Eric W. Sayers

What is the Gospel of John?

In this session we focus on the fourth gospel, John, that many consider to be one of the most beautiful books in the Bible. John is a highly symbolic book filled with vivid images, scenes, and sayings that all address the question of who and what Jesus is. I hope these Bible Labs will help you explore a few of those a bit more.

Bible Lab 1 – The Prologue: John 1:1-19

The opening of John is one of the most arresting passages in Scripture. Read it slowly and then consider these questions:

1. What does it mean to you that Jesus, the Christ, is the Word of God?
2. What does it mean to you that the Christ has always existed, and was the agent of creation?
3. According to John, who are the people that the Christ seeks?
4. Write your own summary of what John’s prologue says about the Christ.

Bible Lab 2 – The Context of John 3:16

John 3:16 is perhaps one of the most familiar verses in the entire Bible. “For God so loved the world that He gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him may not perish but may have eternal life.” The verse is actually the conclusion of the story of Jesus and Nicodemus, a Pharisee who comes seeking to learn more from Jesus in the dead of night.

1. Read John 3:1-15.
2. What do you think it means to be “born from above”?
3. What is the difference between things “born of the flesh” and things “born of the Spirit”?
4. Why might it have been so hard for Nicodemus to follow what Jesus is saying?
5. Do these reflections add any new understandings to your reading of John 3:16?

Bible Lab 3 – The Confession of Peter

Beyond the scenes of Holy Week and Easter (Palm Sunday, the Last Supper, the Crucifixion and Resurrection), there are very few passages that are present in all four gospels. One of these is the confession of Peter recorded in John 6:67-71 as well as in Matthew 16:13-20, Mark 8:27-30, and Luke 9:18-21. After reading the four passages, consider these questions:

1. Why is this scene so important that all four evangelists chose to include it?
2. How are the four portrayals of this scene similar? How are they different?
3. What do the evangelists claim is the source of Peter’s confession? Why is this important?

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Next up : Session 10 – What is the Book of Revelation?

View the entire series.

What are the Synoptic Gospels?

In this session we discuss the first three gospels in the New Testament: Matthew, Mark, and Luke. These are the synoptic gospels, so called because they “see together” and share a great deal of material. Even so, each evangelist was writing to a particular audience with somewhat different objectives. A helpful study tool for these gospels is a “gospel parallel”, a resource that presents the three texts side by side making it easy to identify and compare material that is shared (or unique) between them. The following are some online versions of this resource:

• https://www.bible-researcher.com/parallels.html
• https://www.gospelparallels.com/index.html
• https://agape-biblia.org/literatura/The-Complete-Gospel-Parallels-Synopses-of-the-Gospels.pdf

Bible Lab 1 – The Parable of the Sower

The Parable of the Sower is found in Mark 4:1-9. Use one of the gospel parallels above to find this parable in Matthew and Luke. Read the parable in all three gospels.

1. What person represents God in this parable?
2. What does the parable say about God?
3. What images, symbols, or metaphors do you find in this parable?
4. What similarities and differences do you find between the parable in Mark, Matthew, and Luke?

Bible Lab 2 – Gospel Parallels

Pick another passage of your choice and explore it using one of the gospel parallels above. If the passage occurs in more than one gospel, what similarities and differences do you find? If you explore a passage found in only one of the three gospels, consider why that is, given what we know about that writer’s audience and objectives.

Bible Lab 3 – Beginnings

A popular saying is “well begun is half done.” Each of the three synoptic gospels begins in a very different way. Read the opening verses of Mark, Matthew, and Luke and summarize how each begins. How are they different? How are they similar? What does each beginning say about the writer’s intentions?

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Next up: Session 9 – What is the Gospel of John?

View the entire series.

What are Paul’s Letters?

In this session we focus on a seemingly mundane type of literature: the letter. This literature should be very familiar to us, as almost all of us have written a letter (or more likely, an e-mail) to either a friend, a colleague, or a business. More likely, we’ve written hundreds of them! Even though many of the letters in the New Testament are probably a bit longer than most of ours, nevertheless they share many characteristics. By their nature letters are reflections of the personal relationship between the writer and the recipient: they seek to create, sustain, or deepen that relationship. In a real sense, when we read Paul’s letters to his churches, we are eavesdropping on that relationship, literally reading someone else’s mail! But if we imagine ourselves to be members of the church Paul was writing to, then these letters can truly come alive for us in surprising ways. Give that a try!

