How to make a Lesson

How to Make a Lesson

The source for a sermon should always be the Bible. But when teaching, the source of a lesson can be from written materials such as books or pre-made lessons (like Sunday school material). It is possible, profitable, and sometimes even necessary to teach from these materials. This is not to say that a lesson could not be constructed from the Bible. They certainly can. But not everyone has the ability to do that. In this article we will not discuss creating your own lessons from Scripture. We will look at how to create your own lesson from prepared material.

Teaching

The purpose of teaching is to explain. In the church setting, the material should contain doctrine and practice. Ensure that this is your focus. The end goal is edification and glorification. God should be exalted, and those who are listening should be edified. Edification can take the forms of instruction, encouragement, admonishment, and even rebuke. Choose material that will be profitable to the audience.

Focus on substance. Do no waste time and bore the audience with comments that are not not related to your purpose. This is not a book report. Biographies of the author, publication dates, front and back material of the book are mostly filler. If they do not support your purpose, so they are irrelevant. Make the most of your time by only including material that serves your purpose.

The Manuscript

For the sake of illustration, we will assume that you have been assigned to teach a series of lessons from a book. The first thing you should do is to read the book in its entirety. It is a mistake to start creating a manuscript if you have not read the source material. You should be familiar with the flow of the author. While each lesson will be taught separately, they are part of one body of work. The lessons you make must be connected, have flow, and not contradict each other.

Now, you are ready to start your manuscript. This is a key exercise that many skip. Reading from the original material is not teaching. It is reading. Teaching includes explanation. Your job then is to know the material and be able to explain it in your own words and in such a way that your audience can understand. Failure to prepare shows that a person does not take their duty of teaching seriously and does not care for their audience. Creating a manuscript will help you to understand the source material, put the lesson into your own words, allow you to make necessary edits in order to be clear, help you organize your thoughts, and also assist you in knowing the material. You should carry your manuscript, but you must not read verbatim from it. It is there to help you stay on track and remind you of the material. If you know your lesson, you will not be dependent on the manuscript.

Once you have read the book, it is time to create an outline for your lessons. The outline can follow the chapter divisions of the book or you can make your own. If you decide to depart from the natural divisions of the chapters, you must be sure that your divisions are logical as well as practical. The outline can be done any way you choose. By far, the easiest way is to start by making headings in the form of bullet points. Each bullet point will serve as one lesson. You can always change the divisions later if you need to.

Under these headings, sketch out the main themes and important information from that section. This information will be used to create the body of your lesson. We do not want to be tied to a structure or formula to such an extent that the template dictates the material. But we do need a structure. You could consider each lesson like an essay. There could be an introduction that states the theme or purpose of the lesson. Using the points that you took from your source, you now construct paragraphs that have one subject and are connected to your theme. The paragraphs should have connection and flow. (1) To conclude, you can summarize your points and stress your theme. If it is appropriate, you could give examples and applications. Keep illustrations, examples, and applications to a minimum.

As you are constructing each lesson, be sure to put the material into your own words. Copying the author or reading from the original source is obvious to the audience and it is insulting. You could quote the author if his points and wording are strong. Be sure to limit your quotes to only a few. The rest of the work should be your own. Focus on clarity. Remember, your goal is not to show off your research or vocabulary. The purpose of teaching is to explain to your audience the lesson in such a way that they are able to understand it. While you are writing your paragraphs, be sure to replace unnecessarily complicated words with simple ones. If there are terms that need to be used but may not be familiar to your audience, then define those terms. Give one brief definition and avoid lengthy word studies.

Once you have constructed your lesson, make sure that it fits into the time allotted for your teaching. It is frustrated to the listener to not hear the completion of a lesson because the teaching ran out of time. Also, it is awkward and poor stewardship of time to finish very early. Both of these show that the teacher was not properly prepared and was not familiar with his lesson. Maximize the time you have been given and do not go over the time.

Disagreement

It could be that as you are reading the source material, you find that you are do not agree with something the author says. If that is the case, there is no reason to include those areas in your lesson. You could omit the parts you disagree with, or you could correct them. Either way, there is no reason to mention your disagreement in your lesson. When you are plowing in a field and come to a large rock that cannot be moved, you do not try to go over or through the rock. A wise man will leave the rock alone and go around it. Be wise.

Presentation

There are differences in preaching and teaching, but there are also similarities. Just as in preaching, you should avoid distracting habits. It is not necessary to repeat each point. State your point clearly and move on. You should avoid using crutch words ("again, so, like," etc.). Using sounds like “uh” and “um” show that you are not familiar with your material. Long pauses also betray your lack of preparation and familiarization. I must say again that reading from a manuscript is not teaching. When you read the majority of your lesson, you are showing that you are not familiar with your material, and it is probably because you have not properly prepared. Furthermore, it is boring and insulting to your audience. You should be familiar with your lesson. This does not mean you should memorize your manuscript and quote it directly. This also is not teaching, and it is awkward to listen to. By being familiar with your material, you should be able to present the lesson with minimal reference to your manuscript.

Speak in your natural voice and avoid any contrived rhetorical devices. These are artificial and obvious to your audience. If you are familiar with your material, you will have natural intonations at the appropriate places. Speak in a clear voice with volume appropriate to the setting. Being too loud is artificial, and speaking too low is frustrating to the audience. There is no point in speaking if you cannot be heard by everyone.

Tips to be familiar with your lesson.

- Use bold type or underline your paragraph headings. This will give you a cue of the material in the paragraph.

- Read your manuscript several times. With each reading, try to polish the lesson more.

- If you have a device like a computer, tablet, or smartphone, there are apps that will read the text and give audible output. Use these to listen to your sermon. Note any places that need to be polished or lack flow.

- Practice teaching through your lesson at home.

Ready to Teach

- Be early. Make any necessary preparations (chairs, podium, etc.).

- You might consider getting a drink of water and going to the restroom before it is time to start.

- When it is time to start, you must start. Do not wait for people who are late. This is not fair to those who prepared and are on time.

- Relax. You are familiar with your material, so there is no reason to be nervous.

(1) If you are not used to writing, you should research on how to write an essay. In order to be a good teacher, continue to improve your writing and speaking skills.