BAPTIST bulletin
Ready for the Real World?
Special Church Education Issue
Preparing Students for Life in a Secular World A Proper View of the Bible went to public schools while growing up and received a thoroughly secular education. Every one of my science teachers presented the Big Bang and evolution as facts. And they required that I learn them as facts. On one occasion one of my high school science teachers taught about the eras of history—a history that included billions of years and evolution. I had a hard time studying for that test, since I didn’t believe that what I was memorizing was true. I wasn’t too disappointed when I failed to recall some of the information on the test. After all, what I failed to remember was information men had made up as a means of writing God out of history. Looking back on my secular education, I have to ask myself what kept me from adopting the secular worldview that my teachers universally taught. Why wasn’t I enamored with the tales of a world billions of years old that dinosaurs and other amazing creatures eventually inhabited? Why didn’t I buy into the idea that our universe started with a spectacular bang or that mankind descended from apes?
“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16, 17). “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12). “Knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:20, 21). The witness of the Word to its divine origin is rather convincing. The Holy Spirit uses this witness to convince the reader that the Bible is indeed God’s Word. What I learned about the Bible in church proved to be accurate in my personal interaction with the Word. The Bible’s power was real in my life. As I read and studied it, I knew that it was no ordinary book. God spoke to me through it. I learned by experience that God’s Word has the power both to encourage me in times of despair and to convict me of my sin. Passages that speak of God’s character and His love for me strengthened my relationship with God and challenged me to respond to Him with loving, submissive obedience. God’s Word is powerful. The Scriptures must remain at the center of the church’s ministry. Pastors and teachers must present God’s Word as authoritative. My pastor and Sunday School teachers did exactly that as I was growing up. They did not compromise the Scriptures by allowing for billions of years. They taught me that God is my creator and that I am accountable to Him. They taught me the Bible stories as true accounts of God’s working through history. What I learned about the Bible at church was echoed by my parents. They took the Bible seriously and used it as the authority in their own lives. They taught me to have a high view of the Scriptures and to use it as my guide for life.
Looking back on my secular education, I have to ask myself what kept me from adopting the secular worldview that my teachers universally taught. The answer is twofold. I attended a church, Karen Street Baptist in Omaha, that taught me that the Bible is God’s authoritative Word, and I had a family that took God’s Word seriously. As a result of these influences, I not only survived my secular schooling, but I also grew stronger as a believer. In fact, it was while I was in high school that I responded to God’s call on my life to enter full-time ministry.
Teaching the Bible as Authoritative What did I learn about the Bible as I was growing up in my church? I learned that the Bible is all-sufficient, powerful, perfect, and living. I knew these truths primarily because my Sunday School teachers taught them to me from the Scriptures. My teachers presented God’s Word as God intended. They were faithful to God’s Word. And God’s Word does a thorough job of defending its divine origin and power. Consider these familiar verses. 2|
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Special Church Education Issue
Alex Bauman Choosing Curriculum That Is True to God’s Word Sunday School curriculum was perhaps the most important component in helping me understand the authority of the Scriptures. My church chose curriculum that taught the Bible as God’s Word. The curriculum didn’t allow for millions or billions of years. It taught the timeline of history starting with the creation account in Genesis and ending with the prophecies concerning the end times. The curriculum helped me see the Bible as relevant. The curriculum my church used throughout my growing up years was created by Regular Baptist Press. While using the curriculum, I was captivated by the accounts of the heroes and villains of the Old Testament and by the spread of the gospel and the establishment of the church in the New Testament. I still remember tracking the Israelites through the wilderness
Sunday School curriculum was perhaps the most important component in helping me understand the authority of the Scriptures. on a 3-D map my junior-class teacher made to go along with the curriculum. The map included a clay Mount Sinai, by the way, that I was always tempted to pull off the map and play with. The Bible accounts came alive to me as I understood God’s working throughout history. I was convinced that what I was learning in church made much more sense than what the public school taught about the history of the universe. Having a Sunday School curriculum that taught the Bible as God intended made an important difference in my life. The Sunday School curriculum churches use today needs to have the same high view of the Scriptures that my Sunday School curriculum did when I was growing up. Curriculums that ignore or downplay origins and the historicity of the Bible are leaving the door open for doubt. Those curriculums actually help undermine the authority of the Bible and even the gospel. RBP curriculum makes a point to show from God’s Word that creation was six literal days. It teaches that mankind is made in the image of God and is not an animal descended from apes. It presents the introduction of death and decay into the world in relation to Adam’s sin in the Garden of Eden. It depicts the ark as a real boat and relates the massive cargo space available for all the animals and the food Noah needed to take on the ark. It shows the timeline of the Bible in relation to other events happening in the world. It ties the need for salvation to actual historical events in Genesis. Overall, it presents the Bible as relevant to students today. We live in a secular world that scoffs at the notion of a creator and an authoritative Bible. Recognizing this, Regular Special Church Education Issue
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The curriculum my church used throughout my growing up years was created by Regular Baptist Press. Baptist Press has continued to produce Sunday School curriculum that prepares students to live in a secular world. And as a teacher of RBP curriculum, I can attest to the fact that it works! Recently I taught an RBP Sunday School lesson to a group of fifth and sixth graders. The lesson was about God’s revelation of Himself to humanity. We learned amazing facts about the universe, one of the means God uses to reveal Himself (Psalm 19). Naturally our conversation turned to how the universe was formed. My students commented without any prompting from me about the absurdity of believing that a big bang was responsible for forming the universe. Their comments were reassuring to me that I am using Bible curriculum that is making a difference in the lives of my students. Living out God’s Word before the next generation of students is just as important as choosing a curriculum that is true to God’s Word. Students will be hesitant to accept a message they don’t see their parents and teachers living out. RBP’s Life Design curriculum for adults challenges learners to apply God’s Word so they are ready to instruct with their lips and their lives. Choose your church’s Sunday School curriculum wisely and pay attention to your testimony before your students. Both have the potential to impact your students deeply. A 7-year-old Alex Bauman (far right) poses with his family outside Karen Street Baptist Church in Omaha, Neb., on a Sunday in 1977. Alex’s father, Alex M. Bauman, pastored Karen Street for more than two decades with his wife, Jan, and their other children, Craig, Tim, Paul, and Danna.
