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The Deductive Presentation
If all presentation styles could be boiled down to two, the categories remaining would be deductive and inductive.
Deductive presentations and reasoning is typically what is most familiar to us. A propositional truth is stated upfront and the rest of the lesson is spent explaining or defending that truth. The basic structure of our lessons, especially the “Biblical Perspective” section, follows this style. The central truth proposes the scriptural principle and then the outline and various comments support this statement.
Many of us have grown up with this style of teaching, both in school and church. Deductive reasoning in teaching the Bible promotes the authority of God’s Word and is easily fits a lecture method of teaching. This style of teaching has appeared to be easily conducive to teaching women, although it should not be considered to be effective only in teaching one gender.
The Christian Way of Life
Lesson 2 - March 12, 2017
Focus Text: Colossians 3:5-17
Central Truth: Proper relationships with others begin with a proper relationship with God.
Objective: By the end of this lesson my students should be able to identify several ways a proper relationship with God revolutionizes our relationships with people.
Lesson Outline:
- Put Off the Old (Colossians 3:5-9)
- Put On the New (Colossians 3:10-14)
- Live a Christian Life (Colossians 3:15-17)
Beautiful Video for Sanctity of Human Life Sunday 2016
https://youtu.be/iUCYcEmx8vk
What is the value of the human race in God's eyes?
In "Doctrinal Discussion" Jason Lindahl writes:
The dignity of humanity as the divine image-bearer has been under hell's attack for a very long time. The ancient Gnostics taught that matter was evil, including human bodies. The Hindus teach that in reincarnation, a person can return to earth as an insect or a lowly beast. According to Hinduism, it will take a very long time and much trial and error for a living form to escape this cycle of death and rebirth and somehow emerge pure and perfect. In all of this, salvation depends not upon a loving, personal God, but upon us. It is at this point that the Bible gives us the greatest testament to the value heaven places upon humanity. For God's Word tells us that the Father did not leave us to find a solution to our problems through endless years of struggle and reincarnation. Instead, He stepped into our world to provide the solution, and He did it by becoming a man! In the person of Jesus Christ, God became man and remains a man forever. God showed what incredible worth humanity has by taking on flesh and bone. He then laid down that physical body in death to provide us with “so great salvation” (Heb. 2:3).
Source: Building Christian Relationships: Adult Teacher's Insights, page 8.
Man – God's Special Creation
In "Word Focus" Glenn McClure writes:
The making or fashioning of man was not an act that resulted from a word spoken, but involved the personal and wise consideration of a planned purpose. This then resulted in an object carefully fashioned by God's own hands, so to speak, made from a substance (the ground) over which this object was to have dominion. It received life by the very breath of its Creator, and stands over all creation as the very image of its Creator. As H. Vorländer says, “His humanity resides in the life he has been given (2:7b) in his correspondence to God (1:27a). He is deemed worthy to be spopken to by God and to be given a task (2:16f.; 1:28)” (New International Dict. of N.T. Theology). God had purpose behind all creation, but that purpose resides in the grand purpose for man's creation. All of nature surely shows the handiwork of God, but His greatest expression is seen in man.
Source: Building Christian Relationships: Adult Teacher's Insights, page 4.
What are ways we neglect the dignity of humanity?
In "God's Word for Today" Gordon Snider writes:
Ever since the publishing of Charles Darwin's On the Origin of the Species in 1859, there has been an increasing tendency to treat people with less dignity than God intended. The problem is widespread in our society. Many of the ethical questions facing today's world — genetic engineering, abortion, and assisted suicide, to name a few — are the result of this tendency to treat people as things to be manipulated rather than beings to be honored and respected. Sadly, even Christians who take strong, biblical stands on these issues can fall prey to the same subtle temptation. Often, perhaps always, when we fail to show due consideration for others, we have yielded to the temptation to treat others as something less than human. When we use people to accomplish our goals, we have done the same. Abuse in almost any form begins with denying the God-given dignity of the other person.
Source: Building Christian Relationships: Adult Teacher's Insights, page 4.