Who did Jesus say he is? How can I introduce him to my friends?

In 2014, we had a number of people who did not know Jesus come along for bible study. We wanted to introduce them to Jesus, so we started on the "I am" sayings of Jesus from the book of John.

Students wanted to know if they could just use ready made online bible study guides as a springboard for study the bible and if it was easy to adapt the material to our group. We used material written by Richard J. Mendola A ministry material of International Students, which was found online. The students leading were given extra material to help them consider the pros and cons of using a guide instead of using bible study techniques such as Swedish method, manuscript bible study etc. They were asked to pray for wisdom to adapt the material to suit the group and theme. Extra material, found in this blog, was used together with the online material as a springboard to more ideas and resources.

Aim:
1. Evaluating the usefulness of an online bible study guide as a springboard to going even deeper.
2. Adapting the ready made studies to the interest and needs of our group
3. Introducing Jesus to friends who know little about Jesus.
4. In 2015, we are exploring how to introduce more people to what Jesus said about himself. Check out our ideas here https://www.pinterest.com/tscfh/i-am/

Some considerations when using bible study guides

There are many good bible study guides online and in bookshops. These provide ready made questions to help us unpack bible passages. Like, frozen meals these can be a quicker way to prepare for a bible study and if adapted well to the needs of your group it can provide a nourishing meal. Using such guides, can give you ideas on how different people approach the same passage to emphasize different themes. Remember the key to using guides effectively is choosing material that unpacks what the bible is saying rather than imposing a theme and twisting the bible to fit it.

A bible study series I would recommend is the IVP Life guide booklets: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%206&version=NIV They cost about $10 in the Christian bookshops and has answers at the back of the book. There are free bible study material online but of varying quality. Studying the text with a friend before you lead, helps you evaluate the quality of the bible study you are using and sometimes trying to change the material takes more time and effort than writing the study yourself.