The number of pastors, Sunday School directors, teachers, and members who have told me they have no prospects is very high. They tend to tell me that everyone they know goes to church. When I start to question that statement, they quickly realize that there are many in their circles of influence whose church and Sunday School status they don't know. A person is a prospect who is unenrolled in any Sunday School for whom we have contact information.

This post is the second in a series expanding on twenty methods in response to How Can I Grow My Sunday School Class Numerically?. The second method listed there was this one: Challenge attenders to invest in relationships/friendships with unenrolled people. Classes cannot grow numerically when the back door is open (people are leaving) and no one new is being added.

There are so many ways to discover whether a person is enrolled in Sunday School. But they all hinge around spending time with people. Care about them. Listen to them. Ask them questions out of interest. Share about yourself, but major on listening. Be available when they are dealing with stress and crisis. Invest in the relationship long term. Invite them to class, but don't rush or push it. Lead attenders to seek out intentional opportunities to invest in relationships/friendships with unenrolled people.

Let me share a few of those ways to get to know prospects and discover whether he/she is enrolled:

PARTIES. Invite guests to your class fellowship activities. Pick them up, and take them home. Spend time getting to know and have fun with guests. Introduce them to other attenders. Make sure someone invites the group to class before people leave.

PROJECTS. Invite guests to join you for class ministry and service projects. Many today want to make a difference--even if they are not Christians or connected to a church. It can be a great opportunity to work together, get to know one another, and provide a natural opportunity to connect relationally.

MEALS. Challenge class members to invite unenrolled people for meals, at home or restaurants. They are going to eat anyway. It costs very little time. The money spent on the meal can be a Kingdom investment. Get acquainted. Listen. Care.

PRAYER. Pray daily for opportunities to care for people and pray with them. In conversation with people, listen for stresses and crises. Ask for permission to pray with them. Then commit to pray for them. And check on them.

INVITATIONS. Invite prospects to parties, projects, meals, and class. Don't forget to invite them to study the Bible with your friends (Sunday School). Some are interested in spiritual things. Share the upcoming unit of study.

TESTIMONIES. Lead attenders to write and practice their brief Sunday School testimonies. Sunday School testimonies are reasons why Sunday School is meaningful to me, how Sunday School has helped me. Then challenge them to pray for opportunities to share their testimonies. These are shared most naturally in casual conversation.

QUESTIONS. Sometimes the only way you will discover whether a person is enrolled in Sunday School or a Bible study group is to ask him/her. Don't be afraid to do so. Don't do it in a nosey way. Do so as an opening to share your testimony or to invite them to your upcoming study or even to your party or project.

Challenge attenders to invest in relationships/friendships with unenrolled people. What methods would you add to the above methods? Which one(s) would work best in your class and Sunday School? Where do you need to start? If we are going to "make disciples of all nations," this is an important step. Pray. Follow God's lead. Invest. Care. Invite. Be revolutionary!

For more ideas about developing relationships with unenrolled people, check out these blog posts:

• Expect Depth and Lasting Relationships
• Learning from a LEGO: Connect with Others
• Sunday School Making Disciples Through Fellowships
• Planning Sunday School Fellowship Activities
• Reach and Assimilate People into the Kingdom Through Sunday School Fellowships
• Sunday School Testimony: Powerful Revolutionary Tool
• Sunday School Preparing Disciples’ Testimonies
• The Bible Study Session Invitation
• Identify and Invite Sunday School Prospects, Part 2
• Invitation to Sunday School
• Sunday School Invitations (Postcards), Updated
• Sunday School Praying for New People

When was the last time your Sunday School classes and leaders spent time praying for new people? Jesus said he came to seek and to save the lost. We are the bride of Christ. We are the body of Christ. Those on Jesus' heart will naturally be on our hearts. When we pray for something, we are will be "for" it. We will be open to the Lord's leadership in our lives about the subject of our prayers.

Jesus in the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20) commanded us has His disciples as we are going to "make disciples of all nations." There is still much work to do. Jesus said in John 10:16 (NIV): "I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd." He will draw them to Himself. We are to pursue lost sheep for Him. We are the hands and feet who protect them from wolves. We are to lead them to Him.

Lead your class to develop an intentional prayer strategy for lost and unenrolled people. Customize the strategy to fit your group. Regularly check on the plan and adjust it as necessary. Since many grow tired and lazy about anything done for a period of time, be sensitive to the need to vary your reinforcement and emphasis. Keep it fresh.

What are some ways Sunday School classes can pray for new people? I would challenge you to get out a sheet of paper and jot down some thoughts before reading further. Think about the people in your class. After writing down some thoughts, check out this beginning list of ideas:

• give the class a blank business-size card on which you ask them to write down the name of three lost or unenrolled people to pray for,
• spend time every Sunday praying for new people by name,
• place a poster on the classroom wall with first names and last name initial of new people for whom your class will pray (mark them off when they accept Jesus or join the class),
• focus prayers on new people in your assigned age group or the age group that is the focus of the church at that time,
• share demographics about people in your area so the group can know more specifically how to pray for new people from your community,
• have cottage prayer meetings (in a home) and include praying for new people on the agenda,
• pass out small dots to stick on watches or cell phones to remind people to pray for lost and unenrolled people when they see the dot,
• set a specific time each day (like Noon) to pray for new people,
• make appointments to call prayer partners each week and include praying for new people by name as part of the agenda,
• make sure to share testimonies of opportunities to share a witness or invitation with a new person,
• during conversations with potential new people (prospects), ask if they have prayer requests and write down the request and pray with them and thereafter, and
• send out weekly email (or text) reminders of new people to pray for and/or their needs.

For more ideas about prayer, check out these posts:

• Pray for God to Use Sunday School
• Is Your Class a Praying Class?
• Sunday School’s Biggest Impact on Disciplemaking
• First Step Toward Sunday School Class Change: Prayer
• Don’t Just ASK Your Sunday School Class to Pray, TEACH Them to DO It, Part 1 and Don’t Just ASK Your Sunday School Class to Pray, TEACH Them to DO It, Part 2
• Helping Sunday School to Focus on Prayer for Outreach
• Contract Prayer as a Sunday School Class
• Groups Creating Community, Part 1
• Sunday School and the Law of Large Numbers
• A Key Question to Deeper Sunday School Relationships
• Grow Your Sunday School: Part 2, Steps for Inviting New People

Over the last month, I have focused on how Sunday School can help the church pursue Jesus' command in the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20): "make disciples of all nations, baptizing them...and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you." In other words, my posts have been about reaching, teaching, and caring for people in order to make disciples. But for several upcoming posts, I want to shift the focus to numerical increase of the class.

If Sunday School never reaches out to new people, it cannot make disciples of "all nations." Sunday School focused only on those already there cannot carry out Jesus' command. It is natural that Sunday School should mobilize attenders to interact with their circles of influence to share Jesus. And at the same time, Sunday School should also invite people to be a part of the class ministry and class sessions because of the impact of Sunday School.

Andy Anderson (of the Baptist Sunday School Board, now called LifeWay Christian Resources) discovered through research that one out of three lost people who attended Sunday School for twelve months accepted Jesus as Savior and Lord. In fact, toward the end of his life, he was seeing that number get closer to one out of two lost people. (To see some of his research, check out his book, The Growth Spiral.) With that knowledge, why don't we do a better job of encouraging lost people to attend Sunday School with us?

Anyway, there are lots and lots of ways to lead your class to increase numerically. I want to share twenty and then follow up by spending time writing posts about each of them. Consider this list:
1.        Pray for new people. (Check out Expect Evangelistic Prayer Every Week.)
2.        Challenge attenders to invest in relationships/friendships with unenrolled people. (Check out Expect Depth and Lasting Relationships and Learning from a LEGO: Connect with Others.)
3.        Build a list of prospects from which to pray and care for prospects. (Check out Do You Need Sunday School Prospects, Part 1 and Do You Need Sunday School Prospects, Part 2.)
4.        Care for and invite church members not enrolled in Sunday School.
5.        Collect information from and pursue worship guests.
6.        Care for and invite unenrolled family members of Sunday School members.
7.        Prayerwalk and target reaching out to a neighborhood.
8.        Meet discovered needs of prospects.
9.        Caringly follow up every Sunday School guest. (Check out Expect Personal Follow-Up Of Every Guest.)
10.        Enlist and train class greeters to help guests have a great first impression (and to follow up on their time in class).
11.        Feature a different class in the worship service. (Check out Pulpit Sunday School Promotion.)
12.        Invite prospects to regular class fellowships. (Check out Expect Fellowship Opportunities.)
13.        Invite prospects to connect over a meal or dessert. (Check out Grow Your Sunday School Class/Small Group by Eating a Meal with Guests.)
14.        Invite prospects to participate in a class project.
15.        Ask every class guest for permission to add their names to your class care (prayer-ministry-fellowship) list. (Check out Expect People to Say “Yes” to Enrollment.)
16.        Invite guests to special class studies (during Sunday School or at other times).
17.        Start a new class and invite people! (Check out Biblical Images for Starting New Classes/Groups and Your Sunday School Class Can Reach Hundreds in Ten Years.)
18.        Prepare and lead attenders to share their Sunday School and faith testimony. (Check out Expect Every Member to Share Their Story of Faith, Expect the Class to Lead People to Christ, and Sunday School Testimony: Powerful Revolutionary Tool.)
19.        Ask prospects how you can pray for them, and then (when possible) pray with them.
20.        Don't forget to maintain good connections with people already on the class enrollment (care) list. (Check out Connecting with Others in Sunday School Ministry and Expect Every Member to Receive a Contact Every Week.)

I realize this list only scratches the surface. What would you add to the list? What have you seen work for reaching/enrolling new people? Which are you unsure would work in your setting? (I hope you will reserve some judgment until you have read my follow up post.) We cannot disciple people with whom we have not connected, invited, or gotten to attend. Pray. Build relationships. Invite. Make disciples. Be revolutionary!

For more ideas about growing your class, check out these posts:

• Four Tools for Growing Your Sunday School Class, Part 1 and Four Tools for Growing Your Sunday School Class, Part 2
• Maximizing Sunday School Class Health, Part 1
• Sunday School Class Growth Is Spelled W-O-R-K, Part 1, Sunday School Class Growth Is Spelled W-O-R-K, Part 2, Sunday School Class Growth Is Spelled W-O-R-K, Part 3, Sunday School Class Growth Is Spelled W-O-R-K, Part 4, Sunday School Class Growth Is Spelled W-O-R-K, Part 5, and Sunday School Class Growth Is Spelled W-O-R-K, Part 6
• Key Actions for Sunday School Class Growth, Part 1, Key Actions for Sunday School Class Growth, Part 2, Key Actions for Sunday School Class Growth, Part 3, and Key Actions for Sunday School Class Growth, Part 4
• Building Blocks for a Strong Sunday School Class, Part 2

On SundaySchoolLeader.com, Belinda Jolley, my peer in South Carolina, wrote a blog post entitled Are You Reproducing or Hoarding Leaders? It is a great post which helps to compare the differences between leaders. I want to give you a taste of that post to encourage you to check it out. Here is some of what Belinda wrote:

You can likely identify whether you or those around you are a reproducing or a hoarding leader.  Think about the following comparisons and add your own to the list.

