I was having a nice barbeque dinner at Famous Dave’s last week with a minister who is launching a satellite church…we were talking about a myriad of subjects. One subject in particular was preaching in a way that helps people to learn on their own. He shared with me the acronym of S.O.A.P. that a minister was using to teach his congregation about reading their Bibles. Unknown to me, we’re actually using this illustration in our children’s Bible Study curriculum, and it is also being used to teach adults as a simple and lifelong way to engage the Bible. If I could pick one thing for a kid to remember after they leave our ministry, this would be it. Because it will continue to teach them for years to come, long after they’ve left our doors.

S - scripture (you start with reading your Bible everyday)

O- observation (you pick out one verse or topic that jumped out to you)

A- application (you think about how that scripture should apply to your life)

P- prayer (you pray that God would help you to apply the scripture to your life)