Vacation Bible School is a blast! The week is filled with fun activities, catchy songs, delicious snacks, and time with friends. For some, VBS can be the turning point in their faith. The volunteer who has been doing this for years walks away with a deeper knowledge of how to share the Good News of Jesus with others; the new volunteer experiences what it’s like to encourage a young one in his or her faith; the older VBS participant looking at his or her last VBS before becoming a volunteer has memories of how impactful this event can be. All these things and more are jam-packed into a five-day VBS. With all those possibilities, the best thing we can do is pray for everyone who gets to be a part of VBS!

The Lord’s Prayer is the next portion of Luther’s Small Catechism we will be thinking through for ideas on how to teach Law and Gospel.

How are your summer Sunday School plans coming along?

If you’re anything like me, it’s possible that you may not be quite as prepared as you’d like to be. Between Easter events, Confirmations, graduation, and summer vacation planning, it can be easy for Sunday School plans to be put on the back burner.

The second article of the Apostles' Creed is all about Jesus. Gather ideas for teaching this section of Luther's Small Catechism with a lens on Law & Gospel.

The summer ushers in nice weather, fun activities, and the arrival of VBS! One of the best things about VBS is the fact that children of all ages are welcomed to learn more about Jesus. Keeping kids engaged takes a lot of work, so using God's Living Water as an example, we'll dive into all the ways you can engage kids at VBS.

Going to church as a family is a blessing. When young children are a part of your family, you need to think ahead when it comes to church. Families with young children may need to ask these questions when preparing for worship: “How do I help my child participate in the service?”; “How do I help them concentrate?”; “What should I do if my child wants to start moving around?”

A popular way churches equip families with young children is by providing “busy bags” or “quiet bags” to keep children engaged during the church service. Rather than putting together a random selection of toys or books, consider these resources, which will also help your child learn about what they are experiencing at church!

As we move on from the Ten Commandments portion of Luther’s Small Catechism, we will look at two articles of the Apostles’ Creed and examine what they mean. We will use Law and Gospel to view these two parts of the Creed.

The season of Lent is a time to reflect on repentance, grow in love, and recognize Jesus’ work on the cross. Lent connects us to the Bride of Christ throughout all time and all places. It is historic. It is personal. However, that doesn’t mean that it is easy to teach! Let’s take a little pressure off of planning and look at 5 books to use during this Lenten season to teach kids what it means that God made us His through Jesus.

One of the challenges of teaching the Ten Commandments is helping students to understand that God’s directives and prohibitions are broader than they seem.

When we teach children, we tend to simplify things. When we teach children about God, we want them to understand the truths we are communicating on their level in a way that is comforting, helpful, and life-giving for them. Today, I would like to propose that we use the “big words” of our faith when we teach our kids, preteens, and teenagers, whether that be in the home, in the church, or in a school setting. When it comes to terms like justification, sanctification, absolution, incarnation, Law, Gospel, atonement, resurrection, ascension, and so on, which ones have you taken the time to use and define with the young people in your life?