Some may already know, but for those who don't, I've been teaching Sunday school for a little over a year or so I guess. After starting out in your Young (and I use that term loosely lol) Adult class, Britt and I have started focusing more on the truly young adults - the College & Career Class with 20 and 30 somethings.
I'd be lying if I said that every week was easy. It's not. But every week is worth it. Some weeks, I hope the class gets the most out of the lesson. But other weeks, I know that the lesson was for me and something I've been dealing with. Long story short, it's hard showing up week in week out prepared to teach and hopefully inspire, but when you're seeking God's will (as Jordan pointed out this morning) it doesn't matter if it's easy - you do what you've been called to do.
In this social media world, we always share our success, our cute pictures, and our wins, but what are my biggest struggles teaching?
1. Making a "boring" lesson come to life. Some weeks (like today previewing next week's lesson) are easy! The verses, examples, and stories are just awesome. But then some weeks, I read the text, read the leader guide, and then think to myself, "How am I supposed to teach and talk about this for 30 minutes?" But somehow, most weeks it seems to come together. I think that's one of the biggest challenges for any teacher - taking something that you've spent hours over the course of a week studying and making it relevant, exciting, and come alive in a 30 minute window on a Sunday morning. In order for that to happen, you've got to believe it, you've got to be excited, and you've got to care about the people you're sharing God's word for their life with.
2. Preparing for a small class. Yes, I've put in more work when asked to preach in "Big Church" and deliver a sermon. Yes, I've put in more study and effort to speak to larger groups of people. We've had as many as 13 and as few as 2 in our class. Some weeks around vacation times, I wasn't even sure if anyone was coming (including myself so I'm not fussing). But I believe those are the weeks that I was being tested. Yeah, my pride would ensure that I prepared when I knew a lot of people would hear me or see my work. But was I willing to do what God asked me to for a small group? Was I willing to care for the ONE He had planted to hear a word that day? If you're not willing to prepare for 2, you'll never have 20. If you're not willing to prepare for 20, you'll never have 200. If you'll not willing to prepare for 200, you'll never have 2,000....20,000.
Some weeks, you don't know what someone who's listening to you is dealing with. I've sat in silence knowing the words someone was sharing were speaking life into me. I've engaged in discussions during lessons just because I liked the topic...not because it was changing my life. As a teacher, you don't always know if those blank stares are someone who's tuned you out or someone dealing with something internally from what you've said. Keep teaching, keep sharing, keep learning. People are changed ONE at a time.
Thank you to Tabernacle Baptist Church for providing me with this opportunity, the resources, and the place to share each week. Thank you to my wife for putting with my attempted quiet times to read at home, and my attempts to be early (on time) on Sunday mornings. And thank you to everyone who has ever been in our class, is there every week, or who might come one day. I may be standing up front most weeks (found out I have a pretty good backup this week) but I promise you I'm still trying to learn and live it out every single day myself.
I'd be lying if I said that every week was easy. It's not. But every week is worth it. Some weeks, I hope the class gets the most out of the lesson. But other weeks, I know that the lesson was for me and something I've been dealing with. Long story short, it's hard showing up week in week out prepared to teach and hopefully inspire, but when you're seeking God's will (as Jordan pointed out this morning) it doesn't matter if it's easy - you do what you've been called to do.
In this social media world, we always share our success, our cute pictures, and our wins, but what are my biggest struggles teaching?
1. Making a "boring" lesson come to life. Some weeks (like today previewing next week's lesson) are easy! The verses, examples, and stories are just awesome. But then some weeks, I read the text, read the leader guide, and then think to myself, "How am I supposed to teach and talk about this for 30 minutes?" But somehow, most weeks it seems to come together. I think that's one of the biggest challenges for any teacher - taking something that you've spent hours over the course of a week studying and making it relevant, exciting, and come alive in a 30 minute window on a Sunday morning. In order for that to happen, you've got to believe it, you've got to be excited, and you've got to care about the people you're sharing God's word for their life with.
2. Preparing for a small class. Yes, I've put in more work when asked to preach in "Big Church" and deliver a sermon. Yes, I've put in more study and effort to speak to larger groups of people. We've had as many as 13 and as few as 2 in our class. Some weeks around vacation times, I wasn't even sure if anyone was coming (including myself so I'm not fussing). But I believe those are the weeks that I was being tested. Yeah, my pride would ensure that I prepared when I knew a lot of people would hear me or see my work. But was I willing to do what God asked me to for a small group? Was I willing to care for the ONE He had planted to hear a word that day? If you're not willing to prepare for 2, you'll never have 20. If you're not willing to prepare for 20, you'll never have 200. If you'll not willing to prepare for 200, you'll never have 2,000....20,000.
Some weeks, you don't know what someone who's listening to you is dealing with. I've sat in silence knowing the words someone was sharing were speaking life into me. I've engaged in discussions during lessons just because I liked the topic...not because it was changing my life. As a teacher, you don't always know if those blank stares are someone who's tuned you out or someone dealing with something internally from what you've said. Keep teaching, keep sharing, keep learning. People are changed ONE at a time.
Thank you to Tabernacle Baptist Church for providing me with this opportunity, the resources, and the place to share each week. Thank you to my wife for putting with my attempted quiet times to read at home, and my attempts to be early (on time) on Sunday mornings. And thank you to everyone who has ever been in our class, is there every week, or who might come one day. I may be standing up front most weeks (found out I have a pretty good backup this week) but I promise you I'm still trying to learn and live it out every single day myself.
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