Hoarding leaders might think about or say some of the following:

• How can we keep them from splitting our class?
• I wish we could go back to the time when we knew everybody in our church.
• How can we get the church to meet our needs?
• I’m not sure why John Doe is teaching a class here.  He’s only been a member here for five years.
• (Check out Are You Reproducing or Hoarding Leaders? for more!)

Reproducing leaders might think about or say some of the following:

• When do we get to start a new class?
• Help me pray about who God wants to help teach the three year olds.
• Isn’t it great to get to know Fred and Barbara?  We would not have met them if we had not helped start the new class six months ago.
• Your class is like a rocket ship—constantly sending out great leaders. Help me think of some ways to celebrate those members your class has sent out to serve in the other age groups.
• (Check out Are You Reproducing or Hoarding Leaders? for more!)

Jesus is the best model of a reproducing leader. He taught multitudes, discipled twelve, but he mentored three men. He spent time growing and sending out leaders. Moses’ father-in-law, Jethro, reminded Moses of the need to grow and send out other leaders. (Ex. 18) What about you? Are you reproducing or hoarding leaders?

Make sure you read the rest of Belinda's post: Are You Reproducing or Hoarding Leaders?. I want to challenge you to be revolutionary teachers and leaders who reproduce leaders. Think about the Kingdom. More leaders and more classes can reach, teach, and care for more people. Make disciples of all nations. Expect leader reproduction. Be revolutionary!

For more ideas about apprenticing, check out these blog posts:

• Secret of Sunday School Growth: Multiply Units
• A Simple Two-Part System for Getting Sunday School Class Ministry Done, Part 2 and A Simple Two-Part System for Getting Sunday School Class Ministry Done, Part 4
• Coaching a Successful Sunday School Teac her Apprentice
• Approaching Sunday School/Small Group Births with Humor Can Help
• Simple Steps to Launch a New Sunday School Group
• Simple Plan for Sunday School Discipleship, Leadership, and Numerical Growth
• It’s Time to Launch One: An Apprentice, an On-Campus Group, and an Off-Campus Group
• Advice for the New Sunday School Teacher
• Key Actions for Sunday School Class Growth, Part 5
• How You Can Train (Apprentice) Potential Sunday School Leaders
• Your Sunday School Class Can Reach Hundreds in Ten Years
• Revolutionary Sunday School Multiplies Leaders
• Extreme Makeover: Sunday School Edition

My conviction is that revolutionary Sunday School can help a church carry out the command of Jesus in the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20): "make disciples of all nations, baptizing them...and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you." Over the last nineteen posts, I have answered questions from Questions about Making Disciples Through Sunday School about how Sunday School can do so. Question twenty was this one: What one thing could Sunday School do which would make the most difference in making and growing disciples?

How would you answer that question? Before you answer, let me challenge you to think of one qualification. Think of Sunday School as it could be, as it should be. Think of revolutionary Sunday School. In disciplemaking Sunday School, what one action could make the most difference in making and growing disciples? In Sunday School which has moved from teaching lessons to making disciples, what one thing could Sunday School do to make the most difference, to have the most impact?

As a starting list for your consideration, review the ways Sunday School can impact disciplemaking from the previous nineteen posts:

• inviting, sharing Jesus, sharing testimonies, fellowships, increasing daily intake of God's Word, learning retention, teaching methods, class size, class arrangement, learner preparation, learner application, increasing session length, expectations, time beyond the session, application reporting, spiritual disciplines, desperateness for God, and showing Jesus to others.

All of the topics from the previous posts are important actions of Sunday School that desires to take disciplemaking seriously. In fact, a regular rotation of emphasis among the list would likely lead to reinvigoration of that action. It is easy to get bored with a method, even if it is the best one. And it is easy to get busy and lazy, leading to spending less and less time and energy productively.

Still, the one action not specifically focused upon in any of the posts is likely the most important: prayer. Yes, prayer was mentioned as necessary in several posts, but no post was fully dedicated to prayer. And following our Lord's leadership in determining the right path toward discipleship can be greatly aided by spending time personally and corporately in prayer.

Sunday School should teach preschoolers, children, youth, and adults how to pray. I mean more than group prayer. I mean personal, honest, passionate prayer. I mean prayer for God to change me. I mean prayer for God to speak and help me to respond obediently. The teacher can lead this. A pastor can emphasize this. Prayer partners can practice this. A need or crisis may crystalize the need for prayer. A spiritual renewal may spark it.

The time invested is in disciplemaking. Some will object because the effort takes time away from "the lesson." Does it really. And remember, we have been focused upon making disciples. How can we make disciples who do not know how to pray? If Sunday School does not teach prayer, who will?

Want to strengthen your class or Sunday School? Teach teachers to pray and ask them to teach attenders. (Such action is disciplemaking at its foundation!) Don't just tell them how. Instruct them. Lead them to apply it. Check on progress. (Check out these posts about following Jesus' example: Discipling Through Sunday School Jesus’ Way, Part 1, Discipling Through Sunday School Jesus’ Way, Part 2, Discipling Through Sunday School Jesus’ Way, Part 3, and Discipling Through Sunday School Jesus’ Way, Part 4.) Pray for His leadership. Ask others to join you. Teach them to pray. Make disciples. Be revolutionary!

For more ideas about prayer, check out these posts:

• Don’t Just ASK Your Sunday School Class to Pray, TEACH Them to DO It, Part 1 and Don’t Just ASK Your Sunday School Class to Pray, TEACH Them to DO It, Part 2
• Pray for God to Use Sunday School
• Should We Take Time for Prayer Requests and Prayer in Sunday School?
• Is Your Class a Praying Class?
• First Step Toward Sunday School Class Change: Prayer
• Could Too Much Prayer Time Be an Obstacle for Revolutionary Adult Classes?
• Helping Sunday School to Focus on Prayer for Outreach
• Contract Prayer as a Sunday School Class
• Leading Attenders to Meet God in Bible Study, Part 3
• Grow Your Sunday School: Part 2, Steps for Inviting New People
• Sunday School Effectiveness Begins with Prayer and Evaluation
• Care Groups: Prayer, Ministry, Assimilation, and Invitation

This is post nineteen response to twenty questions asked in Questions about Making Disciples Through Sunday School. The questions are about how Sunday School can help the church carry out the command of Jesus (Matthew 28:18-20) to "make disciples of all nations, baptizing them...and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you." Question nineteen is this one: What if every attender was expected to serve, to minister, to go, to share with others what they know of Jesus?

Becoming a disciple of Jesus is not having more information; it's about transformation. It's not about learning; it's about living like Jesus. In many ways, this question gets to the root of the issue for attenders. Last post, Sunday School Teacher: Desperate for God, may have gotten to the root for the teacher. In some ways, a teacher who is desperate for God as described in that post is doing what this post is about: sharing Jesus to others. The truth is, all of these posts are related. You cannot separate slices of disciplemaking.

The end result desired is an individual who encounters God in His Word who is changed inside and out. That change is expressed in how he/she lives. That change is unmistakably seen by those in his/her daily walk and circle of influence. I was reading Ephesians and a verse is appropriate here. Paul says, "As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received" (Ephesians 4:1, NIV). The calling is to an abundant life made only possible through Jesus. For more information about life change, check out What Can Sunday School Do to Impact Life Change?.

But how can a teacher and class help an individual take steps in that direction? How can expectations be initiated and raised in such a way that they are accepted, owned, and pursued? Many of the discipleship actions shared in the previous eighteen posts lead in this direction: inviting, sharing Jesus, sharing testimonies, fellowships, increasing daily intake of God's Word, learning retention, teaching methods, class size, class arrangement, learner preparation, learner application, increasing session length, expectations, time beyond the session, application reporting, spiritual disciplines, and desperateness for God. For more information about raising expectations, check out Raising Sunday School Expectations without Losing Your Hair.

But ownership is essential. That is why the teacher must be a facilitator of an encounter with God rather than only testifying about his/her encounter or preparation. God in His Word has the power to change lives. The teacher must get out of the way and let God speak. The teacher must lead attenders to open and listen to God's Word. That is the source of power and motivation. For more information about facilitating an encounter with God, check out Sunday School’s Neglect of the Second Encounter, Part 10A and Sunday School’s Neglect of the Second Encounter, Part 10B.

In addition to this, planning and involvement in reaching, teaching-learning, and caring should seek to build ownership. For more information about leading a class toward ownership, check out Sixth Step Toward Sunday School Class Change: Ownership. The teacher should not do all the work for the class or individuals. Nor should any individual be allowed to rest upon the work of others. Even expectations should be mutual. Attenders should have high expectations of each other as well. This may mean working together upon a class covenant. For more information, check out Benefits of a Covenant for a Revolutionary Sunday School Class.

Want to measure your progress as a class? Want to check on spiritual development? Want to know if your discipleship efforts are having any impact? Measure what you can see. Are lives changed? What are they talking about? What stories are they telling? Are they serving more often and enjoying it more? Are they meeting needs in the class and beyond? Are they going to others rather than waiting for people to come to them? Are they sharing what they know of Jesus and God's Word with others? Yes, there is more than what can be seen and measured, but if all measurement evidence is missing then discipleship progress probably is as well. Make disciples. Be revolutionary!

For more posts about how Sunday School can help the church make disciples, check out these posts:

• Accountability Partners in Sunday School
• Sunday School, Disciplemaking, and Spiritual Disciplines
• Sunday School Attenders Reporting Application of Last Week’s Lesson
• When Sunday School Spills Beyond the Hour
• Expectation after the Sunday School Session
• Would a Longer Sunday School Session Better Make Disciples?
• Life Impact after the Sunday School Session
• Attender Preparation for Sunday School, Part 1 and Attender Preparation for Sunday School, Part 2
• Can Sunday School Classroom Arrangement Impact Disciplemaking?
• Sunday School Teaching Methods for Impacting Discipleship, Part 1 and Sunday School Teaching Methods for Impacting Discipleship, Part 2
• Ideal Sunday School Class Size Issues for Spiritual Progress
• Sunday School Strengthening Learning Retention

Want your class to grow? Want them to make spiritual progress? Are you focused on helping them grow as His disciples? Then, your example matters! Your words count, but your life is powerful.

Over the previous seventeen posts, I have been answering the twenty questions from Questions about Making Disciples Through Sunday School. The questions address how Sunday School can help the church carry out Jesus' command to His disciples in the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20): "make disciples of all nations, baptizing them...and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you." The question for today is this one: What if it all was influenced by teachers who were desperate for God in their daily quiet times and life interactions?

