E89 - Hope’s Harbor Gritty Bible Devotions - Discovering Your Spiritual Gift - Part 3 of 7 - Teaching
Hope’s Harbor
Gritty Bible Devotions
Episode #89
Title: What Is Your Spiritual Gift? – Part 3 of 7 - Teaching
Date: January 16, 2023
Contact: info@hopesharbor.net
Key verses: Matthew 21:23 – ‘Now when He came into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people confronted Him as He was teaching, and said, "By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority?"’
John 3:2 – ‘This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, "Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him."’
It is interesting to note in Matthew 21:23 the religious leaders in Jerusalem asked Jesus by what authority He taught in the temple. But in John 3:2 one of their members, a man by the name of Nicodemus, came to Jesus and proclaimed he knew by what authority Jesus taught.
It is important for you to know, if your gift is teaching, your authority comes from GOD.
Intro: In the King James Version of the Bible there are 56 verses with the words teach or teaches. That is significant and reveals to us that teaching is important to GOD. As long as what is being taught is the Word of GOD.
But before you think you’re off the hook if your gift is not teaching, you do teach others by the way you conduct yourself around other people. And so do I.
Here is a list of gifts:·
Prophecy
· Service
· Teaching
· Exhortation
· Giving
· Organization
· Mercy
Devotion focus: Learning how to teach.
(There are notes for further study found in the show notes appendix for this episode, number 89, at HopesHarbor.net)
Teaching others the Word of GOD carries a serious responsibility. In fact, the Bible warns in James 3:1 – ‘My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment.’
This warning is not meant to keep us from teaching if that is our gift but is meant to inform you to take your preparations to teach seriously. I have sat under teaching where it was obvious the teacher had not taken time to properly prepare. It is better not to teach than put a class through a lazy attempt to present the Word of GOD to them.
My husband, David, has on a couple of occasions before teaching realized he wasn’t ready and told the class so. And while he was embarrassed to admit he had not taken the time to prepare well, the class appreciated the candor. Instead of a lesson, they spent the time sharing prayer needs and struggles.
So first thing is learning how to present a lesson. There are numerous resources online that show how to write a lesson plan. Here are a few tips:
1. Start with energy. ...
2. Get into the Bible within two minutes. ...
3. Tell short stories—not long ones. ...
4. Don't have too many points. ...
5. Regularly use the phrase, “If you're new to the Bible…”...
6. Freely admit when a biblical principle is hard to believe.
7. Use visual aids as often as you can (people will remember the lesson easier.)
8. Always end with takeaways. The calls to action you hear in these episodes is the same principle at work.
There is an article in the Appendix that is copied from the site providing these tips. It gives helpful insights to the importance of being prepared and goes into detail with each of the tips.
There is too much that goes into teaching a class in church to be able to give the how-to here.
I suggest asking another teacher for help and instruction. Also see if a teacher is willing to have you sit in on a few classes to see how the lesson is delivered. David started out by filling in on occasion when his teacher was out.
If nothing else, take a passage or even a single verse and study it using a trusted commentary. Matthew Henry’s Commentary in one volume is great – although the original was contained in 7 volumes. Make a few notes about the context and content of a verse or passage and speak about what you learned. Then be patient with yourself.
Being called to teach can be intimidating. The question is, “Who am I to teach anyone anything?” This is where my main struggle comes from.
Don’t let this stop you. Educate yourself on what it takes to create a lesson plan. Personally, David likes a one-point lesson and leaves time for discussion. A warning here is if you opt for allowing people to ask questions or comment as you teach: you must control your classroom and not allow anyone to take over by talking on and on. If this happens, gently guide the discussion back to your lesson plan. If they persist, you may have to speak to them after class. Be firm in your expectations.
A final point about questions from class members. Don’t be afraid to admit you don’t have the answer to every mystery of the Bible. If a question pops up that needs looking into, tell the class you’ll try to find the answer by the next week. Then put that answer in your notes for the following lesson to ensure it gets addressed.
