Reading Assignment

Instructions

To successfully complete the Old Testament Track with the DTS Global Institute, you must read all three items listed below. After reading everything listed, please submit your reading report. To do so, scroll to the bottom of this lesson, write up answers to the questions listed there, and submit your answers in a single file. This will allow you to reflect briefly on your reading and will affirm that you have in fact read all of the following:

  • All 39 books of the Old Testament in any translation (we provided NIV, ESV, KJV, NET, and LEB in Logos)
  • Exploring Christian Scripture by Kreider, Svigel, and Yarbrough (Logos)
  • Jonah: Beyond the Tale of a Whale by Mark Yarbrough (Logos)

We recommend reading the following resources as well, though they are not required for completing the program:

  • Surveying the Pentateuch (Learn the Word Bible Survey Series), edited by Paul Weaver (Logos)
  • Surveying the Old Testament Poetic Books (Learn the Word Bible Survey Series), edited by Paul Weaver (Logos)
  • Surveying the Old Testament Prophets (Learn the Word Bible Survey Series), edited by Paul Weaver (Logos)

NOTE: All the resources listed above are included in the free Logos package provided to you.

Teaching Assignment


For this assignment, you will be required to teach through the Old Testament book of Jonah. Please feel free to do this in whatever way best fits your ministry context! To help you get started, we have provided you with a sample curriculum for three different settings—preaching, small group leadership, and one-on-one discipleship. We suggest you adapt these resources as needed for your ministerial and cultural contexts. You will find them all posted as downloadable files below.

The one stipulation for how to go about teaching this book is that you split it into four (4) lessons, one for each chapter of Jonah. This should be true whether these are four sermons, four small-group sessions, four one-on-one sessions, or something else. This will give you multiple instances of practice and will help you have more to reflect on for your final self-evaluation.

Once you have finished all four teachings on Jonah, please return to this course and complete the “Self-Evaluation Report” in the next lesson below. This will serve as confirmation that you have completed the teaching assignment.

A FEW TIPS:

  • You are welcome to teach these lessons in whatever language you like, so long as the final self-evaluation is submitted in English.
  • In addition to the sample curriculum posted here, you will likely find it helpful as you prepare your lessons both to review the “Jonah” course you took and to revisit Dr. Yarbrough’s book Jonah: Beyond the Tale of a Whale from your assigned reading.
  • Read through the self-evaluation questions before beginning your teaching experience so that you have an idea of what to look out for.
  • It may help to keep a journal/notebook throughout your teaching experience so that you can recall your thoughts when you fill out the self-evaluation at the end.
  • Remember: Be “text-centered and audience-focused”!


Please download and review the sample curriculum below. Although you may end up teaching in a different setting, we have provided curriculum for preaching, for small-group leadership, and for one-on-one discipleship sessions. Feel free to use any of these as they are, alter them as needed, or develop your own lesson plans. Regardless of which option you choose, however, we encourage you to adapt your four teachings to best serve the needs of your current cultural and ministerial context.

Genesis Reflection

For this assignment, you will be required to outline the book of Genesis and write a brief paper reflecting on the significance of Genesis to your life and ministry. This assignment gives you an opportunity to dig deeper into one Old Testament book and consider how to apply what you are learning.

Part 1: Outline

The outline portion of this assignment must go down three “levels.” In other words, you will need to identify the main sections of Genesis with I, II, III, etc.; the immediate subsections with A, B, C, etc.; and the basic progression of each subsection with 1, 2, 3, etc. Also, next to each point/subpoint on your outline, please be sure to identify which section of Scripture the point/subpoint is referring to. For example:

Please note that there is not necessarily one right way to structure this outline. Yours might look a bit different from someone else’s. In reviewing your work, our graders will only check to ensure that you hit on the key sections and themes of Genesis.

Part 2: Significance to Your Life and Ministry

After completing the outline portion of this assignment, you will need to write a brief paper reflecting on the significance of Genesis to your life and ministry. This paper will have three main sections, as listed below:

  1. Briefly describe the main purpose and argument of the book of Genesis. Give references to support your statements. The “purpose and argument” refers to the major themes, teachings, and goals of the book, as well as to how the author goes about accomplishing these goals. The intention behind this section of the paper is that you learn to (1) discern the importance of what this book teaches well enough to remember it, and (2) discern how the author develops and accomplishes his purpose.
  2. Write a short paragraph discussing how this book fits into the overarching message, story, and argument of the Bible. Support your statements with passages and cross-references from both the OT and the NT.
  3. Per the instructions below, address the significance of Genesis in terms of knowing, doing, and being. The purpose of this section is to help you answer the following questions: What do I want my congregation, audience, or small group to apply after studying this book? What would I want them NOT to forget? And what does it do for me?
    1. KNOWING — Describe three principles or key truths which you gleaned from this book and which you and your congregation will think of when the book is named. These should be based on the text, so please give references for each.
    2. DOING — What will you lead others to do, based on or suggested by the text? Please name at least two items and give references from Genesis for support. Clarify what you want to do, how you will implement it, and how you will determine if you have met your objective(s).
    3. BEING — What is one thing which touched your heart as you were reading/studying this book? Specify what the insight was and which text(s) in Genesis it came from. How might this change your life and the lives of those around you?


PLEASE NOTE: For this assignment, instead of submitting a written report, you may choose to submit an oral report recorded on audio. However, all the same elements required for the written report must be covered thoroughly in your oral report. Also, at present our online platform can only receive submissions less than 100 MB in size, so please ensure that your audio recording is smaller than this.

Old Testament Outline


For this assignment, you will be required to outline the entire Old Testament, from Genesis to Malachi. However, keep in mind that you only need to go three “levels” deep on the outline. In other words, just identify the main groupings of books with I, II, III, etc.; the names of the books with A, B, C, etc.; and the main sections of each book with 1, 2, 3, etc. There is no need to go into further detail.

The purpose of this assignment is to ensure that you have a grasp of the overall structure and progression of the Old Testament, giving a “big picture” view of the story throughout. You will have the chance to go into a bit more detail on a particular book of the Old Testament in your other writing assignment and in your teaching assignment.

Also, next to each point/subpoint on your outline, please be sure to identify which section of Scripture the point/subpoint is referring to. For example:

  1. Pentateuch (Genesis-Deuteronomy)
    1. Genesis
      1. Creation (Gen. 1-2)
      2. Fall (Gen. 3)
      3. Cain and Abel (Gen. 4)
      4. Noah (Gen. 5-10)
      5. Tower of Babel (Gen. 11:1-9)
      6. [And so on…]
    2. Exodus
      1. [And so on…]

Please note that there is not necessarily one right way to structure this outline. Yours might look a bit different from someone else’s. In reviewing your work, our graders will only check to ensure you hit on the main themes and major sections of the Old Testament.

To help you get started, a common way of dividing the books of the Old Testament is as follows (5 – 12 – 5 – 5 – 12):

  • Pentateuch (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy)
  • Historical Books (Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther)
  • Poetic Books (Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs)
  • Major Prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel)
  • Minor Prophets (Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi)

PLEASE NOTE: For this assignment, instead of submitting a written report, you may choose to submit an oral report recorded on audio. However, all the same elements required for the written report must be covered thoroughly in your oral report. Also, at present our online platform can only receive submissions less than 100 MB in size, so please ensure that your audio recording is smaller than this.