The Complete Guide For Building A Great Commission Sunday School

In a pastor's world, there are few words that bring as wide of an array of emotions as these two. For some, it is the enigma that cannot be solved; for others, it is the dead horse that people keep trying to ride. Sunday school is one of the few mainstays that has weathered decades of change in the way that churches are conducted, yet for many pastors, it has become something to stand off from and let others deal with, with the hope that it does not come back to bite the pastor unexpectantly. When Sunday school is functioning well, it is one of the most powerful vehicles a church has to help it carry out the Great Commission and to engage members in doing Christ's work. While many churches have moved away from the name "Sunday school," the heart of the ministry remains the same: it is a group that is open, ongoing, and employs a plan to study the Bible. Gene Mims (2003) describes these open groups as person-centered (meaning they focus on bringing people into a transforming relationship with God), lay-led, and Bible-based, concluding that open groups fulfill the Great Commission by making disciples of all men. Though they are often called classes because of the Sunday school name, Mims called this a misnomer, explaining, "They are classes in the sense that the Bible is studied, but they are much more. They are kingdom entities built on the five functions of the church. They are living organisms built for the people who attend" (p.135).But this sounds nothing like what most pastors hear from the Sunday school or small groups that take place in their churches. Any pastor would get behind a strategy that would help him assimilate newcomers into a group of believers, study the Scriptures each week, connect believers together to care for one another, and mobilize believers to share their faith and take the gospel throughout the world. Sunday school was designed to be that strategy, but in our day, it has fallen into disrepair. In many churches today, Sunday school sits like an old rusty car, shining in places with a bit of its past glory, but by and large a lawn ornament. To make matters worse, pastors are often given the keys to this car with no instructions on how to start it, how to make it run, or even how to drive it. The goal of this book is to give you, as a pastor and leader, an owner's manual of sorts to help you dust off the wear and tear of Sunday school in your church and prepare you to not only get it started again, but to hear it hum and purr again as a vehicle to carry Christ's disciples in their Great Commission work.One of the struggles for pastors is that there are simply not many resources available today to guide a pastor in leading Sunday school. While the market is filled with works on how to lead an individual group or on the importance of groups, little attention has been given to practical steps that pastors can take to help Sunday school in their churches. But this is not the market's fault, but rather, a reflection of the emphasis given to Sunday school; it is often neglected in seminaries and Bible colleges tasked with training pastors and is rarely used in churches as beginning training for prospective pastors. Steve Parr (2010) laments over his experience of talking with a large group of master of divinity graduates, those who have been trained for the task of pastoring, who had been given no academic training at all concerning how to lead Sunday school, leading him to conclude, "if the pastor does not have the tools and the knowledge, neither will the members. The result is that many pastors go into a church that has the basic Sunday school structure... but the Sunday school is lifeless and cold" (p. 21).Further, with the many other tasks that occupy a pastor's schedule and thinking, Sunday school is often placed on the back burner. In trying to understand why pastors were not more involved in Sunday school, Rainer (1999) found that pastors focused their atten

"Organizing and Building Up the Sunday School" is an informational book on setting up a Sunday School in your local church. The purpose of the book is identified as to supply a convenient handbook upon the organization, the management, and the recruiting of the Sunday school, to be read by those desiring information upon these subjects. But after the larger part of the work had been prepared, a desire was expressed that the method of treatment be so modified that the volume might be employed as a text-book for classes and individual students in the department of teacher-training. It has been the aim of the author not to alter the work so materially as to render it unfitting for the general reader; and with this in view the series of blackboard outlines for the teacher, and the questions for the testing of the student's knowledge, have been placed at the end of the book.

Great Commission Christians is a practical guide to effective evangelism and discipleship. It is written from a purely EVANGELICAL PERSPECTIVE with the solid backing of Scripture for the principles taught. This book has a very strong practical emphasis with principles, strategies and methods presented in an easy to apply manner. The book is divided into three major divisions as follows: 1. Evangelism, 2. Church Planting and 3. Discipleship. As the title suggests, the thrust of the book is on fulfilling the Great Commission as given by Jesus in Matthew 28:18 - 20 which when rightly interpreted and understood mandates the making of disciples that being the main command in the passage. Therefore, if we are doing everything else and we are not making disciples, then we are not fulfilling the Great Commission. Conversely, the Great Commission is only fulfilled when disciples are made. It is written in an elegant style and at a level that the average reader can understand it. Great Commission Christians can be used as a manual for local church evangelism and discipleship as well as for personal study. It can also be used as a text book at the certificate or diploma level. One satisfied reader said that this book should be an item in every household.

If you want to learn how to teach Sunday School, then get "How To Teach Sunday School" which is written by a person who has real life experience teaching Sunday School. This guide has been constructed to equip the modern day Sunday School teacher with the necessary tools to be both successful and efficient in their endeavors. This book covers a wide range of topics, including “How to Prepare The Lesson,” “How to Choose The Right Crafts,” and “How to Make The Lesson More Enjoyable.” Inside this guide, you will find a variety of creative ideas for crafts and activities along with instructions on how to build a puppet stage that can be disassembled. You will also find information on where to purchase supplies, how to search for ideas on the Internet, and some highly recommended websites. Since today’s Sunday School teacher has been given more responsibilities than just teaching, this e-book will also give you pertinent information on “Dealing with Problem Children,” “Keeping Important Records,” and “Incorporating Preventative Measures.” All the information stored inside this e-book has already been tried and tested. Since these new methods have been applied, we have witnessed a larger attendance in the classroom. Most of all, we now have teachers who are fully equipped and feel as though they can finally reach out to a generation of children that once seemed impossible for them to reach. HowExpert publishes quick 'how to' guides on all topics from A to Z by everyday experts.

Included with each chapter are special review questions and application projects to aid in teacher training. Whether you're a full-time church staff member or a lay volunteer, Dr. Elmer Towns' "HOW TO GROW AN EFFECTIVE SUNDAY SCHOOL" can help you achieve greater effectiveness in your Sunday School ministry.