Everyone understands the need for preparation when the goal is a successful outcome. It has been said: “By failing to prepare, we are preparing to fail.” Whether it is in the area of sports, business, construction, or any other area in life for that matter, we would all have to agree that preparation is the key.
The same is true when it comes to teaching a weekly Sunday school lesson. Without proper preparation, we will be guilty of simply filling our spots as a teacher, possibly without any outcome that is of eternal value.
We all have different methods of preparation that work for us. Listed below are a few ideas that may be of some help when it comes to preparing a Sunday school lesson.
- Start early. As you finish your lesson on Sunday, begin thinking of the next Sunday’s lesson. Is there something that you needed to cover that did not get covered? Was there a truth that struck you while teaching that should be taught again at a later time?
- Read and reread the main passage of Scripture that you will be teaching from. Oftentimes, it helps to read your main Scripture text out loud to yourself in preparation for the lesson. Truths from the Word of God have a tendency to “come alive” when heard in an audible voice.
- Determine one main truth that you want to teach and be received by the students. Learning a Bible story or event is important, but the ultimate goal is to give the students an applicable truth that they can apply to their daily lives.
- Meditate throughout the week. Think about what you will be teaching so that it will be very clear in your mind for your lesson on Sunday.
- Write down illustrations. Consider using Bible illustrations that will help you deliver your truth. Also, consider using personal life illustrations from your past or illustrations from that week. When you are thinking about your lesson during the week, it will surprise you what illustrations may come your way.
- Think about the needs of your students. How will this lesson help them?
- Pray throughout the week.
- Review your lesson notes and thoughts both Saturday evening and Sunday morning.
These are just a few of the ways we can prepare a Sunday school lesson throughout the week. Waiting until late Saturday night would not be considered an acceptable method of preparation. We must determine what methods of preparation work for us and implement them.
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Fred Slye, Business Manager
As a single military man, Brother Slye began attending NVBC. Not long after, he was married, and in 1985 he came on staff as the maintenance director for the church. His responsibilities have varied over the years. For the past many years, he has served as the business manager, overseeing the finances for this entire ministry.
Thank you for helping me to get a general idea of preparing Sunday School Lessons.
Heya.
This is a great idea in order to start with. To prepare a entire Sunday school lesson this is what I tend to do. I now teach classes of little first to third grade children Sunday school lessons each week in addition here. I also work with the fourth and fifth grade kids. Good luck and it is nice to meet you as well. I don’t teach all the time however. Far from it in fact seriously.
The weekly lessons are from nine to one each week. They form the basis of our church Sunday school program in question here. Each single week I tend to begin the lesson with a short recap. At other times I feel it is better to read a classic story from the Bible instead. Whilst the main adult oriented church services are on, I focus on the young children. They matter to me.
We recently did four lessons on the birth of Christ and why it matters. All were effective. I included a short lively talk as a key element of my weekly lesson. I try to make the lessons fun. I find it helps to reduce pupil boredom. This is key. The children are always considered when I’m doing my lesson research and preparation. We laugh and sing. This is not torture at all.