ACTS II EVANGELIZATION LEADERSHIP TRAINING GUIDES AVAILABLE HERE
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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Schedule
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Scipture Weekend Schedule
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Session One:
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Use of Scripture for Personal Spiritual Growth
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1
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Session Two:
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The Word of God and Our Response
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17
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Session Three:
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The Languages of the Bible and Literary Form
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39
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Session Four:
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The Growth of the Bible
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64
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Session Five:
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The Israelites' Experience of God
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85
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Session Six:
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The Covenant of God with His People
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100
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Session Seven:
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The New Covenant is Established
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119
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Session Eight:
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An Overview of the Theme of Covenant
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137
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Session Nine:
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Survey of the New Testament
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154
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APPENDIX
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Charts
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170
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Study Guide Answers to Each of the Sessions
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174
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Scripture Weekend Evaluation
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182
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A Prayerful Reading of the Bible
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183
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(SAMPLE)
LEADER'S
EVANGELIZATION TRAINING GUIDE
SESSION ONE
USE OF SCRIPTURE FOR PERSONAL SPIRITUAL GROWTH
OBJECTIVES
To come to realize and to appreciate the truth that the Bible gives spiritual nourishment,
life, and healing.
To acquire a facility in using Sacred Scripture as a means for prayer.
REQUIRED PREPARATIONS--TRAINING INSTRUCTOR
1. Plan for and implement personal prayer time.
2. Study instructional content on page 2.
3. The instructor needs to determine during preparation time, which key references/
passages (s)he needs in order to exemplify the content. UPON arriving at a Scripture
reference during instruction of content, OPEN Bible and PROCLAIM that
passage.
4. At the end of presentation, ASK if there are any questions about presented material
and ANSWER questions by quoting from presented material.
5. Review with small group leaders:
a. small group leaders' responsibilities,
b. desired role modeling behaviors,
c. training procedures and formats.
6. Pray with training team 30 minutes before session.
TRAINING INSTRUCTOR PATH
TOTAL TIME: 90 Minutes
OPENING PRAYER 10 MINS.
1. ASK group to turn to SH page 125 and stand.
2. SIGNAL for music and prayer leaders to begin.
3. REQUEST Blessing Prayer.
4. THANK group and ask them to be seated.
BEGIN SESSION ONE
1. ASK group to turn to SH page 1.
2. STATE session objectives:
This session is concerned with bringing each one of us to realize and to appreciate
the truth that the Bible gives spiritual nourishment, life, and healing. Each person will
also be given the means of how to use Sacred Scripture for prayer.
INSTRUCTIONAL CONTENT 35 MINS.
1. LOOK OVER key points to be taught:
I. The Sacred Scriptures have been cherished in the tradition of the Church.
II. How to read the Scriptures.
III. Sacred Scripture and the Fathers of the Church.
IV. What are the fruits of reading the Sacred Scriptures?
V. Sacred Scripture as a means of growing in union with Jesus Christ.
VI. How to approach the Sacred Scriptures.
VII. Sacred Reading (Lectio Divina).
2. TEACH expanded outline of above key points:
I. The Sacred Scriptures have been cherished in the tradition of the Church.
A. As we look over the tradition of the Church, it will be readily seen
just how much the Desert Fathers and the great saints of the Church
'cherished' the Scriptures and used the Scriptures for their own
spiritual nourishment.
-We, too, must do the same. Scripture is not just something we can
use as normative in guiding us. It is that but it is more than that. It is
the living Word of God which truly gives spiritual nourishment. It
can give us life and healing if we will but let it do so for us.
B. Jesus Himself mastered the Sacred Scriptures. We could look
upon Jesus as a visiting and traveling rabbi.
KEY REFERENCES (Write out):
-Lk. 4:16-21;
-Mt. 4:1-11;
-Lk. 24:25-27.
1. One day when He came to Nazareth, He went into the synagogue
and was asked to say a few words. He asked for the
scroll of Isaiah and opened it at chapter 61.
-Now Jesus opened the scroll deliberately at this chapter for it
speaks about the prophecy of the coming Messiah (See:
Luke 4:16-21).
2. In Matthew, chapter 4, verses 1-11, we find Jesus using Scripture
against Satan. He used the Scriptures as a divine weapon
against the enemy of the kingdom.
3. Jesus explained the passages of Scripture. A good example
of this is given to us in Luke, chapter 24, verses 25-27 (begin
reading from verse 13 to give the context in which this was said).
II. How to read the Scriptures.
A. When reading Scripture, there are two aspects to keep in mind:
-the literal meaning -- which refers to what the sacred author is
saying, what he intended when he wrote the Scriptures; and
-the spiritual meaning -- which refers to the deeper level or
meaning of Scripture.
