Taking Your Sunday School to the Next Level
INTRODUCTON:
How do I take my Sunday school to the next level?
• This question has been asked by men better than me and it has been answered by better men than me.
• Yet, in the next few minutes, I will attempt to share with you a game plan to help you focus on principles that will do
just that.
John Maxwell said, “Show me a man who is completely satisfied, and I will show you a man who has stopped
growing. Dissatisfaction is a tool in God’s hand to motivate us toward bigger and better things. Unfortunately,
many of our churches across America are being run by men who’ve lost all drive to progress and are completely
satisfied with mediocrity.”
The Bible says that without a vision the people will perish –I say that without a vision the people will go to another
parish!
• Vision supplies direction and motivation, which in return provides results.
• You must never be satisfied with the current level of performance, but instead strive for higher levels of achievement.
Key statement here, “Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered, you will never
grow!”
• Too many times, we come to a bend in the road and think this is it —no where to go from here.
• But, a bend in the road is not the end of the road —unless you refuse to make the turn.
Here is a bold, strong and innovative statement:
You must never change the MESSAGE, but you must be willing to tweak the METHOD!
Abraham is our Biblical Model (Genesis 12 – 14)
Prayer
Before you can build anything, you must make sure the foundation is solid, secure, and sturdy. Before you can take
your Sunday school to the next level (build beyond where you are now), you must make sure the foundation is
functioning properly.
Genesis 12: 1-3
1 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house,
unto a land that I will shew thee:
2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be
blessed.
We know that before we can hear from God, we must first have an active prayer life —not an option, it is a necessity.
Abraham was able to hear God call him to the next level, because he communicated with the Lord.
• Prayer must start at the head, but it can not stop there. Every person on your staff must be encouraged to pray daily
for the growth of your Sunday School.
• A weekly Sunday morning prayer for all involved in Sunday School will prepare them for their class, and bind them
together. A three-fold cord is hard to break…
• Pairing your Sunday school staff together as prayer partners will strengthen the cord —and make them closer/
You can do more than pray after you have prayed, but you can not do more than pray until you have prayed!
John Bunyon
How important is prayer! God seldom calls us to any
task we can perform acceptably without His help…
• Without God, we can not; without us He will not!
• The most difficult way is usually the will of God!
For your church to grow to the next level, you church, staff and Sunday school team must become Prayer Conditioned.
Vision
The borders of God’s promises are limited only by our own vision!
• Moses, Joshua, Caleb, and Joseph are prime examples of men allowing God to expand their opportunity for revival.
• God placed within them a vision that drove them to step-out by faith into a world of unknowns.
• Before they received a blessing, they first received a vision of the blessing.
They were willing to walk through the wilderness, walk around the walls, walk through the prison, and walk the
dimension of their promise—Faith without works is dead!
• With a vision, you march around walled cities and they fall
• Without a vision, you wander around the wilderness until you fall
Vision always comes before VICTORY!
• You must see the vision, before you see it happen.
• You must have a detailed vision of where you want your Sunday school to go.
• Set goals of attendance; children, teenagers, and adults receiving the Holy Ghost and being baptized; new classes
pertaining to particular needs that you want to start; etc.
The vision will prompt you to began making preparations for reaching the next level.
Risk
Vision is not enough—it must be combined with venture.
• Venture is a risk or dangerous action.
• Folks, it is not enough to stare up the steps; we must step up the stairs!
• God told Abraham that I will make of thee a great nation, I will bless thee and make thy name great.
• The vision was wonderful, but it came with great risk!
• God also told him to leave his country, kindred and father and go to a land that I will show you —notice he did not
show him before hand…
John Gardner said, “The reason mature people quit growing is that they are unwilling to risk failure.”
Ralph Winter said, “Do not weigh a risk by its probability of success, but by the urgency and value of its possible
achievement.”
Not only is taking a risk a venture, but it is an opportunity.
• The Chinese word for “crisis” is a combination of the characters meaning DANGER and OPPORTUNITY!
President Dwight Eisenhower said, “There are no victories at bargain prices.”
To take your church/Sunday school to the next level, you must be willing to take some risks.
• Most people are more comfortable with old problems, than new solutions
• The most common cause for failure in the church is the inability or unwillingness to change with the demands of
reaching the next level. The church who keeps on doing what it has always done, will not make the changes
necessary to go to the next level. Venture is not an option; you must be willing to take a RISK!
A ship in the harbor is safe, but that’s not what ships are made for!
There are more scriptures for you to go, than there are for the people to come.
• The Bible says to “compel” them to come in that His house might be full.
We cannot rest in the nest! Listen to this poem:
Come to the edge.
No, we will fall.
Come to the edge.
No, we will fall.
They came to the edge.
He pushed them and they flew.
They would never have known they could fly if they had not gotten close to the edge (not doctrinally, scripturally,
holiness, salvation, etc).
Proclamation
Making your plan public will RAISE you to the next level. Having a vision is one thing, but to make it effective, you
must proclaim it to those around you!
R_________________________(resolve – determination and a made up mind)
A_________________________(action – don’t just talk about it –do it)
I__________________________(ideas –brainstorming sessions)
S__________________________(support –those who are doing it need to hear from you)
E__________________________(energy –keep everyone excited and pumped up)
Before the church will believe in your vision, they must believe that you believe in your vision. (They don’t care how
much you know, until they know how much care)
• Show them how much you believe in Sunday school; show them you want to take them to the next level; it’s success
or failure lies upon your shoulders.
Implementation
Genesis 13: 17
17 Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee.
Charles Kettering said, “You will never stub your toe standing still. The faster you go, the more chance there is of
stubbing your toe, but the more chance you have of getting somewhere.”
Every new level of growth requires a new level of sacrifice. There is no success without sacrifice.
• If we succeed without sacrifice, it is because someone who went before us paid the price.
• If we sacrifice and don’t see success, then someone who follows will reap success from your sacrifice.
• Unless a church undertakes more than it can do, it will never do all it can do…
Take advantage of every opportunity to “compel” visitors to attend your church.
• Easter, July 4th, Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc.
• Promotions Sunday, special attendance drives
• Bus ministry, door knocking, Bible studies, nursing home, daycare,