FBMB
March 6, 2005
Sunday School Training
Make Up Session
The 5 P’s of Sunday School
Intro.: Welcome to the Sunday School training make up session. Welcome teachers and other SS leadership. Welcome to those who are not-yet in SS leadership roles. Your time here today is important and I’m going to respect that by starting and finishing at 4:55.
I want several things to be accomplished in our time together. I want this to be a time where I can encourage you, inspire you and challenge you. We have a great organization here already and hopefully I can share with you some fresh ideas that may help us all improve our greatness.
I want to share with you The 5 P’s of Sunday School. Some of this may appear to be forward but when I’m done you will know the inside of my heart. The words may seem new but I promise the concepts and principles associated with the words are as old as Sunday School itself.
I. PEOPLE
A. I intentionally want to remind you that we are in the people business.
1. If it were not for people we would be out of business.
2. “We are here for those who are yet to come.” Erwin McManus.
3. If your motivation for serving the Lord is anything but for Him and the people I challenge you to evaluate what your doing.
4. SS is the single greatest organism that automatically helps us meet people where they are.
5. By using an age-graded class structure we are able to meet individual needs and not just general surface needs.
6. This is why I will always be an advocate for age-graded SS classes.
7. I’m presently working on a 7-year deviation standard with each of our classes.
8. Why? Because people naturally connect with others of the same life cycles.
9. Illus.: 30 37 44 = 14 year span; 30 33 37 = 7 year span
10. Is it wrong to have people who are older or younger in classes? No, but it’s not as effective.
11. Can we have both? It’s possible but it takes a lot of organization and planning to effectively minister to all the members and quests in the class.
12. Takes a special teacher.
13. But don’t lose my point: we are in the people business.
B. Being in the people business reminds me to be an advocate for SS fellowships.
1. Children’s teachers don’t turn me off.
2. “We know things about people but we don’t really know people.”
3. From the electric garage door to the Internet we are quickly loosing personal contact with people.
4. I’m not anti either, I use both of these things.
5. It’s becoming easier for you and I to drive into our homes and enter our community and world through the Internet and never have to say anything to anybody.
6. If there’s one place left in this world where social contacts can be maintained it ought to be the church.
7. I encourage you to plan quarterly fellowships.
8. You are welcome to use the church facilities, you may want to use a park, go to >>>>>>> just don’t take them to Harrah’s.
9. You will be amazed at how strong and fast your class will grow – in both quantity and quality.
C. Contacts
1. Our goal is to get as many people as possible to make as many contacts as possible at as many times and places as possible.
2. I will be relentless in my pursuit of challenging you to make weekly contacts.
3. Why? Because weekly contacts always run in direct proportion to the weekly attendance.
4. Your contacts should at least equal your number of class enrollment every week. (½ members ½ prospects).
5. Letter, phone call, email, visit.
6. March 20 – “Friend Day” High Attendance 1029
DISCUSS CLASS GOALS.
II. PRIORITY
A. There are twin priorities that should be exercised in the SS.
1. 1) “Preach” the Word: 2 Timothy 4:2
2. Preach = to proclaim or to publish divine truth.
3. TEACHERS: Is it your responsibility to proclaim God’s truth through the written lesson every week? Sure it is.
4. From the birth class to the death class.
5. How many of you always get through your entire lesson?
6. Why is this priority important? We spend almost $25,000 a year for SS literature. [700 avg] $35.00/person; <.70/week.
7. Point: When I buy something I’m going to use it.
8. I expect you to use the material that the church buys.
9. It’s important because people’s lives are at stake.
10. People’s lives are in the balance between heaven and hell.
11. For some Christians (CHILDREN) this is the only Bible they get in the whole week.
12. People are coming every week expecting you to teach the Bible to them so they can make it another week.
13. People are sitting in our classrooms every week with hurts, habits and hang-ups and they are seeking an answer to help them overcome those problems.
14. Some form of cancer is growing every week in the lives of our students and we have the radiation treatment in the Word of God to deliver to them.
15. I passionately ask you to proclaim the divine truth every minute that you have in SS.
16. 2) Evangelize the Lost: 2 Timothy 4:5.
17. Our priority is to proclaim divine truth but our goal is to teach to transform lives.
18. Statistics: 1/262 not enrolled in SS will be saved. 1/3 enrolled in SS will be saved.
19. It’s so much easier to walk someone who got saved in SS to the worship service to make their decision public than having them come to church the next Sunday and do it.
20. When our prospect roll equals our enrollment our greatest mission field will be the people sitting in our classrooms.
21. Asking every class: 1) Enroll at least one new member a month; 2) Lead at least one person to the Lord this year.
22. “2 Never’s:” Never forget what it was like to be lost; Never assume that everybody in your class is a Christian.
23. Our priority is to proclaim divine truth and help people discover Jesus by faith.
24. Every piece of SS literature has the plan of salvation printed on the inside front cover.
25. Adopt-A-neighborhood – Prayer walking/driving and Outreach Events.
26. Adopt a Mission Project - Mike Paris hitting the baseball fields with sno-cones and jelly beans.
27. Opportunities through the Church, Association, State, NAMB & IMB.
III. PRESENTATION
A. We never change the message but we need to change the presentation from time to time.
1. “Sometimes you have to change the package but you never change the contents.”
2. Think of how many product labels have changed over the years but the products have always stayed the same.
3. Coke labels, televisions, automobiles, food products.
4. Change in our society happens every 12 months.
5. Sometimes the electronic fields change every 12 minutes.
6. I don’t think we need to change just for change sake.
7. Change needs to be both compelling and achievable.
8. Change is when the future state becomes the new current state.
9. This is exactly what we are trying to do when we teach.
10. Lord help us not to make God’s Word boring because our presentation is weak.
11. This includes our room décor also: pictures hanging on the wall and not laying on the floor, posters are up to date, refreshment table clean. . .etc.
B. Evaluate your current Presentation Style.
1. LifeWay.com click on the “Extra” link
2. myBiblestudy.com
3. Read a book on “How To Communicate.”
4. Sometimes we have to change the package but we never change the contents.
IV. PLACE
A. We are conditioned to having SS at 9:45 on Sunday morning.
1. Does anybody know why we do it this time?
2. Because it was convenient for farmers when we were primarily an agrarian society.
3. With our shift worker society we need to re-visit this.
4. I say we ought not to be held to only one time and place.
5. It might be a church classroom, living room, bar room or
6. It might be on Sunday morning, Monday evening or Friday night.
7. We are a transient society.
8. I will always encourage Sunday morning Bible study but I’m not opposed to a group meeting somewhere else and at another time to systematically study the Bible.
V. POSITION
A. Your folder contains a list of Class Leader Responsibilities (Yellow) and a Class Organizational Chart (Green).
1. The growth of your SS class is dependant upon how effectively you use this chart second to your teaching.
2. “Train a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6.
2. The bigger we grow the small we must remain.
3. We can have uplifting worship and dynamic biblical preaching but if we don’t have a system to meet individual needs we are sunk.
4. Take serious the various class responsibilities and fill out that sheet completely.
Conclusion:
Folder Contents
Miscellaneous/Questions
Prayer
Thank You!!!
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