Great Bible teaching is based on thorough study of the Word. Period.  Yes, you can plagiarize lessons or sermons from someone else. You can get pretty far “borrowing” from others. Yes, if they’re available to you, you can just follow along with the pre-made lesson plan or study guide. You might even look pretty knowledgeable and smooth.  Read more »

We’re familiar with Jesus feeding the 5000 (see Mark 6) and the 4000 (see Mark 8), but God has been miraculously feeding people throughout history. He provided manna to sustain the children of Israel in the wilderness, and water from rocks. There are multiple accounts in the Old Testament where God provides food for people in need. Here we have the record of God providing bread for a hundred men in the midst of a famine: Read more »

As a Bible teacher you’ll need to help people recognize there are two kinds of brokenness before God, and distinguish between them.  Read more »

There’s an issue with Bible teachers that can drive you to distraction. 

It’s the need for the kind of feedback that tells you “I did a good job.” It’s basically the personal need (which we all share) for affirmation and validation.  Read more »

I strongly encourage you to be prayerfully watching for signs of interest in the people you are teaching — there are people who God will bring into your sphere of influence who are part of the next generation of Bible teachers. 

Don’t just look for volunteers — God doesn’t. 

Instead, as the Holy Spirit leads you, approach the men and women and youth in whom you see potential. Give them the challenge to teach, and help them grow into that challenge. Speak into their chests! Give them encouragement, and guidance, and feedback as they develop. You are God’s ambassador, developing apprentices in the craft of Bible teaching. 

You should mentor new and developing Bible teachers for two main reasons. 

First, we have a responsibility to shepherd the next generation of teachers. 

Second, there are things you will not learn yourself until you mentor others in this craft. Your own development will tend to plateau until you take steps to bring others along. 

We aim to develop Bible teachers in every corner of the world — men and women competent to teach from the Word of God to His Glory, so we can teach a billion souls. Why a billion?  By 2021 there will be an additional billion people on Earth — all precious souls. How can we develop enough Bible teachers to teach them?  It will take at least 400,000 teachers! 

We can’ t rely on seminaries and colleges.  They do excellent work, but they can’t produce enough trained teachers fast enough. We can’t rely on pre-made Bible study guides and lessons.  We simply can’ t produce them in enough languages and get them into people’s hands. We can’t use approaches that require a lot of materials or money. 

To develop 400,000 Bible teachers by 2021 we must rely only on the Bible, the Holy Spirit, and the power of teachers training teachers, using proven methods of effective teaching to change lives.  And everything must be free of charge.

If we begin with a few thousand teachers, each training 3 more teachers over the next three years, and then each of them training 3 more teachers, and so on, we can reach 400,000 teachers by 2021.

Year       # of Bible teachers

2009                 2,500

2012               10,000

2015               40,000

2018             160,000

2021             640,000 

(We’re praying that we can begin with more than 2,500 teachers in 2009, and realistic that not everyone will be able mentor three teachers every three years.  Our God can accomplish more than we ask or imagine!) 

Below you will find the download link to a free ebook which provides basic coaching in how to teach from the Bible effectively — and how to mentor other new teachers!  The approach we describe has been used by thousands of Bible teachers — at all levels of prior experience — to dramatically improve the effectiveness of their teaching.

There are four elements required for great Bible teaching that changes lives: 

1. Excellent content  (that’s the Bible!)

2. Receptive students

3. A prepared teacher (because YOU are the tool God will use)

4. Effective methods of teaching 

Will you take up the challenge — developing your teaching skills, and then training more teachers?  Working together we can teach a billions souls! 

To God be all the Glory,
Glenn Brooke 

About the Author:
Glenn is the author of several books for Bible teachers, including Teach the Bible to Change Lives. He has coached thousands of Bible teachers to be more effective. 

Right-click on this button to save the free ebook Teach A Billion Souls to your computer:

One of the skills you should develop is the capability to foster conversational prayer in a group. I say ’skill’ because there is some tactic to it, and you can foster it among others. Josh Hunt’s explanation is as useful as anything I’ve seen: Read more »

Almost weekly I’m asked “Do you have a Bible study I can use on______?” 

Sometimes people ask me this because they don’t know how to find a study. Since you’re reading this on the Internet, there’s a very easy set of solutions to help you for study materials on any passage or topic you might be interested in:  Read more »

Many of you reading this will experience great frustrations as you work and work and work, teaching as best you’re able, and still do not see much maturing or growth in your students. This is as true if you’re teaching little children as it is for teaching adults, not-yet-believers or aged saints.  Read more »