building a r.e.a.l. sunday school ministry. biblical foundation holistic ministryopen small group...
TRANSCRIPT
Biblical Foundation
Holistic Ministry
Open Small Group
Transformational Teaching
Culture: Your Unique Way of Demonstrating Core Values.
Assimilation Life-Changing Bible Study
Relationships Evangelism
Systems
Foundation: Biblical
• Old Testament – Deuteronomy 31:12
Gather the people together,
Men, and women, and children,
And thy stranger that is within thy gates,
That they may hear, and that they may learn, and fear the Lord your God, and observe to
do all the words of this law.
Foundation: Biblical
• New Testament - Matthew 28:19-20Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations;
Baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Ghost:Teaching them to observe all thingsWhatsoever I have commanded you:
And Lo, I am with you alway,Even unto the end of the world. Amen
Supporting Pillars: H.O.T. Core Values
Holistic Ministry If Jesus were your
Sunday School teacher, how would He do ministry?
Holistic Ministry The Good Samaritan Story
‘Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that
fell among the thieves?’ And he said, ‘He that showed mercy on him.’
Then said Jesus unto him, ‘Go, and do thou likewise’ Luke 10:36-37
Holistic Ministry
If Jesus were your Sunday School Teacher He would lead the class to
minister to the whole person.
Supporting Pillars: H.O.T. Core Values
Open Small Group If Jesus Christ were still incarnate
and here on earth and was your Sunday School teacher, what
would be His number one priority
for His Class?
Open Small Group •‘For the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost’ Luke 19:10•‘For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved’ John 3:17•‘…for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.’ John 12:47•‘…for the Son of Man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.’ Luke 9:56
Open Small Group
If Jesus Christ were your Sunday School teacher,
He would lead the class to be open and
evangelistically driven.
Supporting Pillars: H.O.T. Core Values
Transformational Teaching
If Jesus were your Sunday School Teacher,
what and how would he teach?
Transformational Teaching
• ‘Search the scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life; and they are they which testify of me.’ John 5:39
Transformational Teaching
If Jesus were your Sunday School teacher,
He would lead the class to search the scriptures for life-changing
Bible truths.
The Floor: Culture
• Culture is defined as the patterns of behavior in which a group interacts.
• Use the survey of the Fastest Growing Churches to evaluate the CULTURE of your church. What do the survey results say about your church’s core values?
Question: What Culture Change Might Be Needed In Your
Church?
Ten Common Practices of Fastest Growing Churches
1. 98% provide systematic training for Sunday School Leaders
We have a systematic plan for equipping our Sunday
School leaders.
Ten Common Practices of Fastest Growing Churches
2. 96% believes the pastor’s support of the Sunday school is important to the health of the church.
Our pastor is intentional in supporting and elevating
the Sunday School ministry.
Ten Common Practices of Fastest Growing Churches
3. 96% are overcoming space LimitationsOur members have an attitude of flexibility
regarding room assignments and schedules.
Ten Common Practices of Fastest Growing Churches
4.. 91% practice Open Enrollment
We make it easy to enroll in Sunday School and are
intentional in expanding the enrollment each year.
Ten Common Practices of Fastest Growing Churches
5. 85% use an evangelism training process or method
Our church provides personal evangelism
training for members on a regular basis.
Ten Common Practices of Fastest Growing Churches
6. 83% strategically create new classes
We intentionally create one or more new classes each
year.
Ten Common Practices of Fastest Growing Churches
7. 80% have a weekly visitation ministryWe have an active and
strategic outreach ministry that emphasizes face to face
contact.
Ten Common Practices of Fastest Growing Churches
8. 78% maintain a prospect listWe have a system for
identifying, following up, and tracking prospects.
Ten Common Practices of Fastest Growing Churches
9. 78% have high standards for their leaders
We have written standards that leaders agree and
adhere to.
Ten Common Practices of Fastest Growing Churches
10. 78% intentionally organize for growthOur Sunday School is
organized based on who we are trying to reach rather
than who attends.