There are many ways the life and example of the teacher speak loudly. Attenders dismiss the words of teachers who are not authentic or are living in sin. Like sheep, attenders tend to follow those they trust. When trust has not been built through time spent together, there is more doubt and hesitation. When something has broken the trust, it is difficult to rebuild. Frequently, trust is spelled T-I-M-E and C-A-R-E. Time in class counts, but time spent with sheep during the rest of life counts even more.

The life of the teacher can be positive motivation for disciples. It can encourage them to study more, to be more caring, to apply the truth, to try new things. How the teacher interacts with the class is noticed. What the teacher says about the church, pastor, and his/her family communicates volumes.

But one area which is powerful and vital in the effort to grow disciples is the teacher's walk with God. Does the teacher spend time with God in prayer and Bible study regularly? It is important for some of that time to be invested in nothing else except a desire for God. Is his/her relationship with God alive and growing? If so, it will spill over in the teaching. It will spill over in casual conversation. It will influence example and life. It will even influence the way sin and mistakes are handled.

The teacher who is desperate for God loves God so much that he/she desires to spend time with Him in prayer and Bible study. And that desire is shared. The desperate teacher draws attenders toward a daily quiet time. He/she talks about it, encourages it, and teaches about it. The teacher raises the expectation and affirms even halting progress. His or her words influence, but the most powerful advertisement for a daily quiet time and growth of disciples is the example of the teacher.

How does a teacher become desperate for God? How does he/she fall more in love with Him? Time spent daily together. Commitment. Making appointments to meet God in Bible study. Reading the Word. Meditating on it. Memorizing it. Applying it. Living it. Journaling it. Trying spiritual disciplines. Finding the best fit of time and method. Keeping it fresh.

From my own experience, I can share that it has much to do with listening to His still small voice. God desires to speak a life-changing Word to us every time we open the Bible. Are you listening? What is He saying?

When I listen and understand that He is speaking to me, it changes the tenor of the experience. I recognize the awesome presence of a BIG God. I recognize the importance and value of His Words to me. I recognize He is speaking to me for a purpose--and that purpose is change. I understand He wants good for me even if the change will bring pain. I know He loves me. And that love is attractive. I want to be with Him. And one of the best ways for me to be with Him is in Bible study and prayer.

Are you desperate for God? Do you want to be? Commit to daily Bible study and prayer. Ask a friend to hold you accountable. Talk about methods. Keep it fresh. Listen to His Word for you. Allow the experience to overflow into your teaching, conversation, and life. Be the change He desires in you. Be bold in pursuit of Him. Be open with your class. Influence attenders to spend time with Him. Make disciples. Be revolutionary!

For more quiet time ideas, check out these posts:

• Sunday School Supporting Spiritual Disciplines, Part 1
• Challenge Your Adult Sunday School Members to Make New Year’s Resolutions
• What a Sunday School Teacher Can Do to Deepen Relationships
• Attender Preparation for Sunday School, Part 1 and Attender Preparation for Sunday School, Part 2
• Ideal Behaviors of an Adult Sunday School Member, Part 1 and Ideal Behaviors of an Adult Sunday School Member, Part 2
• Transitioning from Sunday School Teacher to Disciple Maker
• Accountability Partners in Sunday School
• Raise Expectations for Sunday School Leaders
• A Simple Two-Part System for Getting Sunday School Class Ministry Done, Part 2
• Teaching Sunday School Members to Pray Through Scripture
• Advice for the New Sunday School Teacher
• Sunday School’s Contributions to Disciple Making
• Marriage of Application and Story in Sunday School

Sunday School can impact disciplemaking through its reaching, teaching, and caring. The focus, however, must change from teaching a lesson to making a disciple. Jesus commanded His disciples to "make disciples of all nations, baptizing them...and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you." This post answers question seventeen of a post entitled Questions about Making Disciples Through Sunday School: What might happen if Sunday School classes encouraged accountability partners?

Over the previous sixteen posts, I have dealt with many important disciplemaking issues related to Sunday School. These have included inviting, sharing Jesus, sharing testimonies, fellowships, increasing daily intake of God's Word, learning retention, teaching methods, class size, class arrangement, learner preparation, learner application, increasing session length, expectations, time beyond the session, application reporting, and spiritual disciplines. Wow! That is already some list.

But if we are serious about moving from teaching a lesson to making disciples, these areas all need attention. Another piece of this puzzle is accountability. This was discussed some in Sunday School Attenders Reporting Application of Last Week’s Lesson. But Sunday School class accountability partners takes that post in another direction and can reinforce those efforts. In this context, partners would be two or three class attenders (usually of the same gender) who are committed to pray, care, share, and encourage each other. An absentee, prospect, and/or a lost person might be included--though some contact might be away from class.

What are some possible actions for making disciples from establishing accountability partners? Consider some of these:

• care for each other and notice when one is missing;
• pray for each other during class and during the week;
• contact each other through the week to follow up on the lesson, needs, or prayer concerns;
• get to know each other and know how best to encourage and pray for each other;
• can be honest and transparent with each other (even more than in the large group);
• can challenge each other to keep commitments;
• practice spiritual disciplines together;
• challenge each other to keep a daily quiet time;
• share daily journaling reports;
• encourage each other to read the Bible through;
• can help each other apply truth to life settings due to greater knowledge of each other;
• can ask accountability partners to do group work or prepare specific assignments;
• can divide the class into accountability groups for discussion and increase involvement of the class (everyone can share in the smaller groups);
• seek opportunities to apply the truth of the lesson together;
• can assign partners specific class roles, absentees or prospects to follow up, or tasks;
• can ask partners to plan learning activities during or between classes to strengthen retention and/or learning application;
• and many, many more.

How have you used accountability partners in Sunday School? What actions would you suggest be added to the list? Which of these would work best with your class? How could establishing accountability partners help your class take steps toward making disciples? How would you determine who to connect as partners? Would it be random? Would you rotate them after a few months? Pray. Get a leadership group together. Discuss options and pray together. Make some decisions about first steps and a start date. Then do it. Make disciples. Be revolutionary!

For more ideas about accountability, check out these blog posts:

• When Sunday School Is Done Right, Part 2
• Making Disciples Through Accountability in the Adult Sunday School Class
• Sunday School: Growing One Disciple, Part 5
• Growth Support: Sunday School Providing Encouragement
• Accountability Partners in the Adult Sunday School Class
• Adult Sunday School Class Attenders Can Benefit from an Encourager
• Accountability to Read the Bible Through in Sunday School Classes/Small Groups
• Helping to Keep Up with the Joneses: The Job of the Class Secretary
• Avoiding Sunday School Class Dysfunctions
• Sunday School: Make a Resolution to Read the Bible
• An Ownership Problem in Our Sunday School Work
• Leading Attenders to Meet God in Bible Study, Part 5

Can Sunday School help the church make disciples? That is the question I asked in Questions about Making Disciples Through Sunday School along with twenty other questions about the topic. Jesus commanded His disciples to "make disciples of all nations, baptizing them ...and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded." Sunday School can help the church carry out this work by reaching, teaching, and caring.

This is the sixteenth post I have written in response to the questions I asked in Questions about Making Disciples Through Sunday School. The question for this post was this one: How could Sunday School challenge attenders to grow in their relationship with God through trying various spiritual disciplines? Can Sunday School reinforce and utilize spiritual disciplines and in the process help attenders make spiritual progress? My short answer is "yes," but let's look at some of the ways to do so.

When Sunday School teachers and classes change mindset from teaching a lesson to making disciples, many things become possible. Time for Sunday School does not have to be limited to Sunday morning. Activities do not all have to be completed in class. Preparation and application become an expectation. Involvement is the norm rather than the exception. Instruction is personalized and used as preparation for impacting the world around me.

In the effort to become His disciples, some tools are more helpful than others. Some more naturally fit the context of Sunday School than others. And others fit some disciples better than others. Many spiritual disciplines can fit into a Sunday School context where making disciples is the desired outcome. Richard Foster in The Celebration of Discipline divides spiritual disciplines into three categories:

Inner Disciplines	Outer Disciplines	Corporate Disciplines
Meditation	Simplicity	Confession
Prayer	Solitude	Worship
Fasting	Submission	Guidance
Study	Service	Celebration

These spiritual disciplines are designed to direct our attention to God, to raise our focus on Him. Two of the first four inner disciplines fit well in the common practices of Sunday School: prayer and Bible study. Even these two disciplines need more reinforcement--or discipline. It would take little adjustment to encourage meditation in class and between classes. Fasting is a needed, biblically-based discipline that can benefit attenders. More explanation may be needed in some classes and churches.

All of the outer disciplines are needed, and Sunday School could easily challenge attenders to test them out to see how they fit. For many classes and individuals, solitude and service will be the two outer disciplines most easily adapted. I am not, however, saying that these two disciplines (done right) will be easy! But a teacher could challenge attenders to spend an hour alone with God. A random act of kindness or serving someone without them knowing it was us are two service acts that a teacher could lead the class to attempt and report.

As the term connotes, corporate disciplines are more for the group as a whole. While being careful not to embarrass, there are opportunities for a class to confess, worship, celebrate, and seek His guidance. With the right coaching, even these can be adapted to a group at church or on a class retreat.

Here is the issue: sometimes we need to shake up our routine in order to keep it fresh, in order to gain new insight. Sometimes attenders have not tried many of the spiritual disciplines and are relying on the same methods and grow quickly tired of them. I recently read a newsletter sent out by Josh Hunt in which he said he had discovered that he needed to reinvent his devotional plan about every nine months. Makes sense to me.

Help attenders in your class grow as His disciples. Help them try new spiritual disciplines. Lead them to get to know God and seek Him in fresh ways. Lead them to discipline themselves to be His disciples. As attenders grow, your class will grow in so many ways. Practice spiritual disciplines. Model them. Call for reports. Make disciples. Be revolutionary!

For more ideas about making disciples, check out these blog posts:

• Sunday School Attenders Reporting Application of Last Week’s Lesson
• Life Impact after the Sunday School Session
• Sunday School Strengthening Learning Retention
• Sunday School Making Disciples Through Fellowships
• Would a Longer Sunday School Session Better Make Disciples?
• Sunday School Becoming More Intentional about Inviting
• Sunday School/Small Groups Making Disciples the Way Jesus Did
• Transitioning from Sunday School Teacher to Disciple Maker
• When Sunday School Spills Beyond the Hour
• Making Disciples Through the Sunday School
• How Can Sunday School Encourage Greater Daily Intake of God’s Word?
• Can Sunday School Classroom Arrangement Impact Disciplemaking?
• Ideal Sunday School Class Size Issues for Spiritual Progress
• Evidences of Learning in Sunday School
• Sunday School Teaching Methods for Impacting Discipleship, Part 1
• Sunday School Sharing Jesus

Sunday, September 12, 2010, has been designated as National Back to Church Sunday. It is sponsored by LifeWay Research and Outreach. There are materials available on the website to take advantage of this initiative. These materials include a kit, videos, and even an email generator to send invitations to your friends. I want to encourage you to check it out and consider participating.

