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100 Small Changes Later…

By Jason McNair · Comments (0)

Tuesday, November 15th, 2016

At the beginning of this series, David Francis introduced our blog to what would be 100 daily posts that provoke conversations about little things all of us can do to make our groups better. These were not game changers or radical transformations of teaching methods. These were small changes that could lead to minor course corrections in the direction of your group. Most of them were not new ideas but simply reminders of things that need to be done.

We want to reflect back to the first post in this series, David Francis’ introductory article on August 1 of this year.

Sunday School is a system. It’s a bunch of things—big and small—that make a Sunday School excellent instead of mediocre. Each relates to another and that to another and so on and so on. So what if every little thing you improved resulted in just one more person coming to Sunday School, coming back to Sunday School, enrolling in Sunday School, attending regularly in Sunday School, serving in Sunday School, and inviting another to Sunday School? Each of the 100 ideas you’ll read about in the next several weeks may seem inconsequential taken alone. But put 50 or 60 or 70 or 80 into practice and see what happens!

So, here we are. 100 articles later. You now have 100 ideas from which you can draw for solutions to little roadblocks you may face while leading your group. Come back to this site often and refer back to these posts when you seeking answers. We are here for you and will continue to be here with fresh insight and ideas to strengthen your group ministry.

The contributors of this blog will continue to add posts–only not as frequently as every day. When a good idea comes to mind, we will share it here with you, the leaders of the movement. Stay connected with us on Twitter and Facebook. Thank you for joining us on this journey of discovery. Keep making #SmallChanges that will grow your groups and help make disciples.

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Categories : 100 Small Changes, Ministry, Small Groups, Sunday School

Tags : 100 Small Changes, small group, Sunday School

Praying for the Lost

By Sean Keith · Comments (1)

Wednesday, August 3rd, 2016

Your group regularly prays for the needs of the members and their family and friends, but are you praying for the lost in your family, among your friends, and in your community? We pray for what is important to us. What did Jesus pray for? Yes, He prayed for His family and friends. But Jesus prayed to God that He would follow His will and not His own. Jesus was sent to this earth to redeem the lost. He came to “seek and save the lost.” (HCSB Luke 19:10)

Praying for the lost is a critical step in developing a love for the lost just like Jesus. Our purpose on this earth as believers is not to make our lives more comfortable, but to accomplish the will of the Father. His desire is that the lost would hear the Gospel. For that to happen, God has to transform the heart of the believer (us) and prepare the heart of the lost. A regular time of prayer for the lost will help make that happen.

May I make a suggestion? Let me encourage you to write down the names of three lost people that you know. Commit to pray daily that God would prepare their heart for the message of the Gospel and prepare your life to possibly be the one to share that Good News with them. Also, share the names of those you are praying for with your small group or Sunday School class. Imagine the celebration in heaven and in your class if one of those people comes to know Christ. I would say that would be a great and wise investment of your time. Wouldn’t you?

Sean Keith is the Sunday School/Discipleship Strategist for the Louisiana Baptist Convention.

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Categories : 100 Small Changes, Outreach/Evangelism

Tags : 100 Small Changes, pray for the lost

100 Little Things Better Than One Big Thing

By David Francis · Comments (1)

Monday, August 1st, 2016

Excellence is not about doing any one thing a hundred times better, but doing 100 things a little bit better. Thus argued Tom Peters and Robert Waterman in their books on excellent enterprises back in the 90s. Still true? I think so. Apply to Sunday School and church? I’m pretty sure it applies.

“Provoke conversations about the 100 little things that can be done better.” That’s the stated purpose on page 5 of my latest little book, One Hundred: Charting a Course Past 100 in Sunday School. Written with Michael Kelley, the book presents the principles any church can use to grow toward and beyond 100. It just does so without any bias toward larger churches.

100 articles on 100 things. Over the next several weeks, Sunday School Leader will feature 100 such ideas. The articles will be written by men and women who champion the work of Sunday School across North America. They often wear many hats as a part of their roles at the state convention offices that serve Southern Baptist churches in a state or group of states. One of those “hats” is that of “State Sunday School Director.” Collectively, they comprise the State Sunday School Directors Fellowship, which sponsors this blog.

Got an idea for the 100? Use the Comment feature to share it! There’s no reason we have to stop at 100 things! Surely there are more!

Sunday School is a system. It’s a bunch of things—big and small—that make a Sunday School excellent instead of mediocre. Each relates to another and that to another and so on and so on. So what if every little thing you improved resulted in just one more person coming to Sunday School, coming back to Sunday School, enrolling in Sunday School, attending regularly in Sunday School, serving in Sunday School, and inviting another to Sunday School? Each of the 100 ideas you’ll read about in the next several weeks may seem inconsequential taken alone. But put 50 or 60 or 70 or 80 into practice and see what happens!

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David Francis is the Director of Sunday School at LifeWay Christian Resources. On a typical Sunday morning, you can find David and wife Vickie at First Baptist Church Hendersonville, Tennessee. They arrive about 8:00 to set up their pre-K room, attend the 8:30 worship service, teach their class of 4-5 year old kids at 9:45, and participate in an adult Bible study group at 11:00.