Bible Lab 1 – 1 Thessalonians

This earliest Christian writing in the New Testament is fairly brief and you can easily read it in one sitting. If you try that, look for the different sections as you read: salutation, thanksgiving, body, and the final greetings and benediction. What do you learn about Paul’s relationship with this young church? What is Paul thankful for? If you imagine yourself as a member of this church, what is the lasting impression of this letter?

Bible Lab 2 – Paul’s Second Journey

Yay for a map exercise! Get out your study Bible and find a map of Paul’s journey’s (typically in the back). Luke describes Paul’s second journey in Acts 15:36-18:22. As you follow it along, trace Paul’s route on your map through these major stops:

• Antioch (start)
• Galatia
• Philippi
• Thessalonica
• Athens
• Corinth
• Ephesus
• Jerusalem
• Antioch (end)

Bible Lab 3 – Philemon

This unique letter is not only the shortest of Paul’s letter that survives, but it is also the only one addressed to an individual person and not to a church. It is a touching plea for the freedom of a runaway slave, Onesimus, owned by Paul’s friend and fellow Christian, Philemon. After reading the letter, let these questions guide your thoughts:

1. What is Paul asking Philemon to do?
2. What is the basis for Paul’s request? What does Paul expect of Philemon and why?
3. Why do you think the early church preserved this letter?
4. What does this letter say to us today?

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Next up: Session 8 – What are the Synoptic Gospels?

View the entire series.

What was the Early Church?

We start our study of the New Testament not with the gospels, the initial books in the canon passed down to us, but rather with the Book of Acts, the sole book of history in the New Testament. As such, Acts sets the historical context during which the New Testament was written and gives us our best glimpse into early Christianity in the 1st century.

Bible Lab 1 – Luke’s Two-Volume Project

The book of Acts is actually the second volume of a two part work, Luke-Acts, of which the gospel of Luke is the first part. Let’s explore a bit about what Luke was attempting to accomplish with these texts.

1. Read the introductions to both books: Luke 1:1-4 and Acts 1:1-5. What do you learn from these passages about what Luke was trying to do in writing these books?
2. What problems might Luke have been trying to address?
3. Think about someone who has been profoundly important in your own life. If you were to write an account of what that person did, what would you include and emphasize?

Bible Lab 2 – A First Look at Paul’s Preaching

In Acts 13:16-41 Luke records one of Paul’s early sermons, preached in a synagogue in Antioch of Pisidia (not to be confused with the Antioch on the Mediterranean coast!).

1. What aspects of Paul’s sermon suggest that his audience is Jewish?
2. What are some ways that Paul attempts to convince his audience that Jesus is the Christ?
3. What does Paul claim that Jesus did that Moses and the Law could not do?
4. How did the people respond to Paul’s sermon?
5. (Optional) If you read on to the end of chapter 13, you’ll find that Paul was invited back the next week to preach again. What happened this time?

Bible Lab 3 – The Jerusalem Council

Luke describes this famous Council in Acts 15:1-21.

1. What was the position of the “men who came down from Judea?” (verse 1)
2. Why might these people have held this position? What was important to them?
3. What was Paul’s position? What was important to him?
4. Who does Luke record as arguing for Paul’s position? What might be the reason?
5. Which prophet is quoted in verses 16-18? (Hint: use your study Bible!)
6. If we held a “Jerusalem Council” today, what might the issues be?

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Next up: Session 7 – What are Paul’s Letters?

View the entire series

What is Wisdom?

In this final session on the Old Testament, we explore some of its most beautiful, challenging, and meaningful literature: the songs of Wisdom. As discussed in the video, wisdom literature is found throughout the Old Testament and gives voice to perspectives that evolved over time. This is often an explanation for why some parts of Scripture seem to contradict one another: they simply represent different points of view written by people perhaps centuries apart from one another and from different regions of the ancient world (e.g. the Northern Kingdom of Israel, the Southern Kingdom of Judah, or Babylonia during the Exile). So give yourself some time with these texts, and don’t expect your understanding of them to crystallize quickly. It, too, will evolve over time! Cherish that journey.

