Sunday School for Young Adults

by Kelley Land

During our engagement, my husband and I shopped around town for a church that felt like home. We visited several different churches before finding one whose size seemed to match our experiences growing up. Read More

Praying The Scripture

by Darrell Pursiful

My college pastor once commented, “There is a difference between studying the Bible and meeting the Author.” How tragic when we forget that simple truth! Bible study is important, but what is most important is encountering God in the text. Read More

Know Your Group, Yourself, and Your Text

All teachers have their own way of approaching their tasks. However, there are some things from which nearly every teacher could benefit. If you are like most, there are some things related to teaching and leading a Bible study group that you do quite well and, there are some things that could use some further attention. What are some things you can do to improve your teaching and your Bible study group’s experience? Read More

Top 10 Reasons Adults Stop Learning

When asked to ponder the question, “Why Adults Stop Learning,” immediately a “Top 10” list came to my mind. Perhaps I spend too much time watching late night television. However, as I look around at the variety of church programs offered to help adults continue their learning journey, I can’t help but notice the lack of participation and enthusiasm in adult education programs. I offer this list as suggestions to help get churches back on track and increase their ratings in the Adult Learning category. Read More

Space: The Final Frontier

Using Space to Enliven Teaching

Can you picture your Bible study classroom in your mind? Do you automatically know where the chairs, tables, and other items are located? Can you predict where the teacher will be teaching? For most groups, this is an easy exercise, since our rooms seldom change. However, the way we use the space in a room can make a difference in how well people learn and participate. Read More

Planning to Lose Control in the Classroom

Have you found yourself in one of these situations?

• The discussion takes off on a single point of your outline and takes a life of its own. Before you turn around, you realize that you have not even covered half the material you had planned and the time is gone.

• You ask a good, sharp question, hoping to move the discussion in a particular direction, but instead you get a tearful, heartfelt outpouring of pain and uncertainty from a group member. You must decide—do you follow the outline you created or do you go with the feelings of the group? Read More

Helping Each Other Grieve Creatively

Everyone is in need of consolation. Everyone drags behind them the silent and invisible bags of past failures, loved ones lost, and the deep secrets of insecurity, fear, and anxiety. Often times when approaching the grieved we attempt to talk them back to freedom, as if our words can blanket the despair. Troy Organ once wrote that “grief is a helplessness that does not cry for help. One cries and hopes that help will come unbidden.” Hardy Clemons, in Saying Hello to Your Life After Grief, offers a few suggestions for relating in a helpful manner to those who have recently experienced a major loss. Read More

How Do You Pick and Choose?

When it comes to the Bible, how do you do your picking and choosing? When you’re picking the parts of the Bible by which you will actually live, how do you make those choices? Now, there’s not much point in wasting time protesting that we don’t pick and choose. It’s a nice thought, but it won’t stand up to the hard light of day. It is an inarguable fact that people interpret Scripture. Read More

Dare to Prepare: A Daily Plan for Effective Sunday School Lessons

I’m a huge college basketball fan and I have to admit that I succumb to March Madness in a big way each year. And for good reason…the team I follow is Duke. When you pull for Duke, you’re used to watching your team play well into the month as they make their way to their inevitable position in the Final Four. Read More

The $100,000 Question

It’s been almost ten years, but I still remember their faces. I’d just finished teaching the first of a five-part series on 1 Corinthians to an adult class at my home church. The first session had been a preparatory study titled, “Paul, the Letter Writer.” As I recall, here’s how that class ended…

Tell Your Story!

Owed to Arlo Guthrie

It started out just like any other man-date. I won two tickets to see Arlo Guthrie in Lexington, Kentucky, and my wife was unable to go with me, so I invited my good friend Daniel Bailey. We met up at Mellow Mushroom, enjoyed a pre-concert dinner that couldn’t be beat, and talked about Jesus and his mandate—you know, to care for the poor, the neglected, the “least of these.” Then, we made our way on over to the performance hall to be serenaded by the legendary folkie… Read More

Read All Main Articles

Login