What do you recommend for Bible Studies
 

Hi,
I'm looking for recommendations for Bible Studies that includes Salvation, Godhead, Second Coming, Church (gifts, gathering, etc...), Daily Living and such.
I have Handbook of Basic Doctrines, New Beginning, Exploring God's word, and Search for Truth 1.

I find some of them or too dense or lacking so I end up picking and choosing. I basically try to follow this:
[Heb 6:1-2 NASB] 1 Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, 2 of instruction about washings and laying on of hands, and the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment.

Do you have any other recommendation I can look at? My goal is to give Bible Studies for salvation but also to continue with them as new-born believers for a full year. I want to help them to know the basic doctrines and then learn good habits (prayer, bible reading), how to fight the good fight (faith, temptations) and choose right over wrong and such.

Re: What do you recommend for Bible Studies
 

Identify what needs to be taught. Then know how to walk someone through the Bible to learn it, as well as know how to answer commonly asked questions. That way there is no need to rely on second hand sources, second guess a booklet, or spend any money. The students will see everything is strictly B.I.B.L.E. andhopefully will appreciate that.

A good sequence to follow is:

1. Who is Jesus and What is His Mission? (The good news of the KINGDOM OF GOD)
2. Repentance and faith
3. Pardon, justification, and sanctification (being cleansed by faith in Jesus, new birth, significance of baptism, significance of receiving the Spirit)
4. The Judgment, and eternal life.

(Notice, this is the scope and sequence in Hebrews 6:1-2)

5. Matthew
6. Romans
7. 1 Peter
8. 1 Corinthians

Basics of "prayer" are first caught then taught. That is, by praying with them, and by their involvement in prayer in the assembly, they will learn how to pray. As they study the Word they learn more about a practice they already engage in.

1-4 above will include the concept of "the Word of God as the rule of conduct" so there's the "right choices" part. Will also include basics on new birth, baptism, Holy Ghost, Oneness, faith, justification, holiness, etc.

Learning Bible reading can be done in 10 minutes with a simple handout you can make:

Bible
Old Testament - New Testament
OT : Law, History, Wisdom, Prophets
NT : Gospels, Epistles
Law: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy
History: Joshua-Esther
Wisdom: Job-Song of Solomon
Prophets: Isaiah-Malachi
Gospels: Matt-John
Epistles: Acts, Paul's letters to churches, Paul's letters to individuals, Peter-James-John-Jude, the Revelation (prophecy)

How to read:
1. Use daily Bible reading schedule of your choice.
2. Read with prayer.
3. Expect to learn something that God wants you to know

How to study:
1. Separate from daily reading
2. Choose a book (start small, James for example, or Mark)
3. Keep a notebook
4. Chapter by chapter, verse by verse
5. Read first chapter through
6. Re-read chapter, looking for the following: commands, promises, warnings, examples (good and bad). Re-read chapter at least one time for each (once for commands, again for promises, again for examples, etc)
7. Re-read chapter again and try to identify the main point, issue, theme, or subject.
8. Review notes and prayerfully identify how to apply what you learned to your actual life and situations you currently face.

Lather, rinse, repeat.

6, 7, and 8 may be rearranged if it is deemed necessary or expedient. But I recommend every new believer get Matthew, Romans, and 1 Corinthians down as soon as possible, whatever the order may be. And I recommend Matthew (or one of the other Gospel accounts) to be first.

To teach 1-4, you need to find ONE passage that covers the particular thought. You don't want to overwhelm and bewilder newbies. For example:

"Who Is Jesus?"

Day 1

Genesis 1:1 God is creator
John 1:1 the Word is the Creator and is God
Isaiah 44:24 the LORD is the ONLY Creator (there are not two creators)
John 1:14 the Word became flesh and was known as the Son
Isaiah 9:6 Jesus the Son is also the mighty God and Father
John 4:24 God is a Spirit
Memory passage: Ephesians 4:4-6

The teacher must be able to amplify the above as needed, of course. Learning how to present Bible doctrine is a great way to learn it yourself and become more solid in your own understanding.

Re: What do you recommend for Bible Studies
 

Thank you Brother. You make good points.
Last night I was thinking of how to use just the Bible to make a disciple of the Lord and at the same time equip the student to make other disciples. I understand that not everyone will be a teacher especially anointed for the task, but I think every one should be capable by themselves or with help to make other disciples of Jesus.
And to make a disciple of Christ, the disciple would need to present them Jesus, his salvation and teachings. Then use the Acts of the Apostles and Epistles to explain and extend what Jesus taught (like let's see how the first disciples of Jesus explained and applied his teachings and mission) , as well as the OT.
I'm glad you mention Matthew. I remembered that I read that Matthew was used a lot to make disciples in the first-century church and it is structured as such.
I also have a friend that told me before that he used the Book of John.
I think I'm going to design it around one or two Gospels and use the Apostles writing to extend and explain it, and I would get deeper as needed. That way the disciple would be able to have a clear guide he/she can use to present Jesus to others.

