 Okay. Recording is on. Let's pray and we'll start. Father, we thank you for another day. Thank you for this opportunity to be here, to gather together in person and online, and those who will be joining on the e-learning. And Father, we pray that as we study, as we learn, as we are presented with information, Lord, that our hearts and minds will be open, that the Holy Spirit will teach us and train us, and God that we will be equipped to serve you well, to serve people well, and to make a difference in this world. We thank you, Father, in Jesus' name. Amen. Okay. Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining the class today. I'll just quickly review what we did last week, and then I know I gave you all a little assignment, so I'd like to hear from you for a few minutes, and then we'll move forward into this lecture. So, what we were doing last week, we were talking about tools and methods to study the Word of God. We talked about our objective, why do we engage in personal study. We want to know the truth. We want to know God, and through that revelation, we will also be transformed. We talked a little bit about why are there different versions of the Bible, and we also gave a little background on how translators go about doing Bible translation, and then we just explained where different versions of translations of the English Bible are positioned, and which versions would be very useful for Bible study. Now, this is very important to keep in mind, especially as you're going to study the Scriptures. You need to know that if you're using the New American Standard Bible or the Amplified or the English Standard Version, you're closer to the original text, so that's why you can be a little bit more confident when you're studying the Scriptures, but when you're using some other versions, you need to keep in mind that it could be a thought for thought meaning for meaning or even a paraphrase version, and so we need to be mindful of that when we're using different versions. So we went through that and then we went through an overview of our different methods of Bible study, and we will kind of be explaining some of these in greater detail today, and we talked about the devotional method where you take a passage, and this is typically what we do or we would do in our daily devotions. You're reading the Bible, you read a passage, and then you want to draw some insight from that passage. You don't want to just pass over or just quickly run through the passage. You want to gain some insight. So we said we can do these three things. We can engage in observation, interpretation, and application. You engage in that as you are studying the scripture. So we took Mark chapter 14 verses 3 to 9 as an example, and I said, okay, take some time to look at that passage, engage in observation, interpret, and apply. So I want each one of us to share one thought. I know you could all look at it and you could derive many thoughts from it, or you would have derived many insights from it, but I'd like all of us to just quickly share one thought. I hope you all did that, and you are able to gain something from that passage. So I want to hear from you. First we will go to those who are in the class, and then we will let those who are online share. Okay, so since we have so many people, a one minute, okay, not more than one minute, within one minute, or maybe even 30 seconds, I want you to say one thought, right? So very clearly, you look at this passage, observation, interpretation, application. You may have learned a lot, but I want you to share one thought in 30 seconds or maximum one minute. I want you to share. So let's start. Bimal, please share and then quickly pass the mic, or you can speak. Hopefully our online students can answer here. Yeah, one minute, share, and then pass it down. We'll go around quickly. Just share the thought. Don't have to read the scripture. Just say, what was the thought, what was one insight that you gained from Mark chapter 14 versus 3 to 9? Go ahead. So here we can... Is your mic on? Is the mic on? Okay. So here we read about that woman who come and put that... put that albaster jar and broke it and like... Can I say in Hindi? Okay, Hindi. You say in Hindi, fine. I might... I think we will understand. Go ahead. So that's the thought, the life-long she invests on that. And she breaks it in the foot of Jesus and on the head of Jesus, she gives it to him. So this shows our sacrifice. Samarpan means sacrifice. Sacrifice and like what everything is for you, surrender. Okay. So that's the thought that meant the sacrifice she made. Please pass it down. I think we'll come last to you. Okay, 30 seconds. Maximum one minute. What was one insight you gained? I just like the woman here who showed her love and appreciation to Jesus, whom she loved. And just like that, I mean, I would like to apply this to those whom I love in my life. I want to have to... I want to do things that to show them that I appreciate their love for me too. Yeah, that's what I learned. So