Ten Common Practices of Fastest Growing Churches
Evaluate your Sunday School based on these
findings.
Question: What Culture Change Might Be Needed In Your
Church?
The “Early Church” is a good model to follow for Building a
R.E.A.L. Sunday School.Listen to the biblical accounts of the ministry strategies of these early Christians to discover the R.E.A.L. Purpose of the Sunday
School for today.
RELATIONSHIPS
• Acts 2:46-47 “They followed a daily discipline of worship in the Temple followed by meals at home, every meal a celebration, exuberant and joyful, as they praised God. People in general liked what they saw. Every day their number grew as God added those who were saved.” The Message
RELATIONSHIPS
• Question: How do you think the “People” liked what they saw? What might have been happening? Josh Hunt calls it Ice Cream Evangelism. Don’t invite people to church/Sunday School, invite them to your home for ice cream. No body doesn’t like ice cream.
EVANGELISM
• Acts 1:8 Ye shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth! KJV
EVANGELISM
• How do you think the early church fulfilled this mission?
• Peter’s sermon in Jerusalem
• Peter’s witness to Cornelius
• Paul and Barnabas mission trips
EVANGELISM• The early church took Jesus’ command
seriously. They started at home, then they turned their eyes externally to the world, i.e. local gentiles, and world missions.
ASSIMILATION
• Acts 9:25-17 Back in Jerusalem he (Paul) tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him. They didn’t trust him one bit. Then Barnabas took him under his wing.
ASSIMILATION• He introduced him to the apostles
and stood up for him told them how Saul had seen and spoke to the Master on the Damascus Road and how in Damascus itself he had laid his life on the line with his bold preaching in Jesus’ name. The Message
ASSIMILATION• Barnabas did two things: He connected
Paul to the small group of believers and he connected him to a ministry. Paul was already preaching.
• If we want to close the back door of the church, those two things are essential –connect people to a small group and to a ministry they can perform.
LIFE-CHANGING BIBLE STUDY
• Acts 8:30-35 Later God’s angel spoke to Philip: ‘At noon today I want you to walk over to that desolate road that goes from Jerusalem down to Gaza.’
LIFE-CHANGING BIBLE STUDY
He got up and went. He met an Ethiopian eunuch coming down the road. He was riding in a chariot and reading the prophet Isaiah.
• The Spirit told Philip, ‘Climb into the chariot.’ Running up alongside, Philip heard the eunuch reading Isaiah and asked, ‘Do you understand what you’re reading?’
LIFE-CHANGING BIBLE STUDY
He answered, ‘How can I without some help?’ and invited Philip into the chariot with him….
LIFE-CHANGING BIBLE STUDY
• The eunuch said, ‘Tell me who is the prophet talking about: himself or some other?’ Philip grabbed his chance. Using this passage as his text, he preached Jesus to him. The Message
LIFE-CHANGING BIBLE STUDY
Teaching is a life-style, not just something we do on Sunday Morning
at 9:45.
LIFE-CHANGING BIBLE STUDY
2 Timothy 2:15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman that doesn’t need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the Word of Truth.
LIFE-CHANGING BIBLE STUDY
Teaching takes skill, study, and commitment to excellence.
Here’s My Heart…
Sunday School is not an internally focused church program. It’s externally focused; it’s all about those not yet coming.
Here’s My Heart…
Sunday School is more than a program that must be kept alive or a Sunday morning event;
Here’s My Heart…
…it’s a ministry strategy, a way of living as the “body of Christ”. It’s about being the “presence of Christ” in our world.
Sunday School is not a closed group for in-depth Bible study where disciples come to grow “fat on the Word”,
Here’s My Heart…
…but rather it is an inclusive, open ministry through which growing disciples “do” discipleship.
Here’s My Heart…
Sunday School is disciples building relationships (with people in their world) into friendships,
Here’s My Heart…
…and then connecting and assimilating those new friends in a small, open group where they can find compassion, hope, and community.
Here’s My Heart…
Sunday School is a ministry for the whole person; a welcoming, open environment where people can discover friends,
Here’s My Heart…