A Mid-Week Bible Club Teacher’s Methods and Materials

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Methods and Mateirials for Mid-Week to Disciple toward Gods Purposes, Design, Mission
If our mid-week Bible clubs are going to be a platform for discipling children toward God’s purposes, design, and mission for them as members of His Church, then we need to use methods and materials that will open the door for that to happen.

Methods and Materials that will Help a Mid-Week Bible Teacher Reach Goals to Disciple

Since discipleship is built on relationships, it’s important to build relational opportunities into the entire session, including what happens before and after. That could include:

  • meet and greet children as they arrive
  • guided conversation as the group engages in various activities
  • large group to small group times to allow for a more intimate discussion
  • ratio of adults to children that allows for a small enough span of influence to engage individually and in small groups

With an objective of discipling children toward love for God and others, it’s important to plan for interaction with God and fellow members. That could include:

for time with God –

  • prayer times
  • interaction with God’s Word that’s creative and engaging
  • pointing to God in all we do, including fun activities
  • Scripture memory embedded in games, arts & crafts, etc.

for time with each other:

  • sharing times that lead to praying for one another and determining if there are practical ways of showing care for one another
  • group discussion about Bible truths
  • group activities/projects that are fun but with a purpose (don’t want this time to remind them of school, yet want them to learn and grow)
  • setting up the classroom so the seating arrangement best accommodates interaction

Since discipleship begins with children accepting Jesus as their Lord and Savior, we need to incorporate the Gospel presentation into the sessions. Even more, we need to be ready for one-on-one conversations.

  • have enough workers to be able to talk one-on-one with visitors and regular attenders who may not be saved
  • have Bibles and outreach materials on hand for those still undecided to take home with them

As suggested in a previous point, we should guard against making outreach only the teacher’s responsibility. The mid-week Bible club presents a good setting for discipling those who do already know the Lord to reach out to those who don’t.

  • provide materials that make it easier for kids to share Jesus with other kids
  • incorporate unique ways of children to share their testimony
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A Mid-Week Bible Club Teacher’s Goals

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When strategically planned, a mid-week Bible Club can be a great setting for discipleship. Often a less formal setting with more activities, it can offer many opportunities for relationship building which forms the bedrock upon which to disciple. Think of Jesus who commissioned us to make disciples (Matt. 28:19-20). He came to earth to live among people, conversing with them through the course of everyday life and showing them the way to the Father (Jn. 14:6). As a disciple maker, Jesus spent time with people in all sorts of activities. In so doing, He communicated in both word and deed what it means to love God with all of our being and love others as ourselves (Matt. 22:37-40).

Specific Objectives of a Mid-Week Bible Teacher’s Discipleship Goal

With an overall goal of discipleship, consider these three specific objectives that a mid-week program gives opportunity to reach:

Gods Purposes, Design, Mission - Mid-Week Bible Teacher's Disicpleship Goals1) Disciple them so love for God becomes their primary purpose in life.

As we build relationships with individuals in the group, we too can communicate in both word and deed what it means to love. Since Jesus clearly stated that the greatest commandment is to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” (Matt. 22:36-37), what greater objective can we have than to disciple these young lives to not only know the Lord but to love Him with their entire being?

It begins with understanding that God so loved us that He sent His Son, Jesus, to take the punishment our sin deserves (Jn. 3:16; 1 Jn. 3:16). Loving God is only possible because He first loved us (1 Jn. 4:19). Start by knowing the spiritual condition of students. Have they accepted this gift of love and grace? If so, what’s their next step to growing in their love for the Lord?

2) Disciple them so they build relationships with other Christians that follow God’s intent for us to love one another.

The informal structure of a Bible club lends itself to more social interaction among group members. What an opportunity this can be to disciple them to relate to one another the way God designed His Church to function — inclusive not cliquish, selfless not self-serving. Model this kind of interaction in the way you relate with other staff, parents, and ministry leaders both in and out of club time.

3) Disciple them so they reach out with the love of Christ to those who don’t know Him.

Make outreach about what the kids do rather than a primarily teacher initiated effort. Provide opportunity for them to pray for unsaved friends. Teach them how to share the Gospel and lead others to the Lord. Encourage them to invite these friends to the Bible club. Instill a sensitivity toward the unsaved in their midst, stressing the effect of their actions and reactions on being salt and light to them.

