AN INTRODUCTION TO FreeBibleStudyHelp.com
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Bible Study Suggestions - An Introduction |
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Answer to questions you may have and helpful suggestions are below. Use the quick links below and to the left to go straight to that section. Introduction
INTRODUCTIONIf you want and or need help in studying the Bible, and don't want to spend a lot of money on books and materials, you might be interested in checking out what is offered. These studies are FREE though free will offerings are accepted by using the link at that top or in the hidden sidebar to the left that is legs hanging out of a old style monitor. These Bible study materials go chapter by chapter through a book of the Bible (more or less). Studies are available on most of the books of the Bible. New materials are added continually. 
WHY USE THESE MATERIALSHave you ever opened your Bible and asked the following: • What does this passage really mean? • How does it apply to my life? • Why does some of the Bible seem irrelevant? • What do these ancient cultures have to do with today? • I love God; why can't I understand what he is saying to me through his Word? Many have never read the Bible and even many Christians don't read it regularly. Why? Mainly because in the pressures of daily living they cannot find a connection between the timeless principles of Scripture and the ever-present problems of day-by-day living. God urges us to apply his Word (Isaiah 42:23; 1 Corinthians 10: 11; 2 Thessalonians 3:4), but too often if someone starts to read the Bible and even studies it they stop at accumulating Bible knowledge. These study matereals can help you know God, his Son, what they did and are doing for you, and learn his word while you put it into practice. Applying God's Word is a vital part of one's relationship with God; it is the evidence that we are obeying him. The difficulty in applying the Bible is not with the Bible itself, but with the reader's inability to bridge the gap between the past and present, the conceptual and practical. When we don't or can't do this, spiritual dryness, shallowness, and indifference are the results. The words of Scripture itself cry out to us, "Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says" (James 1 :22). With prayer, the guidence of the Holy Spirit, and with these Bible study materials you can do just that. These study materials helps you understand the context of a passage, gives important background and historical information, explains difficult words and phrases, helps you see the interrelationship of Scripture, goes deeper into God's Word, helps you discover the timeless truth being communicated, and see the relevance for your life and make a personal application.
STUDY FORMATThe Bible studies offered through these web pages are designed to make Bible study easy and informative. Once you choose a book of the Bible to study, you can go chapter by chapter through that book, one study at a time. Or you could chose to study only one chapter if you want to. Each study starts with a QUESTIONS web page. The roughly ten questions are designed to help you think about the meaning and point of the chapter. After answering the questions, you will go to a COMMENTS web page that is full of facts on specific words, phrases, and sentences within the chapter (study). The Bible verse(s) on the COMMENTS web page are in italics. Under the verse(s) are the comments. They follow an asterisk (*). Usually there are several comments that follow each verse. The comments will contain answers to the questions and more. Finally, if you have questions on the study Stephen will do his best to answer them, or at least point you to where you can find the answer. Just send him an email, your question or thought, and name by using the CONTACT STEPHEN RICKER link to the left.
HOW TO BEGINIf you are interested in trying the Bible study materials, return to the Bible Study home page by clicking the FREE BIBLE STUDY link in the upper left corner of this web page. That web page contains charts listing the books of the Bible. Choose a book of the Bible that you may want to study by clicking the name in the STUDY QUESTION SHEETS chart. This will send you to list of all the studies for that book. Choose one of them and pick the arrow to the right of its name to go to that study sheet. Print out the questions if you want or cut-and-past them into a word processor (i.e. MS Word). Before studying the Bible passage, pray, asking Jesus Christ to send you the Holy Spirit to help you study his word. Next, read the passage and memorize the key verse. Then, answer the questions. After answering the questions, pick the COMMENTARY link at the top of the QUESTIONS page. This will send you to a web page with comments on words, phrases, and versed found in the study. Review the commentary to learn more about the passage you are studying. There also may be maps and other things available for review from this web page. Review them as well.
