Don't Forget to Say Thanks

Dear Sunday School Teacher,

You stepped up. You answered the call. You agreed to teach Sunday School.

You sacrifice personal time to study the Bible text and prepare a lesson each week.

You show concern for, and pray for, the students in your class.

You advocate, by what you do and what you say, for a strong Christian education program in the congregation.

Too often, you do all this without recognition or recompense.

It's a little thing, but let me be among those who say it . . .

Thanks!

Thanks for teaching God's children His Word!

"Lutheran Filters"?

I read occasionally, always when people recommend Christian education resources that are not Lutheran, that the user be sure to use his or her "Lutheran filter."

I could not agree more! But I suspect that I use my Lutheran filter quite differently than some might understand by that term.

A "Lutheran filter" is almost certainly not effective in the same way that a water filter that might be that is intended to trap particulates, microbes, and other harmful elements making water drinkable. ("Yes, that water was contaminated with cyanide, but it's okay now; I used my water filter"?) Lutheranism is not just the absence of heretical teaching. It is also the presence of specific life-giving doctrines (the Gospel, God's Word and Sacraments, the essential teaching of God's love, the concept of Christian vocation, and much more).

A "Lutheran filter" might be better seen as a visual tool that allows one to see clearly what is really taught in heterodox material so that it can be avoided completely. ("Ah, now I see the poison; I don't think I'll drink that water, filtered or not.")

If a resource was written to teach that a sovereign God demands perfect obedience and gives us His Bible to teach us how to become more like Jesus, what hope is there of correcting it? So what if it is a fun lesson? The kids you teach will really enjoy this activity?

Please, use your "Lutheran filter"!

God bless you as you teach His children His Word!

Why Have a Sunday School?

I really wanted to title this blog post "Get Rid of Your Sunday School, if . . . !" And as you see from the rest of this post, the "if" is really important and I certainly did not want the casual reader to take away the wrong message. Because, while I can imagine a congregation that would not need a Sunday School to assist in its mission, I have never "met" one.

But, if in your congregation . . .

• children are fully integrated into the worship service,
• families faithfully and frequently attend worship and receive the Lord's Supper,
• students attend a Lutheran Day School,
• parents have placed the Holy Scriptures into the hands of their children and provide daily family devoted time,
• children have a ready understanding of the salvation narrative, the basic accounts of the Bible, Luther's Small Catechism, and spend time each day in increasing that knowledge,
• parents regularly and comfortably discuss God's Word and its impact on their faith and daily life,

. . . then perhaps a Sunday School is not crucial.

On the other hand, what could it hurt?

God bless you for providing weekly opportunities for God's children to study His Word!

Can't Wait for Easter?

Perhaps you'll enjoy, and have an opportunity to share, this video from your friends at Concordia Publishing House.

God bless your Easter celebration and as you teach God's children His Word!

Devoted Time

Here's a message your families might benefit from hearing, about the blessing of "devoted time": family devotions.

CPH has prepared a short, encouraging video. You can access it HERE.

Feel free to share this link with others. You can also access the video by browsing to YouTube.com and searching for the video on the Concordia Publishing House channel. Search for "Concordia Publishing House family devotions."

God bless your families as they engage His children with His Word.

A Sunday School Crisis

It strikes me that we have a crisis. Sunday School ministry in The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod has decreased nearly every year for the past twenty, from nearly 650,000 students and teachers in 1993 to fewer than 350,000 in 2013. In 1993, 93 percent of our LCMS congregations conducted Sunday School; in 2013 only 83% did so. We are not trending well!

Such a crisis merits attention at every level of our synod: national, district, and, of course, congregational. I suspect that most of my readers tend to Sunday Schools at the congregational level, so let me suggest three facets of our Sunday School crisis that might deserve attention.

• We have a "Crisis of Mission": How do we connect Sunday School to the mission statement, the basic purpose, of the congregation? How can it become known as integral to that mission?
• We have a "Crisis of Action": How do we get the child or adult who does not attend to attend once? How do we get the first-time attender to return? How do we get the occasional attender to attend more frequently?
• We have a "Crisis of Focus": How can Sunday School be elevated in the eyes of the congregation's leaders and people? What voices in the congregation will be most readily heard when they speak in support of more family focus in Christian education?

The answers to these questions will be unique to your congregation, but your answers might also assist others. Feel free to share the questions and answers in your congregation. I also invite you to share your suggestions here.

God bless you as you teach His children His Word!

An Invitation for Questions

For me, writing this blog is a discipline. It is not always easy to find the time or that great topic for each week's post, but doing it each week keeps me thinking.

My goal is to be more helpful than provocative.

Let me then extend this invitation:

What question or topic would you find it helpful for me to address in a future post?

I'll do my best to accommodate your needs.

In the meantime, God bless you for teaching His children His Word!