VBS 2012! Kits available November 2011 at www.rbpVBS.org 4|
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Special Church Education Issue
Alex Bauman is the director of Regular Baptist Press.
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Alex Bauman
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early every summer while I was growing up, my family would load up the station wagon and head to family camp in Genoa, Neb. During a particular week when my three brothers and I were all around 12, we took the camp’s four BB guns and trotted into the forest for a shooting spree. Our great anticipation at firing at everything in sight eventually turned to boredom. Blowing apart pinecones at point-blank range soon became a been-there-done-that activity, and there wasn’t much else to shoot in a tree-dominated forest. So we wandered through the woods with guns in tow looking for a new target. When we came across the home of the camp’s caretaker, we drew a bead on the white natural gas tank next to his house. We reveled in the chance to shoot something other than a tree; and the tank, unlike the pinecones, was big enough to hit from a distance. Soon the forest was ringing with the chorus of pings that came from the BBs ricocheting off the tank’s metal shell. We were having fun again. We had found an easy and noisy target! Later that day my dad called my brothers and me together and confiscated our guns. Apparently the caretaker was home while we were shooting at his tank. My dad lectured us about firing guns toward someone’s residence. He told us that our target of choice, though fun to shoot at, was not an acceptable mark. He then imparted to us his wisdom about what makes a target acceptable. Teachers, like BB-gun-wielding boys, need appropriate, well-defined targets. Teaching with no targets or with the wrong targets wastes a valuable opportunity to impact students. Jesus is the master teacher. He created teaching. And we can learn His teaching aims from studying His encounters with His students. His teaching aims should form the basis for Sunday School curriculum that intends to lead students to spiritual maturity. Curriculum based on Jesus’ teaching aims becomes curriculum that is on target. Jesus focused on seven targets during His three years of earthly ministry.
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Seven Targets Learn doctrine. Wishy-washy doctrine
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Believe the gospel. Jesus repeatedly taught intending for His audience to understand and believe the gospel. John 4:5–42 is one example. Jesus presented the gospel message to a Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well and to those she brought with her to see Jesus. His aim was met when “many . . . believed” (v. 41). Sunday School curriculum that adopts this aim will include clear, complete, and age-appropriate presentations of the gospel. Curriculum based on this aim will also teach students how to present the gospel to the lost.
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Understand Biblical ethics.
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leads to faulty practice. Jesus knew the importance of teaching His students the truth. John 14 is one example of Jesus teaching doctrine as a basis for practice. Paul listed doctrine as one of the benefits of Scripture (2 Timothy 3:16). He then identified doctrine as one of the means for Christian growth (3:17). Curriculum that meets this aim will not shy away from teaching doctrine. Developing doctrinal convictions in the lives of students is essential. Doctrine gives them a framework for understanding Scripture correctly and for defending their faith confidently.
Jesus wanted His learners to have a sense of right and wrong. In His Sermon on the Mount, He taught His followers moral values that were to guide them in decision making (Matthew 5:20–48). Today’s culture dismisses the need for moral values and instead teaches the relativity of truth. Th is cultural climate makes teaching Biblical ethics even more pressing. Curriculum with this aim in mind doesn’t assume students are living according to Biblical ethics. Rather, it makes a point to emphasize the need to understand and live according to God’s standards.