In the Bible Labs, I’m offering some options for further exploration. Perhaps choose one that seems right to you, and see where the path leads.

Bible Lab 1 – Wisdom and Creation: Proverbs 8 and John 1

I didn’t discuss this in the video, but Proverbs 8 is one of classic wisdom poems in Scripture. Let’s have a look.

1. After reading Proverbs 8, read Genesis 1. Then read Proverbs 8 again.
2. Do you hear or understand the story of creation differently when reading these two texts together?
3. What does it mean to you that Wisdom is portrayed as playing such an important role in creating the universe?
4. Jumping ahead just a bit, many scholars see strong connections between the gospel of John and Hebrew wisdom literature. Read the opening of John, John 1:1-18. Then read Proverbs 8 again.
5. Both of these texts depict an entity being with God during creation and being the major agent of the creative work. Think about these connections between “Lady Wisdom” (Proverbs), the logos (Word) in John, and the Christ. What do those connections say to you about God’s creative work?

Bible Lab 2 – The Two Ways

In the video I discuss the “Two Ways”, an early Hebrew perspective found in Psalm 1 and which can be expressed simply as “Good people will be rewarded, and bad people will be punished.” While ancient, this way of thinking is also remarkably common in our modern cultures.

1. What is it about “Two Ways” thinking that makes it attractive?
2. Do you find anything about “Two Ways” thinking that is distasteful? Why?
3. What examples of “Two Ways” thinking do you encounter in your life, work, and family?
4. Do you find that “Two Ways” thinking applies some of the time, all of the time, or not at all?
5. We all will suffer and ultimately die, regardless of how we live. Listed below are some of the responses or challenges to “Two Ways” thinking. Which of these are meaningful to you?
   • Don’t be envious of the wicked, but seek to be close to God (Psalm 73)
   • Remain faithful to God in the presence of suffering (Habakkuk)
   • Everyone dies, so enjoy your life while you have it (Ecclesiastes)
   • Know that God will always be present with you during suffering (Job)
   • God is merciful to even the worst people (Jonah)

Bible Lab 3 – Jonah

Read the book of Jonah in one sitting. Please allow yourself to laugh out loud as you read…several times. The book is perhaps one of the most ingenious stories ever written! When answering the questions below, also ask yourself what the book of Jonah teaches about each question.

1. Have you ever fled from doing something that you knew was right? What happened?
2. Have you ever tried to forgive someone who you thought beyond any hope? What happened?
3. Have you ever been asked to do something that seemed impossible? What happened?
4. Have you ever felt resentment toward someone else because they seemed to be getting an unfair advantage? What happened?
5. If God really loves every person (even Ninevites!), and if every person (even Ninevites!) is created in the image of God, how does your perspective of other people compare to God’s? What changes do you need to make in your perspectives of other people?

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Next up: Session 6 – What was the Early Church?

View the entire series

What are the Psalms?

As you’ll see from the video, this session emphasizes the role the Psalms can play in our individual and communal prayer lives. So it won’t be a surprise that the Bible Labs for this session are exercises that explore this relationship between Psalms and prayer. So let’s get started!

Bible Lab 1 – Finding Your Prayer in the Psalms

The first step in using a Psalm to guide a personal prayer is obvious: choose an appropriate Psalm! But there are a lot of Psalms! And they’re fairly mixed up…meaning that the various types of Psalms are not generally collected together. So if you’re dealing with a setback, how do you find an appropriate lament? Or if you’re full of thanksgiving, where do you find such a Psalm? Your study Bible may come in handy, as some do have tables or other guides, so take a look. In addition, there are many good resources on the internet, including AI models like ChatGPT or CoPilot. Ask them and you may be pleasantly surprised! Here are a few resources that helpfully list both the various categories of Psalms as well as many Psalms in each category:

• https://restitutio.org/2024/02/18/all-150-psalms-categorized/
• https://women.lifeway.com/2023/07/20/about-the-psalms/
• https://www.biblestudytools.com/bible-study/tips/the-genre-of-the-psalms-part-1.html

The exercise here is simple:

1. Explore your feelings, and identify the kind of Psalm that you want to use.
2. Use one of the resources above to locate an individual Psalm of that category.
3. Read the Psalm quickly to get a sense of its content. Feel free to choose another Psalm from the category if it doesn’t seem to fit.
4. Finally, pray the Psalm: imagine that you are the Psalmist speaking to God, and read it slowly as feels natural. You might try speaking the Psalm out loud. It can make a difference!
5. Make a note of the Psalm if it was meaningful. You’ll likely want to return to it again. You may even want to memorize portions of it.

