In This Edition:
A Vision for the Great Commission
Podcast Episode 2: “Intentional”
What’s New on the Avenue? (Online classes for February…for you!)
Top Picks: This Week’s Recommended Resources
A Vision For The Great Commission
“God authorized and commanded me to commission you: Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I’ll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age.”
-- Jesus Christ (Matthew 28:18-20 MSG)
Why Is Adult Education Needed?
“Without slighting the importance of children and young people, I've always felt that the heartbeat of the church is adults. Jesus loved children, but he did not call children as his disciples. He called adults. We have no example in the Gospels of Jesus teaching children. But we have many, many stories of Jesus teaching adults.
“Furthermore, it is adults who shape the world, for good or ill, and it is adult Christians who are called to be salt and light in a dying world. It is adults who vote. It is adults who work and who control the governments, schools, corporations, unions, social groups, charities, and other institutions of our society. It is adults who are called to actively disciple their own families. It is adults who decide the church's priorities and budgets. To teach adults is to be on the firing line of Christian ministry and social change.
“Consequently, when we address adults, we can address some significant issues. For example, I find that many Christian men as they reach mid-life are troubled by issues of boredom in marriage, disillusionment with the church, and suffering that seems to have no purpose. But often they ponder these questions alone, in silence, with no one to empathize or even listen to them. In adult education, we have the important privilege of helping people understand their fears and work through tough issues with a mature biblical perspective. We can touch the throbbing pulse of human pain, anxiety, hope, and joy.
“Many people in churches today have never brought their adult minds to bear on an understanding of the Bible. They tend to assume that Scripture has nothing specific or helpful to say to them about the real world in which they live. For them, the Bible seems like a relic from childhood rather than a living statement of hard-edged truths that demand to be studied and interacted with on a daily basis.
“But the Bible was written primarily for adults, to answer adult questions, to deal with adult problems. Finally, then, adult education is vital to the church because it is our opportunity to open the Word of God, the textbook of the church, for people to whom it is ultimately addressed.”
Roberta Hestenes, “The Unique Task of Teaching Adults,” Christianity Today Online. https://www.christianitytoday.com/biblestudies/articles/churchhomeleadership/060118.html?start=1
Common Sayings Guaranteed to Destroy a Vision for Adult Education
We don’t have the space.
We don’t have the money.
We can’t staff the classes we have now.
We can’t do what other churches do.
We’ve tried that before.
We’ve never tried that before.
I’m not changing what I do or how I do it.
I’m comfortable with the way things are right now.
Adapted from Ken Hemphill, Revitalizing the Sunday Morning Dinosaur: A Sunday School Growth Strategy for the 21st Century (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman, 1996), p. 35. https://www.amazon.com/Revitalizing-Sunday-Morning-Dinosaur-Strategy/dp/0805461744
A Three Pronged Vision for Adult Education
Purpose Vision #1: Evangelism
“Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life…”
“It is my conviction that the beginning of the so-called demise of Sunday School can be traced to a time when denominations and local churches failed to use the Sunday School with evangelistic intentionality and purpose. When the design was forgotten, the Sunday School became a maintenance tool rather than a growth tool.
“While holding growth conferences in diverse settings, I have asked participants, ‘What is the role of the Sunday School?’ I usually get two answers: ‘Fellowship’ and ‘Bible teaching.’ These are important, but fellowship and Bible teaching are not to be the stated purpose of the Sunday School if it is to function as a growth tool. The purpose of the Sunday School is to fulfill the Great Commission.”
Ken Hemphill, Revitalizing the Sunday Morning Dinosaur: A Sunday School Growth Strategy for the 21st Century (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman, 1996), p. 40. Buy the book here.
Purpose Vision #2: Inclusion
“…marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit…
Jesus tells us to move beyond telling people the good news of God’s way of life; we are called to bring them into the shared life of faith we know as the church. How can we reimagine our Bible classes as opportunities to join the journey and take steps together as one body of Christ?
Purpose Vision #3: Discipleship
“…Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you…”
"The word disciple occurs 269 times in the New Testament…Christian is found three times and was first introduced to refer precisely to disciples of Jesus. . . . The New Testament is a book about disciples, by disciples, and for disciples of Jesus Christ. But the point is not merely verbal. What is more important is that the kind of life we see in the earliest church is that of a special type of person. All of the assurances and benefits offered to humankind in the gospel evidently presuppose such a life and do not make realistic sense apart from it.”
Dallas Willard, The Great Omission: Rediscovering Jesus’ Essential Teachings on Discipleship (SanFrancisco: HarperOne, 2014). Buy the book here.
