Sunday school teachers - Good advice

Mr Sam Doherty of Child Evangelism Fellowship says:

I trust that God will enable you to help Christian children to grow as you feed and nurse the new born babes He has committed to you.

1. You are the nurse. Nursing a child (both physically and spiritually) is often difficult and frequently inconvenient, but it can be very worthwhile and rewarding both in this world and the next.

“Then Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, ‘Take this child away and nurse

him for me, and I will give you your wages.’ So the woman took the

child and nursed him. And the child grew. . .” (Exodus 2 v9, 10a).

2. The Bible is the food or milk which helps the child to grow. But it needs to be given in an attractive and drinkable form. “As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby” (1 Peter 2 v2).

3. The Holy Spirit is the supervisor, the helper, “the doctor” and the One who gives power and ability to the “nurse.”

“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you;

and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and

Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1 v8).

And we pray that the result will be—growth.

“But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus

Christ.” (2 Peter 3 v18). 

4. The danger is that if the child is not nursed properly he might “stumble and fall” and become, spiritually, like Mephibosheth, the child who was dropped by his nurse and was crippled in both feet for the rest of his life.  (2 Samuel 4 v4).

As we pray and work we trust God that the children will grow up in Christ and become mature believers.

Let us join Paul in saying -

“Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all

wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. To

this end I also labor, striving according to His working which works in

me mightily.” (Colossians 1:28,29)

A few teaching tips:

1.     Get their attention -  start telling an interesting story to capture their imagination and then get to the next step.

2.    Show them a need -   why question and answer because they are eager learners

3.    Set a goal – “today our goal is to find God’s answer to a problem in the Bible.”

Build relationships with the children in your group.  “Kids don’t care what you know until they know how much you care”.  Cultivate Christian love for every child you teach – best way to do this is to pray for each child by name.  Ask God to help you and to help them to have a good attitude towards each other.

Study, pray and understand the passage you are going to teach and trust the Holy Spirit to use you and reach the hearts of the children.