Category Archives: Meeting Students’ Needs

Bible teachers, wouldn’t it be great to have students so motivated to know the Lord that they would say, like the Apostle Paul, “I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord …” (Phil. 3:8). Oh, to hear them not only say, “I want to know Christ” but also, “I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me” (Phil. 3:10-12).

What if it seems like all I’m doing is pushing and pulling people to learn?

Face it, people have a lot competing for their hearts and minds. You may sometimes find yourself pushing and pulling students to learn and to grow in the Lord. Ask these questions about your efforts to motivate students:

1. Are you connecting with people in ways that help motivate them?

Training Resource: Help! My students don’t want to be here! They don’t want to learn! Worksheet

2. Are you strategic in connecting students with the God of the Bible and not simply its truths?

Training Resource: Motivating Students to Believe … And Act on What They Believe Worksheet

3. Are you relying on God, through His Spirit, to do the work through you and in your students’ hearts and minds?

Training Resource: The Holy Spirit & My Teaching Devotional

The Bible Teacher’s Handbook of Frequently Asked Questions provides a few more thoughts about each of these points. It also asks these questions about motivating students:

• How do we know what will motivate our students to learn?
• How can we motivate students if we don’t know what’s truly in their hearts?

The handbook covers 49 different issues related to Bible teaching, asking a total of 153 questions.

Bible teachers mustn’t assume all their students are true believers.

Just because a person has been going to church all his/her life, doesn’t mean he/she is a true believer.

Going to church doesn’t make a person a believer.

Just because a student seems to know what the Bible says, doesn’t mean he/she is a true believer.

Even demons know/believe what the Bible says (James 2:19). Head knowledge doesn’t make a person a believer.

Just because someone seems to walk the walk, doesn’t mean he/she is a true believer.

Many people are good and sincere. Doing good works, however, doesn’t make a person a believer (Eph. 2:8-9).

Just because a student says he/she is a Christian, doesn’t mean he/she is a true believer.

Some people think that because they aren’t atheists or Jews or of other persuasions, they must be a Christian. We aren’t true believers by default.

We can’t know if students have a personal relationship with God solely based on outward appearance. True conversion is a heart issue. Only God knows what is in a person’s heart. Only God can change a person’s heart. God will use a teacher and other believers to lead people to Himself but ultimately His Spirit regenerates.

If We Can’t Know For Sure if All Students Are True Believers, What’s a Bible Teacher to Do?

In light of the reality that only God truly knows what’s in a person’s heart, as Bible teachers we mustn’t assume. Rather, we should …

regularly pray for all students since God knows the true condition of their hearts.

always keep pace with the Spirit of God so as not to push ahead of the work He is doing in someone’s heart, nor to lag behind.

occasionally present the Gospel message even if we think all students in our class are believers.

Click Below for Teacher Training Resources & Ideas:

• Some Outreach Do’s & Don’ts for the Adult Classroom Worksheet
• Tools for Teachers to Share the Gospel
• More Training Resources for Outreach Efforts in the Classroom

Churches may not even think about including people with special needs or challenges until the first time someone with a disability attends. It would be good to think through a plan so we’re ready.

The First Question Churches Might Ask about Special Needs Ministry

Should we have a separate class for students with special needs?

As the Body of Christ, we must always strategize in ways that line up with God’s purposes and design for the Church. He intends that “each member belongs to all the others” (Rom. 12:5) with growth coming when everybody does their part (Eph. 4:16). We find no exclusions or conditions in those verses and others like it. People with special needs are a part of the Church and have something to contribute to the whole. If we isolate them into a class of their own, they miss out on the opportunity to contribute to the whole and other students will miss out on the blessing these students can bring. Making our classes inclusive communicates what the Body of Christ is about … loving and accepting one another. If we have separate classes, what will we do to show that they belong to the Body just as anyone else?

You’ll find a few more thoughts on the above question in the Bible Teacher’s Handbook of Frequently Asked Questions which also asks:

• How should the classroom be designed so it’s inclusive of students with special needs?

The handbook looks at 48 other issues related to Bible teaching, responding to a total of 153 questions.

Training Resource: Including Students with Special Challenges

Sometimes students are hurting or grieving, perhaps depressed or even suicidal. — Teachers, do you know how to help students in crisis? Crisis Strikes. Even when students haven’t personally experienced loss, shootings, natural disasters, or tragedies of any nature, they can still feel its effects. — Teachers, do you know how to help students who are anxious and stressed because of what is happening in the world around them?

How Can Bible Teachers Help Students in Crisis?

Helping students in crisis usually takes more than tacking a sharing time onto the lesson. Sometimes it requires one-on-one with students. Are we willing to be there for students in both the good and bad times? Do we demonstrate that we truly care? — If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. (1 Cor. 13:1)

Here are some ways we can help:

• Encourage students turn all their anxieties over to the Lord, helping students find peace. (Phil. 4:6-7)

• Extend hope as it is found in Christ now and for the future, helping students find perspective. (Rom. 15:13; Eph. 1:18-19)

• Envelop them in prayer, praying for and with them, helping students find power. (James 5:13-16)

• Engage when it’s time to intervene or refer, helping students find practical assistance.(Gal. 6:2, 9-10)

We may not be able to prevent bad things from happening or explain it away. We may not be able to promise circumstances will change. But, as Bible teachers, we can help students find what they truly need in times of crisis — peace, perspective, power, and sometimes practical assistance.

Teacher Training Resources to Learn How to Help in Times of Crisis:

• Crisis Strikes Worksheet
• Bible Teachers’ Many Roles in Times of Trouble
• Ministering to Students with Hurting Hearts Worksheet
• Other Teacher Training Resource for Helping Students in Crisis