The Gospel of John
Wednesday Night Bible Series
Wednesday Night Bible Series
From the Pastor
Thank you for teaching through the Gospel of John on Wednesday nights with me. We are hoping to spend approximately 30 minutes on each lesson walking our church through this Gospel. Please remember that many adults are tired after a long day so try not to weary them excessively with your teaching.
John is one of my favorite books in the Bible. It is not considered a synoptic Gospel like Matthew, Mark, & Luke because the stories presented are thought to be significantly different. You will note, however, that John presents Jesus' deity like no other gospel. This youngest disciple, the "one that Jesus loved," has much to tell us about the majesty of the Messiah.
I hope you'll look over the resources I list below. They will help you in your study. We want to teach the text, not just an application of the text. I've tried to carve out logical sections from the book to make your lesson coherent. Try to find the big idea, the main purpose, of the text assigned to you. Write it in a past tense single sentence. (i.e. John wanted his readers to know that Jesus was God.) Then, make the sentence contemporary by changing the tense to present. (i.e. God wants us to know that Jesus is God.) You might also consider finding the Fallen Condition Focus (FCF) of the text, the brokenness that we share with the biblical audience that would make the Holy Spirit record and preserve this passage. (i.e. We would miss God among us if the Father had not revealed that Jesus was God in the flesh having come for us.)
Once you've identified the Big Idea and the FCF, make sure everything you're sharing in the text points back to that main idea. Those are what we call supporting elements. You don't have to be exhaustive by covering the deep meaning behind every verse. Exposition draws out of the text its intended purpose. Then, along the way, you're making application of those supporting elements and illustrating them by using other Bible stories or events in the world around us. But it's the text we want to shine into the hearts of those we teach. I'm confident you'll do great toward that end.
Below are resources that will help you in your study and presentation. I'm looking forward to co-teaching this powerful Gospel with you and seeing how God uses our various personalities to encourage and edify our church.
Because of Him,
Shawn
John is one of my favorite books in the Bible. It is not considered a synoptic Gospel like Matthew, Mark, & Luke because the stories presented are thought to be significantly different. You will note, however, that John presents Jesus' deity like no other gospel. This youngest disciple, the "one that Jesus loved," has much to tell us about the majesty of the Messiah.
I hope you'll look over the resources I list below. They will help you in your study. We want to teach the text, not just an application of the text. I've tried to carve out logical sections from the book to make your lesson coherent. Try to find the big idea, the main purpose, of the text assigned to you. Write it in a past tense single sentence. (i.e. John wanted his readers to know that Jesus was God.) Then, make the sentence contemporary by changing the tense to present. (i.e. God wants us to know that Jesus is God.) You might also consider finding the Fallen Condition Focus (FCF) of the text, the brokenness that we share with the biblical audience that would make the Holy Spirit record and preserve this passage. (i.e. We would miss God among us if the Father had not revealed that Jesus was God in the flesh having come for us.)
Once you've identified the Big Idea and the FCF, make sure everything you're sharing in the text points back to that main idea. Those are what we call supporting elements. You don't have to be exhaustive by covering the deep meaning behind every verse. Exposition draws out of the text its intended purpose. Then, along the way, you're making application of those supporting elements and illustrating them by using other Bible stories or events in the world around us. But it's the text we want to shine into the hearts of those we teach. I'm confident you'll do great toward that end.
Below are resources that will help you in your study and presentation. I'm looking forward to co-teaching this powerful Gospel with you and seeing how God uses our various personalities to encourage and edify our church.
Because of Him,
Shawn
Our Zoom Kickoff Meeting
We met together via zoom to talk about strategy, tools, and schedule. Watch the video below for a refresher or if you missed the meeting. Click on the video below to watch.
Studying the Text/Chapter
1. Work through your assigned passage.
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Bible Study Worksheet (Beginner)
I'm often asked how someone should go about studying the Bible with the goal of teaching. The following Bible Study Exercise was developed using principles from Bryan Chapell's Christ-Centered Preaching. The book is helpful but not necessary in following the process. Bible Study Exercise Worksheet 12 Step Exegetical Guide (Advanced)
David Allen shares a 12-step approach to text-driven teaching/preaching. Allen is an extraordinary theologian and preacher and moves through the original Greek and Hebrew with ease. You can find his steps published in Text-Driven Preaching. |
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2a. Consult Free Online Commentaries
What others have written about the text (1) validates that your personal study is on the right track, and (2) provides insight that you have missed in your analysis. Below are some commentary resources that are free and online.
What others have written about the text (1) validates that your personal study is on the right track, and (2) provides insight that you have missed in your analysis. Below are some commentary resources that are free and online.
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Bible Gateway - Best online tool for online commentaries.
For the Gospel of John, look particularly at: Asbury A Wesleyan one-volume relatively simplistic and brief. It has a good introduction to the book. Matthew Henry's Commentary This is abridged, but a short explanation of passages. IVP New Testament Commentary Series This is an absolute treasure for free online and is a great exegetical resource to dig deeper into the text. Blue Letter Bible - Best online tool for exploring the text.
