Life Groups Vision and Purpose

Tim Shaw
Minister of Education

I recall a Sunday morning many years ago, standing before my Sunday School class and noticing a couple in the back I did not recognize. I greeted them warmly and welcomed them as first-time visitors. Big mistake! They had been attending my class for four weeks! How had I missed them before? Could it be that were lost in the sea of the faces in that group? Could it be that no one else had noticed them either? Could it be that were a closed group, a "clique"? The answer to all of these questions is - Yes! Amazingly and thankfully they had continued to come over those weeks despite our neglect!

As a teacher who was extremely passionate about Sunday school ministry and people, this mishap shook me to the core. I couldn’t understand how we had failed. We were great at Bible study and praying for each other. We had weathered many storms together and met needs as they arose among our members. Fellowship was no problem – we knew each other's lives inside and out. We swapped stories often about our long history of memories throughout the years. We had been together a long time…That was the problem! The veil was removed from my eyes at that moment! We were wrapped up in ourselves. We were not reaching new people, we were ignoring them.

God then placed Dan Cook in my life who was the new Minister of Education at my church. He became, and still is today, my dear friend and mentor. He instilled in me the importance of Sunday School being outreach oriented. I took what I learned from him and spent the next months teaching my group the importance of being an outward focused New Testament body. We committed to become an evangelistic Sunday school class. We plunged into outreach in a way we had never known it before. And I mean we plunged! We went out together sharing the gospel and our testimonies with every prospect that we could find. We loved new people like they were family (because we truly wanted them to be). We began to show Christ’s love to prospects, follow up effectively with them, and to share the gospel with them. We discovered the effectiveness of assimilating people into the church, ministering to their needs, and discipling them. We wrapped our arms around them and loved them into God’s family – and it worked!

I cannot find adequate words to write the full results of this transformation. God ignited a fire in the hearts of that original group as they saw how He was using them to bring people to Himself, as they extended themselves in service to reach people for Christ and then disciple those new believers to do the same. Dozens accepted Christ because God’s people opened their hearts and put feet to the Great Commission to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28:19-20).

I could hardly believe what I saw God doing in that place! I wanted to tell every church in the world what could happen through the Sunday school ministry. Not only did I love seeing what God was doing, He called me to devote the rest of my life to teaching people how to transform Sunday School into the “front door” of the church. As your Minister of Adult Education, my passion is teaching people to Gather, Grow, and Go through Sunday school.

Ask most people the purpose of Sunday School, or what they are trying to achieve in Sunday School, and they are likely to respond with answers similar to these: “Teach the Bible,” “Help people know more about the Bible,” or “Build up the fellowship of our members.” While these are all good things and they need to occur in Sunday School, they do not reveal the purpose of Sunday School, why it exists, or what it needs to accomplish.

Then what is the purpose of Sunday School? Sunday School is the foundational strategy in a local church for leading people to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and for building on-mission Christians utilizing small and open groups focused on building relationships with the unchurched and assimilating them into the small group where they can find compassion, hope, and a personal relationship with Christ. Sunday School is a strategy. It is a plan – a way for the church to do the work of the Great Commission.

When a church sees Sunday School as a strategy and not just an organization or program, Sunday School becomes a seven-day-a-week plan for involving people in seeking the kingdom of God and fulfilling the Great Commission, not a one-day-a-week study period. Understanding this makes a Sunday School worker realize that he is not filling a position, but is part of a great strategy. When one reads John 10:10, Luke 14:23, 19:10, and 2 Peter 3:9 he sees that Jesus’ number one priority was outreach and evangelism. If outreach and evangelism was Jesus Christ's first priority; then the first priority of Sunday School, the largest ministry of the church, must be the same.

In seeking God’s direction for the Sunday School ministry, starting January 3rd I will be holding Sunday School worker’s leadership meetings the first Sunday evening and Wednesday evening of each month. I will be sharing overall vision, purpose, and direction for the Sunday School ministry for ABC. Though this is designed for the adult workers, anyone may and is invited to attend. The Sunday and Wednesday meetings will be same each month so you may choose either Sunday evening 5:30-6:30 in the choir room or Wednesday evening 6:30-7:30 in room 209.