“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates.”
It’s that time of year again! The young people are heading back to school for another year of education. Here at Bethel that means that Sunday School is also starting up again. Anyone who knows me knows that I like to ask “the why question”, especially when it comes to things we do as a church.
Why do we send the children of Bethel to Sunday School?
Do we send them so that they can bring back cool arts and crafts projects? Do we send them so that we can get an break from our kids? Do we send them so that they can make friends? We might say yes to some of these things, but there is a deeper reason that Sunday School is a priority here at Bethel and that is to teach the faith to the young people.
Sunday School can be a part of a balanced approach to discipling our youth. In Deuteronomy 6 the people of Israel are encouraged to talk about God’s commands and promises “when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” We are to remember God and share his truth every day of the week, not just on Sundays. God has blessed us here at Bethel with a wonderful group of Sunday School teachers, but children need to learn the faith from their parents as well.
Continue to ask your children what they learned in Sunday School this week. Let’s look for opportunities to share the faith with our youth. Let them know that Jesus is the center of our lives every day of the week!
Dear Lord, give us eyes to see the opportunities you’ve placed before us to share the truth about you with the children here at Bethel, Amen.