Sticky Lessons, Part 5

A constant theme of my teaching revolves around a few central ideas:

• It is always in our best interest to live the Christian life.

• It is good for us to follow God.

• God is good. His ways are good. Following God is good. It is good for me. Always.

• We must come to love the Christian life or we will never come to live the Christian life.

I wanted to emphasize this point in an introduction recently and said something like this:

"I picked up this book yesterday. . ."

Note: people are interested in what is current. They want to know what you learned recently. In your relationship with God, they want to know if God has said anything to you lately. They want to know what you are reading this week. They want to drink from a moving stream.

"It is written by pollster Frank Luntz and has commendations by both President Barack Obama and Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the House. It seems this is the man both parties go to when they want to know what America is thinking and feeling"

I wanted to establish Frank Luntz as a credible pollster that the top politicians on both sides of the isle turn to.

"In the section on religion, he said something that a lot of you already know: "In general, people who believe in God are happier, healthier, and more content compared to nonbelievers and nonpractitioners. They are more likely to be happily married and more likely to spend time with their children. They are more likely to do volunteer work and less likely to engage in anti-social activities. They are better adjusted and closer to family and friends. Every type of positive pathology that we believe is good for the human condition has a direct correlation with religions activity."

I read another paragraph or two. I didn't have to. I could have just said Jesus told us he promised an abundant Christian life so it must be true. What Heath and Heath (Make to Stick) taught me is that sometimes, it helps to establish credibility. Sometimes, if you want a lesson to stick, quoting the facts is far better that just saying, "my experience tells me." Quoting an authority is better than saying, "I have always thought. . ."

I have a new book coming out June 2010 called Make My Group Grow. It is basically a summary of the things I have learned and taught over the last ten years of training group leaders. But, it is built around research. I did an initial survey of 1000+ group leaders, asking them a number of questions about what they do and believe. The answers to these questions form the basis of the book. In truth, there were only a few real surprises coming out of the research. But, it is more powerful to say, "Groups that have lots of parties are twice as likely to grow compared to groups that don't party much."

I have always believed this. Now I have the facts. Facts are credible. Facts are our friends.

Jesus and credibility

Jesus was in a unique position in this regard because he was self-authenticating. He had that EF Hutton way of speaking and people would stop and listen.

When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law. Matthew 7:28-29 (NIV)

This is one area I don't think we can teach like Jesus because we are not Jesus. Jesus had a self-authenticating authority that did not need to be bolstered by quoting other sources. When you are God, who do you quote? I don't think Jesus ever said, "As Rabbi So-and-so says. . ."

But, we are not God, and we do well to quote the best sources we can. The best sources are the sources your listeners respect. If you want to reach a secular audience, quote from secular sources from time to time, as I did above.

Quote current sources. Too many illustrations and source material is off the farm 100 years ago. My friend Jim Wilson can help you with this. See http://www.freshsermonillustrations.net/ I use his illustrations regularly via Wordsearch. www.wordsearchbible.com

Good Questions and credibility

Can I be honest with you? I don't follow every one of these principles perfectly as I write Good Questions. I am not always as shocking as I could be and I don't always suggest you bring something in that is concrete. But, in this regard, Good Questions That Have Groups Talking really shine.

About a year ago I bought about $3000 worth of WordSearch commentaries and other source material to really beef up Good Questions. I already had WordSearch's best package, plus a number add-on books. But a year ago, I invested in a major upgrade.

In addition to Good Questions, I now provide answers--in the form of quotes from some of the most credible sources available--commentators like John MacArthur, Warren Wiersbe and the Holman Commentary. Trade books by people like John Piper, R.C. Sproul and Henry Blackaby. Books of illustrations galore.

Curriculum's fundamental flaw

Nearly all curriculum has a fundamental flaw. They go at it this way. Smart people get in a room and decide what we are going to study. Then, they go out and try to find someone to write something brilliant about it. Turns out, this is a difficult job.

One notable exception to this is Lifeway's Masterworks Series. They go at it the other way. They ask, "Who has already written something brilliant?" They find books written by people like Beth Moore, Billy Graham and John Piper and turn them into curriculum. Brilliant.

I do a similar thing. I find people that have already written something brilliant and put those comments in the footnotes of my lessons. They really have written some brilliant things you can share with your group. I write four new lessons a week corresponding with three of Lifeway's outlines plus the International Standard Series. They can be used either stand-alone or supplemental to your existing literature. They are available on a subscription basis at only $200 a year for your whole church.

Not that you cannot do this yourself. It is pretty much pure research. Of course, you will need to invest in a substantial library and it will take quite a bit of time, but it can be done. If you want a cheaper and easier way, just subscribe to Good Questions. I'd be honored to serve you in this way.

Sticky Lessons, Part 4

I did a sermon on the woman caught in adultery years ago. I told the first part of the story then said, "Just then, people starting running through the crowd passing out stones. Everyone knew what they were for. They were and instrument of death. There was about to be a stoning." Just as I said, "people started running through the crowds passing out stones" the youth group was cued to do just that. They jumped out and began passing out stones. When everyone had a stone, I asked, "Who would you hurt if you had the power to do so? God calls upon us to forgive. He calls us to set down our judgmentalism and forgive. I want to ask you to set down your stone and with it, your judgmentalism. Set down your slowness to forgive. Set down your stone and forgive."

If you would teach sticky lessons, if you would teach like Jesus taught, you need to do this kind of thing from time to time. You need to use stuff that you can touch and feel.

I say, "from time to time" because of the last principle--unexpected. If you do the unexpected every week before long people come to expect the unexpected. At that point it is almost impossible to be unexpected. There was a book on this ago titled, "All creativity makes a dull church."

I don't do it every week, but often in my lessons I will ask teachers to bring in something that you can touch and feel. I often ask teachers to email their students and ask the students to bring something to class. (For more information, see www.joshhunt.com click on the button that says "Lessons.")

Aesop's Fables

Heath and Heath, who wrote Made to Stick, on which I am basing this series of articles, site Aesop as an example of sticky writing. Aesop lived in the mid 6th century B.C. and his writings still stick around. That is what you call sticky writing. Consider some of his fables. What do all of these fables have in common?

• The Tortoise and the Hare

• The Fox and the Grapes

• The Boy who Cried Wolf

• The Goose that Laid the Golden Eggs

All of these parables are about concrete ideas. They teach abstract notions--slow steady progress can overcome a burst of energy that fizzles--but they do it in very concrete ways. They use objects and animals and people and things that we can see and touch and smell.

If you would teach effectively, teach concretely. Use stuff that you can hold and smell and see and touch and smack against something.

Jesus and concrete teaching

I can't prove it and maybe I am wrong, but I think Jesus often held stuff when he taught. I think he held some wheat and let it slip slowly though his hands as he taught about the seeds. Perhaps he held up a light as he said, "You are the light of the world."

Jesus' best example of concrete teaching, however, is when performed what some have called an acted out parable. One example of this is when he was asleep on the boat. He calmed the waves and taught us how he can calm the storms in our lives. But, he didn't just talk about it, he calmed an actual storm.

When he fed the multitudes he was teaching a parable about his provision for us. He didn't just tell us he provides, he multiplied the loaves and the fishes.

When Jesus wanted to teach about the importance of fruit bearing, he didn't just talk--he cursed a fruitless fig tree. Theologians have written volumes on this, but the message is pretty clear if you see it as an acted out parable: bear fruit or else!

Jesus taught about the importance of servanthood. He told us that the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve. Then, he picked up a towel and a basin of water. What do you think taught more?

The ultimate example, or course, is the cross. It was the ultimate acted out parable. The Bible teaches us to look not only to our own interest, but also to the interest of others. Jesus lived in out on the cross. Jesus told us about how to handle persecution. He showed us on the cross. He talked to us about servanthood. He showed us on the cross.

Of course, the cross was more than a powerful teach tool. It was the means by which our sins could be forgiven. But, it was a powerful teaching tool and we can learn much from it. We can learn about Christian living, and we can learn about how to teach.

If you would teach and make the lesson stick, if you would teach as Jesus taught, teach concretely. I want to help you. I write four new Bible study lessons every week. I usually try to include some concrete elements. These lessons correspond with three of Lifeway's outlines, as well as the International Standard Series. They can be used by themselves or as supplements. I have likely written more lessons than any other person, living or dead. For details, see www.joshhunt.com

Sticky Lessons, Part 3

Our brains are designed to see the unexpected, the unusual, the shocking. If you would teach sticky lessons, like Jesus did, teach with some shock value.

You don't have to read Jesus very long before you find an example of this in His teaching:

Jesus left that place and went to the vicinity of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it; yet he could not keep his presence secret. ⁽²⁵⁾ In fact, as soon as she heard about him, a woman whose little daughter was possessed by an evil spirit came and fell at his feet. ⁽²⁶⁾ The woman was a Greek, born in Syrian Phoenicia. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter. ⁽²⁷⁾ "First let the children eat all they want," he told her, "for it is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to their dogs." ⁽²⁸⁾ "Yes, Lord," she replied, "but even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs." ⁽²⁹⁾ Then he told her, "For such a reply, you may go; the demon has left your daughter." ⁽³⁰⁾ She went home and found her child lying on the bed, and the demon gone. Mark 7:24-30 (NIV)

This story is shocking in two ways. First, we expect Jesus to cast out the demon, which he eventually did. Didn't he cast out the demon right way in every other case? Second, He hints at calling her a dog. That doesn't sound too nice. As one of my kids would say, "That just doesn't sound too Jesu-cal to me. We might say Jesus-like, but his term is Jesu-cal.

Here is another one:

Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. Matthew 5:48 (NIV)

Notice, Jesus doesn't say to try hard to be good. He doesn't say to be better than average. He doesn't say to be a decent human being. He says to be perfect. Perfect by what standard? "As your heavenly Father is perfect." Shocking.

One more:

But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. ⁽⁴⁰⁾ And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. ⁽⁴¹⁾ If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. ⁽⁴²⁾ Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you. Matthew 5:39-42 (NIV)

And another:

He told them, "The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables ⁽¹²⁾ so that, "'they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!'" Mark 4:11-12 (NIV)

Here is my paraphrase: "I am telling you the secret of the Kingdom. But, I am not telling those on the outside. If I did, they might understand and repent. Then I would have to forgive them. I don't want to do that." Is anyone shocked?

