Teaching Scripture

Tonight I'm taking the students to John 4. Most of us know something about the "Woman at the Well" but after listening to John Piper sermon several weeks back, I don't think that I'll ever look at this passage the same again. SO MUCH is packed in just the small amount that I'll be able to cover tonight. After working on this message, and actually getting excited while I was reading and typing and praying (seriously...I was shouting and doing my jerky dance sitting at my desk I was so moved by this passage), I began to wonder how many people sit in church services completely oblivious to the Word that is being spoken? And whose fault is it? The speaker? The listener? The Devil's? WHOSE??!! How many times have I spoken and never connected to the people whom I was communicating with? So I examined my early church years as a 9th and 10th grader. The majority of the Sunday mornings I spent in church were used to draw up basketball and football plays on the bulletin with my best buddy, Matthew.

Then one Sunday morning, Rev. Steve Poteat preached a message that connected with me. I still remember sitting there as he preached the text of Matthew 13. Verse by verse he gave us 5 facts of salvation that was in that portion of Scripture. He stuck to the text and he never left it. I never took notes during sermons, but that morning, compelled by the Holy Spirit, I tried to write every word. Why? What was the difference? There is amazing power in Scripture. It is Holy...Divine...Inspired by God.

I believe there are a lot of factors mixed in when people just flat aren't listening to the message. I believe we all play a part in it. I mean seriously, every Sunday morning as I'm teaching the text in Sunday School, I have a few adults who never hear a word (hmmm...guess who this is). Several things contribute to this wondering of the mind, but I believe we as teachers must stick with the text because it is way more captivating than anything we can come up with.

So tonight, we will stick CLOSE to the Word of God. I'm expecting big things tonight. 1. because we serve a huge God who is capable of changing hearts and 2. because Scripture is life-changing. Hebrews 4:12 tells us that it is living and active, able to divide the very soul and spirit. So whenever you are teaching or just talking to someone on the street about Jesus... Stick to the Text