Go to a passage of Scripture and click the "Tools" button to the left of the Bible text. Click the Commentaries tab at the top of the open window. Don't forget to peck around at the Interlinear and the Cross-Ref tabs for some fun exploration in the text. Look particularly at: Harmony of the Gospels This will demonstrate other parallel stories from other gospel accounts. Jamieson, Fausset & Brown This is a solid but basic commentary. NetBible.org - I don't have a lot of experience with this site but it's beautifully designed and has some helpful links.
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2b. Consult Commentaries you can Purchase
These can be purchased from Amazon or electronically in a Bible study software tool like Logos.
The list of recommended commentaries below is an excerpt from David Allen's "Preaching Tools."
These can be purchased from Amazon or electronically in a Bible study software tool like Logos.
The list of recommended commentaries below is an excerpt from David Allen's "Preaching Tools."
- Keener, Craig S. The Gospel of John. 2 vols. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2003.
- Kostenberger, Andreas J. John. BECNT. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2004.
- Borchert, Gerald L. John 1-11 and John 12-21. 2 volumes in NAC. Nashville: Boradman & Holman, 1996 & 2002 respectively.
- Carson, D.A. The Gospel According to John. PNTC. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1990.
2b. Consult On-Campus Resources
Our library doesn't have a lot of rich Bible study resources but my personal library is packed with stuff worth reading. You're welcome to anything I have in my personal library. Feel free to come in my office and borrow. Please do not remove the resource from campus.
Our library doesn't have a lot of rich Bible study resources but my personal library is packed with stuff worth reading. You're welcome to anything I have in my personal library. Feel free to come in my office and borrow. Please do not remove the resource from campus.
Teachers in the Rotation
If you have a schedule conflict, feel free to reach out to one of our other teachers below to substitute. Please notify me once a substitution has been agreed to so I can update the master schedule below.
Teachers: Adam Carbajal, David French, Ryan Folsom, Mel Kenrick, Jason McFarland, Tyler Moore, Shawn Nichols, Trey Wright
Teachers: Adam Carbajal, David French, Ryan Folsom, Mel Kenrick, Jason McFarland, Tyler Moore, Shawn Nichols, Trey Wright
Teaching Schedule
Text |
Subject |
Speaker |
Date |
John 1:1-18 |
The Prologue |
Shawn Nichols |
April 13, 2022 |
John 1:19-51 |
The Witness of John & Disciples |
Adam Carbajal |
April 20, 2022 |
John 2:1-11 |
Water into Wine |
David French |
April 27, 2022 |
John 2:12-22 |
The Cleansing of the Temple |
Ryan Folsom |
May 11, 2022 |
John 2:23-3:21 |
Nicodemus |
Trey Wright |
May 18, 2022 |
John 3:22-36 |
John's Last Testimony |
Mel Kenrick |
May 25, 2022 |
John 4:1-42 |
The Woman of Samaria |
Jason McFarland |
June 1, 2022 |
John 4:43-54 |
Healing the Nobleman's Son (Children's Camp Wk) |
Shawn Nichols |
June 8, 2022 |
John 5:1-17 |
Healing at Bethesda |
Tyler Moore |
June 15, 2022 |
John 5:18-32 |
Jesus' Deity (Youth Falls Creek Week) |
Adam Carbajal |
June 22, 2022 |
John 5:33-47 |
Witness of John, Works, the Father, & Scripture |
David French |
July 6, 2022 |
John 6:1-15 |
Feeding of 5,000 |
Ryan Folsom |
July 13, 2022 |
John 6:16-71 |
Words to People, Jews, & Disciples |
Mel Kenrick |
July 20, 2022 |
John 7:1-53 |
Jesus Teaches at the Feast |
Value |
Value |
John 8:1-11 |
Woman Caught in Adultery |
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John 8:12-30 |
The Light of the World |
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John 8:31-47 |
Truth Will Make You Free |
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John 8:48-59 |
Response to Unbelievers |
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John 9:1-41 |
Jesus Heals the Blind |
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John 10:1-21 |
Parable of the Good Shepherd |
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John 10:22-42 |
Jesus and His Deity |
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John 11:1-46 |
Lazarus |
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John 11:47-57 |
What will we do with Jesus? |
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John 12:1-26 |
Jesus anointed, enters Jerusalem |
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John 12:27-50 |
Foretells of Death; Speaks to Greeks |
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John 13:1-35 |
Passover |
Value |
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John 13:36-14:15 |
Questions of Peter, Thomas & Philip |
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John 14:16-31 |
The Role of the Spirit |
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John 15:1-27 |
Discourse on Relations |
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John 16:1-33 |
Discourse on Revelation |
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John 17:1-26 |
Jesus' High Priestly Prayer |
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John 18:1-19:16 |
Jesus' Arrest and Trial |
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John 19:17-42 |
Jesus' Crucifixion & Burial |
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John 20:1-31 |
Empty Tomb |
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John 21:1-14 |
Jesus Provides |
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John 21:15-25 |
Jesus Reinstates Peter |