HOW TO CONTINUEAfter completing the first Study it is recommended you move onto the second study of the book of the Bible that you choose to study. It is not recommended that you skip around the Bible. It is also recommended that you study no more than one study a week. Pray for the Lord Jesus to reveal to you the study in a personal way for a week before moving onto the next study. Also, if possible, discuss what the Lord Jesus revealed to you to someone else, preferably another believer in Jesus.
BIBLE VERSION USEDThe Bible was originally written in either Hebrew or Greek (with a few very small exceptions). Since most people don't know either language it has been translated into other languages, especially in the last five hundred years. The English language translation quoted in the comments and questions pages on this site is the New International Version (NIV). The World English Bible translation is also on this site without downloading or installing anything on your computer. The King James Version (KJV), The New King James Version (NKJV), The Living Bible (LB), the New American Standard Bible (NASB), and others are sometimes quoted too. The comments and questions pages on this site gives you the ability to read the World English Bible translation by picking the Bible verse (if it is blue) at the top of the study. This will bring up a pop-up window with the World English Bible. Occasionally a transliteration of Greek and Hebrew is referenced too. It is suggested reading newer up-to-date translation because they have more manuscripts available for translations (i.e. The Dead Sea Scrolls) and they are in the current language vernacular and thus easier to understand. Understanding the Bible and thus correctly applying it to one's life after all is the main purpose for reading and studying it.
TIME STUDY SUGGESTIONSRecommended time allotments for each section of a lesson: Segment Total Time 60 minutes 90 minutes • Prayer 5 minutes 10 minutes • Read the passage 10 minutes 15 minutes • Answer questions 35 minutes 50 minutes • Pray & act 10 minutes 15 minutes
WESTMINSTER SHORTER CATECHISMThe Westminster Shorter Catechism may assist you in learning and understanding the basic tenants of the Christian faith. This will help in understanding the viewpoint of the author. It consist of 107 questions and answers concerning the Christian faith and life.
HISTORY OF THIS WEBSITE
Stephen Ricker
Stephen started these Bible studies in 1985, two years after asking Jesus to be Lord of his life and his personal savior at the end of 1983. The first few years after conversion his Bible study material was hand written. Starting in the late 1980s he used computers to record his Bible study. (Big thing back then!) The first computer used was his friend's Leading Edge (Thanks Dave). It came with its own word processor. Stephen built his own computer in 1988 and others in the years that followed. He used WordStar word editor to record his Bible studies. Stephen still has WordStar and those Bible study materials on floppy disk somewhere. They stopped making/selling WordStar in the early 1990s. So he started using MS Word to record his Bible studies. The Word Wide Web was released in 1991. Stephen created his first Bible Study website in 1998 by using AOL's Personal Publisher and posted it on AOL's domain. This was initially called Hometown AOL in 1998 and changed to AOL Hometown in 1999. AOL shut down this service with no notification in the mid 2000s. Since Stephen's website was never backed-up on his personal computer, the Bible study website was completely lost. Stephen started working on a new Bible Study website in 2000 by learning HTML and CSS. Then he began converted his WordStar and MS Word Bible studies to HTML. The new Bible Study website was launched in 2000. The first url was StephenRicker.com. FreeBibleStudyHelp.com was added shortly after. The new site had Bible introductions, question sheets, and commentary on only a few books of the Bible. The other books of the Bible were continually added. FreeBibleStudyHelp.com and StephenRicker.com was redesigned in 2009 and then again in 2022. Improvements and addition of commentary continues to this day. BDBD (Bible Daily Bread Devotional) blog started in 2021. BDBD (Bible Daily Bread Devotional) podcast started in January 2023. For a brief history of Stephen's writing click the link ABOUT THE AUTHOR in the left sidebar or here for his writing history.
PRIVACY POLICYThe privacy policy for FreeBibleStudyHelp.com and StephenRicker.com can be read by clicking the link of the two men in black looking at each other in the hidden side bar on the left.
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