B. When we read Scripture, then, it is important to attend to both
meanings:
-what the writer intends for us, and
-what the spiritual meaning is, that is, as it applies to us, which
is to arrive at the deeper meaning of the passage.
C. St. Paul tells us in 2 Timothy, chapter 3, verses 16f that:
-"All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching,
for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that
the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good
work."
1. St. Paul tells us two things in this passage:
a) All Scripture is inspired by God--the Jewish Canon (the Old
Testament) and the Christian Canon (the New Testament).
b) The Scriptures can be profitably used:
-for teaching: teaching us the basic truths we must know
in order to be saved;
-for refuting error: error within ourselves, for that which is
wrong will be corrected;
-for correction: for guiding our lives; and
-for training in righteousness: leading us to be holy.
2. We are to read the Sacred Scriptures, then, not out of curiosity,
or from a scholarly point of view, but with a hunger for God's
Word, that is, with a spiritual desire.
D. Some mistakenly read only the New Testament. That is wrong.
For as St. Paul tells us: all Scripture is profitable.
1. We cannot understand Jesus Christ unless we understand what
preceded Him: Jesus is the New Moses; He is the New Elijah;
He is the Lamb.
2. We can understand this only if we understand the Old Testament.
All the images of the New Testament come out of the Old Testament.
-It is important, therefore, to read all of the Books of the Bible.
A. Quotes from some of the Fathers.
1. St. John Chrysostom says that the Scriptures are "an inexhaustible
treasury of heavenly doctrine."
2. St. Athanasius says that the Scriptures are an "overflowing
fountain of salvation."
3. St. Augustine warns that "vainly does the preacher utter the
Word of God exteriorly unless he listens to it interiorly."
4. St. Gregory the Great instructs us first "to find in Holy Scripture
the knowledge of ourselves, and then to carry it to others, lest in
reproving others we forget ourselves."
B. St. Jerome, a Doctor of the Church, had a tremendous love for the
Bible and he tried to imbue others with this intense love of the Bible.
1. An example of this is to be found in the words he addresses to
the maiden Demetrias:
-"Love the Bible and wisdom will love you; love it and
it will preserve you; honor it and it will embrace you;
these are the jewels which you should wear on your
breast and in your ears."
2. St. Jerome tells us that the attitude that we should have when
we approach Scripture is one of prayer and humility of mind.
-Once we have done this, St. Jerome invites us to study the
Bible.
3. He insists on daily reading of the Scripture in season and out.
-"We have got to read the Holy Scriptures assiduously;
we have got to meditate on the Law of God day and
night so that, as expert money-changers, we may be
able to detect false coin from true."
4. For matrons and maidens alike he lays down the same rule.
Writing to the Roman matron Laeta about her daughter's training,
he says:
-"Every day she should give you a definite account of
her Bible reading....For her the Bible must take the
place of silks and jewels....Let her learn the Psalter first,
and find her recreation in its songs; let her learn from
Solomon's Proverbs the way of life, from Ecclesiastes
how to trample on the world. In Job she will find an
example of patient virtue.
-"Thence let her pass to the Gospels; they should
always be in her hands. She should steep herself in
the Acts and the Epistles. And when she has enriched
her soul with these treasures she should commit to
memory the Prophets, Kings and Chronicles, Esdras
and Esther; then she can learn the Canticle of Canticles
without any fear."
5. Again, he says,
-"Read assiduously and learn as much as you can. Let
sleep find you holding your Bible, and when your head
nods let it be resting on the sacred page."
6. St Jerome says that "to be ignorant of the Scripture is not to
know Christ."
-In its pages His image stands out, living and breathing; diffusing
everywhere around: consolation in trouble, encouragement to
virtue, and attraction to the love of God.
C. Clement of Alexandria and Cassian.
1.
Clement of Alexandria says that the reading of Sacred Scripture
is the Way of perfection. Scripture leads us into prayer.
2.
Cassian, the great Father of the West, says our minds and hearts
should be occupied with Scripture throughout the day.
-We should be invoking the Holy Spirit for protection for Sacred
Scripture can be used by Satan.
D. The Fathers of the early Church tell us that we should read the Sacred
Scriptures in an attitude of prayer.
1. We are to pray first to the Holy Spirit and ask Him for light, for
spiritual desire and for divine teaching.
2. Then we are to read the Scriptures. They become prayer and
lead us to the contemplation of divine love.
E. From the early Fathers, we are told that we should read the Scriptures
in the manner of eating.
1. This is very important to keep in mind. For it is in following this
suggestion that the Scriptures will become prayer and lead us
to the contemplation of divine love.
