TODAY'S THEME VERSES:  "...men of Issachar, who understood the times and knew what Israel should do... ."    I Chronicles 12:32

"Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth."  II Timothy 2:15

HARD SAYING FOR THE WEEK:

Read John 10:28 and 6:39. From this many have concluded that once a person is saved, in God's eyes s/he is always saved from his/her sins. How, then, do the things we read in Hebrews 6:4-6 and 10:26-31 fit with this doctrine (Perseverance of the Saints)? Is the Bible once again contradicting itself?

INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY

Have each student write a three sentence paragraph/story describing the following action:

      Pastor Clyde plays the piano.

Have the teens pass their stories three people to the left and answer the following about the story:

From what the person wrote, find out about:

- The person in the story

- The author

- The action that was taken

How would you go about finding out what's going on in all three of these cases?

-Look at other books/works the author has written. Are there any other references to piano playing that are similar to this one?

-Look at the characters in this person's other stories. Do any match the characters of this story? Can they help you?

-Look at the other person's stories. Do actions like this happen often in their stories? What about the specific words that the person uses? Can they tell us anything?

BIBLE STUDY

We're going to look at the Bible today just like we looked at the stories you just wrote. Here are the terms we're going to define and use:

1.      Exegesis = the careful, systematic study of Scripture to discover the original,       intended meaning

      Hermeneutics = the study of methodological principles of interpretation       (Websters) - how to interpret the Bible for the "here and now" (Fee and       Stuart)

2.      Expanding on the definitions

      Exegesis includes:

      Historical context

      Literary Context

      Questions of content

      The tools

      Hermeneutics includes:

      Exegesis - understanding what the text meant then

      Understanding culture "here and now"

How might we do these two things today (and not necessarily just with the Bible)?

Understanding these things (exegesis and hermeneutics) will help us understand just what the authors of the Bible had in mind when they were writing. This helps us know more about the Bible and how it is true, not only for 2000 years ago but for today as well.

2.    Using the definitions above, let's take a look at some verses and use these concepts       to understand better what the verses say.

      Psalm 23

      Who wrote the psalm?

      What is a psalm?

      When did he write it?

      Look at some of the words he used. How does this tell you what his view of       God was?

      Look at movement from He/I to You in the verses. Is it significant?

      How can knowing these things help us apply this to our lives? How does the       shepherd motif fit with the school motif today?