Sunday School Success Notes

A Seminar on the Sunday School - Evan 897

by Jason Gastrich

Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary (LBTS - Liberty University campus

Dr. Rick Raspberry (rlrasber@liberty.edu) and Dr. Homer Massey

Second Baptist in Houston has 75 softball teams and a huge sports program. They decided to let anyone play, not just church members.

They have reached the community and especially Jews.

--Goal: to see potential for ministry in new areas.

--the Word of God brings sanctification

--the Word of God is the source of spiritual power

--what separates us from salesmen is the fact that what we do will have an impact on eternity

If you want to be filled with the power of God, you must be filled with the Word of God.

--the Word of God brings serenity (peace)

--the Word of God promotes success

--the only place the word "success" is mentioned in the KJV is in Joshua 1:8.

--like a hedge clipper that is not plugged in, when we are not reading, believing and applying God's Word, we are powerless.

--the challenge of growth carries the risk of failure

--the church must be pulpit-driven (pastor) and pew-driven (members and attendees).

Homogenous principle: people like to be around people they have more in common (racial, socioeconomic class, etc.)

22% of the people work on Sundays. If we only have Sunday services, some of those people are unable to attend church.

Where there is life, there tends to be growth, unless there are barriers.

Ministering to people's known needs can provide away to meet their unperceived needs (salvation).

Conservative churches grow faster than liberal churches because they have more to offer.

We tend to get out of balance unless we consciously try to stay in balance.

Anything worth doing is worth doing badly until you get good at it. How often do we use the excuse, we are not good at something, to not do it at all?

The authority that we possess is the authority of our example.

You grow on your foundation, but you don't outgrow our foundation. We don't want to abandon our foundation which is Jesus Christ.

If you want to build a great Sunday school, there must be great leaders.

--it takes 9 meaningful contacts with a person before they are bound to the church.

If people are unchurched, they most likely have a very wrong picture of what Christians are like. They must rely on tv and other inadequate sources.

Saying "Yes" to some things usually means saying "No" to other things.

June 23 ~

Dr. Jerry Falwell

Dr. Elmer Towns

Dr. Dan Reiland - an ex-detective, living in Atlanta and working with Dr. Maxwell

--even when we hear things that we have heard before, we can learn something from it and see it in a new way

Deuteronomy 31:12 "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,"

--knowing, understanding, observing

Bridging the gap from class-graded to departmentally graded Sunday school

1) expanding class size

2) having larger rooms

3) having teacher training program

Balancing Experience and Content

Reaching, teaching and winning people for Christ - the Great Commission

3 Kinds

Class, departmental and age graded Sunday school

3 ways to avoid plateaus

New class, class room, training teachers

--with everyone to themselves, you can raise a few super stars, but not a great team

--if harvest is not reaped at harvest time, the harvest dies

--the best training for us would be to spend 5 minutes in hell

--Heaven rejoices when one sinner repents. We need to have the same kind of attitude that Heaven has for the lost.

If a person doesn't set an example, they are still setting an example.

We can do anything right, but if God doesn't bless it, it won't happen. We can do everything wrong, but if God wants it to happen, it will.

One who wins souls is wise.

We count people because people count.

People end up being somewhat molded into an image of their pastor. Their pastor gravitates towards his passions.

The greater the size of the congregation or group, the greater the potential influence.

A mature person keeps all of the words of the law.

What seems so simple to you can make an eternal difference in another person.

Growth doesn't come from knowing what God's Word says; it comes from knowing and applying God's Word.

If a person doesn't set an example, they are still setting an example.

You can never express appreciation too much.

Never put the success of a program over the well being of the people.

Seeking Christ is like falling out of an airplane. We should be speeding towards him without looking back at the plane. However, there will always be fearful feelings and doubtful people that want you to get back into the airplane.

Sunday schools grow according to the effectiveness of their outreach.

People generally attract and reach the same kind or class of people; you attract what you are.

You cannot grow without change. You cannot change without loss. You cannot have loss without heartache.

The Law of Organization: A Sunday school grows according to its ability to organize and administer its program to meet the needs of all its members.

The Law of Leadership: The Sunday school grows according to the effectiveness of its leaders to perform their jobs in carrying out the Sunday school.

--leadership is getting the job done through other people

June 25 ~

Leadership is more vision than analysis.

Analysis is studying what is.

Vision is seeing what can be.

The ultimate leader of the Christian leader is to develop people to maturity in Christ.

Management is something a man does. Leadership is essentially what a man is.

Managers operate within the chain of command. Leaders transcend the chain of command.

Managers are more often administrators of change. Leaders are more often agents of change.