2. So the Fathers tell us that we should read the Scriptures in the
manner of eating.
a) First, we are
to read, that is, bite it.
b) Then, we are
to reflect upon it, that is, chew it.
c) Then, we are
to swallow it and our hearts begin to be warmed
within.
d) Then, we are
to ruminate over it, that is, to chew again what
has been chewed slightly and swallowed.
-So we are to ruminate over it by bringing it to our mind and
consider it again and again, like a cow chewing its cud.
e) And finally, we are
to digest it.
3. A help to reading the Scriptures every day is to establish a definite
habit of place and time each day.
A.
They give us the universal answer.
God speaks to each person in a unique manner in Sacred Scripture.
B.
The Bible is the mirror of the Christian.
We learn about ourselves. As we read about the hardhearted and
stiff-necked Jews, about their failure to understand, their spiritual
mediocrity, we recognize that all of this applies to us as well. The
Bible is the spiritual mirror of what we are, of what I am.
C.
The Bible is divine teaching.
God is teaching us about Himself. Love follows knowledge. The
more we know about God, the more we love Him.
D.
The Bible is the Song in the Night.
St. John of the Cross explains this phrase most beautifully.
1. He points out that the prayer of simplicity wherein we come to
experience Jesus personally is only the beginning and we must
move on.
2. As we grow in our relationship with the Lord, we are led deeper
into the desert where we are alone with God and we come to
passive contemplation, the --
-mystical night, where God instructs us through symbols,
deep knowledge beyond words.
-We will think that we are all alone but God is there leading us to
deeper union with Him. God leads us through the desert to
mystical delights.
E.
The Scriptures bring healing.
The Word of God heals us of all that needs healing: mentally, psychologically
and spiritually if we but let it.
F.
The Scriptures bring encouragement.
1. We become discouraged so easily. If we miss one day of
reading the Scriptures, we can fall into discouragement.
2. In Romans, chapter 15, verse 4, we read, "For whatever was
written in former days was written for our instruction, that by
steadfastness and by the encouragement of the scriptures we
might have hope."
G.
The Scriptures are nourishment for our soul.
Matthew, chapter 4, verse 4 says,
-But he answered, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread
alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of
God.'"
H.
The Scriptures give life everlasting.
Through them we come know the Lord Jesus Christ who gives us
salvation.
So, we must fill ourselves with the Word of God. Out of the treasury
that we have, we can give to others. No one gives what (s)he does
not have.
A. The Document on the Laity, n. 4 says:
-"Since Christ in His mission from the Father is the fountain
and source of the whole apostolate of the Church, the success
of the lay apostolate depends upon the laity's living
union with Christ."
-The mission that Jesus has given to His Church is going to be
accomplished by His people, by the laity, insofar as they are living
in union with Him.
-In other words, we are only going to do as Jesus did if we are
like Him.
B. One of the sources, the means of becoming like Jesus is Sacred
Scripture.
1. In the same paragraph 4 of the document mentioned above, we
read:
-"Only by the light of faith and by meditation on the
word of God can one always and everywhere recognize
God in whom 'we live, and move, and have our
being' (Acts 17:28), seek His will in every event,
see Christ in all men whether they be close to us or
strangers, and make correct judgments about the true
meaning and value of temporal things, both in themselves
and in their relation to man's final goal."
2. That is the focus of this weekend, that our study of the Scriptures
might lead us to know Jesus more deeply.
3. Our hope and our goal for this weekend is not so much intellectual
knowledge of the living Word of God, but that we come to a
deeper personal union with the Word who is Jesus Christ, the
Lord.
C. When we approach the Scriptures, we need to come with the attitude
of a 'converted heart.'
1. We need to be like Jeremiah, as portrayed for us in Jeremiah,
chapter 15, verse 16 (Read). We are to read the Scriptures with
our heart, prayerfully in the presence of God.
-The Scriptures pertain to the realm of poetry and experience
rather than to the realm of abstraction. To read them from an
intellectual point of view is to lose the core of the message.
2. The facts that we are going to be learning about the Bible: its
sources, traditions, numbering, composition, are very interesting
information.
-However, it will be of value to us only insofar as it leads us
to a greater grasp of the Good News who is Jesus Christ
among us.
D. In approaching the Scriptures, then, we need to turn to the Spirit of
Jesus and ask Him to remove the veil from our face so that we will
be able to receive the living Word into our hearts (2 Corinthians 3:
14-17).
KEY REFERENCE (Write out):
-2 Cor. 3:12-17.
-We do not see the glory of God who is Jesus Christ because the
veil is still over our faces. Each person must turn to Jesus Christ to
have it removed.
A. The pattern in our approach to the Scriptures becomes evident.
1. Approach the Sacred Scriptures with a converted heart, or
rather, with a willingness, an openness to being converted, a
readiness for conversion.
