Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Adult Sunday School Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/bb/bb20001210.htm

HOW TO PREPARE LESSONS FROM THE BIBLE
Example: Showing Modern Man That Jesus Is God And Messiah
(Mark 8:22-25)
  1. Introduction
    1. It edifies to sit under good Bible teaching, but it is better to know how to feed ourselves. As the saying goes, "Catch a man a fish -- you feed him for a meal; teach a man to fish -- you feed him for a lifetime."
    2. This lesson intends to show one how to feed himself and others God's Word, and thus do so for a lifetime.
  2. How To Prepare Lessons From The Bible.
    1. One must have spiritual qualifications to prepare a lesson from the Bible as follows:
      1. Scripture has spiritually discernible truths the Spirit clarifies to the godly, 1 Cor. 2:9-13; Jn. 14:26. It is imperative that the teacher be saved (John 3:16) and have his sins as a believer confessed up (1 Jn. 1:9) and obey God in all areas of his life (1 Jn. 2:3) to be led of the Holy Spirit to interpret His Word.
      2. Also, one must have some degree of accurate theological knowledge to be able to get his bearings in properly interpreting a Bible passage. This takes sitting under sound teaching for a while, 2 Tim. 3:14.
      3. Third, God has supplied some believers with a supernatural gift of teaching, 1 Cor. 12:4-5, 29. Though any believer can understand Scripture's truths (1 Jn. 2:27), only those supernaturally gifted by God as teachers can present its truths well. This means one must evaluate from his experience, desire and "feedback" from other Christians IF he has a spiritual teaching gift prior to teaching the Word!
      4. God assigns a believer to a ministry of teaching under organized local church leadership, cf. Col. 4:17 et al. He should hence teach in direct response to GOD'S assignment to experience God's blessing!
    2. Now, IF these things are in order, here is how to prepare a lesson: (We will use Mk. 8:22-25 as practice.)
      1. We first submit our minds to what Mark 8:22-25 actually SAYS to avoid spiritual darkness, Isa. 8:20.
      2. We also commit to teaching precisely what that text says in accord with 2 Tim. 4:1-2; 1 Pet. 4:10-11.
      3. Then, as we read the Mark 8:22-25 text to be taught, we note it says Jesus healed the man in stages: the blind man first saw men as trees and later as real men when Jesus made a second healing effort.
      4. Well, from basic theology we know that the Gospels intend to show Jesus is God's promised Messiah, and that Christ's healing the blind proves He is that Messiah, cf. Is. 35:4-5 (Mtt. 11:2-6). Hence, as it affects Christ's proof of Messiahship, we need to learn why this healing event occurred in two stages!
      5. Seeking clarification, we view the cultural, historical, literary and grammatical contexts involved:
        1. We find no other Scripture passage explains the reason for these healing stages for the blind man.
        2. However, Ken Ham's "Answers From Genesis" magazine, Creation Ex Nihilo, Sep.-Nov. 1999, p. 54-55 tells us of a two-stage healing via cataract therapy of a man named Virgil. After getting new lenses, he could see, but only in a blur. This condition, known as agnosia has the mind not being able to interpret what signals it receives from the eyeball. Only in time can such medically "healed" people interpret what their eyes send to their brains and so comprehend what they "see"!
        3. Thus, Jesus' Mark 8 healing in stages proves to us in our day what medically unaware onlookers in Jesus' day could not have known: also, in light of Mark 8:23, 26 where Jesus healed away from many onlookers, and in view of His awareness of our exposure to Mark's Gospel as Jesus stated in John 17:20, He undoubtedly performed this two-staged healing with modern men in mind!
        4. Mark 8:22-25 thus strikingly reaches out to us with medical insight in our day to show Jesus was truly God and Messiah in fulfillment of Isaiah 35:4-5: He really healed a blind man independent of the Gospel writer's capacity to manipulate his account of the event due to his own false motives!
      6. Having done this "homework," we can now organize the material into a lesson form as follows:
        1. We write out the main truth to be taught near the bottom of the page so we know where to end up in constructing the lesson. Hence, we write: "Lesson: Jesus proved to modern men that He was Scripture's promised God and Messiah by healing a blind man in a way that . . . "
        2. Then, we write an introduction near the top of the page as follows: "Need: How can we know today with any certainty that Jesus was Scripture's promised God and Messiah?"
        3. We then organize our thoughts in consecutive order to tell how the "Need" question at the top of the page ties in with the "Lesson" statement at the bottom (see the example on the next page).
        4. Next, we form an application under the lesson statement (see the example on the next page).
        5. We then supply the lesson title and write the passage for the very top of the page (see next page).
        6. Finally, we check the lesson's flow of thought by reading first only the major points (I, II & III), then the major and secondary (A, B, C etc.) points, and finally all the points (incl. minor 1, 2, 3 etc.). If at any stage of this check the lesson does not flow smoothly, make corrections until it does.