the thing that stood out was she expressed love and appreciation through what she did. Very good. Inam? Sorry, there's a helicopter flying her. Okay, go ahead. Yeah, even though she was not invited. One minute, let that plane go. I can't hear. Yeah, please. Even though she was not invited to that gathering, she took courage to come there and give worship to Jesus, knowing that she was a sinner and Jesus can forgive her. So what struck you was that though she was not invited, she still came. So that showed her courage to come in and very good. Yes, Sri Radha. I observed from here that sometimes we can't come out from our comfort zone. And we just hold ourselves back, like if we go, if we do that, what people will think. But she's like, I can't see you that speak a little, okay, just... Okay, I observed from here that sometimes we can't come out from our comfort zone. We think about that. If I will do this, what people will think about me. But here we see that the woman all step out from her comfort zone and did this and worshiped Jesus. So she stepped out of her comfort zone, stepped in. Yeah, you can imagine in this room with all the disciples and yet she came in and she... Okay, good talk. Francis. Like, I understand like, for ourselves, we don't consider our situation. What is the situation? Like she is not allowed for that place. Then she came and ministered Jesus. Then the British broke the fast. So that's showing like, she don't have patience for serving here. She don't wait. She came, she suddenly did what she want. So like us, we don't wait for... Like, I have time, the time will come. Whatever we have time, give for Jesus. Okay, so she took action. She came, she broke the fast, she seized the moment like we would say, right? So that's what struck out for you. Sean, thank you. Sir, I understood that the alabaster jar was more like a heart and heart. That, you know, which we see, if you look at the passage where he talks about, you know, like throwing seeds on the ground, you know, some, some it fell on rocky, rocky soil. Some it fell on soft soil, some it fell on the soil, but tons so like that. I feel that alabaster jar was more like a heart and heart, my thinking. And when she broke that jar, she finally opened our heart to God is what I thought. So you felt, okay, you, so kind of your, you felt that the flask represented a heart and heart? Yes. Okay. Vijay, Anand and then Vijay. The first thing I've observed is, I mean, we don't used to go to uninvited places and all. So he has the courage that to go to Jesus and I have to meet him. The second thing is, okay, one thought, one thought, only one. I mean, that's a continuation. Okay, okay. I'll give you a chance to say, when somebody says one thought, you have to say one thought. Okay. But now you say second thought because first one has been shared. She waited for the moment. She waited for the moment. She gave what she had. I mean, everyone told that like, why she's wasting all these things. She waited for the moment. She gave what she had. So like, like how we also have, we also can give what we had. We have. Good. Come on, please. Thank you. So my thought is like importance. So alabaster job is like more variable. So it's more important to her to store. So she gave that importance to Jesus. So Jesus became the importance, more important to her. So the value, the importance she expressed in doing this. Good. For me, like, she gave her best thing. Sorry? She gave her best thing. Best thing, best thing. Oh, she gave her best. Best thing, which this is very important like she kept for many years. And this is the best thing which she had. And she didn't think anything, but she just gave her best, whatever she can. Good. So she gave her best. That's what stood out for you. Good. Hindi? Yes. So what was your main thought? That the moment, the God gave her a chance. Is that what you said? Whatever you have, you give at that moment. Okay, friends. Sorry, if I don't understand clearly, I'm asking you. For me, what really stuck is that when Jesus told like, she did what she could. Like, sometimes we need to, we think like we have to give more, but all Jesus asks is like, what you can give for me. And the other thing is like, when everyone tells it's a waste, but Jesus doesn't consider this as a waste. He looked it so beautiful. And one thing really in my mind is like, what we do for Jesus may go waste, but what we do to Jesus, it will be never waste. So that's why Jesus tells like, wherever gospel goes, what she done is will be spread. Okay. So though it seemed it appeared like it was a waste, it was not. Okay. That's what stood out for you. Good. All right. Thank you. Thank you all for sharing. Let's listen to those who are online. Just want to welcome you. You know, we'll take turns. You can either share your thought or you can, I mean, you can unmute your mic and speak, or you can just put it in the chat. If you're going to speak one thought, 30 seconds or a minute. Go ahead, please. Shukumar, you want to