2 Timothy 3:16-17 - "All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work."
The Bible, the Word of God, is central to the life of the Church and central to the life of every true follower of Jesus. Listen to these words by Pastor Mark Dever:
"Because we have separated ourselves from God by our sin, God must speak if we are to know Him...God will not be known if He does not speak, and we cannot know Him if He has not spoken a word that we can rely on. God must reveal Himself. That is the point of the Bible. Because of our own sins, we could never know God otherwise. Either He speaks or we are forever lost in the darkness of our own speculations." (Nine Marks of a Healthy Church, p. 49)
The Bible is how we know who God is, who we are, how we relate to God and how we relate to one another. In order for us to know these things we must study the Bible and teach from it regularly. Thus, teaching the Bible is a foundational aspect of our Sunday School strategy.
We can reach out to one another and the lost world around and bring them to Sunday School, but if we are not regularly and faithfully studying and teaching the Word of God to them, then Sunday School becomes nothing more than a social gathering. The Church has a purpose and that purpose is to love God, love others, and make disciples (faithful followers of Jesus Christ) of all nations. This purpose cannot be accomplished apart from the studying and teaching of the Word of God.
One of the goals of our teaching the Bible is that some of those sitting in our Sunday School classes will hear the Gospel and God will draw them to Himself through repentance and faith that they would be forever saved and changed by His gracious, merciful, and eternal work. Another goal we aim at in teaching during Sunday School is for the encouragement and building up of the Church. Those who are sitting in our Sunday School classes that have already experienced God's miraculous salvation need encouragement and direction in how to live the Christian life in a way that will bring honor and glory to God.
Even though these two goals for our teaching the Bible in Sunday School are great goals, we know that the Sunday School experience is supposed to be so much more than just a one hour Bible study on Sunday mornings. In the previous post about reaching through Sunday School we relayed the fact that Sunday School ought to be more about people doing life together than just a "school" setting. Many around the country look at Sunday School as old and just a time of Bible study, but that is not what we are aiming at in our strategy with Sunday School in our church - we are aiming at doing life together with the goal of doing "spiritual good" to one another, to borrow a phrase from Mark Dever. This is our aim because we know that the teaching of the Word of God will be more effective in reaching the lost world around us if they see the Church living it out together in front of them. We don't want to just sit in a class once a week, we want to do life together (teaching and doing). So that we may know Him!
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Reaching People Through Sunday School
"If you don't reach people, you can't even have Sunday School!" - Allan Taylor
The Church is charged with the task of reaching the lost world for Jesus Christ. Our mission is to make disciples of all nations (see Matthew 28:18-20). This does not mean that we want to stop with somone saying a prayer of confession and repentance towards Jesus. We want to, of course, "baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit", and have them publicly identify themselves as one who has been saved by God. But we also want to "teach them to observe all that He has commanded us". In other words we want them to live out their public confession before the world and reach out to others who have not heard about Jesus. Sunday School is a great place to do this.
Why is Sunday School so important? Here in our church, as in many churches, Sunday School is our largest area of ministry. Besides the corporate worship services, Sunday School is the place in which we have the most people participate every week. But unlike the corporate worship service, Sunday School is a place where we are grouped together in small groups and are able to build relationships with one another. In our corporate worship services, the main personal interaction time is found before and after the service and during the greeting time, which lasts all of a few minutes. Most people are coming in from Sunday School just minutes before the service starts and as soon as it is over they are ready to head out to lunch to beat the other churches to lunch or to get home in order to eat and take a nap. The point is this: these times before and after the service as well as the greeting time during the service are short and thus are not conducive to building strong lasting relationships with one another as the body of Christ.
Sunday School is a great place for us to interact with one another and build these relationships because in our view of Sunday School, it is not just a one hour a week Bible Study, but a small group of people doing life together...being the Church. People will travel and go to church to hear good preaching, but if that is all they get then they miss out on the sweet fellowship with the body of Christ that pushes us towards Christlikeness and we are told not to do that (Hebrews 10:24-25). This fellowship is encouraged in Sunday School as we participate in Bible study on Sunday mornings together, but also catch up with one another and make plans to spend time with one another and minister to one another during the week.
Sunday School is where we are grouped together by commonalities; in our church we do this through an age-graded system. Our Sunday School classes generally, but not all, have people roughly the same age as one another and are generally in the same life stage as each other. This helps with building those relationships among each other because normally they tend to have the same interests and schedules. So because this is the case, it is easier for them to invite others similar to them into the group to be a part of them and introduce them to the Gospel and eventually involve them in the life of the Church (disciple them).
We must be consciously focused outwardly on reaching people in our Sunday School classes. Reaching people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ is what we are supposed to do primarily. Doing this through intentional and established relationships is effective; and these relationships are best established through our Sunday School classes doing life together. Yes, church is supposed to be a place where we have our needs met, but if it only becomes that then we have missed it. We must as the body of Christ be balanced and always looking Godward to become like Him, Inward by ministering to one another, but also Outward by reaching out to the lost world around us. Here at our church, Sunday School is our main strategy for reaching people for Jesus Christ, that we may know Him and make Him known.
The Church is charged with the task of reaching the lost world for Jesus Christ. Our mission is to make disciples of all nations (see Matthew 28:18-20). This does not mean that we want to stop with somone saying a prayer of confession and repentance towards Jesus. We want to, of course, "baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit", and have them publicly identify themselves as one who has been saved by God. But we also want to "teach them to observe all that He has commanded us". In other words we want them to live out their public confession before the world and reach out to others who have not heard about Jesus. Sunday School is a great place to do this.
