Use these tips to make your one-on-one Bible study sessions more effective. In short... Understand and appreciate the learner. Get feedback from the learner about your teaching style. Establish friendly relationships. Contextualize, the lessons, expectations, and outcomes. Make lessons fun. Balance theory with practical matters. Use appropriate methods that suit the learner's style of learning. Prepare and share lesson outline and expected outcome.

1. One-on-One Bible Study Tips
For Compassionate Bible
Teachers

2. Does Your One-on-One Bible
Teaching Benefit from These
Tips?
By Agshin Jafarov
www.biblicaltransformations.com

3. If you are a Bible teacher…
then you can make your one-on-one Bible
study sessions inspiring and more effective
with these tips.

4. But…
Remember! These tips are practical and
experience-based. So adjust them to your
needs and context.

5. Let’s go!

6. •TIP #1
Understand and appreciate the learner’s personality,
background, and worldview.

7. • TIP #1.1. How to gain more information about the learner
• Ask these questions and reflect on learner’s answers. Find
relevant information to make the Bible study more
effective.
• What are the specific reasons you want to do this one-on-
one Bible study?
• Do you have interests or hobbies? If so, what are they?
• What kind of learner are you? Visual? Kinesthetic?
Auditory?

9. • TIP #1.2. Another way of gaining more information
• More Questions! Politely and with permission ask more
questions!
• What kind of education do you have? What’s your favorite
movie, book, music or song? Why?
• How well do you know the Bible? If you read the Bible, then
how often?
• Are there any specific elements of your faith that you
wrestle with? If so, what are they?

10. •TIP #2
Learn from the learner! Get feedback from her
about your teaching style.

11. TIP #2.1. Learn what?
Learn from her about weaknesses in your teaching style.
Learn what kind of gifts she brings to the Bible study. Then
request her to use those gifts to enrich the Bible study
session for the benefit of both of you.
Understand her perspective and gain insights into Scripture
from her point of view.

12. Remember!
She is the image of God too;
God may teach you through her.

13. •TIP # 3
Establish friendly relationships within proper
boundaries.

14. TIP #3.1 How to establish proper friendly relationships?
Pay attention to details and do not intrude into her
personal space.
• Pay attention to immediate context (example: what is the
occasion that brings you together?) and larger cultural
context (example: what are the cultural expectations for
this kind of interaction?)
• Follow cultural norms for space boundaries and interaction
rules.

15. Remember!
Your interaction with her will affect her
understanding of the scripture.
Act according to the trust God put in you.

16. •TIP #4
•Contextualize (adjust) the lesson, expectations, and
outcome

17. TIP #4.1. How to contextualize?
Make your lessons relevant to her based on her needs.
Understand her needs and purpose of taking one-on-one
Bible lessons.
Adjust your lessons to her age and education level.

19. •TIP #5
Make the lessons and sessions fun!

21. TIP #5.1. Fun means what?
Fun does not need to be meaningless. You can make lessons
entertaining, educational, and teach through fun.
Tell stories
Joke
Break the lesson flow and interactions to introduce variety.

22. TIP #6
Balance theory with practical matters.

23. TIP #6.1. How would you balance the theory with practice?
Equip the learner with tools to interpret the scripture.
Teach her concepts such as author, text, genre, and reader.
Help her to understand the importance of person’s character
in process of interpretation.
Assign her scriptural texts to interpret. Go from easy to
difficult texts.

25. TIP #7
Use appropriate method that suits the learning style of
the learner.

26. TIP #7.1. What to do?
Learn what is the best way that the learner understands the
Bible.
For the visual learner use lots of pictures; for the auditory
learner, speech and sound; For the kinesthetic learner,
movements and actions.
With intellectually-gifted students use Socratic method.

27. Remember!
Your call is to equip her to think about deeper things of
life according to scriptural patterns.

28. TIP #8
Prepare and share lesson outline and expected
outcome.

29. TIP #8.1. What kind of outline?
Prepare simple, focused, and clear outline that highlights
the main points.
Organize your ideas based on their priority.
Include details.
Ask her opinion about the outline and next time prepare
the one that helps her most.

30. Remember!
Last but not least: Pray for guidance from the
Spirit.

31. Did you like it?
Find out more in
www.biblicaltransformations.com