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Old 10-26-2015, 01:04 AM
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Esaias Esaias is offline
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Question Feeding the sheep!

Every assembly has three things in common:

1. Teachers responsible for teaching the Body of Christ; and
2. Members at different levels of understanding, different ages, different lengths of time in the Body, etc.; and
3. Limited time (52 weeks per year on average).

So, how best to fulfill the obligation to teach?

Suppose a pastor is going to teach book by book, chapter by chapter, verse by verse. Once the starting point is decided, they proceed, perhaps one chapter or two per service. How long, at this rate, will it take to cover the 'whole counsel of God'? And, suppose new people arrive during the course of the year. They will obviously start off wherever the teacher and congregation are at the moment. Thus they miss out on quite a bit.

And suppose it takes several years to go through the whole Bible. Persons coming into the assembly in say year 2 or 3 will have to wait how long before being taught whatever was taught in years 1 and 2?

Now suppose a preacher regularly preaches by taking a single verse or two, and developing a 'sermon' on some idea suggested by the text. How in the world can the congregation be fed like that? It certainly will not be a well-rounded diet! It would be rather random. And how much of such preaching is really solid food to begin with?

So then I propose a possible strategy to deal with the three points I listed at the beginning.

First, a method to cover the entire Bible in a year must be developed. But, this cannot be done by preaching a sermon every service! The entire assembly would have to assemble several times, EVERY DAY, for the whole year. And that probably would still not cover the whole Bible. How then to accomplish this seemingly mission impossible? Simple: People must be taught to read and study the Bible for themselves, on their own time. Ever member of a congregation should be taught how to read, and study, the Scriptures, on their own, covering the entire Bible at least once, in one year. That is, they must be given options on daily Bible reading and study plans, and it must be emphasized that daily personal Bible study is a must for spiritual growth. (There may be some who are lazy, and not committed, and that's fine. Nothing you do can help those who refuse to put forth any effort in being a disciple (aka STUDENT) of Christ...)

But telling folks 'Here's a couple Bible reading plans, pick one and stick with it or you'll get weak in the faith' is not enough. There needs to be some kind of actual discipleship and accountability involved. Looking through the New Testament, it seems that elders responsible for teaching did not merely deliver sermons on Sunday. Rather, they seemed to have gone 'house to house' and taught people. Or at the least they seemed to get involved in one on one teaching, perhaps teaching individual households the Word of Christ, in addition to the general assemblies ('church services'). So perhaps each member should be involved with some kind of in-between-services Bible study or 'coaching sessions' (perhaps as a family?) with elders responsible for teaching. This could also include such things as 'ladies' Bible study' or 'men's bible study' during the week. Indeed, speaking of households, every married man and single parent needs to be given training in how to 'teach your family the Bible'. And there should be some kind of accountability involved. Not like the charismatic 'shepherding movement' necessarily, but perhaps something somewhat similar to the old 19th century Methodist class meetings, where those who met together would essentially give an account of themselves and their walk with the Lord: "Here's what I've been reading and studying this week... here's some issues I've been having, here's some successes I have had..." etc. And those elders responsible for such things can provide coaching (counsel, advice, prayer, encouragement, admonition, etc) regarding whatever needs the people have.

(BTW, isn't this what pastors used to do anyway? Make the rounds and do visitation with the folks in their congregation, throughout the week? I don't think pastors always just preached on Sunday and Wednesday and spent the rest of the week at the golf course...)

Second, a method of teaching the Word in the general assembly must be developed that covers all the main things a believer needs to hear, in the course of one year. It would seem a method of expository preaching/teaching, book by book, chapter by chapter, verse by verse, would help here. But it would need to cover longer passages than is perhaps usually done. Spending 6 months on the Sermon on the Mount seems like too much, considering the original was one single sermon delivered in about 20 minutes! And, simply going through each book in order would obviously not get done in one year (or even two years!)

There also needs to be an opportunity for 'special needs preaching'. By this I mean preaching, usually admonition or exhortation, that deals with a specific situation in the church. And the situation may not even be known to the preacher, but a Spirit anointed preacher will certainly feel the need at certain times to preach on certain subjects or from certain texts for certain reasons, discerned only in the Spirit. Strict expository, chapter by chapter preaching does not leave much room for the interruptions of the Spirit. Persons hiding sin in the congregation, for example, may need to have a sermon series interrupted with a rhema Word from God to startle them out of complacency. Or some person or persons suffering spiritual oppression may need a sermon series going through the book of Obadiah with all it's woe and doom to be interrupted with a Spirit directed Word designed by God Himself to give comfort and edification to the weary soul.

