2026 Summer Gospel Meeting: James Luedecke - Restoring God's Plan for Undivided Teaching Assemblies of the Church

I want to thank each and every one of you for

being here tonight. All honor, glory, and praise

goes to God through His Son and our Savior Jesus

Christ. He's the reason why we're here. He's

the reason why we sing. He's the reason why we

pray. He's the reason why this week we are studying

God's Word and considering what it has to teach

us about our theme, our topic of restoring New

Testament Christianity. You know we've covered

a lot of ground already in this series over the

last week. We've talked about a lot of things

pertaining to restoring New Testament Christianity

and going back to the Bible to find our faith,

to find our doctrine, to find our practice so

that we can simply be the one in the same church

that Jesus built. I'll mention to you before

we get started in our lesson tonight that if

you're interested in getting the notes from The

topics that we've talked about thus far in this

series, those notes, those handouts are right

up here on the front view. After the service,

feel free to take a copy of the notes and the

outlines for lessons one through seven in this

series. Tonight, we're gonna do lesson number

eight in the series. Tonight, we're gonna talk

about restoring God's plan for undivided teaching

assemblies in the church. I realize that some

of you will be back at your home congregations

tomorrow, and if you're interested in having

the notes for Lessons 9 and 10, those are provided

here on the pew as well. Feel free to grab those.

So if you desire, you can have a complete set

of the notes for this series. The church here

at North Warren, as I mentioned last night, does

not use any kind of Sunday school or church Bible

class system for teaching. And you know when

people in the Church of Christ hear that they

think a lot of different things. You may be hearing

that tonight and you may be thinking well that

sure sounds different. I never knew there were

congregations that didn't have Sunday school

or church Bible classes. You might be hearing

that and to you that might sound like a strange

idea. Maybe you're sitting there tonight and

you're saying well it's just the craziest idea

you've ever heard of in all your life. Why not

have Sunday school? Why not have church Bible

classes? You know a person might be prompted

to think or ask, you know, don't y 'all think

it's important to teach the Bible? And I think

that's a fair question and I want to answer that

question up front really clearly for you. Yes,

we do feel strongly and we believe strongly that

the church should teach the Bible. And we've

been trying to do that to the best of our ability

all week through this gospel meeting. A person

might wonder, well, don't y 'all think it's important

for children to learn the Bible? It's a good

question and let me answer that. Yes, we believe

strongly that children should be taught and they

do need to learn the Bible. And I've been thankful

over the course of this week for how many young

people, how many children we've had in our assemblies.

And they've done a good job participating, singing,

praying, listening. They're up here taking notes.

They're learning the Word of God with us tonight

and we're very thankful for that. You know, a

person might ask the question, well, don't you

all think it's important for women to have an

opportunity to teach the Bible? Because, you

know, in a lot of churches, the church Bible

classes is the sole opportunity for a woman to

teach, to make comments, or ask questions in

Bible classes. And the answer to that question

is this. Yes, we believe that women can, and

we believe women should be teaching the Bible.

Okay, then if we think it's important to teach

the Bible if we think it's important children

learn the Bible and if we think it's important

that women have an opportunity to teach the Bible

as well Then why doesn't the church here at North

Warren have Sunday school? Why don't they have

any kind of church Bible class program? It all

goes back to this fact and I and I hope through

our study tonight I can help you see this I can

help you understand it We feel like there's a

proper time and there's a proper place for all

this important teaching that we've just talked

about. Teaching children, women having opportunity

to teach. We feel like there's a proper time

and a proper place for all of it. We believe

and we are convicted that God has a plan for

teaching the church. He has a plan and he has

revealed that plan to us Of course in the New

Testament and we've been going to the New Testament

and looking at it as a pattern as a blueprint

for Everything we've talked about this morning

or this week and we're gonna do so again tonight

We're gonna go to God's pattern his New Testament

to see what the plan is for teaching the church

And we know, and I think we all agree, when God

gives us a plan, we shouldn't add anything to

that plan, we shouldn't take anything away from

that plan, and we shouldn't try to substitute

our own plan for God's plan. And we believe,

we are convicted and convinced by our study of

the Scriptures, that God's plan for teaching

the church, it involves undivided teaching assemblies.

Undivided teaching assemblies. thrown out that

term undivided teaching assemblies. It's probably

important that I define exactly what I'm talking

about so there's no confusion. When I say undivided

teaching assemblies I'm talking about men women

and children of all ages coming together into

one place I'm talking about men standing up and

teaching the Word of God. I'm talking about women

sitting and learning in silence. I'm talking

about everybody sitting, listening, and learning

the Word of God together. Okay, and the best

example I could give you of an undivided teaching

assembly would be the very setting and assembly

we are in right here tonight. All right, we are

all called together into one place men women

and children young and old. We're all sitting

We're all listening men are taking turn leading

in the service It's my turn to teach and y 'all

are being a great audience You're sitting reverently

and listening carefully and we're all listening

and learning the Word of God together That's

what I mean when I talk about undivided teaching

assemblies We believe God's plan does not involve

teaching the church with a Sunday school or a

church Bible class system of teaching or a divided

system of Bible classes. We believe God's plan

and pattern is for undivided teaching assemblies

and not this. Now, before we dive off into the

lesson and start looking in the Scriptures, I

want to stop for just a moment and I want to

share a few words and a few thoughts with you

up front. And I just want to be open with you.

I want to be real with you. I am well aware of

the fact that this issue has caused division

in churches of Christ for many, many, many years,

going back over a hundred years. This issue of

whether or not we should have Sunday school or

church Bible classes has caused a division in

the church. That is not lost on me. And I think

that division is something that is very unfortunate.

I think this division is something that we would

have to all admit the Lord is not pleased with.

The Lord doesn't want division in His church.

He wants unity. All right, now I have very strong,

passionate convictions about this issue. And

I'm going to share those convictions with you

tonight. And I'm going to do so with passion

in my heart. I'm going to get excited. I might

raise my voice. But if I do that, please know

it's for no other reason other than I'm passionate

about what I believe the Bible teaches about

this. Let me just be completely open and honest

with you. There's a part of me as I stand up

here tonight that's very excited to share this

information with you. But you know to be honest

there's also a part of me that is hesitant because

I know there's people in this audience tonight

That have attended churches of Christ and congregations

that use Sunday school and church Bible classes

there may be people in the audience tonight that

that's all they've ever known their whole life

and they're just hearing for the first time that

there's churches of Christ that don't have Bible

classes and I always want to be very careful

and very sensitive and very thoughtful. I don't

want to offend anyone. We're not eager to offend

people when we teach and preach on these things.

That's not our goal. That's not our purpose.

I believe that we should not be afraid to discuss

controversial issues like this. I think it would

actually be better if we could find a way within

ourselves to humbly, patiently, and lovingly

talk about some of the issues that have divided

us. Because here's my conviction and here's my

belief, and you may not feel the same way I do.