I covered the "How to read" as you mentioned and a little bit on "how to study", but I like the specific tips you mentioned. I'll make note.

Re: What do you recommend for Bible Studies
 

Sounds like a plan. :thumbsup

Re: What do you recommend for Bible Studies
 

The new "premier study Bible".
https://youtu.be/Z4b3zungYEI

Re: What do you recommend for Bible Studies
 

Esaias,
Why did you choose these 4 books?
5. Matthew
6. Romans
7. 1 Peter
8. 1 Corinthians

Re: What do you recommend for Bible Studies
 

Matthew: good, general overview of the life and ministry of Christ. Contains full Sermon on the Mount which is a good practical synopsis of Christ's ethical teachings that new believers ought to know. John can be a bit too theological for many newbies, Mark is a bit too brief, and Luke doesn't include the full Sermon on the Mount. Although any of them would work, I just feel Matthew works better for an introduction to basic Christian doctrines.

Romans: almost a systematic Christian theology. :) Covers most of the main points of apostolic doctrine. And eminently practical.

1 Peter: A good synopsis of some key doctrines. James or 1 John could also work.

1 Corinthians: Another almost systematic Christian theology. Romans and 1 Corinthians provide I would say about 75% of basic Christian doctrine. 1 Corinthians supplies what is missing in Romans, especially in regard to church order and the doctrine of resurrection.

All of this of course is introductory, the whole Bible should be studied, and studied for the whole of one's Christian life.

It would be easier if new Christians were thoroughly familiar with the Pentateuch and the Prophets from the get go, but I'd rather see a new believer spend a couple months in Matthew and Romans than start off spending a year in the Pentateuch before ever getting to the life and ministry of Messiah.

Re: What do you recommend for Bible Studies
 

Brother Esaias,
How do you do the reading of Matthew?
Do you read key verses?
Do you read whole passages and skip some?
Or do you end up reading the whole book of Matthew?

Do you read it all yourself or you alternate with the student?
Do you explain as you go or you introduce a topic first and then read key verses from the passage?

Re: What do you recommend for Bible Studies
 

The way I teach is primarily chapter by chapter, verse by verse. Depending on the chapter, either the whole chapter will be read or it will be read in sections. It doesn't really matter to me who reads it. Depends on the setting. One on one, or even in a small group, the reading can alternate between all participants.

For beginners, I might give a brief introduction to who the author is and what occasioned the writing of the text, but the main thing is to get the student into the text itself.

Once the chapter or portion of the chapter is read, I simply ask "Let's find any commands, things that we are told we ought to do (or ought not to do)." The students take turns identifying them and explaining the commands. Everyone discusses, asks questions, etc. My job is to facilitate the discussion primarily. If a clear mistake is made in a student's exegesis, I correct it (gently) by offering additional information, usually by saying "How about this..." and then providing whatever understanding I have. I am always willing to take them through the Bible to show them the process I use to corroborate the exegesis or interpretation of a text. This is rarely an issue however because Bible commands are pretty straightforward, usually.

After commands have been found, I will try to summarize (with helpful input from the participants) and move on to Promises, Warnings, and Examples. The same process is used: students find what is being looked for in the chapter, and discuss. Once that has been done I try to direct discussion to "How do we put this to use in our lives, right now?" I always try to give my own personal experiences as examples ("Once I was experiencing XYZ, but I discovered this promise we read about and saw how it worked out when I claimed it and held on to it persistently" etc). This is definitely the time for student questions ("Well, how do we obey ABC in today's world?" etc).

There are times, though, when direct instruction is needed, for example in dealing with a passage that doesn't necessarily have commands, examples, or promises, but instead is giving "didactic teaching", such as a passage making statements about God's nature, or Christ's identity. I explain, often using other texts to provide background information as needed. Questions arise (often by me even) and discussion ensues. I found people retain information best when they are involved in discovering the information themselves through answering their own, other students', or my questions.

It's hard to outline a specific step by step process. A lot depends on the teacher, the student(s), the group dynamic, and especially the promptings of the Spirit. I definitely review the text before the actual study, to anticipate difficulties, questions, etc.

Regarding the geneology in Matthew, it's good to read through and then ask "Now', why was this important? Why does this matter?" which will get into the question of Jesus being an actual historical person known to the people of His day. Thus, Matthew was written as an historically valid document in its day. Which points out that EVERY DETAIL OF SCRIPTURE HAS A SIGNIFICANCE.

As for topics, those are determined by the text itself. I rarely do "topical studies" that skip all over the Bible. At least in the beginning, it is important for people to get a feel for the Bible as a continuous story rather than an encyclopedic collection of proof texts.

In Matthew, the main point is to A) become familiar with the facts contained in the account, and B) discover how it applies practically to the student's daily life.

My goal ultimately is to get people familiar with the Bible and help them develop a process to eventually teach others. A teacher needs to have extensive knowledge of his subject, but needs to in a sense "work himself out of a job". That way people aren't always dependent on the teacher, but can become teachers themselves if they put in the effort.

Re: What do you recommend for Bible Studies
 

Thank you, great post.