What might happen if even half of our Sunday School attenders invited a friend (or several) back to Sunday School? What if we invited all our absentees, dropouts, friends, relatives, associates, and neighbors? What if some of them said yes? Be prepared because some of them will! Thom Rainer, president of LifeWay Christian Resources stated in Surprising Insights from the Unchurched and Proven Ways to Reach Them that 82% of the unchurched were at least somewhat likely to attend if invited.

Don't say no for them! Invite them. Invite them to your homes to get to know them. Show them you care for them as people. Share Christ's love with them in deed and word. Invite them to your class parties and projects. And don't forget to invite them to class. This initiative just might be the excuse they've been looking for to come back to Sunday School (or to try it for the first time).

The Holy Spirit is at work in the world. Some are waiting for your invitation. Some want to know Jesus but never have had anyone tell them how. Invite them back to church. Invite them back to Sunday School. Make a great first impression with your care. Start a class. Enlist greeters. Use name tags. Have a great lesson. Listen well. Don't embarrass them.

Follow up. Take them a gift. Answer their questions. Ask how you can pray for them, and do it. If they offer any criticism, learn what you can from it. Adjust what needs to be adjusted. And keep caring and inviting.

Jesus said He came to seek and to save the lost. We are His body in the world, so He has given us that task. Sunday School is a great medium for sharing Christ through the study of God's Word in a caring fellowship. On average we will see more than one out three lost people accept Jesus when they attend Sunday School with us over a year's time. So impact eternity. Impact your community. Impact a friend. Invite him. Invite her. Invite several. Allow God to work through your class. Be revolutionary!

For more ideas about inviting people to Sunday School, check out these blog posts:

• Identify and Invite Sunday School Prospects, Part 1, Identify and Invite Sunday School Prospects, Part 2, Identify and Invite Sunday School Prospects, Part 3, and Identify and Invite Sunday School Prospects, Part 4
• Focusing on Prospects for Sunday School
• Do You Need Sunday School Prospects, Part 1 and Do You Need Sunday School Prospects, Part 2
• Christmas Invitation to Sunday School
• Prospecting for Sunday School Prospect Gold
• Enroll + Care + Invite = Attendance in Sunday School
• Care Groups: Prayer, Ministry, Assimilation, and Invitation
• 5 Goals for Sunday School Growth This Year
• 5 Goals for Sunday School Growth This Year, Part 2

When we move from teaching a lesson to making disciples, our focus changes. The measure is not how well the teacher did, and it is not even did they understand or like the lesson. No, the measure is whether followers of Jesus Christ are becoming more like Him, obeying what He commanded, and teaching others to do the same. We can see this clearly in Jesus' command in the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20): "make disciples of all nations, baptizing them...and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you."

I introduced this thought in a post entitled Questions about Making Disciples Through Sunday School. I also added to the mix reflections on Jesus' example in making disciples: Discipling Through Sunday School Jesus’ Way, Part 1, Discipling Through Sunday School Jesus’ Way, Part 2, Discipling Through Sunday School Jesus’ Way, Part 3, and Discipling Through Sunday School Jesus’ Way, Part 4. Since that original post, I have been responding to the twenty questions I asked there.

Knowing that reporting was a key piece of Jesus' strategy for disciplemaking (see Discipling Through Sunday School Jesus’ Way, Part 4), it should be part of ours as well. That's why I asked question fifteen in Questions about Making Disciples Through Sunday School: What would be the results if we began to ask attenders this week about what they did to apply last week's lesson?

Until we teach (instruct) them to do the truth, send them out to do so, and call for a report, members will be learners rather than disciples. Setting up a report time is essential to attenders taking teachers seriously. When I know I am going to have to report, I am more likely to listen carefully to my instruction (from God and the teacher) about what I am being sent out to do.

This is set up by the teacher taking time as a part of the lesson to examine the scriptural context for the truth and lead attenders to apply that truth to their setting and lives. Then time must be given for attenders to respond to truth. What does God want them to do as a result of Bible study? What does He want attenders (including the teacher) to do, think, or feel differently? How can attenders exercise the truth? How can they put it into practice in their lives this week?

These questions require time for reflection. Some questions will require an honest struggle. Some will be difficult. Some attenders will have quick answers. But even more meaningful answers may lead to greater spiritual progress. Many lessons need more than one week to apply. But a reporting time needs to be set in advance. It can be adjusted later, if needed. In most cases, one week is enough time to allow for some obedient steps to be taken and a report to be shared. But when additional time is needed, remember to schedule it and call for a report at that time. Don't forget!

Then next week, ask how they did. How did you do at keeping the promise you made to God? How did you do at carrying out what you said last week you were going to do in response to the lesson? What do you wish you had done differently. Affirm success. Affirm attempts. Learn from failure. Encourage when there is failure or difficulty. Discourage excuses, apathy, or lack of attempt. Confront one-on-one rather than in front of the group.

Don't stop! Consistently call for reports. Raise expectations. Stop occasionally to affirm spiritual progress of individuals and the group. Remember, you are making disciples of Jesus Christ. It is important work. It is worth the work. It IS the work! Instruct. Send. Report. Make disciples. Be revolutionary!

For more ideas about disciplemaking, check these posts:

• Transitioning from Sunday School Teacher to Disciple Maker
• Life Impact after the Sunday School Session
• Expectation after the Sunday School Session
• Ideal Sunday School Class Size Issues for Spiritual Progress
• Can Sunday School Classroom Arrangement Impact Disciplemaking?
• Questions about Making Disciples Through Sunday School
• Would a Longer Sunday School Session Better Make Disciples?
• Sunday School Teaching Methods for Impacting Discipleship, Part 1

In Sunday School at Work During the Other 167 Hours, Part 1 and Sunday School at Work During the Other 167 Hours, Part 2, I have previously dealt with the subject of question fourteen from Questions about Making Disciples Through Sunday School. In that latter post, I asked twenty questions about how Sunday School can help the church carry out Jesus' command in the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20, NIV): "make disciples of all nations, baptizing them...and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you."

Question fourteen was this one: What would happen if we began to realize that a Sunday School lesson could actually spill over into the other 167 hours of the week? The question is actually about more than a realization of the possibility. It is about the possibility becoming a reality. What might happen in and through the lives of attenders if Sunday School began to include the rest of the week in the learning, practicing, and applying?

The possibility is HUGE! In the series mentioned above, I shared five areas in which "to extend the ministry and work of your class beyond the walls of the class and beyond the Sunday morning experience." I shared some practical ideas like the following:

• EVANGELISM. Ask each member to pray for a lost person for a couple of weeks.
• DISCIPLESHIP. At the end of the class, ask members what they will do as a result of God's truth they have encountered, and at the beginning of the next lesson ask for their reports
• FELLOWSHIP. Have a meal together as a class in a home, at the church, or at a restaurant.
• MINISTRY. Someone in the class should be responsible for encouraging every attender to serve the Lord in some way in the church or community.
• WORSHIP. Worship is more than a service. Worship is a lifestyle. It is an attitude before God. It is meeting God in Bible study--in class, in personal devotions, and in the worship service.

When we think that way, we begin to lead Sunday School's impact to leak into the cracks and crevices of everything learners do during the week. The truth becomes relevant and real. We look for impact in our life setting of family, work, school, and play. We seek application in the tame and wild parts of our schedule, in the quiet and busy moments of our lives.

Teachers begin to ask attenders questions which echo through the week. Lesson illustrations and stories (from scripture and life) vibrate the strings of the harp of our daily lives. No lesson ends without an invitation for a response then and in the days to follow. Attenders check on each other. Because God is working in the lives of attenders, they want others to experience what is happening to them. This results in invitations to homes, fellowships, projects, and class. Testimonies are shared.

Attenders look forward to completing assignments. They read the lesson and passage with anticipation. They pray fervently for God's leadership, for the class, and for their friends. The class has a heart of service and is willing to help anyone in need. (Sounds like the church in Acts 2!) They give. They care. They spend time with God in His Word. They see the big picture. They are willing to serve anywhere and to start new class.

Allow Sunday School to leak out into the rest of the week. Help attenders understand that they are the body of Christ in the world between Sundays. They are to live with Him and for Him. Lead them to apply and practice obedience. Lead them to make a difference. Lead them to grow as disciples. Lead them to make disciples. Be revolutionary!

For more ideas about extending the Sunday School session beyond the walls and hour, check out these posts:

• Sunday School: Growing One Disciple, Part 1
• Promotional Tools for Sunday School: Don’t Keep It to Yourself!
• How to Teach Them to Obey: By Example
• Challenge Your Sunday School Class to Practice the Spiritual Discipline of Scripture Memorization
• What a Sunday School Teacher Can Do to Deepen Relationships
• How Can Sunday School Encourage Greater Daily Intake of God’s Word?
• Moving Sunday School from Knowing Toward Obeying
• Missions Project Ideas for Taking Sunday School Ministry Beyond the Classroom Walls
• Questions about Making Disciples Through Sunday School
• Sunday School Preparing Disciples’ Testimonies
• Maximizing Sunday School Class Health, Part 2

Over the last month, my focus has been upon how Sunday School can help the church carry out the Great Commission: "make disciples of all nations, baptizing them...and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you" (Matthew 28:18-20). This started from Questions about Making Disciples Through Sunday School where I asked twenty questions about this issue--of which question thirteen is this one: What should be the expectation following every Sunday School session for applying the truth of God's Word?

I have written about the importance of application in several blog posts over the years. To not do what we know is sin. Too many times we have acted like Jesus in the Great Commission told us that the way to make disciples is "teaching them to know what I commanded you." But Jesus did not say know; He said "obey." There is a huge difference. That is one of the big differences between teaching and disciplemaking. When Sunday School shifts to assisting believers to take steps toward obedience, it is assisting the church with disciplemaking.

We should also remember what Paul said about church leaders including teachers in Ephesians 4:11-13 (NIV):

It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up...attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

Paul said that Jesus gave church leaders to the church "to prepare God's people for works of service." We are to practice what we have been taught, and we are to equip the saints. We do so until we (and they) are like Jesus. According to Jesus, we are to be "teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you." We are to obey the commands of Christ, and we are to teach others to do the same. It is following Jesus' example in making disciples.

Application is a piece missing from many Sunday School lessons and sermons. Application is more than simply understanding that God's Word "applies" to me and my situation. That is important, but the application here refers to more. It refers to carrying out the truth. It's about obedience.

