Teaching Sunday School

[Bookmeister]

Brothers and sisters,

Due to circumstances my wife and I attend and Evangelical Free Church. We take care of her elderly parents and are not able to be very far away from home. Our town of 750 people has 4 churches and the EFree is the best choice we have. The pastor is fairly reformed and preaches Christ every Lords day. They have been very accepting of me and my reformed stance. I have been invited to preach next Lord's day and am very excited. I have also been asked to teach adult SS this fall and am soliciting advice from you on what I should teach. Any topic or book suggestions would be appreciated. I do not want to force any reformed topics onto these saints but do want to teach what the bible teaches. In other words I would not choose Sproul's "Chosen by God." Any ideas?

Alan

 

[SolaSaint]

Stick with Sproul and use "The Holiness of God"!

 

[reaganmarsh]

I second the above!

 

[earl40]

How I lerned what was true was to study the cults and contrast what they believe contra to scripture. In thinking of this maybe you could "teach" DAISY and contrast it with the biblical truth of TULIP. This will keep everyone interested and will enjoin lively conversation for weeks to come.

 

[Curt]

Preach anything Biblical well. Don't try to push "reformed" doctrine on them.

 

[Jack K]

Preach anything Biblical well. Don't try to push "reformed" doctrine on them.

Right. You are wise to avoid taking advantage of the trust they've placed in you to push something that's going to be controversial right away. Like you say, you can teach what you believe to be true, when it comes up, but to target TULIP and make it your big theme would be a mistake. Instead, prove yourself to be a wise and gentle teacher first by resisting any urge to engage in teaching that will be seen as pushing an agenda.

Depending on the church, even a not-so-distinctively-Reformed book by a clearly Reformed guy like Sproul might too big a first step. It's SO tempting to try to change the whole church the first time you're invited to teach, by bringing out some distinctively Reformed materials, but it's important to resist that urge.

In a church where you have some theological differences with many people but are still invited to teach (and I have MUCH experience with this), it's good to start with a resource everyone can agree on. So I strongly suggest teaching through a book of the Bible. Any Bible book will do; perhaps one you're particularly familiar with or excited about. The gospels always work well, because no one can object to a focus on building our appreciation for the person of Jesus. Once you've proven yourself to be a wise and humble teacher with much to offer, then others will be ready to hear you when you speak about Reformed distinctives.

 

[MarieP]

A.W. Tozer's Knowledge of the Holy
J. I. Packer's Knowing God
Jerry Bridges' Respectable Sins
J. C. Ryle's Holiness

 

[Gage Browning]

Romans- teach the doctrine(s) as it comes up in the text. Who can argue w/ the text.

 

[Jake]

I echo Curt and Jack. I think Scripture would be best.

I personally would go to a smaller letter of Paul and spend time there. Not something as theologically dense as Romans. Maybe a letter like Galatians (still lots of good doctrine and practical teaching there!) or I & II Thessalonians.

 

[Grimmson]

I would focus on a book of the bible, perhaps a text that people are familiar with. You do not want to seem to be confrontational. You should want the class or even the congregation to get to know you first before you get into controversial theological issues and texts. People are going to want to observe your hermeneutical methodology prior to moving into issues of controversy. You do not want to be one of those types of people who enter into a church and immediately try to change or make changes to a church. It is not even recommended for a pastor to do it. One thing you need to learn when you enter a new church is how to pick your battles. Now if you ask me what texts you should use, it should be a book of the bible. It does not matter if it is Old Testament or New Testament. It should be a text that would not be to challenging for a person to read. I think Jonah would be a good example. And after you go through Jonah, then maybe cover 1st, 2nd, or 3rd John. And then go back and choose something from the Old Testament. And after you have been teaching there from over a year and people have gotten to know you then slowly cover topics from the reformed tradition. But your focus should never be on the reformed tradition per say, but instead focus on the text of scripture; especially if the church is not bounded by conscience to a reformed confession.