{"id":490,"date":"2012-03-06T15:30:50","date_gmt":"2012-03-06T20:30:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/faithkids\/?p=490"},"modified":"2014-07-22T11:08:23","modified_gmt":"2014-07-22T15:08:23","slug":"dont-waste-your-class","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/faithkids\/dont-waste-your-class\/","title":{"rendered":"Don\u2019t Waste Your Class"},"content":{"rendered":"

John Piper has immortalized a Florida couple who probably never suspected that, when Reader\u2019s Digest used them as an example of how Americans could take early retirement, they would be held up for the evangelical community as an example of how to waste the life God has given you. \u00a0In his book Don\u2019t Waste Your Life<\/em>, Piper quotes a Reader\u2019s Digest article about a couple who took early retirement to collect seashells at the beach.<\/p>\n

He concludes the illustration with these words:<\/p>\n

At first, when I read it I thought it might be a joke.\u00a0 A spoof on the American Dream.\u00a0 But it wasn\u2019t.\u00a0 Tragically, this was the dream:\u00a0 Come to the end of your life\u2014your one and only precious, God-given life\u2014and let the last great work of your life, before you give an account to your Creator, be this:\u00a0 playing softball and collecting shells.\u00a0 Picture them before Christ at the great day of judgment: \u00a0“Look, Lord. See my shells.”\u00a0 That is a tragedy. <\/em><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Sally Sells Seashells in Sunday School<\/strong><\/h2>\n

I\u2019d like to adapt this illustration to ask Christian teachers of children, \u201cHow are you using your time with the children God has entrusted you?\u201d\u00a0 Are you simply helping Tommy and Susie collect seashells\u2014things that really won\u2019t matter in the final judgment?\u00a0 Or, when children leave your classroom, could they honestly say that they have seen a glimpse of Christ that made them hunger and thirst for righteousness?<\/p>\n

I assume that any Christian reading this would deeply desire the second statement to be true of their class.\u00a0 In the ten years that I\u2019ve been involved in children\u2019s ministries, the majority of the seashells that I\u2019ve seen children collect during Sunday school were not the result of ill-intentioned <\/em><\/em>teachers, <\/em><\/em>but the result of unintentional <\/em><\/em><\/em><\/em>teachers. <\/em><\/em><\/em><\/em><\/p>\n

Strategy Squashes Seashells in Sunday School<\/strong><\/h2>\n

You have approximately one hour to present the glories of the eternal God and His plan for mankind to the children in your class in a way that will connect with their hearts.<\/p>\n

One puny hour.<\/p>\n

Many of them will go back to noise-filled environments where hardly a thought is given to God.\u00a0 But you have them for one precious, gift of an hour.\u00a0 How will you spend your time?\u00a0 How will you strategically use your time to maximize its impact?\u00a0 Let me offer some suggestions.<\/p>\n

Delegate.\u00a0 <\/strong>Assign portions of the class hour to any assistants you might have. One of them could teach a verse or a song.\u00a0 That assistant can put more energy into that small piece of your class hour than you could by yourself. So delegate!<\/p>\n

Relate.\u00a0 <\/strong>Use the beginning of your class, when children are still arriving, to build relationships with the kids.\u00a0 Have them draw a picture of their family and ask them about it.\u00a0 Help them with last week\u2019s memory verse.\u00a0 Engage them in some activity that points to the lesson.\u00a0 Or just play with them.\u00a0 Whatever you do, seize the time!<\/p>\n

Plan.\u00a0 <\/strong>Carefully map out \u00a0your lessons.\u00a0 The effort you put into planning for Sunday shows whether you\u2019re actually hoping God will use you, or whether you\u2019re only interested in getting through \u201cSunday as usual.\u201d<\/p>\n

Prune.<\/strong>\u00a0 For each class segment, ask yourself, \u201cWhy are we doing this?\u201d\u00a0 If it doesn\u2019t in some way help you accomplish your mission of connecting God\u2019s truth to children\u2019s hearts, prune it!<\/p>\n

Raise the stakes.\u00a0<\/strong> Seek a sense of urgency.\u00a0 Do you believe that what you have to share with your students from God\u2019s Word is actually important for them to know?\u00a0 Really?\u00a0 May God grant us teachers who stay on their knees until they sense the full urgency of their students\u2019 need for God!<\/p>\n

These are a few principles to help you make the most of your classtime.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If we’re not intentional in the ways we use the time we have with our students, we’ll miss opportunities to make a deep impression on their lives. Here are a few principles to help you make the most of your classtime.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[24,33],"tags":[38,50,37,40],"yoast_head":"\nDon\u2019t Waste Your Class - Faith Kids Connection<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/faithkids\/dont-waste-your-class\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Don\u2019t Waste Your Class - Faith Kids Connection\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"If we're not intentional in the ways we use the time we have with our students, we'll miss opportunities to make a deep impression on their lives. 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