share or you want, if you want to put it on the chat, that's fine. Nina, Roshan, Miku, Arilla, Shrekib, Rabu, Karen. You can unmute and speak or you can put it in the chat. Roshan, go ahead. Pastor, what stood out to me in this versus was the action of this woman was very prophetic because Jesus says that she beforehand has anointed my body for burial. And this also reveals to us the high priestly ministry of Jesus because she broke the flask and poured the oil on his head, it says. So, and so it's by speaking of the high priestly ministry of Jesus and he being the head of the church. So that's what stood out to me. Okay. So what stood out for you was she was anointing Jesus for burial. And yeah, so the woman didn't know, I mean, as far as we can tell, she may not have understood or known that Jesus is going to be crucified, you know, but yet there was the purpose of God being released through what she did. So Nina, I see a question. Is she depicted as a sinner? Isn't it Mary of Bethany? So there are two stories in the Gospels. There is two women who anointed the oil, anointed Jesus, and they are separate. They're different people. They're not the same. And we will look at that later. So this person is not the same as the woman who came who was forgiven. Right. So they are two separate women. So this was a woman. We don't know anything about her background. We, she could have been a very pious, righteous woman. We don't know that. But in the other case, there is a clear indication that, you know, she was a woman who came from a different background. So yeah, so just to answer the question, we will compare those two passages later. All right. Okay. Shukumar's comment, when time is there, we need to do the work of God. So that's what's stood out for Shukumar. Thank you for sharing. As you said, poor people always be with us. We need to grab the opportunity and do God's work. Okay. So what Shukumar is sharing is doing things in that opportune moment. Jacob shares, it was a great sacrifice because probably that was the only saving she had. Okay. That's what stood out for Jacob. Karen shares. The one with the alabasa jar shows her honor for Jesus. So that's what stood out for Karen. She's expressing her honor for Jesus. Good. Anybody else would like to share? You can either put it on the chat or you could speak, unmute your mic and speak. Anyone else? Yeah. Can you hear me? Yes, Nina. Go ahead. Yeah. I just wanted to say that I thought it was John 12 that we were looking at. Anyway, so I thought what Mary did, keeping aside whatever because it says that she let her hair lose. I mean, what she did was an extravagant display of devotion because it cost the entire wages is what it says. I mean, the whole year's wages. So it cost her a great deal. So there was sacrifice and it was an extravagant display of devotion. So which I think it encourages us to me to do that. I mean, because Jesus is really worthy of all the devotion that we can give her. Good. Good. Thank you. Thank you for sharing that. That's the expression that it was, it wasn't something's, you know, at least from her perspective it was something very costly, it was extravagant that she gave, she poured out on the Lord. Anybody else who wants to share? Okay. All right. So thank you everyone for taking time to do that, each one. So I'm sure each one would have had more insights and that's fine. I just wanted you to share one thought on this. So we, Prabhu, you want to share something? Roshan, you want to share? Hello. Hello. Can you hear me? Yes, Prabhu. Go ahead. Okay. Just what stood up for me is our action towards people will be like what we think they are to us. So in Hebrew culture, they use oil, a kind of perfume to online them. So it's kind of showing her faith, like what she has, like what she thinks that Jesus to her might be king, or olden days they used to online things. Even before they are king, to make a king, they have to online. So I see in that insight. Okay. Okay. Thank you. I'm not sure I understood everything, but I think you were talking about anointing, anointing Jesus and that's what stood out for you. Okay. All right. So let's go back to our study methods. So we were in this devotional method, right? So that's one way of studying. You look at a passage, you see what's happening in it, then you interpret it, and then you apply it to your own life. So the most important thing, of course, is the application. What are you going to do with it? How are you going to apply it? So we go through that process and say, okay, yeah, so this is what I'm going to take away. Now, of course, from one passage, you may get numerous thoughts and insights, and that's also good. I encourage you, when you are doing this devotional method, to write it down. So I usually keep a little book next to me, and I just write down. Like, whatever you get that day, you pray, then you write it down. It may be one thought. It may be many thoughts. You just put it down simply in simple form, right? So keep a little book or