Breathing Life Into Sunday School

Breathing Life into Sunday School speaks to the most important ministry that churches have, their Bible teaching ministry. Although Sunday school goes by many names today, it is still a time-honored and effective ministry for teaching the Bible, reaching people for Christ, assimilating them into the church, and growing them as disciples. The majority of churches inside and outside the SBC utilize Sunday school and need to know ways to grow it and improve its health. Although Sunday school is an important ministry, many churches have not experienced its full potential. Sunday school is in decline in most denominations, and there is a lack of health and vitality that it once had. In many churches, the leadership of the Sunday school is in the hands of untrained laymen (Sunday school directors), or is led by the pastor who has no paid staff members, and who might even be bi-vocational. This limits the pastor's time to address the needs of the church's Sunday school. This book details twelve ways that a church can experience new life and vibrancy in its Sunday school ministry. The twelve essentials are replicable by churches of any size. Based on the author's extensive history and training in Christian education and Sunday school, he helps the reader focus on key practices that are needed in order for a Sunday school to grow. The 128 page book is designed to help church leaders train Sunday school directors, teachers, and group members of a Sunday school class or Bible study group.

Ministry professional Allan Taylor writes to all church leaders about the crucial role that Sunday School must play in producing healthy Christians who in turn produce healthy churches. He emphasizes the value of the Sunday School model to the total church ministry for its superior ability to nurture relationships and more personally stir passion for the Great Commission across every age group. Taylor presents the sharply focused idea that all Sunday School programs are either imploding (through directionless ineffectiveness) or exploding (thanks to visionary leadership and practicing some fundamental disciplines). As such, he guides the reader toward growth principles that must be operative for any church to begin or continue a transformational Sunday School boom.

There is something missing in the church today. Stuck in a rut of routines and rituals, the church is caught up in doing what it is “supposed to do” but is lacking the true essence of what it is supposed to provide: life. Real faith--and a real relationship with Jesus--is not about playing by the rules, attending services, and praying before meals. Real faith is more than religion. Believing there is a way to breathe life back into the church, Tyler Edwards adopts a contemporary and entertaining metaphor--zombies--to highlight and challenge the problematic attitude of today’s believers.

Realizing that crests are really assigned to a specific individual and not a family, I have still chosen to show the crests that are associated with the O’Malleys and Ritschharts. The O’Malley crest is a prominent fixture in any of the Irish Heraldry shops and I personally observed in inside the Catholic Abbey on Clare Island just off the coast of Westport in County Mayo. The Abbey dates back to the mid-15th century. The inscription at the bottom of the O’Malley crest translates to “Valiant by Sea and Land”. I observed the Ritschhart crest on a large wooden mural in the Church in Hilterfingen, Switzerland. The Ritschhart name and crest appears 8 times on the mural, donated in 1731 by 32 prominent families in the area.

The Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous is America's most significant and authentic contribution to the history of spirituality, says Richard Rohr. He makes a case that the Twelve Steps relate well to Christian teaching and can rescue people who are drowning in addiction and may not even realize it. To survive the tidal wave of compulsive behavior and addiction, Christians must learn to breathe under water and discover God's love and compassion. In this exploration of Twelve Step spirituality, Rohr identifies the Christian principles in the Twelve Steps, connecting The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous with the gospel. He draws on talks he has given for over twenty years to people in recovery and those who counsel and live with people with addictive behavior. Rohr offers encouragement for becoming interiorly alive and inspiration for making one's life manageable for dealing with the codependence and dysfunction (sin) rampant in our society.

This book is a song of Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving for the people whose courageous witness has transfigured this community-and this pastor. Thanksgiving for the gift of these stories that cry out to be told and retold because in the midst of death they rise to fill the air with life. Breathing Space is the story of a young woman, Heidi Neumark, and the Hispanic and African-American Lutheran church-aptly named Transfiguration-that took a chance calling on a pastor from a starkly different background. Despite living and working in a milieu of overwhelming poverty and violence, Neumark and the congregation encounter even more powerful forces of hope and renewal. This is the story of a church and a community creating space for new life and breath in a place where children suffer the highest asthma rates in the nation. It's also the story of a young woman-working, raising her children, and struggling for spiritual breathing space. Through poignant, intimate stories, Neumark charts her journey alongside her parishioners as pastor, church, and community grow in wisdom and together experience transformation.

