First Time Bible Teacher

In the search for truth, sometimes we ignore the emotional state of our people. To teach the Bible effectively, we need to remain aware of the emotions of our congregations. This episode talks about the balance between truth and emotion in Bible teaching as well as some practi...

Everyone prepares for what they find important. In our Bible teaching, it's important that we prepare ahead of time. A good teaching calendar can help you teach prepared in many ways. This episode discusses the importance of a teaching calendar, what a good teaching calendar i...

Many people think being a Christian is a list of rules to follow. Unfortunately, bad application methods can reinforce wrong ideas about God. In this episode, we define legalism, mention some ways legalism can creep into our teaching, and give some better methods for applying ...

Teaching above the head of your audience is a great way to get them to tune out. In this episode, we discuss how to make sure you're staying on track with your audience. We discuss the importance of teaching to your people as well as ways to keep every member of your audience ...

Many Bible teachers feel like slaves to their notes. But breaking free can be a scary process. This episode talks about the need to learn this important skill as well as gives some tips for how to begin learning to teach without notes. For more info, visit goodlion.io.

Every Bible teacher will face discouragement at some point. The question for Bible teachers is what they'll do when discouragement comes. This episode talks about analyzing your discouragement, finding the helpful truths in it, and not dwelling on it for too long. For more inf...

Jesus came to be a servant, not to receive service from us. Bible teachers need to follow his example. This episode examines some bad motives that may slip into the hearts of Bible teachers. It also point to the right motive to teach as well as provides some practical ways we ...

For Bible teachers, it can be hard to be transparent. We want to be honest with our listeners, but how much is too much to share? This episode helps answer that question and dives into practical ways to balance transparency with wisdom. For more info, visit goodlion.io.

Can you reach a point in your study where it stops being helpful? The answer to that might actually be yes! At some point, a Bible teacher needs to know it's time to stop preparing and trust what they have. This episode dives into what it means to overstudy, how you can know y...

In your teaching life, you'll often have plenty of time to prepare your sermon. But sometimes, you'll get almost no time at all. How can you respond to these requests with quality teachings instead of fearful stammering? This episode gives some helpful principles for handling ...

We're back with new weekly episodes! This episode explains where there's been such a gap in time between the last episode and this episode and dives into the relationship your personal life needs to have with your teaching life. For more info, visit goodlion.io.

For many, the desire to teach is more present than the opportunities. That doesn't mean that you can't hone your teaching gift now. This episode is designed to encourage you to develop your teaching abilities even if you don't have formal opportunities. We'll outline a few way...

What do you do when you're in the middle of a teaching and it's not going well? For many, the answer is panic. While that may be the first response, there are simple, helpful things you can do during a bad teaching to help you push your way through it. For more info, go to goo...

Sometimes, we get too focused on what other teachers think of us. If we're not careful, we can teach only for other preachers, not the people sitting in front of us. In this episode, I interview my wife and we talk about the way she thinks about listening to preaching, helpful...

When it comes to teaching the Bible, people need to know you're a real person. This episode dives into how we can be relatable by looking at four areas where honesty helps in teaching. For more info, visit goodlion.io.

This episode is an interview with Aaron Salvato, Founder of Hesed Creative, Podcast Director of the GoodLion Podcast Network and Former Youth Pastor of Calvary Chapel Vista. For more info, visit goodlion.io.

When we teach the Bible to people, we get a small part of their entire lives. The culture is teaching things to our listeners all the time and we need to speak to those things. This episode discusses the role teachers should take in relating to the culture and practical ways t...

To teach people well, we need to realize the limits that teaching has. Just like a classroom teacher uses homework, tests and so many other things to reinforce lessons, so Bible teachers need to think about using more than just sermons. This episode discusses the various ways ...

Ever feel like a teaching is just dry knowledge? On the other end, ever felt like a teaching was only meant to pull on your heartstrings without teaching you anything new? This episode talks about the need to balance those two things. For more info, visit goodlion.io.

Teaching is a very personal thing. As you teach the Bible, you need to be very careful to consider the actual people you are standing in front of. Bible teachers can easily start teaching hypothetical people, not the real people in their church. This episode will help you ask ...

In all of our reading, writing and prepping, the step that might be easiest to skip is prayer. Without prayer, we're just relying on ourselves. That's a dangerous place for any Bible teacher to be in. This episode helps you think through the role of prayer in your study and wi...

In teaching the Bible, it's very easy to turn all Bible reading into message prep. This episode discusses the importance of making a distinction between personal study and corporate study. For more info, visit goodlion.io.

In teaching, it's very easy to define yourself by the way you teach. God never asks Bible teachers to identify themselves by the way they perform in teaching. This episode dives into the need to view teaching as a task instead of an identity and gives some ways to help do that....

Brand new things are coming to First Time Bible Teacher! Make sure you've subscribed as the new season of First Time Bible Teacher starts on February 11th.

To teach effectively, a message needs to be simple enough to understand. This episode is all about keeping things simple so you can keep your audience with you. For more info, go to brianrhiggins.com.