March 24, 2026 • 9 mins
In this final part of her Understanding the Scriptures series, Cindy Young explains three types of scripture passages you’ll encounter—informational, stories, and sermons—how to identify them, and how to approach each. Informational sections (like genealogies, land descriptions, and laws) can be list-heavy and difficult, so she suggests skimming or even skipping long informational chapters if you’re not ready for a deep dive. Stories are easiest to follow, so she recommends retelling the events, looking for messages and character choices, noticing sequence, and applying principles to your life. Sermons focus on doctrine, commandments, warnings, and promises from prophets or the Lord, so she advises looking for truths taught, personal application, and what they teach about Jesus Christ. Come back next month to learn all about how using a pencil can enhance your scripture study.
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Don't forget the parable of the snowball: listening to someone else talk about the gospel is like having snowballs thrown at you. Reading the scriptures is like making your own snowball. Taking the time to search, ponder, and pray about what you've read is like rolling the snowball around and around so that it grows and grows. So don't just listen to me - please go read for yourself so your knowledge and testimony can grow and grow!!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
When my kids were little and I wouldput them to bed, sometimes they would
ask for a bedtime story, and I wouldtry to tell them stories that were more
boring than you can possibly imagine.
I would describe every single detailand I would drag this story on
in the most boring way possible.
but if my husband was in theroom when they asked for a story,
(00:21):
I knew that we were cooked!He would tell exciting stories with silly
twists and monsters who said unexpectedthings while wearing ridiculous socks.
Now, which story do you think helpedmy kids to fall asleep faster?
When you read the scriptures, youare going to come across some parts
that are exciting and interestingto read and follow, and then other
(00:43):
parts will almost put you to sleep.
Today is part five of my tips tohelp you understand the scriptures.
And we are talking about three differentkinds of passages that you will
encounter in the scriptures, how toidentify them, and what to do with them.
I'm Cindy Young, and thisis Primarily Scripture.
(01:08):
We're gonna talk today about threedifferent types of passages that
you'll encounter in the scriptures.
The first one is the hardest to understandand in my opinion, that is most likely
to make you want to quit reading the OldTestament, and that is Informational.
The second is the easiest to followand understand, and that is Stories.
We all are familiarwith scripture stories.
And the third one gives us the mostclear teachings, and that is Sermons.
(01:33):
So let's talk about these three differenttypes, informational stories and sermons.
How can you identify them?
Well, for the informational passages,it's easy to identify them because
spoiler alert, you're gonna be bored.
these are often told in list form andyou'll get a list of genealogy or a list
of descriptions about lands- like to theeast was this city and to the west was
(01:55):
that city and the river ran through it.
The other kind of informationalpassage that we'll get to
pretty soon in our studies isadministrative, the law of Moses.
What are the rules?
What are the consequences?
What do the priests wear, and how shouldthe priests perform the sacrifices.
Things like that.
It is very informational, very boring, andfor most of us, very hard to get through.
(02:18):
So that's gonna be kindof easy to identify.
Now informationally, you'll havetimes that are talking about
places or people, but the storieswill also have people and places.
Instead of just listing them anddescribing them, you get things
like what they did, what theysaid, their interactions with
each other, where they went.
Stories will also have atimeline, a sequence of events.
(02:41):
This happened, then this happened.
What happened next?
And this is what we are mostfamiliar with because this is
what we tell our kids, right?
We start with scripture stories.
Very easy.
And this is most people's favorite kindof passage to read in the scriptures.
The third kind of passage thatyou'll come across are sermons.
I'm sure you already know whata sermon is, but for our very
youngest or newest listeners,I'll just explain it real quick.
(03:04):
It's basically a talk that teachesabout something religious, something
in the context of the gospel.
So when someone gives a talk inchurch, they're giving a sermon.
When they speak in GeneralConference, they're giving a sermon.
We get writings in the scripturesof sermons that the prophets gave.
These will often include things likecommandments, what we're supposed
to do, doctrine, eternal truth,promises, warnings, to do lists- we'll
(03:28):
be encouraged to act in some way.
That's a sermon.
We can also identify it becauseit's given by somebody in authority.
Especially in the scriptures,sermons are given by prophets.
Sometimes you'll come across a sermonthat is given by the Lord himself
because he's giving commandmentsand teachings to the people.
Now that we know the three differenttypes of passages and how to identify
them, let's talk about why youwould even want to identify them.
(03:52):
Why would you need to identifywhether you're reading information
or a story or a sermon?
Well, it will help youto understand better.
That's what this month is allabout, understanding the scriptures.
