Crafting a Lesson- Part 1

Time is the biggest enemy of preparing a life changing lesson. As teachers, we are able to work with the eternal Word of God. Though we desire to prepare and present a life changing message, time seems to leak away each week. Saturday night comes and we have barely thought about the Sunday's lesson, much less prepared any thing of substance for our class. Sound familiar?

I am not talking about a "Home Run" lesson each and every Sunday, but our Lord and our class deserve much more. So here's ONE 'How to" that may help you use time to your advantage rather than be overcome by the lack of time.

Begin as soon as the previous lesson is completed and presented on Sunday. If I take just a few minutes on Sunday afternoon to preview the lesson direction and a few additional minutes to read the larger passage, my heart begins the process of working through the scriptures and the suggested talking points. Notice I said "heart." That is where the life change takes place in my life and this is the target for the members of the class.

Sometimes there are great teaching tools such as LifeWay's "Quicksource Leader" book for their "Explore the Bible (ETB) Series". My personal favorite is the "Parable Plan". Quicksource suggests a common object to use during the lesson to keep the class focussed on the life change principle.

I find taking an extra look at the beginning of a quarter, will help me stay focused on where the scriptures are headed. Remember, it's only Sunday. We begin by taking a cursory look.

More later...