Chapter 7: Go After People is go after people and the chapter is written by Allan Taylor a former football coach and former education minister at Woodstock Baptist Church. Taylor quotes Arthur Flake as saying Flake was Like a fiery football coach, admonishing the leaders of his day, “Prepare the Sunday school to go into action to reach the people. It is time to quit quibbling and dillydallying and get out into the homes and places of business and urge the people to join the Sunday School and attend the services of worship … Every Sunday school should observe a regular visitation program. Nothing else will take its place.” That not only spoke true in Flake’s day but today as well.
In this
final step of Flake’s Formula, Taylor writes
The purpose
of Flake’s previous four steps was to set-up the fifth and final step—reaching
people. The first four steps prepared the church for those they were about to
receive. These steps are unnecessary if there is no fifth step. Churches who
have practiced all five steps have found Sunday School to be vibrant, growing,
and effective in reaching new people. Flake’s Formula postures the church to be
more aggressive in evangelism.
Evangelism
in Today’s Sunday School
1. Sunday
School is the largest organization in the church.
2. Sunday
School meets at “prime time.”
3. Sunday
School is age graded.
Who in the
church will be most effective reaching millennials? Answer: millennials! Who in
the church will be most effective reaching baby boomers? Baby boomers! Who in
the church will be most effective reaching high schoolers? You guessed it! …
high schoolers.
4. Sunday
School is for all ages of people.
5. Sunday
School assimilates new people. We reach and keep people? With relationships. We don’t
reach people we don’t know and we seldom reach people we barely know. But we
can reach people when we have developed some relationship with them.
6. Sunday
School is an open group. The hardest time to attend church is the first time, and so it is
with Sunday School. The most difficult time to attend is the first time. in
“big church” we can hide as we blend in with the crowd but you can’t do that in
a small group. Don’t become a closed group. Reach people
7. Sunday
School affords everyone an opportunity to get involved. Everyone of your class members
can and should be involved in winning people to Jesus.
Then
Taylor writes about Six Essentials for an Evangelistic Sunday School
1. An evangelistic
Sunday School must have the example of an evangelistic pastor. Leading by example is the
greatest form of leadership. The challenge of pastoring has never been more
difficult and stressful. Pastors above all the church activities must be intensely
focused on seeing people saved. It is so encouraging for me to see nearly a
dozen people joining me on visitation. But it is even more encouraging whenever
I hear about classes leading other people to the Lord.
2. An
evangelistic Sunday School must have a clearly defined vision for evangelism. We have to keep “The main thing
is to keep the main thing, the main thing.”
“For God
did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world
through him.” (John 3:17)
- “For the Son of Man has come to
seek and to save the lost.” (Luke 19:10)
- “My food is to do the will of
him who sent me and to finish his work [of salvation].” (John 4:34)
- “I have come so that they may
have life and have it in abundance.” (John 10:10)
- “I have glorified you on the
earth by completing the work you gave me to do.” (John 17:4)
- “… He said, ‘It is finished.’”
(John 19:30)
3. An
evangelistic Sunday School must enlist teachers and leaders in alignment with
this vision. Coach
Taylor asked, “How can we expect to move the evangelistic ball down the field
when the quarterback won’t call the play? Show me an evangelistic Sunday School
group and I will show you an evangelistic group leader. How do we build an
evangelistic Sunday School? One group at a time. How do we build evangelistic
groups? One leader at a time.
4. An
evangelistic Sunday School must have outreach leaders. If outreach is important to
the church then the church needs outreach leaders. Someone has to lead the
charge, organize the effort, and execute the necessary details. Then taylor
says this “Every adult group and every preschool, children, and student
ministry should have an outreach leader if they are serious about going after
people.”
The
Outreach Leader Job Description
- Be a personal witness.
- Lead the class/department in the
outreach/evangelism strategy.
- Train class members to share the
gospel.
- Train class members to share
their testimonies.
- Train class members in the
outreach/evangelism strategy.
- Once a month, enlist a member to
briefly share a testimony in class of his or her salvation or a witnessing
experience.
- Keep the class/department
Prospect Book updated.
5. An
evangelistic Sunday School must have prospects. If
He then
lists ways we can collect a list of prospects for our group I won’t read that
but go to page 81 in the book and see the 10 ways he lists but we will add
another and that is new movers.
6. An
evangelistic Sunday School must have an intentional outreach strategy. When we are intentional we are
purposeful; we are strategic; we are resolved; we are decisive; we are focused;
and we are determined. It’s time we get intentional again!
Taylor
talks about MTV and no not a cable channel
To “go after
people” was the chief aim of Jesus and the early church. It is to be the chief
aim of the Sunday School.
“Christ’s
mission to this world was to win souls; that was the purpose of his coming. The
Apostle Paul said, ‘Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners,’ and
should not we also in all our Sunday schools have this as our supreme
aim?” 62
May we, too, Go After People!
