A Bible Talk Is Not a Performance

A Bible talk is not a performance you deliver. It is one of the ways we make disciples — which means the goal is not that they heard a good talk. The goal is that they met God in His word, and that you learned something about what is going on in their hearts.

Those are two different aims, and they produce two different evenings. One puts you in the spotlight. The other keeps the focus on the journey of disciple making. If the aim is a good talk, you prepare until it flows. If the aim is disciple making, you prepare until there is room in it for someone else to speak.

Here is the order that has served us well.

As you prepare, start with the passage — not with the talk

This is preparation work, done well before you stand up. Read the passage several times, slowly. Read it out loud. Read it in another translation. Ask God to help you understand it, and keep asking right through to the night you speak.

Choose shorter narrative passages where you can. A story with a beginning and an end keeps the teaching focused and is far easier to follow — especially for teens. A sprawling passage produces a sprawling talk and loses the very people you are stepping alongside.

Then say the main point in one sentence. Everything else gets measured against it. Anything that does not serve it comes out, however good it is.

One caution, and it is the one that matters most: keep the talk about God, not about you. Your story can serve the passage in a sentence or two, but the moment the talk becomes about what happened to you, the room starts learning about you instead of meeting God. Ask yourself honestly — if I took my story out, is there still a talk here? If not, go back to the passage.

Give them time to ponder along the way, not only at the end

This is the change that turns a talk into disciple making. If all the thinking happens after you finish, most of it never happens at all.

Break the passage into sections and stop at each one, so you are journeying through the story together rather than reporting on it afterward. Stop where the story stops. And let the silence run longer than is comfortable — people need a few seconds before an honest answer surfaces.

Ask questions that cannot be answered yes or no

A yes or a no feels like participation, but it closes the door. It tells you nothing, and you are trying to understand what is going on in someone's heart. You cannot do that from a nod.

Instead of “Do you have a quiet time?” — “Where in your week is there space to listen to God?”

Instead of “Is anything distracting you?” — “What’s loud enough in your life right now to keep you from noticing?”

Instead of “Do you have someone discipling you?” — “Who’s walking alongside you?”

And when you ask, actually wait. The moment you answer your own question, you have taught them that they do not need to.

The extras come last, and that order is the whole point

Games, object lessons, sketches — add them once you know where the passage is going, and only then. Built in this order they serve the point. Built first, they become the point, and the passage gets bent to fit them.

The test for any of them: what does this teach, and is it what my passage teaches? If the game teaches something true but different, change the game, not the passage.

Set the room up for relationship

How you arrange the chairs teaches something before you say a word. Rows point everyone at you. A circle points them at each other.

Four to six people per circle, with a leader in each who gets to know them — who notices where each person is, and connects with them at a heart level. The leader does not answer first — and when they do, they answer honestly. An unpolished answer from a leader gives everyone else permission.

The talk opens the door; the circle is where you walk through it.

That is where you will actually learn what is going on in their hearts.

You do not have to go it alone

Send your outline to someone a week ahead and ask what is unclear. Ask a more experienced leader to sit in — not to grade you, but to tell you what they saw in the room. Ask your circle leaders afterward what came up; they heard things you did not. And when something did not work, say so out loud to someone.

That is how we grow together as we go and make disciples.

The full guide goes further

Bible Talks in Disciple Making walks through all nine steps with worked examples from “Speak, I’m Listening” (1 Samuel 3) — the whole shape of the talk, a blindfolded relay and an object lesson that each teach what the passage teaches, and a one-page prep checklist. Free to copy and share.

Download the guide (PDF)

Steve Meeker

Steve Meeker is the Director of Leadership Lab International, the training arm of Scripture Union USA serving both the U.S and other Scripture Union movements. With over 30 years of experience in multicultural discipleship and team development, Steve is passionate about equipping disciple-makers to grow in their leadership and deepen their walk with Jesus.

He works closely with ministry teams to foster a culture of unity and servant-hearted collaboration, empowering them to live out the Great Commission with purpose and joy.