That's okay. But I believe if you obeyed the

same gospel I did, I believe you are my brother

and you are my sister in Christ. God put you

in the same family He put me into. whether we

agree or disagree on this topic or any number

of things we've talked about this week if we

obeyed the same gospel we are heirs of the same

inheritance we are members of the same family

citizens of the same kingdom we have the same

hope we have the same Savior and I don't know

how you feel about that but I feel like it's

my obligation and my duty to always do my best

my very best to love and respect my brethren

Even when we might disagree on issues like this,

I think that's important. And I'm gonna try to

present this material in such a way that shows

that love and that respect, but at the same time,

shows the passion and conviction that we have

on this subject. And so, again, part of me is

excited, part of me is hesitant. Part of us...

is eager to embrace everyone, all of our brothers

and sisters, who are a part of the Lord's family

with us. On one hand, we're very eager to embrace

everyone in the body of Christ, but on the other

hand, honestly, we are also very hesitant to

embrace and condone what we believe from our

perspective to be unscriptural practices. And

I'm just being honest and real with you. This

is where I'm at. This is how I feel. This is

how I see these things. I'm going to ask one

thing from you. I'm being real honest. I'm being

real and raw with you. I'm going to ask you to

do one thing for me. Before you tune me out and

say this hillbilly from Arkansas don't know what

he's talking about. Would you please give this

a fair and honest consideration? Before you dismiss

what we're teaching tonight as strange, odd as

mean divisive crazy whatever you might think

about this before you do that would you please

just just hear us out just listen just give us

a fair and honest consideration and listen to

these things with an open heart and open mind

I'm gonna I'm gonna trust tonight that you're

gonna do that so I'm gonna thank you ahead of

time for having an open heart and an open mind

to receive the things that we're gonna talk about

tonight Now before we dive off into the scriptures

it might help all of us to go back and review

some of the different ways that we approach the

scripture. It's hard for some people to understand

how we could arrive at such a conviction and

such a practice like this and often times people

have a hard time wrapping their mind around it

because they don't understand our approach to

scripture. We believe the New Testament provides

us with a pattern on how to be the church that

Jesus built, and we are trying our very best.

Despite our weaknesses, our shortcomings, and

our failures, we're trying our very best to carefully

follow the New Testament pattern so that we can

be careful to avoid all the different man -made

doctrines and traditions we see in religion today.

Here's another way we approach Scripture. We

learn a lot of lessons from the Old Testament.

There are stories in the Old Testament that teach

us the importance of obedience to God's plan,

obedience to His patterns. Obedience is imperative,

you know, even in the things that might seem

like the finer details to us. God still wants

our obedience even in the finer details. And

I don't have time to preach a sermon about these

stories, but I'm just offering these to remind

you. We read in Leviticus 10 .1 -2 about two

brothers, Nadam and Abihu, who offered strange

fire before the Lord. These were religious men

doing religious things, but because they weren't

following the word of God, they suffered the

worst of consequences. They died. We read about

Moses. God told Moses in Numbers chapter 20 to

Numbers 20 · chapter mention

speak to the rock, and it would give forth water.

Instead, Moses struck the rock. And because of

his disobedience to what God told him to do,

he didn't go into the promised land of Canaan.

In 1 Chronicles 13 we read of a man named Uzzah

who in the days of King David was very unwise

in the way that he handled he reached up and

touched the ark of a covenant in a way that wasn't

authorized by God. And because David and the

men of Israel weren't paying attention to the

details of God's word, they weren't following

his plan and pattern for moving the ark, Uzzah

was careless and he lost his life. We also read

of proud King Uzziah in 2 Chronicles chapter

2 Chronicles 26 · chapter mention

26 who went into the temple of the Lord to burn

incense. The problem was he wasn't a priest,

he wasn't of the tribe of Levi. And God struck

him with leprosy and he was a leper till the

day he died because he didn't pay attention to

the finer details of God's law. He rebelled and

he disobeyed God's plan for offering incense

in the temple. Stories like these remind us how

important it is. that we pay close attention

to the Word of God and render obedience at every

level, even things that we might consider minor

or consider to be finer details. First thing

we're going to do tonight as we've done all week

is we're going to start by looking at the original

pattern as it's revealed in the Word of God concerning

God's plan for teaching the church. We're going

to talk about how the original pattern or plan

for teaching the church consisted of undivided

teaching assemblies. And to establish that, we're

going to go to 1 Corinthians chapter 14. And

1 Corinthians 14 · chapter mention

I'm going to do a brief survey of this chapter.

It has so much to teach us about the way we should

be conducting our teaching in the assemblies

of the church. Church at Corinth had a lot of

issues. in their assemblies. In 1 Corinthians

14, 1 to 3, Paul exposes the fact that they all

desired spiritual gifts, but it was not for the

right reasons. They all had selfish motivations

for wanting these spiritual gifts that God had

given them by way of the Holy Spirit. Paul explains

to them in 1 Corinthians 14, verse 4 to 5, that

1 Corinthians 14:4–5

those spiritual gifts were given to edify the

church. But these Corinthians were using these

gifts to build themselves up. They thought it

was really neat. It was really cool to have the

gift of tongues, to speak a language that you'd

never studied before or spoken before. That made

them feel real important and real special and

they loved to showcase that gift in the assembly

of the church. Not giving any consideration as

to whether or not it was helpful to the church,

teaching the church anything or building them

up. Paul tries to help them see that. in verses

4 and 5. In verses 6 to 19, Paul tries to explain

and reason with them. He tells them, you know,

speaking those foreign languages, speaking in

tongues without interpretation might be edifying

for the speaker. It might make the speakers feel

important or special, but he reasons with them

to help them see it was not building up the church.

Would this lesson mean anything to you if I preached

it in Vietnamese? I don't understand a word of

Vietnamese. If I was speaking in Vietnamese right

now, that would be a miracle for sure. If I could

preach this lesson in Vietnamese, it wouldn't

profit you anything, right? Because you couldn't

understand a single thing I was saying. And that's

what Paul was trying to help the Corinthians

understand. You might feel good to have the gift

of tongues and be able to use it, but you need

to think less about yourself and more about building

up the church with these gifts. In verse 20,

you know, talks to him really straight. He gets

serious with him and he tells him, you know what,

you need to stop being childish. You need to

stop being spiritually immature and you need

to grow up in your faith and understanding about

how to properly use these spiritual gifts. And

then in verse 21 to 22, he starts to explain

the proper use of some of those gifts. He tells

them that the proper use of the gift of tongues

was to convince unbelievers that these men were

speaking on behalf of God. And he goes on to

say the proper use of the gift of prophecy, prophesying

was for edifying or building up the believers.

Speaking in an unknown language was good to convince

unbelievers that they should listen to you. Speaking

in a known language, prophesying for the congregation

was good for teaching them, instructing them,

and building them up. And then when we get to

verse 23, Paul talks about the abuse of those

spiritual gifts. and how if they continued to

abuse the spiritual gifts of tongues and prophecy,

it was going to discourage those who came in

and visited their assemblies. In verse 24 and

25, he explains that the proper use of the gifts

would convict and convince those who came in

and visited the assemblies. When he gets to verse

26, verse 26 through 32, Paul explains that every

brother can speak and can participate. And in

Corinth, all the brethren had a desire to speak

and participate in the assembly. But he explains

and tries to show them that by not taking turns

and by everyone speaking at the same time and

men speaking over one another, it had led to

a lot of confusion and a lot of chaos in their

assembly. Verses 33 to 35, Paul points out that

women were also creating disruption in their

assemblies by speaking out publicly and asking

questions there in the assembly. And that's a

very short summary of 1 Corinthians chapter 14.

1 Corinthians 14 · chapter mention

We're going to dive deeper and read some of these

scriptures, but I want to set the stage for you

and help you understand that the church at Corinth

had a lot of problems in their assemblies. And

Paul wrote 1 Corinthians chapter 14. It's a chapter

1 Corinthians 14 · chapter mention

of correction. He wrote the chapter to correct

all the error, all the disorder, all the chaos

and confusion that they had because of the way

they were doing things in the teaching part of

their assembly. Next thing that we'll look at

this tonight is how Paul corrects the error that

they had at Corinth. Here's the first thing Paul

tells them to do. He says the whole church needs

to come together into one place for edification.

It's the first thing he tells them, 1 Corinthians

1 Corinthians 14:23

14 verse 23. He says, if therefore the whole

church become together into one place and all

speak with tongues, foreign languages, and there

come in those that are unlearned or unbelievers,

will they not say that you're mad? Won't they

say that you're crazy? If all your men get up

and speak foreign languages they don't understand,

they're going to come in and they're going to

think you all are crazy. But I want you to notice

here the arrangement that Paul envisions. as

he lays these things out for the Corinthians.