notebook, write it down, then you can go back to it the next day or sometime in the future, you can go back to it and reflect on it again. So you don't forget. Otherwise, every day insights, new insights, you might forget what you learned two days ago. So it's always good to write it down. So let's move forward. Similarly, when you're doing a passage study, there's another way to do it, which is verse by verse, okay? Now, verse by verse is an even more detailed study, right? The inductive study, which we said, is more of getting the gist or the key insights, key points from that passage. But the same passage, you can study verse by verse. You can look it up, look at everything that's happening in that. Maybe even look up the Hebrew or the Greek and see what's happening. So you can do a very detailed study. And we will, of course, in our third year, we will do a verse by verse study of several New Testament books and some Old Testament books. But I will explain a little later when we share the tools, how to look into the detail, the meaning of the words, all right? So when you do a verse by verse study, you're looking at every verse, you're looking at the meaning of the words, you're looking at phrases and you know, illustrations that are being used and so on, okay? So that's a much more detailed study of that. Now, let's look at some other ways to study the Word of God, which we did mention these and we'll talk a little bit more in detail on each of these. A third way to study is what we call as a character study. That means you're looking at a particular biblical character and we are trying to learn about God and about how we should walk with God through the example we see in that particular character, particular person, in that given situation, right? So in a character study, we are just looking at a person in a particular situation. And there are many examples that we can take, for example, Daniel. And you just look at how did Daniel behave in Daniel chapter 6 when there was an announcement made that if you pray to any other God, you will be thrown to lions. So you zoom in on that, right? And it's like you put a magnifying glass on that part of Daniel's life. And then you begin to examine, you go into the situation and see Daniel was in such a prominent position. He was one of the prime ministers, so to speak, in the King's Palace, a very important position. And see, there were people who were against him. They wanted to pull him down. They didn't like him. But the Bible says he was a man who was of an excellent spirit. He was of such character that they couldn't find any faults with Daniel. And he knew about this announcement, and still he went and he prayed. So you kind of focus in on it and say, what does this teach us about Daniel? And what kind of a man was he, etc., you look into it. And then you also look at God's working, how God was so faithful to protect Daniel and how God delivered him. And what was the result when he was delivered from the lion's den? The King elevated him, and even the King was impacted. The King made an announcement that there is no God like Daniel's God. So you study that. So like this, we can look at many, many examples, and we do a character study, character study of different people in the Bible at a certain point in time of their life. And we try to learn about God, and we also try to learn about how we can walk with God. So by looking at that, there are lessons we can take away. How we must be like Daniel, strong, courageous, we stand for what's right, and we don't give up on our faith just because there is hardship and so on. So we take lessons from that. So that's a character study. But if you extend that for the full life of the person, start to finish, then you just call the same thing a biographical study. So you can study from the beginning through to the end. And so, hey, this is how they walked with God through various seasons of life. And we can also connect that this is the behave like this in this season, because what happened in their experience with God in the past, because they experienced God like this in the past. Here we can see how strong they were, how courageous they were, etc. So you can see that. Our goal, of course, is to learn about God and learn how to walk with God through the lives of all of these people, character study. And it's very beautiful. Now, one big advantage of doing a character study is the message sticks in the minds of people. It sticks in the minds of people. Why? Because it's like you're looking at an example. And that's among many ways. That's one of the best ways to learn. It is just to look at the example. That's why it's so much easier for people to learn by seeing you than by listening to you. To learn by listening to you, you have to repeat it so many times. But when they see it in you, they get it. They get it. That's the way it is. So that's why character study, a biographical sketch, is in many ways so much more impactful. I'm not saying that's the only way we should always