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Internalize godliness. The Phari-
sees were outwardly religious but inwardly corrupt. Jesus’ teaching aim of internalizing godliness was radically different from the teaching of the Pharisees. Jesus taught His followers to be godly on the inside (Matthew 6:1–18; 15:1–9). The Pharisees were concerned only about appearing religious. Everyone has a tendency to live like a Pharisee. We all understand the pull to pretend to be good. Curriculum that focuses on helping students internalize godliness will include the truths about Christ in us, the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives, and our need to develop spiritual disciplines. 6|
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Special Church Education Issue
Develop life skills. Jesus wanted His
disciples to meet life’s challenges in a way that honored and glorified God. John 6:1–21 provides two examples of Jesus preparing His followers to meet life’s challenges. Surely His disciples thought back to their Master’s lessons numerous times as they sought to live out God’s will for their lives. Curriculum built on this aim will relate truth to life. The curriculum should prepare students to meet life’s challenges with confidence and trust in a God Who works all things for good. Students should learn through the curriculum to turn to God in all of life’s circumstances.
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Uplift others. Jesus’ life was
all about others, even to the point of His death (Matthew 20:28). Jesus taught His followers to be all about others too. In fact, the second greatest commandment—love your neighbor as yourself—underscores the importance God placed on recognizing and caring for the needs of others (Matthew 22:37–40). Christ said that believers’ love for one another would be the evidence of their faith (John 13:34, 35). Loving self is the rhythm by which all people will naturally live. To recognize and meet the needs of others is unnatural. Sunday School curriculum must challenge students to take their eyes off themselves and focus on others.
Curriculum That’s on Target
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Prepare to serve.
In a sense, the entire three years that the disciples spent with Jesus were their internship on servanthood. Jesus was preparing them to serve in the context of local churches that were established soon after His ascension. On one occasion Jesus vividly taught the disciples about serving others when He donned a towel and washed their feet (John 13:1–17). The intentionality in Jesus’ teaching is seen in verse 15. Jesus said, “For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you.” Passages like Ephesians 4:1–16 reinforce Christ’s teaching aim. The apostle Paul made it clear that serving God in the context of the local church isn’t just a suggestion or good idea; it is a vital part of God’s plan for today. Sunday School curriculum should prepare students to serve in their local churches. Regular Baptist Press Sunday School curriculum is curriculum that is on target. Teaching with Jesus’ aims will produce students who are built up in Christ and established in the faith (Colossians 2:6, 7). The students will have a worldview that sees God as their creator, Christ as their Redeemer, and themselves as Christ’s light in the world around them. I teach RBP curriculum and am glad to have all three of my children taking part in Sunday School classes using the curriculum. As a parent, I value knowing that my children are learning truths that align with the aims that Christ determined were important for believers. RBP Sunday School curriculum is balanced and comprehensive. I know firsthand, as a teacher and a parent, that it works. Using RBP Sunday School curriculum will give you confidence, too, that your students are learning what Christ desires for them to learn. The curriculum will help your church do its part to raise a generation of believers who are spiritually mature and ready and willing to serve the Lord.
Regular Baptist Press Sunday School curriculum is curriculum that is on target. The shapers of the curriculum intentionally followed Jesus’ instructive example. They planned the curriculum with His desires in mind. Consider how each department of children’s curriculum will help you fulfill Christ’s aims in your church. Planting Faith for 2s & 3s teaches Biblical truth concerning God, God’s Son, God’s Word, and God’s world. The students learn that God is their creator and that He loves and helps them. They begin to understand what sin is and that Jesus came to earth as a baby and then grew up and died for them. Th is two-year curriculum prepares 2s and 3s to understand the gospel. Planting Faith for Pre-Primaries reinforces foundational Biblical truths concerning creation, Jesus, salvation, and living for God. This two-year curriculum recognizes that Pre-Primaries are starting to understand the need for personal salvation and provides opportunities for the students to trust in Christ as their Savior and then begin to live for Him. God’s Explorers for Primaries is a two-year curriculum that spends a quarter on each of the seven aims, with a special emphasis in an eighth quarter on worship and prayer. Primary students are introduced to the basics of maturity in Christ on an ageappropriate level. The Primary curriculum provides an excellent opportunity for children to trust in Christ as their Savior and then to begin to grow as new believers. Truth Travelers for Middlers is a two-year through-the-Bible curriculum. Middler students travel through God’s Word starting with the account of creation in the fi rst quarter and ending with God’s plan for the future in the eighth quarter. The Middler curriculum puts the Biblical pieces together for the students and helps them understand God’s overall plan for redemption. Faith Detectives for Juniors is a two-year curriculum that spends a quarter on each of Jesus’ aims, with an additional quarter reinforcing truths about worship and prayer. The Junior curriculum is an age-appropriate discipleship course that encourages students to live out their faith. Students learn to study and respond to God’s Word as they complete weekly devotionals called Bible Investigation Files. Faith Detectives forms a valuable opportunity for students to learn to live like Christ. Alex Bauman is the director of Regular Baptist Press.
DON’T JUST PLANT FAITH—
GROW IT!
Biblically sound curriculum that continually cultivates growth through every age group in your Sunday School.
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2s & 3s PRIMARY, MIDDLER PRE-PRIMARY JUNIOR
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SR. HIGH
ADULT
~ ÛÝÛwww.RegularBaptistPress.org