We Work Together
     
    Mark 16:15
     
    Focus: Southern Baptists work together through local associations and through the
    Cooperative Program.
     
    Purpose: To strengthen awareness of associational missions and the Cooperative
    Program.
     
    Object: baseball bat or ball
     
    Scripture: "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation" (Mark 16:15,
    HCSB).
     
    Lesson: Prior to this lesson, find out the name of your local Baptist association, the name of
    your director of missions, and the number of churches in your association. Also, get a
    general overview of various ministries your association provides as churches work together.
    Be prepared to put that information into the lesson where noted.
     
    Enlist two children in appropriate attire to illustrate teamwork. Tell them to sit on the floor
    back to back, their legs out flat on the floor, their arms hooked around their partner's arms.
    Tell the children to attempt to stand up together. Once they have completed the task, thank
    them for participating and emphasize how important teamwork was to completing this
    exercise.
     
    Remove the baseball or bat from the backpack. Carefully swing the bat or toss the ball into
    the air. Say: "I'm starting a new sports league in our community. It's called solo baseball.
    Instead of having a baseball team, we will only have individual baseball players. Each player will play a whole game all alone. No other children will be on the team. Would you like to join my new league?" Pause for just a moment and then quickly continue. Say: "Of course not! It wouldn't be a team if we were all by ourselves, would it? You know, when you are on a team, you have to work together to win or succeed.”
     
    “Did you know that our church is part of a team? Our church is one of [number of churches in
    your association] churches in the [name of association]. Our director of missions is [name],
    and he helps all of the churches in the association work together to share Christ with
    everyone in our community." [Share a few of the ministries you discovered are part of the
    association's overall ministries.] Say: "What is our association's team goal? Let's read Mark
    16:15 and find out." Read the verse aloud. Continue: "Telling the entire world about the good
    news of Jesus Christ takes a lot of teamwork, doesn't it? Did you know that we are also on
    the missionaries team? We are! We may not be right beside the more than 10,000 Southern Baptist missionaries where they serve, but we are on their team as we give our offerings to the Lord through our church and as we pray for them in their efforts to share the gospel with everyone. Southern Baptists are all part of a big team through an effort known as The Cooperative Program. The Cooperative Program allows all 43,000 Southern Baptist churches to combine their resources to send out missionaries and help them fulfill their ministry. Thanks for being part of the missionary team! Let's pray that God will help our churches and our missionaries be winners in working on the team to lead others to know Jesus. Let's pray that we will increase our participation and gifts through the Cooperative Program so that the number of missionaries telling people about Jesus will also increase.”
     

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