Sunday School Lessons For Adults

Most of us know “Sunday school” as the service our kids would attend while we’re in the sanctuary listening to the pastor give their sermon. Then, after service, we’d see them run up to their parents, proudly showing off the craft project they’ve made about that Sunday’s lesson – one that’s perfectly designed for them to know God more.

But the reality is that Sunday school shouldn’t and doesn’t stop when we’ve grown up. At its heart, Sunday school refers to a place where we purposefully and intentionally learn about God and what He’s done for us, so it’s not bound to an age group. Instead, we should continue to spend time actively studying the Word of God. 

This article will help you achieve just that.

Sunday School Lesson Plans For Adults

We first have to talk about the ultimate goal for these Sunday school lessons. Why do we want to learn more about God’s Word? What is the purpose of all our efforts? 

The answer is transformation. 

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:2).

Paul told us to change from the inside out, not be led by worldly success and prosperity. Transformation isn’t switching from one to-do list to another. Instead, we replace the works of the law with the fruit of the Spirit.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things, there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit” (Galatians 5:22-25).

In other words, we triumph over immoral behaviors and transform ourselves through our faith in Jesus Christ. To quote from the Bible, “[God] has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life” (2 Corinthians 3:6). 

Transformation is profound, blood-bought, and intentional. It requires community, group discipleship, and a commitment to keep learning – that’s where Sunday school for adults comes into the picture.

Sunday School Lesson Plans Adults: Themes And Topics To Consider

Here are some lists for you to choose your Sunday school lesson from. You can go through them by yourself for personal growth, or with the church group you’re part of (e.g., discipleship group or Bible study group). If you do choose to go through lessons in a small group, we suggest using a church management software to make this task simple and mobile-accessible.

General Themes and Topics

The ideas below are themes and topics that you can conduct with young adults, senior citizens, and anyone in between. These are foundational lessons you can go through before getting into more topical lessons:

• Identity in Christ: Identity in Christ gives us confidence and awareness of who we really are in light of our Creator. We are fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14), and embracing that will transform the way we view and act in the world.
• Spiritual Warfare: Spiritual warfare is real. The father of lies will attempt to destroy us with doubt and fear, but Romans 8 says that we have the Holy Spirit within us. Believers have been given the weapons they need (Ephesians 6:8-10) to fight off temptation and lies.
• Parables: There are nearly 40 parables spread out in the Bible, many of which are repeated more than once. Start by reading through Matthew 13, which already includes six parables in one chapter. 
• Relationships: investing in healthy, meaningful relationships with our parents, spouses, children, siblings, friends, and more is foundational to the Christian life. Our relationship with God should reflect the way we manage relationships with others.
• Money and God: The Bible says, “For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows” (1 Timothy 6:10). God encourages us to be less selfish with money (2 Corinthians 9:6), so it won’t take hold of us.
• Spiritual Gifts: God has blessed every individual with a specific spiritual gift. You can start by studying 1 Corinthians 12 and Romans 8 to differentiate spiritual and natural gifts, delve into self-analyzing what gifts God has bestowed upon you, then learn how to ask Him for new gifts to increase the glory you give to Him (1 Corinthians 14:1).

Themes and Topics for Men

Here are some ideas that are geared specifically for men (and those identifying as such):

• Male Leaders of the Bible: From prophets to tax collectors, you can study the lives of Moses, Joshua, David, Job, Daniel, Paul, and even Barnabas to see how God worked in the lives of men in multiple situations.
• Mentoring Other Men: Young men need wise influence. Spend a couple of sessions talking about Godly influence, being a witness of His love, and mentoring others towards Christ-like transformation. 
• Learning Reconciliation: Just as Christ did His part in bringing us back to His family, we should take up the challenge to be men of peace and understanding with our families and friends. You can start with 2 Corinthians 5:19-21 to see how you can become God’s ambassador of peace and reconciliation.

Themes and Topics for Women

These are some of the topics you can go through to live your life as a Godly woman:

• Biblical Femininity: The Bible gives us guidelines for how we should live our lives as women. Of course, God didn’t get too specific about who should wash the dishes or take out the trash. But there are instructions for married women (Ephesians 5:22-24) and single individuals (1 Corinthians 7:34) on what He expects from us.
• Freedom in Christ: God has given all of us freedom from the greatest bondage: sin. We are all living in God’s kingdom; we should embrace that we are free from condemnation. “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery” (Galatians 5:1).
• Cultivating Perseverance: Running with perseverance means we have to fix our eyes on Christ, find the joy set before us, and endure all the challenges with Jesus as our example. You can break this topic down into smaller sessions to discuss it in light of career, family, and health.

Sunday School Outline For Adults: Creating Your Own Lesson Plan

If you’d like to create your own lesson plan for Sunday School, here’s a checklist to help you stay on track. 

1. Ideate. Pick ideas that would be suitable for your Sunday school curriculum. You should also come up with objectives and takeaways for each of those lessons. To do this, you’ll have to be familiar with the Bible, understand the Scripture in light of your own experience, and respond in faith to God’s teaching.
2. Exegete. Expand the meaning of the Bible verses you’ve chosen. You can take a systematic approach where you cross-reference to other parts of the Bible, use a grammatical-historical method to understand the context, and other ways to properly interpret figurative language whenever necessary.
3. Research. Take your material to the next level by conducting further research. Your goal is to find appropriate, supplementary information to solidify your lessons. We suggest that you look at Bible dictionaries, concordances, commentaries, and all other additional resources to strengthen and beef up your Sunday school lessons.
4. Outline. Organize your materials in a logical, sequential manner. Start with foundational lessons, then dive into more niche lessons. 
5. Flesh out. With your outline now ready, fill it with all the information you’ve gathered, including any discussion questions and illustrations you might want to have. You can either take a deductive, top-down approach to the lessons or an inductive, bottom-up method instead.
6. Confirm. Check your work. Avoid making the lessons too broad, elaborate, or disconnected from the biblical text itself. You can even conduct a run-through where you have other trusted Christians review your work before you start using it officially.

The Bible Is Our Guide Sunday School Lesson

No matter how beautifully created the lesson plans we’ll discuss are, no material can be as accurate and powerful as Scripture. The Bible is our guide to Sunday school lessons – the best lesson plans and outlines are completely derived from the Bible itself.

For easy printing, you can click here to download our free Sunday School Topics for Adults PDF.

To read more about creating Sunday school lesson plans, head on over to our article on The Perfect Sunday School Lesson: 11 Teaching Principles & 6 Lesson Ideas to Boost Engagement and Attendance.