I asked myself as a student in the class what did I do each week to prepare for the lesson and to be perfectly frank, I usually did very little if anything. I usually was uninspired by the Sunday School quarterly (not the fault of the publication) and I let other things get in the way of actually studying the lesson, and as I reflected, I realized my problem as a student and sometimes as a teacher were one in the same.
Many times I would just go the the Sunday school material and begin reading the prescribed pages and rarely would I finish a lesson.
What was wrong?
What was my epiphany?
It was so simple what I left out.
Rarely would I pray before I attempted to study. Rarely would I open God's word to read beyond the "prescribed verses" for the week. Rarely would I open other reference material to dig deeper into the meaning other than what the publisher and author was saying.
After thinking about all this, I decided I would post this to the class with a suggestion of what might be a "better" way.
In weeks to come, consider doing this or something similar in this order.
- Look into the lesson material to find the reference verses or get them from my posts each week.
- Don't read the lesson or even the lesson plan for that week at this time.
- Get your bible, "God's Holy Word" and open to the reference verses.
- Before you begin to even read His word, pray to God to reveal what He wants you to see and understand. Ask Him to help you understand His word.
- Begin reading the referenced verses. Maybe even read what is happening before the verses you are to read for the actual lesson. Maybe even read beyond the verses for that week. Try not to look at the "study helps" in your bible the 1st couple of times through. Those notes while helpful are not "God's word". They are helpful for later, but for now ponder on His word only and pray about it.
- Come back to His word maybe another day, Pray again and then read the verses again. Maybe read Study Bible help notes. Think about what God might be saying to you.
- Come back yet again another day, Pray again asking God to reveal Himself, and now read the Sunday School material. Make notes in your quarterly or notebook about what your thoughts are and questions.
- Finally come back another day, read verses that you are really focused on and make more notes and questions or answer in your notebook some the questions you had earlier. All total we are talking about 3 - 5 days for Sunday School preparation.
Of course these are my thoughts and not necessarily the only way, but it is a fresh way of looking at the topic each week.
Consider something that challenges your mind and spirit each week with the lesson. We must be grounded theologically. If not we fall prey to false teachers, false beliefs, just like the video presented earlier today.
I hope you find this at least thought provoking.
See you Sunday.
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