Most of us want to grow in our Bible study skills. We want to improve in our use of cross references discerning which ones are most important, increase our understanding of maps so we can discern how the topography impacts the story, and discover new ways of using a Bible dictionary entry. We may have used a tool for many years, but there are still tricks and tips waiting to be discovered.
Not long ago, I was working on a home improvement project and needed to do some hammering in a tight corner. It was impossible for me to place both my hands in the space when trying to position a nail to be driven by my hammer. Someone suggested using a hair pin to hold the nail which would then give me the space needed to drive the nail. This was a simple tip that made my work much easier. There are times when we need that type of tip to help us see a different way of using the resources we have available.
For example, a Bible dictionary article can have different uses. The article alone can be helpful but so can be listing of Bible passages found in that article. We can then review the passages to find additional insights about the subject or passage we are studying. We may write a summary of that same article so we can better explain the ideas to another person. We may do more research to identify the significance of a location or group of people included in a dictionary entry which moves us to a new article. The possibilities only grow as we begin to see how we can use that one article to move us along in our study.
We have included a Bible skill in the Explore the Bible adult resources for many years and wanted to highlight those activities when we were looking at revising QuickSource. One challenge for us as teachers is know when and how to best lead our group to use the Bible skill during the group time. The group plans in the Leader Guide provide an idea and that was carried over to QuickSource. If we do no other learning activity, we can at least lead the group to complete the Bible skill activity during the group time. Doing so reminds our group of the importance of growing in their Bible study skills.
Look at a QuickSource sample to see how the weekly Bible Skill is highlighted.