For More about a Teacher’s Role of Discipleship, follow the series of posts starting at: Bible Teacher’s Role as a Disciplemaker

Also Check Out This Resource: DISCIPLESHIP: Isn’t teaching a lesson enough? Teacher Training Worksheet

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Choosing and Using Bible Curriculum

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Curriculum provides a series of lessons that teach the Word of God in a systematic, often incremental way. We might purchase curriculum published by others or write our own. Either way, we should look for and implement a biblically sound plan.

Acrostic of Points to Consider When Choosing and Using Bible Curriculum

The following should be incorporated in whatever curriculum we use to teach God’s Word:

C Choose Wisely

Make sure it rightly divides the Word (2 Tim. 2:15) as well as making sure it is sound otherwise.

U Understand Age Level Characteristics

Gear it to the abilities and needs of the age being taught, adapting it to best reach them where they are (1 Cor. 9:19-22).

R Remember Application

Guide people into seeing the implications and application of the lesson to life knowing that God wants us to be doers of the Word and not hearers only (James 1:22-25).

R Reach for Changed Lives

Keep God’s long range goal in front of you that we become new (2 Cor. 5:17), that we become more and more Christ-like (Rom. 8:29).

I Introduce so as to Build Interest

From the start, draw people’s attention (Titus 2:10), helping them see the relevance of the lesson to their lives.

C Center Around God’s Word

Make His Word the source of authority as it is inspired by God and that which is useful for working in people’s lives (2 Tim. 3:16-17).

U Use Variety of Methods

Follow God’s pattern of presenting truth in multiple ways (Heb. 1:1-2).

L Look to God for Help

No matter how good the curriculum might be, it doesn’t change lives. — God does (Phil. 2:13; 2 Pet. 1:3) and only by His Spirit will people truly learn and change (1 Cor. 2:4-5, 9-16).

U Use Relevant Visuals

Reinforce the spoken word with visuals as even God does that (Rom. 1:20).

M Make Adjustments as Needed

If something doesn’t seem like it will work for your group, adjust it and even more important, don’t get so locked in that you stifle the Holy Spirit (1 Thess. 5:19).

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Teachers with Shaky Foundations

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If we are going to teach the Bible in ways that affect people’s lives, then we need to at least have some basic Bible knowledge and beliefs on which we build. Teachers with shaky foundations fail to instill a faith worth holding onto in their students.

Why Teachers with Shaky Foundations Lead to Students Easily Shakened

What we believe about the Bible has implications for how we teach it. What we understand the Bible to be about has implications for how we present the God of Scriptures to others and how we answer students’ questions. It will even affect how seriously we take the need to study and prepare the lesson.


Jesus said, “Can the blind lead the blind? Will they not both fall into a pit? The student is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like their teacher.” (Lk. 6:39-40)

The Foundation upon Which Effective Teaching Needs to be Built

Here are two basics Bible teachers need to adhere to if they are going to help lay a firm foundation in their students’ lives:

  1. The Authority of the Bible: It’s inspired by God.

If we don’t believe “all Scripture is God-breathed” then we won’t teach it as absolute truth. If that’s the case, why would our students depend on God’s Word to be truly “useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness”. And, how then will they become “thoroughly equipped for every good work”? (2 Tim. 3:16-17)

  1. The Focus and Theme of the Bible: It’s about God and His love story.

If we merely look at the Bible as a bunch of isolated stories and commands to obey then we’ll miss passing on the heart of God. Through the ages He has worked to bring people into a love relationship with Himself. Since “we love because he first loved us” (1 Jn.4:19), how will our students grow to love the Lord with all of who they are which will spill over into them loving others? These are the greatest commandments on which “all the Law and the Prophets hang” according to Jesus (Matt. 22:37-40).

Glean more with the What Bible Teachers Need to Know About God’s Word To Help Students Find God in the Scriptures Download. In addition to providing a bit more about the authority, focus, and theme of the Bible, it gives a brief summary of the entire Bible and a panoramic view of God through the Bible.

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