Jesus Our Master Teacher
Jesus the Savior is our Master Teacher,
He gives His best to each of His pupils,
He teaches truth, direct and simple,
He inspires us with His own light from Heaven.
John 3: 2 ESV
This man came to Jesus by night and said to him,
“Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God,
for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.”
When Nicodemus came seeking Jesus in the night, he came seeking a teacher, but much more than a teacher. He came seeking the teacher who did mighty signs from God, proving the unique truth of His teaching. This Jewish leader had heard about those mighty signs of power. Probably he had seen one or more of those signs. We cannot say this for sure, but who knows? Could it be possible Nicodemus, himself, had been among the circle of teachers who had been so amazed by Jesus, who as a twelve year-old, had so impressed the professional teachers of the Law? We do know this: This teacher himself, recognized Jesus as the Master Teacher.
Jesus Our Master Teacher
God blesses His people with gifted teachers
who study His Word and follow His Spirit’s leading,
who purposefully love all of His children
who model their lives upon Jesus their Master.
Jesus the Savior is our Master Teacher,
He gives His best to each of His pupils,
He teaches truth, direct and simple,
He inspires us with His own light from Heaven.
God develops His teachers to search out
His best for each of His pupils, giving
them conviction they can achieve; they
each have His own wonderful potential.
Jesus the Savior is our Master Teacher,
He gives His best to each of His pupils,
He teaches truth, direct and simple,
He inspires us with His own light from Heaven.
God directs His teachers to knowledge which
excites and invites discoveries
as they seek deeper, ever deeper
making their learning a grand adventure.
Jesus the Savior is our Master Teacher,
He gives His best to each of His pupils,
He teaches truth, direct and simple,
He inspires us with His own light from Heaven.
As a long-time and widely admired teacher,
Joey had the honor of announcing
Jack and Carly’s names
at their high school graduations.
First of all, I have to admit to a natural bias in my writing this week. I have spent a huge part of my life teaching. Throughout my own years as a student in elementary school, high school, university, and post-graduate school, I found myself blessed by God-called, Holy Spirit-led teachers. These teachers taught me day-in and day-out as they lived out their hard-working lives before me—presenting lessons which laid the groundwork for my learning to read, write, and do all manner of arithmetic problems. Many of my teachers taught according to the Jesus model, laying down their lives so we students could not only learn all of the necessary facts, but also grow in our understanding of life, living with others and finding the path God has for us. I was especially blessed to have in my home church, First Baptist Glencoe, many godly teachers. I had particular teachers who lived as living testimonies of Jesus’ own life-shaping investment in the lives of His disciples. Certainly, when I began teaching, I had Jesus and followers of Jesus as wonderful role models.
So, this week I am writing about Joey Sims, a highly respected and appreciated teacher at Glencoe High School. Having known Joey and his family, at First Baptist Church; I have long admired his commitment to Jesus, his godly leadership of his family, his commitment to teaching and his dedicated involvement in the community through teaching and coaching, always as a dependable and faithful man.
I believe Joey’s favorite Bible Verse speaks clearly of the investment he has made in living His life led by faith:
Proverbs 3:5-6 ESV
Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths.
Joey invested himself in all of his pupils,
challenging them to do nothing
less than their absolute best—
like his son, Jack, in golf.
So, let’s begin with a synopsis of Joey’s school life, both as a student and as a teacher. He graduated from Glencoe High School in 1982. He had earned letters in varsity football, basketball and baseball. In football he was selected as the all area quarterback his senior year when he led the Yellow Jackets to an area title and a play-off berth. In basketball he was voted the Most Valuable Player in the 1982 Etowah County Tournament. In baseball he played as a four year starter. He won over 20 games as a pitcher, while maintaining a .400 batting average as he also played shortstop and third base.
