God Speaks, Or Not

 Some days the Bible comes alive. Some days it's just words. Some services are exciting and uplifting. Some services are just an hour of time that passes with no impact. And that is alright with me. I do not need every day to be a holiday full of excitement. I don't need every service to be the Friday night of Prescott conference. I enjoy the times when I get something useful or interesting. And I ignore the blah days and times when nothing is happening.

You will know when you have grown up and matured as a believer when you can have a mediocre time and not be discouraged by it. When you can hear a sermon and know that you are not the only one in the building that needs help. Character is formed when you do the right thing because it is right, not because it feels good.

I enjoy the times when God speaks to me and I hear the still, small voice. I do not lose heart when I hear nothing at all. Neither should you. 

Final Word On Teaching

 Teaching adult Sunday school is a unique experience. It is not preaching. It is teaching. But it is a special kind of teaching that is usually only found in churches. The rules that apply to teaching adult Sunday School are not the same rules for giving a TED talk or giving a business lecture. We are not talking about a product, we are dealing with God's word.

One big problem I have noticed in big churches is how most people are reluctant to read or to participate. Most people are afraid of microphones. Most people are afraid of public speaking. So only a small group usually participates in the lesson. Add to that the pastor is up on stage behind the pulpit and it becomes just another sermon. Smaller churches do not have these problems. Small group studies do not have microphones.

Some lessons from secular teaching are: the idea that people in the pews need to believe that studying God's word is important to them, and that it will help them in their day to day lives. A well taught class generates a sense of curiosity about what is next. And a few will even dare to share their experiences.

It's not just dispensing Bible information that makes adult Sunday School work. It is finding out what your pastor knows and what he thinks.

One more thought. Preaching and teaching are performance art. You set yourself on fire and people will come to watch you burn. So said John Wesley.  And, don't worry if you do not cover all of your material. We don't care if you leave some notes untaught. If you don't tell us, we won't know if you finished or not.

Teaching 1.0

 I just spent 30 minutes looking up how to be a better teacher of adults. I found some very useful information. For example, I discovered a new word. Andragogy, which is the word for teaching adults. I also learned something about preaching and teaching. It is part performance.  One other thing that I learned is that adults learn differently than children, and that they need to be taught differently.

One thing that really jumped out at me is the idea of need to know learners. These are students who must have a reason to learn or to study. They need to know why learn in general. They need to know why is this necessary for me to know. They need to know if this subject is important to me today.

Newly planted seeds take a different method and regimen of care than a mature trees. A tree needs things that a seed does not yet understand or need. We have children's Sunday School for seeds. Adult Bible study is for more mature saints who have experienced some things in life.

One thing a teacher needs to do is to create some level of curiosity in his students. They need to not only make it true, but make it interesting as well.

So in thirty minutes of study online, I learned more about teaching adult Bible study than some pastors who have been teaching and preaching for years know now.

You can be a better preacher. You can be a better teacher. Put some work in on it.

Thoughts On Teaching

Most Fellowship pastors think that teaching adult Sunday School is just another sermon except you get others to read your scripture references for you. This is not teaching, this is still just preaching. For example, why not get off the stage and stand down on floor level with a podium. Ask questions and take answers. Teach doctrine since the bible is full of doctrine and lists. If you teach and no one learns anything upon review, go back to school and learn how to teach effectively.

Pastors must teach. If you do not know how or if your teaching isn't working  get help. Watch You Tube to learn how to teach. Teaching is valuable to get sinners saved by grace into Heaven. It is profitable.

"And He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers." Eph. 4:11

We have pastors in our Fellowship. Our evangelists we call missionaries (I guess). We have no apostles or prophets at all. In discipleship we have gone from creating pastors out of converts to making sure the couple follows our pattern of outreach and evangelism. A good Bible teacher would teach on these ministry gifts and explain them to us. And they would know why we have pastors but no apostles. They would know why pastors teach as well as preach.

Take the word office off of the door, and replace it with Study. Study to show yourself approved. 

Two Masters Is Impossible

 "No man can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and Chat GPT." Mat. 6:24 (not exact.)

AI is a tool. Nothing more. It is not divine. It has no God-like properties. It cannot save you from your sins. It cannot heal your body. It cannot meet your financial needs. It cannot restore a failing marriage. It is just a tool to use.

You make a great error when you give technology more credit than it deserves. When you give AI attributes which it does not have. When you trust Claude more than you trust God.

I used Gemini to find my text today. I did not ask it what it means or how to apply it. I rely on the Holy Spirit to do what I cannot do. 

I am not anti technology. I am anti other gods that demand allegiance and loyalty.

If you love Claude more than you love God you are in deep trouble. It's time to repent. Ask Chat GPT what it means to repent.

What Must I Do?

The common question of a lot of people is what must I do to be saved. What steps must I take, what list must I follow, what work must I do, what rules must I obey, to earn God's salvation? There is one answer to all of man's questions and the answer is, nothing. There is nothing that you must do. There is nothing that you can do. Christ did it all. God did it all.

"this is the work of God, that you believe on him who He has sent." John 6:29

The main thing that we must do is to simply believe. Until you have believed there is nothing you can do. Once you have believed there is a lot that you can do to live the Christian life. Until you have been born again you cannot even see the kingdom of God. Once you have been born again you not only can see it, you can experience it and live in it.

The other thing that we can do is to ask Jesus to save us. You have to ask Christ to save you. You have to open your mouth and ask.

"For whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved." Romans 10:13

So you believe in your heart, and confess with your mouth. A child can do this. Why can't you? 

Do Not Be Afraid

"Thus saith the Lord unto you,  be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God's. ...You shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord with you." 2Chronicles 20:15,17

There are times in life when you have to fight. There are times in life when you have to be strong and courageous. I understand this. But then, there are times when God fights for us. There are times when the obstacle is too large or the enemy is too strong, or we do not know what to do. It is times when we are spent and our resources are used up And our spiritual weapons seem weak that God has not yet begun to show us what He can do.

In all of life and in your ministry to God's people you need to know that the battle is not against people or circumstance only. And that always, the battel is not ours, but Gods. It is in times like this when we need to stand still and shut up. We need to rest and we need to wait and we need to not worry. God is still God and you and I are not God.

Do not be afraid or dismayed. You do not need to fight. And watch what God will do when we let Him be God. Christ has promised to go with us to the end. He is faithful who promised. The salvation of the Lord is with you today.