The Unexpected Benefit of Leading a Sunday School Class
This week’s sermon was the best one ever…
This inside joke was said again this week in our Sunday School class. It has been said many times and for multiple weeks in a row. Actually, there is some truth to this.
You know how when you’re watching a television series or reading a book series and the most recent one is so good that you don’t think it can ever be topped…and then the next one is better.
This is how Pastor Lee’s sermons have been. We are surprised about how they just keep getting better.
Several years ago, our Sunday School class was looking for some lesson material, and we decided that until we found something, we would discuss each week’s sermon.
This happened back in November of 2013, and we been using sermons as our lesson topic since…that’s a lot of sermons…almost 500.
As we began this process, I realized that as the leader of this Sunday School class, I was going to need to pay close attention to the sermons. Now the pressure was on…
One of the things that I did to help me focus on the sermons was to take notes. The act of taking notes was one of the most beneficial things. It made listening, a higher priority. This listening allowed me to get a lot more from the sermons.
Pastor Lee is only going to be in our pulpit a couple more weeks. We are going to miss him and his wonderful messages more than he knows. He has been here at Tisdale for eight and a half years, so our Sunday School class has discussed his sermons more than any others. How will we ever manage…
There are three elements that Pastor Lee puts in every sermon…humor, knowledge, and inspiration. He connects these three things to God, the Bible and life. These are the things that make up our faith stories. Everyone’s faith stories are different, but…
God and His message are universal, eternal, and absolute.
Now to this week’s sermon –
The humorous story – There was a young police officer who was testifying in court against a man arrested for robbery. The defendant was being represented by a hard-nosed attorney known to be tough on police officers. The attorney was trying to undermine the policeman’s credibility.
The attorney asked the policeman, “Did you see with your own eyes my client committing this crime?” The officer replied, “No, I didn’t see him do it, but my partner did.” The attorney asked, “And you trust your partner that much?” The police officer replied, “Yes, I trust him and all of my fellow officers with my life.”
Now the attorney thought he had the officer right where he wanted him.
“Officer, do you have a locker in a locker room, and do you keep your locker locked?” The policeman said, “Yes.” Then the attorney asked, “If you trust your life to these people, why do you not trust them with what’s in your locker?”
The young police officer said, “You see sir, we share this building with the court complex and sometimes lawyers walk through the building.”
The court room erupted in laughter and was adjourned.
After Jesus’ crucifixion, His followers were not sure about what they were supposed to do. In their uncertainty someone like this attorney could make them doubt what they were supposed to do going forward.
In Matthew 28:16-20, Jesus, after being raised from the dead, met with his eleven disciples and told them what to do.
Knowledge – The disciples were given authority and were told to go out into the world, to all the people and to share His message. The same thing we’ve been called to do.
Jesus doesn’t need us. He could make everyone believe if He chose to. He can do anything and everything. But this isn’t the way He chose. He wants us to share His message. We are to build the church, share the Sacraments, and share ethics and morals.
Inspiration – Bob Pierce was inspired to start World Vision by three women missionaries, but the vision started with his high school Sunday School teacher, Elizabeth Hunter (Sales).
Every week she would make stories from the Bible come alive for a group of active teens, challenging them to use their lives to make a difference in Jesus’ name.
Throughout his life, Bob credited Miss Hunter with first challenging him to ministry. His daughter never realized how deep that challenge went until she discovered a small blue book in her father’s library.
On the first page there was an inscription dated Christmas 1928: “To Bob from Miss Hunter. My prayer and deepest desire for you is Matthew 28:18-20.
“Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations. …”
Your prayers were answered, Miss Hunter.
The disciples were sad at Jesus’ leaving and felt lost.
They used what they had learned from Him and their time together and went out and spread the Word to everyone everywhere. We now need to do the same thing as the disciples.
We are sad that Pastor Lee and Kay are leaving but we need to take what we’ve learned from him and our time together and share that message with those we encounter.
Sharing the humor, knowledge, and inspiration from his sermons in our Sunday School class has been an unexpected benefit that will have a lasting impact on me, and those I have shared them with.
Thank you, Pastor Lee!