¹ Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), ² and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the signs he had performed by healing the sick. ³ Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples. ⁴ The Jewish Passover Festival was near.
⁵ When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” ⁶ He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.
            
One of the challenges we have with Christian Education is the teaching and ministering of Spiritual truths in ways that people or children can learn. We have some technical advantages in our day with videos, music, DVD’s and object lessons. Even so we are at a tremendous disadvantage over our public and even private schools.
           
There was grading that came out for how well schools did in teaching our children. “No child left behind”, along with the various requirements lets us see how our schools stack up. What if we had similar criteria for churches and their learning centers? I wonder how many of our students, adults and youngsters would pass a Biblical proficiency test?
           
What schoolteacher would put up with what our Sunday Schools do? There is not enough time, not enough books, and a limited budget for the variety of resources. Some students show up only once a month or even only twice a year, but even if they did come every Sunday they might get a total of 30 hours for the whole year after all the preliminary things are over. What if our public-school teachers were to teach a subject for 30 hours for the year? They’d quit. The only way some kids learn with all the disadvantages of our Bible training is by the grace of God and the Holy Spirit’s work. Teaching the Bible and things of God is far more important than other education, but it is treated as not really important. Most volunteer teachers in church are not trained.   
 
Jesus had His own lessons outside on a mountain. Notice the teaching methods of Jesus. First, He was with the disciples in a variety of life experiences. It wasn’t just a class of 35-40 minutes once a week; they lived with Him, followed Him around. They asked questions. He would set them aside at times, sit them down and talk. He would lecture to explain the Scriptures. He would preach a sermon. He would present truths for them to learn. This mountain became a convenient background without amplification system, to be seen and heard.
           
Now there are classes and seminars on how to make your talks, Sunday School lessons, youth and children lessons more interesting, even if it is a lecture method. Jesus was speaking the words of His Father and that’s what we want to speak and teach as well.
 
Attending teaching opportunities at your church is important for you, the instructor, and others. Participate in discussion, let others talk if discussions are possible; ask questions or write them down.  Pray for your teachers and encourage them. Prepare ahead of time by reading lessons if you have study books or materials. Anticipate classes are to be learning experiences.  
 
In every teaching session, prepared students make classes better for learning. 
 
Dale