But application does not just happen. It begins with a teacher leading the class to have an encounter with God in His Word. God has the power to change lives. Following the encounter in which learners have been led to understand the context, the importance of the truth for today, and its application for them, learners need encouragement and help in taking next steps. They need to be led prayerfully to consider and commit to the appropriate response to the truth.

Then they need to be sent out to apply it. And one way to encourage them to follow through on their commitment when we have sent them out to do it is to announce a time to report back on how they did at applying the truth. I recently talked about this at length in the series, Discipling Through Sunday School Jesus’ Way, Part 1, Discipling Through Sunday School Jesus’ Way, Part 2, Discipling Through Sunday School Jesus’ Way, Part 3, and Discipling Through Sunday School Jesus’ Way, Part 4.

Expectation for this to happen begins with Jesus: "teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you." Then the expectation needs to be shared consistently by the teacher. The teacher will be taken seriously when he/she lives a life of obedience but is transparent about struggles. Otherwise, attenders may not believe they can live up to the example of the teacher.

The teacher at the end of each lesson must take time to lead learners to respond to the truth of the lesson. And time must be planned in next week's lesson to call attenders to report on steps of obedience. Yes, Sunday School can actually do this. And revolutionary Sunday School must to this in order to shift from teaching to disciplemaking. I encourage you to begin small. Lead learners to successfully take steps in this direction. Raise expectations. Make disciples. Be revolutionary!

For more ideas about application, check out these blog posts:

• Moving Adults Toward Deeper Levels of Learning in Sunday School
• Five Practices of Life-Changing Small Groups
• Sunday School: Growing One Disciple, Part 4
• Sunday School, One of the Ways to Get People Involved in Studying the Bible
• Marriage of Application and Story in Sunday School
• The Best Adult Sunday School Teachers Are Facilitators
• What Can Sunday School Do to Impact Life Change?
• Life Impact after the Sunday School Session
• Moving Sunday School from Knowing Toward Obeying
• Preparation for Small Group Bible Study
• Characteristics of a Good Sunday School Teacher, Part 1
• Assessing What Happens on Sunday Morning in Adult Sunday School
• Sunday School Lesson Preparation

Dates & Locations

A vital step towards church health and growth is a diagnosis of your current condition. Every component of your church's programs and ministries needs an annual evaluation as a way to measure its effectiveness. The training offered at this year's Super Saturday events will help you determine where your ministry is now and plan where you are going in the future. Super Saturdays are designed especially for Kentucky Baptist leaders and volunteers actively serving in churches across the state. See you there!

Conferences are available in many areas of church ministry including the following:

• assimilation, Baptist Men, deacons, church architecture, discipleship, evangelism/cults, finance/stewardship, leadership, missions/ministry, pastors/staff/DOMs, prayer, preschool/children, secretaries, small groups, Sunday School, WMU, women's ministry, worship/music, and youth.

Schedule

Hispanic Ministry Track

This year, the Hispanic Track will meet at First Baptist Church in Danville on August 7 and at Cooper Chapel Baptist Church in Louisville on August 21.

Registration

• $35 per person -OR- $25 Early Bird Special
• Registration must be completed online (www.kybaptist.org/supersaturday) or postmarked b y the Monday before each event to receive discount. Due to the Labor Day holiday, the early bird pricing deadline is extended to Tuesday before the Williamsburg and Paducah events.

Please make personal childcare arrangements in advance of the conference.

In Questions about Making Disciples Through Sunday School I asked twenty questions about Sunday School's ability to carry out the Great Commission mandate to "make disciples of all nations, baptizing them...and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you" (Matthew 28:18-20). This post responds to the question twelve: Would increasing the length of time for the Sunday School session have greater disciplemaking results?

I have been in churches all over Kentucky as well as many other states (as well as South Korea, Tanzania, and England). The majority of those churches have scheduled either 45 minutes or an hour. The key word in that sentence is "scheduled." As the state Sunday School director, when I in a church on Sunday morning, I attend Sunday School. I go to learn, but I also go to observe. I pay attention to arrival time of teachers and members, to greeting, to the way time is used in class, and when people leave (including choir members).

Most of the classes I have attended delay starting while waiting on people to arrive. While they may call this fellowship time, guests tend to call it starting late. Then these classes open with announcements, class business, prayer requests, and prayer time. From my observations, I would tell you that churches with only 45 minutes for Sunday School tend to have closer to 20-25 minutes for Bible study. Those with an hour tend to have closer to 30-35 minutes. Stewardship of the precious minutes we have is essential in our efforts to use them to make disciples.

Assuming we have become good stewards of the time we have, what would happen if Sunday School were lengthened by 15 or 30 minutes? I know there are churches where the change of schedule also impacts worship due to having multiple worship services. And it becomes challenging when there are three worship and/or Sunday School times on Sunday. But even then the schedule can be 8:30, 9:45, and 11:00 (for 60 minutes), or it could be 8:00, 9:30, and 11:00 (for 75 minutes--means the last session would go to 12:15).

I agree with Allan Taylor (pictured above), author of The Six Core Values of Sunday School, Sunday School Done Right, and Sunday School in HD, when he emphasizes that we must schedule important tasks on Sunday morning or they won't get done (like reporting care and outreach contacts, prayer, etc.). But what if we did not have to rush through every lesson to get finished before worship? What if we had time to allow people to reflect on God's truth? What if we had time to lead them time to apply the truth, make a commitment, and plan for an obedience response? This is the part of every lesson that I tend to see cheated. And this cuts off the legs of discipleship.

Yes, better stewardship of the precious minutes we have is the first and most important issue. But what if we added an additional 15 minutes per week (600-750 per year)? What if we added 30 minutes per week (1,200-1,500 per year)? What if our teachers addressed more of attenders' learning styles because of having more time? What if they had time to guide more discussion? What if individual and class plans for response to the lesson began regularly to be expected? What if every lesson began with a reporting time (like the disciples did with Jesus in Mark 6:30) of obeying what Jesus commanded us?

While the addition of time to our current schedule will not automatically produce these results, the change can allow us to be more intentional in training teachers and classes to expect more. That may be the best reason to discuss the change and/or to lead toward the change. Are You Going Through the Motions in Sunday School? Raise expectations. Stop teaching content and start making disciples. Be revolutionary!

For more ideas about making disciples through Sunday School, check out these blog posts:

• Life Impact after the Sunday School Session
• Sunday School Strengthening Learning Retention
• Sunday School/Small Groups Making Disciples the Way Jesus Did
• Transitioning from Sunday School Teacher to Disciple Maker
• Making Disciples Through the Sunday School
• Sunday School: Growing One Disciple, Part 5
• How Can Sunday School Encourage Greater Daily Intake of God’s Word?
• Attender Preparation for Sunday School, Part 2
• Ideal Sunday School Class Size Issues for Spiritual Progress
• Evidences of Learning in Sunday School
• Discipling Through Sunday School Jesus’ Way, Part 3
• Sunday School’s Contributions to Disciple Making
• Accountability Partners in the Adult Sunday School Class

In many ways, this is Part 11 of a twenty-part series answering the questions from Questions about Making Disciples Through Sunday School. Because making disciples of all nations includes baptizing and teaching them to obey everything Jesus has commanded us (Matthew 28:18-20), There is much Sunday School can do to help the church carry out this work.

In this post, we will consider question eleven: What should happen in the life of attenders after the class session which would magnify the impact of the session? In other words, what could attenders do as a result of Sunday School which would help them grow as disciples? Ideally all of these actions will result from the leadership of the Holy Spirit. Some of these actions will be chosen spontaneously by attenders. Others will be encouraged by the teacher and the lesson.

Consider the following list of possibilities:
1.        continue to think about the truth and lesson,
2.        continue to pray about the truth and lesson and how to respond obediently,
3.        talk to class members about the truth and lesson,
4.        encourage and pray for class members to respond in obedience,
5.        gather together between Sunday School sessions to talk about the lesson and its application,
6.        talk to others not in the class about the truth and lesson,
7.        seek the Spirit's leadership about the preferred option for application of the truth of the lesson,
8.        commit to responding as God leads,
9.        pray for strength and help in making life adjustments necessary to be obedient,
10.        patiently await the Lord's response about timing of application of the lesson's truth,
11.        live it out--apply the truth of the lesson,
12.        have a daily quiet time (encounter with God) including prayer and Bible study,
13.        invite an unenrolled person to a class fellowship,
14.        invite an unenrolled person to attend Sunday School,
15.        actively show God's care for someone by meeting a need,
16.        gather the class together for further study of the lesson or truth or of other age group need,
17.        meet together to talk about how best to challenge one another to grow as His disciples,
18.        challenge each other to practice a spiritual discipline,
19.        help the class prepare for the launch of a new group at or away from church, and
20.        study the lesson for next week.

What would you add to the list? Can you imagine what might happen in the life of attenders if they began carrying out the actions on this list? Can you imagine the impact on the class, the church, and community? How could the teacher and class move in this direction? Which of twenty actions is most needed by your class? What can you do this week? Reach. Care. Disciple. Target changed lives. Be revolutionary!

For more ideas about Sunday School's impact on disciplemaking, check out these posts:

• Raise the Vision That Sunday School Can ’Make Disciples of All Nations’!
• Sunday School Making Disciples Through Fellowships
• Leading Attenders to Meet God in Bible Study, Part 4
• Can Sunday School Classroom Arrangement Impact Disciplemaking?
• Sunday School Strengthening Learning Retention
• Ideal Sunday School Class Size Issues for Spiritual Progress
• Revolutionary Sunday School: Changing Converts into Disciples
• Sunday School/Small Groups Making Disciples the Way Jesus Did
• Making Disciples Through the Sunday School
• Sunday School Becoming More Intentional about Inviting
• How Can Sunday School Encourage Greater Daily Intake of God’s Word?
• Evidences of Learning in Sunday School
• What Is the Fruit of a Sunday School Class or Small Group?
• Sunday School: Growing One Disciple, Part 1
• Sunday School Teaching Methods for Impacting Discipleship, Part 1
• Taking Discipleship Seriously in Sunday School
• How Far Should Sunday School Go to Make Disciples of All Nations?
• Transitioning from Sunday School Teacher to Disciple Maker

In Part 1, I began sharing responses to the question: What should happen in the life of attenders prior to class session which would magnify the impact of the session? This follows up a post entitled Questions about Making Disciples Through Sunday School in which I asked twenty questions about how Sunday School can help the church carry out the Great Commission to "make disciples of all nations, baptizing them...and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you" (Matthew 28:18-20, NIV).

