This article is a personal story with a few takeaways and lessons learned.
In 2008, the Pastor of the church my family was attending left for another church. In the wake of his departure, the small Sunday School class he had taught found itself without a teacher. I volunteered to teach that class.
My emphasis was literal expository teaching. What does that mean?
FIRST, it means more than just going verse by verse. It’s teaching what IS there. We should not sidestep or dilute what the Bible is really saying to us.
SECOND, it’s unwise to teach what is NOT there. We should not manipulate passages to reinforce personal preferences or popular themes that those passages may not hold.
And THIRD, if the Bible states it plainly, we should TOO. Political correctness is not an ally of truth or any sound doctrine. It is most responsible to declare the Scriptures forthrightly.
In time, that Sunday School class outgrew the ‘half-court gym’ it was in. By this point, it was regularly drawing folks from other churches, too. Good ideas were proposed to continue to grow the class within the church it was part of, but those efforts hit a wall. Instead, the class was shut down.
I was told by many, “It was a good run, Steve, but God has now closed this door. It’s time for you to move on to other things.”
I took a few months to reflect. I decided to reform the class as ‘Solid Bread Community,’ an independent teaching ministry, and I began to hunt for an appropriate space to rent. I found a full-sized Gym at a local high school, and Solid Bread Community re-launched its new Sunday morning routines.
This sort of concept hadn’t been done before, and there were many uncertainties. Would folks align with this? Would any of its previous attendees return? How would we get the word out? How would we address our bills and obligations?
There were tons of questions but few answers. A bunch of folks felt safe by standing on the sidelines and predicting Solid Bread Community’s failure. Some of them even hoped for this.
www.raptureready.com
In 2008, the Pastor of the church my family was attending left for another church. In the wake of his departure, the small Sunday School class he had taught found itself without a teacher. I volunteered to teach that class.
My emphasis was literal expository teaching. What does that mean?
FIRST, it means more than just going verse by verse. It’s teaching what IS there. We should not sidestep or dilute what the Bible is really saying to us.
SECOND, it’s unwise to teach what is NOT there. We should not manipulate passages to reinforce personal preferences or popular themes that those passages may not hold.
And THIRD, if the Bible states it plainly, we should TOO. Political correctness is not an ally of truth or any sound doctrine. It is most responsible to declare the Scriptures forthrightly.
In time, that Sunday School class outgrew the ‘half-court gym’ it was in. By this point, it was regularly drawing folks from other churches, too. Good ideas were proposed to continue to grow the class within the church it was part of, but those efforts hit a wall. Instead, the class was shut down.
I was told by many, “It was a good run, Steve, but God has now closed this door. It’s time for you to move on to other things.”
I took a few months to reflect. I decided to reform the class as ‘Solid Bread Community,’ an independent teaching ministry, and I began to hunt for an appropriate space to rent. I found a full-sized Gym at a local high school, and Solid Bread Community re-launched its new Sunday morning routines.
This sort of concept hadn’t been done before, and there were many uncertainties. Would folks align with this? Would any of its previous attendees return? How would we get the word out? How would we address our bills and obligations?
There were tons of questions but few answers. A bunch of folks felt safe by standing on the sidelines and predicting Solid Bread Community’s failure. Some of them even hoped for this.
Some Lessons Learned the Harder Way :: By Steve Schmutzer
This article is a personal story with a few takeaways and lessons learned. In 2008, the Pastor of the church my family was attending left for another
www.raptureready.com