Bible Lab 2 – Exploring a Psalm: Psalm 91

1. Read Psalm 91.
2. What kind of Psalm is this?
3. What images, symbols, or metaphors do you hear in this Psalm?
4. How does this Psalm make you feel?
5. What does this Psalm teach about the nature of God?
6. When could you see yourself praying this Psalm?

Bible Lab 3 – Meditations on the Psalms

These are various questions that invite you to meditate on the Psalms and your prayer life. Choose one or two that are meaningful to you.

1. Are there particular poems or songs that have been meaningful to you in your life? Why?
2. Have you ever used a poem or song as part of a prayer? Why did you choose it?
3. What types of Psalms do you relate to most easily? Which seem the most foreign?
4. What does the diversity of the Psalms say about the relationship the Hebrew people had with God?
5. How can you see yourself using the Psalms in your personal prayers?

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Up next: Session 5 – What is Wisdom?

View the entire series

Who were the Prophets?

In this session we explore the Old Testament Prophets, a marvelous and diverse group of impassioned preachers who spoke the Word of God to the people of God over the course of many centuries. It’s time very well spent to get to know these books, as they never fail to speak clearly to today’s concerns and call us all to account. It’s amusing to me that YouTube’s AI chose the above image as the “thumbnail” for this video, as to me the image of coach perfectly encapsulates who and what the prophets are. That leads me to the first Bible Lab…

Bible Lab 1 – Amos the Coach

In the video I spend some time unpacking Amos as an exemplar of the Hebrew prophet. As suggested, cozy up in a comfy chair and read the entire book of Amos in one sitting. But before you start reading, think of a coach, teacher, director, or mentor who changed your life in a positive way. As you read Amos, imagine your personal coach saying the words, out loud, with intensity and passion. What hits home? What gets “under your skin”? Always remember that Amos loved his people, and wanted the best for them, and for you. And as you listen for those moments when you read, also remember that it is not Amos speaking to you, but God. And there (perhaps) you thought that God doesn’t speak to you!

Bible Lab 2 – Context of Micah

To start, read the introductory article in your study Bible for the book of Micah. You might also review the timelines in the video to locate Micah’s place in history.

When and where did Micah preach? To whom?

Read Micah 3 (chapter 3). What are some of the problems Micah is preaching against?

What images, symbols, and metaphors do you hear in his prophecy?

According to Micah, what does God want?

Think about our world today. What modern day problems are similar to those Micah preached against? What does Micah say about our modern problems?

Bible Lab 3 – Modern Prophets

Prophecy did not end with the Old Testament. Who are some modern prophets?

Are there particular people who have been prophets for you?

What role do you think prophecy plays in the church today?

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Next up: Session 4 – What are the Psalms?

View the entire series

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The reason the content of this session is particularly important, in my view, is that the first step when reading any Old Testament passage is to place it in the context of this history covered in the video. Every book in the Old Testament speaks to some part of this history, and so by understanding the overall story, we have a much better chance at understanding any Old Testament passage we might read. Let’s see how this works.

Bible Lab: I Samuel 16:1-13

There’s only one Bible Lab this time, and we’ll dig a bit more deeply. After reading the passage, try to identify what important moment in Old Testament history the passage describes. A study Bible will come in handy here, and you may also find the timelines in the video to be helpful.

Let’s see how we did. First, we need to know what kind of book I Samuel is. It’s an historical book, part of the Deuteronomistic history contributed by the D source. That history begins with the book of Deuteronomy and stretches through II Kings. The story in I Samuel 16 describes the moment when God reveals to the prophet Samuel that David is to be the next king after Saul. If we remember that the writers of D viewed David as the greatest king of Israel, and that they were writing after the Exile to explain why it happened, perhaps we should expect them to show why they thought David was such a good king. Let’s explore this a bit.

At the beginning of the story, what kind of person did Samuel expect God to choose as king?

What did God say to Samuel about how God would choose a king?

What do you think it means that “the LORD looks on the heart”?

