This month, we look at one of the lesser-known apostles, Philip. I have an affinity with this apostle as we share the same name. One of my personal geeky interests is philology, the study of languages. The name Philip is derived from Greek and means “one who loves horses.” the first half of the name, Phil, is related to Philadelphia and philanthropy. The second half, ip, is related to hippopotamus, which means “river horse.” Interesting? Let’s study Philip!

My friend’s son is having a hard time with this unique time of isolation. He’s frustrated, angry, sad, and scared. He misses his friends, his school, his Sunday School teachers, and going to the park. Every day in the morning, at meals, and before bed, his mother encourages him to pray for the emotions he is having and for the struggles going on in his little mind. Children are called to participate in the kingdom of God. They are not excluded from Jesus and His ministry.

This month, we learn a bit about Matthew, one of the Gospel writers. We begin with introductory key verses regarding his work and calling by Jesus, followed by teaching regarding the apostle, and finally, ideas for presenting Matthew in the Sunday School classroom.  

Our teenagers are not immune to the stress caused by the ongoing shutdowns due to the coronavirus. High school seniors have seen much of their culminating experiences canceled or postponed, and all of our students who have been “in the groove” of the year have had their routines disrupted.

In the beginning was . . . routine. In the first verses of Genesis 1, routine is immediately evident. God designed His majestic creation with order. Before there was even a sun in the heavens, there was evening and there was morning. There was a routine.

Easter is always a special celebration of Christ’s victory. This year is no different. Jesus still died on the cross, rose from the dead, and ascended into heaven—and that’s worth celebrating. It will likely be a different kind of celebration this year, but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t exciting.

Full transparency; this is my first year married. When holidays come around, my husband and I have to create our own traditions—traditions that we will hopefully share with our children someday. We both come from families that celebrate holidays in BIG ways. Merging our two families’ traditions has been a great joy! As we look ahead to Easter and how our celebration will look different, I am planning to try some new activities. Some of which can be found in the free Easter activity guide that is linked at the bottom of the article.

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).

More than anything, I want my kids, throughout their lives, to know how loved they are. I want them to savor the beauty of God’s creation, to know His peace, and to pour out His love. With recent school closures and social distancing guidelines, reorienting myself and my family to the new normal has added complications to my already messy life. I’ve also wrestled with what to share, how to share it, and what to omit for my kids’ protection to anchor my family more intentionally to Christ instead of fear. While our regular schedules have been upended due to the current pandemic and worldwide angst, we’ve also been given a unique opportunity to go back to a lifestyle that was commonplace before the 19th century—a time of embracing familial tasks and sharing with our neighbors and loved ones in an intimate way.

I grew up with one Bible in my household. It was a children’s storybook Bible. Featuring over a hundred stories from the Old and New Testaments, it was my only look at the Word of God. It had pictures that had been illustrated by children around the world paired with a short paragraph of text that summarized the story of each specific passage. That version of the Bible was my only way to God’s Word.

Being a teacher involves patience, dedication, passion, lots of hours, and above all, love for your students. In these times of uncertainty when so many don’t know when they will be returning to school, how schools may look in the future, or if students are hearing the loving words of Jesus that they desperately need, be certain Jesus is with us as our guide.

You may have asked yourself: Where do I begin when setting up a classroom library and how should I include books for Jesus time? Setting up a classroom library can be very costly and overwhelming. It’s important to think about each child’s possible interests and have a variety of books available for them. As a Lutheran educator, I find it especially important to have a large selection of books centered on Christ in our classroom library to help encourage students to gain a deeper understanding of who Jesus is and what He did for us.