Archive for Sunday School

Teacher’s New Year Prayer

My Mother went to her heavenly home on February 27, 2016. She taught an Adult Sunday School Class at First Baptist Church Lexington, Tennessee for fifty-two years. Here is a poem that she wrote entitled “A Teacher’s New Year Prayer.”

Give Us, dear Lord, throughout the New Year
A sense of your presence each day
May we trust that you are here with us
And will be each step of the way.


Help us, dear Lord, to be patient and kind
When things seem to go the wrong way
May we seek your wisdom in each circumstance
And trust you to guide what we say.


Bless us, dear Lord, with your Spirit of Love
Give us love for each student we teach
And may in our lives they see Jesus
And in us see His love and His peace.


Thank you, dear Lord, for the privilege we have
Of knowledge and truth to impart
May we make a difference in lives this year
As we teach from our head and our heart.


Nell Miller

Ministering Through Class Leaders

By Brad Delaughter, Lead Pastor, FBC De Soto, De Soto, MO

During our church’s last quarterly teacher training I was reminded again of the blessing Sunday School teachers are to the church. Teachers get an opportunity to participate in an Ephesians 4:12 ministry week after week as they, “equip the saints for the work of the ministry [and] build up the body of Christ.” There are at least three ways class leaders can minister to those they teach.

  1. Go to the Lord

Class leaders can regularly intercede for the class as a whole and individually by name. Praying for class members’ needs, spiritual formation, and their understanding of God’s word is a critical part of effectively ministering to the class.

  • Guide in the Word

Class leaders can minister to the class by correctly guiding the class in the word of God. Through diligent preparation, intentional facilitation, and utilizing trustworthy curriculum the teacher can help class members grow in wisdom, knowledge, and understanding of God’s word.

  • Guard the Heart

Many teachers make the classic mistake of thinking responsibility to the group ceases at the end of class. This is a crucial error. While class leaders are not in the role of senior pastor, they are, for all intents and purposes, shepherds to the group. Shepherd the heart of the class by contacting them during the week, showing up at the hospital, and cheering in the stands. Guard the heart of the class members by being there for them.

God has afforded me many opportunities to minister in his kingdom, but one of my favorite posts God has allowed me to be is Sunday School teacher.

Class leaders have such a wonderful privilege to invest in the lives of the saints and equip them for the ministry. May we continue to do so with joy and excellence.

To contact Brad DeLaughter and more information on the ministries at First Baptist Church De Soto, Missouri, visit www.fbcdesoto.com.

Making prayer a priority

How many times have you heard or maybe even said, “There is nothing else to do but pray.” In reality, shouldn’t it be the first thing we do?

A couple of days ago, I was putting some new books on my shelf. I turned my back for a second, and the books started falling like dominos. That’s when I realized I had forgotten to put the bookend back.

How often do you do the same thing in your life? You treat prayer like a forgotten bookend by beginning or ending with prayer but find you are way too distracted to spend quality time with God talking and listening.

When I went through cancer, I learned that one of the most humbling things is having to depend on others. But as children of God, we are totally dependent on Him for our justification, sanctification, glorification, and every single breath we take.

The Apostle Paul said in 1 Thessalonians 5:17-18, “Pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

When we spend little time with God, we are implying, “I can handle things.” When we talk to God in the name of our Lord, the door to the throne of God is opened up. 

When you pray, your conversation with God should be filled with passion both for Him and for:

  • Those in our groups
  • Those who are lost
  • Our family and friends
  • God to show us how we can move from isolation to innovation in a pandemic environment 
  • God to reveal ways we can serve those who have needs

Never stop praying. We should always delight in spending time conversing with our Father.

Take time to teach those in your Sunday School class or group how to pray as part of your discipleship.

Written by Rick Hughes, Groups Sr. Consultant/Coach, North Carolina Baptist Convention

Creating Care Groups That Serve Others

Now more than ever people need care. How can the church effectively provide this care? People in the church need to be organized and trained to care for one another, their neighbors, and isolated, hurting people.

In the past, Sunday Schools or small groups might be organized in terms of care groups. These care groups were designed to discover the needs of people in the Sunday School class or small group to be sure the needs got met. The expectation to meet these needs might be shared with other church leaders or the pastor.

Two shifts are needed. The first shift needed is for the group itself to respond to the need once it is discovered. The second shift is for the needs of people who have never attended the group to be considered as a means of ministry and outreach to them. The pressure people are now experiencing presents an opportunity to address church and community needs differently.

Care groups may not be a new idea to your church. But shifting the expectation for service to the care group itself might be. Consider these steps in re-framing your care groups from needs discovery to needs meeting groups:

  • Determine the number of care group leaders needed and expectations for them
  • Enlist care group leaders and provide training for them.
  • Create care groups by organizing people by geography, life situation, or interest.
  • Balance the care groups mixture of regular, sporadic, and never-attenders.
  • Provide regular feedback for care group leaders so they can learn through serving

The need for care is not the only need people have. People also have a need to serve. People need the spiritual growth that comes from serving others. If the need for serving others is understood as a means to spiritual growth, people may start finding value in serving.

Written by Clint Calvert, Church Leadership Catalyst,  Minnesota-Wisconsin Baptist Convention.

Rethinking & Creating Care Teams

            Adult Sunday School teacher, if you try to do it all, your class members will gladly let you do it all! Well, maybe that’s a little cynical way to look at service through your Sunday School or Small Group Bible study, but the truth is most people prefer to be served rather than serve.

            Care Teams, Care Group teams, ministry teams, whatever you want to call them, can play a key role in helping your group fulfill the Great Commission Jesus gave in Matthew 28:18-20, to go into all the world to make disciples. Most adult Sunday School classes and Small Groups are already organized for Bible study. The great need of the hour is the personal touch of these ministry teams, making certain all the members and non-members alike, are loved and cared for.

            Although every adult class or group is different in its unique ministry context, a good strategy in organizing the class is to enlist a care leader for every 4-6 people. These leaders may difficult to enlist at first, but as the class/group experiences new opportunities for ministry and service, as people see the value of service to others, it is probable servant-leaders will step up to help.

            Teacher, start enlisting small, setting a goal of enlisting a new care leader each month until you have the number of teams needed for effective ministry in your class. Too many members in a care group will tend to overwhelm a leader. It’s best for men to be with men, and women to be with women in care groups/teams, if it’s a couple’s class.   

As your class or group organizes itself for ministry to members, non-members, members in service and inactive members, needs will be met, and servants will mature. The teams can each include a variety of these “members.” Adult teachers enlist others to share the ministry God has called them to.

            In closing, Jesus taught His disciples (and teaches us) in John 15:13-14, “No one has greater love than this: to lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you.” It’s through service, ministry to others, inside the church and outside the church, that we grow in our obedience to Christ. This does not mean, of course, that we are saved through our obedience, but that our salvation is evidenced by our love for God and service to others.

Care teams are still an effective strategy for classes and groups to help the teacher share the ministry load, but also for members to invest their lives in eternity. Who can you prayerfully enlist today?

Written by Jeff Ingram, Adult Ministry Specialist, Louisiana Baptist Convention