Expect Spiritual Growth

Recently, I spoke with an excited brand new mom who could not wait to tell me how her newborn son was changing everyday:  his first smile, gaining weight, growing hair, etc. She was expectantly sure that her baby would continue growing and she anticipated nothing less.

Have you considered having this same automatic, positive expectancy about the spiritual growth of your class?  If we are excited and expecting God to work in our students’ lives, that attitude will spill over as we prepare for our students to feast at a table that provides the nourishment which will promote spiritual growth.  The elements on your spiritual table will include:

PRAYER – Our prayer list must go beyond the typical “organ recital” of hoped-for outcomes.  We can pray effectively for lost people to be saved by name.  We can pray for wisdom and spiritual protection for our leaders and missionaries.  We have the opportunity to pray for the conviction of the Holy Spirit to fall on ourselves, our church, other churches, our nation and world and usher in a great awakening!

BIBLE STUDY – Is your Bible study focused on personal life-changing transformation?  Students get excited as they move beyond information transfer to discovering and applying God’s Word to their lives. 

NURTURE AND ACCOUNTABILITY –As we promote an atmosphere of nurture and development, we facilitate our students’ spiritual journey!  This environment will also plant seeds of accountability as students grow and mature.

SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINES – There is only one way to excite our students to engage actively in the spiritual disciplines that will draw them into a closer, more intimate walk with the Father, and that is to actually be experiencing this ourselves.

I know that all of this probably seems overwhelming and beyond ourselves and it really is…but it is not beyond what God can do through us.  As the Sunday school leader, expect God to do the work in your life first and when He does it will naturally flow to your class.  Get ready for an amazing journey as you expect great things of the Lord!!!

 __________________________ 

Sandy Coelho serves as the Lay Leadership Development Director at the Baptist Convention of New England.  She loves to read and is currently working on her family tree.