2. Come to the Word, Jesus, in faith, believing that He will give you
His Spirit of understanding and truth. You have Jesus' promise of
this (John 16:13).
KEY REFERENCE (Write out):
-Jn. 16:13.
3. Listen! Read very slowly and ask questions.
4. Respond to the Word!
The Word is not static but dynamically creative, as Isaiah 55:11
tells us. If we really grasped this, we would never put the Scriptures
down.
KEY REFERENCE (Write out):
-Is. 55:10f.
-We read that when someone slaps you on the right cheek, turn
the other. Our response is: "Lord, I'm not able to do that."
-But there is power in this living Word of God to enable us
to do that. We need to ask for the power of the Holy Spirit
to enable us to do what Scripture tells us to do.
5. Enter more and more into the Spirit of Jesus through this living
Word.
6. Experience the freedom of Jesus.
The Spirit of Jesus brings us into freedom, the freedom of the
sons of God, the freedom of seeing everything as nothing
because we have discovered the pearl of great price, the
Person of Jesus Christ, and we have bought the whole field for
joy (Matthew 13:45f).
7. Enter into life.
We experience the fulfillment of Jesus' promise: "I have come
that you may have life and have it to the full" (John 10:10b).
KEY REFERENCE (Write out):
-Jn. 10:10b.
B. Because the Scriptures do bring us into life, I highly recommend it to
you as your primary prayer book, meditation book, spiritual reading
book, for growing in the spiritual life, the life of Jesus.
A. Sacred Reading or Lectio Divina is the way of prayer that the early
monks, the masters of spirituality, used.
B. They distinguished four aspects to this sacred reading, not degrees
but aspects or elements: reading, reflection, prayer, and contemplation.
1.
Reading: sit quietly in the presence of God and begin to read,
asking the Spirit of Jesus to open up His Word to your understanding,
that you might receive some nourishment.
2.
Reflection: when a passage, or a verse strikes you, pause
over it and let the Spirit speak to you. Expect Him to! Think
over this passage. What is it saying to your heart, to your
reason? What does it mean for your life?
3.
Prayer: from this you begin very naturally to speak about this
to God, to let Him --
-console you, or admonish you, or exhort you; to ask Him
to help you live in the way His Word is calling you to live,
and to praise and thank Him for working in this way in your
life already.
4.
Contemplation: this way of prayer can lead you into wordless
prayer where you rest in the deep awareness of God's presence.
-Maybe this time of contemplation does not last very long. You
suddenly become aware that your mind is somewhere else.
Don't get upset. Contemplation is a free gift of God. Just return
to your reading.
C. This way of prayer needs to be done in an atmosphere of wasting
time.
1. In the Zen-Buddhist tradition, it is often said that no one can learn
to pray unless (s)he knows how to waste time.
2. You are not trying to accomplish anything, like covering so many
chapters or so many verses. It is not like saying, "Today I'm
going to finish the Gospel of John." That's not the idea.
3. Some days your sacred reading may take in only one aspect of
this way of prayer. For example, when reading, you may read
30 minutes and receive no insights. That's fine. Remember, just
letting the Word of God pass through you is a healing.
-Another day, you sit down and open the Bible and hardly look
at a passage and you are filled with a sense of God's presence
--contemplation.
The two days cannot be compared as to which is better. Both
are in the plan of God.
D. It is our hope that this weekend will awaken in all of us a great taste
for the Scriptures.
1. St. Bernard, a great lover of the Scriptures, said that we need a
sense of taste for God, and that this taste was made available
for us when Jesus explained the Scriptures to the disciples on
the way to Emmaus.
2. To this end, we pray that Jesus will fill us with His Spirit so that
we might come, through the Scriptures, to that knowing and loving
of God that brings life, life abundantly.
COMMUNITY BREAK 5 MINS.
INDIVIDUAL ACTIVITY 40 MINS.
STATE the following:
-Please turn to SH page 10 and we will go over the Study Guide.
1. Write out the KEY REFERENCES for Sessions One and Two.
-Then, you are to write out your answers to the following reflection questions.
2. In 2 Timothy 3:16f, Paul tells us that the Scriptures are useful for equipping
the disciple for mission. To what extent have you made use of the Bible for
your personal growth in the Lord and for your evangelizing mission? Explain.
3. Does your daily schedule have to change in order for you to have time to
pray the Scriptures? What are you going to do to make time for this?
-I will share with you now some sample responses to these two reflection questions.
Trainer: See: Appendix: Study Guide Answers to Each
of the Sessions.
-You now have
35 minutes to do this Study Guide. Please gauge your time well.
STAND-UP BREAK
ACTS II EVANGELIZATION LEADERSHIP TRAINING GUIDES AVAILABLE HERE