Now that we’ve thought about the passage in its own context, how might we understand what it says to our modern world? One helpful approach is to place yourself in the story and ask similar questions.

What kind of leaders do you (or our society) expect God to choose?

What does God say to you through this passage about how God chooses leaders?

How do we tend to evaluate other people for leadership roles?

Does this passage call you to change the way you evaluate other people?

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Next up: Session 3 – Who were the Prophets?

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What is the Bible?

In this first session, the topic seems simple enough: What is the Bible? But I think you’ll discover that this is a question you’ll continue to ask yourself the more you journey with Scripture. So let’s get started!

After watching the video, if you’d like to explore a bit further, I’ve added some “Bible Labs” below that you may find helpful. To get the most out of these, I’d recommend picking up a study Bible. There are many good ones, but here are some popular options that are tried and true:

• Common English Study Bible
• Oxford Annotated Study Bible
• New Interpreter’s Study Bible
• NIV Study Bible

Bible Lab 1 – Meditation on Oral Tradition

Think about stories that you tell or that others have told you that are meaningful and memorable. Perhaps they’re stories your family tells at gatherings, or you tell your children or your friends. Maybe a well-loved mentor told them to you. Maybe you bring them out at parties or when getting to know a new friend. What makes these stories memorable? What do the stories communicate? Why do you (or the storyteller) tell the story? What emotional reactions does the story generate? Why is it important?

Bible Lab 2 – Contrasting Old Testament Sources

Compare and contrast the two creation stories in the beginning of Genesis: the P (priestly) story in Genesis 1:1-2:3 and the J/E (old epic) story in Genesis 2:4-3:24. To get started, think about how the priestly story is structured like an act of worship (call and response), while the J/E story reads as a classic narrative. Here are some other prompts to consider:

• Where is the story set (what location)?
• Who are the named characters in each story?
• What is the main focus of each story?
• When were humans created in each story relative to other parts of creation?
• When were men and women created in each story?
• And finally… what we would lose if we only had one of these creation stories?

Bible Lab 3 – Comparing English Versions

Read the following three versions of Psalm 23 and ask yourself how you respond to each one. What do you gain from reading all three of them together?

• Pslam 23 – New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
• Psalm 23 – King James Version
• Psalm 23 – The Message

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Next up: Session 2 – What is the Old Testament Story?

View the entire series

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Many years ago, just after the birth of our first child, my wife and I moved to Howard County, Maryland and began attending Glen Mar Church, a Methodist church that was large enough that we both thought we could simply blend in to the background and remain anonymous. This project was an utter failure, as my wife soon embarked on a path that would result in her being ordained as an Elder in the United Methodist Church, and I began a joyous journey through many small group Bible studies, learning both how to facilitate such groups and being continually amazed at the power of Scripture to change lives. It was in this context that I first encountered “Bible 101”, a short class created by Andy Lunt, the long-time pastor of Glen Mar and a great man in the faith. Andy explained that far too often, when he mentioned a particular Biblical story or character, he was met with far too many blank stares from the congregation. Andy recognized this for what it was: the face of Biblical illiteracy. In response, he created Bible 101 to fill in gaps often left open by typical Bible studies that focus on passages of Scripture but that do not address the larger picture of the Bible as a whole: What is the Bible, actually? What do we really know about it? Where did it come from and who wrote it? Why is it often so hard to understand? Why does it sometimes seem to contradict itself? Are we expected to believe everything in it, especially in light of what we now know about our world and the universe?

Andy structured Bible 101 as six 90-minute lectures (three on the Old Testament, three on the New) featuring him simply standing behind a podium. That was it. Now, Andy is the rare individual who can pull this off, as he has the intellect, the presence, and most especially the voice that can keep people’s rapt attention as long as he wants. So when, as he neared retirement, he asked me to take the class and keep it going (gulp!), I knew I had to reformat it to push myself much more to the background. So it became a set of PowerPoint decks that underwent a number of revisions and restructuring over the years of presenting and discussing it. At one point its name became “Base Bible Study” to cast its material as a foundation for understanding Scripture and preparation for subsequent Bible studies. In its current incarnation, it is 10 videos, each about 20-30 minutes long. You’ll find much more information in the short introductory video, and I hope that you find this content a helpful companion on your own personal walk with Scripture!

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Next up: Session 1 – What is the Bible?

View the entire series

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