March 1, 2004 - Essentials

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March 1, 2004
Essential Bible Study Aids for Sunday School Teachers
By Shirley McDonald

Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (World Bible Publishers)
This one is a must to find any and all passages of the Bible when you know just one word or phrase.

The Signature of God: Astonishing Biblical Discoveries By Grant R. Jeffrey
For those who want to examine the scientific discoveries that “prove the Bible is authoritative and inspired by God,” Grant offers evidence from historical documents and fulfilled prophecies. He further declares that the Bible makes scientific statements that are thousands of years before their time, yet stunningly accurate.

Failing Forward: Turning Mistakes into Stepping Stones for Success By John C. Maxwell
Maxwell redefines failure and success, asserting that it is what you “do after you get back up that counts.” Examples of successful people who failed many times before finally succeeding are motivating and encouraging to those who feel they are a failure. One example is R. H. Macy, who tried five professions (whaler, gold miner, stockbroker, real estate broker, and retailer) before becoming successful on his seventh try at retail, with Macy’s in Manhattan.

Nelson’s Complete Book of Stories, Illustrations, & Quotes: The Ultimate Contemporary Resource for Speakers By Robert J. Morgan
Ruth Bell Graham advised the author to “Preach expository sermons, keep them short, and use a lot of illustrations.” Morgan’s intent with this book was to provide a wealth of stories on dozens of topics, from “Abiding in Christ” to “Zeal.” There are illustrations of actual happenings, quotes, examples from sermons, and a place to note the date on which you used the illustration.

Nelson’s Complete Book of Bible Maps & Charts (Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1996)
This resource includes reproducible maps and charts of both the Old and New Testaments. Each book is presented with information about the author, time written, themes and literary structure, geographic locations, an outline of the book, and much more.

Manners and Customs of the Bible: A complete guide to the origin and significance of our time-honored biblical tradition By James M. Freeman (Rewritten and updated by Harold J. Chadwick)
Understanding the customs of biblical times leads to greater illumination of the meaning of the scriptures. This reference work is great in finding the meaning of specific scriptural manners/customs, but it is also a great book just for browsing. For example, some ancient men preferred to be killed rather than be disgraced by having their beards cut off (entry for II Samuel 10:4) and that one ancient method of declaring war was to shoot an arrow into the country to be invaded (entry for II Kings 13:17). I’m sure there is a great Sunday School lesson in both of these!

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Shirley McDonald writes High School Sunday school lessons for Word Aflame Publications. She loves teaching in the High School Girls’ Sunday School class at her church in Denham Springs, Louisiana. They are without doubt the most wonderful group in the world!