Guides

Without doubt, taking too long to complete the TERM study is the most common error in TERM teaching. When the content is stretched out over too many weeks, each lesson begins to stand alone as an independent Bible lesson rather than part of one continuous story. It takes about 12 to 18 hours to teach through The Stranger, All the Prophets or By this Name depending on your teaching experience and the number of visual aids that you use. We have found it best to spread those hours over no longer a period than 4 to 6 weeks. To go longer has almost universally proven to be a mistake.

If you read the lesson with a flat monotone, it won't be long before folks have lost interest. The content must be communicated with genuine expression. The way words, phrases and concepts are emphasized—punched—are all part of showing the significance of what is being taught. To read well you must practice, practice, practice.

Learn one section at a time in the sequence it is written. This is not the type of Bible study where you can jump around from one lesson to another. For example, after teaching on the Ten Commandments, you may sense that your students are under conviction of sin. They may make comments like, "I feel so dirty" or "I'm in trouble." You may be tempted to jump ahead and give them the gospel. But wait! Think for a moment. On more than one occasion Jesus had a seeker indicate an openesss to the gospel but Jesus did not "jump ahead."

Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, "Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?"
Matthew 19:16

Think how you would feel if your next door neighbor asked you that question. It's the "witnessing" opportunity we all dream of having. If you are like me, I would be tempted to immediately launch into an explanation of the gospel... but Jesus didn't do that. Rather he gave the man a good dose of the law.

"Why do you ask me about what is good?" Jesus replied. "There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments."

"Which ones?" the man inquired.

Jesus replied, "'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother,'?and 'love your neighbor as yourself.'"
Matthew 19:17-19

If Jesus had been attending many of our schools on evangelism he would have been given a failing grade right then and there. But Jesus knew the young man had no sense of being lost, so he gave him the law. The Bible tells us that the law makes us conscious of our sinfulness. Did it work?

"All these I have kept," the young man said. "What do I still lack?"
Matthew 19:20

The young man still felt he was pretty good. Jesus took it a step further. He interpreted the meaning of the law—the fact that it is centered on God and others, not on self.

Jesus answered, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."

When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.
Matthew 19:21-22

The young man now knew he was far short of God's perfection. Jesus had successfully communicated to him a core issue of the gospel—that is, we are all helpless sinners.

So what's the point? During a pregnancy, a baby is not delivered the first time the mother feels the child kick! In the same way, don't rush the spiritual birth. It takes time to clearly present who Jesus is, and what he did on the cross. Only then will the gospel make sense.

Since we have spent quite a bit of time on this subject, I will not go into any more depth. Once again, the WorkBook is the best resource to help determine comprehension.

Since TERM covers Scripture from Creation to the Ascension of Christ, there is plenty of content along the way whereby a student can take one off on unrelated subjects. Some students are particularly adept at changing the subject or introducing controversial issues. Believers tend to be the worst culprits. Unbelievers often don't know the questions to ask, and since they find the content quite challenging as it is, they are much more likely to stick to the program. There are two key means for keeping the study on track:

1. The WorkBook: This tool is an excellent means for keeping the study focused on the subject at hand.
2. The clothes line illustration (page 7 of The Stranger): When you cover this chapter, point out to the student that not all the clothes are being hung on the line—some are still down in the clothes basket. These "other clothes" represent the many questions and subjects that are not covered in TERM. When a person asks a question that belongs in the clothes basket, mention it as such—"That's a clothes basket question", and then offer to write it down and answer it later, AFTER the complete TERM study is done. Once the student has the big picture in mind, you can go back and fill in the details by answering his or her questions.

A popular approach to Bible Study is to ask everyone present what they think about a particular subject. Usually you end up with a collection of shared ignorance. Once the study is moved to the basis of "my opinion" versus "your opinion" it has lost its direction. What really matters is God's opinion.

A common place to lose objectivity is in the introduction and conclusion of any session. Opening in prayer makes sense to believers, but for unbelievers it can be intimidating and uncomfortable—they have no one to pray to. Worse yet, some may feel comfortable praying, indicating in their mind that everything is "right" with God. A prayer may give them a false sense of security. (The same could be said of singing.) I suggest you do your praying before your students arrive, and then just launch into the lesson when they show up.

We would strongly suggest that in a TERM study you take an objective approach to your student's religious world view. To challenge a world view prematurely can create real problems. As you teach, the Scripture itself will expose the wrong way of thinking. Any arguments will be with what the Bible says.

To continue on without the student understanding each building block is to be a teacher flying on autopilot. The WorkBook is the best resource to check comprehension at each level. It is especially critical that students not miss the content related to the Ten Commandments. People must first know they are lost before they will desire to be saved.