Bible Studies

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Feed My Sheep

The art of imparting information to others in such a way that it becomes more than a collection of words is a gift that if practised can bring excellence to the hearer as well as the speaker. Jeremiah spoke of the Word of God as honey; the writer to the Hebrews, a two-edged sword. The Lord Himself says: “My Word will not return to Me void; it shall accomplish that which I sent it to do” (Isaiah 55:11) What we are talking about here is effective communication.

When Jesus spoke to Peter after His resurrection, it was a cooked breakfast on the beach. Nice scenario. Very relaxed. Jesus’ main concern was that Peter not only got the sense that he was forgiven and reinstated, but that he realised that his love for Jesus was expressed in terms of his feeding the sheep.

Three kinds of feeding

Snacks
Finger buffets
3 – Course meals

Snacks – meditations, blessed thoughts, epilogues
Finger buffets – Bible Studies
3 – Course meals – Sermons

Snacks

The object of a snack is not to fill the person, but to tide them over. In terms of Bible teaching, it refers to a meditation, a blessed thought, an epilogue or some such brief presentation.

Some guidelines for making “Bible snacks”

1. You are limited for time, so don’t try to squeeze half-an-hour’s teaching into ten minutes.
2. If you tend to be long-winded, write out your message and then cut it in half.
3. A Bible snack should have one didactic point. Don’t try to give the people half-a-dozen points, or for that matter, half-a-dozen messages in the space of ten minutes.
4. Aim for 7-10 mins. In a mini-presentation situation, if your hearers are only expecting a brief thought, they will soon get fidgety and distracted if you go on too long.
5. The object is to be brief and memorable. It is a legitimate hit-and-run exercise.
6. Use one main illustration to get the attention. This can be a poem, a quotation, a short story or similar tool. Illustrations are windows on our words. They need to be closely related to our main point, or they become revolving glass doors rather than windows.
7. Be relevant.
8. Be concise.
9. Don’t be afraid of being too brief.
10. Bring out the truth. Don’t stand in front of it.









Preparing for a Communion “Snack”

Communion is one of those very particular snacks. (No pun intended) While there is nothing new under the sun, and people have already said everything there is to say about Communion, there is always the phenomenon of originality coming through personality. When preparing for this particular event, we need to remember a few things…
1. There are certain ingredients that always have to be present. We will always end up quoting either 1 Corinthians 11:23ff or one of the Gospels.
2. While it is a familiar event, it doesn’t need to be a boring presentation.
3. In preparing for Communion we do well to first of all pray that the Holy Spirit would help us to be sensitive to Him and hear His voice. This is true of all occasions when we share the Word, or feed the sheep.
4. We need to then meditate on one aspect of the sacrifice of Christ, say for example, His humility. Immediately there verses that spring to mind: Philippians 2: 6 – 11. We go to that passage and look at it and choose an aspect of that. E.g. He emptied Himself and became obedient. At this point an illustration would be apt. Then comes the application – we apply the Word. So we follow a pattern:
A) Truth Uncovered
B) Truth Illustrated
C) Truth Applied
5. We need to be well organised.
6. We need to relate well.
7. We need to be clear-minded.
8. We need to get the balance between solemnity and joy.
9. If your illustration is humorous, make sure it doesn’t take away from the occasion of the Lord’s Table. If you are not confident about using humour, stay away from it. Communion is one of those things that are very close to people’s hearts because of the material it deals with. A humorous illustration in bad taste can take away the focus and cause offence.

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