In Nehemiah 8:8 the Bible says: “So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading.” Here are a few ways that a good curriculum will strengthen your Sunday school ministry.

Curriculum enables us to systematically teach vital Bible truths.

Effective teachers know what they want their students to learn, and like a wise builder, they teach God’s Word in an orderly fashion. Their lessons are not disconnected, but they build upon one another, adding principle to principle.

Curriculum helps to cultivate unity among the members of the body.

Paul said he wanted the Christians in Philippi to “be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind” (Philippians 2:2). As students are rallied around a common scriptural theme, we will find their hearts and hands working together in unity.

Curriculum helps to ensure the scriptural soundness of what is being taught.

As Paul trained Timothy and Titus, he emphasized the importance of delivering sound doctrine. Pastors are given the responsibility of looking after what is being taught to their flock. See 1 Timothy 1:3, 7, 6:2–3, and Titus 1:9, 2:10.

Curriculum helps the teacher to be thoroughly prepared.

A quality curriculum will help a teacher better prepare a well-balanced Bible lesson by providing definitions for biblical terms, helpful cross references, and insightful illustrations and commentary. Most teachers will be grateful for this type of resource.

Curriculum provides resources for students to use between Sundays.

The Bible lesson is not meant to be left in the classroom, but to be carried into the home, neighborhood, and workplace. This is made possible when students are given review questions, memory verses, and quality printed materials. Visit strivingtogether.com to find an excellent selection of Sunday school curriculum. Each series of lessons offers an easy-to-use, spiral-bound teacher edition, as well as an economical student edition. Pastor Chappell’s newest series, Journeys of Faith, exhorts us from the lives of Bible characters that exercised great faith. Striving Together also provides excellent studies designed for couples, teens, and young adults.