Quotes to Consider

"Always bear in mind that your own resolution to success is more important than any other one thing."
Abraham Lincoln

"I am looking for a lot of men who have an infinite capacity to not know what can't be done."
Henry Ford

Looking For A Friend

People are not looking for a friendly church. People are looking for a friend. Sunday School provides a tremendous opportunity for you and me to be a friend to someone as we help move them closer and closer to Christ. Consider the acrostic F.R.I.E.N.D.

F – First impressions are very important. Each Sunday School Department should have Greeters that welcome everyone to class. When guests arrive, Greeters should assist with registration, introduce them to other members, and even offer to sit with them in Sunday School and worship.

R – Remember their name. A hit song from 1982 said, “Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name.” We all notice when someone is able to call us by name. I have heard it said that an individual is effectively assimilated into a class when their name is scribbled on the back of at least six members’ telephone books.

I – Invite every member and every prospect to every class party. A party environment can seem less threatening to someone that is not familiar with church or Bible study groups. Parties provide you with the necessary time needed to talk, listen, and discover one another’s life stories.

E – Encourage class members to consider people they meet in everyday life as a potential friend. This includes your child’s soccer coach, the person that cuts your hair, the coworker in the cubicle next to you, and on and on. Maybe, just maybe, God has us crossing paths with these people to ask the question “How are you doing?” and then to actually take the time to stick around and listen.

N – Never remove a member or a prospect from your Sunday School role unless they ask you to. I’ve never understood why groups would do this unless they were trying to increase their attendance percentage. Most of us have experienced times when our involvement with a Bible study group was not where it should have been on our priority list. I am sure it is safe to say you appreciated knowing you were not forgotten.

D – Daily, not just on Sundays, implement F.R.I.E.N.D. in your life.

The Young Pastor

A young pastor was asked by the local funeral director to hold a grave-side burial service for someone with no family or friends. He was told this would be the first funeral at that particular cemetery. The preacher started early but quickly got lost, making several wrong turns on the country roads.

Eventually, a half-hour late, he saw a backhoe and its crew, but the hearse was nowhere in sight, and the workmen were eating lunch.

The diligent young pastor went to the open grave and found the vault lid already in place.

Taking out his Bible, he read the service. Feeling guilty because of his tardiness, he preached an impassioned and lengthy service, kicking up dust and working up a sweat.

As he was returning to his car, he overheard one of the workmen say: "I've been putting in septic tanks for twenty years and I ain't never seen anything like that."

You Know You're An OKIE If...

1. You can properly pronounce Eufaula, Gotebo, Okemah, Sapulpa and Chickasha.

2. You think people who complain about the wind in their states are sissies.

3. A tornado warning siren is your signal to go out in the yard and look for a funnel.

4. Your idea of a traffic jam is ten cars waiting to pass a tractor on the highway.

5. You've ever had to switch from "heat" to "AC" in the same day.

6. You know the true value of a parking space is not determined by the distance to the door but by the availability of shade.

7. You see people wear bib overalls at funerals.

8. You refer to the capital of Oklahoma as "The City."

9. It doesn't bother you to use an airport named for a man who died in an airplane crash.

10. Little smokies are something you serve only on special occasions.

11. Someone you know has used a football schedule to plan their wedding date.

12. You have known someone who has at least one belt buckle bigger than your fist.

14. You didn't realize that I skipped a number.

15. You know in which state Miam-uh is and in which state Miam-ee is.

16. You aren't surprised to find movie rental, ammunition, and bait all in the same store.

17. Your "place at the lake" has wheels under it.

18. You know everything goes better with Ranch.

19. You actually get these jokes and are "fixin" to send them to your friends.

20. Finally, you are 100% Oklahoman if you have ever heard this conversation:
"You wanna coke?"
"Yeah."
"What kind?"
"Dr. Pepper."