© 1998 "Yes Lord" Ministries
The Orientation Lesson
for Revelation
Suggested time required for this lesson: 30 minutes.
If you have NOT yet read the GENERAL GUIDELINES with its many helpful hints and suggestions, please do that before continuing on with this discussion. Why? Because there are many things covered in that material which is really essential but which we did not want to repeat. So, please read the General Guidelines first. Then, continue on with this specific information for leading the Revelation Study.
The orientation lesson should be short. All the rest of the lessons in this course, ie. Lesson 1 through whatever, need more time, probably as much as an hour or an hour and a half to adequately cover each lesson. But, in the Orientation lesson, you only need about 20 or 30 minutes. If I have a larger amount of time, then I usually use the remaining time to either show a video on something really important or related to the course or discuss some important topic that I really have not been able to cover at any other time with my group, but, about which they need to be informed.
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Anyway, This is what I did with my classes for the Orientation Lesson for Revelation.
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1. Start on time! And Begin with Prayer. This is a short prayer, probably about 1 minute long. You could pray something like:
Oh Father, Thank you so much for bringing us together to study your Word. I pray that you will bring the people to this group that You want to attend. Please guide us in all of our individual studies and in our group discussions. We desire to know more about your Word and we want to handle your Word accurately. So, please, Father, teach us, guide us, and help us to come to the correct conclusions and interpretations. Be with us tonight as we learn about this course and what we will be doing. And, Father, if there are any who are wondering whether they should take this course or not, give them clear direction so that they will know. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
2. Hand out the sheet of paper for the class roll and ask the students to be filling in the requested information as the orientation continues. You will learn more about the class roll and the information in the General Guidelines. You did read that, didn't you?
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3. While the roll is going around the room, welcome the group! If the group is small enough, say 20 or so, you might want to go around the room and let each person introduce themselves. This is NOT to be a big speech by each person. Just ask them to give their Name and tell ONE interesting fact that they think we would like to know about themselves. In other words, about 30 seconds per person. You do not want your time eaten up with speeches, but you do want to ‘break the ice.' I Begin with myself (as an illustration) and tell them, My name is _______ and I will be your discussion leader for this class. And then I tell them one fact about myself (usually what my career is, since I am a layperson and not a full time Christian worker). Then I turn to the person on one end of the first row and ask them to give their name and one interesting fact about themselves....
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4. Introduce the course. I hold up a copy of the workbook. (I have not handed out the workbooks yet, because some people may not be sure they want to take the course. They are coming to hear about it.) I explain that this will be a ___ week course, and that we will meet each week on Monday night (or whenever) from 7 to 8:30 pm (or whatever time you are planning to meet).
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5. Briefly explain to the students HOW we will DO this course and explain the guidelines for how we will conduct the discussion sessions. The main points you should emphasize in this area are:
A. In the workbook are lessons which you are to work individually, one lesson per week (if you are doing this course on a weekly basis).
B. Each week we will have a discussion group based on what we studied in that week's lesson. The discussion will meet on _________ night (or day) at ____________ (location) from __________ (time...usually about an hour but no more than an hour and a half.)
C. We will start promptly at _____ and will end at or before _____. So, please try to be on time. You will miss important things if you are late.
D. Each week we will only discuss the general topic or topics covered in our lesson's homework for that week. So, we request that you hold all your other thoughts and questions until the appropriate week.
E. This course is designed to build on the previous lessons. So, don't jump ahead or skip around. Just do what you are supposed to do each week.
F. If you have NOT done your homework for the week, do NOT participate in the discussion. Yes, do come. But please do NOT discuss. Why? Because, we want the things we discuss to be based on what we actually studied for ourselves and not on what he have ‘always thought' or ‘always believed' or whatever. We want to see what the Bible said. If you studied part of the lesson but not all of it, then discuss in the areas in which you did your study preparation and be silent during the rest of the time.
G. If you bring friends and visitors (and, yes, you may), please tell them about these guidelines and ground rules so they will not jump in and start discussing things that they have not studied. Why, for the same reason as why you should not discuss when you haven't studied. Because, they will be basing their comments on the "I Think", "I always thought that", and the "I have been told..." , etc.
H. What version of the Bible will we use. You may use whatever you want. The scriptures that are printed in the Workbook will usually be either KJV or NIV but you may use any version you are comfortable with and understand.
I. Bring your workbook, Bible, notepaper, and pens and pencils each week. You will want to take notes and you will want to copy down the visual aid which we will be putting on the chalkboard (or whiteboard).
J. What do you do if you miss a lesson or are absent? Not to worry, just come the next week. If you can make up your lesson in your spare time, Great! But, if not, just continue on with the next lesson. However, most of the lessons in this course are so short that you won't have any trouble catching up. So don't quit or drop out, even if you miss several weeks, come back as soon as your schedule allows. It will be ok!
6. How much does all this cost??? The cost will be $_____ for the workbook. Tell your class that this is the bottom line expense for the photocopying the lessons and that you are not making any profit on them.
(Leader, Please notice !!!. These lessons are copyrighted and any changing of these lessons in any way or selling these lessons for profit is forbidden. Therefore, you can only legally charge for the actual cost for photocopying or duplicating them. You may NOT sell them for profit! These lessons are for the Glory of God and NOT for the financial profit of man.)
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7. Now, Hand out the Workbooks to those who would like to take the course.
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8. Ask if they have any questions. And answer them, of course
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9. Close with prayer. Again, keep this short and YOU do the praying. Even if Billy Graham or the Pope is in the room, you do the praying! Your prayer could be something like:
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Oh, Father, as we begin this study of your wonderful book of Revelation, we just ask that You will draw the people to this class that You, Father, want to attend. And, please guide and direct every student as they do their homework this week. Help them to understand what you are teaching and to apply what they learn to their lives. And, Father, we ask that your Holy Spirit will teach all of us the truths that He wants us to know as we do this course. In Jesus Name, Amen.
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10. Tell your class how glad you are they came and that you are looking forward to seeing them next week at ______. And tell them that if they want to tell others, to feel free to do so and bring them with them when they come. And.... Goodby!
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