What arrangement was Paul speaking of here in

verse 23 concerning when the church came together

for teaching? It was what I'm going to call a

togetherness arrangement. A togetherness arrangement.

Paul said the whole church become together into

one place. That is how the first century church,

the New Testament church came together for edification.

The whole church came together in one place.

And tonight, I'm gonna refer back to that over

and over again, and I'm gonna refer to that as

the togetherness arrangement. That is the authorized

arrangement for teaching the church. When the

church comes together for teaching, this is what

the scripture authorizes the whole church to

become together into one place. The next thing

Paul does by way of correction is he tells them,

look. Your men who speak in the assembly need

to take turns. They need to teach one at a time.

Remember, they were all speaking at the same

time, talking over one another, creating confusion.

He said, you need to speak and teach one at a

time so everyone in the audience can sit, listen,

learn, and be comforted all together. The whole

church become together into one place. We see

that in verse 31 of 1 Corinthians 14. Paul tells

him, for ye may all prophesy. He tells the teaching

brethren, you can all get up and speak, you can

all prophesy, but he says do it one by one, one

at a time. He says that all may learn and all

may be comforted. Paul says the speakers, the

teachers need to speak one at a time so everyone

can sit, everyone can listen, everyone can learn

together because the whole church has come together

into one place for this teaching. Okay, the men

need to speak and teach one at a time to the

congregation assembled together there in that

togetherness arrangement Now I want to I want

you to stop and notice something here If we think

about the situation here at Corinth in the chaos

and the confusion that was in their assembly

This was actually a perfect opportunity for God

to give us a divided into classes arrangement

for teaching. And let me explain what I mean

by that. In 1st Corinthians 14 verse 26, Paul

says, How is it then, brethren, every one of

you hath the psalm, hath the doctrine, hath the

tongue, hath the revelation, hath an interpretation?

He said, you brethren all have something you

want to say, you want to interject, you want

to participate in some way in the assembly. And

that wasn't a problem. That wasn't a problem.

It was just the way that they were going about

participating. They were all speaking over one

another and that was not edifying. That's why

he says at the end of the verse, let all things

be done unto edifying. Picture this, the church

was coming together and all these teachers, all

these men at Corinth had something to say or

contribute but because they were all speaking

at the same time it just created chaos and confusion.

This was a perfect opportunity. For God to say,

look, here's the solution to the chaos. Just

divide the church up into different classes and

let each man who has something to say teach his

own class. For example, we could have the psalm

class. We could have the tongue class, the interpretation

class, the doctrine class, the revelation class,

any number of classes. All these men wanted to

contribute in these ways. The Lord could have

very easily said, just divide the church up into

classes, put a teacher in every class, let those

men teach their classes, and that would have

eliminated the chaos. That would have removed

all the confusion. This was the perfect opportunity

for God to give us a divided into classes arrangement

for teaching, but what I want you to notice is

that is not the solution that God gave in 1 Corinthians

1 Corinthians 14 · chapter mention

chapter 14. The solution, God did not tell them

to divide the church up into different classes.

The solution was this. He told them the church

needs to stay together, whole church become together

into one place, togetherness arrangement. He

said, you men need to speak one at a time instead

of everybody speaking at the same time. First

1 Corinthians 14:31

Corinthians 14 verse 31. And he said, if you'll

do that, all can listen, all can learn, and all

can be comforted together in that common assembly.

This was God's solution to the chaos and the

confusion in their assemblies God had the perfect

opportunity to tell the church to divide into

classes. He didn't tell us to do that He said

we need to stay together and men need to speak

one at a time He said you need to do the teaching

just like it's being conducted here tonight Everyone

together men speaking one at a time so we can

all listen and learn together Now we continue

to look at Paul's correction of the Corinthian

errors. He had some correction for the sisters

in the congregation. He wrote to them in verses

34 and 35 that the women need to keep silent

in the assembly, that they weren't permitted

to speak out or ask questions. First Corinthians

14, 34 to 35 says, let your women keep silence

in the churches, for it is not permitted unto

them to speak. But they are commanded to be under

obedience, as also saith the law. And if they

will learn anything, let them ask their husbands

at home, for it's a shame for women to speak

in the church. We understand from scriptures

like this that men and women have different roles

and responsibilities in the church. And it's

that way in the home as well. Husbands, wives,

mothers, fathers have different responsibilities

in the home. Doesn't make the father any better

than the mother or the wife any better than her

husband. God just gave us different roles and

responsibilities in the home. And when husband

and wife know their role and work together, it's

a beautiful thing. It's the same way in the church.

Men and women have different roles and responsibilities.

It doesn't mean men are any better than women,

not at all. It just means God gave them different

roles. And a man's role is to be a leader and

a speaker, a teacher in the assemblies of the

church. A woman's role is to listen and learn

in silence. And that's the difference in the

two roles. Now something else I want to show

you by way of Paul's correction here. These corrective

measures that were mandated by Paul, these things

that he told the church there that they needed

to put into practice to correct all these errors,

these measures were not optional suggestions.

These things he told the church to do were the

commandments of the Lord. I want to show you

that in 1 Corinthians 14 verse 37. Paul said,

1 Corinthians 14:37

if any man think himself to be a prophet or spiritual,

let him acknowledge that the things that I write

unto you are the commandments of the Lord. He

just told him, you need to speak one at a time.

You need to take turns. Women need to be silent

in the assembly. If they have questions, ask

away from the assembly. He just laid out all

the measures that they needed to take to fix

the chaos and confusion. And he said, these are

not optional suggestions. These are the commandments

of the Lord. And you know what, if the Corinthians

would only accept that correction, they could

restore peace where there was confusion. They

could restore decency where there was chaos.

They could restore order and the assembly could

end up being something that was edifying instead

of being a big mess, something that was not edifying.

He explains that to him in verses 33 and verse

40. He says, for God is not the author of confusion

but of peace. as in all the churches of the saints.

And he said, let all things be done decently

and in order. You see, God can restore peace

where man has created confusion. He'll do that

in the assemblies of the church. He'll do that

really in every aspect of our life, if we'll

let him. By following his will and obeying his

word, we can have peace where we once had confusion.

As we continue to look at the original New Testament

pattern for teaching the church, I want us to

take a few moments to see from the Scriptures

that the Bible gives us two different settings

for Bible teaching. I want us to understand what

these two different settings are. Two settings

for Bible teaching as revealed in the Scripture

are going to be what I'm going to call the individual

setting and the congregational setting. Let's

talk about the individual setting and the congregational

setting for just a moment. Do we find these settings

taught in Scripture? Absolutely. And it's very

important that we can go to Scripture to find

and to describe these settings using scriptural

terms and scriptural language. Let's see what

the Bible says and let's look at Scriptures which

contrast these two settings for teaching. The

first one is Acts 20 verse 20. In Acts 20 verse

Acts 20:20 Acts 20:20

20, Paul says, he's talking to the Ephesian elders.

He talks about how he kept back nothing that

was profitable unto them, but had taught them

both publicly and from house to house. Paul tells

the Ephesian elders that he taught them in two

different settings. He said, I've taught you

publicly. That's the congregational setting,

and he says, I've taught you from house to house.

That's the individual setting. We're just using

the language of the Bible to describe these two

settings. Another place these two settings are

contrasted is 1 Corinthians 14 verse 34 to 35.

1 Corinthians 14:34–35

We just read that passage where Paul said, let

your women keep silence in the churches. In the

churches, there's that public congregational

setting. He said, if they have questions let

them ask their husbands at home in verse 35.

At home, there's the contrast with that private

house to house individual setting. So we have

in the churches and at home. Acts chapter 5 verse

Acts 5:42

42, Acts 5 42 talks about the apostles there

and their work in the church at Jerusalem. It

says, and daily in the temple and in every house

they cease not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.

The apostles were teaching in Jerusalem and it

says they were teaching daily where? In the temple.

