I have a confession to make. I was not looking forward to teaching Sunday School this year, and on some Sundays I still trudge out the door instead of merrily skipping to teach. I had numerous reasons for my lack of enthusiasm. We are living in a pandemic, which means I would be donning a mask. I have four kids with whom I had just come off of distance learning. I had my fill of teaching in any capacity. Spending more time teaching was not on my to-do list. I didn’t want to give up my time in adult Bible study. I love asking questions and listening to the questions others ask.  

The Ten Commandments were given to us by God and recorded for us in Exodus 20. Martin Luther wrote explanations to those commandments that have been so helpful that many still work to memorize them today, several hundred years after they were written.

The importance of the blood on the doorpost and lintel likely “passed over” the Israelites the night before the Lord freed them from centuries of slavery under Pharaoh. Being of desperate mind, we can guess they regarded the act as nothing more than a divine hoop through which to jump to reach liberty and safety. Yes, God did intend the physical, present liberation of His chosen people. Yet in doing so, He inaugurated a process that would culminate at the death of the Lamb and be effectual at every baptism. Thanks to the work of the Holy Spirit, we connect the doorpost to the cross, and both to the baptismal font. The themes of provision, sacrifice, liberty, and restoration tie all three together.

Recently, some of my students asked me a question I’ve heard dozens of times since I began teaching. Perhaps it was because of the circumstances driving the question or perhaps it was because I’d already had the spark of an idea for this blog post—regardless, I answered their question differently than I have before.

Red Light, Green Light! It’s a classic children’s game right up there with Duck, Duck, Goose (or dare I say… Duck, Duck, Gray Duck?) and Red Rover, Red Rover. It’s amazing what fun can be had simply by saying the words “red light” and “green light.” The whole game is literally letting children walk on green and stop on red. There are variations of having your back turned on green and suddenly turning around on red to try and catch those that get too close, but the gist is all the same. 

A year of changes brings a year of adaptations. How blessed we are to serve our God, who is unchanged in His love, care, and provision for us. He even provides ways for us to spread His love and care to others through loving our neighbors intentionally and consistently in various contexts. As Sunday School teachers, classroom teachers, youth leaders, and children’s ministry champions, we have the chance to engage cross-culturally with our students and young people, while adding richly to our own cultures, in response to the gift of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Jesus in the Old Testament?

This month begins a new series of materials for teaching Sunday School. Christians often view the Old Testament as intimidating, irrelevant, evidence of God’s judgment and wrath—a long, boring history of a people long gone. Far from this, the Old Testament prepares us for the New Testament or, more precisely, Genesis through Malachi points us to Jesus Christ.

It’s Lutheran Schools Week! A teacher friend of mine describes this as a time to celebrate Lutheran schools—for each school to remember its connection to other Lutheran schools around the country and across the globe. It is a time to reflect and focus on the mission of Lutheran schools to serve people. So what does that mission mean for children with disabilities, and how might it apply? Is there room for children with developmental disabilities in a Lutheran school setting?

A pitch-black street familiar to me is illuminated by streetlights and the warm glow of headlights from early-riser commuters. I live alongside one of the major highways that serves as a corridor to three of the five boroughs of New York City. I find myself comforted on early mornings like this when I can sit, think, and listen to the lull of driving cars before the highway becomes a cacophony of honks and construction drilling. I do like the sound of cars and trucks, and as an urbanite I feel at home when I am certain there is a bustle around me.

Previously, I wrote about the veracity of Scripture being based on Jesus’ testimony that the Bible is God’s Word. Every instance in which Jesus refers to the Old Testament is marked by the presupposition that the account being referred to is both true and accurate. One example of this is Jesus’ reference to the miraculous story of Jonah being in the belly of the great fish for three days and nights as a historical reality (Matthew 12:40). Likewise, all assertions found in the New Testament are grounded in Christ’s teachings.