Teaching Like Jesus : A Practical Guide to Christian Education in Your Church

by La Verne Tolbert

• ISBN13: 9780310223474
• ISBN10: 0310223474
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-01-01
• Publisher: Harpercollins Christian Pub

Summary

As a teacher, you long to help others do more than understand the Bible. You want them to experience its relevance and power for their lives. Teaching like Jesus is the answer! This commonsense guide offers examples of Jesus' teaching style from the Gospels, then shows how you can make these principles work for you -- regardless of what age group or ethnic background you're dealing with. Using a proven, four-step plan, Teaching Like Jesus gives you action steps, summaries, and other practical resources that will make your classroom a lively place to learn and apply the lessons so vitally important for transforming lives and nurturing disciples. You'll learn to think in terms of "see, hear, and do" in your lesson plans. And you'll find sample plans for age groups and cultures ranging from African-American preschoolers to Chinese married couples.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations	9	(2)
Acknowledgments	11	(2)
What is Christian Education?	13	(14)
Part One---Principles from Jesus
Jesus, the Master Teacher	27	(14)
Most Memorable Teacher	41	(14)
Through the Learner's Lens	55	(18)
In the Learner's Skates	73	(22)
Part Two---Practice for Ministry
Pray... Plan ... Prepare	95	(20)
Lo! Children!	115	(22)
Earning the Right to Be Heard	137	(18)
Teachable Moments	155	(18)
Stay on the Wall!	173	(16)
Appendix A: Sample Lessons	189	(26)
Lesson Plan 1: House on a Rock	190	(1)
Lesson Plan 2: Trusting in God	191	(5)
Lesson Plan 3: An Angel Brings Good News	196	(2)
Lesson Plan 4: If Jesus Came to Your House	198	(3)
Lesson Plan 5: ``Sabio'' Means Wise	201	(3)
Lesson Plan 6: I Am God's Workmanship	204	(4)
Lesson Plan 7: Victory over Temptations	208	(2)
Lesson Plan 8: The Sacrifice	210	(3)
Lesson Plan 9: ``Let's (Really!) Talk''	213	(2)
Appendix B: Sample Forms	215	(21)
Answer Key to Show, Tell, Do	217	(2)
Volunteer Application	219	(1)
Letter of Commitment	220	(1)
Nursery Sign-In	221	(1)
Preschool Sign-In	222	(1)
Kindergarten Sign-In	223	(1)
Children's Church Sign-In	224	(1)
Baby Dedication Decision Form	225	(1)
Baby Dedication Form	226	(1)
Prayer for Baby Dedication	227	(1)
Your Child's First Communion	228	(1)
Certificate of Communion	229	(1)
Travel Permission Form	230	(2)
Baptism Form	232	(1)
Everything You Need to Know About Baptism	233	(3)
Bibliography	236	(1)
Subject and Name Index	237

