We are launching a new Sunday School process in Oklahoma this year, called the “Five C’s of Missional Sunday School”. The fifth of our 5 C’s is “Change”. Missional Sunday School groups are focused on change, transformational change. 2 Corinthians 5:17 states, “Therefore, if any man is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” Romans 12:2 says, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind..”
Why do we go to all this work if not to see lives transformed and communities change as a result of the Gospel? The previous four C’s of missional community (connect, content, consecration, and cause) are all done because we want our lives to be transformed into the image of Christ, and that our neighborhoods and ultimately our world will be changed because of the Gospel.
When we see a revival occur in the Old Testament, it is not for a few days, or a week, or even a year. Old Testament revivals lasted for generations! Judges 8, “The land had rest for 40 years.” Jephthah’s revival lasted 23 years, Asa’s lasted 40 years. The revival under King Josiah lasted 31 years. Can you imagine our nation and even our world having “rest for 40 years”?
Our world needs transformation. There are currently 13 million orphans worldwide. In the past hour:
- 1,625 children were forced to live on the streets;
- 1,667 children died from starvation;
- 115 children became prostitutes;
- 257 children were orphaned because of AIDS.
The Gospel is the light that will bring relief to our world and salvation to our soul. We need to begin seeing each Sunday School class as part of the solution to our world’s need for the Gospel. I encourage churches to mobilize their groups and classes into communities who are organized and carrying the message of Jesus Christ into their communities. We can no longer hope for our communities to come to us, they aren’t! We must go to the world with the message of salvation.
Your class can’t do it all, but it can do what it can. Adopt an unreached people group. Pray for your lost friends and neighbors. Conduct class mission experiences and bring hope to the needy. Grow in your understanding of the Gospel and share it with your co-workers. LifeWay estimates that there are approximately 400,000 Sunday School classes in the Southern Baptist Convention. Surely 400,000 missional groups could have a profound impact on America and our world.
Go here more information on the Five C’s of Missional Sunday School.
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Bob Mayfield is the Sunday School/Small Group/Discipleship specialist for the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma. This article was adapted from a post at Bob’s own website, www.bobmayfield.com
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