Summary: Teaching is something to take seriously. But it can be rewarding and at times even fun as you learn more about the Bible through your studies. And you learn from your class by the questions they ask.
Action to consider: Buy this book on teaching the Bible.
The title is ‘Teaching to Change Lives - 7 Principles or Laws of the Teacher’ by Howard Hendricks. Hendricks taught at Dallas Theological Seminary for 63 years. He taught to the very end before dying of cancer on February 20, 2013.
Also, read the article on ‘8 Tips For Unforgettable Bible Teaching’ in the appendix of the show notes for Episode 89 at HopesHarbor.net
Next week’s devotion: The Spiritual Gift of Exhortation
Appendix:
https://www.lifeway.com/en/articles/seven-steps-of-bible-study-preparation
· 8 Tips published on LifewayResearch.com
https://research.lifeway.com/2020/11/09/8-tips-for-unforgettable-bible-teaching/
8 Tips for Unforgettable Bible Teaching
Insights| Preaching & Teaching | Nov 9, 2020
Christian Standard Bible photo
By Ben Mandrell
We’ve all been there at some point in our ministry: We’ve waited until the last minute to add final details to our lessons or sermons, pushed the envelope when it comes to finalizing materials, and barely made it to the church, home, or classroom on time.
It’s not a good feeling, and it sets the stage for a rushed, disjointed time with those we serve.
As a pastor for 17 years, I’ve tried to demonstrate an extreme preparation mentality for my ministry teams.
My goal was to finish my sermon manuscript by midweek, with any visual aids pre-selected. All this would get turned in to the media team days in advance so they could also practice extreme preparation.
On Sundays, I would plan to arrive at church at least an hour early to run through the slides with the team, and to go back over the message another time or two.
I would want to be in the main room and ready to go, greeting people with a calm, peaceful smile on my face as they found their seats.
I tried to model this behavior because I wanted our team to do the same in their respective ministries. A well-prepared atmosphere makes a world of difference.
But intentionality and preparation should go beyond the preacher delivering the weekend sermon; it also applies to a Bible study group leader.
One of the price tags of leadership on any level is being extremely early for any ministry activity—be it sermons, discipleship classes, small groups, or special events.
If you show up five minutes before a gathering starts, you’re at least 15 minutes late.
A group leader, for example, who is running around the room laying out supplies and frantically getting things ready, is hardly a good host.
A steady leader exemplifies intentionality. Intentionality means thinking through the details of the group experience and leaving little to chance.
If you’re a Bible teacher, let your message marinate in your mind for the full week. Start your study days before the group gathers. Draft your outline as soon as possible to provide room for creativity.
But once the people are gathered, how can you best continue fostering a fruitful environment? The key is to have strong, unforgettable Bible lessons.
I’d like to offer eight tips for taking your small group teaching to the next level. These principles apply for all ages, and I’ve had the joy of teaching all ages.
1. Start with energy.
Your body language should express enthusiasm. If you’ve spent enough time with the material—you’ve internalized it and allowed it to sanctify you—then you have something urgent to say.
The introduction to your lesson is the key to setting the hook. If you don’t give them a reason to listen, they won’t. Start off the lesson with a gust of energy.
2. Get into the Bible within two minutes.
One of the ways I’ve taught my own children to discern a strong biblical preacher is to time how long it takes them to read the Bible or get into the Scriptures.
The introduction to a lesson should guide the group into the text, and it shouldn’t take more than a couple of minutes.
If you’re 10 minutes into your lesson and you’re just beginning to read the Scripture, many people in your group will feel like this message is going to go too long. They’ll likely give up and tune out.
3. Tell short stories—not long ones.
People love to hear stories and learn through story. But most times the listener isn’t nearly as interested in your story as you are.
When a teacher takes five minutes to tell a story that feels like 15 minutes to the listener. Rehearse the way you tell a story and cut out unnecessary details.
