An important part of being a Southern Baptist is the emphasis on Sunday School. Sunday School is a discipleship and evangelism strategy that truly works in the Southern Baptist Church when it is applied correctly. One of the key aspects of building a strong Sunday School is to select the correct curriculum for teaching. My personal favorite Bible Study Curriculum is LifeWay’s Explore the Bible. I like “Explore The Bible” because it is expository, flexible, and has an option for a book per participant.
Explore the Bible emphasizes verse by verse Bible Study. These studies are organized around teaching themes but at the heart of this curriculum is the study of the Bible. This is key to a great Sunday School because it places the Bible as the first priority over personal preference.
The curriculum is also flexible. In the teaching of the Bible, the teacher can go point by point from the book. Or use the book as a commentary to provide an interactive class on the subject of the Bible. It has a format that is useful for many different age groups.
Finally, I like the idea of providing a book for each member of the Sunday School. Not only does this help the teacher to have notes to draw from, it presents a great opportunity to help the members of the class to study the Bible outside of the Sunday School—even if it is to skim the book sometime during the week. The extra benefit of the Explore the Bible curriculum is that the books are relatively inexpensive. It is great way to provide Christian reading for your members.
Over the years, I have seen many different ways to do Sunday School and always return back to Explore the Bible as my favorite way to lead others in Sunday School.