Sunday School This Fall
We are now in the middle of August, and Labor Day weekend and the start of school is around the corner. And for us as a church, that means Sunday School is starting back up again. Specifically, the first Sunday School session will begin on Sunday, September 8, less than one month away.
In Sunday School, our goal and our focus is to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with the kids who are able to attend, and our aim is to share the “whole counsel of God” with our children.
We learn of this phrase “whole counsel of God” from the apostle Paul, who said to the Ephesian elders, “I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God.”
A few observations:
1) It is possible to shrink back from declaring the whole counsel of God. This means that it is possible to neglect, for example, sharing Truth from the Bible, and Truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ with our children. There is a temptation and tendency to not prioritize and share the depths of the wisdom and knowledge of Jesus Christ with our children. We do not want to shrink back from sharing the whole counsel of God with our children and so we are intentionally blocking off time once a week, 9am-10am on Sunday mornings, to work through curriculum.
2) We want to systematically cover as best we can, the whole counsel of God. We started the Gospel Project curriculum 2 years ago and started in Genesis. This fall we are continuing on in the journey and we are covering Acts and the New Testament Letters. And if you are wondering if it is ok for your child to jump in now, the answer is YES, of course it is. Once we finish up the New Testament, we will most likely start over in Genesis and go through the Bible again systematically.
In order for this to work, there are two very important components that have to be in place:
1) Children need to show up ready to learn.
2) Adults need to show up, ready to give their time and talents and skills and energy to help share the whole counsel of God with the children.
We are a 5 year old church plant and as is typical of church plants, we had a lot of infants and preschoolers when we launched. Well, our children are growing up fast. But the commitment we made when these kids were dedicated at our baby dedication services remain. One of the commitments that we make as a church during those child dedication ceremonies is that the dedication is an act of the church for the parents and child. We commit to be the church for families with children. We, as a church, dedicate ourselves to partner with the parents to raise their children in the grace and truth of Jesus, and therefore, we, as a church, dedicate ourselves to the child’s nurture, growth, and everlasting good.
Sunday School is one way we can as a church, help nurture the faith of our children by sharing with them knowledge of Jesus.
Practical Items
1) Ages
Sunday School is open to children aged 3 years old and up. There will be three main rooms: Pre-K (ages 3-4); Kindergarten to 2nd grade; And 3rd Grade and Up.
2) Sign Up
On the app or on the website there is a place to go where you can register your children for Sunday School. Please register as soon as you can so we can get a feel for numbers and it will help our planning.
3) Schedule
After worship service on Sunday August 25 and Sunday September 1st, myself and other Sunday School leaders will be available in the library for parents and children to come and meet their teachers and also ask any questions you may have. Also, on August 25 and September 1st we want parents and children to stop in and meet their teachers because they can also pick up their copy of the Kids Quarterly.
4) Kids Quarterly
What is the Kids Quarterly? The Kids Quarterly is a booklet that accompanies the Gospel Project curriculum that we are going through this fall and it can be used in two primary ways: 1 – for the younger kids, this booklet is a guide for parents to read the Bible with their kids and have some questions to help interact with their children. 2 – for the older kids, it is a workbook where the kids can start to do some Bible study on their own. During the week they can spend some time looking up Bible passages, and then journaling out answers and responses to the questions.
The Kids Quarterly for this fall follows the curriculum we are covering in Sunday School, and also has some readings to cover from Exodus since that is the sermon series we are doing this fall.
Helping with Sunday School
Lastly, we are still in need of a few volunteers to help lead a small group in certain classrooms. If you would like to commit to helping lead a small group in Sunday School please email me or Pastor Joe.
The Exhortation
So, the exhortation today is to remember our children and their faith journey. We want to disciple our children and share the whole counsel of God with them. Yet in our selfishness we can forget about sharing the whole counsel of God with our children.
I exhort us, as a church, to joyfully serve our children, prioritize them, and share with them the whole counsel of God, at church, and at home.