I have some ideas about how that all may be accomplished, but I was wondering if anyone here, especially those involved in some kind of teaching or preaching or discipleship ministry, would like to weigh in and give their thoughts?
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Old 10-26-2015, 03:23 PM
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Re: Feeding the sheep!

Very good thoughts E. And I agree... without personal home bible study time, there is no way to truly get through the entire Bible in a congregation in a timely manner. Right now our home group is working our way through the book of Romans, with each family studying the chapter we are on at home during the week, and then reading it together, and it being expounded upon when we come together as a group.

I don't know that there is a "perfect" system to doing this, other than highly encouraging personal study of the Bible in each family.
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Old 10-27-2015, 12:40 AM
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Re: Feeding the sheep!

Quote:
Originally Posted by KeptByTheWord View Post
Very good thoughts E. And I agree... without personal home bible study time, there is no way to truly get through the entire Bible in a congregation in a timely manner. Right now our home group is working our way through the book of Romans, with each family studying the chapter we are on at home during the week, and then reading it together, and it being expounded upon when we come together as a group.

I don't know that there is a "perfect" system to doing this, other than highly encouraging personal study of the Bible in each family.
We are currently working through Romans as well. Small world!

I wouldn't say there is a 'perfect' system, but I believe there is a perfect template that can be applied to whatever situation. It's just a matter of finding and fleshing out that template in practical ways.

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Old 10-27-2015, 03:44 PM
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Re: Feeding the sheep!

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Originally Posted by Esaias View Post
We are currently working through Romans as well. Small world!

I wouldn't say there is a 'perfect' system, but I believe there is a perfect template that can be applied to whatever situation. It's just a matter of finding and fleshing out that template in practical ways.

Agreed. Finding a way to adequately meet the varying needs of each group should be something we are led from the Lord to do, I think. Each situation can have its unique complexities.

Our little house group is expanding... a family that has been a part of our group for almost a year are starting another house group on a different day with about 4-5 other families who are interested. The group of families meeting in our home is just about maxed out - unless we start putting people in the windowsills! At least during the winter months this will be our plan. Our hope is to have each family satellite a home group in their home, and then at least a few times a year for all of us to meet in one place and have church together.

How awesome that we are both studying the book of Romans! Small world indeed
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Old 10-27-2015, 04:06 PM
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Re: Feeding the sheep!

Quote:
Originally Posted by KeptByTheWord View Post
Agreed. Finding a way to adequately meet the varying needs of each group should be something we are led from the Lord to do, I think. Each situation can have its unique complexities.

Our little house group is expanding... a family that has been a part of our group for almost a year are starting another house group on a different day with about 4-5 other families who are interested. The group of families meeting in our home is just about maxed out - unless we start putting people in the windowsills! At least during the winter months this will be our plan. Our hope is to have each family satellite a home group in their home, and then at least a few times a year for all of us to meet in one place and have church together.

How awesome that we are both studying the book of Romans! Small world indeed
Make sure none of them are named Eutychus!
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Old 10-27-2015, 06:04 PM
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Re: Feeding the sheep!

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Make sure none of them are named Eutychus!
In the wintertime, not a problem, now in the summer, I might have to eat your icecream, and say amen, lol!
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Old 10-27-2015, 10:46 PM
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Re: Feeding the sheep!

I thought this thread was about eating?
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Old 10-28-2015, 02:39 AM
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Re: Feeding the sheep!

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Originally Posted by Evang.Benincasa View Post
I thought this thread was about eating?


We usually eat a meal after the open meeting and the main teaching.
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Old 10-28-2015, 10:37 PM
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Re: Feeding the sheep!

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We usually eat a meal after the open meeting and the main teaching.
Save me a plate!

My brother can you cook gumbo?
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Old 10-28-2015, 11:21 PM
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Re: Feeding the sheep!

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Originally Posted by Evang.Benincasa View Post
I thought this thread was about eating?
Yes, its about food for the soul And I'll take a plate of that gumbo too, if you're cooking

We have tried doing the meal before, and after. Doing the meal before seems to work best for our group.
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