Category: Teach the Word

Do you ever find yourself speaking at a rapid-fire rate trying to finish the Bible study before time is up? It’s a regular challenge for me. That’s why I appreciate the advice I once received: Don’t talk faster—cover less. Just because you are speaking doesn’t guarantee that people are listening. Especially if you are talking…

The importance of giving adult students the opportunity to apply what they have learned is one of the assumptions of current andragogy. If we agree that adults learn in order to solve problems, then it seems reasonable to not only teach them biblical principles, to not only convince them that the principle will benefit them, but to…

I learned from a venerable coach that it doesn’t help to tell your team, “Okay people. If we play hard, we can win.” Sure, it’s a true statement, but your team is more likely to be successful if you’re specific about the goals for the game (e.g., box out on every shot, pass the ball at…

In the last issue of Teach the Word we emphasized that the purpose of a Bible study is not simply to make spiritual smarty-pants out of God’s people so they can answer all the questions in Bible Trivial Pursuit. But since our students must first know God’s Word before they will be empowered to act,…

Augustine (AD 354-430) wrote that biblical education meant “moving the minds of the listeners, not [simply] that they may know what is to be done, but that they may do what they already know should be done.”1 Augustine’s ancient advice is a good reminder for us all. The purpose of any Bible class is not…

You can and should target every learning style at some point in every lesson. If you can teach in a way that reaches all four styles simultaneously, you will be much more likely to hold the attention of your entire audience. After looking at all of these four learning styles, you probably have the same…

Talk learners are the opposite learning style of the Research learners. Talk learners love to rephrase to learn. They desire verbal exchange immediately (hence the name “Talk learner”). They prefer to learn by collaborating with others and being part of a team (or having a study buddy). They prefer studying things that directly affect people’s…

Research learners love to read and study to learn. They desire debate and always want the big picture before, during, and after learning. They prefer to learn by studying about ideas and how things are related. They love problem solving that requires collecting, organizing, and evaluating data. They enjoy arguing or debating a point based…