“As good stewards of the manifold grace of God, each of you should use whatever gift he has received to serve one another. If anyone speaks, he should speak as one conveying the words of God. If anyone serves, he should serve with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.” (1 Peter 4:10–11, BSB)

• Clearly God’s word not only informs us but it also transforms us to be partners with Him in His work among people.  
• The Bible not only teaches us God’s message, but also God’s methods.

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“Although by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to reteach you the basic principles of God’s word. You need milk, not solid food! For everyone who lives on milk is still an infant, inexperienced in the message of righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained their senses to distinguish good from evil.” (Hebrews 5:12–14, BSB)

• Not only have theses believers been unable to teach others, they still need to learn the elementary principles of God’s word themselves.  The problem is that they are not growing in the knowledge of, relationship in, or service with the Lord Jesus Christ.  The root cause is the lack of being personally mentored by a disciplemaker.
• This passage implies everyone should grow to a point where they can teach someone else something about God.  But considering the next two passages on this page, it doesn’t mean everyone is expected to serve in the role of a teacher – not everyone is gifted, qualified, called and trained to formally teach others, but we are all called to help and encourage one another to grow in the knowledge of, relationship in and service with the Lord Jesus Christ.

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“Jesus also told them a parable: “Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher.” (Luke 6:39–40, BSB)

• No one can lead another person in the truth if they don’t know and practice the truth themselves.

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“Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.” (James 3:1, BSB)

• Teachers are responsible to and will be held accountable by God for what they teach – by word and example.

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Pray

• At all times throughout the preparation and presentation process.
• Seek Holy Spirits guidance, especially during the preparation stage.  God is very organized and so should you, including your lesson/huddle plan and presentation.

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‌Teaching is not causing people to hear;
Teaching is causing people to learn.

• They may hear you, but are they learning from you?  Your message must be clear, concise, convincing, relevant, useful and motivating.
• You must not just inform them, you need to transform them with the word of God through the power of Holy Spirit.

Two key questions:

1. Do you want to: talk about the Bible, or learn from the Bible?
2. Do you want to focus on: what you caught, or what God taught?

(Proverbs 3:5–8)

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Be the first person to class so you have time to make sure everything is set up and ready, and so you can greet members as they arrive.

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Proclaim and explain God’s word.

• “So they read from the Book of the Law of God, explaining it and giving insight, so that the people could understand what was being read.” (Nehemiah 8:8, BSB)

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“Don’t teach your teacher’s teaching” — Kelly Kruse.

• ‌What you present must be based on the Bible and expressed through your faith, convictions, and experience.  
• It needs to be your message, not someone else’s. (I’m not referring to stories or illustrations, but about Bible truth.)

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When you study, focus on the Bible;
When you prepare a lesson, focus on your hearers;
When you teach, focus on the Lord.

• “Pay close attention to your life and to your teaching. Persevere in these things, for by so doing you will save both yourself and those who hear you.” (1 Timothy 4:16, BSB)
• You must keep all three aspects in mind and heart to have an effective ministry.
• Although your message must be academically sound (based on the Bible), you need to present it in terms and ways your hearers can understand (be careful with technical terms – use common words to explain them) and in line with God’s word, will and ways (make sure they see God through Jesus in your message).
• Make sure your message is “Faithful to the text and Functional for today” (Proctor, Morris. The I-Beam of Message Building. Murfreesboro, TN: MP Seminars, 2009.)

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‌Don’t cover all the elements or aspects of a topic or passage at once.  Present what is appropriate for the occasion and audience, following up as the need or an appropriate opportunity arises.

• ‌When a child asks where they came from, they don’t need a biology lesson on human reproduction – they only want to know which city, state or country they came from.  Reproductive biology is for older, more mature folks.
• A plant that needs 5 gallons of water a week doesn’t need all 5 gallons at once – much of it would run off and never soak into the ground where the plant needs it and can benefit from it.  1 gallon a day for five days will give the water a chance to soak in and provide what the plant needs.
• ‌Teach from where they are to where they need to be – it may take more than one session, but if you make it bit-sized you’ll get them there.
• “When there are many words, transgression is unavoidable, But he who holds back his lips has insight.” (Proverbs 10:19, LSB)

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People don’t care what you know, until they know how much you care.

• C – conversational – includes listening and talking – mostly listening.
• A – available – not perceived as busy; willing to be there when needed.
• R – relatable – someone who understands, with whom you are comfortable
• E – Encouraging – refreshing AND helpful

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‌The leader needs to lead.

• “Jesus also told them a parable: “Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher.” (Luke 6:39–40, BSB)
• No one can lead another person in the truth if they don’t already know and practice the truth themselves.  

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‌Watch out for rabbit trails that lead away from the lesson theme/topic. 

• ‌A pericope has one theme (Main Idea of the Text – MIT).  Every lesson must focus on and the discussion must stick the topic of the lesson.  
• Don’t let words, phrases, thoughts or concepts mentioned in the study text or discussion lead you away from the the topic.
• Keep in mind, just because something come to mind doesn’t mean it came from Holy Spirit.  Beware of distractions.
• If a concept that is not a part of the topic, but is worthy of individual exploration, it should be handled as a separate discussion or lesson so that participates in the study are not distracted from the topic of the lesson.

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‌Be careful of blind spots – we know what we know; we don’t always know what we think we know; we don’t know what we don’t know.

• Be careful not to shoot from the lip.  (saying something you heard, read or think you remember, unless it’s directly from the Bible.)
• ‌Firmly base your message on the Bible – not from your own recollection of what you heard or read from someone else.
• Be careful about teaching prophecy – stick to what the Bible says and don’t wander into speculative ideas that are not in the Bible.

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‌Move from the past to the present.

• “Now these things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come.” (1 Corinthians 10:11, BSB)
• Study, discern and teach how we can learn from people of the past so we can respond properly in our own lives – what is commonly called application, and I call participation. 

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Move from facts to faith

• We don’t study the Bible as preparation for a quiz to get into heaven.
• Although our faith is based on facts, the aim of discipleship is to build faith.
• “Therefore we are always confident, although we know that while we are at home in the body, we are away from the Lord. For we walk by faith, not by sight. We are confident, then, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So we aspire to please Him, whether we are here in this body or away from it.” (2 Corinthians 5:6–9, BSB)
• “For everything that was written in the past was written for our instruction, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures, we might have hope.” (Romans 15:4, BSB) (See the relationship between Hope and Faith) 

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Don’t teach them to follow in your footsteps. Tech them to follow in the Lord’s footsteps

• “Come, follow Me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” (Matthew 4:19, BSB)
• “Then Jesus told His disciples, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.” (Matthew 16:24, BSB)

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Don’t tell someone else’s story – it’s their story.  Let them tell their story if they want to. (This will help avoid gossip and other issues.)

• “He who reveals secrets is a constant gossip; avoid the one who babbles with his lips.” (Proverbs 20:19, BSB)

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Watch the clock

• Start and end on time.
• Include time milestones for each point in your lesson/session plan so you keep track of time to make sure you are on time.

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Don’t dominate the discussion.  Create an environment that encourages others to explore, discover and share the truth of God’s message and methods from the Bible.