In Part 1, I covered four of eight areas of preparation and their impact on attenders: rest, daily quiet time, lesson preparation, and obedience. In Part 2, we will examine the other eight areas:

• RELATIONSHIPS. The lesson has even more impact when the relationships with the teacher and other attenders is strong. When trust is present, there is greater willingness to be open and transparent. Hurts and struggles can be shared. Prayer is real and personal. Relationships are strengthened in many ways during and between classes. Some of these include using participatory teaching methods, allowing time for attenders to share their stories, fellowships, projects, discovering affinities, praying together, and more. A growing relationship with God also enriches these relationships.
• INVITATIONS. When attenders invite guests, their desire for a great experience is heightened. They look forward to being there. They are sensitive to the perspective of those invited. Attenders are strengthened just from inviting--even if guests never show up. They are taking steps of obedience toward making disciples of all nations. Invitations are often preceded by caring development of a relationship with unenrolled people. Add all this together with the fact that everything learned in Sunday School has the potential for being helpful with relationships along our paths.
• EXPECTATION. What if we show up in Sunday School expecting something to happen? When attenders come with expectation, attention is higher. They arrive early. They are prepared to engage. They are excited. They look forward to seeing each other, to what's going to happen during the session, to encountering God in His Word. They come prepared, prayed up, and ready. That expectation leads toward the desire to share the experience, to inviting absentees and prospects. How can we raise expectations and anticipation? Good experiences with God and His people in His Word often lead to growing expectations.
• EARLY ARRIVAL. When the teacher arrives early, the room and lesson are ready and he/she can focus attention on members and guests. He/she can also take full advantage of total period teaching by leading attenders to begin thinking about the lesson from the moment they walk into the room. When members arrive early, they don't miss a minute of the lesson or of relationships. By arriving early, there is time to get children into their classes. There is time to greet and get to know guests. Coffee or refreshments, if available, can be enjoyed leisurely.

For more ideas about expectations, check out these posts:

• Raising Sunday School Expectations without Losing Your Hair
• Should a Church Have High Expectations for Sunday School Classes?
• High Expectations Are Necessary for Sunday School’s Mutiny Against Mediocrity
• 31 Days to a Great Expectation Sunday School
• Expectations of Adult Members in Sunday School
• Raise Expectations for Sunday School Leaders
• The Big Four to Be a Sticky Sunday School Class, Part 1
• Attender Preparation for Sunday School, Part 1
• Sunday School Class Growth Is Spelled W-O-R-K, Part 3
• Start Sunday School on Time by Expecting Leaders to Arrive Early
• Shepherding the Sunday School Class When They Smell Like Sheep

In Questions about Making Disciples Through Sunday School, I asked twenty questions about how Sunday School can help the church carry out the Great Commission to "make disciples of all nations, baptizing them...and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you" (Matthew 28:18-20, NIV). This post answers the ninth question: What should happen in the life of attenders prior to class session which would magnify the impact of the session?

Revolutionary Sunday School has high expectations. What could happen if members and guests attending Sunday School were to exceed our expectations and prepare well for the session? What might that preparation include? How might that preparation impact the Bible study session. And more importantly for this series of questions, how might that preparation by attenders impact their growth as disciples?

In Part 1, we will look at four of eight areas of preparation and their impact on attenders:

• REST. How often do members and guests in our classes show up tired? They stayed up late. They went to a movie or watched television late. They were over a friend's house. Caffeine does not completely remove the effects of tiredness. What if attenders began to get a good night's rest for Sunday morning? Their attention and listening skills would improve. Learning retention would increase. They would be more fully present relationally. They would likely be more sensitive to the presence and movement of the Holy Spirit. Interaction with God in His Word might have even greater potential to impact Christian living.
• DAILY QUIET TIME. What if class members were spending time with God daily in prayer and Bible study? What if they were seeking a deepening relationship with God and His leadership in their lives? How might that impact the Bible study encounter? How might that preparation impact the way the lesson impacts their discipleship? Can you imagine how the lesson would have the benefit from all the daily quiet times of members? Can you imagine the testimonies that would be shared that would relate to the lesson? The lesson would become an exciting time none would want to miss. What if members prayed for what God was going to do on Sunday morning?
• LESSON PREPARATION. What if every attender spent time in study and prayer with the lesson's assigned scripture passage and commentary? What if they started early in the week and allowed God to illustrated truth from the lesson in their daily interactions? That would dramatically enrich the Sunday morning experience. Insights and testimonies would be shared. Because of anticipated content, guests might be invited who needed the benefit of the lesson. Like I stated previously, none would want to miss this rich experience. They would be prepared to leave the session and put into practice the application of the day's truth.
• OBEDIENCE. What if they actually sought ways to practice the application of last week's truth? What if next week attenders were asked to report on how they did during the week at living out God's Word? Those testimonies would be powerful and encouraging. They would be magnetic. Those experiences of obedience would challenge others to do the same. What if attenders reading next week's lesson, had opportunities to practice a truth from the upcoming lesson? This could be a powerful illustration--and the teacher didn't even have to prepare it.

For more ideas about raising expectations for participants, check out these blog posts:

• Preparation for an Adult Sunday School Class with Impact
• Sunday School’s Neglect of the First Encounter, Part 9A and Sunday School’s Neglect of the First Encounter, Part 9B
• What Is Your Preferred Routine for Sunday School Lesson Preparation?
• Preparing for a Sunday School Lesson with DEPTH, Part 1 and Preparing for a Sunday School Lesson with DEPTH, Part 2
• Expensive, Exhausting Preparation Produces Beautiful, Rewarding Results for Sunday School
• Quick Suggestions for Panicked Sunday School Teachers
• Prayerful, Purposeful Preparation for Revolutionary Sunday School
• Pray for God to Use Sunday School
• What Can Sunday School Do to Impact Life Change?

This post answers the eighth question from Questions about Making Disciples Through Sunday School: Is there an ideal class arrangement which is more likely to make and grow disciples? If yes, which? The twenty questions in that post focus on how Sunday School can help the church carry out the Great Commission to "make disciples of all nations, baptizing them...and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you" (Matthew 28:18-20, NIV).

Let me get your mind thinking through a scenario and some questions that are germaine to the question of this post. Picture a classroom with rows and a lecturn. Picture the teacher standing up in front of the class. In that setting, answer these questions. What does the arrangement of the room suggest? What is the likely teaching method(s)? Where does knowledge rest? Where is attention placed? What is expected of the attenders of the class? Who is expected to prepare?

Compare that scnario to this one. Picture a classroom with chairs in a circle with no desk or lecturn. As you walk in, you cannot tell which one is the teacher. In that setting answer these questions. What does the arrangement of the room suggest? What is the likely teaching method(s)? Where does knowledge rest? Where is attention placed? What is expected of the attenders of the class? Who is expected to prepare?

Which of these learning environments is more likely to influence the making of disciples? Which of these scenarios is more likely to increase learning retention? Which classroom arrangement is more likely to increase interaction between learners resulting in greater likelihood of attendance and greater trust in sharing? As a result of teaching methods used in that environmnet, are attenders more likely to take steps forward in carrying out the truth of the lesson?

Neal McBride in his book, How to Lead Small Groups, states that a "meeting place either positively or negatively influences members' participation in the group." Many place/space factors come into play, including physical arrangement, flexibility of the space, room size, aesthetics, lighting, temperature, seating, and more. But of all these factors, arrangement of the seating and furnishings can impact the interaction and/or retention of learning. That is because classroom arrangement used purposefully can lend itself to group participation in the teaching-learning experience.

The more open the arrangement, the more it lends itself to asking questions, discussion, and a general expectation that learners have something to share. This is even more encouraged when the group can see faces, expressions, and gestures. Since 93% of communication is nonverbal, there is greater understanding when the arrangement makes seeing each other possible.

Of course, a teacher's choice of methodology and class interaction can supercede any arrangement. A lecturer can lecture to rows or to a circle. But classroom arrangement can facilitate the learning experience increasing interaction and retention with the positive expectation that a course of action as a result of the lesson will be planned resulting in life-change.

Think about your classroom arrangement? What do learners assume when they see the arrangement? How can you best use your space to strengthen making of disciples? How can it be used to increase interaction and learning retention leading to implementing obedience? Where could you make adjustments to improve the arrangement? Use everything you have for Him. Give your best to God. He deserves no less. Be revolutionary!

For more ideas about classroom arrangement, check out these blog posts:

• Revolutionary Adult Sunday School Classroom Space
• Effective Discussion in Your Sunday School Class, Part 3
• Would You Like to Double Your Sunday School Class?
• Assessing What Happens on Sunday Morning in Adult Sunday School
• Evaluate and Plan to Take Your Sunday School to the Next Level
• Benefits of Teaching Sunday School
• Training Teachers for a Great Sunday School Launch
• Revolutionary Sunday School Teachers Engage Learners
• Questions about Making Disciples Through Sunday School

This is Part 2 of a post that answers the seventh question asked in Questions about Making Disciples Through Sunday School:  Are some teaching-learning methods more likely to increase retention, involvement, and discipleship? The twenty questions there focus on how Sunday School can help the church carry out Jesus' command in the Great Commission to "make disciples of all nations, baptizing them...and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you" (Matthew 28:18-20, NIV).

In Part 1, I began by defining the best teaching method as the one that communicates the truth of God's Word in the best possible way to a specific group of people at a particular point in time. Then I asked three questions: What method will best communicate the truth? What method will best communicate the truth to these learners? What truth and method does God want learners to encounter in this lesson (even if it is not the one assigned)?

Then in Part 1, I weighed values of various teaching methods for increasing retention, involvement, and discipleship. I covered lecture, question and answer, discussion, dividing into smaller groups, visual methods, using more of the senses, and using a handout/writing. In Part 2, I will list a bunch of teaching methods which can move learners toward greater involvement and retention.

