Do you use Sunday School material from Concordia Publishing House? Do you use the three-year lectionary outlined in the Lutheran Service Book? Then you probably have noticed that this is one of the quarters when the Sunday School lessons and the Gospel accounts read in the Divine Service line up rather nicely. This Sunday, for example, the Gospel reading and the Sunday School text are identical: Matthew 4:12-15, Jesus calls His first disciples.
This is nice because teachers and parents can call a child's attention to the parallel texts. You can use the church bulletin in your classroom or parents can use the Sunday School leaflet at appropriate points in the church service. Later in the day on Sunday the family can review the Bible account from a base of knowledge, discuss it together, and enjoy sharing what was learned. If you're lucky, your church is using the "Explore More" cards that were designed initially for use with the Cross Explorations curriculum, but available for use with Growing in Christ as well. These cards provide activities and discussion starters to help families maximize their time together.
The last four weeks of this winter set of lessons present a bit more of a challenge. The Gospel lesson each week is a portion of Jesus' "sermon on the mount," from Matthew 5. The Sunday School lessons may not, at first, seem to relate.
But they do! It would be tough for even the most creative teacher to teach what is essentially the same narrative, the occasion of Jesus' sermon on the shore of Galilee, four weeks in a row. However, the concepts about which Jesus teaches in each week's installment of this important chapter of the Bible are expanded on in Sunday School by studying a related Bible narrative.
Children learn what it means to be blessed (Matthew 5:1-12) by studying Jesus' blessing of Zacchaeus. They learn what it means to be salt and light (Matthew 5:13-20) by studying the work and resurrection of Dorcas. They learn an alternative to anger (Matthew 5:21-37) by exploring Paul's letter about Onesimus. And they learn about dealing with enemies (Matthew 5:38-48) by seeing how God and Ananias care for Saul.
Make of point of teaching these worship connections in the lessons ahead. Your students will be glad you did!
God bless you as you teach His children His Word!
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