James 3:1, “Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment.”

We are teaching the Bible not only to inform but to be transformed (Romans 12:1-2).

Group Discussion: What hooks does James effectively employ to spark interest in his listeners from James 3:1-12?

Five benefits of using effective hooks in teaching to change lives:

Helps to get your lesson off to a great start

Orients their attitude toward the lesson

Opens their eyes to God’s activity in daily life

Keeps their attention

Spearheads excellent group discussion in and out of the classroom

Where do you find useful hooks?

• Use great questions each week in your preparation (www.joshhunt.com).

• Use personal stories or testimonies of the people in your class.

• Use daily life examples. For example, Jesus used a lily to teach us not to worry (Matthew 6:25-34).

• Use current events. What is going on in the news? What is happening in our city? Nation? World?

• Use a problem to get them talking. Ex. “Today, we have more ways to connect with one another than ever before, yet the percentage of people that would describe themselves as lonely continues to rise. What can we do as a class to minister to lonely people?”

• Use the rating scale. On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate yourself as a communicator?

• 1----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------10
(Pathetic)                                                                                               (Persuasive)

We are teaching the Bible not only to inform but to be transformed (Romans 12:1-2).