Richard Nations :: Sunday School Leaders

Jan

Applying the Bible in Sunday School

By Richard Nations · Comments (1)

I have learned, as a teacher, that I need to do three things as I present a Sunday school lesson.

Explanation. I need to explain God’s Word and help the students discover the truths of the Scriptures.
Illustration. I need to help the students understand the concepts by giving visual illustrations, telling stories, eliciting stories from the class or using examples to illustrate the truth being presented.
Application. The teacher must help the student with the “so what?” question. What does this truth have to do with me? Why should I believe this and what should I do as a result of this teaching.

Bib le application is sometimes left out of a Bible lesson and the lesson is incomplete unless the students have gained a feel for the “so what” of the passage.

Many, if not most, curriculum plans have a section of application that usually follows the explanation and illustration sections of the teaching plans. It may be a set of questions for reflection, an activity to draw out discussion or a small group discussion time to reflect and apply the truths.

A resource I love to use is the Life Application Bible, which is published by Tyndale House. Take a look at a couple of paragraphs of their introduction to the “Life Application Bible. ”

“What, then, is application? Application begins by knowing and understanding God’s Word and its timeless truths. But you cannot stop there. If you do, God’s Word may not change your life, and it may become dull, difficult, tedious, and tiring. A good application focuses the truth of God’s Word, shows the reader what to do about what is being read, and motivates the reader to respond to what God is teaching. All three are essential to application.”

“Application is putting into practice what we already know (see Mk 4:24 and Heb 5:14) and answering the question, “So what?” by confronting us with the right questions and motivating us to take action (see 1Jn 2:5,6 and Jas 2:17). Application is deeply personal—unique for each individual. It is making a relevant truth a personal truth, and involves developing a strategy and action plan to live your life in harmony with the Bible. It is the Biblical “how to” of life.”

So as you teach the Bible in Sunday school, be sure you don’t skip over the application section of the lesson.

Ask good questions.
Ask for stories and examples of the Bible truths being applied in the lives of your students.
Give action-oriented tips and suggestions for application.
Follow up with your students and help them discover actions to apply the Bible to their lives.
Don’t let the end of the class session come around until you have tried to do a little Bible application each Sunday.

______________________

By Richard Nations, Church Health Team Leader, Baptist Convention of Iowa, Des Moines, Iowa.

Quoted from “Why the Life Application Study Bible is Unique.” Life Application® Notes and Bible Helps. Published by Laridian Bible Software. Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Copyright 1996 by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. Wheaton, Illinois. All rights reserved.

Categories : 31 Days to a Better Teacher, Leadership, Sunday School

Comments (1)

Nov

I’m New, Help!

By Richard Nations · Comments (1)

So you’ve been enlisted to be a Sunday school teacher and this is your first time to serve in this role. You probably have some questions. These may have been answered by the person enlisting you or maybe you didn’t think to ask them as this role was being discussed with you. Here are a few questions you will want to ask and maybe you can think of some others:

Who are the members of the class? Do we have their contact information? Do we know anything about them, for instance, their birthdays, their family members, etc? Can the church office help me find this information out if it’s not on our Sunday school roll book?
Do we have a prospect file? Are there people who would possibly come to the class if we invited them? Do we know their contact information or anything about them? Are there some family members of our existing members who would be prospects? Do we know their spiritual condition?
What Sunday school materials are available for our class? No doubt there is a leader guide and some learner books. Is there also a resource kit (tied to the curriculum)? Maps? Charts? Any videos available? Do we have a budget if we need supplies, etc.?
What training is available to me or expected of me? Does the association, the state convention or the church have any training events planned or is there something available via the Internet that can help me become a better teacher and Sunday school leader? Do we have Sunday school teacher/worker meetings in our church?
Who are the people in our class that are potential leaders to help with this ministry? Do we have a substitute teacher or better yet an apprentice teacher (being trained to become a teacher someday also)? Do we have someone “keeping track of people” (a class secretary)? Do we have people who are focusing on outreach, prayer, care groups or social activities?

There are a lot of questions that could be asked. This will get you started thinking in this direction.

What other questions would you have or would you pose as good questions for a Sunday school teacher to be asking? Post a reply to this blog and let’s talk about it?

Blog post by Richard Nations, Church Health Team Leader for the Baptist Convention of Iowa, Des Moines, Iowa.

Categories : Ministry, Sunday School, Teaching, Training

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Oct

The Blended Teacher

By Richard Nations · Comments (1)

A Sunday school teacher or a small group leader needs to stay personally fresh and recharged spiritually in order to be most effective at teaching the class or leading the group.

Sharp, creative ideas and a soul that has been to the well of God’s Word along with time spent in prayer will come together to make an effective classroom experience.

Here are some ideas I have found that help me do these two vital things:

Keep a file of creative ideas. Look for photos in magazines, video clips, things you can print off of the Internet and clippings from the newspaper that focus thinking on an issue, a problem or a relevant topic to the Bible study lesson text.
Always scan your class for people who “have a story” and find ways to draw them out and share their stories in the class setting.
Ask great questions. Avoid questions that can be answered with a “yes” or a “no.” Find ways to insert open-ended questions into the discussion which will stimulate conversation on the Bible topic or text.
Study, study, study! Read the Sunday school lesson or the small group book chapter a couple of times during the week. Read entries from Bible dictionaries and commentaries to add to the background.
Read materials on the context of the Bible passage to gain understanding of the customs, geography and political settings of the day in which the Bible text is set. A good resource here would be “Biblical Illustrator” – a magazine which is available from LifeWay Christian Resources at www.lifeway.com.
Find a different way to start the class session out each week. One week use a visual illustration with objects and a key point from each one (think about the children’s sermons you have observed in church). The next week show a short video clip with a pungent point. Another week get a couple of people to act out a short skit dramatizing a dilemma or a moral quandary.