Managers concentrate on maximizing results from existing functions and systems. Leaders move the organization in new directions, never contained by existing resources.

Leadership is more responsibility than privileges.

The responsibilities of a leader:

A. Do what is important, not what is fun or easy.

B. Admit failure

C. Look out for the welfare and best interests of others

D. Solve problems

E. Accept ownership of the bottom line

F. Overall success of the organization

G. The personal growth of the people around him

H. Take risks

I. Personal sacrifice

J. Share the rewards

Leadership is more service than rank.

People follow the heart more than the mind. Insecurity is one of the primary ways we go to the head instead of the heart for a decision.

--controlling people want to control what is around them so they can be comfortable with what is going on around them

Leadership must risk the possibility of hurtful or painful relationships. Vulnerability is human and people want you to be human.

Leadership is more risk than caution. Safe doesn't get the job done. Safe doesn't change lives. Caution is the way to maintain the status quo. However, there is a great difference between a calculated risk and a careless risk.

There is an intersection between faith and prudence. Risk lies at this intersection. Risk inspires. Caution de-motivates. People sense the lack of confidence in caution; they can smell it and will pull back. The people want to see the leader "jump in the pool first." They don't want to see the leader looking at the pool and saying, "Wow, that's deep. It looks cold." Then they need you to yell for them once you're in the pool.

Leadership is more giving than receiving. Leaders give themselves away like Christ gave Himself away. Leaders bless and teach. They contribute to others' life experiences so others have a more meaningful, more fulfilled life. Leaders find joy in giving!

Leadership is more lonely than popular.

--Loneliness we do not choose, but must accept

1. Jealous friends

2. Difficult decisions

3. The responsibility of the "leadership load"

--Loneliness we do choose, and must be faithful to

Five times for solitude:

1. Reflection time

2. Planning time

3. Creative time

4. Study time

5. Prayer time

Leadership is more love than power. Love is the only thing that keeps a heart pure.

Power is not evil. Power is a neutral source. In the hands of the power broker, it becomes good or evil. Jesus had more power than anyone who ever lived, but He used it in submission to the Father.

Leadership is more grace than law. You can accomplish more with grace over the law.

Five ways leaders demonstrate grace:

A. Give others the benefit of the doubt

B. Take the "high road" even if personally offended

C. Offer forgiveness

D. Look for the best and believe the best in everyone (You will find what you look for.).

E. Rejoice in other's successes (Even if good things aren't coming your way).

--you may be the most wonderful person in the world, but without love, you're nothing

Break....

--if you measure something with a wrong measuring device, you will get an inaccurate measurement. Measure things against the Bible in order to have the right measurement.

Jesus' love is transformational, not transactional.

Human and physical growth is predictable and ordinary. Spiritual growth is different; it can happen very fast or not at all.

June 26 ~

Status of a house (church):

Redecorated

Repaired

Renovation

Rebuilding

--the weak person has to control. The strong one is free to love and give.

--loving leaders value trust over power

Send reading reports and papers to:

Rick Raspberry

415 Oakridge Blvd.

Lynchburg, Va 24502

** Send by July 31, 1998

** Write a paper on leadership (Styles and Effectiveness - Conclusion: What makes good leaders)

--trust is at the core of power

--most people have either experienced an abuse of power or they know someone who has experienced the abuse of power. Sometimes there is an abuse of power in the church.

--trustworthiness is the foundation of trust.

--trust is the emotional foundation of the relationship

Enhancing trust:

1. Consistency

2. Integrity

3. Mutual exchange

--you have to give trust in order to get trust

--do not condone sin, but have compassion for the sinner.

Pursuing Grace:

A. Do not condemn, but believe the best

B. Keep their best interest your highest agenda

C. Forgive quickly and thoroughly

Signs that forgiveness has taken place:

1. Your heart is clear and you don't dwell on the matter; you've moved on.

2. You don't confront the person with the same issue again.

3. You do not talk with other people about the situation.

2 Sides of Greed:

1. Always wanting more

2. Unwilling to share what you have

--generosity comes from a heart of gratitude

Cultivating a Generous Spirit:

1. Take inventory of all that you have

2. Practice giving gifts without a reason

3. Write thank-you notes for non-material gifts

--self-centeredness is the opposite of servant hood

--there is no indispensable man. God can use anyone and He is greater than us.

--everyone knows they have weaknesses. Try and enjoy them.

A true Sunday school has 4 characteristics:

1. It reaches unsaved as well as Christian children

2. Instruction is given from the Word of God rather than the oral question and answer drills of catechism.

3. Its purpose is to evangelize the lost as well as to instruct the saved.

4. It is operated by laymen rather than by clergyman.