Keep your stories succinct, or you’ll lose people in the clutter.
4. Don’t have too many points.
A typical message should hold only two to four points. If you have more than four points and 20 minutes to cover them, your message will end up shallow.
See also Video: Why Time Management is Hard for Pastors
You can’t effectively unpack and illustrate that many points. People will start to feel like they are wading in the kiddie pool.
A point worth making is a point worth illustrating. Have fewer points, flesh them out more, and help the listener absorb the ideas.
5. Regularly use the phrase, “If you’re new to the Bible…”
This is a phrase I’ve grown to love. Any time I’m introducing an idea that would feel foreign to a person brand new to Scripture, stop and explain it.
If Paul is saying we should give our lives as a sacrifice, and you make reference to Old Testament temple sacrifice, stop for a second and explain: “If you’re new to the Bible, you may not know what animal sacrifices meant in ancient times.”
Don’t alienate people who have no previous knowledge. Be kind to newcomers.
6. Freely admit when a biblical principle is hard to believe.
Some of the truths we teach in Scripture are tough pills to swallow, and it’s important to be real with people about the challenge of faith.
Acknowledge the skeptics, especially students. Say things like, “You may find it to be a hard truth that God created a place called hell, or that one day all the graves will be opened and all of humanity from history resurrected … .”
You’re not casting doubt on the Scriptures. You’re showing compassion for the person who lives every day in a naturalistic, scientific worldview that rejects the supernatural.
Show compassion toward those who feel guilty for having a hard time with faith. Living by faith isn’t easy, so admit when certain parts of the Bible are tough to wrap your mind around.
7. Use visual aids as often as you can.
Many people learn by seeing. The words from your mouth are good, but until they can visualize a concept, they can’t fully absorb it.
Put your main points on a screen, but also include a good picture that’s worth a thousand words.
People remember pictures much more than they remember your points. When your audience can absorb a vivid image as you explain a concept, the enjoyment of learning increases tremendously.
It’s surprising to me how many preachers and teachers use little to no visual aids. It’s a huge miss in this highly visual society.
8. Always end with takeaways
Paul said, “Knowledge puffs up; love builds up.” You don’t want to leave your listener with a head full of information but no real tangible ways to apply the information to their lives.
Always end by saying, “Here are three suggestions for how to apply the message this week.” Then offer ideas on what obedience looks like.
Your audience may or may not put these ideas into action, but you can help them connect the dots from head knowledge to life application.
For example, if you teach a passage on fasting, end by suggesting three different kinds of fasts. More than food, you could suggest social media, sugar, or video games. Suggest multiple ways a listener could go and do.
Culture is created by the positive behaviors we celebrate—and the negative behaviors we tolerate. Let’s celebrate the positive behavior of intentional preparation and effective teaching.
The teaching is “the meat.” If the food isn’t tasty, people won’t be eager to return.
So, take these as suggestions, and hopefully you’ll create a group culture that helps people connect deeply with one another and with the Scriptures.
