VISUALIZED BIBLE STUDY MATERIALS
When viewing video materials with those individuals with whom you are studying, there are several important questions that should be answered by the sinner. Generally, there are three areas of concern when conducting these video Bible studies.
The first is the initial meeting. During this meeting, the Bible teacher should spend a few moments in socialization with the student. Ask open-ended questions such as, “Tell me about your job.” Generally speaking, the individual will tell you all about where they work and what they do. If the person does not work, the question may be directed to family or school. The idea is to begin building a friendship with the individual.
If not the very first question, one should ask early on, “Tell me about your family.” Listen carefully to the response you receive. Be aware of such statements as, “My daughter (child) lives with her father (other parent, etc.)," or “My first husband (spouse), etc. etc." Many times, things will be revealed in casual conversation that will need to be dealt with later in the study.
Another great question to ask is, “Tell me about your religious background.” Most people will reveal what you need to know about the religious organization in which they grew up or how their parents raised them religiously. Some may even say such things as, “I never went to church,” or “I really do not have a religious background.” These types of answers will tell you volumes about what types of challenges may occur in the Bible study.
The second, and most import set of questions, for those who say, “ I was raised Baptist” or “Catholic” or whatever their past religious affiliation has been, can be found on the Ivan Stewart Open Bible Study Worksheet. Whenever you conduct any visualized Bible study, it is recommended that you keep one of these worksheets with you or at least memorize the six, short questions it contains in the Looking Back section.
These questions are:
1. Have you ever made a commitment to Christ? If so, how
old were you? (Let them tell you how old they were.)
2. Did you make a confession at the time of your commitment? What did you
confess?
3. Have you been baptized? How were you baptized?
4. How long after your commitment were you baptized?
5. For what purpose were you baptized?
6. Were you saved before or after your baptism?
It is imperative that when you ask these questions you let the person answer for him or herself. Never put words in the person’s mouth. By that I mean do not try to guide or help the person. Simply let them tell you what they have done. As you can readily see, there are some specific things you will be looking for in these six little questions.
If possible, get the person(s) you are studying with to write the answer down to these questions in their own hand and place them in their Bible. If you cannot do this, then the teacher must write them down for use at the end of the study.
In question number one, if the person says, “I committed my life to Christ when I was four years old,” that ought to tell the teacher something. Listen carefully to these answers. They will reveal much important information to you.
In the second question, most will say they confessed their sins. Seldom will anyone answer, "I confessed Jesus,” unless they have somehow been affiliated with baptism for the remission of sins. Perhaps there are some exceptions to this thought, but not generally.
Question three obviously is seeking to find out about sprinkling, pouring, or immersion. Many in religious denominations were sprinkled as a baby, confirmed, etc, or immersed for the wrong reasons and in an improper manner.
Question five asks how long after your commitment were you baptized. Obviously this question seeks to find out if their baptism was an immediate response, or if they had to wait until the “Baptismal Sunday,” or if someone told them when the appropriate date and time would be which may have been six or eight weeks later as some denominations do.
Question six is not a trick question, however, there is no correct answer to this question. If the individual says, “Before,” this should tell you volumes. If the person says, ”After,” this also should tell you volumes. If the person says they were saved immediately when they were baptized, once again, this individual may have been baptized in some fashion for the remission of sins.
It is so very important that you get the answers to these questions before you get very far into the study. What happens if you do not is that the person will see and understand what is the correct process for salvation and then impute that to their incorrect behavior in one of the denominations. “I was baptized in the 'XXX' church by brother so-and-so, and I know he wouldn’t do anything wrong (incorrect), so I must be OK, and my baptism must be correct and acceptable."
The third area of concern when using the video series is the closure. It is sad to say that most soul winners do not do a very good job of closing the video series with an invitation to become a Christian. Most closures end with such statements as, “I have enjoyed studying with you, and if we or the church can ever be of any service to you, please let us know.” Some of the video series now do their own closing for the teacher, and this is great, but what does one do when no response is forth coming? We will be doing a great deal of study on this subject of how to close the study when we develop and use the Ivan Stewart Open Bible Study part of our evangelism classes.
In the meantime, one needs to ask questions such as the following when closing the study:
1. “What questions do you have about the video series you
have just completed?”
2. “After viewing these lessons, what do you think you might need to do?”
3. “How do you feel about what you have done in the past as compared to what
you have learned in our study together?"
It is at this point one goes back to the six questions and develops and discusses what they did against what the Bible teaches. Often times this is the most effective technique. The most important thing is to not get up and just say thanks for watching and go home.
One final comment. Generally speaking, it is best to do all Bible studies with just one individual at a time. On occasion, a man and his wife may desire to study together, and that is OK; however, it is best to study with them individually. The same is true with children; however, on occasion the whole family might enjoy watching something like the Jule Miller videos.
It is never wise to conduct group Bible studies wherein someone comes to the study and is spontaneously invited to sit in. This individual does not have the necessary background information and neither does the teacher. Often times the person who comes in may be a preacher from one of the denominations. If the person is really interested in studying, and I am not opposed to studying with ministers from other denominations (with but two exceptions), he should be willing to study with you by him or herself. Remember, one is ideal, two is manageable, but three and beyond is not recommended.
God bless you in your evangelism effort, and keep studying with everyone you can.
View the materials...
Visualized Bible Study Series by Jule Miller
The Patriarchal Age
The Mosaic Age
The Christian Age
God's Plan For Redeeming Man
History Of The Lord's Church
Exam #1
After viewing the above tapes, you are ready to take the first exam of this
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EXAM #1
Five Times Five by Skip Andrews
Steps Through Time
Steps From God To Man
Steps From Man To God
Steps Of Man With God
Steps Of Man With Man
Exam #2
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EXAM #2
The One Story by Robert K. Oglesby
The Beginning
The Chosen
The Son
The Movement
The Disciples
Exam #3
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EXAM #3
God's Kingdom
Exam #4
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EXAM #4
Now That I Am A Christian by Neil Lightfoot, Ph.D
Power to Become
Different From The World
Continuing Steadfastly
Bought With A Price
Fishers Of Men
Exam #5
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EXAM #5
After you have completed the first five exams, you are ready to move on to the next section of the course, "Study Of World Views." Return to the Class Home Page and click on this topic...