preach. And teach, but it's very impactful because there is an example, an image that people can have in their minds. And that story, the stories will always stick in the minds of people. So character study, a biographical sketch is a very, very powerful way to study the Word of God. And it encourages us because we can relate life to life. We can relate, hey, he went through like this. I am going through like this, very similar. We can relate to it. Other methods of study which has to do with themes or topics or word study. So that's another way. It's also called deductive study. That means you put all information together and then you draw conclusions from that. So it's called deductive study. Then inductive study, you're going into the passage to find out inductive. So you're doing observation, interpretation, application. In deduction is you're putting all the pieces together and then you're saying, okay, what do I get out of this? What comes out of this when I put all the pieces together? So that's deductive. You're drawing conclusions. Based on all the information put together. Now, we can do it in three ways. We can study by topic. So you take a topic, example, healing or redemption or gifts of the Holy Spirit, any topic, and you study the topic from Genesis 2 Revelation, every possible passage that is speaking on that topic, you put it and then you study. What do I see here? What do I see here? Whether it's a verse of scripture or whether it's a passage, you study. So that's a topical set. On that topic, you go from Genesis 2, Revelation. Now, topical or thematic study is very important. If you want to have a clear understanding on that subject. So inductive study, quantitative study will not give us what we can get out of topical or thematic study. So each one is serving a different purpose. So if you want to say, this is what the Bible says on this topic, then you have to do topical study. You have to study that subject from Genesis 2, Revelation. So do study that topic. Or we can say topic or theme, kind of similar almost, but people differentiate. A theme could be a broader subject. For example, the theme of purpose, the theme of identity, the theme of, some people may say, how God deals with us as a community. So you can look at it, Old Testament, New Testament or priesthood. So topic and theme are almost similar, but themes deal with broader subjects. But the point is, in both these cases, you have to study the subject from Genesis 2, Revelation. Do a full thing, put all together, and then you draw conclusion. What do I see in the Bible on this subject? You have to put everything together. Don't omit something. Oh, I don't like it. So I'll leave it out. No, that's not it. Put everything in, and then you draw or deduce or draw conclusion. Derive conclusions. Similarly, a word study means, you pick a particular word, example, heart. I'm just giving heart or the word love or the word faith or the word life. You take that word and you study that word from Genesis 2, Revelation. Right? So now when you do a word study, generally what will happen is you'll say, okay, in the Hebrew, these are the words, Hebrew words that are translated heart. In the Greek, these are the Greek words translated heart. Then you'll also say, okay, there are some, sometimes there are synonyms. That means heart, spirit. They're used interchangeably. Oh, so then if you're going to study, do a word study on heart, you also will have to study the word spirit. Okay. And then you say, okay, heart. How was it used? Then you'll see in the Old Testament, heart, of course, physical heart, but heart is not only used for spirit, but it's also used for emotions. It's used for what we would typically connect with the soul. So then you'll say, oh, in the Old Testament, the word heart doesn't exclusively mean spirit, but also includes the soul. Whereas when you come into the New Testament, it's used a little differently, because in the New Testament, the mind of the soul is differentiated from the heart very clearly. Right? So it's, oh, in the New Testament, usually when you see the word heart, it's most often referring to the spirit, because when the writer wants to talk about the soul, he would use the word soul or minds. So you'll see that observation. So like that, when you do a word study, once again, it helps you see these kinds of things, which you normally will not see when you do inductive studying or when you do character biographical sketch. All right, I will show you how to do it when we use the tools, right? But I'm giving an explanation here on these things. Topical, thematic, and word study. Okay, so let me just pause and see if there are any questions from those online. Roshan has a question. I use word study dictionary. Are there topical and thematic study dictionaries too? So usually I'm answering Roshan's question. So usually for topical and thematic, you will find books written. So for the others, example, character study, biographical sketch, topical and thematic, somebody would