Shoe Soles and Sunday Souls

D. L. Moody, the 19th century Chicago preacher, sure didn’t start out life as a preacher. He was a somewhat displaced teenager who found himself selling shoes in his uncle’s shoe store trying to get rich. Then, through a series of events, he attended a local church Sunday School class. Moody’s indifference toward the church and toward the class did not stop his Sunday School teacher, Ed Kimbell, from visiting Moody at his place of employment. That timid teacher-paced out front, trying to figure out just what to say to Moody. Although full of trepidation, the teacher’s concern for Moody outweighed his own lack of confidence.

For hundreds of years, a place of training for the believer has been Sunday School. There, anyone can learn biblical principles, make lifelong friendships and have the opportunity to pray for others and to be prayed for.

I can certainly verify that Sunday School can be beneficial. In 1975, I strolled into a Sunday School class and met my future wife. Both of us were brand new Christians who wanted to learn more. We were later married, and soon afterward, we went from starting a new life together to starting a new Sunday School class.

Opportunities in a Sunday School class are boundless since it allows you to ask questions, get answers and develop relationships. It is a place to grow in almost every way. As you grow, you may have an opportunity to become a teacher yourself and minister to others the way your teacher hopefully ministered to you.

So what happened to Moody? Well, that Sunday School teacher got the courage to go in and talk to him about Moody’s eternal future, about what Jesus had done for him. Moody accepted Jesus and became a Christian, right then and there. Shortly after Moody became a new Christian, he started children’s Sunday School classes by collecting kids off the street, and many became Christians.

Moody’s pathway to becoming that effective and famous American preacher led him through Sunday School. Maybe your pathway of walking with God can begin, continue, or excel in a Sunday School class at First Baptist Dallas. If you already are attending a class, don’t forget that it is not just about you. Invite others to join you. If you’re enjoying spiritual growth, then reach out and help others grow also by inviting them. Sunday School is kind of like “supersizing” your church experience, and that is important since the church is the “pillar and support of the truth” (1 Tim. 3:15).