More notes for study:
https://www.fba.org/discipleship/guide-to-spiritual-gifts
· Prophecy
· Service
· Teaching
· Exhortation
· Giving
· Organization
· Mercy
Prophecy:
Characteristics of the Gift of Prophecy
• Need to express themselves
• Quick impressions of people
• Alertness to dishonesty
• Desire for justice
• Openness about their own faults
• Wholehearted involvement
• Loyalty to truth vs. people
• Willingness to suffer for right
• Persuasiveness in defining truth
■ Misunderstandings of the Gift of Prophecy
• The individual’s sense of right and wrong may be judged as intolerance
• The strong desire to proclaim truth may be interpreted as disinterest in listening to another’s point of view
• Frankness may be viewed as harshness
• Interest in groups may be interpreted as disinterest in individuals
• Efforts to gain results may be seen as using gimmicks
• Emphasis on decision may appear as neglecting spiritual growth
• Public boldness and strict standards may hinder intimate personal relationships
The Gift of Prophecy in the Spirit vs. the Flesh
Spirit Flesh
Truthfulness Deception
Obedience Willfulness
Sincerity Hypocrisy
Virtue Impurity
Boldness Fearfulness
Forgiveness Rejection
Perseverance Contentiousness
Service:
Characteristics of the Gift of Service
• Sees and meets practical needs
• Frees others to achieve
• Disregards weariness
• Has difficulty in saying “no”
• Is alert to likes and dislikes
• Has a strong desire to be with others
• Needs approval
• Likes short-range projects
• Puts extra punch to jobs
• Meets needs quickly
• Tends to feel inadequate and unqualified
■ Misunderstandings of the Gift of Service
• Quickness in meeting needs may appear pushy
• Avoidance of red tape may result in excluding others from jobs
• Disregard for personal needs may extend to one’s own family needs
• Eagerness in serving may prompt suspicion of self-advancement
• May react to others who do not detect and meet obvious needs
• Insistence on serving may appear to be rejection of being served
• Desire to sense sincere appreciation may result in being easily hurt
• Quickness in meeting needs may interfere with spiritual lessons God is teaching those with the needs
• Meeting practical needs may be judged as a lack of interest in spiritual matters
• Enjoyment of short-range goals may result in leadership positions and frustration or disorganization with long-range objectives
• Inability to avoid others’ needs may result in sidetracking employer’s directions
The Gift of Service in the Spirit vs. the Flesh
Spirit Flesh
Alertness Unconscious
Hospitality Loneliness
Generosity Stingy
Joyfulness Self-pity
Flexibility Resistance
Availability Self-centered
Endurance Giving up
Teaching:
Characteristics of the Gift of Teaching
• Presents truth systematically
• Requires thoroughness
• Needs to validate information
• Checks out the teacher
• Has great delight in researching
• Relies on established resources
• Is uneasy with subjective truth
• Clarifies misunderstandings
■ Misunderstandings of the Gift of Teaching
• Appears to neglect practical application
• Knowledge may appear as pride
• Appears critical
• Appears boring with unnecessary details
• Appears dependent on research
• Appears to despise wisdom of uneducated teachers
• Appears to lack warmth
The Gift of Teaching in the Spirit vs. the Flesh
Spirit Flesh
Self-control Self-indulgence
Reverence Disrespect
Diligence Laziness, slothfulness
Thorough Incomplete
Dependable Inconsistent
Security Anxiety
Patience Restless, push work aside
Exhortation
Characteristics of the Gift of Exhortation
• Is committed to spiritual growth
• Is able to see root problems
• Prescribes steps of action
• Raises hope for solutions
• Turns problems into benefits
• Desires to be transparent
• Gains insight through experience
• Urges action on clear steps
• Desires to share face to face
• Desires to bring harmony between diverse groups
• Tends to avoid systems of information that lack practical application
■ Misunderstandings of the Gift of Exhortation
• An emphasis on steps of action may appear to be an oversimplification of the problem
• The urgency in giving steps of action may appear as having overconfidence in them
• May appear to be un-evangelistic because of an emphasis on the importance of spiritual growth and being
a living example
• The desire to win non-Christians through living example may appear
as a lack of interest in personal evangelism
• The use of Scripture for practical applications may appear to take it out of context
• The emphasis on steps of action may appear to disregard the feelings of those being counseled
The Gift of Exhortation in the Spirit vs. the Flesh
Spirit Flesh
Wisdom Natural inclinations
Discernment Judgment
Faith Presumption
Discretion Simple mindedness
Love Selfishness
Creativity Underachievement
Enthusiasm Apathy
Giving
Characteristics of the Gift of Giving