Jesus constantly shocked people with his teaching and so should we.

Is your average Sunday School class shocking?

Do I need to write this section, or do you already know what I am going to say?

Most Sunday School classes are all about yup-yup and are not shocking at all. My Facebook friend, Donald L. Hughes, editor of www.ChristianWritingToday.com said, "So much preaching in churches is like an old lady petting her cat, waiting for the reassuring meow."

We need to shock people like Jesus did.

Heath and Heath on shocking teaching

I am basing this series of articles on Heath and Heath's excellent book, Made to Stick. I have read it once and listened to it twice. It is great.

They provide an example that I can readily relate to: air safety announcements on airplanes. Next time you fly, look around when this announcement is given. See how many people are paying attention. Imagine it was your job to rivet people's attention to this message.

Heath and Heath offer one suggestion. On a flight from Dallas to San Diego, the flight attendant paraphrased the safety announcement this way:

If I could have your attention for a few minutes, we sure would love to point out those safety features. If you haven't been in an automobile since 1965, the proper way to fasten a seat belt is to slide the flat end into the buckle. To unfasten, lift up on the buckle and it will release.

As the song goes, there may be fifty ways to leave your lover, but there are only six ways to leave this aircraft: two forward exit doors, two over-the wing removable exits, and two aft exit doors. The location of each exit is clearly marked with signs overhead as well as red and white disco lights along the floor of the isle.

Made ya look!

People laughed. Some broke out in scattered applause. Everyone listened. Different is good. Unexpected causes us to pay attention and learn.

What if you really wanted people to listen, what would you do? Here is my idea. About every 10,000 hours of flight, I would stage a demonstration. On cue, I would have the pilot drop into a steep nose dive, perhaps combined with a sharp turn. Simultaneously, I would have all of those yellow rubber masks drop from the ceiling. From there, I would depend on word of mouth. I would fully expect all of those people to tell their stories to everyone they knew, who would likely tell their stories to everyone they knew. You wouldn't have do to this very often before everyone would know how they are supposed to put on those masks.

Shocking people in church

One of the best examples I have ever seen of this is a sermon I heard by Richard Hogue years ago. I don't remember many sermons preached while I was in Junior High, but I will never forget this one.

It was a dark and stormy night. . .the sermon was on the second coming. (It really was a dark and stormy night.) Right at that crescendo moment, all of the lights in the auditorium went off. I don't know if it was because the storm, or somebody turned them off. All I know is that suddenly we were all sitting in utter darkness. The amplification system no longer worked, but it didn't matter. You could have heard a pin drop. Richard Hogue waited for maybe 15 seconds. Then he broke the silence: "Ever thought about how quickly the end will come? Are you ready?"

WOW.

I try to include a creative element in every lesson I write. Not always as shocking as the example above, but something out of the ordinary. For more information, see www.joshhunt.com Click on the button that says "lessons."

A simpler way in Bible Study

Want a quick and easy way to shock people in your Bible Study group? You can do it in two words: I disagree. Those two words are guaranteed to shock people.

Suppose everyone is talking about serving the Lord and working hard for God. Just say, "I disagree; I don't think we are to work hard for Him at all. I think we are to let Christ live his life through us." (Galatians 2.20)

Suppose everyone has this yup-yup tone about once saved always saved. Say, "I disagree. 'If we disown him, he will disown us.' (2 Timothy 2.12) Whatever the doctrine of the security of the believers means it does not mean we can disown him and get away with it. 'If we disown him, he will disown us.'" Shocking. Unless, of course, you are Methodist. We have other verses to shock them.

There are a lot of other ways, or course. Richard King, Minister of Education at First Baptist Las Cruces was my Sunday School teacher for a time. I will never forget the day he staged a fight in class. He asked my wife to play along with him in creating a squabble that turned into a near yelling match. That got their attention.

Good teaching does that. It gets their attention. It is unexpected. It is shocking. It is Jesu-cal.

Sticky Lessons, Part 2

"If you can't reduce it to a slogan, people will never remember it." -- Rick Warren

"Memorable is portable." -- Andy Stanley

Quick: what are two or three things your dad taught you? Here is my answer:

• Many hands lighten the load.

• We don't all do things alike.

• New is not always better; it is just new.

Notice you don't find any paragraphs there. You don't find book chapters. You dont' find any long, complicated (deep?) ideas. What you find is what we always find when we ask what people remember: short, pithy, memorable, easy-to-pass-on statements.

Jesus was a master at this. Look at His longest and most famous sermon, easily the most important piece of prose ever written. It is full of these slogan-ish statements:

• You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men. Matthew 5:13 (NIV)
• Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. Matthew 5:17 (NIV)
• Love your enemies. and pray for those who persecute you, Matthew 5:44 (NIV)
• Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. Matthew 6:1 (NIV)
• For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. Matthew 6:14 (NIV)
• For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:21 (NIV)
• Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Matthew 6:27 (NIV)
• Do not judge, or you too will be judged. Matthew 7:1 (NIV)
• Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. Matthew 7:7 (NIV)

And, perhaps the most classic, the most quoted sentence of all time: "Do to others what you would have them do to you." Matthew 7.12

And, it wasn't just the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus constantly peppered his teaching with memorable, succinct, slogan-ish statements.

If you would teach so that people will hear and understand and remember and be changed by what they hear, teach like Jesus: include short, memorable statements.

Southwest Airlines, the Army, and Newspapers

Heath and Heath discuss this in the excellent book on which I am basing this series of articles. One example is Southwest Airlines. Their slogan, "THE low-cost airline" guides every decision they make at Southwest. Herb Kelleher said, "I can teach you the secret in running the airline in thirty seconds. This is it: We are THE low-cost airline." If thinking about serving meals on board or entering new, higher-cost airports the question always comes back to: will that help us to remain THE low-cost airline.

The Army uses this concept of simplicity as they give orders to troops. Here is a saying: no plan survives contact with the enemy. Because of this, the Army has developed what they called "Commander's Intent". It is a short, simple statement that tells everyone what the goal is. Things may not go as planned and they may have to improvise, but by understanding the Commander's Intent--take this hill, or, take out this installation, or whatever they know how to respond when things don't go as planned.

Newspaper writers are taught this in a concept called the inverted pyramid. The idea is to put the most important things first. If the article has to be cut, just lop off some off the end. Novels and short stories, in contrast, are written in the opposite way. The punch line comes at the end. Newspaper writers know why people read newspapers--they want to get the facts. By putting the essential facts up front, the reader gets the gist. If they want more information, they can keep reading. If they just read the headline, they will know something of the story. Newspaper writers are told to, "not bury the lead." Look at the first two lines of this article for an example of this.

A recent example

I am preaching these days out of the book on Nehemiah and am trying to follow this example. Overall the series is called, "Nehemiah's plan A for Success." Here are the ideas we have looked at so far:

Ache. Nehemiah had and aching heart and so should we. He moved toward the pain, not away from it. He gathered more information about his hurting city. To quote Bill Hybels, he was having a Popeye moment: "That is all I can stands, I can't stands no more!" (If you would like to see the Bill Hybels video, check out my Facebook page.)

Ask. Nehemiah asked in prayer and so should we. Nehemiah's prayer exemplifies something that is true of all Bible prayers: Bible prayers don't sound like Baptist prayers.

Aim. Nehemiah had a goal and should we. Nehemiah could state his goal in one sentence. He wanted to rebuild the all around Jerusalem.

Next week:

Assess. Nehemiah clearly did some planning and so should we.

Repeated Phrases in Good Questions

I am reminded that I could do a better job of this in the lessons I write. I often try to include a repeated phrase that is used in a series of questions. For example:

1. How does it benefit us to become people of faith and confidence?
2. What does lack of faith and confidence cost us?
3. What keeps you from having more faith and confidence?
4. How can we take steps to becoming full of more faith and confidence?

By the way, these four questions can be asked about nearly any topic and are based on a fundamental assumption that it is always in our best interest to live the Christian life. God is a rewarder. We will always be glad, in the long run, that we followed Him. I heard someone say the other day, "It is hard following God!" Yeah? Try not following God for a while, see how that works for you!

If there is one repeated phrase I would want my people to remember it is this: it is always in our best interest to live the Christian life.

It is not enough to teach what Jesus taught. We need to teach HOW Jesus taught. Jesus was a sticky teacher. We should be too. One of the characteristics of sticky teachers is they reduce the teaching to one Big Idea--one repeatable, slogan-ish statement.

Sticky Lessons, Part 1

I start reading hundreds of books but rarely finish any of them. Occasionally I finish one. Once in a blue moon I read one twice. Reading a book three times is almost unheard of. I have just done it with two different books. I want to talk about one of them in this set of articles.

Modern science has taught us much about communication. A great deal of research has been done on what makes a message stick. One of the best books on the subject is Heath and Heath's Made to Stick. If you have ever seen a copy you might remember. The book is bright orange with a piece of duct tape stuck to it. The cover itself teaches one of the six principles contained inside.

As I read (then listened) to this incredible book, I was struck by two things:

• This is exactly how Jesus taught

• Every Bible Study lesson should include these 6 elements

It is not enough to teach what Jesus taught; we need to teach how Jesus taught.

Jesus perfectly illustrates all six of the what the best of modern science tells us goes into making a message sticky. Its like He knew! ;-) Today, we can understand and appreciate on a deeper level why people down through the ages consider Jesus to be the greatest teacher ever. And we have all the more insight into how we can teach sticky lessons as Jesus taught sticky lessons.

Jesus' message was sticky. It sticks. People remember what Jesus said. They quote him. People quote Jesus who do not even know they are quoting Jesus. He has impacted every corner of culture.

What are these six principles? We will look at them more in detail--and illustrate these in the life of Jesus, but here is an overview. (Note that it spells out the word SUCCES)

Simple.

Jesus taught in short, pithy, memorable slogans. The golden rule is one one example. Rick Warren says people don't remember paragraphs; people remember slogans. Jesus reduced many of the most profound truths down to memorable slogans. Simple is not simplistic. You don't have to be very smart to make things complicated. It takes a genius to make them simple. Jesus was a genius at simple, but profound communication.

