What If?

I’ve just finished reading the first installment of a three part trilogy by Bryan Litfin called ‘The Sword’.  I am now reading through his second book entitled ‘The Gift’.  It’s a Chronicles of Narnia, Lord of the Rings type of thing.  Bryan is a professor of Theology at Moody Bible Institute and was featured in an article in our ‘Stand Firm’ Men’s Devotional a couple of months back.  That’s what spurred me to look into his book.

To give you a brief synopsis of the storyline the year is 2042.  A deadly virus outbreak mushrooms into a world-wide epidemic and takes millions of lives.  In the resulting chaos and loss of life nuclear weapons fall into the control of those who would destroy anyone and everything.  The sum of this is that our world as we know it ceases to exist.  The Earth is plunged once again into a ‘dark ages’ with all communication, technology, and financial structure gone and as the centuries roll by the ‘ancient’ world of the present is gone and along with it the scriptures and the knowledge of the one True God.  The story evolves as the one True God begins to real Himself to the Hero and Heroine and they begin their quest to find His truth.

Maybe you’re not intrigued with that sort of story, but for me it really stirs my thinking.  What if we didn’t have the scriptures anymore?  That they were gone and lost forever?  What if we had lost our knowledge of the one True God and His Son?  And from that we had no hope for the future.  That we just lived and died and that was it.  Makes we want to give thanks anew for God’s mercy and grace to give us His Word.  It causes me to realize afresh that the light and knowledge of the one True God should not be taken for granted.

But I am also reminded that for many in our world the setting for ‘The Sword’ is true in their countries today.  They don’t have the Scriptures in their language or otherwise.  They don’t have a knowledge of the one True God.  They haven’t heard of a Savior who died for them.  They have no hope beyond this life.

Let us not take our blessings or our mission for granted.  Let us remember His calling on our lives to those around the world and across the street who don’t know His love and salvation.  (Matthew 28:18-20)

How To Kill Your Sunday School Class

These are not my own, they come from a blog by Bob Mayfield who is the Sunday School and Discipleship Specialist for the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma, but I deemed them too good to not pass along to you.

1.     Inactivity. Groups that don’t do anything will eventually die. No fellowships, no phone calls… nothing ever happens in the group. Don’t get involved in anything the church is doing either!

2.     Don’t teach the Bible. Basically, this is lack of preparation by the teacher or group leader. If meeting after meeting, the Bible is never read, studied, and applied to everyday life; then the group will eventually come apart at the seams. A corollary to this is “blame it on the curriculum”. Great curriculum will not replace solid preparation by the leader.

3.     Refuse to minister to your group. Go ahead and let a group member spend time in the hospital without ever hearing from the group. Once it happens to one member, other people in the group will realize that it can and probably will happen to them when they face a crisis too. The result: a gradual exodus from the group.

4.     Keep all of the group’s ministry to yourself. Don’t inconvenience other people by asking them to help. Refuse to allow other people in the group to use their spiritual gifts. Instead, keep all of the group’s ministry in your hands.

5.     Don’t follow up on guests. When someone visits your group or the church, be sure to leave them alone. If they need you, they’ll find you!

6.     Blame others. If your group is slowly dying, be sure to cast blame on the pastor, the staff, the deacons, and that harsh ungodly world out there that hates you.

7.     Have a dour attitude. People love to attend a depressing group where everything in the world is wrong and beyond hope.

8.     Never start a new group. Never, never, never. I mean, how will you replace all those people that leave!

9.     BONUS – Assert your independence. Your group doesn’t need to cooperate with the church, or do anything with the church or other group leaders. Be sure to resist any effort by the church leadership that might somehow cause change. Use your own curriculum; claim your own room; and be as uncooperative as possible.

Here’s the suggestions he has for growing your Sunday School Group.

a)     Plan fellowships and activity.

b)    Study and teach God’s Word for application and lifechange.

c)     Show people that we care by being there when they need us.

d)    Organize our group so that we are helping group members develop their gifts and grow as a disciple.

e)     Follow up with people to let them know that we care and that our group is a place where they can belong.

f)      Accept responsibility and attend training so that we lead our group in a godly manner.

g)     Realize that messages of repentance, hope, and mercy are powerful and positive attributes of the Gospel.

h)    Support new groups because they bring vitality and change into the church.

i)   Cooperate and participate with other groups under the direction of the church leadership.

These are simple yet profound things for us to do and be if we want to reach others for Christ!  Don’t use them as a yardstick for everyone else’s group, but as a gauge for your Class.