Christians, for hundreds of years, have found excuses to not go to Sunday School. “It’s too early.” “It’s for kids.” “Sunday School isn’t mentioned in the Bible.” Lay your excuses aside. Although there are a myriad of reasons, here are five reasons you should go to Sunday School.
1. It’s the Lord’s Day
Sunday is not just the Lord’s Hour from 11 to 12; it’s the Lord’s Day—all day long. We should begin our day and end our day as it has been set aside for the things of God. Sometimes we can get in the mindset of looking for the bare minimum. “What is the bare minimum I can go to church to soothe my screaming conscience?” That is the wrong question. That is the legalist’s question. The Pharisees loved to show they were doing what they “had” to do. The Christian doesn’t “have” to go to church; the Christian “gets” to go to church. …not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some…(Heb 10:25). The early church met for hours on the Lord’s Day to hear the teaching and preaching of the Word. The Puritans would regularly have multiple teaching/preaching sessions in the gathered Lord’s Day worship. It is our King’s Day, let us devote more than an hour to the corporate worship of Him.
2. It Sanctifies You
The Christian desires to know more of the One who redeemed him or her, not less. Renewing our minds, according to Romans 12, is how we are transformed from lovers of the world to lovers of Christ. What Christian is satisfied with his progress in sanctification. Paul laments in Romans 7, O wretched man that I am. Paul knew the need for sanctification in his own life. Since he was likely the most sanctified man to walk the planet besides the Lord Jesus, how can we say we have arrived? Sanctification is the process by which God, the Holy Spirit, conforms the believers more and more into the image of God, the Son. Christian, if you are breathing, then you are sinning. If you are sinning, you need further sanctification. God uses the ordinary means of grace to sanctify us—gathering, hearing the Word, fellowship, the ordinances—these are all the means by which God sanctifies us. Sunday School is a wonderful time of hearing the Word taught in a setting where we might be able to ask questions. We don’t stop the preacher mid-sermon to ask a clarification, but in Sunday School we can do that.
3. It Encourages Your Teacher
Your Sunday School teacher spent hours studying, preparing to rightly divide the Word of God for Christ’s glory and your good. It is encouraging to see faces, to see faces paying attention, giving feedback, answering questions, asking questions. Even if you aren’t engaged, simply being there encourages your teacher. Encouragement drives your teacher to prepare even more studiously week after week. Be encouraging.
4. It Encourages Your Fellow Believers
Seeing more faces energizes your fellow believers, whether it is in Sunday School, Sunday morning service, Sunday evening service, or Wednesday night. The more people in Sunday School, the more it encourages the regulars. Your presence in class encourages greater preparation by everyone—reading the text ahead of time, studying the Word, believers grow by your presence.
5. If You Oversleep, You Still Make It to Service on Time
No, this isn’t a joke. Thirty minutes late to Sunday School is still thirty minutes early to Worship Service.
If you haven’t made it to Sunday School in a while, join us each Sunday at 10am as Pastor Rossetti has been teaching verse by verse through the Gospel of Jesus Christ According to John. The ladies class is wrapping up a study from John MacArthur led by Tina, and will soon be beginning a new Sunday School study.