good leading consists of the leader identifying the right questions to ask the group. We can ask questions about key concepts (e.g. 'food', 'harvest' and 'wages'), but it is important to ask how these key concepts relate to the topic of evangelisation.
4. So for a preview of my questions for next week (only readers of the blog will know what's coming!), I would ask:
What is Jesus saying about evangelism here?
Who is being evangelised in this passage?
Why was the evangelisation successful?
Of course, I would also ask, "What does Jn 4:27-42 have to do with the study topic?"
And I foresee that we will also remind ourselves of what it takes to be saved :)
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