The Breathe Study Journal includes 5 sessions of teaching by Priscilla Shirer with 4 weeks of homework in a reflective, journaling format. One of the greatest challenges among women in our culture is taking time to stop and cease from all the activities and busyness and just breathe. We are in bondage to busyness. We constantly strive to complete the limitless to-do lists that hinder us from experiencing all that God has for us. We miss the moments because we rush ahead to the next thing. By neglecting time for tranquility, serenity, and repose, we limit our Christlikeness and miss out on some of God's greatest gifts. It is time for us to breathe and build margin into our lives for God. In the Old Testament, God instituted principles and laws that would transform the Israelites' mindset. He didn't just want them legally free; He wanted them to be able to walk in the freedom and enjoy it. So God gave them many gifts, including boundaries in which to enjoy those gifts. Sabbath was intended as a gift, and it is still a gift to us today. If you are weary, worn out, and exhausted the concept of Sabbath will change your life. Week 1 - The Freedom of Sabbath Week 2 - Stops Along the Sabbath Journey Week 3 - Double-Portion Friday Week 4 - Coming Into Focus Week 5 - Sabbath Margin Features: Biblically-rooted and gospel-centered teaching Leader material (guides to questions and discussion with small group) 5-session Study Journal with group components, personal components, and leader helps Personal study segments include 4 weeks of homework in a study journal for reflection and to help the learner spend time alone with God and Scripture Benefits: Biblical truth that's reliable Can be used in a variety of ways and has a lot of flexibility. It can be used by a group of any size in a church or another setting, small group in a home, or a weekend away as an individual or with a small group of women. An opportunity to explore the concept of Sabbath in both the Old and New Testaments Great study for personal growth and reflection on an individual basis For the weary, worn out, and exhausted this study could be life-changing as they acknowledge their bondage to busyness and learn that Sabbath was created by God before the fall Sets boundaries for those who believe they must always be "doing" something for God

A broadly experienced trio of rising church leaders share substantive research on churches and individuals that will help readers foster a culture wherein people intentionally grow in their Christian faith.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From one of the world’s most influential spiritual thinkers, a long-awaited book exploring what it means that Jesus was called “Christ,” and how this forgotten truth can restore hope and meaning to our lives. “Anyone who strives to put their faith into action will find encouragement and inspiration in the pages of this book.”—Melinda Gates In his decades as a globally recognized teacher, Richard Rohr has helped millions realize what is at stake in matters of faith and spirituality. Yet Rohr has never written on the most perennially talked about topic in Christianity: Jesus. Most know who Jesus was, but who was Christ? Is the word simply Jesus’s last name? Too often, Rohr writes, our understandings have been limited by culture, religious debate, and the human tendency to put ourselves at the center. Drawing on scripture, history, and spiritual practice, Rohr articulates a transformative view of Jesus Christ as a portrait of God’s constant, unfolding work in the world. “God loves things by becoming them,” he writes, and Jesus’s life was meant to declare that humanity has never been separate from God—except by its own negative choice. When we recover this fundamental truth, faith becomes less about proving Jesus was God, and more about learning to recognize the Creator’s presence all around us, and in everyone we meet. Thought-provoking, practical, and full of deep hope and vision, The Universal Christ is a landmark book from one of our most beloved spiritual writers, and an invitation to contemplate how God liberates and loves all that is.

Follow your heart. You do you. You are enough. We take these slogans for granted, but what if this path to personal happiness leads to a dead-end? In Rethink Your Self, Trevin Wax encourages you to rethink some of our society’s most common assumptions about identity and the road to happiness. Most people define their identity and purpose by first looking in (to their desires), then looking around (to express their uniqueness), and finally—maybe—looking up (to add a spiritual dimension to life). Rethink Your Self proposes a counter-intuitive approach: looking up before looking in. It's only when we look up to learn who we were created to be that we discover our true purpose and become our truest selves.