Scope and Sequence for Preaching, Teaching and Application

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The apostle Paul testified to the elders of Ephesus, “…for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:17).

One of the ways to declare more of the whole counsel of God is to have a scope and sequence plan. A widely used plan is the International Sunday School Lessons Uniform Series.[1] This is a 6 year cycle for reading and studying the Bible. An effort is made to take at least 1 lesson or daily Bible reading from each book of the Bible over the 6-year span. See the 6 year plan here.

A helpful edition of the adult lessons with commentary and other features is the Standard Lesson Annual Commentary. The current September-August annual commentary is issue 73. It includes 52 weeks of study in a single volume combined with thorough Bible study with relevant examples and questions. “This Quarter in the Word” is included which provides daily Bible readings to encourage study throughout the week

  • In addition to teaching aids and student activity pages, Standard Publishing creates PowerPoint® and Google Slides™ presentations for each lesson.
  • To further encourage personal engagement daily, their publication Devotions®, supplements the daily Bible readings recommended in the Standard Lesson Commentary with practical devotional thoughts.
  • Another supplementary resource from this publisher is the Power for Living®
    full-color weekly take-home paper. It can be a useful tool for both personal growth and evangelism. “With life-related stories of faith, Power for Living connects God’s truth to real life.”
  • In their section of free lesson helps, there is a section, “In the World.” This weekly blog connects weekly lesson content with current news. https://www.standardlesson.com/category/in-the-world/
    This section also has recommended music playlists.

The parent company of Standard, David C Cook, has parallel curricula and resources including Bible in Life and Echoes. Their daily devotional guide is The Quiet Hour and the current events blog is Real Life Downloaded.

OK, but this article is more than an infomercial.[2] The Annual Commentary and related resources could be used or adapted in a variety of ways. Note the potential for preaching on the lesson theme, recommending the daily readings, using the in-print daily devotional for edification, the current events blog for introductions (or illustrations), and the Power for Living weekly flyer for outreach/ follow up. Discussion questions based on the lessons could be provided for small group fellowship during the week.

A mentor of mine, pastor John Shepherd, used a “P.T.A” approach in the 1990’s. He preached the Sunday morning sermon, taught on the topic in the evening, and encouraged cell groups to apply the content in their discussion time.

May this overview of resources be useful in preaching, teaching and applying “the whole counsel of God.”

[1] This interdenominational content is not distributed directly from ISSL, but through publishers contracted with them

[2] I have used, and appreciate, these materials but am not being paid to promote them.

JBW

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