The Three Fold Expression of the Church - Part Four

This is part four of my Wednesday blog directed mainly toward Rainsville First Baptist Church revealing our threefold expressions of the church.  The first is worship. Today, let me speak about Sunday School.

Now we still call it Sunday School because it still works and the name is not a barrier.  Some churches call it "Life Groups," "Small Group Bible Studies, " etc.  Any of that is fine.

Since believers are commanded to live a life of "one another's," (See August 2 blog), then somewhere the church has to provide places where we can get to know one another and we can more fully carry out that command of the Lord.  The worship service is not the best place to carry out all the commands of the "one another's" because it takes a more intimate setting than the auditorium.

We believe every member of the church should be a member of a Sunday School class.  I can not even imagine why a person seeking to be a fully, devoted follower of Jesus would not want to be a part of a small group.

Two weeks ago (August 9) I introduced the three groups Jesus' life centered around.  First, the crowd.  Second, the small group of twelve disciples.  Third, he had an even smaller group mainly Peter, James, and John.

The crowd is the worship gathering in a local church.  The small group is the Sunday School.  Our Sunday School is age-graded, co-ed classes that incorporate all it means to be the church.  Thus, we say "Sunday School is the church organized and mobilized." 

Our Sunday School meets at 9:00 AM on Sunday morning.  We only have 60 minutes and that is precious, valuable time.  Let me encourage you not to be late.  The first moments of every class is spent in fellowship where we are catching up with people's lives, telling funny stories, laughing, and enjoying the company of one another.  This is vital and should not be missed.  If you don't arrive until 9:15, then you miss that time of fellowship.

But Sunday School is where we get to know people, hear their stories, share when they cry, laugh when they laugh, and learn to love.  It is easy to say "I love you" if I don't know you.  But when I get to know you better and discover (like myself) you are not perfect, you mess up, you get angry, your family is not perfect, etc...then I really learn how to love through the imperfections.  As I often say, we all have stinky feet.

Bible study is not the most important aspect of Sunday School.  This is a HUGE misconception.  If it was, then the best thing we could do is get the best Bible teacher in the church to gather all the adults in one place to teach them.  But Sunday School is more....yes, it includes Bible teaching.  But there is that one-on-one interaction, prayer, fellowship, sharing what God is doing in our life, asking hard questions, and accountability. 

Who is going to know you are missing?  Who is going to check on you to see how you are doing?  Who is going to bring you food when you are sick?  Care for your family in times of crisis?  The Sunday School class.

As pastor, I am a member of a Sunday School.  Keith Williams is my leader. Why Keith?  Because his class is for those born between 1960-70 and that is me.  Now we don't make that a hard rule at Rainsville First, but we do age group all our classes so guests don't go into a room where they are expecting people their own age only to discover they feel like they are visiting the nursery or the nursing home.  People are permitted to find the class where they best relate.  That is fine.  But every member of the church should be an active member of a Sunday School class.

And I'm glad to say all the new members in the last eight years have already been involved in a Sunday School class. It is a part of our culture.