My first Sunday School class

I taught my first Sunday School class this morning, this is the outline for the lesson I taught, well, it's essentially the lesson with a few changes having been made on the fly.

When you go out to a cemetery you may notice on some stones that between the date of birth and death is a dash.

That dash represents a lifetime. Some use that time for good and some for evil, and others in misguided attempts to fill an emptiness, yet reach their ending unfulfilled.

Job 9:25 my days are swifter than a post, they flee away, they see no good.

Now you may be thinking, a fence post isn’t very fast, but what a post here means is a runner.

1 Chronicles 29:15 our days on earth are as a shadow

In James 4:14 Life is described as a vapor, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.

We don’t know when they last time we say goodbye to someone, will be the last time we say goodbye.

Anyone that has lost someone that they love can attest to this, whether it be a child barely known to life, a parent or a grandparent, we always wish there had been more time.

Think about your life, how much television have you watched this week, in front of a computer, on the phone? How about arguing with someone?

Now, how much time has been spent in prayer, reading the Bible, in loving fellowship with Christians?

If we had a scale that could weigh these things, which side would be heavier in your life?

Dr. Helen Lavretsky, a psychiatry professor at UCLA who researches how the elderly view death and dying, said people who aren't particularly spiritual or religious often have a difficult time with death because they fear that death is truly the end.

We know better than that, but how much of our time have we spent sharing the Gospel?

When we look back at the end of our days, if we are given that opportunity, we won’t wish we had made the time to watch the last episode of the office, but we might agonize over someone we knew and never shared the gospel with.

I know some feel, this isn’t their job, that’s why we have a preacher, but truth is it is our job too; it is the job of every Christian.


Matthew 28:18-20 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
19Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
20Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

Go Ye, and Teach All Nations.

Who is ye, there wasn’t an Asian guy named ye being talked to right then, ye is us and we are to teach all nations.

Acts 1:8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

Ye shall be witnesses unto me unto the uttermost part of the earth.

How many Christians, are just practicing the ritual? Making a show of things on Sunday morning?
Ask yourself do you believe that Christ could return tomorrow? Do you believe that he could split the sky open tonight and call the saved home? Do you believe that an eternity in Hell could be sealed for someone you know tomorrow because they never received the gospel?
I don’t think we really believe, I think if we did we would be on unsaved loved ones front lawns crying right now, tearing at our clothes in despair that they were going to Hell because they were lost.
I believe if we knew the time was at hand we wouldn’t stop to sleep in the hope that we could share the gospel with as many people as possible before Christ came back.
Don’t procrastinate thinking you’ll have another chance to talk to them, you might not.

At a July 4th parade horses ran loose and trampled people killing one.
Melissa Schmidt, 40, of Bellevue, said she was watching the parade with her 6-year-old son Adam and 4-year-old son Aden when she heard the horses running and their chains rattling. She jumped up and, next thing she knew, Aden was lying on his back with his hands in the air. She turned and saw Adam covered in blood.
(Someone you know is covered in sin.)
Schmidt said she screamed, then dropped to her knees and cradled one son in each arm until paramedics arrived.
"I don't think I've ever prayed so hard in my life," she said.
(Someone needs you to pray hard for them.)
But why do we wait until the last moment to pray hard? Do you think this is what Melissa Schmidt thought would happen that day?
Proverbs 27:1 Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day might bring forth.

Jonathan Edwards a preacher from the First Great awakening only lived 55 years, young by my standards, and yet he was able to share the Gospel with many people during that short span. Do you think he wished he could have witnessed to more?

Mark 10: 46-49 Tells a story about Jesus traveling near Jericho
And they came to Jericho: and as he went out of Jericho with his disciples and a great number of people, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the highway side begging.
47And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, and say, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me.
48And many charged him that he should hold his peace: but he cried the more a great deal, Thou son of David, have mercy on me.
49And Jesus stood still, and commanded him to be called. And they call the blind man, saying unto him, Be of good comfort, rise; he calleth thee.
Jesus heard the cries of this man in need, so too must we stop and listen to those around us.
Who in your daily walk is crying out for help, who is blind and wishes to see? Can you stand still and ignore the world around you long enough to hear the cries of those in need? Someone is waiting for you to bear a burden, someone is waiting for you to invest in their life. Someone is calling like Bartimaeus, blind, in need of salvation.
We must not miss the opportunities we are given to share Christ with those around us.

A story is told of the devil and his cohorts, devising plans to get people to reject the Gospel. “Let’s go to them and say there is no God,” proposed one. Silence prevailed. Every devil knew that most people believe in a supreme being. “Let’s tell them there is no hell, no future punishment for the wicked,” offered another. That was turned down, because men obviously have consciences which tell them that sin must be punished. The concave was going to end in failure when there came a voice from the rear: “Tell them there is a God, there is a hell and that the Bible is the Word of God. But tell them there is plenty of time to decide the question. Let them ‘neglect’ the Gospel, until it is too late.” All hell erupted with ghoulish glee, for they knew that if a person procrastinates on Christ, they may never accept Him.
Don’t rest in the belief that we have plenty of time

I encourage you to read your Bible daily and engage in regularly scheduled Bible Study time. This will help you to live a more Christ centered life, give you answers that may be asked when you converse with people about God and prepare you to face a sin-filled world each day.
Romans 13:11-14 In my preparation for today I read these verses, I like the poetic pacing they seem to have.
And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.
12The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.
13Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.
14But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.
It is time to wake up, don’t let those around you sleep their way into Hell.