What if you opened up the Book of Mormonand you were reading what King Benjamin
said, and you thought that he was tellinga story about what he did as a king-
because he definitely talks about that-and if you think that's a story that
(04:16):
he's telling, then your brain will getlocked into story mode and it might
start looking for what happens next.
And then you're going to be confused whenhe starts talking about the suffering
that people will go through if they rebelagainst God, or when he starts talking
about how we should feed the hungry.
Well, it's not a story.
King Benjamin was giving a sermon.
(04:37):
At the same time, if you readinformation like a story, you'll
probably get bored very quickly,and you might even fall asleep just
like my kids did when I purposefullytold them boring bedtime stories.
So that information that's includedin the Bible was put there to
preserve the history and for peoplewho want to know every detail.
If that's not for you, or if yourbrain is looking for a story, then most
(05:00):
likely you won't get much out of it,you'll probably be confused, and you
might even consider never reading thescriptures again because they're just
too hard, too boring, too confusing.
And we don't want to have thathappen, so let's avoid that.
If you are feeling confused by thescriptures, then you could try to
identify if you're reading information,a story, or a sermon, and then you'll
(05:20):
know better how to handle that passage.
So how do we approach these passages?
Let's start with theeasiest one first- stories.
And you already know how to do this.
If you're reading a scripturestory, the first thing to do
is make sure you understand it.
Can you retell what happened?
After you know the basics of thestory, then you can start asking
yourself, what can we learn from this?
(05:41):
Is there an overall message of thestory of faith or courage or patience?
You could analyze the characters.
How did they respond to their trials, orwhat Christlike attributes did they have?
You could look at the timeline andask yourself, is there anything
significant about the order of events?
And then third, relateit to your own life.
How is my understanding of a gospelprinciple different because of this story?
(06:03):
And how can I make choices that reflectwhat I've learned from this story?
That's the most common way ofreading and studying and applying
the scriptures is with stories,because it really is the easiest.
When you have a sermon, you'regonna approach it similarly, but
instead of looking for the peopleand the timeline, you're going to
look for those specific doctrines.
(06:24):
What is the truth that's being taughtand how can I understand it better?
Looking for ways to apply it to yourself,of course, and always, always asking, what
does this teach me about Jesus Christ?
Now, my tip for what to do withinformation, you are either
going to love or hate this tip.
Either you'll think that I'm sacrilegiousor that I'm an actual genius.
(06:45):
Are you ready for this?
Because the informational partsof the Old Testament, it's like
boss level scripture study.
This is deep and boringand complicated stuff.
So think about it this way- wewouldn't put a 4-year-old dancer in
point shoes to dance ballet, and wewouldn't take a 9-year-old pitcher
and put him in the World Series.
We wouldn't take a 2-year-old whoreally, really loves trucks and put them
(07:08):
in the pits at a monster truck rally.
Even though each of them may lovethose different activities, they're not
ready for that level of involvement.
So the same thing goes with these longpassages of information in the scriptures.
This is like the hardest part, thehardest possible thing that you
could study in the scriptures, isall of these nitty gritty details.
(07:29):
So when you come across these longpassages of information, and I'm
not talking about a phrase or oneor two verses, I mean like a whole
page or a whole chapter, when youcome across these passages, my
advice to you is skim it or skip it!Now, I'm not saying that these
are not important or thatyou should never read them,
but let's be honest, if you are here onPrimarily Scripture looking for help with
(07:50):
your scripture study, then how to do adeep dive and get something out of the
very hardest and the most complex partsof the Old Testament, is not something
that you're actually looking for.
Once you are comfortable inthe Bible, there are many other
resources to help you with theseinformational chapters and passages.
Until then, if your goal is toread every single word of the Old
(08:13):
Testament, then when you come tothese passages, just skim over it.
You can even use the chapterheadings to help you get a sense
of what they're talking about,and then quickly skim through it.
And otherwise, if you're nottrying to read every single word,
feel free to skip it entirely.
Your energy will be much better spent ifyou are looking at the stories and the
sermons and applying them to your life.
(08:35):
So if you really want to understandthe scriptures and feel comfortable
with the parts that you are reading,then identifying these stories and
sermons and informational passagesis a really good place to start.
And with each one, once you identifythe kind of passage you're reading,
your brain will get switched into thatmode, and you'll be able to follow and
process what you read so much easierthan if you just stumble along unsure of
(08:58):
the kinds of words that you're reading.
All right, so if you've been listeningall month, then you've got a whole pocket
full of tips and tricks that will helpyou to better understand the scriptures.
