Our Sunday School is from 10:45 to noon. But realistically when does the class end?
One of my previous blog post talks about the
Parable of the sower where there are 3 steps in learning God's Word. I
have been using this as a guideline in teaching God's Word:
- Understand (Matt 13:23)
- Accept (Mark 4:20)
- Hold fast (Luke 8:15)
I
believe we can only use the class time to help student understand God's
Word. The lesson, however, do not just end there.
For Students
As a student after the physical class ended, we need to ponder on the lesson and see if the Bible verse taught during class time will talk to us and if there is any specific things we can do in the coming week. Students has the disadvantage of not spending as much time as the teacher on the Bible verse and thus need to continue to read and meditate so that God's Word with the help of the Holy Spirit can sink in.
For Teachers
As a teacher after the physical class ended, the lesson is still
not done yet. There are at least 2 things that the teacher needs to do.
Teachers need to interact (which is sometimes difficult) with the students to see if they have question when the students have time to meditate and to think about what was being taught during class time. Most of the time after one week, students are not able to tell you what was being taught the previous Sunday. While this may be a facts of life, it is the responsibility of the teacher to promote and to encourage the students to continue to digest what was being taught.
Another job after class time, the teacher needs to pray for the
students so that they are willing to accept (not just agree mentally
saying "Ah this is good" but to put the lesson into practice).
Eventually to hold fast that idea until the end.
I
think teaching ministry will be more effective if we can all
look beyond the physical class time and continue to pray for the
students to be blessed by God's Word that we taught during class time.
James 3:1: "Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment".
When we teach, we uncovered the truth and we teach the lesson. After
the lesson we are bound to up hold that standard in our lives. Students
are looking at us like kids looking at parents to see if we do what we
preach.
So the class never ends.