Joey attended Gadsden State Community College on a baseball scholarship, playing as a pitcher. He then attended Sanford University, also on a baseball scholarship, where he actually pitched against players like Bo Jackson and Deion Sanders. He set records for the most wins, the most innings pitched and for the most complete games in a season. He continued as a Dean’s List student during each term of his college career. He graduated with a B.A. degree in education, majoring in both math and English. Joey was recognized as Samford’s top graduate in English for the Class of 1987.
Then Joey worked as a graduate assistant for Rudy Abbott, a legendary baseball coach at Jacksonville State. As the pitching coach, he helped JSU reach the Division II College World Series in 1988, and to win their first national championship. He received a masters degree in Math Education in 1988.
Joey’s impressive record as a teacher
was no doubt, inspired by one of his own
godly teachers, Mr. Edge,
and by his sister, Sharron Yancy.
He began his high school teaching and coaching career as the head baseball coach in Newnan,Georgia. He led that team to the state playoffs while he was there. He then moved to Saks High School, where he taught math and coached baseball, football, and junior high boys’ basketball. In 1996 he returned to Glencoe, where he has taught math, coached boys’ golf, tennis and junior high boys’ basketball. His basketball teams won over 100 games in nine years, including two county championships. His golf teams won over 500 matches and made seven state championship appearances. Two of his golfers appeared in the top five in the state finals, including Jack, his son. He finished second in the state tournament twice. In 2014 Joey was chosen as Glencoe High School’s Teacher of the year.
Throughout his school career as a student and as a teacher and coach, Joey focused on serving Christ through Glencoe First Baptist. He has taught Sunday School to junior high students and to senior-age men. He has served as a deacon. He has sung in the choir and on the praise team—all the while encouraging others to join him in giving praise to God through music. He is certainly known as one of the most caring and friendliest members of the church—always smiling and joking and making so many folks feel welcomed and loved.
While Joey’s life has been characterized
by the hard work and the over-filled schedule
of a dedicated teacher, he has been blessed
with a wife who shares his commitment
to giving only the best in living for Jesus.
Kathy, Joey’s wife has, of course, provided him loving encouragement in every way since they were married. He has done the same for her. When they had their son, Jack, he spent some time watching Jack while she worked as a nurse. In order to play golf, he carried Jack with him, even to the golf course. As Jack grew to love golf, Joey supported him in every way. It is not surprising then, that Jack loves golf so much.. Then with Carly, their daughter, who loved cheerleading, Joey also supported her. When he was at Samford, Joey earned an opportunity to attend Vanderbilt for graduate school, but his love for baseball took him to Jacksonville State, instead. So, when Carly chose Vanderbilt, she completed the cycle, graduated there and is now working in the field of biomedical engineering. You can bet Joey and Kathy are continuing to support Jack, his wife Kelsey, and Carly. One example of Joey’s level of commitment came as he and Jack took a high school graduation trip to the famous Pebble Beach golf course. Here is what Jack says about his dad: “His unwavering presence has been a constant source of comfort and strength, showing me the true value of being there for others.” Kelsey mentions how Joey is deeply passionate about helping others. Wes Weems a fellow teacher/coach and a lifelong friend, speaks of how blessed he is to call Joey his friend and his fellow teacher.
I have long admired seeing examples of Joey’s meeting the needs of his students. Joey came to the rescue when John David, our son, needed a math coach to get him through his first year at Jacksonville State. Joey went out of his way and came to the rescue, and John David will always be grateful. In fact, when John David had been much younger, and we had come home for Stateside Assignment, Joey gave him a treasured keepsake, his very own baseball autographed by his hero, Joey, of course.
Praise God! We all have enjoyed having teachers and coaches who have blessed our lives forever by following in the steps of Jesus, our Master Teacher. And I am sure Joey would say to us all with that huge smile of his, along with a slap on the back; “Go and do likewise.” Jesus gives each of us the opportunity to teach His loving Way to others. May we be as faithful as Jesus and the teachers like Joey, whom He has taught to do so and bless us all.
Each teacher who treasures our Jesus
is a blessing from God who so loves us
He places in our lives His models to follow
as we seek and find His Heavenly Way.