That's that congregational public setting. And

it says in every house. That's that individual

at home private setting. The apostles were teaching

in the temple publicly and in every house privately.

And then the fourth example I'll give you from

scripture, which helps us see these two settings

very clearly, is in Acts 18 26 when Aquila and

Priscilla, a Christian couple, corrected a gospel

preacher, Apollos. You know, they went into the

synagogue and heard Apollos preaching Christ,

but he was preaching John's baptism. He had the

wrong doctrine of baptism. You know, they found

it necessary to correct Apollos, to give him

a better understanding of the doctrine of baptism.

In Acts 18 26, Bible says that they took him

unto them Priscilla and Aquila took him unto

them. They were in the synagogue setting, but

they took him unto them in the private setting,

the individual setting, and expounded unto him

the way of God more perfectly. So in Acts 18

26, again we see both settings for teaching.

We see that public setting. Apollos was there

in the synagogue teaching publicly, but when

it came time to correct him, Priscilla and Aquila

took him aside. They took him into that private

individual setting. to expound unto Him the way

of God more perfectly. So these are the two settings

as they're given to us and revealed to us in

Scripture. And we're using the language of Scripture

to understand and to characterize these two settings.

I want to talk about each one of them briefly

for just a moment. Let's dive in deeper and look

at the congregational setting. Here's some of

the defining characteristics of teaching that

happens in the congregational setting. Teaching

that happens in the congregational setting, the

general public is going to be invited to come

and be a part of that teaching. Teaching that

happens in the congregational setting is going

to be facilitated by the church and its leadership.

The church is going to provide a time, a place,

whatever resources might be necessary to facilitate

that teaching. A teaching that happens in the

congregational setting is going to be organized

by the leaders of the congregation. They're going

to pick a teacher. They may even pick a set of

topics and ask the man to teach on those topics,

but all of that's going to be organized by the

leaders of the congregation. And then the teaching

that happens in this congregational setting is

also going to be overseen by the leaders of the

church. If there's any error that's taught, of

course the leaders of the church are going to

hear that and they're going to need to correct

that teaching. Okay, the best example I could

give you of teaching in the congregational setting

is the teaching that's going on right here right

now. We're having a gospel meeting this week

and we publicized it all over town. We put the

posters up and the flyers up and we've invited

the public to come and to hear the Word of God

this week. The congregation here, its leadership

has facilitated this gospel meeting. They have

facilitated this assembly. They provided the

means by which we can come together and be a

part of this teaching. They have organized the

gospel meeting this week. They have organized

this assembly. They've asked me to speak. And

they are overseeing what I'm teaching. If I teach

something wrong, leaders of this congregation,

it's their responsibility to correct me. So these

are some of the defining characteristics that

help us understand teaching that is done in the

congregational setting. Now why is it important

that we know that we're being taught in a congregational

setting? When we're being taught in a congregational

setting the role of women is very important The

New Testament teaches in the public assemblies

of the church in this congregational setting

as we saw from 1st Corinthians 14 34 to 35 Then

in the public assemblies of the church women

may not teach anybody Women may not teach anybody

and they may not ask questions because as the

verse says they must keep silence Let your women

keep silence in the churches. It's not permitted

under them to speak He goes on to say in 35,

it's a shame for women to speak in the assemblies

of the church. When the churches come together

for this teaching in this congregational setting,

this is the role of women. Women can't speak,

can't teach, can't ask questions, they must keep

silence. It's important for us to know that that's

the role of women when we come together in this

setting for teaching. Well, let's shift gears

also in contrast this to the individual setting.

What are some of the defining characteristics

of teaching that happens in the individual setting?

Teaching that happens in the individual setting,

generally the public is not going to be invited

to that teaching. It's teaching that happens

in more private places, more private settings,

if you will. Teaching in the individual setting

is going to be facilitated by individuals. If

me and Brother Mark, just by using him by way

of example, last night Brother Mark said, hey,

I sure would like to get together and talk about

the Scriptures. So this morning I said, come

on over to Mark's house. So Mark came over this

morning, we talked for an hour and a half about

the Scriptures. That's something we facilitated

and we set up as individuals. And the teaching

that was conducted in that setting was in the

individual setting. Teaching that happens in

the individual setting, is going to be organized

by individuals, facilitated by individuals, and

it's not necessarily going to be overseen by

the leaders of the church. Mark didn't have to

ask the elders permission to study the Bible

with me, neither did I need to ask their permission

to study the Bible with him. You know, we all

ought to be willing and eager to study the Bible

with one another, to teach and admonish one another,

encourage one another. private studies, home

Bible studies, house to house studies. We need

to use the teaching that's afforded to us in

the individual setting and I hope by looking

at the defining characteristics of each on the

screen you can see the difference. We're not

in the individual setting tonight. You know last

week brother Mark and Robin invited a lot of

us over to their house after our assemblies to

sit on the back porch and study. And you know,

when Brother Mark organized that and facilitated

that as an individual and invited us, you know,

we met over at Brother Mark's porch late into

the night and we enjoyed teaching in this individual

setting. The role of women for teaching in the

individual setting is different than the role

of women for teaching in the congregational setting.

In the individual setting, I believe that a woman

can teach anybody. I believe a woman can teach

a child. I believe a woman can teach another

woman. I believe a woman can even teach a man

in the individual setting. And I'll give you

a book chapter and verse for that in just a moment.

I believe in the individual setting. I believe

women can ask questions. In fact, First Corinthians

1435 says that's where she does need to ask questions.

Not in the assembly, but at home or away from

the assembly. In the individual setting, I don't

believe women have to keep silence. The scripture

that tells them to keep silent, 1 Corinthians

14, 34 to 35, tells them to do so in the assemblies

of the church when we're receiving teaching in

the congregational setting. I hope it's easy

for us to see that there are two different roles

for women depending on which setting we are in.

That's why it's important for us to know the

difference between teaching in the congregational

setting and teaching in the individual setting.

Let me show you why I believe women can teach

women, women can teach children, women can even

teach men away from the assemblies of the church

in private house -to -house studies. Titus 2

Titus 2:3–5

verse 3 to 5 commands that older Christian women

teach younger Christian women. This is very important.

Titus 2 verse 3, the aged women, it says likewise

Titus 2:3

that they be teachers of good things. Christian

women, aged Christian women need to be teachers

of good things. That they may teach the younger

women to be sober, to love their husbands, to

love their children, to be discreet, chaste,

keepers at home, good, obedient to their own

husbands. That the Word of God be not blasphemed.

This is very, very clear. There's a time and

a place for older Christian women to teach younger

Christian women. But where is the time and when

is the place for that teaching to happen? Does

that... teaching need to happen tonight, right

here in the public assembly of the church? Do

we need to have a gospel meeting to do that teaching

where we invite the public to come? No, this

teaching needs to happen away from the assemblies

of the church. The perfect place for this teaching

to happen is in the private house -to -house

individual setting, not in the congregational

setting, not in the public assemblies of the

church. And I told you, I believe a Christian

woman can teach a man as long as she does it

away from the assembly. I believe there's an

approved apostolic example of that in Acts 18

26. Remember, this is about Aquila and Priscilla,

a Christian husband and wife. What did they do

in Acts 18 26? The Bible says he, that's Apollos,

began to speak boldly in the synagogue, whom

when Aquila and Priscilla, a husband and his

wife, had heard, they took him unto them. Who

took him unto them? Bible says they. Who is they?

They is Aquila and Priscilla, a husband and a

wife, a man and a woman. They took Apollos unto

them. They took him aside in private. And what

did they do? They expounded unto him the way

of God more perfectly. Who expounded unto Apollos

the way of God more perfectly? Who taught him?

Well, they did. The same people that took him

unto them. The same people that took him aside.

And who was they? They was Aquila and Priscilla,

a man and a woman. Let me tell you how I think

this would apply today. Listen, if a sister in

the church hears me or any man teach something,

it is an error. It is not biblical and not scriptural.