Podcast Episode 2: “Intentional”
In the second podcast episode, we take a deep dive into the topics discussed in this Substack summary. The episode is entitled “Intentional: Developing a Vision for the Great Commission.” You can listen to the podcast on any major platform (now called “Life on the West Side”).
What’s New on the Avenue?
Fires, Floods, Famines & Faith: Hopeful Reflections on Trusting God & Being Church in a Pandemic (13 weeks)
“How can the church be the church when it is not gathered?” “What is the church called to be in the midst of a crisis?” “Does the Christian tradition provide any precedent for what we are facing?” These are the questions I posed to several of my fellow theology profs when the virus hit last spring. Unable to travel or be together, I interviewed these remarkable Christian teachers as they shared fascinating perspectives from the witness of Scripture, stories from Christian history, and their own spiritual reflection. Whether you are looking for personal enrichment, a family devotional, or a small group discussion, this online video series called “Light in the Darkness” is meant to inspire, challenge, and encourage us to widen and deepen our understanding of what it means to be the light of the world in a dark and challenging time. I have chosen 13 of these videos and brought them together (in transcript form, with discussion questions attached) for a Wednesday night zoom class, beginning this Wednesday, February 3. Join us!
Format: Zoom class
Zoom discussion group: I will host a zoom discussion group on Wednesday evenings at 6 PM CST (beginning Feb 3). Other groups may be available during the week. If you wish to sign up, go to avenueforfaith.org/join. If you would like the notes to host your own discussion, email me at nathan [at] avenueforfaith [dot] org.
Scripture Writing / Bible Journaling: A Women’s Prayer Study (4 weeks)
In keeping with Sherrod Avenue’s 21 days of prayer, Janie Walton is setting aside time on Saturday mornings to assist any women interested in sharing prayer time through Scripture writing and Bible journaling. Sign up now!
Format: Zoom/GroupMe messaging.
Zoom: Occurring each Saturday in February. If you wish to join the group, sign up at avenueforfaith.org/join.
Avenue For Faith: Creating A Dynamic Adult Education Ministry (13 weeks)
If you are a member at Sherrod looking for the right ministry for you to use your talents to the glory of God, adult education ministry may be right for you. Perhaps you are a Sunday school teacher, a small group leader, or a church staff member wanting to get the very best out of your own adult education ministry. Knowing where to start, what to look for, even finding resources can be hard. Have you ever wanted some tips and tricks and words of wisdom and encouragement along the way as you built up your own ministry at your church? So have I.
This is a 13-week LEAD class intended to help anyone and everyone interested in teaching, service, connection, evangelism, discipleship, and ministry—especially in an adult context. Using the Avenue for Faith podcast as our platform, we will hear from experts in churches throughout the world putting theory into practice, and offer a window into one church trying to let our Bible classes and adult learning communities serve as an avenue for faith formation, evangelism, and discipleship.
Format: Weekly e-mail discussion thread / Go-At-Your-Own-Pace approach
Each Sunday night or Monday morning, I will begin a thread linking to a podcast, along with a transcript or a chapter of teaching. We will share our collective thoughts as we grow together all week long. This begins Monday morning (February 1). If you wish to sign up, go to avenueforfaith.org/join. If you would like the notes to host your own discussion, email me at nathan [at] avenueforfaith [dot] org.
Top Picks: This Week’s Recommended Resources
Video: The Bible Project
Get the big picture! Imagine simple yet rich sketch drawings presented in story form to chart the flow of God’s narrative for each book of the Bible, as well as major themes of Scripture. They even discuss how to read and interpret Scripture in context. This is the Bible Project, the brain child of Tim Mackie and Jon Collins. Check out their website or visit their youtube page.
Audio/Podcast: The Bible Project Podcast
The Bible Project also comes as a podcast! Each lesson is about 1 hour.
Article: Roberta Hestenes, “The Unique Task of Teaching Adults”
Roberta Hestenes spent her entire career in Christian education, serving Eastern Seminary, Fuller Theological Seminary, and Bayside Church. In this interesting article for Christianity Today, she describes the wants and needs of adults who we desire to join our churches, classes, and small groups. How can they be reached? What do they notice? How are they different than younger aged learners? An interesting read.
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My name is Nathan Guy, and I serve as the preaching minister for the West Side Church of Christ in Searcy, Arkansas. I am happily married to Katie and am the proud father of little Grace. You can find more resources on my website over at nathanguy.com. Follow me: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.