Today was high attendance Sunday in Sunday School and Sunday School emphasis in worship at Second Baptist Church, Greenville, Kentucky. It was my privilege to open and share from God’s Word in worship today. Though the announced attendance was three people shy of their class-set goal of 460, discussion at lunch led to the possible discovery of four uncounted persons. Yvonne and I enjoyed the Sunday School class as well: the food, fellowship, and lesson. I am not sure how they got 46 in the room!
During both worship services, the congregation heard three separate Sunday School testimonies. The first was a video about the importance of in-person community versus what is being delivered electronically through medium such as Facebook. Electronic friends often cannot help you move furniture. The second testimony was live and likened her Sunday School class to a banquet and the various courses of food. The final testimony was my own. Here is the short version:
Our then eighteen-year-old son who had gone to church that day with a friend called at the end of lunch. He told Yvonne that he was at home and thought he was having a heart attack. We rushed home to find our strapping athlete of a son, clutching his chest rolling around in the living room floor. We rushed him to the hospital.
We called friends in our Sunday School class and asked them to pray. They began praying and called others to join them. They also began coming by the hospital to check on us and pray with us. And they continued to do so over Jonathan’s four-day stay. (Doctors determined that Jonathan’s throat infection had moved to the periocardium of the heart. And only because of his age and great shape did he escape any permanent heart damage.) Anyway, the class brought food to our house for the next four days after Jonathan’s discharge.
I closed my Sunday School testimony (leading into my sermon from Mark chapters 1, 3, and 6) by asking if they knew someone who needed someone to pray for and care for them like that class cared for us. Many hands were raised. Likely we all do.
In a previous post entitled, Sunday School Testimony: Powerful Revolutionary Tool, I shared the following questions which can be shared as your Sunday School testimony in conversation with unenrolled people:
- How has attending Sunday School helped you grow as a Christian?
- How have you grown in your relationship with God?
- In what ways has Sunday School helped you learn more about God, His Word, His will, and His ways?
- How has Sunday School helped you to face life’s struggles?
- How has Sunday School helped you make better decisions?
- In what ways has Sunday School helped you grow as a leader?
- How have relationships that have developed in Sunday School blessed your life?
- Has there been a time when your class came to your aid in time of need?
People today need to hear about the benefits we receive and the value we place upon Sunday School class. Many in our community have never been a part of a group like that. Besides the praying, caring, and relationships, studying God’s Word together has eternal impact as well. Rehearse so you can share briefly. They will be more interested if you can share your testimony in 2-3 minutes. Plus you will find more opportunities to fit it in. Pray for and then listen for an opportunity to share about your class and your God. And don’t forget to include an invitation to a class fellowship and class as well. Be revolutionary!
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