Task 6. Distribute the Teaching Portions for the Series
Essence of the Task
Distribute the portions according to the requirements of the series (respecting, as much as possible, the natural distribution of the biblical text).
Detailed Description
Although it is true that this task could be done at any time prior to the beginning of the series – even before studying anything! – the ideal time is after you have gained a general understanding of the biblical book as a whole.
On that basis, you will be able to distribute the book into teaching portions more accurately and with a better understanding of the peculiarities involved in developing a series on this particular book. The fact is that some biblical books are denser. Others are somewhat repetitive. Some are even so long that you may decide to cover representative sections in order to convey the message of the book in a comprehensive and accurate way, without aspiring to develop everything. In this last case, especially, a certain familiarity with the book is essential to make a distribution that does not inadvertently detract from the message of the book.
To Do
With an eye on what you have studied so far, distribute the teaching portions and assign them to specific dates on the calendar. The minimum end result should be a passage for each date of the series. A more elaborate end result would include a preliminary idea of the topic each passage addresses, or a notion of what the title might be.
Minimum result
- Date
- Portion / Pericope
More elaborate result
- Date
- Portion / Pericope
- A suggested title
- First draft of a main idea
The task of distributing portions is so straightforward, in and of itself, that it doesn’t require more commentary than simply to get to work! [However, since there are potentially always ways to strengthen one’s effort, you may find it helpful to look at the examples I’ve given in the corresponding tutorials (in Spanish), such as contrasting commentaries or using the pericope tool in Logos Bible Software.]
Also, when laying out the calendar, don’t forget to take into account special dates (such as Christmas, Easter Sunday, etc.) that may interrupt the series. These short breaks can even serve as a change of pace (both for you and for your listeners), if the series is long.
To Keep in Mind
When distributing the portions to be studied, keep the following tips in mind:
First of all, respect the pericopes. These are the smallest logical units of thought presented in a biblical text. Possibly one of the easiest ways to respect the original biblical message is to preach and teach on the basis of these logical units.
Think about the way you teach or preach. Especially if the pericopes are very short (few verses) or very long (many verses). Are you prepared to adjust your way of preparing and presenting in order to handle these variations? For example, you cannot plan to deal with a long pericope only to wind up developing it disproportionately, expounding on the first few verses in great detail, only to rush through the remainder of the portion.
If you think that the most appropriate approach for the spiritual needs of the moment in your context are studies that cover more extensive portions, so that, for example, your audience will have a greater breadth of biblical understanding, you could consider developing sermons that include several pericopes in which each portion winds up being a sub-point of the whole. It is a matter of knowing what you are doing and being coherent with that approach to the task.