We have preferred the term Bible Focus instead of the more usual - but rather forbidding - title, Bible Study, with its overtones of a solemn academic undertaking. Using the Bible really isn't like that at all! Once you have acquired a few basic skills it becomes a thrill and a delight to discover what God's Word has to say about something that concerns you.
Indeed, Bible Focus describes exactly what we do in each of the following pages. We turn the powerful searchlight of God's Word on each topic in turn in order to bring the issues involved more clearly into focus (Proverbs 20:27).
Technique
The technique we have used to help you understand and apply a passage of Scripture is the well-tried question and answer method. This is a technique which can be applied to any part of the Bible. In fact, the Bible positively invites everyone who reads it to ask it questions! So once we know the right kind of questions to ask, and have had a little practice in finding the answers, we shall be well on our way to understanding and applying its message for us.
Topics
| The topics we have chosen to focus on in the five pages which follow are:- |
The first two topics focus on passages from the Letter to the Ephesians, the third takes a look at a fairly extended episode from the Old Testament, the fourth is in the form of a character study of the apostle Paul's earliest companion on his missionary journeys, while the last deals with a matter of vital personal concern to all followers of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Using the Bible Focuses
While we have devised these exercises primarily to help you develop your personal confidence in handling the Scriptures, you may wish to join with others who are also intent on understanding and applying the Bible, by forming a small group to consider these and other similar topics. Many have found that such small groups can act as a positive means, not only of fostering their own ability and confidence in handling the Scriptures, but also of assisting others to do the same.