I try to do this in my lessons-often including a repeated phrase to reduce the lessons to something that will be ringing in their ears when they walk out. (And, if it is really sticky, much later.) You would do well to include a simple, memorable, slogan-like summary of what you want to teach in every lesson.

Unexpected.

The brain is wired to notice what changes, what is different, what is new, what is unusual, what is out of the ordinary. This is the really amazing thing about Jesus' teaching. I have read the gospels hundreds of times and Jesus' message still shocks me. I still can't believe he said what he did to the Syrophoenician woman.

In contrast, a lot of Sunday School lessons are sadly predictable. They have this "yup-yup" tone about them. That is why people are yawning. It is not enough to teach what Jesus taught. We need to teach how Jesus taught.

My wife gets credit for this suggestion. I try to include something unexpected, something creative, something shocking in every lesson. You should too. Jesus was unexpected. We should be too.

Concrete.

I cant prove it, but I think Jesus held stuff a lot when he taught. I think he pointed to things. Like when he spoke about wheat I imagine him with some wheat in his hand. I can't prove that and it might not be true. But, I know this is true: he talked about lots of stuff that you can touch and feel. He used the physical to teach the invisible. We should too.

This is the part of my lessons that I struggle with the most, but it is perhaps most important to make a message sticky. Try to bring something into the classroom every week that you can touch and feel. Your people will remember what the hold and smell. The message will stick.

Credible.

This was one of the most shocking things about Jesus' teaching. "When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law." Matthew 7:28-29 (NIV)

Jesus teaching had its own authority. We don't have the authority of Jesus so we quote him, and the rest of the Bible, as our authority. We also do well to quote respected leaders. Sometimes, saying, "John MacArthur says" is better than, "I have always thought."

Here is a quote I used yesterday. I think you will agree it is much more powerful coming from John Piper: "The obstacle that keeps us from obeying the first (vertical) commandment is the same obstacle that keeps us from obeying the second (horizontal) commandment. It is not that we are all trying to please ourselves, but that we are all far too easily pleased." --Desiring God, John Piper. I try to include quotes like this in every lesson and you would do well to do the same.

Emotional.

My preaching professor in seminary used to often say, "People are very seldom moved by cold, hard logic" We change people when we move them emotionally. Jesus moved people emotionally. He made the angry and he made the cry. He made the puzzled and he shocked them. So should we. Emotional messages stick. I try to include great stories in every lesson to make the message emotional and thus sticky. You should too.

Story.

Jesus used illustrations to tell the crowds all these things. He did not tell them anything without illustrating it with a story. Matthew 13:34 (GW)

Great teachers use great stories. Great stories stick. Most of us can tell stories told to us in childhood. I work at including great stories in every lesson and you should too.

Over the next six articles we will be looking at these six principles and how we can include then in every lesson to be a more sticky teacher. Jesus used these principles and is the master teacher of all times. We will be illustrating these principles from the life of Jesus.

It is not enough to teach what Jesus taught; we need to teach how Jesus taught.

Why Good Questions are Different

Good Questions that have groups talking are different from most lessons you have seen. Here are a few reasons why.

Discussion based rather than lecture based

Our tag line is, "Good questions have groups talking" and that is the goal of every lesson. Look at one of the sample lessons and you can see this difference right away. Put these lessons into the hands of all your teachers and watch your classes transform from lecture-based groups to discussion based groups. Each lesson consists of 20 or so ready-to-use questions that get groups talking.

Why is this important? Jesus taught that we are changed by what comes out of us. Until we confess the truth--not just hear it--we are not changed by it. See this article for more details.

Commentary quoted from world-class writers

Most curriculum has an inherent flaw. They can often get past it, but it cripples nearly every series made. Here is how it works. A committee gets together and decides o a text and topic. Then, someone is assigned to find someone who can write something brilliant about it. Turns out, this is a very difficult assignment and does not always meet with success. One of the reasons I have been a fan of Lifeway's Masterworks series is that that series goes at it in the opposite way. They find someone who has already written something brilliant--books by people like Beth Moore, Billy Graham and John Piper--and turns it into a curriculum.

I try to do a similar thing with my lessons. Each question is footnoted with answers taken from of the best commentaries ever written. John MacArthur, Warren Wiersbe, Holman, Life Application Commentary, and many others. I also include great illustrations and stories form illustration books, trade books and devotional books. Quotes from world-class sources make these lessons different.

Application-driven

Application is not tagged onto the end. We don't spend an hour talking about the passage n a rather abstract way then tag on a question on the end about application. Application is woven all through the lessons. Application is the point.

Howard Hendricks used to say that the goal is not to make smarter sinners. Jesus taught us to "teach them to observe" not just teach them.

Make it easy to find teachers

These lessons are so easy to use, they make it easier--a lot easier to find teachers. In fact, when I was a Minister of Ed, I never struggle to find teaches again after I started writing these lessons. Click here to read that story.

Underlying theology: it is always in our best interest to live the Christian life.

I have written on this extensively in my free E-book on Good Questions Have Groups talking. For a shorter read, see http://www.joshhunt.com/mail289.htm

God is a rewarder. We cannot come to Him unless we believe that He is a rewarder. We must come to Him for reward. We must believe it is always in our best interest to live the Christian life. Prayer must become a sweet hour of prayer of we are not praying very well. We much come to love serving or we don't serve. We must come to love the Word, or else I bet you didn't read this morning. We must come to love the Christian life or we will never come to live the Christian life.

Every lesson is driven by this theology. I continually ask: how does it benefit me to follow God? What does it cost me if I don't follow God? We ask this in every arena. What does it benefit me to forgive; what does it cost me if I don't forgive? When people come to confess that it is in our best interest to live the Christian life, they begin to live the Christian life.

Still not convinced? I offer a free week's trial. Get them to your teachers and see if they don't love them. Email me josh@joshhunt.com for a free username / password.

Update on pastoring

Many of you know I started pastoring a small church in the country about 45 minutes north of Las Cruces about 6 months ago. I wanted to provide an update on how things are going.

I asked for advice when I started this. I talked to two pastors.

One said, "New broom sweeps clean. Make something happen. Get some things going. Create some momentum. Make a splash."

Another guys said, "Take it slow and easy."

I went with the second guy’s advice.

I got a Sunday School report at our quarterly business meeting the other day. The first business meeting Sunday School was 18. Six months later we are at 24. The way I think of it, this is a 33% increase in six months. We started our first new class this past Sunday. We have a major outreach event planned for the first of the year. (It is not really official just yet, but if you would like to take a peek, see www.joshhunt.com/mail317.htm )

You might be surprised to hear I don't keep up with numbers all that closely. Every few months I check in. Just hearing a quarterly report on Sunday School attendance is enough for me. I think we can make too much or too little of numbers. We ought to check in every now and then. It doesn't need to be a daily obsession. In a small church, real high percentages are possible. In a larger church, if you can shoot for 10 or 15 percent growth a year, you will be doing well.

I am reminded why starting new groups is so critical. My wife started a new Ladies Group using the Masterworks curriculum. (Have I ever mentioned I love Masterworks?) The week before she started she sent a bunch of hand-written notes inviting people to attend. We have been at Salem for 6 months and during that 6 months she hadn't written any hand-written notes. (Neither have I.) Starting a new class motivates you do things like that. It aligns the personal motivation of the teacher with the desire of God to reach all men. I haven't checked for sure, but I think Sunday's Sunday School attendance was the highest since I have been there.

Info on Masterworks:

http://www.lifeway.com/lwc/article_main_page/0,1703,A=165376&M=201160,00.html

http://www.joshhunt.com/MasterWorks.htm

http://www.joshhunt.com/mail198.htm

Music

We have been tinkering with music some since I have been there. We have one guy--great guy--who leads playing guitar by himself. I think most would agree that regardless of the style of music, the music gets better as you have more instruments. In old school churches this was a piano and organ and choir. In the new breed, we have a band with guitars and drums. In music, several instruments is nearly always better than one.

I started by adding me. I played guitar in a previous life and thought I could add to the mix. It didn't help all that much. Recently, we have been using a different approach. Lifeway now has a new hymnal and along with it they produced a stack of CDs with every song in the hymnbook. They are split track so you can add as much voice or instrumentation as you want. In the last couple of weeks we have been using these and I am getting really positive feedback. If you pastor a small church, you might look into this. One bit of fine print--the new choruses are split track between instruments and background vocals. There is no lead vocals. I didn't quite get why. http://www.lifewayworship.com/ for details. We also got Easyworship to help with this. You could just use PowerPoint, but you can use some cool moving backgrounds with Easy worship. https://www.easyworship.com/

This story illustrates my approach to leadership. Try lots of stuff; keep what works. We tried adding me on guitar, it didn't help too much. We try supplementing music with CDs. It is working better. If you want to be successful, try to fail at lots of things.

Finding New Teachers

We grow a church by creating new groups. We create new groups by finding leaders. How do we find leaders?

Back in the saddle of local church leadership, I am reminded why I started writing Good Questions. I started writing Good Questions when I couldn't find enough teachers to start new groups. There was a guy in my class that had watched me teach reading questions from my notes. "Let me look at those," he said one day, after still another appeal for people to step up and start teaching. He looked over my notes, which approximate what I now produce online. (The new ones are better as they actually have answers!) He says to me, "If you will keep writing these and get me a copy, I will take a class." Long story short, I never struggled to find teachers again. You will struggle a lot less than you do if you will subscribe to Good Questions.

I think I could start three more classes right now if I had the people to do it. I think I have teachers that would teach using my lessons. My lessons are just too easy to use. If you can read 20 questions, you can teach a class.

Parties

As you might guess, we are using parties for outreach and assimilation. Some have gone better than others. I think one of the reasons God has me in the pastorate is to humbly remind me that church work is hard. (I knew I had been away from it too long when it was stating to look easy.)

We did one party at our house this summer, had a house full of people and had a great time. I told Missy after the party, "That was fun! Let's do it again next month!" We did. The next month we had my wife and I, my in-laws and our music minister. Momma told me there would be days like these.

We did the movie Fireproof. Had a great time and a good crowd. Did the move Facing the Giants. Great time, but not much of a crowd.

