It’s Thanksgiving week, and our thoughts turn to the things for which we give thanks. Normally we focus on family, friends, health, financial prosperity, and other blessings from God. Today though, I am focusing on you – group leaders – those of you on the front lines of ministry in the church. I am especially thankful for you. I am truly thankful for one group leader in particular – Helen Jensen. Here’s why.

When my mother was just nine years old, Helen Jensen was her Sunday School teacher at University Baptist Church in Abilene, Texas. Helen took my mother aside one Sunday and shared the gospel with her. Helen led my mother to the Lord, and put her on a pathway of discipleship that lasted for all of my mother’s life. Mom died on August 22, 2019. Helen’s obituary says that she taught children at University Baptist Church for 60 years! Let that sink in. She lived a life of faithfulness to Jesus which gave her six decades to make an impact on hundreds of young girls in Abilene, Texas.

At times during her marriage to my father when he didn’t care to attend church (which was almost every Sunday – dad just wasn’t the churchgoing type), my mother’s faith in Jesus was strong enough to overcome that, and she carried my sister and I to church every Sunday. I grew up in Sunday School under the teaching of some caring, Christ-focused teachers who led me to the Lord, too. In time, God called me into full-time Christian ministry in the local church. But 15 years ago God called me to serve at Lifeway Christian Resources in Nashville, TN., and I led the wonderful team of editors who created Bible study resources for 2.5M adults weekly from 2010 through 2021.

My work at Lifeway has shifted a bit recently at Lifeway and I now serve as the Director of Sunday School. I continue to have a national ministry of training group leaders, writing books (10 so far on group ministry) and blogs like this one, creating podcasts, webinars, and other kinds of helps for group leaders.

I’m from a home that didn’t have a strong Christian father, yet God had bigger plans for me and my life, and it started way back in 1942 when my mother encountered a west Texas Sunday School teacher named Helen Jensen.

God placed me in Sunday School where I learned the Bible, its characters, accounts of Jesus’ life, and the big metanarrative story of God’s redemption of mankind through Jesus’ atoning death.

I am truly thankful for each of you who serve as group leaders like Helen Jensen did. She never knew the impact of her ministry as a Sunday School teacher. She never knew that my mother divorced my father for two acts of infidelity. She never knew mom had to assume the spiritual leadership in our home if there was going to be any, nor did Helen ever know that I was called into ministry, or that I would lead the discipleship ministries of three local churches. Helen was never aware that God would grant me a national ministry.

But at the start of it all was Helen Jensen. I am thankful, so very thankful, that she taught my mother the Bible, and that she shared the good news of Jesus with her.

If you are leading a group today at your church, I can promise you that your impact is much bigger and broader than you’ll know in this lifetime! Thank you for who you are and for the ways in which you serve the Lord, your church, and your group members. Your teaching ministry in significant. Keep up the God work!

As I reflect on your work as group leaders, I want to say thank you for the following reasons (I’ll keep it brief!):

1. You stand in the gap. There are plenty of boys, girls, men, and women who don’t come from strong Christian homes. I didn’t. Yet God used people like you during my elementary, middle school, and high school days to teach me the Bible and to ground me in faith in Christ. My father didn’t do this important work, but someone like you did.
2. You stand with your pastor. Every week, you partner with your pastor and teach God’s people. Do you realize that you two, you and your pastor, are the people in your church who have the authority to lead and teach God’s people His Word? Every week you stand with your pastor as a shepherd-teacher who leads and guides His people to know and obey His Word.
3. You serve without requiring notoriety. I doubt any of you get “atta boy” comments and accolades after you teach your group. You quietly pack up your Bible and teaching supplies and head to your church’s worship service without any applause or appreciation that is given to you. And you’re OK with that. That’s not why you do what you do. God bless you for staying the course. God notices your efforts, and He rewards them.
4. You lead people to Jesus and He changes their lives. As I said before in the story of Helen Jensen, you are leading people to know Jesus, and that changes their lives. What you’ll never know on this side of Heaven is the extent of your impact. Helen Jensen changed the spiritual trajectory of my mother’s life, which ultimately changed the trajectory of my life. I want to meet Helen in Heaven one day and tell her about her amazing impact!

So on this Thanksgiving Day in 2023, I am going to say a special prayer for all of you who teach the Bible and lead a group of God’s people. Thank you for your faithfulness, thank you for the untold hours you give weekly, and thank you for sharing the Word of God with us. You truly are the heroes in the church. Keep up the God work!