Coming up next month.
We're gonna focus on all the waysthat a pen or a pencil can change
your scripture study forever.
You're going to love it.
Thank you so much for beinghere with me every week.
(09:19):
I'm Cindy Young, and thisis Primarily Scripture.
Thanks for tuning into primarilyScripture with Cindy Young.
Don't forget you can subscribe to thenewsletter and download free worksheets
on the website, primarily scripture.com.
And if you like the channel,be sure to subscribe, like,
share, and leave a review.
See you next time.
When my kids were little and I wouldput them to bed, sometimes they would
ask for a bedtime story, and I wouldtry to tell them stories that were more
boring than you can possibly imagine.
I would describe every single detailand I would drag this story on
in the most boring way possible.
but if my husband was in theroom when they asked for a story,
(00:21):
I knew that we were cooked!He would tell exciting stories with silly
twists and monsters who said unexpectedthings while wearing ridiculous socks.
Now, which story do you think helpedmy kids to fall asleep faster?
When you read the scriptures, youare going to come across some parts
that are exciting and interestingto read and follow, and then other
(00:43):
parts will almost put you to sleep.
Today is part five of my tips tohelp you understand the scriptures.
And we are talking about three differentkinds of passages that you will
encounter in the scriptures, how toidentify them, and what to do with them.
I'm Cindy Young, and thisis Primarily Scripture.
(01:08):
We're gonna talk today about threedifferent types of passages that
you'll encounter in the scriptures.
The first one is the hardest to understandand in my opinion, that is most likely
to make you want to quit reading the OldTestament, and that is Informational.
The second is the easiest to followand understand, and that is Stories.
We all are familiarwith scripture stories.
And the third one gives us the mostclear teachings, and that is Sermons.
(01:33):
So let's talk about these three differenttypes, informational stories and sermons.
How can you identify them?
Well, for the informational passages,it's easy to identify them because
spoiler alert, you're gonna be bored.
these are often told in list form andyou'll get a list of genealogy or a list
of descriptions about lands- like to theeast was this city and to the west was
(01:55):
that city and the river ran through it.
The other kind of informationalpassage that we'll get to
pretty soon in our studies isadministrative, the law of Moses.
What are the rules?
What are the consequences?
What do the priests wear, and how shouldthe priests perform the sacrifices.
Things like that.
It is very informational, very boring, andfor most of us, very hard to get through.
(02:18):
So that's gonna be kindof easy to identify.
Now informationally, you'll havetimes that are talking about
places or people, but the storieswill also have people and places.
Instead of just listing them anddescribing them, you get things
like what they did, what theysaid, their interactions with
each other, where they went.
Stories will also have atimeline, a sequence of events.
(02:41):
This happened, then this happened.
What happened next?
And this is what we are mostfamiliar with because this is
what we tell our kids, right?
We start with scripture stories.
Very easy.
And this is most people's favorite kindof passage to read in the scriptures.
The third kind of passage thatyou'll come across are sermons.
I'm sure you already know whata sermon is, but for our very
youngest or newest listeners,I'll just explain it real quick.
(03:04):
It's basically a talk that teachesabout something religious, something
in the context of the gospel.
So when someone gives a talk inchurch, they're giving a sermon.
When they speak in GeneralConference, they're giving a sermon.
We get writings in the scripturesof sermons that the prophets gave.
These will often include things likecommandments, what we're supposed
to do, doctrine, eternal truth,promises, warnings, to do lists- we'll
(03:28):
be encouraged to act in some way.
That's a sermon.
We can also identify it becauseit's given by somebody in authority.
Especially in the scriptures,sermons are given by prophets.
Sometimes you'll come across a sermonthat is given by the Lord himself
because he's giving commandmentsand teachings to the people.
Now that we know the three differenttypes of passages and how to identify
them, let's talk about why youwould even want to identify them.
(03:52):
Why would you need to identifywhether you're reading information
or a story or a sermon?
Well, it will help youto understand better.
That's what this month is allabout, understanding the scriptures.
What if you opened up the Book of Mormonand you were reading what King Benjamin
said, and you thought that he was tellinga story about what he did as a king-
because he definitely talks about that-and if you think that's a story that
(04:16):
he's telling, then your brain will getlocked into story mode and it might
start looking for what happens next.
And then you're going to be confused whenhe starts talking about the suffering
that people will go through if they rebelagainst God, or when he starts talking
about how we should feed the hungry.
Well, it's not a story.
King Benjamin was giving a sermon.