I believe they have every right to bring that

to our attention and to correct us in the same

way that Priscilla corrected Apollos in Acts

18 26. Now the only thing I'll ask is that you

do that like they did privately away from the

assembly of the church. After the service of

the church, if you think I've taught error or

there's something that's amiss in my teaching,

I believe a Christian woman has every right to

correct me and I'll try to receive all the correction

that's offered. But I think this verse authorizes

our sisters. When it's appropriate and necessary,

they can teach us. If we need to be taught, they

have authority from God to teach us. They just

need to do that in the individual private setting.

Now that we've thoroughly established God's original

plan and pattern for teaching the church, and

we've seen how that pattern involves undivided

teaching assemblies of the church, we're going

to move on and we're going to look... at how

error slowly crept into the church and changed

God's plan and changed God's pattern down through

the course of church history. God's plan and

God's pattern for teaching really did not change

at all for about 1 ,750 years. For about 1 ,750

years the church was taught exactly in the way

that we have seen revealed in Scripture tonight.

But in the last part of the 1700s, last part

of the 18th century, we see the Sunday School

movement is born in England. This is Robert Rakes.

Robert Rakes was an Englishman and in 1780, Robert

Rakes established a secular school for poor working

-class children in Gloucester, England. That

school met in a private home It met on Sundays

because Sunday was the only day that the children

didn't have to go to the factories and work This

was the early parts of the Industrial Revolution

There were no child labor laws. It's very sad

and unfortunate, but children is as old as six

years old We're working 16 hour days six days

a week in the harshest Working conditions in

factories across England and Europe And this

was very detrimental to their physical health,

very detrimental to their emotional and mental

health. On Sundays, these children, the day they

had off, they were running around town being

destructive, being violent, drinking alcohol,

causing fights, destroying property. And Robert

Rake saw what was happening with these children

in his community. And he said, these children

need something better. They need an education.

And so he opened a home. to bring these children

in and to teach them on Sundays. He taught them

basic reading, he taught them writing, and in

connection with that he also taught them basic

Bible lessons. Because of that Robert Rakes is

given attribution as being the founder of the

modern day Sunday School movement. By 1783 Robert

Rakes idea of Sunday School was being publicized.

He was publicizing it throughout all of England

and it didn't take long By 1785, a Sunday school

society formed in England because of the growing

popularity of the Sunday school all across the

country. By 1788, just eight years after it was

established, there was an estimated 300 ,000

students in England who were enrolled in Sunday

schools, which were originally secular schools

in private homes just for the purpose of teaching

basic reading, writing, and Bible lessons. So

as we continue to go forward in history, here's

what happened with this new Sunday School movement.

It wasn't that long, about 20 years later, denominational

churches saw the success and the popularity of

the Sunday School and they began to adopt it

within their own denominational churches. By

1800 many churches in England and even some in

the US were embracing Robert Rake's very popular

and idea of this Sunday School model. And so

what we see these denominational churches doing

is they're adopting a secular form of education

to teach the beliefs and the tenets of their

respective faiths. So they are taking a secular

program for teaching and bringing it into the

church and adopting it and adapting it and making

it their own in the denominational churches in

the early 1800s. Here's the testimony of history.

The testimony of history is that churches of

Christ initially were very strongly opposed to

the introduction of the Sunday School into churches

of Christ. I want to quote a few things from

Brother Bill Bonowski. This is Brother Bill Bonowski.

Brother Bill Bonowski was a very popular Church

of Christ preacher in the 1950s, 60s, and 70s.

I don't want to misrepresent Brother Bill Bonowski.

He looks kind of like a Catholic priest because

he's got that robe on. But Brother Bill Bonowski

was an educator. I believe he was the president

of Pepperdine University. I think in the 70s

he ended up the president of Oklahoma University,

OU at Norman. He was a very popular, a very widely

known teacher and preacher in churches of Christ.

And he was a writer. He wrote a lot about education.

That was his passion. And he wrote about the

evolution of education in churches of Christ.

He wrote a lot about the history of that. And

in one of his books, Mirror of a Movement, brother

Bill Banowski wrote this. He says churches of

Christ were very slow to organize Sunday school

in their local congregations. And they were slow

to do it because of the close ties between the

Sunday School movement and denominationalism.

And because of those close ties between Sunday

School and denominationalism, the disciples assumed

an early posture of belligerent opposition. The

churches of Christ in the early 1800s, initially

assumed an early posture of belligerent opposition

to this idea of bringing the Sunday School into

churches of Christ. However, over the last half

of the 19th century, from 1850 to 1900, slowly,

But ever so surely many many churches of Christ

slowly adopted and adapted a form of the Sunday

school again, brother Bill Banowski writing in

20th century Christian in 1967 and he said this

he said churches of Christ borrowed from denominational

neighbors the Sunday school idea when it was

Hale and Hardy Now I want to say something to

my knowledge Brother Bill Bonowski was associated

with Churches of Christ that had Sunday school

and church Bible classes Okay, so so me and brother

bill bonowski. We we probably wouldn't agree

on this issue, and that's okay But at the same

time I appreciate brother bill bonowski. You

know why? Because he's giving us an honest explanation

as to how churches of Christ come to have Sunday

school and church Bible classes. He's being honest

about how they came into the church. And I want

you to notice what he says. He says churches

of Christ borrowed from denominational neighbors

the idea of Sunday school. Okay? They borrowed

it from denominational neighbors. Now, with all

due respect, is that really where we want to

borrow? our doctrines and our practices and our

faith from our denominational neighbors. Is that

really our goal? Is that really our mission?

Just to be like all the other churches in town

and we see them doing something and it seems

successful, we'll do the same thing they do.

I don't believe that's at the heart of any of

the congregations at the Church of Christ. I

believe churches of Christ want to Restore and

be the one in the same church that Jesus built.

But you know what? Here's the honest truth and

Brother Bill Banowski helps us to understand

this. The churches of Christ did not borrow the

Sunday School idea from the New Testament. Churches

of Christ did not borrow the Sunday School idea

from Jesus. They did not borrow that idea from

the Apostles. Brother Bill Banowski is right

that they borrowed that idea from denominational

churches in the mid to late 19th century. He

goes on to say in Mirror of a Movement, by 1850,

however, Sunday schools had gained a strong foothold

among the more progressive congregations, he

says, and the conservatives also slowly followed

suit. By 1900, a great majority of the congregations

had made provisions for at least a crude system

of Sunday morning Bible study. Now, I'm just

going through and trying to lay out the history,

okay? I appreciate... the history of this. I

appreciate men like Brother Bill Banowski giving

us an accurate and fair representation of the

history. And according to Brother Bill, and I

think he's right, he's accurate. This is how

Sunday school in churches of Christ came to be

so popular and so common in churches of Christ

even today. However, I do want you to be aware

of this as we finish up our talk about the history

of this practice. While many congregations slowly

adopted and adapted the Sunday school there was

a small minority of congregations that never

did and It was due to doubts about the lack of

scriptural authority Due to doubts about the

lack of scriptural authority for the Sunday school

some congregations of the church never adopted

it They never adopted a formal church Bible class

system of teaching My best estimation is about

ten percent. One out of every ten churches of

Christ in this country would fall into this category.

A lot of those congregations are in rural Texas.

There's many in Arkansas and Oklahoma, but they're

spread out all over the country. They're here

in Tennessee. They're in Alabama. They're in

Georgia. They're all over the country. A small

minority of congregations never adopted and to

this day do not use Sunday school or church Bible

classes as part of their practice. Let's talk

about our modern practice in churches today.

Sunday school and Bible classes has gained wide

approval in denominational churches today. It

goes without saying most denominational churches

have some modernized form of Sunday school and

some of them have had it now for over 200 years.

