Why do we need Sunday School?   By Jiju Mathew, CSI Christ church of Chicago

 

Sunday School started in the year 1780 in England, by a great individual named Robert Reiks with 12 children. Now Sunday School has spread all over the world's churches including C.S.I Churches and it should be a never ending program. So then why do we need Sunday School? Here are some points that I'll give you: To transform the younger generation for Christ, the head of the church. If you read Luke 1:66 there is a question in that verse and it says, "What then is this child going to be?" If I ask this question to one of our parents. We will get unique answers. One parent might say, My son is going to be a doctor or nurse or even a computer science major, but do we have the eagerness to dedicate our children for the Kingdom of God. We all know Jesus Christ has certain expectations about a child and He expects to make progress in their spiritual life. HOW CAN WE PREPARE THEM FOR GOD'S KINGDOM? Sunday School is the nursery of our church. It needs the essential training and care to confirm them in Christ. We can summarize the effectiveness of Sunday School in three words. Know, Grow and Glow! Knowing what, Growing with whom and Glowing where. The children have to know and understand in Sunday School, that God is Almighty and the creator of all things. Teaching them Jesus Christ is the Son of God and our Savior. Conform and Strengthen them in the Holy Spirit, who leads us for all the truth. All religions in this world are very particular to pass on their faith to future generations. Think as ourselves, as families, as a church, how much are we interested in exchanging our creed or faith to our children. What about our homes? Are our homes set apart for the purpose of God. There is a saying, Charity begins at home. Christian education is originated from the Jews education, that is why we can see lot of Hebrew influence in Christian education. We know that there were no schools in the early ages. Then how did Jews teach laws to their children. Read Ps. 78:1-7; Deu. 6:7. We see a responsibility of a parent to their children. Parents are the prime teachers of Sunday School. An infant child begins learning from the mother's lap. In child psychology, it says the life begins before five years of age. Let us think in this very busy life of ours, are we paying any attention to the very important spiritual needs of a child. This only can be accomplished by a Teacher in a Parent. So let the children know, as we see in John 14:6, that He is the Way, Truth and the Life. What about growing: Parents are very conscious about the physical growth of a child, like visiting a doctor. We are making an appointment with that doctor, but what about making an appointment with Jesus Christ for their spiritual growth. Are we making it or can we make it? Yes, we can. To grow in Christ, we have to maintain certain disciplines: 1. Having family prayers at our homes, coming together attending church services to pray. Prayers are very important to build personal relationships with God. 2. Regular readings of the Word of God>you could read it at any time, make it as a practice. 3. Giving up bad practices so you could grow in Christ. The bad practices are: not honoring your parents, not respecting elders, and not listen to Achen. Maintaining these disciplines we all could grow in Christ. What about glowing: The meaning of the word glow is to shine. According to the Scriptures, every child is an exhibitionist. If you read Numbers 8, Moses instructed Aaron to set seven lamps of lampstand in the Tabernacle, so the light can be shown "outward." I'm sure that is what Jesus had in mind when He said, "Let your light shine before men, that they see your good works and glorify your father." The children are to exhibit the glory of God, and the only way they can do it to let that glory be transmitted through them. The light also can be hidden. Jesus urged us not to put our light "under a bushel." The children must be exposed: they must be set free to shine in public. The light can also be extinguished. The natural enemy of light is not only darkness, but also water and wind. We must not "quench the spirit" which is another way of saying that we must keep our light fed with oil. We must not let it blown out by the winds of disobedience to Gods will. Turn the light outward through our children. Not the doubting, hesitating, fearful but the spirit-controlled, joyful, then we shall become a child of God and shine as a light in the dark world. My dear friends and children, by knowing him, growing in him, and glowing through him our Sunday School be a blessing to the Social, Cultural, and Spiritual growth of the entire society. May God bless us all. Amen. If you have any concerns or questions about this article, please contact the web master e-mail: sak777@attbi.com or webmaster@csichurch.com