(04:37):
At the same time, if you readinformation like a story, you'll
probably get bored very quickly,and you might even fall asleep just
like my kids did when I purposefullytold them boring bedtime stories.
So that information that's includedin the Bible was put there to
preserve the history and for peoplewho want to know every detail.
If that's not for you, or if yourbrain is looking for a story, then most
(05:00):
likely you won't get much out of it,you'll probably be confused, and you
might even consider never reading thescriptures again because they're just
too hard, too boring, too confusing.
And we don't want to have thathappen, so let's avoid that.
If you are feeling confused by thescriptures, then you could try to
identify if you're reading information,a story, or a sermon, and then you'll
(05:20):
know better how to handle that passage.
So how do we approach these passages?
Let's start with theeasiest one first- stories.
And you already know how to do this.
If you're reading a scripturestory, the first thing to do
is make sure you understand it.
Can you retell what happened?
After you know the basics of thestory, then you can start asking
yourself, what can we learn from this?
(05:41):
Is there an overall message of thestory of faith or courage or patience?
You could analyze the characters.
How did they respond to their trials, orwhat Christlike attributes did they have?
You could look at the timeline andask yourself, is there anything
significant about the order of events?
And then third, relateit to your own life.
How is my understanding of a gospelprinciple different because of this story?
(06:03):
And how can I make choices that reflectwhat I've learned from this story?
That's the most common way ofreading and studying and applying
the scriptures is with stories,because it really is the easiest.
When you have a sermon, you'regonna approach it similarly, but
instead of looking for the peopleand the timeline, you're going to
look for those specific doctrines.
(06:24):
What is the truth that's being taughtand how can I understand it better?
Looking for ways to apply it to yourself,of course, and always, always asking, what
does this teach me about Jesus Christ?
Now, my tip for what to do withinformation, you are either
going to love or hate this tip.
Either you'll think that I'm sacrilegiousor that I'm an actual genius.
(06:45):
Are you ready for this?
Because the informational partsof the Old Testament, it's like
boss level scripture study.
This is deep and boringand complicated stuff.
So think about it this way- wewouldn't put a 4-year-old dancer in
point shoes to dance ballet, and wewouldn't take a 9-year-old pitcher
and put him in the World Series.
We wouldn't take a 2-year-old whoreally, really loves trucks and put them
(07:08):
in the pits at a monster truck rally.
Even though each of them may lovethose different activities, they're not
ready for that level of involvement.
So the same thing goes with these longpassages of information in the scriptures.
This is like the hardest part, thehardest possible thing that you
could study in the scriptures, isall of these nitty gritty details.
(07:29):
So when you come across these longpassages of information, and I'm
not talking about a phrase or oneor two verses, I mean like a whole
page or a whole chapter, when youcome across these passages, my
advice to you is skim it or skip it!Now, I'm not saying that these
are not important or thatyou should never read them,
but let's be honest, if you are here onPrimarily Scripture looking for help with
(07:50):
your scripture study, then how to do adeep dive and get something out of the
very hardest and the most complex partsof the Old Testament, is not something
that you're actually looking for.
Once you are comfortable inthe Bible, there are many other
resources to help you with theseinformational chapters and passages.
Until then, if your goal is toread every single word of the Old
(08:13):
Testament, then when you come tothese passages, just skim over it.
You can even use the chapterheadings to help you get a sense
of what they're talking about,and then quickly skim through it.
And otherwise, if you're nottrying to read every single word,
feel free to skip it entirely.
Your energy will be much better spent ifyou are looking at the stories and the
sermons and applying them to your life.
(08:35):
So if you really want to understandthe scriptures and feel comfortable
with the parts that you are reading,then identifying these stories and
sermons and informational passagesis a really good place to start.
And with each one, once you identifythe kind of passage you're reading,
your brain will get switched into thatmode, and you'll be able to follow and
process what you read so much easierthan if you just stumble along unsure of
(08:58):
the kinds of words that you're reading.
All right, so if you've been listeningall month, then you've got a whole pocket
full of tips and tricks that will helpyou to better understand the scriptures.
Coming up next month.
We're gonna focus on all the waysthat a pen or a pencil can change
your scripture study forever.
You're going to love it.
Thank you so much for beinghere with me every week.
(09:19):
I'm Cindy Young, and thisis Primarily Scripture.
Thanks for tuning into primarilyScripture with Cindy Young.
Don't forget you can subscribe to thenewsletter and download free worksheets
on the website, primarily scripture.com.
And if you like the channel,be sure to subscribe, like,
share, and leave a review.
See you next time.
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