Thinking back on it, this is how it always is. That is why the Bible says, "Get into the habit of inviting guests home for dinner." It is a habit. If people come, good. If they don't, do it again next month anyway. Form the habit. Oh, and about the low turn out at Facing the Giants--I got busy (my excuse) and didn't call everyone. Funny how not many show up when you don't call.

One of the challenges we have a Salem that I never had at my previous church is finding prospects. We had lots of visitors where I served before and my research indicates that this is true of most churches. However, it is not true of Salem. The church is out in the middle of no where with almost no drive-by traffic. Its recent history has not been one that has been real attractive in the community. It has not had the reputation of a place that is warm and inviting and happy-- a place where people are learning to live lives that are a little more joyful, a little more patient, a little more loving, a little less worried, and so forth.

What do I mean "in the middle of nowhere"? Check it out

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Salem,+Dona+Ana,+New+Mexico&ll=32.707524,-107.235103&spn=0.008486,0.01929&t=h&z=16

For these reasons, we don't get a lot of visitors, although, here recently we have had a few. The strategy for a church like this is to do community events to attract people to they church. For example, we will be doing a Trunk or Treat on Halloween weekend, inviting all the kids in the neighborhood for free candy. We did a Mother's Day Photo Shoot that went pretty well. We have a major event we are talking about doing after the first of the year called What Divorce Taught Me About Marriage. My guess is this will be an on-going challenge to attract visitors to an out-of-the-way location. Smart businesses almost never make this mistake. They know there is nothing more costly that cheap land. If you ever need to relocate, think about that.

Preaching

I absolutely love preaching every week. If you teach or preach, I trust you feel this way too. Not too many things much better than telling people the good news every week. I just finished a series through my favorite book--Philippians. I plan to start a series this weekend though my favorite Old Testament book, Nehemiah. My message is always the same: I want to show you how to live a life that is. . .

• a little more loving
• a little more joyful
• a little more peaceful
• a little less anxious
• a little less fearful
• a little less worried.
• A little more John 10.10b and a little lesson John 10.10a.

Thanks for listening.

Why don't they beleive?

I love being a Christian, don't you?

I love spending time with God--just me and God--in the mornings. I love walking with God through the day. I love relying on God's wisdom from the Bible. I love the comfort that comes during difficult days--and there will be difficult days. I love the sense of meaning and purpose that following God gives me--the feeling that I am part of a Cause that is bigger than I am. I love being a Christian, don't you?

If we do all love being a Christian, why doesn't the message of Christ naturally and unavoidably spread? Why the coaxing of people to share their faith? Why evangelism strategies and programs? You would think that if we all love it, we would just naturally tell and they would naturally want to hear about good news.

People love to talk about things they love. They love to talk about their new PS 3 (My son camped out 2 nights at Target to get one) or their latest vacation. Why doesn't the idea of the gospel spread?

To be fair, in many places around the world it is spreading and spreading rapidly. I read a book recently that said North America is the only contenant where the gospel is not spreading. Still, it begs the question, why not?

How ideas don't spread

I have been reading in recent months about how idea spread. I didn't realize it until recently, but there have been 5000+ academic studies on the diffusion of innovation, or, on how ideas spread. I have written about this in another article. See http://www.joshhunt.com/mail177.htm

I am so intrigued by this I am re-reading Everett Rogers classic work, The Diffusion of Innovation. Actually, I read the fourth addition first and am now reading the fifth edition. This is a book with a 50-page bibliography. It is very academic, very detailed, very dense. I have often picked it up when I was having trouble sleeping. Works like a charm. Still, am deeply intrigued. I think this ought to required reading for every seminary student.

Here is a summary of Rogers findings:

Diffusion investigations show that most individuals do not evaluate an innovation on the basis of scientific studies of its consequences.
Instead, most people depend mainly upon a subjective evaluation of an innovation that is conveyed to them from other individuals like themselves.

Here is my paraphrase of the summary of Rogers findings:

What has me intrigued these days is why ideas don't spread. Christianity is not the only good idea that doesn't spread. There are well-researched reasons why good ideas often do not spread.

I have done some research of my own recently asking audiences when and how they adopted certain innovations, from email and cell phones to MP3s (what? you still don't have an MP3?) and digital photography.

I have asked groups what year they adopted certain technologies and the answers come in following the predictable S-shaped curve--flat at first, then, at around 10% - 20% adoption, the line hits the tipping point and moves sharply upward until it diffuses through the entire population.

You can actually see it as I have asked audiences at recent seminars. "What year did you start using email?"

• 1990 - one hand
• 1991 - one hand
• 1992 - two hands
• 1993 - two hands
• 1994 - three hands
• 1995 - four hands
• 1996 - ten hands
• 1997 - twenty hands
• 1998 - thirty hands

Then, I follow up with this series of questions relating to how many people used an innovation prior to us using it. Here is how I ask the question. "Think back to when you first started using email. How many people did you know personally that used email prior to you? If you were the first person on the planet that you knew personally that used email, I want you to hold up one finger on one hand. This indicates you are person number one in your group. If you only knew two other people that used email when you started using email, I want you to hold up two fingers. If there were more than ten people that you knew that were using email prior to you adopting, you don't have to take off your shoes and hold up your toes. Just stop with ten fingers. Ten fingers indicates there were ten or more people that you knew that used email before you."

About 85% of the people in the room hold up ten fingers.

I ask about cell phones. "When did you get a cell phone? If you were the first person that you knew that had a cell phone, then hold up one finger. If there were ten or more, hold up ten fingers."

About 85% of the people in the room hold up ten fingers.

I ask about Jesus. "If you were the first person that you knew personally that was a Christian, I want you to hold up one finger. If you knew five people who were Christians before you became a Christian, hold up five fingers. If there were ten or more, hold up ten fingers."

About 85% of the people in the room hold up ten fingers.

Would you agree with this statement, "It would have been very difficult, if not impossible, for me to start using email without knowing some people who used email."?

Everyone agrees.

Would you agree with this statement, "It would have been very difficult, if not impossible for me to start using a cell phone without knowing some people who used a cell phone."?

Everyone agrees.

Would you agree with this statement, "It would have been very difficult, if not impossible for me to believe in Jesus without knowing some people who believed in Jesus."?

The lights are coming on.

Now it gets really fun. I ask for two groups of about five volunteers. One group joins me on one side of the auditorium. I explain that they represent my church group. Another group of five is on the opposite side of the room. They represent the non-Christian group. Normally, evangelism works like this: I yell across the room, "Repent! Place your faith in Christ! There is a God in heaven who loves you!" Yelling across the chasm has proven to be a rather ineffective way to communicate.

A slightly better form of evangelism works like this. I walk across the room. I shake hands with one of the guys in the non-Christian groups. I describe the fact that we become friends. We hang out. We do things together. And, over the bridge of this relationship, the gospel message is communicated.

This is better, but there is still a problem. Do you see it? Imagine a room with two groups separated on different sides. I develop a relationship with this man, but he is still part of his group. And, I am the only person he actually knows that is a Christian. It is almost impossible for him to accept any idea--email, cell phones, or Jesus against the thinking of his group.

But, let's suppose I not only walk across the room and introduce myself to him and become his friend. Suppose I do one more thing. Suppose I bring him back across the room and introduce him to the people in my group. Suppose he becomes friends with all of them, and all of them are able to communicate that they love being a Christian. Has anything changed? Everything has changed.

Whereas it was almost impossible for him to believe because his group did not believe, now, the message is almost irresistible (Totally irresistible if you are a Calvinist!) because he is in a group that does believe.

There is more to evangelism than telling people about Jesus. If we can get them a part of our group, everything changes.

This is why giving Friday nights to Jesus (See http://www.joshhunt.com/friday.html )
is so effective. You surround you average non-christian with five God-loving, church-going, quiet-time-having, giving, serving, and loving it Christians and everything changes.

At this point in the seminar I play an incredibly moving segment of an Andy Stanley sermon where he gives a theological explanation of this same dynamic. But, if you want to see the clip, you are going to have to have me do a seminar at your church! I can't give away ALL my trade secrets!

Send me your testimonies!

This also explains why the giving Friday nights to Jesus has not spread more than it has. I have spend the last 8 years full time trying to communicate this idea. Some--innovators and early adopters--buy it. But, most don't hear from people like me. They hear from people like you. They hear from their peers.

So, if you are an early adopter who has given Friday nights to Jesus, or seen doubling groups work, I would like to ask you to send me your testimonies of two things:

• How hospitality ("Giving Friday Nights to Jesus") has worked in your context.

• How you have seen growing and dividing groups work

The repeated phrase

One of the many smart things Rick Warren has said is that people don't remember paragraphs; they remember slogans.

They don't remember sermons or lessons or books. They remember sayings:

• Give me liberty or give me death.
• The truth will set you free.
• People don't care what you know until they know that you care.
• Only one life will soon be past. Only what's done for Christ will last.

Here are a few of my favorites:

• You must come to love the Christian life or you will never come to live the Christian life.
• If you can get them to the party, you couldn't keep them from class.
• Teach a half-way decent lesson each and every week, nothing less will do.
• Community must proceed content.
• People are not looking for a friendly church; they are looking for friends.
• People matter to God.
• Give Friday nights to Jesus.
• Love at its best is a little bit boring. It is pedestrian, earthy, stuff you can touch and feel. It is Diet Coke and table games and bowling pins and somehow in the mix of all that stuff, people feel loved.
• Invite every member and every prospect to every fellowship every month.
• If we love them they will come and they will come to love our Lord.
• If we will be gracious to them, they will stick around long enough to hear the words about grace.
• There is an epidemic of loneliness.
• It is not enough to tell them about a God who loves them; you must love them.

Slogans can be used in every lesson. You would do well to reduce every lesson to a slogan--a memorable sound-bite of condensed truth. People don't remember paragraphs; they remember slogans.

But, having a slogan is not enough. Reducing all that you will say to a slogan is important. Developing the slogan is good. Focusing the content into a memorable slogan is an important first step, but it is only one step. The next step is the real key.

Spin the slogan into a repeated phrase. Say it over and over again. Say it loud. Say it soft. Say it early. Say it late. Say it and say it and say it.

