Prayer – Lesson 12, A Sure Guide for Living
Heavenly Father, bless our classes again today as they study Your Word. Reassure each student of the reliability and practicality of the Bible. We pray this in Jesus' name, Amen.
The Barrier of Negativity
If you were to take the "attitudinal" temperature of your Sunday school class this week, how would it run - positive, negative, apathetic? As a society, we have experienced many changes in the past few years. The response by many Christians has been a persistent, even pervasive, negativity.
Quite frankly, some Christians and their churches exhibit very little of the "joy of the Lord." When challenged, they find multiple excuses to feed their faith-destroying attitudes instead of striving to change, based on God's promises.
Such negativity is destructive personally and corporately, creating a huge, unnecessary barrier in front of the unchurched guest. Seriously, if you were invited to your local school's basketball game only to find the stands filled with spectators trashing the local team, and the players slouching up and down the court, uninterested in competing, would you ever go back?
Are our attitudes toward life creating unnecessary barriers for those checking out Jesus?
Prayer – Lesson 11, The Goodness of God
Heavenly Father, as our students study Your Word today, help them to thrill in the knowledge that You are truly good. Help us to praise You more for Your goodness and love. In Jesus' name. Amen.
The Barrier of Sin
This week we will discuss a barrier, that unlike the rest mentioned in these Tips, should be seen as natural, even necessary: sin. The unbeliever who attends our Sunday school and church services is someone by definition who is "dead in trespasses and sins." If we are truly speaking and acting like Christ, and teaching holiness, it will be only a matter of time before the unbeliever experiences conviction of sin. This conviction then presents a choice to the unbeliever: will they confess and repent, or turn away from God?
This barrier of sin is natural, but some churches have created unnecessary barriers around it: such as preaching rules that are not biblical or by attempting to create conviction, condemning various behaviors and attitudes.
When the unbeliever attends your class are they presented with the grace of God that can remove their guilt of sin and forever change their lives for good, or are they given a list of rules they are expected to abide by through their own power?
Prayer – Lesson 10, Help in Time of Trouble
Heavenly Father, we recognize that too often our first response in times of trouble is NOT to turn to You in faith. Teach us today a new way - the way of faith instead of fear, the response of worship instead of worry, the activity of trust instead of trembling. In Jesus' name we pray this. Amen.
The Barrier of Dress
In years past, people dressed in their "Sunday best" to attend church. There is a healthy principle behind this tradition, desiring to honor God by "dressing up" to worship Him. In recent years, many churches have emphasized casual attire in order not to make the unchurched person who attends feel uncomfortable, having no understanding of the church's traditional expectations. This has happened in a broader culture shift towards dressing casually.
Whether your church observes the tradition of dressing up or worships casually, you should be aware of the potential barrier to visitors. Arriving dressed up more formally than the regulars can be just as embarrassing as dressing too casually.
Truly, your church should welcome the visitor in, overlooking how they look, focusing on the person in need. This may be accomplished by avoiding any comments about dress, and by personally befriending the visitor for the duration of both the Sunday class and worship hour.
Prayer – Lesson 9, Worshiping the Lord
Heavenly Father, help our classes today to realize the privilege and responsibility Christians have in worshiping Christ. Help them to refocus their worship on Christ and not all the externals of religious tradition. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen
The Barrier of Unfamiliar Traditions
As a pastor's kid, then a pastor, and now a missionary pastor, I have observed a variety of Sunday school traditions. Some churches I have attended have Sunday school exercises before class. Others have it afterward. Some have it before AND after the Sunday school class. The traditions of singing, praying, reading a devotional scripture, etc., as well as the expected posture during those activities - sitting or standing - have varied.
While one learns the traditions after attending several weeks, it can be embarrassing, bewildering, and frustrating when one enters the church and does not know where to go, what to do, when to stand and sit, where to find the various recitations, etc. The new pastor will adaps, but the unchurched guest tends to approach the service from a different perspective. In a culture where user-friendliness in every aspect of life is valued highly, the failure to communicate traditions, expectations, etc. is offensive.
Are you erecting unnecessary barriers by your traditions?
The Barrier of Unfamiliar Songs
The post-modern Church has been blessed with a large repertoire of worship songs. One unintentional barrier we may place before the unchurched who visit our services and Sunday school classes may be the songs we choose to sing.
Unfortunately, our society has lost much of its Christian influence. While expressing our love for God in newer songs is important to keep our faith fresh, many unchurched people have limited knowledge of songs, often knowing only hymns sung at funerals. At the other extreme, while some of the older hymns have great words and meaning to us, the unfamiliar wording and cadence may be confusing to our guests. These observations should be tempered by the recognition people do need to learn new worship songs to broaden their faith.
The point is that public worship, even in the Sunday school hour, should strive to bring people together in unity. This is made difficult if only a few are participating in the singing, due to a barrier of unfamiliar songs.
The Barrier of Irrelevant Teaching
So what?
This question is both the most scary and important a teacher can be asked at the end of the lesson. If we don't have a good answer - why was what we taught so important to our lives - it is good cause for embarrassment. Yet this question is essential because it cuts through the veneer of style and personality and lays bare the substance of what has been taught. Has everything that has been said fluff - impressive quotes, interesting facts, intriguing statistics, etc. - but nothing that speaks to any real life change I must make as a result of this lesson?
It is not enough to understand the cultural and historical background of the scripture, even though this is important. It is not enough to understand the roots of various Hebrew or Greek words, although this could shed light on the text. Simply, without a bridge made from the ancient text to our contemporary situation, the teacher's work is incomplete.