RECHARGE Recap Week 1 – The Four Arms of Sunday School

I Corinthians 12:27 – “Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part in it.”

Romans 12:4 – “For just as each of us has one body with many member, and these members do not all have the same function so in Christ, we thought many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others”

We are all part of the body of Christ. The “Arms” could be noted as the Sunday School ministries within the church. There are four ways the arms of the church could be noted and ordered. They are:

1. The REACHING Arm – Making contact with a person and having them hear the Gospel.

It is “Pre-Evangelism” while Evangelism is “giving out the Gospel” Reaching could be noted as “Pre-Evangelism” or what WE DO to get people to hear the gospel. Can also be known as “to gather”

Gatherers:

1. Fathers/ Grandfathers
2. Mothers/ Grandmothers
3. Pastors
4. Teachers
5. Neighbors

WE ARE ALL GATHERERS!

VERSE to NOTE – Easily based on The Great Commission –

Matthew 28: 19-20 –

¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

2. The TEACHING Arm – Teaching is noted as guiding the activities that meet human needs

The first step in teaching is expressed in the bible verse, “That they may hear”. The ultimate goal of teaching is “that they may learn”.

Paul encourages Christians to be teachers in the book of Romans when he is breaking through with teaching the Gentiles and he plainly declares there is no difference between Jew and Gentile that EVERYONE who calls on the Lord will be saved. He gets us to think about teaching in this verse:

Romans 10:14

“How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of who they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?”

BIBLE VERSE: Deuteronomy 6:1-2, 7

“These are the commands, decrees and laws the Lord your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, so that you, your children and their children after them may feat the Lord your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life.”

“Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.”

God is making it clear in this passage that we should not only never stop learning or teach each other about his commands but that if we do so, we should always do so (never stopping i.e. sit at home, walking, lie down, get up) and we may also have long life this side of eternity and the other side of eternity in His kingdom.

3. The WINNING Arm – The arm of the church that can win people to Christ

Winning could be noted as communicating the Gospel in an understandable manner and motivating a person to respond. Encouraging others to “Fear the Lord” meaning come to salvation, be saved, the prayer of salvation, knowing your eternal address.

BIBLE VERSE: John 3:16

“But God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever shall believe in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

4. The MATURING Arm – Bring a person to completion or making them (or in this instance the church) well-rounded

Maturity as we age –

Job 12:12 “Is not wisdom found among the aged? Does not long life bring understanding?”

Proverbs 16:31 “Gray hair is a crown of splendor; it is attained in the way of righteousness”

Sunday School – even Adult SS – should help bring the attendees and other young members to maturity in Christ. This will allow the members to “carefully observe the upholding of God’s law” and then turn around and raise the next generation in these believes. We will also reap the benefits in our eternal lives by living in a way that pleases God.

BIBLE VERSE: Matthew 5:19

“Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”

 

*This teaching was based on a study of Sunday School provided by Liberty University*

Next Week:  Breaking through Arrested Spiritual Development – How to UNSTICK and CHARGE UP even more