Excerpts

Teaching is our ministry. Jesus is our model. People are our passion.
Transformed lives are our product. And heaven is our goal.
This is the essence of Christian education.
My journey into the ministry of teaching in the local church is
actually rooted in my childhood. My hero—my dad—was our pastor.
As the dutiful daughter, I assumed the task of teaching Sunday
school to our handful of children, training the teachers, and giving
leadership to our youth ministry.
Ours was a very small church, a storefront to be exact, just two
blocks from 125th Street in New York City. Dad was an evangelist
at heart, and he was creative about building a congregation. He had
rigged a loudspeaker to the street outside and connected it to the
pulpit microphone so that passersby could hear the preaching.
An additional benefit of our loudspeaker system was that
people on the sidewalks could also hear the choir, which my mother
directed. Admittedly, ours was a small choir, but under her tutelage
we sounded as voluminous as any mass choir, and in choir com-petitions
we either won or came in second.
Grandmother knew how to pray. “It’s me again, Lord,” was the
personal familiarity with which she addressed her God. And she
could sing. Her operatic voice had been featured on the Refuge
Temple radio program, and although she no longer performed, her
praises bellowed from the pews.
Mother Inniss, as she was lovingly known, was ever the faithful
mother-in-law. She had left the glamour of her thousand-member
What Is Christian Education?
A Philosophy of Ministry
And the things which you have heard from
me in the presence of many witnesses, these
entrust to faithful men, who will be able to
teach others also.
2 Timothy 2:2 NASB
church home to help her son-in-law pioneer his ministry. She passed
her musical talent on to her daughters, Leanore, Lorraine, and Esther,
who were known as the Inniss Sisters. And my mother, Leanore,
conveyed all that she had learned to the choir. So the combination
of a preaching-teaching ministry coupled with good ol’ gospel music
promised to be an excellent foundation for the building of a church.
But it was hard work, and despite the influx of new members,
the congregation never grew beyond a few handfuls of dedicated
people. If success is measured in numbers, then the impact of our
little church is questionable. But if success is measured by changed
lives, what a crown Daddy received when he saw Jesus face-to-face!
Because we were small, losing a member was major. Perhaps
the biggest exodus came when one of the single women in our
church had become pregnant.The newly converted wallowed in
righteous indignation. They demanded that my father throw this
young woman out of the church. His calm response came in the
form of a question: “Why would I throw her out now when she
needs us the most?” Dad’s sensitive, compassionate ability to
embrace those who were suffering emanated from his own life so
overshadowed with pain and disappointment. Like Jesus, my father
chose understanding rather than condemnation.
My dad’s passion was to see his members “set free.” Sister Gadson,
for example, had a phobia of riding in cars and busses. She was
terrified at the thought. Consequently, she never traveled beyond
walking distance of her apartment in the projects. But Dad was convinced
of the reality of Scripture, “If the Son sets you free, you will
be free indeed” (John 8:36).
“Get in the car,” he demanded one day. “No, pastor,” Sister
Gadson meekly refused. But because of her respect for him, she
eventually obliged. Dad drove her and her husband around Manhattan,
and she loved it! The fear of traveling was gone.
________
Entering the Ministry
Personally, I had no intentions of entering the ministry. In fact, I had
promised myself that I would never marry a pastor. I had no illusions
about the work involved. Up close, the demands of pastoring seemed
overwhelming.
On call day and night, Dad was often summoned from sleep to
an emergency at the hospital, or to a home to calm disputes, or to the jail to help a member’s child who was in trouble. There never seemed time for him to really rest. On many nights after a full day of hard physical labor as a carpenter, Dad would shower, change clothes, and drive from New Rochelle to Manhattan to teach Bible
classes or to play the piano or organ during choir rehearsal or to
conduct meetings.
A Bible school graduate, Dad’s preaching and teaching style was
exegetical. He taught what the Scriptures said and then applied them
to today. Always, Dad ministered with his whole heart. I came to love
the Lord dearly and trust him completely because of the absolute faith
that my father placed in his Savior.
I taught Sunday school. Soon I became frustrated with the curriculum
available. Here we were teaching in a one-room church with
several classes occurring simultaneously. These children lived in the
inner city in tall buildings and walked through snow to school. But
the pictures on the covers of most Sunday school material featured
lovely country homes with picket fences and rosy children with smiling
faces. They resembled no one in our congregation. Out of frustration,
I began writing and developing our own lessons. Little did I
realize that I was in God’s preparatory school.
After a 10-year stint on Madison Avenue as a magazine editor,
God’s call on my life began to materialize. Although I had reached the
top and had experienced tremendous success, I felt empty inside. All
of the hard work and all of the extra hours struggling to “make it” did
not produce the fulfillment it had promised.
One Sunday, my brother, Elder Allen Powlis, preached a sermon
from Mark 11:22, “Have faith in God.” It haunted me. Of course I had
faith in God! I was raised in a Christian home, accepted Christ as my
Savior, was baptized according to Scripture, taught Sunday school,
sang in the choir, worked with the youth, and served on the Pastor’s

---

Excerpted from Teaching Like Jesus: A Practical Guide to Christian Education in Your Church by La Verne Tolbert
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.