Jesus did this as he began the greatest sermon every preached, the sermon on the mount. He made great use of the repeated phrase:

Blessed are the. . .

Blessed are the. . .

Blessed are the. . .

Blessed are the. . .

Blessed are the. . .

Blessed are the. . .

What is this sermon about? How to be blessed. How do we know? The use of the repeated phrase. By repeating the repeated phrase over and again you drill it into people's heads. You make it stick. You make them remember. Make liberal use of the repeated phrase.

The classic example of the use of the repeated phrase comes in one of the most famous speeches of all time. Count how many times Martin Luther King says, "I have a dream" in this segment of his famous speech:

I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

Do you get the idea that Martin Luther King has a dream? This is one of the most powerful pieces of prose ever written because of the use of the repeated phrase. If you would be a powerful communicator, make liberal use of the repeated phrase. Distill your message down to a slogan and say it over and over again. Make it a repeated phrase.

The repeated phrase over time

We don't just do it one time. We don't just repeat the phrase in one lesson. If you just repeat it in one lesson they will forget. Spend some time thinking about what Christian living is all about and distill your thoughts into a handful of repeated phrases. Use these phrases over and over again. Weave them into every lesson. Don't worry about being boring. Make liberal use of the repeated phrase.

As I think about the use of the repeated phrase, I think of one of my heroes, Bill Hybels. There are a few phrases he has said over and over and over again. He doesn't just repeat them once. They come out in numerous sermons over time. The repetition only makes them more powerful. The are memorable sayings. But we remember them because Hybels turns them into a repeated phrase. Here are some examples:

• People matter to God.
• There is nothing like the church when the church is acting right.
• Everyone wins. The believer wins as we join God in the breath-taking adventure of following Him. The lost win as they come to know Christ. The church wins. Everyone wins.
• What a wonderful plan: let the leaders lead; let the teachers teach; let the mercy givers give mercy.
• Even unchurched people will bring their kids where their kids want to go if their kids want to go there.
• People matter to God. (He says that a lot.)

An example in a recent lesson

I thought it might be helpful to close this article with an example of a repeated phrase taken from a recent Sunday School lesson that I have written. I didn't have to look at many lessons to find an example. The first one I looked at had this use of the repeated phrase: The lesson is from Genesis 12.

What do we learn about Abraham from the first three words in verse 4?¹

Abraham was characterized by instant obedience. God spoke and he moved. Can you think of other examples in the Bible when God spoke and someone moved?

Can you think of opposite examples–when God spoke and someone hesitated?²

How do you respond when you sense God is calling you to do something? Would you say it is instant obedience, or something less?

What are the benefits to us of following God in instant obedience?

What does a lack of instant obedience cost us?

Footnotes:

1. Instant obedience is the key phrase.

2. Jonah is one classic example. Another is when Israel didn’t want to enter Canaan at Kadesh. They later changed their minds and wanted to go in, but it was too late.

Once we discover this key idea and distill it into a repeated phrase, there are a handful of questions we can ask over and again every week about a million topics. The above example is on being a person of instant obedience. Suppose the topic is becoming a person of faith and confidence. The questions might look like this:

1. What is the benefit of being a person of faith and confidence?
2. What does lack of faith and confidence cost us?
3. What keeps us from being people of faith and confidence?
4. How can we become people of faith and confidence?
5. Who are some examples of people you know that are marked by faith and confidence?
6. What are some examples of people who limited their potential by not having any faith and confidence. No gossiping, but do you have any stories like that?
7. What is the relationship between faith and confidence and the John 10.10 abundant life that Jesus promised? Can you have one without the other?
8. Imagine a world where everyone was full of faith and confidence. . . what would that look like?

By the way, if you would like access to lessons that make liberal use of the repeated phrase, see www.joshhunt.com/sunday-school.htm

Conclusion

If you would teach and make it stick, make liberal use of the repeated phrase.

We grow in Christ as we came to Christ

We grow in Christ as we come to Christ.

We must believe.

For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. Romans 10:10 (NIV)

We enter into a relationship with Christ through believing and we grow by faith.

We must surrender to Christ as Lord

If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. John 15:10 (NIV)

There is no salvation without surrendering to Christ as Lord. We grow in Christ as we embrace the fact that He is Lord and I am not. He is God and I am not. He is Master; I am servant.

We must repent

Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, Acts 3:19 (NIV)

Repentance means to turn around. We turn around once in an experience known as salvation. We spend the rest of our lives turning more and more toward Him.

We grow as we are saved. One more. Until recently, I never noticed this one:

We must confess

That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. Romans 10:9-10 (NIV)

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9 (NIV)

Confession is a key part of salvation. We must say it out loud. No secret Christians.

Confession is also a key part of discipleship. If we are to grow in Christ we must say the truth out loud. This is why I believe in discussion oriented teaching. This is why I write Good Questions. Because people are not changed by merely listening to the truth; they must confess the truth.

How are we changed?

I am shocked by how much discussion there is about this these days. As if it were some mystery. We are transformed by the renewing of our minds. The truth sets us free. But, we must confess the truth to be changed by it. What we say is as important as what we hear.

Jesus talked about this. "Nothing outside a man can make him 'unclean' by going into him. Rather, it is what comes out of a man that makes him 'unclean.'" Mark 7:15-16 (NIV) If you would make people clean, lead them to say the truth. Lead them to confess.

This is why Jesus asked Peter, "Who do you say that I am?" Jesus knew that when Peter confessed the truth--said it out loud, he would be changed by it.

If you would teach people to live the disciples life, lead them to confess the truth. Ask Good Questions that lead them to not only hear the truth, but to say the truth. As they say the truth, they will be changed by it. Whatever comes out of them makes them clean. Lead them to confess the truth.

If you would lead people into greater faith and confidence, create a conversation that leads them to say, "God is in control; He will work it out."

If you want people to embrace forgiveness, lead them to confess, "I have confessed my sins to God and believe that He has forgiven me of all my sins."

If you would create people who are givers, lead them to say, "It is more blessed to give than to receive."

We are changed by what we say more than what we hear. Lead people to say the truth and be changed by it.

My best friends attend my group

Here is a fun one. I asked teachers to guess how many people in your group would say, “My best friends attend this group.” Again rapidly growing groups were more than twice as likely (105%) to be in the top tier—having 5 or more best friends attending their group. What do we learn from this? Rapidly growing classes are groups of tightly-knit best friends. It also puts to rest the myth that non-growing groups are relationally closer. People sometimes fear outreach because they think it will disrupt existing friendships. The opposite is true. Relationships are better in growing groups.

Cell phones and class growth

I asked how many members’ phone numbers the teacher has programmed into his or cell phone. My suspicion was this. The growing groups would likely have more phone numbers programmed into their cell phone because they contact their group on a regular basis. They have made it easy on themselves to call members and say, “Let’s go get a pizza!” Turns out, my suspicion was right. Rapidly growing classes were more than twice as likely (112%) to have 10 or more class members’ phone numbers programmed into their cells.




It would be interesting to ask about how many potential members’ phone numbers the teacher has as well as to ask about email address, Facebook friends and so forth. Based on this data alone, it is not hard to guess.

Note: this is not based on a scientifically randomized survey. Rather it is based on a survey of people who volunteered to participate.

Chapter Nine: Applications for Pastors

Imagine a world where growing groups was normal. Imagine a world where the normal thing for the normal group in the normal church under normal circumstances was to grow. It was not unusual or noteworthy; it was expected because that is what usually happened.

Imagine in this world some group leaders sit down to have lunch and swap stories. A young guy speaks up. He has just started leading a group and is a little nervous. "How do you guys do it?" he asks the more senior leaders. "I want my group to grow but I am not sure how."

"Just work the plan." A guy in his thirties says. "I have grown my group through parties. We have a party every month. I have some ladies who do a great job of putting everything together. There are some guys that do some calling for me. I try to help as well, but preparing the lesson each week keeps me busy, so I try to get as many people involved as I can."

"It is real simple," says a lady in the group. "We just go to Pizza Hut every Sunday after church—you know, the one right next door. I wander around the auditorium before the service starts looking for anyone I have not seen before. I invite them out for Pizza. We offer to buy. We have started like five groups in the last six years and all we do is invite people to pizza every week."

"Our deal is Chinese food on Sunday night." Another chimes in. "One a month we all go out for Chinese food. We all order off the menu, get one helping of what we order, set our plate on the table and then eat family style. We can all get a variety that way. We try to invite members who have been absent from the group, as well as recent visitors to the church. Nine times out of ten, if we get them in for Chinese, the show up for class. [Note: the essential fact in each of these cases is a true story.]

The conversation goes on and on like this. Imagine this is normal. That is my dream, my prayer, the guiding obsession of my life. Here is what I know about this dream: we won't get there without pastors. Group leaders don't get there on their own; they are lead by pastors. They don't get there because they read books on What Makes Groups Grow. They are led by pastors. It can become normal in your church for groups to grow, but it will require leadership on the part of the pastors of your church.

Notice, I said, "pastors"—plural. Leading by example needs to be done by all of the pastors. Cheerleading is mostly done by the Senior pastor. Training and rewarding will most likely be done by the Small Group Pastor. Let's talk about each one of these.

 

Lead by example

Bill Hybels says, "The leader must embody the vision." Growing groups is not the only way to grow a church. But, if you are going to grow your church through growing groups, the leaders must embody the vision.

I have a friend, Lance Witt that was in charge of groups at Rick Warren's Saddleback Church until he moved in the Executive Pastor role. He has told me about how when Rick got in a group, group life skyrocketed. But just as important as Rick getting in a group was that Rick began to talk about his group in his messages. By doing so, he raised the value of group life and it began to get into the dna of the church life at Saddleback. People began to think, "if it's important for someone as busy as Rick Warren, maybe it should be important for me." As the leader embodies the vision of small groups, the people get it.

Andy Stanley champion closed groups. Once a group gets started, newcomers are not allowed to come. (I am not sure they have an armed guard at the door preventing them; perhaps I should say newcomers are not encouraged to attend.) They have grown a huge small group system on closed small groups. They have a publically stated goal of having 50,000 in closed small groups by 1010.