Why is Sunday School so important? Here in our church, as in many churches, Sunday School is our largest area of ministry. Besides the corporate worship services, Sunday School is the place in which we have the most people participate every week. But unlike the corporate worship service, Sunday School is a place where we are grouped together in small groups and are able to build relationships with one another. In our corporate worship services, the main personal interaction time is found before and after the service and during the greeting time, which lasts all of a few minutes. Most people are coming in from Sunday School just minutes before the service starts and as soon as it is over they are ready to head out to lunch to beat the other churches to lunch or to get home in order to eat and take a nap. The point is this: these times before and after the service as well as the greeting time during the service are short and thus are not conducive to building strong lasting relationships with one another as the body of Christ.
Sunday School is a great place for us to interact with one another and build these relationships because in our view of Sunday School, it is not just a one hour a week Bible Study, but a small group of people doing life together...being the Church. People will travel and go to church to hear good preaching, but if that is all they get then they miss out on the sweet fellowship with the body of Christ that pushes us towards Christlikeness and we are told not to do that (Hebrews 10:24-25). This fellowship is encouraged in Sunday School as we participate in Bible study on Sunday mornings together, but also catch up with one another and make plans to spend time with one another and minister to one another during the week.
Sunday School is where we are grouped together by commonalities; in our church we do this through an age-graded system. Our Sunday School classes generally, but not all, have people roughly the same age as one another and are generally in the same life stage as each other. This helps with building those relationships among each other because normally they tend to have the same interests and schedules. So because this is the case, it is easier for them to invite others similar to them into the group to be a part of them and introduce them to the Gospel and eventually involve them in the life of the Church (disciple them).
We must be consciously focused outwardly on reaching people in our Sunday School classes. Reaching people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ is what we are supposed to do primarily. Doing this through intentional and established relationships is effective; and these relationships are best established through our Sunday School classes doing life together. Yes, church is supposed to be a place where we have our needs met, but if it only becomes that then we have missed it. We must as the body of Christ be balanced and always looking Godward to become like Him, Inward by ministering to one another, but also Outward by reaching out to the lost world around us. Here at our church, Sunday School is our main strategy for reaching people for Jesus Christ, that we may know Him and make Him known.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Who Are We Looking At?
I came across this quote this morning as I was finishing up the book, The Deliberate Church by Mark Dever (pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington D.C.):
"Transformation into the likeness of the Lord happens as we gaze at Him together over time. The biblical hallmarks of church health - holiness, faith, love, sound doctrine - are cultivated in us as we are captivated by Him."
So as the Church of Jesus Christ universal and as local churches spread throughout the world, who are we looking at? Are we seeking to know Jesus and to be captivated by Him so that we can become like Him and glorify Him in all the world? I pray this is the case...that we may know Him!
"Transformation into the likeness of the Lord happens as we gaze at Him together over time. The biblical hallmarks of church health - holiness, faith, love, sound doctrine - are cultivated in us as we are captivated by Him."
So as the Church of Jesus Christ universal and as local churches spread throughout the world, who are we looking at? Are we seeking to know Jesus and to be captivated by Him so that we can become like Him and glorify Him in all the world? I pray this is the case...that we may know Him!
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Sunday School and the Great Commission
Matthew 28:18-20 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching the to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."
For the past few months, I have been taking our Sunday School teachers through the book, The Six Core Values of Sunday School by Allan Taylor (Minister of Education at First Baptist Church of Woodstock, Georgia). This book is designed to cast a vision and help set in motion a plan to fulfill the Great Commission through Sunday School. For months we have talked about Reaching people, Teaching people, Ministering to people, Involving people, Assimilating people, and Building Relationships with people. These are the core values and what we are seeking to instill into the life of our Sunday School classes.
The idea is that Sunday School is not just a one hour on Sunday morning Bible study. Many seem to see it as that however. But as for us, Sunday School is a vital part of the strategy of our church to fulfill the Great Commission. It is the place where the Church is the Church. My old pastor in Fort Worth, Dr. Al Meredith (Wedgwood Baptist Church), would always remind us that "You haven't been to church until you have been to Sunday School." Our Sunday School classes are the place where we get involved in the lives of one another and learn to rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep (Romans 12:15). Our Sunday School classes are the place where we are intentional in encouraging one another and reaching out together to the lost world around us. Sunday School happens throughout the week as we do life together.
In the coming weeks, I will be posting on these Six Core Values of Sunday School and seeking to lay a foundational understanding for our church on the value and effectiveness of Sunday School and how we all can be a part of it. That we may know Him and make Him known.
For the past few months, I have been taking our Sunday School teachers through the book, The Six Core Values of Sunday School by Allan Taylor (Minister of Education at First Baptist Church of Woodstock, Georgia). This book is designed to cast a vision and help set in motion a plan to fulfill the Great Commission through Sunday School. For months we have talked about Reaching people, Teaching people, Ministering to people, Involving people, Assimilating people, and Building Relationships with people. These are the core values and what we are seeking to instill into the life of our Sunday School classes.
The idea is that Sunday School is not just a one hour on Sunday morning Bible study. Many seem to see it as that however. But as for us, Sunday School is a vital part of the strategy of our church to fulfill the Great Commission. It is the place where the Church is the Church. My old pastor in Fort Worth, Dr. Al Meredith (Wedgwood Baptist Church), would always remind us that "You haven't been to church until you have been to Sunday School." Our Sunday School classes are the place where we get involved in the lives of one another and learn to rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep (Romans 12:15). Our Sunday School classes are the place where we are intentional in encouraging one another and reaching out together to the lost world around us. Sunday School happens throughout the week as we do life together.
In the coming weeks, I will be posting on these Six Core Values of Sunday School and seeking to lay a foundational understanding for our church on the value and effectiveness of Sunday School and how we all can be a part of it. That we may know Him and make Him known.
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