Sheila's Precept Story

Different on Monday

It was the fall of 1989; I was the mother of a two year old daughter and a six week old newborn little boy. The furthest thing from my mind was enrolling in a bible study that would not only require my efforts at home, but would also take two hours of my Mother’s Day Out time each week. Yet, my dear friend, Cyndi, kept encouraging me to come to a different type of class, a Precept Bible Study. I’ll admit what I was thinking – I did not want another boring bible study where everyone gave their opinions about what they thought God was saying. Some of the classes I had attended in the past turned into gossip sessions disguised as prayer requests, and I‘d had enough of coffee and donuts. I yearned for something that left me full of the “Bread of Life” not the bread of man. Little did I know that Precept was just what I needed to fill the hunger of my soul.

I agreed to attend one class; I even told the lady at the registration table that I did not want to purchase a book, and that I was just visiting for the day. The class started and the leader, Jane Crowell, was just beginning the study of James. The ladies had notebooks, took notes, discussed, and filled in charts. No one was speculating; they were digging and observing the context, and hence, real meat of the Word was filling the room. Application after application was piercing my heart as we sifted through James chapter one – “Count it all joy my brethren when you encounter various trials.” How did God know I needed such words? Though just a mere age of twenty-nine, I was burdened with many hurts from the loss of a stillborn child in 1985. Could this class be what I had been searching for?

Needless to say, I bought a workbook after class and Jane loaned me a “How To Study” book to take home. I got home, put the children down for a nap, and opened it up and dove right in! Of course, I did not know what I was doing, BUT you see, it was “ME” that was “doing the doing!” God spoke to me afresh as I interrogated the text, asked questions, set context – and then it happened – His Word came alive to me in way I had never encountered.

After attending a few years, I decided to go to a training workshop with a friend. We actually were going to just get away for a ladies’ get away. Jan Priddy was my Level One trainer and she made all of the skills make sense in such a new way. I finally understood why we were doing some of the things the workbook asks us to do. She talked about leading Precept classes and the types of spiritual giftings that could be used by God in this endeavor. My gifting is administration, exhorter, and teaching; however, teaching is not my dominant gifting. Administration and exhortation are the giftings through which I teach. Jan explained the ways many giftings could lead Precept and that the primary tool needed was a speaking gift.

I returned to my class with new enthusiasm. I went the next year to Level Two training, and then began substituting for Jane when she needed to be away. Our class was growing, so the next year we started another class; each class did the same study at the same time. After a couple of years of this format, our students expressed their desire to all be together and for us to perhaps team teach. Well, this worked perfectly and allowed Jane and I to teach every other course. This gave each of us much needed rest and more time to prepare for the next course we would teach.

We continued this format for several years, and then in 2006, we began seven small groups to help us keep up with the ladies. Our class was growing, and we needed some way of shepherding our students and a means of taking the roll. These were a big success; the ladies felt a bond, and we also gave the group leaders warm-up questions to pose to their groups to start them thinking about the lesson.

So, here I am, a Precept student for 20 years having lead classes eleven of those years. Precept has been my lifeline and the foundation from which all other service to God has been grounded. We now have three classes at three different times and locations. When I entered the class in 1989 there were about 15 ladies on the roll. Last year, we had around 150 men and women involved in those classes. God has truly called others to hunger and thirst for His Word in our area. We made it through the challenge of adding men to our classes, finding larger meeting areas, having tables, and crossing racial barriers within our city. One of our classes meets at an African-American church and has truly become a blessing to me.

Precept has also equipped me in other areas of service; I speak at conferences and do ladies’ retreats. There is nothing more exciting than speaking from an inductive mindset and watching the ladies’ faces brighten as God’s Word comes alive in their hearts! Another lagniappe that came out of the Sunday class was the need for a summary letter via email each week. This class did not get to see the video tapes, so I started doing a summary letter each week of the lesson to give them another venue for added applications. This grew into a weekly routine for all three classes, and later I compiled the 10 course King’s & Prophet’s Series’ weekly letters into a devotional book called, “What’s Down in the Well, Comes Up in the Bucket.” And just this fall, my Sunday School Pastor asked me to write three lessons for the entire Sunday School Program using the theme from the devotional book. I used many of the truths I had learned from Precept through the years and compiled them into three lessons that are pertinent to every believer: Who is God and What is His Name? What is the Bible and is it Relevant to Me? How Do I Connect to God and His Word?

I wish I could say I have God all figured out, but just like my students, I learn as I continue to walk this journey with Him. To borrow an expression from my former Pastor that sums it up well, “The older I get, the less I know, but the part I know, I really know!” Nothing thrills or fulfills my life more that opening up God’s text message written so long ago, yet, with me in mind. I thank God for Precept Ministries and their investment in helping others discover God’s Truth for themselves! As a former school teacher, I know you learn to do by doing – certainly, inductive study proves this proclamation better than anything else I know!

We stress one overall goal to our students – LIFE TRANSFORMATION! We like to call it “Different on Monday.” If we are unchanged after taking in His Word – we are simply compiling a marked up coloring book! True worship and bible study should make us more like Christ – we should “doxa” (glory) reflect Him to a lost and confused world. So, as I grow in Christ, may you see less of me and more of Him, and may His Word continue to chisel away the dross so that I may reflect the glory of the risen Lord Jesus!

In His Holy Name,

Sheila Breazeale
“Be still and know that I am God.”
Ps. 46:10