This past weekend, we had the privilege of honoring our Bible class teachers and, once again, as I have been for over six years, I was blown away by how readily everyone stepped up and volunteered to teach again in 2025. If you’ve been at North Heights your whole life you might not be able to appreciate what a rare thing it is to have so many ready, willing, and able Bible teachers. I know congregations larger than ours who have to beg and plead to get teachers. It’s often a terrible cycle, where a handful are forced to teach over and over and over because no one wants to step up to give them a break, but also no one wants to step up because they see the current teachers perpetually exhausted from the work, but then again they wouldn’t be so exhausted if they had someone to give them a break!
Teaching is a blessing. It’s work, yes, but it’s work that pays off with great rewards for the teacher. Our Master was a teacher, and He gave us the example to show us what kind of teachers we need in the churches of Christ…
We need compassionate teachers, in the same way the Lord was attentive to the needs and struggles of his students.
We need patient teachers, in the same way the Lord endured His disciples often asking him the same questions over and over, seemingly impervious to learning. I don’t know if Jesus ever formally taught a 2nd grade class, but after dealing with Peter, James, and John for three years, I’ll bet He would have been a pro at it.
We need encouraging teachers, in the same way the Lord kept challenging His disciples, never letting them settle but always pushing them to forgive more readily, love more deeply, and sacrifice more frequently.
We need teachers who aspire to be like Jesus, because those are the kind of teachers whose students will aspire to be like Him too. We are beyond blessed here at North Heights to have some great teachers, but we could always use more. Consider adding your name to the list, get plugged in as a teacher (or co-teacher) and start walking in the Master’s footsteps. You’ll be glad you did.
~Matthew