In a two-part series entitled Balanced Diet of Sunday School/Small Group Teaching Methods, Part 1 and Part 2, I shared a list of seventy-five methods from Dr. La Verne Tolbert's book, Teaching Like Jesus: A Practical Guide to Christian Education in Your Church. The list is too extensive to respond to thoroughly here. But I do want to list a handful of them. Remember, the issue is whether the method increases retention and involvement resulting in progress as disciples. Here is a quick dozen from the list in Dr. Tolbert's book:

• Conduct a demonstration. Should result in higher retention for most learners. To increase involvement, get attenders involved in the demonstration. Could prepare them to practice what was demonstrated.
• Prepare a speech or lecture. Preparation, sharing, and listening to others should result in big retention. Rotate this assignment or get everyone involved. This could be done to prepare them to share their faith--definitely leads them to take steps of spiritual progress.
• Take a trip. Learning happens in advance, during the travel to/from, as well as on site. Retention of some information is great, but will be aided by a debriefing session. This is best done together and is very involving. Have seen life-impacting results.
• Paraphrase a passage. This increases thinking and retention related to the verse and its meaning. This can be done together as a small group raising involvement. The measure of discipleship is whether it leads to living it out.
• Keep a journal. This is a personal method. By writing and reflecting on scripture or life experience or prayer needs, it can lead to a heightened sense of God's presence and movement. By voluntarily sharing excerpts, the group can connect and learn from each other. For some this can help them grow as disciples.
• Take a test. Like a journal, we tend of think of tests as personal. But they can measure what we retained. When announced in advance, they can lead to review and reinforcement of learning. Test can also be taken as a total group or in smaller sections of the group to increase involvement and interaction. Some will naturally study and forget, but review can be helpful.
• Read in unison. This method adds variety and covers the reader who is less confident reading out loud. May be a slight gain of retention over reading alone. There is not as much gain from interaction as some methods, but variety adds interest. Probably no gain in discipleship, but the method is quick and different.
• Write a letter. Again, this can be a personal method but could be made into a small group project. Writing to a biblical character can stretch the imagination and help individuals to think for deeply about the context of a passage before writing. Volunteers sharing letters and small groups working together on one can increase involvement. Some letters can indicate steps of commitment as disciples.
• Take a walk. This can be done many ways. The group can prayerwalk. The group can observe and thank God for the world, pray for people and needs they see, and just reflect on God's blessings. In connection with the right passage and purpose, it can raise memory. Benefits from interaction can be increased with good questions following the experience. Spiritual progress steps can be pursued with this method.
• Brainstorm. Brings out verbal responses and creativity. Adds a level of thinking and interaction. Can teach a skill which can be helpful in dealing with circumstances as a disciple.
• Debate. Instructions, preparation as a team, presentation as a team, and debriefing all add to retention and understanding. Involvement of the group can be high--though each team has to balance involvement versus intimidation about public speaking. Chewing on issues in using debate well can definitely help deepen thinking which should impact discipleship.
• Make a video. With the prevalence of video cameras and even video phones, making a video can be inexpensive and fun. The team will need instructions and time to write a script, practice scenes, and then must shoot the video the first time. This raises retention and involvement and can lead to learners processing learning more deeply.

For more ideas about Sunday School and discipleship and about teach methods, check out these blog posts:

• Wisely Choosing Sunday School Teaching Methods, Part 1 and Wisely Choosing Sunday School Teaching Methods, Part 2
• Sunday School Teaching Methods for Impacting Discipleship, Part 1
• Characteristics of a Good Sunday School Teacher, Part 2
• Pray, Plan, and Prepare to Teach Sunday School for Lives to Change, Part 1
• Presenting a Creative Sunday School Lesson
• Balanced Diet of Sunday School/Small Group Teaching Methods, Part 1 and Balanced Diet of Sunday School/Small Group Teaching Methods, Part 2
• Sunday School’s Neglect of the Second Encounter, Part 10A
• Four Ingredients of an Interesting Sunday School Class, Part 2
• Key Actions for Sunday School Class Growth, Part 4
• Effective Discussion in Your Sunday School Class, Part 2
• Benchmarks for Excellence in Sunday School Teaching, Part 3
• Discipling Through Sunday School Jesus’ Way, Part 1

This post answers the eighth question asked in Questions about Making Disciples Through Sunday School:  Is there an ideal class size which is more likely to make and grow disciples? If yes, how many? The twenty questions in that post focus on how Sunday School can help the church carry out Jesus' command in the Great Commission to "make disciples of all nations, baptizing them...and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you" (Matthew 28:18-20, NIV).

Over the years, I have discussed class size several times. More of those posts have related to the impact of class size on growing numerically. But what about growing disciples? What impact does class size have on helping them take steps toward spiritual progress? Does a small class have more impact than a large one? Or is there some ideal medium size?

Several issues are worthy of discussion. The first of those is whether the class is healthy. A class of any size with internal conflict will make little spiritual progress. This may or may not be related to related to relational sin. For instance, the conflict may be over the order of events of the end times or whether the class should start another class. Or it could be jealousy, mean words, bitterness, or strife.

A second issue is class organization for disciplemaking. If the teacher is assuming all responsibility for the work and leadership of the class (no matter the size), the class will be weaker and less productive. The ideal class will enlist, train, and release all members into service, whether two members or forty. Members will tend to grow more when they are serving and helping carry out the work of the class.

A third issue is the teacher's ability to adjust the teaching plan in order to involve as many people as possible in the lesson. On average, lessons with lecture and question and answer only manage to involve about four to six people in the lesson no matter how large or small the class is. This usually produces less spiritual progress as the class gets larger. However, this issue can be addressed as the class grows through intentionally addressing learning styles and by dividing the group into smaller groups and giving them assignments for at least part of the lesson.

A fourth issue is accountability. As the class grows larger, it becomes more difficult for the teacher to hold every member accountable for making spiritual progress. The teacher does not have enough time to spend with every member. But this can be addressed through enlisting care group leaders, encouragers, or others who will invest in a portion of the class, checking on them when they are absent and encouraging steps forward as disciples.

A fifth issue relates to the leadership ability of the teacher. I have heard Allan Taylor of First Baptist Church talk about one, two, and five talent teachers (Matthew 25:14ff). A one-talent teacher can only seem to manage a small class well. He/she may inherit a medium class and shrink it over time to a small class. A five-talent teacher, knows how to work with a lot of people, teaches, well, and can grow any size class. This likely has to do with the teacher's gifts, experiences, abilities, and personality. Some of it has to do with faithfulness in using that which was entrusted to the teacher.

A sixth issue related to class size and discipling people is whether the teacher and class are working toward the launch of an apprentice and a new class. That very issue gives purpose and direction to the class ministry and to leadership development and multiplication. It shows a concern for issues of the Kingdom rather than comfort and self. This issue drives inviting.

Beyond these issues, I have only anecdotal evidence that about class size as it impacts the discipleship growth of class members. On average, it appears that small to medium sized classes tend to produce more new leaders, care for members, and use a greater variety of teaching methods. As they get larger, leadership tends to break down. Individuals are not missed when absent. Organizing for disciplemaking and care becomes work. Leaders change more frequently requiring constant attention to maintain. Span of care tends to lose integrity.

The ideal class size was likely demonstrated by Jesus with His twelve disciples. But remember, he spent three years of intensive daily training with them which was intended to propel them out into the world as disciplemakers. Because of other responsibilities of family, work, etc. we seldom take the time to invest in our classes that Jesus did.

Evaluate your own class or Sunday School. Which of these issues is in need of attention in order to grow the disciples that God wants to use to "make disciples of all nations?" Where do you need to start? What is the first step? Who can help you? Give God your best effort. Don't allow Christians to drink milk for years. Prepare them to eat meat. Use class size wisely. Be revolutionary!

For other ideas about class size and class growth, check out these blog posts:

• Class Size vs Room Size
• Setting Up an Effective Sunday School Class Timetable
• Nine Actions for Starting New Sunday School Classes, Part 1
• Questions about Making Disciples Through Sunday School
• Sunday School Practices Survey Results by Growth, Part 4
• Sunday School Class Growth Is Spelled W-O-R-K, Part 1, Sunday School Class Growth Is Spelled W-O-R-K, Part 2, Sunday School Class Growth Is Spelled W-O-R-K, Part 3, Sunday School Class Growth Is Spelled W-O-R-K, Part 4, Sunday School Class Growth Is Spelled W-O-R-K, Part 5, and Sunday School Class Growth Is Spelled W-O-R-K, Part 6
• Key Actions for Sunday School Class Growth, Part 2
• Four Tools for Growing Your Sunday School Class, Part 2

This post answers the seventh question asked in Questions about Making Disciples Through Sunday School:  Are some teaching-learning methods more likely to increase retention, involvement, and discipleship? The twenty questions there focus on how Sunday School can help the church carry out Jesus' command in the Great Commission to "make disciples of all nations, baptizing them...and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you" (Matthew 28:18-20, NIV).

If you look through some of the blog posts listed at the bottom of this one, you will find my definition of the best teaching method. It is the one that communicates the truth of God's Word in the best possible way to a specific group of people at a particular point in time. The method chosen should begin with sensitivity to God's leadership in understanding the truth He is communicating in the chosen passage of scripture. The first question is this one: What method will best communicate the truth?

The method chosen also takes into account the learners. What are their preferred learning styles? What are their affinities? What message do they need to hear? How will they hear it most clearly? So, the second question is this one: What method will best communicate the truth to these learners?

The chosen method also takes into account circumstances surrounding those learners. What issues, stresses, and events are learners dealing with lately? How does God's Word speak to the circumstances of the lives of individuals and the group as a whole? So the third question is this one: What truth and method does God want learners to encounter in this lesson (even if it is not the one assigned)?

Aside from choosing the best method, some methods more naturally lend themselves for retention, involvement of learners, and making of disciples. Lecture communicates a lot of content but is very low in what most learners remember after the lesson. It is also low in learner involvement--usually only the teacher is involved in lecture. The method of question and answer is better for retention and involvement. Learners and teachers participate. The best questions require deeper thinking and more than yes/no answers.

Discussion, likewise, increases retention and involvement and often includes question and answer. The best discussions focus on God's Word rather than opinion. Dividing a group into smaller groups increases involvement--often enabling more to participate and to feel comfortable doing so. Some learners will remember more from the small group part of the lesson than from the combined group.

Since 60% of learners today are visual, adding pictures, charts, maps, and video can spark interest and increase retention. Addressing more of the senses can heighten involvement and retention of learners. So adding a handout that requires writing, asking participants to act out a passage or scenario, or leading them to taste elements of the Passover adds retention and involvement.

In Part 2 of this series, I will list a bunch of teaching methods which can move learners toward greater involvement and retention. The bottom line is that the more they are involved, the more they are likely to retain (remember) and the more they are likely to do as a result. Discipleship takes steps forward as learners become more like Jesus through a growing relationship that obeys what He commanded (Matthew 28:20). What steps can you take this week to use teaching methods which increase retention and involvement of learners?

For more ideas about Sunday School and discipleship and about teach methods, check out these blog posts:

• Sunday School Making Disciples Through Fellowships, Sunday School Becoming More Intentional about Inviting, Sunday School Sharing Jesus, Sunday School Preparing Disciples’ Testimonies, How Can Sunday School Encourage Greater Daily Intake of God’s Word?, How Can Sunday School Encourage Greater Intake of God’s Word, Part 2, and Sunday School Strengthening Learning Retention.
• Wisely Choosing Sunday School Teaching Methods, Part 1 and Wisely Choosing Sunday School Teaching Methods, Part 2
• Why Is There No Variety of Teaching Methods in Sunday School?
• Marriage of Application and Story in Sunday School
• Pray, Plan, and Prepare to Teach Sunday School for Lives to Change, Part 1
• Presenting a Creative Sunday School Lesson
• Balanced Diet of Sunday School/Small Group Teaching Methods, Part 1 and Balanced Diet of Sunday School/Small Group Teaching Methods, Part 2
• Sunday School’s Neglect of the Second Encounter, Part 10A
• Four Ingredients of an Interesting Sunday School Class, Part 2
• Your Sunday School Class Needs a Field Trip
• Planning an Adult Sunday School Learning Experience
• Effective Discussion in Your Sunday School Class, Part 2

In some ways, this is Part 6 of a twenty-part series. It all began with a post, Questions about Making Disciples Through Sunday School. There I asked twenty questions about how Sunday School can help the church carry out Jesus' command in the Great Commission to "make disciples of all nations, baptizing them...and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you" (Matthew 28:18-20, NIV).

