Be A Sunday School Booster

INTRO.- ILL.- "Say, Dad, did you go to Sunday School when you were a boy?" "Yes, son, I went all the time." "Well, then, I guess it won’t do me any good either."

I beg to differ with that boy. SUNDAY SCHOOL WILL DO A PERSON SOME GOOD, A WORLD OF GOOD!

Some of my best times as a youngster in church and Sunday School were in Sunday School! Sunday School was the highlight of my Christian experience back then! I’d rather go to Sunday School than church any day back then!

Some people avoid Sunday School like it’s a plague. And I know why some people avoid going to Sunday School.

ILL.- I remember being in a boy’s Sunday School class at the First Baptist Church of Webb City, MO. Our teacher was also my high school driver’s education teacher. He was a real nice guy and very funny too. He had a great sense of humor and would often joke with us. Everybody loved him. But one day I didn’t love him!

DO YOU WANT TO KNOW WHY? Because he asked me to lead the class in prayer. Out loud! Talk about embarrassing. Talk about being put on the spot. Talk about not knowing what to do. I had never prayed out loud or in public in my life and suddenly, I was asked to pray.

I stumbled around and stammered a little, and offered some kind of very short prayer. I don’t even remember what I said or prayed, but I know I was embarrassed and red-faced. "NEVER AGAIN," I thought. Little did I know what my future would hold.

Never in my wildest dream did I think of becoming a minister of the gospel. But here I am.

Brothers and sisters, I know that some people avoid Sunday School because they think they will be put on the spot and asked to pray or perhaps read out loud or asked a direct question. NOT IN MY CLASS, YOU WON’T. I don’t want to embarrass anybody.

Some people don’t go to Sunday School for other reasons: It’s too early. It’s an hour before church. It’s at 9 a.m. That’s early to some people. But that doesn’t seem to be a problem on Monday morning when they have to go to work.

I think many people like to sleep in.

Prov. 24:33-34 "A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest and poverty will come on you like a bandit...." Sleep can lead to laziness or in some cases, may be a sign of laziness. And laziness can lead to poverty or else, government welfare. And laziness can lead to spiritual poverty as well.

Spiritual poverty means a person has nothing in the well. There spiritual well is dry. There is nothing to draw from. That’s not good. When your well is dry you’d better not have an emergency!

I figured out a long time ago that most people do what they want to do! If they want to get up early and go fishing or hunting or go on a trip, etc., they just go do it. But when it comes to certain spiritual matters, it’s a different matter.

Everybody has a lazy streak in them, but we should never be lazy when it comes to the Lord and our relationship to Him. BUT WE ARE! And not attending Sunday School may be a part of that laziness.

Some people don’t attend Sunday School because they think it is boring or will be boring. Well, it could be, but it doesn’t have to be! I will guarantee you if you have Paul Tucker in your class it won’t be boring! IT MAY BE DIFFERENT, BUT IT WON’T BE BORING!

Boring doesn’t have to be the adjective that describes Sunday School nor your particular class. You can make it better and more exciting by preparing and participating. By asking questions. By sharing your spiritual adventures in life, both failures and successes.

WE CAN LEARN FROM ONE ANOTHER and should learn from one another. And this learning experience can be very exciting and rewarding.

ILL.- A man by the name of Robert Raikes started the Sunday School program in England in 1780. He organized a Sunday School for the poor children of Gloucester, England. Before the passing of child labor laws in England, many children were working six days a week. The average work day was from 12 to 16 hours. Wow! Robert Raikes and his friends wanted to do something to help the children. Their answer was to start a school which would meet on Sundays. They studied more than just the Bible, but the Bible was included.

American ministers regarded the Sunday School as an instrument of the devil for many years. I suppose it was like many “new” things that came along. "It must be evil, because we’ve never heard of it or done it that way before."