It is easy to see the success at Northpoint and think that closed groups are the answer. But, if you look around at other churches, you will soon find that their closed group system is the exception, not the rule. I have had quite a bit of experience with closed groups and I can't figure out how they make it work. In my experience we start with 12 and 12 weeks later we have 5. That is OK because it was a 12 week class and we start over again next semester with 12 again. But, they have found a way to sustain these groups for 18 months to 2 years. Then they encourage the groups to multiply.

If you listen to Andy you will get the idea that closed groups are the key. He is persuasive in his argument that in closed group trust can develop, people really open up over time and people really get close. You listen for a while and you will be persuaded. But, just as great athletes don't always really know what made them great, sometimes great churches don't really know what made them great. I don't think it is the closed group system at all.

I have caught Andy five times saying essentially the same thing that is a better explanation as to why their small groups are working. Five times I have heard Andy say something like, "I am in a group that is committed to doubling; I want you to be in a group that is committed to doubling." I quoted one of these examples back on page ***********.

The reason groups are working at Northpoint is not because they are closed. It is because the Senior pastor stands up about twice a year in the pulpit and says, "I am in a group; I want you to be in a group." The leader must embody the vision.

Johnny Hunt is another example of a pastor that leads by example. In a world where many pundits are claiming the day of the Sunday School is over, he has seen his Sunday School grow from **************. His Minister of Education has written a coupel of great books on group life including Sunday School in HD. At Woodstock, they live it you. Johnny Hunt's example and cheerleading are a real key. He spoke at my home church last year and I heard him share about how he personally attends a Sunday School class every week. He has plenty of responsibilities that could provide and adequate excuse—including serving as the President of the Southern Baptist Convention, but he takes time to attend a group each week. His Minister of Education, Allan Taylor speaks of the importance of this: "How can the pastor champion the cause of Sunday School? I think it starts by joining and attending a Sunday School class himself. His example will send and unequivocal message to the entire congregation that Sunday School is important around here."

Pastor Larry Osborn champions sermon based groups in this excellent book, Sticky Church. Groups are encouraged to get together and talk about the pastor. You might be thinking, "They do that at my church already!" In this case, what they mean is they encourage people to talk about how to apply the pastor's sermons to their lives. While the idea of sermon-based groups is a good one, I don't think you can attribute their success to sermon-based groups. Larry Osborne leads North Coast Church in Vista, CA. He is a pioneer in the multi-site movement, and as such, has led his church to have twenty weekend services with 7,000 attending. Much of the credit must go to Larry Osborn's leading by example, not to the specific strategy of sermon-based groups. In an Outreach magazine article, he says, "Involve all key leaders. Our lay leadership and staff are expected to be in a Growth Group. If your key leaders are too busy to be in a small group, it sends the message that small groups are an extra credit offering for those with time on their hands.

Nelson Searcy is the pastor of The Journey in New York City. He believes in semester by semester groups. He has an excellent book on the subject called Activate. They have more people attending groups than they have attending worship. But, I don't think the success can be attributed to the semester by semester approach so much as the success can be attributed to the pastor and staff leading by example. His words: "Most leader pastors share a common temptation when it comes to small groups: They want to turn the temptation over to someone else. They want to give it to a dedicated staff specialist so they don't have to deal with it. We know! In theory this doesn't sound like a bad idea. But the truth is, handing the system off too early is the worst thing a pastor can do for the small group system. As a matter of fact, when it comes to implementing a successful small group system, every single person has to be involved, starting with the top."

Pastor, if you would lead your groups to grow, get in a group. Do what Bill Hybels says, "The leader must embody the vision." But, being in a group is not enough. There are three more things the pastor and staff must do.

 

Cheerleading

Which do you think would make more difference, the pastor attending a group, or the pastor cheerleading group life? I would have thought it would be the pastor attending the group, but again I would have been wrong. The pastor attending a group does matter. Churches where the pastor attends a group are more likely to be growing, but what really makes the difference is the pastor cheerleading groups. Churches where the pastor regularly cheerleads group life are nearly twice as likely (78%) to be growing as those where the pastor does not cheerlead group life.

As you might expect, where a pastor does both, we get the best results:

At Northpoint, they build this cheerleading into the calendar. Every January and May Andy Stanley recasts the vision for group life. Visions don't stick. They have to be repeated continuously.

 

Training

Training is a third thing that pastors can do to help groups grow. Churches that provide training for their group leaders are more likely to be growing.

What do teachers need to be trained in? I recommend training teachers in the things that predict growth:

•     Faith and confidence

•     Spiritual vibrancy

•     People skills

•     Team-building skills

•     Hospitality skills

•     Outreach strategies. (Could be visitation, hospitality, life-style evangelism or some other strategy.)

•     Teaching skills

As you can see, there are lots of areas in which group leaders need to be trained. Effective small group churches have an effective on-going training program. Andy Anderson said, "Sunday School leader training, in my estimation is the most important meeting in the church. If you use this meeting correctly, it will revolutionize the church."

My friend, Dr. Steve Parr is head of Evangelism Ministries for the Georgia Baptist Convention and was formerly head of Open Groups for the Georgia Baptist Convetion. He has done a great deal of research on the Baptist churches in Georgia. He points out that 2/3s of Southern Baptist Sunday Schools are not growing, while 1/3 are growing. What makes the difference? Steve Parr's research suggests that, "one of the crucial differences relates to training."

What does Steve base this on? The Georgia Baptist Convention did a study of the fifty fastest growing churches in Georgia. All but one—98% reported a systematic approach to leader training. 58% of the churches I surveyed had training once a year or less. There is a good reason why many of our churches are not doing well. People do what we train them to do.

Allan Taylor basis his belief in the importance of training on his experience as a football coach. "When I coached High School football, I would not even entertain the idea that some of my players would miss practice. They were expected to be there, an only sickness or family death would excuse them." Allan expects pretty much the same thing of his teachers.

 

Can training be overdone?

This is an area, however where balance and creativity are in order. People are busy. Larry Osborn talks about this in Sticky Church. He says the biggest mistake they made in their early days was to over-train. They wanted their small group leaders to be the best trained small group leaders anywhere. While that sounds good on the surface, their people had lives. They learned to get creative.

They still have a fall training event, but it is an evening instead of an all day event. They provide CDs for group leaders to listen to so they can get training on the run—while they are driving or doing dishes or, well, running. Here is their most creative idea. They do some of their training on Sunday morning during the worship service. Larry Osborn admits not being too excited about this at first, but he has come around to the idea. While he is preaching in one room, the teachers are in another room being trained. I have talked to a number of churches that do this on an annual basis. They all report the same thing. If they offer training, say, on a Friday night or Saturday morning, they are lucky to get half their leaders there. When they do it on Sunday morning, pretty much everyone shows up.

At Larry Osborn's North Coast church, much of their training is need-based. That is, when a leader runs into a bump, they come up with a resource to help them get around it, or provide coaching to deal with it. Training is more on a need to know basis.

At Northpoint, Andy Stanley and Bill Willits recommend that we "train less for more." "To train less for more" means we narrow the scope of what we train our leaders on, so we can say more about the things that matter most." In the case of Northpoint, the things that matter most for small group leaders can be reduced to six things:

•     Think life change. The goal is not to make smarter sinners. The goal is to make disciples.

•     Cultivate relationships. Small groups are all about creating community.

•     Promote participation. Leaders are to be navigators of discussion, not teachers of curriculum.

•     Replace yourself. Northpoint encourages every group to have an apprentice.

•     Provide care. The primary way they provide care at Northpoint is not through a team of professionals so much as through small groups.

•     Multiply influence. Group multiplication allows leaders to impact lives than they could any other way. Imagine a group that multiplies every 18 months. Consider the following chart:

Year	# of people
Now	12
1.5	24
3	48
4.5	96
6	192
7.5	384
9	768
10.5	1536

 

Having identified these main 6 things they want small group leaders to know, they say them over and over and over again. In training meetings and personal conversations with group leaders they hammer away at these six things, year after year.

Nelson Searcy agrees with this "less is more" approach. "We've found that a shorter training session can actually be significantly more effective than a longer session." They do half-day training sessions at the beginning of each semester and supplement that with electronic training each week.

Finding a way to train effectively is difficult. These are busy days. Still, people need it and effective churches find a way to get it done. There is one more thing that group leaders desperately need from their leaders.

 

Rewarding

Michael Leboeuf wrote a business classic called, The Greatest Management Principle in the World. What was the greatest management principle in the world? Here it is in a sentence: whatever gets rewarded gets done. We don't get what we want, what we ask for, or what we hope for. Whatever gets rewarded gets done.

John Maxwell talks about this in The 360 Degree Leader. "It doesn't matter if the thing that gets rewarded is positive or negative. Whatever actions leaders reward will be repeated."

Extensive research bears this out. Healthstream Research conducted over 200,000 interviews over ten years with managers and their employees around the world. Here are a few of their findings:

•     In response to the question, "My organization recognizes excellence," the organizations that scored in the lowest fourth overall had an average return on equity (ROE) of 2.4% whereas those that scored in the top fourth had an average ROE of 8.7%.

•     The teams and offices rated most highly by employees in response to, "My manager does a good job of recognizing employee contributions," also typically place in the top scores for customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction, and retention.

•     Of the people who report the highest moral at work, 94.4% agree that the managers at effective in recognition. In contrast, 56% of employees who report low morale give their manager a failing grade on recognition, and only 2.4% of have low morale say they have a boss who is great at recognition.

 

How to rewarding group leaders

I saw a great example of rewarding group leaders through recognition at a Leadership Appreciation Dinner in Louisville, KY. Hal Pettigrew had me in to speak at this annual event. Hal had really done it right. They had awards for just about everyone. Everyone whose group grew any at all got a certificate. If you had 10.1 last year and 10.2 this year you received an award.

They had awards for the fastest growing groups, for the groups that sent out the most workers, and for the groups that saw the most people accept Christ. (Children's groups tended to do the best at this.) And, Hal didn't recognize just the leaders, the whole team received recognition. They were given a bag a candy and told to celebrate with the entire group. The idea was to create lots of winners.

