Archive for: road trips

Intro to Inductive Bible Study & Observation

This series is on inductive Bible Study corresponds to a class I’m teaching. You can find an introduction to the class here. If you’re in the class or not, I hope you join the discussion–but most of all, I hope you explore the text. Years ago, if you told me that studying the Bible would change my life, I’d probably think you were crazy. Now, I know it to be true!

Since I use Google Docs to type up the notes each week, you can view the all of the handouts here.
(If you’re not familiar with Google Docs, it’s basically an online word processing program. Check out the Wikipedia article on Google Docs.)

We went over the basics of the purpose of Inductive Bible Study and the purpose of this class–to increase proficiency at studying Scripture using the Inductive Bible Study Method and teach how to write questions in order to take people through the process with you. It’s geared to people who want to learn to study the text in more depth or who want to lead discussion of Scripture in Small Groups or Bible Studies.

After this class, the participant should be able to:

  • read Scripture with greater depth of insight,
  • be skilled at using basic tools (books & online resources) for Bible study and
  • be capable of writing & leading Bible studies.

Session 1 – Introduction & Observation

What is Inductive Bible Study? Inductive Bible Study is the process of entering into the text of Scripture in order to

The Inductive Method basically involves four steps

Observation: What do I see?
Interpretation: What does it mean?
Application: How should we respond?
Personalization: How will I respond?
Studying the Bible
Read–many people are never transformed by the Bible, because they never read the Bible with an open heart and mind
Slowly–we often rush through reading, but the process of reading is more important than getting done
Patiently–some passages might not be understood immediately, we need to take time with them
Thoroughly–often we miss significant things because we gloss over the details
Reflect–take time to think & pray for insight
Record–keeping a journal or record will help you process  passage
Repeat–sometimes the depth of meaning in a passage is discovered only after spending significant time with a passage
Observation Questions to Ask:
Who?
What?
Where?
When?
Exercise-we began here in a group exercise…
Observations in Mark 1:1-8

Homework: make observations for Mark Chapter 1 and we’ll discuss this week! I hope you can join us if you missed it this week!

Preaching to Young Adults-The Interview Project Conclusions

After the first trip, including the visit to Frontline, I performed a wedding for a friend who lives in Washington D.C. and works as a lawyer. His former law professor and current employer was seated with me at the reception. In making conversation, we talked about the “Interview Project” and my recent visit to the Washington D.C. suburbs. Very interested in the project, the older gentleman asked if it was necessary to be younger to reach the younger generations. Most American churches interested in attracting and retaining significant populations of twenty-somethings either explicitly or implicitly respond to that question. Many churches do not seem to notice the missing 18-35 year olds in the church or dismiss it as a temporary situation. The churches that do notice and take action mostly respond by hiring a young, cool, hip guy to reach twenty-somethings, thereby implying that it is a job best accomplished by a younger generation. While hiring a younger person often means there will be a common culture, Read More→

Preaching to Young Adults-the Interview Project #6

ADVENTURE # 5: NATIONAL COMMUNITY CHURCH (WASHINGTON D.C.)

Although popular today for churches to open or begin new services in movie theaters, National Community Church (NCC) adopted this approach to ministry out of necessity, before  the widespread acceptance of the idea. Real estate prices in Washington D.C. caused them to open up in a theater in a subway station. However, they continued to be innovative by purchasing their first piece of property, an old rundown building, to create a creative, high quality community coffeehouse, Ebenezers. AOL City Guide recently named Ebenezers the number one coffeehouse in Washington D.C.

As mentioned before in the discussion of Mercy Hill, there is an obvious cool factor about meeting in a movie theater-especially in a subway station. There is no “churchy” feel to the building and many young adults find it less intimidating to enter a movie theater or coffeehouse than a church. For the purpose of this project, timing made it impossible to do an onsite evaluation. So, Heather Zempel‘s sermon was evaluated through their podcast. However, previous visits with young adults to both the Union Station and Ebenezers Coffeehouse venues received extremely positive feedback. Read More→

Preaching to Young Adults-The Interview Project #2

ADVENTURE #1: MERCYHILL (STATE COLLEGE, PA)

mercyhillchurchThe start of many churches contains unique elements. Mercy Hill’s genesis is perhaps the most unique church in the Penn-Del Conference of the Assemblies of God. In order to reach the population of twenty-somethings not attending State College Assembly of God (SCAG), Mercy Hill began through a staff member of SCAG, Keith Davis. With SCAG’s permission and blessing, Mercy Hill launched as an independent congregation within the same college town as SCAG. While operating independently, the two churches continue ties. In fact, SCAG serves Mercy Hill by brewing and delivering the weekly coffee for Mercy Hill’s services.

Mercy Hill meets in a movie theater in State College. Storefront churches have long been a part of American church planting. High visibility in the midst of where people already congregate allows churches easy access to potential “customers”. This merging of the marketplace and faith is attractive to younger generations, making the movie theater the new storefront. Read More→

Reaching the Campus Tribes-free eBook

reaching the Campus tribes

I love road-trips to observe and interview people doing ministry among young adults and twenty-somethings. It’s exciting to see the creativity and passion that God has given people as they connect with younger generations. Benson Hines “recently returned from a yearlong road trip researching Christian college ministry around the U.S. After 181 campuses, 44 states, and hundreds of interviews.” I stumbled upon Benson’s Facebook Group a while back and excitedly joined it. Today, he announced through his Facebook Group that his site was live and his free eBook, Reaching the Campus Tribes (An Opening Inquiry), is ready for downloading. If you’re excited about what God’s doing on college campuses, you will want to check it out.

Wild Goose Chase: Reclaim the Adventure of Pursuing God

Wild Goose Chase: Reclaim the Adventure of Pursuing God

Nobody sets out to live a life full of regrets—never fulfilling their God-given dreams. Although a life following Jesus begins with excitement, it often becomes routine for many believers. Mark Batterson identifies the “cages” that keep people from living fully and experiencing the unpredictable adventure for which they are destined. Throughout the book, he encourages believers to pursue their God-given dreams, passions and goals—while giving practical advice to finding and discerning God’s will within those dreams and goals.

Much like his preaching, Batterson has a knack for writing in a thoughtful, clear, entertaining style. He authors a narrative filled with real life examples of people chasing the Wild Goose, living Read More→

The Interview Project–GPS misadventures, Social Networks for churches & State College

Mercyhill ChurchEver the student, I am currently working on a project for a class on preaching in a changing culture. In particular, my focus is on churches that are reaching young adults while in so many churches young adults (variously defined as adults age 18-25, 18-30, 18-35, 20-29, etc.) are conspicuously absent. My research assignment is simple: visit churches, evaluate the preaching and interview the preacher or another staff member about the sermon development process, the preaching and its role in connecting young adults–and maybe throw in a few other questions as long as we’re there!

Read More→