have done it and they would have written books on it. So you will find that. For example, even at ABC, we have books like Who We Are in Christ. So that's a thematic study. It's a study on the theme of our identity in Christ or marriage and family or redemption or healing. So those books are basically topical or thematic studies from the word of God. So it's all been compiled in the book. So you'll find books like that. And then it's always good to read multiple authors or writers because sometimes not every author would cover everything exhaustively. So it's always good to read multiple on the same theme or topic. Yeah, good question. All right. So let me just go a little bit more forward on this. So we talked about topical thematic or word study, what it means, how to do it. Then there are other approaches, which is a chapter study. Now again, to study a chapter, we can do it in many ways. You can do a chapter summary, which is trying to get the gist of the chapter. So it's not a very detailed study, but you're saying this chapter, these are the main points in this chapter. Okay. So it's a gist of that. You can get a chapter, a summary, the main insights in that chapter, or you can get into the details. So this is called the chapter analysis. A chapter analysis is a detailed study of the same chapter. So you're not just doing a summary. You're not saying, oh, chapter three talks about this. No, now you're going into every verse of chapter three. They're looking into every element in the verse. The words, the illustrations, things that are given in that. So you're doing an analysis of that. Now, if you extend chapter study to a book, then you're studying all the chapters from the book. Then obviously that's a book study. A book study, again, you can do a book background. Just looking at what is the background? What is the context? When was it written? Who was it written to? Why was it written? That's a book background study, but that's usually not enough. You can then, what we really like to do is to do a detailed study of the book. So the book background, there's a book survey, which is an overview of the book, or you can do a book synthesis. A book synthesis means you're getting into the detail of the book, verse by verse. So in our third year, we do book synthesis of all the epistles, Gospel of John, Book of Acts, and then we will do Daniel and Revelation. So it's a book synthesis, meaning you will read every verse and you will give the meaning of every verse in the context of the chapter, in the context of the book, and in the context of the Bible. So because the book belongs to the Bible. So when you're interpreting a verse, you have to interpret that verse in the context of the chapter, in the context of the book, and in the context of the whole Bible. So book synthesis. So if you really want to understand the book, example Romans, it's a fascinating book. I really love it. Love the book of Romans. But you go have to interpret verse by verse. When you're reading chapter, you know, chapter five, you have to know what he said in chapter one, because there's a continuing thought. You just don't interpret chapter five by itself, right? You have to interpret chapter five in the light of what he said in all the previous chapters. And then you have to look at specific words, what he's saying, and carry all that with you as you journey through the remaining chapters. It's a very good way to study. So when you study a book, you can do a book backgrounds, you can do a book survey high level, or you can do a book synthesis, meaning detail every verse in context. And that's a very good way to study. And we will do that in number third here. All right. So these are all ways to study. Now what I want to show for us is, see, when after saying all this, you'll say, well, how am I going to do it? Right. I want us to know that we have the tools to do it. That means you don't have to struggle by yourself. There are tools that we can use to do all this study. All right. The simplest devotional study, inductive study you do by yourself. You're reading, you're praying, you're drawing inside. But when you want to do these other studies like thematic, topical, word study, chapter study, book study, there are tools for us. Okay. So after the break, in the next lecture, I'm going to just walk us through some tools and show us how to use these tools. Right. And it is, I would encourage all of us to become familiar how to use these tools. Because when I say do chapter study, do verse by verse study, it seems very like a big job. How are we going to do? Oh, such a big task. Well, there are tools. Make use of the tools. It'll help us. It'll make our work very fast. All right. So we will take a break here. I think you had overload of information. Let's see now. Any questions from those online? Okay. All right. So after the break, when we come back, we'll look at the tools. What you can use to do these kinds of studying as we discuss. Right. Let's come back in 10 minutes, please. Thank you.