So this is something that's very common, never

questioned, never think twice about it in many

denominational churches today. This is also a

practice that has come to be accepted in most,

but as I said, not all of churches of Christ

today. And if I understand the practice correctly,

I want to describe the practice fairly and correctly

so we can have a good understanding of it. Concerning

the Sunday School or Church Bible classes in

Churches of Christ, Most congregations who have

this practice are going to call the church to

gather together at a given time. For example,

this congregation of the church comes together

at 9 .45 in the morning on Sunday, and that congregation

is going to be divided into classes by age, by

gender, by marital status, by spiritual maturity,

by any number of criteria. Church is going to

come together and they're going to be divided

into different classes. And then women are oftentimes

going to be encouraged to teach, to speak, to

comment, or to ask questions in those classes.

But at 11 o 'clock, at the same congregation,

at the same place, the same people are going

to come back together oftentimes in the same

auditorium to be taught by the same preacher

who taught them at 945. They're going to have

another service, but this time the women are

not going to be permitted to speak, teach, make

comments, or ask questions. Okay, so that is

the practice. And I want to go back and I want

to consider that practice in light of what we

saw concerning the two settings given in the

Bible for teaching. We saw the two scriptural

settings for teaching was the individual setting

and the congregational setting. But this practice

that we've just introduced actually brings in

a third setting. Okay, a third setting. I'm going

to call it the church Bible class setting. You

know, we went to Scripture and we let Scripture

define and describe the teaching in the individual

setting and the teaching in the congregational

setting. But if we're going to be fair and honest,

we're going to have to conclude that we don't

find any Scripture in the New Testament that

speaks about this church Bible class setting

for teaching. We can't find a book chapter and

verse. that tells us about it, that teaches us

about it, that describes it, that provides its

defining characteristics. We just don't find

those scriptures. Those scriptures to our knowledge

are not there in the New Testament. Here are

the defining characteristics of church Bible

classes as I understand them and as they're commonly

practiced. The general public is invited and

welcome to come to the church Bible classes.

Those classes are facilitated by the church and

its leadership. They're going to be organized

by the leaders of the church and the church is

going to oversee the teaching that happens in

the church Bible classes. Classes are going to

be advertised out front on the church sign and

the church bulletin on the church website. And

the public is going to be encouraged to come

and participate in these classes that are facilitated,

overseen, and arranged by the church and its

leadership. So when we look at these defining

characteristics for Bible classes, it looks a

whole lot like the defining characteristics for

teaching that happens in the congregational setting,

teaching that happens like we have now in the

public assemblies of the church. They shared

the same defining characteristics. And for that

reason we would expect the role of women in these

classes to be just the same as the role of women

in the assemblies of the church. We would expect

that women aren't teaching, they're not asking

questions, they're not making comments because

the Bible says they need to be silent in the

congregational setting. That's the role of women

we would expect but in practice that is not the

role of women in church Bible classes. In church

Bible classes the role of women that's put into

practice is the role of women for the individual

setting, for the private house -to -house setting.

So we call the church to gather together for

teaching that's facilitated, organized, overseen.

It's an extension, a program, a function of the

church, but we don't follow the role of women

for teaching when the church comes together.

Instead, in the classes women can teach, women

can ask questions, women don't have to keep silent.

The role of women isn't followed. It isn't honored

or observed. And for that reason, we must conclude

that this church Bible class setting, this third

setting, for which we had no scriptural authority,

it's a man -made setting. It's a hybrid setting

for teaching. It's a hybrid in that it's really

trying to be both settings, isn't it? On one

hand, it's partly congregational public assembly

of the church, and on the other hand, it's trying

to be private house -to -house Bible study. It's

organized and facilitated as a public church

assembly, but then when it's implemented and

put into practice It's conducted like a private

home Bible study. It's a hybrid. It's trying

to be both public and private at the same time

It's trying to be congregational and individual

at the same time and for that reason We look

at this and for us from our perspective. We see

this as inconsistent We see this as inconsistent.

We also see that it creates confusion And we're

also very concerned about the questionable lack

of scriptural authority for this practice and

for teaching in this setting. Now, like I said,

I don't mind to discuss this issue that divides

us with my brethren. I've talked to many of my

brethren on the other side of this issue. And

one of the things that they commonly bring up,

and I'm going to bring it forth tonight so we

can honestly consider it, is the idea that church

Bible classes in Sunday school are not really

public assemblies of the church. I hear that

a lot. I hear you don't understand, Brother James,

these classes are not assemblies of the church.

It's just people getting together to study the

Bible. That's all it is. That's all it is. It's

just people getting together to study the Bible.

It has nothing to do with the church whatsoever.

Well, the first thing we would notice is that

it's right there on the sign out front of the

church, advertised and marketed as an assembly

and a service of the church. The 945 Sunday School

is going to happen at this congregation wherever

it is. These church Bible classes are arranged,

they're operated, they're facilitated, they're

funded by, they're overseen by the church and

they're advertised as such. It's hard for us

to see those classes as anything but. programs

and extensions and functions of the church, not

just people who got together and decided to study

the Bible, separate and apart from anything belonging

to the church. Here's an example of an old pamphlet,

and these pamphlets are common in times gone

by, even common today. This is a Church of Christ

in Arkansas. This is its weekly bulletin. It

has a list of its scheduled assemblies on the

front. This church assembles Sunday for Bible

classes at 10 a .m. Morning worship is at 1045,

evening worship Sunday at 6, and then Wednesday

night Bible study at 7. Notice this is these

Bible classes are listed under the heading schedule

of assemblies. These are assemblies of the church

and they're advertised as such. So it's hard

to say that these classes don't have anything

to do with the church when they're listed and

labeled as assemblies of the church. This is

an example from a church website back in northwest

Arkansas. The Church of Christ, West Side Church

of Christ says we meet weekly for Sunday Bible

class, 9 a .m. Sunday morning worship, 10 a .m.

Evening worship, 5 p .m. Wednesday Bible study,

7 p .m. That Sunday Bible class at 9 a .m., what

is that? That's the church calling the members

together for teaching, facilitating that teaching,

organizing that teaching, overseeing that teaching.

It's a work, it's a program, it's a function

of that church. So it's hard for us to see those

as anything but public assemblies of the church.

It's hard for us to see them as just private

Bible studies that people are doing. I want to

mention something else to you that we're seeing

more and more of today. And I believe the introduction

of the Sunday School and the church Bible classes

as it's progressed onward to the present day

has opened the door wide open, blown the door

wide open for what you might be hearing about.

It's called gender inclusive ministry. It's a

hot topic in churches of Christ right now. There's

a lot of controversy about this. A lot of disagreement.

Gender -inclusive ministry. It's the idea that

we need to be giving women the privilege to speak,

teach, lead songs, be at the head of the table,

be elders, be deacons, be evangelists, be preachers,

that we need to give women every right and privilege

in the church that we give to men. That's what

gender -inclusive ministry is all about. And

let me tell you what happened, brethren. A group

of sisters in the church got together and they

started reasoning and they started thinking and

they said, you know what, if we can teach Bible

classes at the church at 945 in the morning on

Sunday, why can't we stand up and teach at 11

o 'clock in the auditorium? That's the question

they put before their elders and that's the question

they put before the professors down at the Church

of Christ colleges and the universities. And

unfortunately, the leaders of the church didn't

have a good answer for that. Some of the professors

at the college church universities didn't have

a good answer for that. And because of that,

they began to compromise the Word of God. And

they, many congregations of the Church of Christ

in the last 10 years, an alarming number of congregations

have went on to say, OK, you're right. We give

you privilege at 945 in the classes. We need

to start giving you privilege at 10 o 'clock

in the in the worship. And many congregations

have went on to ordain women preachers, women

elders, women song -leaners, women deacons. And

I believe a lot of this will go back to the introduction

of allowing women to speak, teach, comment, ask

questions in Bible classes which are public assemblies

of the church. The introduction of Sunday school

into the churches has also given rise to modern

-day youth ministry. And look, I don't want to

be overly harsh of critical of people who are

involved in modern -day youth ministry. Okay,

I know people have a heart and a desire to help

young people, and that's a good heart, that's

a good desire, and young people do need help.

