O I A

Tonight, we started doing a new family Bible study together.  I'm teaching them the O I A method of Bible study; Observe, Interpret, Apply.

Observe - for this, we read a passage and write down the things that the passage clearly says.  We only write it down if it is there in the text.  Nothing else gets written down.

Interpret - for this, we talk about what we observed and what it could mean.  Some of our interpretations can be wrong... we're supposed to be talking about what the observations "could" mean.  Then we pare down that list and write down the things that seem like our observations do mean.

Application - for this, we look at our interpretations and ask, "What could this mean for me?" or "How can I apply this in my life?"

We practiced this method tonight on the passage John 1:1-18.  It made for a very good lesson for us all and it was a very good passage to learn and practice the O I A Bible study method.

TIA (That Is All)