I still believe in Sunday School!

Sunday School was started in 1780 in England by a gentleman named Robert Raikes. Mr. Raikes ran the local newspaper and was a committed Christian. He became concerned for the large number of poor children being forced to work 6 days a week in factories; he often watched on Sundays as these kids wandered the streets cussing and getting into trouble. Robert Raikes started “Sunday School” to teach these factory kids to read and write. He also taught them the basics of the Christian faith.

Many today believe that Sunday School is like Trix; ‘just for kids’. Deuteronomy 31:12 implies that Sunday School is for all ages. It reads, “Gather the people together, men and women and little ones, and the stranger who is within your gates, that they may hear and that they may learn to fear the Lord your God and carefully observe all the words of this law.”

As Christians we don’t really have problems; what we call problems God would call opportunities. Here are a few ‘opportunities’ the church faces regarding Sunday School.

1.      Attendance opportunities – Attendance across the board has been dropping; in worship, bible study, volunteering, etc. If we want worship attendance, offerings, volunteering, witnessing, and serving to go up we need to get people committed to Sunday School. Romans 10 tells us “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.” 

2.      Recruitment opportunities – We can’t simply find a warm body to put in a classroom yet the number of volunteers is in steady decline. We have to find those gifted in teaching and recruit them. 

3.      Facility opportunities – Many classes meet in rooms too big, too small, or too old and depressing. We must constantly evaluate classes and adjust rooms as needed. 

4.      Money opportunities – It takes money to buy literature, snacks, crafts, and books. As stewardship declines, this becomes a bigger challenge. 

5.      Resource opportunities – Adults will drop out of Sunday School if they are not getting something of value for their investment of time. We have to equip teachers with the best resources and tools so that they might teach the scriptures in a way that transforms lives.

Recognizing that some of those ‘opportunities’ are substantial, there are some questions to ask. The answer to these questions will determine how vibrant and successful a Sunday School will be. 

1.      What is Sunday School’s purpose? The obvious answer most give is to “teach the bible”. That’s correct but only 25% of the answer. Sunday School is the reaching, teaching, caring, and evangelizing arm of the church. The Sunday School is to be the front door by which many get connected to the church. For every 2 lost adults that attend Sunday School for 6 months, one of them will be saved. 

2.      Who should teach Sunday School? Teachers must lead by example. Acts 20:28-30 reads, “Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves.” 

3.      Should we give up on Sunday School? There is a movement to off-campus home small groups. The percentage of worship attendees attending home cell groups is always significantly less than the percentage that attend an on-campus bible study class on Sunday mornings. Some pastors want to allow for their teaching from the pulpit to suffice for teaching the bible, but the problem with that is much of the small group dynamic like relationships, accountability, and the ability to ask questions is lost.

4.      What would be the results if we gave up on Sunday School? Our church members would become ignorant of the Word. Our churches would not be bionically strong nor sound. Our ability to influence society would be greatly diminished. The Church of England gave up on Sunday School years ago and I think the results speak for themselves.

Killing the 'giants' of life

Recently I came across a list identifying 530 phobias. The word ‘phobia’ comes from a Greek word for fear and refers to a panic that is disproportionate to the threat. The list included things you might expect. Number 7 was Nyctophobia (fear of the dark); #6 was Acrophobia (fear of heights); #5 was Claustrophobia (fear of being trapped in small spaces) and the #1 phobia was Arachnophobia (fear of spiders). As a Baptist preacher I found two fears on the list particularly interesting: Ecclesiophobia or the fear of church, and Homilophobia or the fear of sermons (so that’s why our missing members aren’t coming). 

In 1 Samuel 17 Israel was dealing with a phobia of their own often referred to as “fee-fi-phobia” or the fear of giants. Day after day a Philistine giant standing 9 feet tall named Goliath stood and verbally abused Israel’s soldiers, challenging them to a ‘winner takes all’ fight. His challenge went unanswered until David showed up to check on his brothers. In this passage we learn the principles of giant killing. Some of you have giants you are dealing with right now; giants of “you’re not good enough … you are losing your kids … you can’t stop looking at porn … you will never get past and can never be used because of some previous failure … your life is hopeless and a mistake.” Before I give you the principles to kill giants in your life, let me make a few broad statements about the ‘giants’ we face. They are always bigger than us, they tend to mock us in our thoughts, and they should turn us to the Lord.

Giant fighting requires three things.

1. You have to run toward the action – There never would have been victory if David hadn’t gone to the battle front. We cannot run from the issues we struggle with but instead must meet them head on. 
2. You have to identify the adversary – For success to happen you must call your giant by name (temper, lust, finances …). Admitting there is a problem is the first step in gaining victory over it. I'd suggest if you have more than one giant, always pick the biggest giant first. Once this giant falls, it becomes obvious that the other giants can fall as well.
   
   
3. Understand God’s authority – Before battle David tried to put on Saul’s armor but it didn’t fit. In your spiritual battles you cannot use someone else armor; the only way to put on the spiritual armor spelled out in Ephesians 6 is to spend time with the Lord yourself.

In 1 Samuel 17:49 David pulls a stone, loads his slingshot, and nails Goliath between the eyes. The huge giant falls but verse 51 states he was not dead yet. The same way that David “finished off Goliath” is how we will finish off the giants of our lives.

1. Remember the size of your God – We often talk about the size of our problems when we would do well to remember the size of our God. The God who parted the Red Sea, one day stopped the sun from setting, and raised Lazarus from the dead four days after his death, is the God you serve. 
2. Understand it is the ‘small’ victories that lead to ‘giant’ killings – Killing Goliath was not David’s first fight; he had previously fought a bear and a lion. Think of the steps necessary to achieve victory over your giant then begin one step at a time checking those steps off. Little victories for you might be paying one bill on time, or 24 hours without getting angry, or a week without gossiping. Killing giants is typically achieved through many small victories. 
3. Cut off the enemy’s head – Verse 51 says, “David … took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him, and cut off his head with it.” For you cutting off the enemy’s head might be cutting off bad habits; cutting off elicit relationships; cutting off evil speaking, slander, anger, and lying.  
4. Regardless of how old you get and how many victories you have won, don’t ever stop fighting - I want you to be able to say at the end of your life the words of the Apostle Paul, “… the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”