We're not denying that young people need help.

Well, let me tell you something. All of this

has evolved modern -day youth ministry and in

some places, not everywhere, but in some places,

far too many places, modern -day youth ministry

has severely undermined God's plan for parents

to take responsibility for teaching their children

at home. We don't need to lose sight of that

fact that God gave the responsibility to parents

to teach their children and to do that teaching

at home. And ye fathers, provoke not your children

to wrath, but bring them up in the nurture and

admonition of the Lord." Parents, not the church,

are given the primary responsibility of raising

and teaching their children. Now the church will

help you do that. Bring your children to church.

Set them right there beside you and they'll listen

and they'll learn like our children are doing

tonight. So this is not to say the church can't

be involved, but the primary responsibility belongs

to the parents. But if we were to be honest we

would have to confess that this is the situation

in too many families in too many places a lot

of fathers If they were honest, they'd say this

you know what I hadn't read my Bible in years

and shame on them But because they hadn't read

their Bible in years They say it's just a lot

more easier and convenient for me to take my

kids down to Sunday school Take them to youth

group take them to Bible class and let the professionals

teach my kids Because I'm just not qualified

to do it. I'm gonna leave it to the professionals

We've also developed this idea that parents,

grandparents aren't qualified to teach their

kids. It has to be someone who's a professional

down at the church. Listen, if you're a parent

or a grandparent, you are qualified to teach

your kids. And if you feel inadequate, you feel

like you don't have what it takes to teach your

kids, please let us come alongside you and help

you and equip you and encourage you so that you

can teach your children like God asks you to

do. We got to get away from this idea that that

parents can't teach their kids, that only qualified

professionals with college degrees can teach

kids in modern -day youth ministry. Kids' church

is something that has become very appealing in

many denominational churches today. I don't know

if churches of Christ have kids' church. Maybe

some do. I don't know. But I know in a lot of

denominations, kids church is very, very appealing.

It's a place where parents can drop off their

kids on Sunday morning. They have their own separate

service for the kids. The parents can go in,

sit down, not be disturbed by their children.

You know, your children sometimes doing the assemblies

of church, sometimes they make noise. Sometimes

they're a little bit disruptive. Sometimes they're

a little bit unruly. You know how I know that?

I've raised four kids in the church. I've been

there. Listen, I've been in the trenches. I've

been right there with you. If you're raising

kids in the church, I've been there. Let me give

you a little bit of encouragement. There's no

better place for your kids to be. And right there

sitting beside you listening and learning. It

might take one, two, or three years for them

to learn to be quiet and sit still. But if you'll

be disciplined and you'll be consistent and you'll

stick with it and don't give up and go to some

church that has kids church and just pawn them

off on somebody else, if you'll stick to it,

guess what'll happen? Your kids will be doing

what these kids are doing down here. Sitting,

listening, learning, taking notes. They'll get

there. Don't get discouraged. Let me tell you,

your kids are gonna make noise. It don't bother

us one bit. Your kids are ten times louder to

you than they are to me. I remember my kids used

to make the smallest sound. It was like roaring

in my ears. No one else heard it. But I heard

it and it just made me all kinds of uncomfortable.

We don't hear your kids. like you do and they're

not a disruption to us like you might think they

are. No better place for our kids to be than

right here with us listening and learning from

the Word of God. What Kids Church has unfortunately

done is it has created deep generational divides

between the youth and the older people of the

church because all too often the youth are separated

and excluded from the greater work and worship

of the church. They're always pushed to the side.

They're always pushed to the side and that might

seem like a good thing and it might seem like

convenient until they turn 19 years old. And

then guess what? Can't go to kids church anymore

when you're 19 years old. You gotta go to real

church. You gotta go to big church. And when

they come out of kids church and see big church

doesn't look like kids church, a lot of kids

leave the church at 19. They didn't manage to

make any connection, any real and lasting meaningful

connection with the older generation in the church

because they were so often excluded and removed

and pushed to the side. Let's not let that happen

to us. Titus 2, 3 to 5. Bible tells the aged

women to teach the younger women, you know the

only way to do that is for the aged women to

be a good example to the younger women. And we

do that by spending time with one another and

setting the right example. So older generation

and younger generation need to spend time together,

need to worship together, need to study together,

and not be separated into different classes or

different groups in the church. Everything in

the world wants to divide us. Everything in the

world wants to divide men from women, rich from

poor, parents from their kids. Everything in

the world is seeking to divide us and the church

should be the one place where we should come

that we aren't going to be divided. We're going

to be together. Now I will make mention of this

before I move on and wrap up my lesson tonight

and I know I'm talking long and I appreciate

your patience with me. There have been a few

religious organizations recently that have reconsidered.

The whole idea of Sunday school, Bible classes,

modern -day youth ministry. In recent years some

denominational churches, community churches have

shifted away from what they call age -segregated

ministry. And they have left behind Sunday school

and modern -day youth ministry. They've left

that behind to embrace what they call, these

are their terms, family -integrated worship and

family -based youth ministry. And that's what

we do here at North Warren. Family integrated

worship. We're all together worshiping God. Family

-based youth ministry. Instead of separating

children from their parents, come alongside the

parents to equip and encourage them to shape

the faith of their children. That is definitely

a more scriptural model. And you know, what some

of these churches are waking up to is the fact

that this system... of separation and division

does not always bring forth good fruit. Some

churches are leaving it behind to embrace a more

biblical model, to embrace the model we have

here at North Warren. I'm not trying to promote

or sell books or documentaries, and we don't

even get our authority from books or documentaries,

but there have been several books and documentaries

produced in the last few years where people from

different parts of Christianity are starting

to wake up to this and starting to change their

practices. and get more in line with the Word

of God. The last thing I want to talk about tonight

is how do we restore God's plan for teaching?

How do we get back to God's original plan and

pattern for undivided teaching assemblies in

the church? We've got to return to teaching the

church only in authorized ways. You know, the

New Testament is our only authority in faith

and doctrine and in practice. We need to follow

carefully that which is authorized in the scriptures.

If you were here the other night, we talked about

the type of music God wants in the church and

how authority is so very important in establishing

and understanding what kind of music God wants.

Concerning the music of the church, we find no

New Testament command, no example. There's scripture

inferring or implying that God wants instrumental

music in the church. We conclude that there's

no scriptural authority for instrumental music.

We studied history and found that instrumental

music was added in the seventh century by men.

And God specifies the type of music He wants

in the church. He tells us He wants the singing

of music, which excludes the playing of music.

Colossians 3 .16. The Word tells us that God

wants us to make melody in our hearts. That excludes

making melody in a guitar. Ephesians chapter

Ephesians 5 · chapter mention

5 .19. This is our analysis of instrumental music

when we approach it. by looking for scriptural

authority for the practice. And I'm here to tell

you tonight when we do the same analysis for

a different practice, the practice of teaching

the church in church Bible classes, likewise

we have no New Testament command example or inference

for that. Therefore we conclude there's no scriptural

authority for it. We've seen through our study

of history it was added by men in the 18th century.

And you know, God has specified how to do the

teaching. He's given us pattern and a plan for

how to do this. God wants a togetherness arrangement

when we come together for teaching, not a divided

into classes arrangement. 1 Corinthians 14 23.

He wants men to be the teachers in the church,

not women teachers in church Bible classes. 1

1 Corinthians 14:34–35

Corinthians 14 verse 34 to 35. When we look at

the authority for the practice, we come to the

same conclusions about church Bible classes as

we do instruments of music. We don't use church

Bible classes for the exact same reasons we don't

use instrumental music. We just simply don't

find scriptural authority for the practice. The

church survived for nearly 1800 years without

Sunday school or church Bible classes. How did

they ever manage to survive? They had two settings

for teaching and they used them. They had the

congregational setting for teaching, they had

the individual house to house setting for teaching.

