Sunday school

Sundays with Pastor Jim

The Details:
Pastor Jim’s class now meets at 9:40am in the Gym. So it's Jim in the Gym! Watch the Sunday bulletin for announcement of the specific dates on which it takes place. Please come as often as you are able!

Laying the Foundation

Pastor Jim Mead teaches a Sunday morning Bible study for adults. Here is his account of what he’s doing in it and why.

Chapel Hill’s mission is “to present every one mature in Christ.” Why do we want people to mature in Christ? Well, partly because that’s the best way to live, and it has eternal consequences! But, more deeply, because it is only mature disciples who are ready and willing to engage in the mission God gives in Christ and empowers by the Spirit.
We can’t really know God’s mission without knowing God. If we don’t love God back—deeply, passionately, with all we are and all we’ve got—we will never be willing to pay the price of joining God in mission. And being part of God’s mission requires that we learn to live Jesus’ way in the world. My prayer is that my class will help us know and love God that way, and to see ourselves, Chapel Hill and the world with God’s love and passion.

My Sunday School class is just one of an amazing array of opportunities at CHPC for people to work seriously at maturing in Christ. My prayer is that it is a support to, not a substitute for, the work our people are doing in worship and small groups: Cove groups, Celebrate Recovery, Men’s Life, Women’s Life, TLC, and D Groups.

The work of the Spirit to conform our real lives to Christ almost always comes in groups that are small enough for us to be face to face with others. In small groups we can deal honestly and bravely with real life as we study, pray, check in, hold each other accountable and have fun together.

I hope what I do in my class will provide a kind of broad and deep foundation for the crucial work we are doing elsewhere to be made more and more into Christ’s image and to engage more and more in God’s mission in Christ. So I will mostly be working in the scriptures, digging deeply but accessibly into passages and applying them unflinchingly to us as God’s people and calling us to be part of God’s mission in Christ: making disciples, reaching the unchurched, extending Christ’s compassion, and doing God’s justice.

Next Sunday School Opportunity:

Adult Bible Study
Sundays, 9:30-10:25am
July 13 & 20 in the Gym

Have you read The Shack? Christians nationwide are buzzing about this book. Eugene Peterson, author of the Message version of the Bible and Presbyterian pastor says “This book has the potential to do for our generation what John Bunyan’s Pilgrim Progress did for his. It’s that good!”. Lance Brown, Minister of Care & Renewal, Bob Gore (CH Elder) and Pastor Dan MacDonald will lead a 2-week study on the fantastic spiritual truth in the book. Even if you haven’t read it you can benefit greatly from this study!

What People are saying about Pastor Jim’s class

“I came to his class because I was interested in his information and style. I’m interested enough to get up and go to the 8:15 service so as to be there at 9:30.” ~Diane Olson

“We have made it a point not to miss his class. He is blessed with the ability to present scripture in a contemporary, meaningful way with new and fresh insights. We look forward to each lesson.” ~Eric and Ruth Peavy

“We love it and we love Jim. We are learning a ton and the time flies by. Jim is smooth, funny, poignant, passionate and very open. We appreciate the way he weaves together the old and new testament, reminding us that God has been revealing his plan for our salvation from the very beginning and all throughout history.” ~ Mike Carver

“I have wanted to participate in an adult Sunday school class for years and it finally is offered at a good time. I LOVE it!! I really enjoy Pastor Jim’s honest, no-nonsense approach. He’s a great speaker and it is very obvious that he loves the Lord and wants to help Chapel Hill members become ‘more mature’ in Christ. I’ve recommended the class to lots of people.” ~Jane Carver

“I wish everyone could be there. It is like getting a double dose—from Pastor Mark and then from Pastor Jim. I love his style—so real, so open, so alive. He brings everything down to earth and makes it personal as well as informational. I have used some of his teachings already in my TLC class.” ~Arlene Butchart

“We came to his class because we heard he was a good teacher and wanted to find out for ourselves. We feel he teaches as though he speaks from experience, having applied it first to his own life.” ~Dave and Janet Robertson