Tools. I love them.
If you want to make me happy, drop me off at a home improvement store for a few hours. I can walk up and down the aisles absolutely mesmerized by the myriad options to get any job done.
I must admit that I am not much of a handyman. That’s not to say that I can’t fix things, but normally it takes me longer because I never seem to have the right tools at hand. If I have the right tools, then inevitably I cannot locate them. Most of the time, though, I find myself making a run to the big box home improvement store to buy one or two specialized tools to complete a repair job at the house.
During this off season, my lawnmower decided to stop running. It wouldn’t start, no matter what I did. I kicked it. I ordered a tool to help me adjust a setting in the engine (I did it wrong and really messed it up). Do I throw it away, or do I look for some help? After trying every repair trick I knew to get it to restart, I decided to find some help. I found a repair shop, and the owner tuned my 10-year-old lawnmower. He replaced the oil and the blade, changed out the air filter, and replaced my old spark plug. He reset the engine to factory specs. Now she runs like a new mower! That may be the best $99 I’ve spent in a while.
Restarting Bible Study Groups
The church has a big job ahead of it this year. It’s time to begin the process of restarting Bible study groups for all ages. Like my old lawnmower, there is no need to toss out Sunday School (insert whatever name your church calls your Bible teaching ministry)—it probably just needs a quick tune-up. We want to be sure that our teaching ministries are running at peak efficiency. I needed some help because I lacked the right tools and know-how. When I found the right person, he solved my dilemma and now my lawnmower can provide service well into the future.
As we look at the needs of churches this year, Lifeway has developed a series of webinars to help churches of all types focus on some foundational principles. Think of this as giving you the right tools and information to help you tune up your church’s most important ministry. With a little effort, you can have it running like a top! Here is a quick look ahead at the upcoming webinars designed to help you restart your church’s teaching ministry this year (for a more complete look at these webinars, and to sign up, go to lifeway.com/restartgroups):
- Breathing Life into Sunday School – There are 12 essentials that can help any Sunday School become healthier. Get your Sunday School off of life support and put it on the road to recovery.
- Restarting Sunday School – During the first year of COVID, groups struggled to meet. As groups begin to regather, there are considerations for their successful relaunch.
- How to Have all the Workers you Need – Never struggle to enlist group leaders after you learn a process for recruiting new leaders.
- 3 Roles for Guiding Groups – Teacher, Shepherd, and Leader—every group leader must embrace these important roles and balance them to create a healthy environment for the group’s members.
- Leading Small Groups – Learn how to gather, lead, and multiply your small group.
- Teaching with Style – Jesus was an expert in communicating His messages. Discover the eight learning approaches and how to use them to teach engaging Bible studies each week.
- 5 Steps for Building a Disciple–making Ministry – For over 100 years churches have used a simple formula for creating great groups and a strong disciple-making ministry. Do you know the steps to take in order to grow your Bible-teaching ministry?
This series of webinars will be offered on weekends, at night, and during the daytime. We tried our best to give you options because we know you need something flexible.
Don’t throw out Sunday School! Use these webinars to give you the tools to make it run like a new teaching ministry. COVID has created a hard year for the church. As we restart groups this year, let’s tune up the church’s most important ministry—its Bible study groups!
