Perspective: Using Fuel in a Small-Town Church

Written by Mark and Trish Davis

NOTE: For more information on Fuel or Fuel2 check out the official Fuel website at www.lifeway.com/fuel.

Mark and Trish Davis serve at First Baptist Church in the small town of Healdton, Oklahoma. They have an average of ten students for Bible Study on Sunday morning and average between 30 and 35 on Wednesday nights. For two years they have used Fuel as their Sunday School material, and they have seen a lot of spiritual growth in their students and numerical growth in their ministry. Here is how they use Fuel in their ministry.

We begin each Sunday School session in a large group setting and watch all of the Fuel DVD segments. The opening segment, “The Spark,” is great. Some episodes are funny and some are serious. The Skating Bohemians are a riot and the kids laugh hysterically at them. One segment focused on the issues of dating. The girl in the story caught her boyfriend with another girl at a party and left broken and weeping. The ending was intense and had the students on the edge of their seats as they waited to see the outcome of the story.

While the drama segments are the first to gain the students’ attention, the stories of the Word have proven to be steadfast and life-changing. Our students have been convicted to grow in their walk with Christ.

Fuel attracts the students’ attention. The students are not sleeping! Amazing! Sometimes I look around the room and can tell that some of them are really taking in what they are seeing and hearing. Sometimes the drama segment causes as much or more discussion in the small group time than the Bible stories. This is wonderful because ANY participation by the students is welcomed and wanted. Participation means the students are listening and paying attention. They are processing the biblical material.

The “Fanning the Flame” segment is a terrific discussion starter. Studying the Word from beginning to end has introduced students to many of the main characters of the Bible for the first time. Students have also learned so much about the culture surrounding the stories and how our culture affects our behaviors.

“Combustion” - the last segment - is a great segment to move the students into small-group discussions. When we finish the DVD segments we then break the students up into small groups of guys and girls and then into middle school and high school divisions. Our teachers then use the small group questions to dig deeper into the truths of the Bible stories. One of the first responses I got from the guy’s high school teacher was that the students were actually answering questions and getting involved with the lesson.

Each lesson leaves students challenged to improve their relationships with God. Often we don’t even have time to get to the activities for lesson enhancement, but when we do…it proves to be powerful. In one particular lesson we were discussing the talents that God has given us and we listed them on our handouts. One of my students came away from that lesson realizing she had a talent for hacky-sack that she could use hacky-sack to honor God. God revealed to her that her hacky-sack circle at school was the perfect place to witness.

Our students truly are learning and applying Biblical truths to their lives as we use Fuel on Sunday mornings. This material has proven that numerical size doesn’t matter. Fuel can be used in large churches and in small churches and can lead all students to life change by experiencing a different kind of Bible study.

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