Since that initial post, I have written six times addressing the first five questions. Those posts include: (1) Sunday School Making Disciples Through Fellowships, (2) Sunday School Becoming More Intentional about Inviting, (3) Sunday School Sharing Jesus, (4) Sunday School Preparing Disciples’ Testimonies, (5a) How Can Sunday School Encourage Greater Daily Intake of God’s Word?, and (5b) How Can Sunday School Encourage Greater Intake of God’s Word, Part 2.

In addition to responding to the first five questions, I have also written a four-part series based on Jesus' discipleship steps in Mark 6: Discipling Through Sunday School Jesus’ Way, Part 1, Discipling Through Sunday School Jesus’ Way, Part 2, Discipling Through Sunday School Jesus’ Way, Part 3, and Discipling Through Sunday School Jesus’ Way, Part 4.

In this post, I want to address the sixth question from Questions about Making Disciples Through Sunday School:

How can Sunday School strengthen retention of what was taught on Sunday?

Jesus clearly communicated that making disciples of all nations would include baptizing them and teaching them to obey what He commanded. That means that reaching, evangelism, teaching, learning, relationships, retention, accountability, caring, and much more are important in order to accomplish the task fully. If a person has never been connected to the class or has become unconnected, it is difficult for Sunday School to influence his/her discipleship. But retention of what was taught is also important. If the individual does not remember the lesson, truth, or expected response, he/she will be unlikely to obey the truth.

What are the ways Sunday School can help attenders increase retention (remember more and hopefully obey more) of what was taught? Consider this starting list of twenty-one ideas:

1. lead them to use what was learned--plan for application of the truth/lesson;
2. capture their interest right at the start--hard to teach minds that have not entered the room;
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at the end of the lesson, review what was learned;
3. at the beginning of the lesson, tell the class where you are headed, what you hope to accomplish;
4. break the group into smaller groups--more will participate in the conversation;
5. use teaching methods which address some of the preferred learning styles of attenders (How to Identify the Learning Styles of Your Youth);
6. teach and reinforce a single major truth in each lesson rather than multiple truths;
7. ask questions about what the Bible says--get them talking and thinking;
8. make assignments--ask them to prepare for reports and answer questions individually or as a class;
9. expect them to read the scripture and/or lesson in advance;
10. expect them to participate (Expect Members to Participate);
11. let them know you will ask for reports of application of this week's truth--then ask them next Sunday how they did;
12. send out an email reminder/review of last week's lesson (also helps with absentees);
13. send out a preview/overview email of the upcoming lesson--get them anticipating the lesson;
14. instead of teaching a lesson, plan an experience (make the lesson/truth memorable);
15. carefully choose one or more great stories/object lessons which illustrate the lesson/truth;
16. use as many of the five senses as possible during the lesson (instead of only talking about the Passover, why not let them touch, taste, and smell the elements);
17. ask one or more attender(s) to prepare and share part of the teaching;
18. find a movie clip that relates to the lesson/truth;
19. use the Bible and lead learners to use theirs--lead them to encounter God in His Word; and
20. plan time for learners to think about and apply the truth of the lesson to their lives and plan an obedient response.

With intentional planning and practice most of your lessons can employ much of this list. Just imagine the possibilities for the spiritual development of your attenders through increasing retention of what they learned in these ways. Take steps to increase retention in your class. Add one of these ideas to your teaching plan this week. Add another next week. Prepare well. Plan for involvement and retention. Remember your goal of making disciples. Be revolutionary!

For more ideas about retention, check out these blog posts:

• Improve Learning Retention in Sunday School
• Addressing Active Sunday School Learners Through Projects
• Your Sunday School Class Needs a Field Trip
• Could R.O.P.E.S. Improve Sunday School?
• Questions about Making Disciples Through Sunday School
• Crafting a Sunday School Lesson to Lead to Learning AND Action
• Why Is There No Variety of Teaching Methods in Sunday School?
• Sunday School: Leading People to Have and Obey Jesus’ Commands
• Generating Excitement about Learning in Sunday School, Part 2

In a previous post, Questions about Making Disciples Through Sunday School, I talked about questions I had about how Sunday School could carry out our marching orders from Jesus in Matthew 28:19-20 (NIV):  ""Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them...and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you." This led to asking twenty question about how Sunday School can help the church in making disciples, baptizing them and teaching them to obey.

In that post, the fourth question I asked was this one:

How can Sunday School use fellowships to deepen relationships with each other while at the same time using them to get to know guests?

In case you've not read previous posts, Jesus commanded us to "make disciples of all nations." Then he defined how: "baptizing them...and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you." In order for Sunday School to make disciples, it requires reaching, teaching, and caring--all three, no less.

But what do fellowships have to do with making disciples? Lots! Consider these thoughts:

RELATIONSHIPS. As a group gets to know and trust one another, teaching-learning is able to be more personal. Accountability can increase. The group leader is able to prepare the lesson and apply the lesson truth to real life situations. Fellowship activities, whether socials or projects, tend to build relationships in ways that class time alone is unable to do so. People discover affinities they share with others in the class. They laugh and work together. They bond. This deepens the teaching-learning experience and enables spiritual steps to be taken.

ASSIMILATION. Fellowships are natural opportunities for classes to reconnect with absentees and dropouts. Group leaders intentionally invite everyone on the class list every time a fellowship is planned. Those who have missed can re-engage in relationships away from class and sometimes ease back into attendance through these fun times away from class.

REACHING. At the same time that fellowships are helpful for reconnecting absentees, they are also helpful in introducing the people in the class to new people. When guests are invited, they can have fun together with a new group away from church. They can discover some affinities with people in the class. They can laugh and enjoy the fellowship experience with regular attenders. This enables guests to be more open to an invitation to attend a class session on Sunday morning. Josh Hunt, author of You Can Double Your Class in Two Years or Less, encourages inviting "every member and every prospect to every fellowship every month." Parties and projects work at reaching which allow us the opportunity to show we care and to share about Jesus.

Fellowships really do make a difference in Sunday School's ability to make disciples of all nations. Develop relationships. Maintain connections with members. Reach out to new people. Care. Share. Disciple. Be revolutionary!

For more ideas about fellowship, check out these posts:

• Planning Sunday School Fellowship Activities
• Key Actions for Sunday School Class Growth, Part 4
• Revolutionary Classes Adopt Other Classes
• Care Groups: Prayer, Ministry, Assimilation, and Invitation
• Reach and Assimilate People into the Kingdom Through Sunday School Fellowships
• Increasing Sunday School Class Attendance, Part 1
• Sunday School/Small Groups: Where Everybody Knows Your Name, Part 1
• Ten Values of Monthly Sunday School Fellowships
• Ideal Behaviors of an Adult Sunday School Member, Part 1
• Sunday School Class Lunch

In Questions about Making Disciples Through Sunday School, I responded to our marching orders from Jesus in Matthew 28:19-20 (NIV):  ""Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them...and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you." My response was to offer twenty question about how Sunday School can help the church in making disciples, baptizing them and teaching them to obey.

The third questions was this one: What can Sunday School do to help attenders be better prepared to share personal testimonies to trust Jesus during individual encounters? That question relates to yesterday's post, Sunday School Sharing Jesus, but it personalizes it. Yesterday's post was what the class could do. Today's post is what the class can do to prepare the individual disciple.

in Sunday School Testimony: Powerful Revolutionary Tool, I shared several questions that adult and youth Sunday School should help attenders prepare to answer:

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?

These questions can be natural entryways to a conversation about Jesus. All of them begin with sensitivity to the lost or unchurched person. They proceed out of care for the individual and a desire to share how the Sunday School class, studying God's Word together, and Jesus have made a difference.

Beyond these Sunday School testimony questions, it is good to help believers to know how to share their salvation testimony as well. There are many methods for doing this effectively. And there are many resources for helping individuals be able to share naturally and comfortably, like Share Jesus Without Fear, Just Walk Across the Room, and FAITH Sunday School Evangelism Strategy. For many, simply having a method for being able to respond will give confidence. A salvation testimony will often include these three stages and conclude by sharing a simple scripturally-based response:

• My life before Christ
• How I accepted Christ
• My life since accepting Christ
• How you can respond to Christ: Romans 3:23, Romans 6:23, Romans 5:8, and John 3:16

IN CLASS. Give out the questions above at the end of a lesson. Ask them to take them home , pray over them and respond by writing out a two-minutes testimony in response to one question. Ask them to be prepared to share it with one other class members--so they should read it out loud several times before class. Then next Sunday, take ten minutes to ask attenders to pair off to practice sharing their responses. Give each pair two minutes to share. Many will not finish in time, but they need to understand how quickly two minutes passes. Then pairs if there was one especially good testimony. When one is suggested, ask the person if he/she would be willing to share with the class. Have the class clap for the person sharing and affirm him/her. Tell them that two minutes may be the most time we have to share in many cases. So we need to practice our testimonies until they are natural and short. Another option would be to set aside a few weeks of class time to study some of the materials listed above (or others) to train attenders in sharing their testimony.

BETWEEN CLASSES. What was suggested above could take place during a class fellowship or activity. The group could even gather weekly to study one of the training resources between class sessions. This could be paired up with opportunities to go out on class visitation in pairs or teams. Another option would be to give adults the names of teens or older children to pray for one week, to write post cards the second week, to make phone calls the third week, and then to go to share a testimony on the fourth week. This works best when paired with training. Challenge attenders to share. Lead them to pray, and send them out. Call for reports. Affirm all efforts. Remember, it is God who sends the increase. Not every person we share with will be ready.

In addition to these ideas, what would you add? How would you adjust what was shared above? What resources have you used successfully? How has your class responded? Without prayerful preparation, the class as a whole won't be ready when opportunities arise to share a testimony. Remember, "making disciples of all nations" involves "baptizing them." Pray. Lead them to practice. Lead them to share. Watch God work! Be revolutionary!

For more ideas about sharing testimonies, check out these blog posts:

• Promotional Tools for Sunday School: Don’t Keep It to Yourself!
• Sunday School at Work During the Other 167 Hours, Part 1
• Invitation to Sunday School
• Explosive Sunday School Growth
• When Pastors Attend Sunday School/Small Groups, It Is Contagious!
• What Can Sunday School Do to Impact Life Change?
• Push and Pull People to Sunday School/Small Groups
• Pulpit Sunday School Promotion
• Simple Steps for a Successful Sunday School High Attendance Day
• Sunday School Contacts Result in Increased Attendance
• Five Actions to Make Sunday School More Valuable, Part 1
• Ideal Behaviors of an Adult Sunday School Member, Part 1