One award really got my attention. It was the teachers' award—nominated and elected by the teachers themselves. The lady who won was and elderly lady who had been teaching forever. I was sitting nearby and watched her as she sat down from receiving the award. She rubbed her hand slowly back and forth across the piece of paper that read, "Teacher of the Year." I could hear her repeat quietly, "I can't believe they did this for me. I just can't believe it. No one has ever done anything like this before."

She kept saying this over and over softly to herself, rubbing her hand back and forth across the piece of paper.

I have a guess. It is only a guess; I can't prove it. When she dies and her kids rummage through her belongings, they are going to find that piece of paper. She will keep it the rest of her life.

It was just a piece of paper—and acknowledgement of work well done. But, she will keep it the rest of her life.

Such is the value of acknowledgement, and it is one of the primary things we do to reward.

An annual appreciation banquet is just one way to reward your leaders. There are a million ways. Richard King, Minister of Education at First Baptist, Las Cruces, NM is fond of passing out Dairy Queen gift cards. They are fairly inexpensive and he passes out lots of them.

A well-worded email, a pat on the back, or some tangible gift can all be used to reward.

Some reward ought to be for everyone—an acknowledgment of work well done. We need to say thank you to everyone for the work they do.

Some rewards are more specialized—for work really well done. Reward the groups that are growing. Get em on the stage. Give em an atta boy!

Some rewards are for behavior, while others can be for results. If a group has a party and invites every member and every prospect, acknowledge and thank them even if they didn't get any new comers this time. This is the time they especially need acknowledgement. When the party goes really well, the success of the party is its own reward. When no one shows up, it is a good idea to say, "Thank for putting in the effort; hang in there, the fruit will come."

All this talk of reward might strike you as a bit secular or worldly. It is not. God rewards. We will talk about this more later. You might dig it out for yourself. There are a lot of verses that speak to the idea that God rewards.

 

Summary

If you are a pastor, there are four things you can do to help your groups grow:

• Lead by example. Model what you want to see done.

• Be your groups' biggest cheerleader

• Provide training that equips teachers in the skills discussed in this book.

• Reward. Remember: whatever gets rewarded gets done.

 

We turn now to some final thoughts and applications for teachers.

Why good questions are sticky

Good Questions are sticky for one simple reason.

People learn more from what they say than from what they hear.

This is very easy to test for yourself. Next time you are in a group ask yourself a simple question when you are finished with class. What do I remember from today's discussion? If you participated in the discussion at all you probably remember far more of what you said than from what you heard.

If we can lead people through a series of Good Questions to say the truth, they will remember the truth. I heard of a Barna study recently that revealed most people can't remember the main idea of a sermon 2 hours after they hear it. Barna didn't say this but I will bet there is one exception.

The preacher. The preacher will remember what he said because we all remember far more of what we say than what we hear.

Jesus employed questions a number of times. One example is when he asked the disciples, "Who do the people say that I am?" It is not like he didn't know. He asked because he knew that when he led Peter to declare, "You are the Christ the son of the living God," Peter was going to believe and remember and be changed by the truth that Jesus is the Christ the Son of the living God.

People remember and are changed by what they say more than what they hear. Jesus taught that what comes out of a man's mouth makes him clean or unclean. (Mark 7.18)

Let's say you want to teach people the first of the four spiritual laws: God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. You want them to get it so you tell them: God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. You tell them and 80 percent will forget in two hours. In 24 hours all will have forgotten.

What if, instead of telling them, you lead them through a series of questions so that the final they blurt out the answer: "Because God loves me and has a wonderful plan for my life, that's why!"

Whatever questions you asked to get him to that point was a Good Question. That is a sticky lesson. That is the kind of question I try to ask every week in Good Questions Have Groups talking.

And people remember. The lessons sticks. People remember more from what they say than from what they hear.

New Wineskins -- Cowboy church

Jesus taught that is the responsibility of every generation to reinvent the wineskins--the forms that hold the gospel. We are never to tinker with the wine of the gospel itself. We must be constantly creating new wineskins.

"No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. (22) And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, he pours new wine into new wineskins." Mark 2:21-22 (NIV)

This is true in every arena of life. Your teenager will not want to drive his grandfather's Oldsmobile. Successful businesses reinvent themselves or face inevitable failure.

The church I grew up in--First Baptist Church, Clovis, NM saw a couple of reinventions. One of them came in the wake of a Lay Witness Mission. This was a meeting where people of all age groups came to our church for the weekend. There were testimonies and small groups and a little bit recreation. They idea was for us to just rub shoulders with these kids. These kids were not like the kids in our youth groups. They were totally sold out to God, and happy to be totally sold out to God. This was a totally new concept for me. Somehow seeing kids my age who were totally sold out to God did something for that sitting in church my entire life had not done. In one weekend, I was changed, and the church was reinvented.

By the way, I have had a dream of a similar kind of meeting targeted toward reinventing the Sunday School. The idea would be to contact your State Convention and see if you could get the names of Sunday School teachers who were getting it done. Have them come and hang out with your Sunday School teachers for the weekend. Get them to share their testimonies, tell stories and generally just hang out.

One of the reasons I believe so strongly that it is possible for groups to double is that I have heard the testimonies of hundreds of groups that have doubled. Perhaps you should invite a dozen or so growing group leaders into your church for the weekend--see what happens.

The second new wineskin back at FBC Clovis had to do with a Richard Hogue Revival. They had the first contemporary music band I had ever heard. Afterwards, we got a band of our own and starting playing some of their songs. Church was different now. It was reinvented now. The wine had been poured into new wineskins.

Introducing the Cowboy Church Movement

One more example of new wineskins in our day: the Cowboy Church Movement. Here is a bit about the history of Cowboy Churches from http://www.texasfcc.org/content.cfm?id=2001

In January 2000, Ron and his wife Jane started The Cowboy Church of Ellis County in Waxahachie Texas and served as pastor there for 15 months. The Cowboy Church of Ellis County is considered the “flagship” cowboy church and recently completed construction on it’s second sanctuary to seat the 1800 people that attend its Sunday morning worship service.

From this humble beginning, the movement is spreading like wildfire. I have had several ask me in the last few weeks, "What do you make of the Cowboy Church Movement?"

Jim Gatliff of Hunt Baptist Association (gotta love that name!) told me last week that there are more than 100 Cowboy Churches in Texas alone, and the movement is quickly spreading past Texas. The top 4 churches with the most baptisms were all Cowboy Churches. Who'd a thunk it!!

Oh, one more odd thing--a lot of the people who attend Cowboy Churches. . . they are not cowboys! Not real cowboys any way. They just like wearing hats and boots and talking cowboy. Its a whole different language. Its a whole different world.

Four things that make Cowboy Churches work, besides the work of the Holy Spirit, which is always the most important thing:

• The work in a previously connected culture. People know each other in this culture. Go to you average new suburbs and no one know anyone. Cowboys are connected. And, they are wired to. They use email and texting to help get a crowd. It wasn't that hard for Ron Nolen to get 300 people to show up for that first meeting.
• Cowboy churches attract kids who attract their parents. A common activity in a cowboy church is to do buckouts, play days, and ranch rodeos.
• Cowboy churches tend to build where land is cheap. They are happy with a somewhat stark metal building. Building costs don't slow them down. It is hard to start 100 churches in 8 years if this is not the case.
• Country music. 40 million Americans call a country music station home. The the country gospel/ cowboy music appeals to this crowd.

Cowboy churches are but one example of a new thing God is doing. What is he doing in your ministry?

For more on Cowboy churches, here are a few sites to look at:
http://www.onmission.com/site/c.cnKHIPNuEoG/b.829361/k.7C7F/Cowboy_churches_corral_country_folks.htm
http://www.texasfcc.org
http://www.cowboychurchministries.org
http://www.cowboychurch.net/index.html

Is God doing a new thing in your world?

Teach with depth

The number one complaint I hear about Sunday School is this: there is no depth. People often say it this way: those are just Sunday School answers.

People want to hear things they have never heard before. Yet, we must be faithful to the old gospel.

People want to think things they have never thought before. Yet, again, we are faithful to an old book.

People want to be challenged to think, to ponder, to consider, to argue.

Think of the opposite: if you don't learn anything new, why bother coming? Apparently, a LOT of people ask that question.

And, there is plenty of depth in our old Book. His mercies are new every morning. You can study it your whole life and only skim the surface.

Here are some ideas to create depth in your lessons:

What is the balancing truth?

The truth is nearly always a midpoint between two extremes. People tend to wander in one direction or the other. For example: Is Christian living active or passive? Is it working and striving and straining, or is it letting go and letting God? is it getting out of the way and letting God live his life through me? If someone gets all Sunday School answery on the passive side with the let go and let God approach, ask them what they do with these verses: [emphasis added]

Book	Description	Context
NIV	Ac 24:16	16 So I strive always to keep my conscience clear before God and man.
NIV	1Ti 4:10	10 (and for this we labor and strive), that we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, and especially of those who believe.

NIV	Php 3:12	12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.

If they go the other way, ask them what they do with this verse:

Book	Description	Context
NIV	Gal 2:20	20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

And wrap it up with this one, that has both balancing truths:

Book	Description	Context
NIV	Col 1:29	29 To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.

Here is the idea. Ask the question: is Christian living about working hard, striving, straining, etc? If they say yes, answer back with Galatians 2.20. If they say no, answer back with any of the first three verses. Whatever they say, respond with: "respectfully, I disagree." If you know them really well, you can say it more directly: "respectfully, I think yu are wrong." (I am not actually sure how respectful that is! Get them thinking. Get them talking. Get them arguing.

I discuss this more in my free e-book: Good Question have groups talking www.joshhunt.com/good.pdf and try to include these kinds of questions in every lesson. See www.joshhunt.com

What have the masters said?

One of the things I like about Lifeway's Explore the Bible Series is that it is so easy to supplement the curriculum with a library of the great writers--living and dead--who have spoken. When you are studying James, pick up a couple of commentaries on James. It doesn't cost that much to get a couple of volumes. Whole sets of commentaries will be expensive.

I do this when I teach our small group that meets on Wednesday night. I use my own questions, but I supplement the questions by reading one or more commentaries before each week's session. I want to bring something new to the table. I want to bring something fresh. I want my people to drink from a living stream, not from the dead sea.

