TEST REWORD THE INFOR IN BOX AND THE BOLD ONES BELOW MUST BE REWORD

Objective: [e.g., Demonstrate an understanding of (Scripture passage) by...(Explain how the student will demonstrate understanding of the passage as a result of your lesson.)]

Learners will demonstrate a better understanding of love and servitude through a contextual study of 1 John 3:16-18 by explaining in their own terms the meaning of Christ's love.

Learners will demonstrate an understanding of Christ-like love through the eyes ofGod by serving their God, pastor, church, family, and community.

Leaners will demonstrate an understanding of Christ-like love through the eyes ofGod by participating in the missionary ministry of their local church.

Learning Readiness Activity:

Put the phrase "Love" on a dry erase board in front of the class and ask theclass to give me the first word that comes to mind. Then write another phrase that says "Christ-like love" and see if the definitions are different. Then after class havethose same students write their definition on another dry erase board.

1. Based on the discussion in Chapter 5 of Wilhoit& Ryken's Effective Bible Teaching, what is the genre of your Bible passage, and how does this affect the way you understand and teach your passage?

The biblical passage that I am studying is 1 John 3:16-18. It is an Epistasis. It is important to take this into consideration because this tells the readers that it was originally a letter written to a specific church and people group. An epistle is a letter and usually written in a formal style.These letters have a style very similar to modern letters, with an opening, a greeting, a body, and a closing.

The content of the Epistles involves clarification of prior teaching, rebuke, explanation, correction of false teaching and a deeper dive into the teachings of Jesus. This is evident in my chosen passage of Scripter. As a result, the reader and teacher must do their best to understand the cultural, historical and social situation of the original audience in order to get the most out of an analysis of these books.

Word count: 144

2. Based on the discussion in Chapter 6 of Wilhoit& Ryken's Effective Bible Teaching, answer the following questions:

a. Discuss the topic and theme ("big idea") of your Bible passage. Pay closeattention to the discussion and examples in your textbook.

In 1 John 3:16-18, the "big idea" of the passage is living our lives as Christ lived.This is broken down to discuss how Christians should become servants of God, just asChrist is to the church. We must lay down our lives as Christ has laid down His life for us. Included in this "big idea" is the fact that we are not to love simply with our words or speech but with our actions.

Again, because this is how Christ loved and lived. Being a servant of God means being a servant to others as well. When we see people in need we must help them because if we don't then how can we say that we love them? We must live as Christ did, become servants to others, and we will then become great in the eyes of God.

Word count: 142

b. Explain how each sentence of your Bible passage relates to the big idea you formulated above.

The first verse in 1 John 3:16 says that we know what love is because Christ laid His life down for us. As a result, we ought to lay down our own lives for our bothers and sisters. This is the premise for the theme of the passage. The first verse tells us what love is and what we ought to do with that kind of love. The second verse tells us how we ought to lay down our lives.

If see a brother or sister in need and we have material possessions we must give to them. If we do not give to people in need then how can we say that we love our brothers and sisters? Then the final verse confirms the theme, it says that we must not love with words or speech but with actions and truth. We are to love like Jesus loved. And Jesus loved with both actions and truth.

Word count: 157

3. Based on the discussion in Chapter 7 of Wilhoit& Ryken's Effective Bible Teaching, discuss how you will "bridge the gap" from the world of your biblical passage to the world of your audience. Refer to the section in the chapter titled "The Bible Teacher as Translator." You may also refer to the Yount textbook.

"Bridging the gap" can be difficult for many verses of the Bible. Especially when we think about the numerous historical and cultural differences that separate us from the original audience. However, it seems it will be a little easier to bridge the gap in 1 John 3:16. This is because becoming a servant of God and being like Christ in love can be a universal theme.

It is a theme that crossesgenerations as well as cultures. While we obviously will never give our lives as Jesus did,to wash away people's sins and die on the cross and conquer death, this does not mean we won't make sacrifices in our life forthe Lord. We can and must always strive to reflect Christ. We should be willing to give up material possessions in order to serve God and our brothers and sisters. We should always be willing to do worklike the disciples did and go out into the world to spread God's message.

Bridging this gap is not complicated when we illustrate that doing community service, helping family and friends and serving others in the name of the Lord is a part of everyday life. We can easily show that being like Christ in love and a servant of God is not just a theme to be applied in Biblical times but also a modern day theme.

Word count: 229