And I want to tell you brethren something, it's

not enough for us stand up and teach what we're

against. If not, we're not going to be about

putting into practice what we are for. Okay,

we can say we're against Sunday school and Bible

classes all day long, but I don't know that does

us any good if we don't go out and take advantage

of both types of teaching. Teaching in the church

is important, yes, but we need to be working

and be active and going house to house and sharing

the Word of God in that private individual setting.

It's not just what we're against, it's what we

need to be for and we need to be for both. settings

of teaching. We need to be making the most of

both settings when we teach the Word of God.

We believe we can do all the teaching that God

requires of us by doing it in these two settings

that God has clearly authorized. To restore the

New Testament pattern for teaching, we're going

to have to return to a togetherness arrangement

for teaching. That's the authorized arrangement

in 1 Corinthians 14, 23. The whole church become

together into one place. We're going to have

to get back to teaching to the church in that

arrangement. We do not see authority in the Bible

for a divided into classes arrangement. We don't

find a scripture for that. We believe all of

God's people can sit, listen and learn together.

The law is not our authority, but even in the

days of Moses under the law, all the God's people

came together every seven years at the Feast

of Tabernacles in Deuteronomy 31 10 to 13. God

told them to gather the people together, the

men, the women, the children, the strangers,

the foreigners within their gates, that they

may hear and that they may learn and fear the

Lord their God and observe to do all the words

of that law that their children look at this.

told them every seven years for the whole nation

to come together and read the law and this was

primarily for their children, their children

which have not known anything that they may hear

and learn to fear the Lord your God. You know

a lot of people today would tell us that men

women and children can't learn together. Men

women and children can learn together they've

been doing it for thousands of years they did

it every seven years under the old covenant law

they all came together and they taught the Word

of God. And they all learn together. We don't

have to divide men, women, and children into

different classes for them to learn the Word

of God. Some people have suggested, well, this

togetherness arrangement, this whole church come

together into one place in the binding part of

the New Testament pattern. It's not an important

detail. Some have suggested the togetherness

arrangement is not a binding part of the pattern.

I believe... The togetherness arrangement is

a binding part of the New Testament pattern.

I also believe the togetherness arrangement is

binding for when we come together and have the

Lord's Supper. When we come together and have

the Lord's Supper, we believe the whole church

needs to become together into one place. Would

we ever have the Lord's Supper when we divided

the church up into classes? Would we ever divide

the church up into classes and eat the Lord's

Supper in the classes? I don't know of any church

of Christ that has ever done that, would do that,

or will ever do that. You know why we wouldn't

eat the Lord's Supper in the classes? Because

1 Corinthians 11 .20 says when we eat the Lord's

Supper we need to come together therefore into

one place. We need to come together therefore

into one place to eat the Lord's Supper. And

that's what we do, that's what we all do, and

I'm glad for that. But here's the point, if the

togetherness arrangement is required for communion

in 1 Corinthians chapter 11, Why is the same

1 Corinthians 11 · chapter mention

togetherness arrangement not required for teaching

from 1 Corinthians 14? It's the very same language.

It tells us to come together and be together

in one place for communion. It tells us to come

together and be together in one place for teaching

the church. And the last thing we need to do

to restore the New Testament pattern for teaching,

we need to return to the proper role of women

in and outside of the assembly. I want to tell

you something, we are thankful. for godly Christian

women. And I've said it once, I'm gonna say it

again and I'm gonna keep on saying it. Men, it's

God's will for men to be the leaders and the

teachers in the church. But I'm gonna tell you

something, holy women are the backbone of the

church. I've seen it in so many different places.

Holy women doing their work behind the scenes,

their faithfulness, their commitment, their devotion

to the Lord and His church. In many places they

are the backbone of the church. Let me tell you

something about the women of the church. They

make up 50 % of the army of God. 50%. Are we

going to sideline 50 % of the army of God? I

hope we never do. I hope we encourage, equip,

and enable our women to be doing their work because

they play an important work. in the Lord's kingdom.

It's just that there's a proper time and a proper

place for women to speak and teach the Bible.

That's all this has been about tonight. When

is the proper time and where is the proper place

for that to happen? We need to learn to lead

and guide our sisters in Christ into a proper

understanding of their role and their responsibilities

in the church. And I want to tell you all something.

I love my Christian sisters too much not to tell

them this. I want to be plain. I want you to

understand this. It is sinful. It is sinful for

women to speak, teach, make comments, and ask

questions in the assembly of the church. Sin

is committed when women speak, comment, ask questions,

and teach in the assemblies of the church. I

know that because the Bible tells us. We need

to understand this. This is serious. The Bible

tells us let your women keep silence in the churches.

They're not permitted to speak. It says it's

a shame for women to speak in the church. And

then in verse 37 it says these are the commandments

of the Lord. What happens when we violate and

transgress and break the commandments of the

Lord? We commit sin. We commit sin. Now I take

no pleasure or satisfaction in telling you that,

but it's my obligation. to teach you and to tell

you that when we violate, when we transgress

1 Corinthians 14, we're committing sin. We're

breaking the commandments of the Lord. Now as

I wrap up tonight, I want to say a few things

to close. We don't want to be misunderstood.

I hope and pray that we're not misunderstood

in what we've taught tonight. We are not questioning

anybody's sincerity. We are certainly not questioning

anyone's love for the Lord. You know, we've talked

this week about how error comes into the church

and what we've seen over and over again that

a lot of times error comes into the church when

people have the best of intentions. I believe

people probably had the best of intentions when

they brought in Sunday school and church Bible

classes to churches of Christ. The best of intentions.

Teach people the Bible. There is no greater intention.

Right? When we're not questioning people's intentions,

we're not questioning their sincerity, we're

not questioning how much people love the Lord.

This is just a question of what does the Bible

teach? What has God authorized concerning teaching

the church? We are also not trying to promote

division. We're not teaching these things to

sow seeds of division, to create strife, to create

conflict. We have a heart and a mind to seek

for peace and unity. I don't know that we'll

ever achieve peace and unity if we aren't able

to talk about and teach and listen to one another

concerning some of these controversial doctrines

that divide us. We do not want to promote division.

We need to be seeking for peace and unity. Here's

something else. We don't want to be misunderstood.

We aren't saying tonight that people can't or

people... have never learned anything from Sunday

school or Bible classes. You could be sitting

here tonight saying, Brother James, everything

I learned about God, I learned in a Bible class.

You could be sitting here tonight say, Brother

James, I teach a Bible class. I teach Sunday

school every Sunday. We're not claiming or trying

to make the case that people can't or people

haven't ever learned anything in church Bible

classes. All we're trying to say and show from

the scriptures tonight is that those church Bible

classes are not authorized. They're not a part

of God's authorized plan for teaching the church.

Okay, can people learn? Can people be taught

in those classes? Yes. You know an ox cart will

also move the ark of a covenant and in 1st Chronicles

13 the ox cart did move the ark of the covenant

for a while. It's just that it wasn't a part

of God's plan for moving the ark. In like manner

we don't believe that that this system of teaching

is a part of God's plan. We believe undivided

teaching assemblies are what God authorizes and

we're encouraging everyone to stick to following

God's plan concerning the teaching that we do

in the church. Thank you for your careful attention

tonight to these things. I appreciate you coming

and listening. I'm sharing these things with

you from a humble heart. I hope you receive them

with a humble heart. Again, these may be new

ideas, new concepts to you. You may have never

heard anything like this before. If so, if you've

got questions, I'm more than happy to answer

any questions you might have after the service.

We can have a discussion about it. I'd really

appreciate your attention tonight.