• Is able to see resources
• Desires to feel a part of the work
• Desires to give high quality
• Hopes the gift is an answer to prayer
• Desires to give secretly
• Prefers to give without pressure of appeal
• Is concerned that giving will corrupt
• Exercises personal thriftiness
• Gives to motivate others to give
• Confirms amount with counsel
■ Misunderstandings of the Gift of Giving
• The need to deal with large sums of money may appear to be a focus on temporal things
• The desire to increase the effectiveness of a ministry by a gift may appear to be an attempt to control the work or person
• The attempt to encourage others to give may appear to be putting pressure on people who have less to give
• The lack of response to pressure appeals may appear as a lack of generosity
• The personal frugality by which the individual lives may appear to friends and relatives as selfishness in not meeting their wants
The Gift of Giving in the Spirit vs. the Flesh
Spirit Flesh
Thrifty Extravagant
Resourceful Wasteful
Contented Covetous
Punctual Tardiness
Tolerant Prejudice
Cautious Rashness Giving – Unthankfulness
Organization
Characteristics of the Gift of Organization
• The ability to see the big picture and visualize the final results of a major undertaking
• The ability to break down the major goals into smaller, achievable tasks
• The motivation to organize that for which he or she is responsible
• The ability to know what resources are available and needed to reach a goal
• The ability to know what can and what cannot be delegated
• A tendency to remove him or herself from detracting details in order to focus
on the ultimate goals
• A willingness to endure reaction
• A need for loyalty and confidence from those who are being directed and served
• A tendency to assume responsibility if no structured leadership exists
• A desire to complete the task as soon as possible
• A joy and fulfillment in seeing all the parts come together and others enjoying the finished product
• A desire to move on to a new challenge when the previous task is fully completed
■ Misunderstandings of the Gift of Organization
• The ability to delegate responsibility may appear as laziness in avoiding work
• The willingness to endure reaction may appear to be callous
• The neglect in explaining why tasks must be done may prompt workers to feel like they are being misused
• The viewing of people as resources may appear that projects are more important than people
• The desire to complete the task swiftly may appear to be insensitivity to the schedule, weariness or priorities of others
• Singling out people the individual thinks is specially important to his goals may appear to be showing favoritism
The Gift of Organization in the Spirit vs. the Flesh
Spirit Flesh
Orderly Disorganization
Initiative Apathetic
Responsibility Unreliable
Humility Dictatorial
Decisiveness Double-mindedness
Determination Faintheartedness
Loyalty Unfaithful
Mercy
Characteristics of the Gift of Mercy
• The ability to feel an atmosphere of joy or distress in an individual or group
• A tendency to be attracted to and understand people who are having mental or emotional distress
• A desire to remove hurts and bring healing to others rather than to
look for the benefits of the hurts
• A greater concern for the mental distress than the physical distress of others
• A sensitivity to words and actions that will hurt others
• A tendency to react harshly when intimate friends are rejected
• An ability to sense genuine love and a greater vulnerability to deeper and more frequent hurts from the lack of love
• A need for deep friendships in which there is a mutual commitment
• A need to measure acceptance by physical closeness and quality time together
• An enjoyment and unity with those who are sensitive to the needs and feelings of others
• A tendency to avoid firmness unless the individual sees how it will bring benefit and eliminate greater hurt
• A closing of the spirit to those who are insincere or insensitive
■ Misunderstandings of the Gift of Mercy
• The avoidance of firmness may appear to be weakness and indecisiveness
• The sensitivity to the spirit and feelings of others may cause some to feel the individual is guided by emotion rather than logic
• The attractions and understanding of those in distress may be misinterpreted by those of the opposite sex
• The sensitivity to words and actions that cause hurts may appear to be taking up another’s offense
• The ability to detect insincere motives may cause some to feel he or she is hard to get to know
The Gift of Mercy in the Spirit vs. the Flesh
Spirit Flesh
Attentiveness Unconcern
Sensitivity Callousness
Fairness Partiality
Compassion Indifference
Gentleness Harshness
Deference Rudeness
Meekness Anger
____________________________
Ben Mandrel
Ben is the president and CEO of Lifeway Christian Resources.