And, keep yourself spiritually fresh. Don’t just let the Sunday school or small group lesson be your only Bible study. Have a plan to read the Word daily and draw from devotional writings of others. You can’t go wrong with the book “My Utmost For His Highest” by Oswald Chambers or some other great devotional guide. The website www.crosswalk.com has a wealth of personal Bible study resources available online.

Read the word, pray, share Christ with people, encourage, serve, minister and love people.

It’s all a part of the mix of a great Bible teacher.

Categories : Ministry, Sunday School, Teaching

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Aug

Connecting with Others in Sunday School Ministry

By Richard Nations · Comments (0)

One of the great values of Sunday School ministry for me is the opportunity and forum for connecting with others on a deeper level in a small group. Bible teaching is important and should be done with excellence. But determine to have good connections among class members and prospects in place as well.

How do you ‘connect’ a group of a dozen or so class members? This day and age requires more than merely a paper class list and a prayer chain by phone. Obviously computer technology gives us many opportunities for connecting people:

1. Emails to class members are the most basic step. Upcoming lesson topics, questions for thought and discussion, prayer needs and social opportunities are easily communicated to the group.

2. A next step from there might be a class blog-these are easy and inexpensive ways to connect people and they allow for interactivity as people can discuss things online.

3. Facebook and Twitter are also free and easy ways for a class to connect as a group and they are fast (and a lot of people are using social media).

4. For a class member who is stationed in the military a possible connection could be to use Skype and have face to face talk time with the member. Another option would be to video a lesson and send it by internet to the overseas class member.

5. But in my opinion, nothing takes the place of face to face connecting with a cup of coffee or a Coke. Inside or outside of the church building, make time to visit with class members and prospects and interact with them.

Technology isn’t the answer. Connecting is the key. I sat down at my computer to write this blog post and my office computer network had to be shut down due to a virus on our system. So I write this on a typewriter to be faxed to our blog coordinator. Technology will fail but the Lord is pleased when we connect with people in need of Him on a personal and spiritual level.

_________________________________

Richard Nations is the Church Health Team Leader for the Baptist Convention of Iowa.

Categories : Great Expectations, Leadership, Ministry, Sunday School, Teaching

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Jul

Great Expectations in Sunday School

By Richard Nations · Comments (5)

There is a perception in many Sunday school classes or small group Bible studies that it is too much to expect the members to read the Bible study lesson in advance of the class session. The tendency is to not load up too much expectation that the members will actually do anything other than show up and let us teach them for an hour or so. I don’t believe it.

If you go to Cornerstone Baptist Church in Ankeny, Iowa and sit down in the church sanctuary at the time Sunday school begins, you will be invited to sit up close to the front and join the Bible study class of Mrs. Ellen Church. Veteran Sunday school teacher that she is, she has high expectations for her class members. At the time to start, Mrs. Church asks a probing question to get the discussion flowing. She does not read the Bible passage for the day’s lesson to the class, because she says she expects the regular members to have their books and Bibles open and ready to discuss the Scripture of the day. As she puts it “I used to start out reading the Bible material we are to discuss and now I start out with a question relating to a personal experience with the Biblical subject we are teaching that day.” Ellen expects her class to prepare for the study—and they do!

She says “We usually get a good response of discussion and then we move on and begin working through the Scriptures.”

Discussion doesn’t just happen, she says. “You have to learn a little about your students. Older age groups are a little more reluctant to express themselves although we have a few who are good students and they are eager to express their opinions. Younger students have a few more questions about life and are more eager to talk and discuss Bible topics”

Mrs. Church started teaching Sunday school in a Baptist church in St. Joseph, Missouri, when she was a teenage girl. Her “Beginners” class was for preschool children. “Every place we moved they had a need for teachers” So she’s been teaching Sunday school most of her life.

“I always felt called of God to teach,” Church says.

I asked her how much time she puts into the preparation for her class and I wasn’t quite prepared for her answer!

“Seven or eight hours” (each week) was her response. “I usually start on Sunday afternoon (looking at the next week’s lesson). I read the Scripture material. Then the first part of the week, I work on the interpretation. I read several commentaries and of course our literature is excellent. I finish up on Saturday and do my summary of the lesson materials. You have to kind of live with it. I don’t think God audibly speaks to me, but He leads me to certain passages and thoughts expressed in the materials.”

Well, I like the way this lady teaches and I hold her up as an example of a Bible teacher who loves to pursue excellence.

David Francis, LifeWay Christian Resources’ leader of Sunday school ministry, writes in his book “Great Expectations” that a Bible study class which he would term a “Great Expectations” Sunday school class” will expect “new people every week…a great Bible study experience every week…people to say yes to the total ministry of the class” and “expects to be involved in planting new churches.”

I keep my Bible study member book in my car with me so I can read the lesson each week. It’s good to be prepared to hear what God wants to say to you in your Bible study class each week.

Categories : Bible Study, Great Expectations, Sunday School, Teaching

Comments (5)

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