The great teachers I know are lovers of books. They are always bringing fresh insights from the masters. They stand in sharp contrast to the man who says, "I have not consulted any man's wisdom; I have only prayed and read and sought the mind of God." Sounds good, in a way. Here is my question: why doesn't it interest you what God has said through the greatest minds and warmest hearts that have graced Christendom?

As I write my lesson each week, I include quotes from some of the great commentaries. Here are a few of my favorite:

• John Macarthur

• Warren Wiersbe

• New American Commentary

• Holman Commentary

• Life Application Commentary

By the way, I prefer electronic books because of the ability to search and cross-reference books. I use WordSearch, but there are lots of good options out there.

Great teachers quote from the great teachers. It provides depth.

Teach sanctification as well as justification

How many lessons a year should be on justification (how to be saved) versus how many should be on sanctification (how to grow in Christ)?

My answer: we need more lessons on how to grow in Christ. Again, this is one of the nice thing about following an outline like the Lifeway's Explore the Bible. You just take one chapter after the next and leave the ratio up to God. My experience has been, too many lessons on how to be saved, how to know you are saved, how to tell others to be saved, how to be redeemed, how to be forgiven, etc. We need need more lessons on how to live the John 10.10, fruit of the Spirit life. How to live a life that is a little more loving, a little more joyful, a little more at peace, a little less worried, a little less anxious.

We need to teach people to drink deeply from the well. So, next time you teach, tell them something they have not heard before. Cause them to think something they have never thought about before.

Thoughts on Jerry Rankin Retiring.

The number of new churches each year has had a 13X increase in the 16 years Rankin has been president.

Yet there has always been a need to track progress. When Rankin took over leadership of the IMB in 1993, the Southern Baptist mission organization saw nearly 4,000 missionaries help start more than 2,000 churches in 142 countries. Last year more than 5,500 IMB missionaries helped plant nearly 27,000 churches and engage 101 new people groups for a total of 1,190 engaged people groups. http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=31262

This is the power of multiplication.

This has been done, to a large degree, through joining God in what God is doing through Church Planting Movements. These lay led small groups are turning the world upside down through the power of multiplication. Andy Stanley is the the poster child for multiplying small groups in America.

We went from 2000 to 27,000 in the last 16 years. Let's put another zero (270,000) in the next 16 years!

What makes a great lesson?

As I was driving tonight, I got to thinking about, "What does a really good lesson consist of?"

Solid Biblical content/ depth

The number one complaint I hear about lessons is "lack of depth". People want to learn something. They want to hear something they have not heard before. In my lessons, I try to include quotes from some of the greatest Bible scholars around--at least the ones who are available in WordSearch! Great teachers are always investing in great books, scanning the Internet and doing whatever they can to bring some depth to the table. Crummy teachers give Sunday School answers.

Humor

I love to laugh. In a healthy group, the group will provide the humor. It is not such a bad idea to try to find some funny stories in every lesson. Obviously, we want the story to relate to the text and the point of today's lesson. One of the many reasons I like John Ortberg is he nearly always sprinkles a little humor into his messages. Just a spoon full of sugar helps the medicine go down, and just a bit of humor makes every group better. I just ordered a couple more books so I can include good funny stories in every lesson.

Here is one I found today:

A third-grade Sunday school teacher was uneasy about the lesson "Thou shalt not commit adultery." By way of introduction she asked, "Would someone please explain what adultery means?"

A young sage answered matter-of-factly, "Adultery is when a kid lies about his age."

Jonathan R. Mutchler

1001 Quotes, Illustrations, and Humorous Stories: For Preachers, Teachers, and Writers.

Personal application

Big question: what do you want me to do about what I heard today? Our goal is not to make smarter sinners, but to teach people to live the John 10.10 abundant Christian life. Not, "teaching them everything I have commanded you" but, "Teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you." Good lessons have lots of take-home value--something for me to do this week to make me a little more like Christ.

Lots of participation

In an ideal class, everyone participates--more or less evenly. No one is completely silent, and no one dominates the conversation. I am working an experiment in my own group where I pass out the lessons to each participant and have them take turns asking the questions. They can answer or not. It is going pretty well.

These are the things I try to include in my lessons. What do you think? What goes into a great lesson. Answer on Facebook! I will post this note and you can answer there!

To participate in the latest survey: http://www.surveygizmo.com/s/172047/fall-2009-teacher-survey

To be removed from this list, see www.joshhunt.com/signup.htm

Discussion Groups send out more workers

Need more workers? Get your groups talking! Discussion groups are almost twice as likely to send out six workers or more in the past year.

How many workers has your group sent out in the past year? Answers from those using mostly lecture as a method of teaching. Notice the Orange slice:

How many workers has your group sent out in the past year? Answers from those using mostly discussion as a method of teaching. Notice the orange slice is nearly twice as big.

Discussion groups sent out more workers even though the groups themselves were much smaller:

What is the approximate average attendance of you group? Lecture groups:

What is the approximate average attendance of you group? Discussion groups:

Jesus said the harvest is plentiful, the workers are few. We need to all pray daily that God would raise up workers for the harvest. One other thing we can do is to encourage our groups to discuss rather than passively sit and soak. Discussion groups are about twice as likely to send out lots of workers.

If you would like help in getting your groups to discuss, consider providing Good Questions that have groups talking. See www.joshhunt.com for details.

To participat in the latest survey: http://www.surveygizmo.com/s/172047/fall-2009-teacher-survey

This is just Christian Living

"What you are talking about is not a Sunday School program; it is just Christian living."

I was flattered and encouraged by this comment at a recent conference. I have really been leaning into this perspective as I have done seminars ever sense. I don't talk about a Sunday School program; I just talk about how to live the Christian life.

Not that I talk about all of the Christian life. I had someone say to me once, "You talked for three hours and you never said anything about prayer." True. And, there are some more things I didn't say too much about. I didn't say too much about how you ought to be saved, though I certainly believe it is true. I believe you ought to be in the habit of starting your day with the Bible on your lap, but I didn't say too much about that. I believe you ought to forgive everyone you have to forgive. There are a whole lot of things we could talk about but are not. But what we do talk about will not be a Sunday School program. It will simply be how to live the Christian life.

I believe if you live the Christian life the way the Bible talks about here, you will double your class in two years or less. If your group is not doubling every two years or less, there is a good chance you are not living the Christian life as we describe here. It just comes down to Christian living.

Again, there is a good part of Christian living we are not going to talk about--being saved, living a Spirit-filled life, starting the day with the Bible on our lap, and so forth. Some important things we will assume.

"Get into the habit of inviting guests home for dinner." Romans 12.13 (TLB)

Let me draw your attention to a number of things about this verse through the use of a few questions.

First, what is the nature of the language of this verse? Is this a proverb, prophecy, parable or command?

It is a command, right? As surely as God has commanded us to pray or give, or serve, or do anything else, God has commanded us to get into the habit of inviting guests home for dinner.

Notice it is a habit. The word habit is actually not in the Greek. Kenneth Taylor put it in there to emphasize that this is a present tense verb, which, in the Greek, emphasized a linear action. It is not something we do one time and we are done. We do it over and again. It is a lifestyle. It is a habit. It is the way the Christian life is lived.

Christian living is not done all alone. It is not done sitting in straight rows watching the same events happen on the same stage. We grow as we are joined together Ephesians 2.21, 4.16. The Christian life is a very connected life. It is in my home and in your home and in my business and in yours.

I draw your attention to the word invite. What can you expect to happen when you invite guests home for dinner?

Well, if you have not done this, you might think they will come. And, some will. But, they won't all come. In my experience you will have to invite three or four people for every person that shows up. You can't do anything about whether they come. All you are responsible for is inviting.

Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. 1 Peter 4:9 (NIV)

Again, what is the nature of the language of this verse?

It is a command. Our holy, sovereign, Lord, Boss and God has commanded us to offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.

We are commanded to offer. You can't control whether or not the come. Offer, offer, offer.

Next question: how are we to offer hospitality?

Without grumbling.

Do you have any idea why Peter might have added, "Without grumbling"?

I can think of at least two reasons:

1. All good ideas degenerate into work. When we have people over, as we will Friday night, my wife likes to have the house clean. Somebody has to make the dessert, vacuum the floor, clean the bathroom and so forth. If you have not done this, you have no idea how much trouble it is to have fun.
2. Some people are kind of hard to love. Some times we will invite them and they will come and it will be fun and all is well. But, sometimes we will invite them and they will be boring. Sometimes they will be obnoxious. Sometimes they will be irritating. Sometimes they will be late. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.

We ought therefore to show hospitality to such men so that we may work together for the truth. 3 John 1:8 (NIV)

We ought to show hospitality. It is not exactly an imperative, but it is something we ought to do. This is not just mentioned once, but is a theme of the New Testament. New Testament living is all about hospitality

I draw your attention to the words, "work together." Ten years of working with group leaders has taught me that often times our teachers are not much into this. They are into teaching. they are into reading and studying. Teachers do not tend to be the funnest people in the room. They tend to be a bit bookish. They tend to be a bit cerebral.

Work together implies we want to get a whole team of people helping with this. We want to get

• Inreach leaders to invite every member
• Outreach leaders to invite every prospect
• Fellowship leaders to plan the party
• A class leader who will serve as over all organizer and see that everything happens as it should

The goal is not for you as teacher to do the work of ten men; it is to get ten men (or women) in the work.

When you invite people for lunch or dinner, don't invite only your friends, Luke 14:12 (GW)

This one is the real kicker. I wonder. Have you ever had a lunch or dinner and invited only your friends? I think all of us have. Jesus told us to live different lives. He told us to live inviting lives. He wants us to form a habit that each time we have a lunch or dinner we think about inviting and including someone who is not a part of the group.

I have reduced it to a formula: invite every member and every prospect to every fellowship every month. Don't just invite your friends. Invite people who are far from God. Invite some prospects. Invite some recent visitors to your church. Invite some absentees from you class. Invite. Invite. Invite. Keeping inviting them to the party. Invite them to the dinner. Invite, invite, invite, and you can double your class in two years or less.

But, the formula is not a Sunday School program; it is just Christian living.