TO GOD'S NAME BE GLORY!

Yesterday was my last day teaching middle school Sunday school.  It was never MY plan to teach middle schoolers.  I had taught elementary Sunday school classes before but left teaching Sunday school to focus on women’s ministries.  And then it happened, both of our youth leaders, middle school and senior high, left our church the very same summer for other jobs.  Suddenly, we found ourselves having to scramble to cover both senior high and middle school Sunday school classes. 

I had been on a few missions trips with the senior high and so I thought I might like to teach them, since I already had a relationship with many of them, but then it was suggested I take the middle school class instead.  I was somewhat apprehensive. I didn’t know many of the kids and wasn’t sure a 60 something woman could relate to them.  And middle school kids have a reputation for being wild and crazy (in a good way), and I wasn’t sure I was ready for all that physical and verbal energy.  However, I could teach, and so I decided to say yes to the nudging of the Spirit, counting on God’s ability to cover for my lacks.

What I discovered – not surprisingly when we follow God’s lead – was that I loved it, and I loved middle schoolers.  Oh, they were verbally energetic all right!  The biggest issues I EVER had with them was their tendency to talk – a LOT!  If I turned to my right to answer a question, I could be sure that several conversations would break out on my left and I would have to spend some time pulling everyone back in to focus on the topic at hand.

They were talkative, but they were also inquisitive, and eager to KNOW things.  They ask questions and more questions!  Their comments regarding a Bible passage were often incredibly insightful.  And they were still of an age where their love for Jesus was open and honest.  I came to love all of those things, and more, about them. 

From the start I determined that I would not use a typical middle school curriculum.  Often these focus on social issues, or moral dilemmas facing middle school kids. While there is nothing wrong with that, I’m a firm believer that when we study the Bible, we’ll hit on those issues, because the Bible is immensely practical. The underlying social and moral issues of Biblical times, caused by the sin nature of mankind, are still relevant today.  And God's Word always has the answer for how a believer in Jesus should respond.

So we studied God’s Word and only God’s Word.  Over the course of the few years I taught them we studied the book of Acts, the Gospel of Mark, and this year the life of Joseph from Genesis and the beginning of the book of Exodus – primarily in those last two focusing on the sovereignty of God.  I would take the passage under study – usually a chapter at a time - and go through it on my own at home, asking questions middle school students might have, in order to clarify customs, or social issues of the day and place in question.  Sometimes I’d decide to ask questions that would help them put themselves in the place of the Bible characters.  I determined NEVER to dumb down the Word of God, but to challenge the students to THINK for themselves and to think biblically.

For example: When Joseph (in Genesis) interpreted a dream he had in which the sun, moon and stars bowed down to him, as referring to an action his parents and brothers would one day make toward him, I asked what might have motivated him to tell them his dream.

I asked how they would feel if they were the brothers, to hear that they would one day bow down to the brother of whom they were so jealous.

Later in the account, when Joseph was falsely accused and thrown into prison, I asked if they thought he would have remembered the dreams God had given him, and what impact that might have had on his ability to bear the wrong done to him.

 We considered how the circumstances of Joseph’s life contributed to his faith and trust in God, although everything seemed to be going against him.

We talked about the sovereignty of God, so evident through the whole of Joseph’s life, and I asked how His sovereignty is evident in their lives today.

I asked about how the struggles they were experiencing could be the very things God was using to teach them about Himself, as He had done with Joseph. And we talked about what they were learning about Him.

I had just two goals for them as I taught God’s Word.  The first was that would know God, especially as He revealed Himself through His Son, Jesus.  And the second was that they would find the Word of God so exciting and so practical that they would want to be life-long learners and students of the Bible. 

The first goal I emphasized through all the lessons, encouraging them often to trust Jesus, and asking with each lesson what God revealed about Himself in the passages.  The second I emphasized in the way I taught the lessons. 

Years ago I had taken a teacher training class in which the teacher said, “It’s a sin to bore people with the Word of God.”  I never wanted to be guilty of that particular sin!  I find the Bible so exciting myself that it was easy to teach with enthusiasm, to bring out the emotion of a passage, and to help kids dig deeper for truth. 

Truthfully, sometimes it was tough to teach students who had obviously been up late the night before and were tired and not terribly responsive.  But more often than not, the discussions were AWESOME!

I have loved teaching middle school students and I would have done it whether or not I ever saw any fruit.  But yesterday, on my last day, because we are preparing to move to Florida, the Lord blessed me with a glimpse of the fruit. 

My current students and some former ones who are now in senior high, wrote cards for me.  These are some of the comments that truly blessed my teacher’s heart, made me praise my God, and will be treasured:

·       “(The) Sunday school lessons were so important to me and I really loved how you not only taught us Bible stories, but also how to study the Bible.”

·       “The lessons . . . have really impacted my life personally.”

·       “The teachings have made me closer to God.”

·       “The years (I was in middle school Sunday school) were some of the most spiritually growing years I’ve ever been a part of.”

·       “I have learned so much about the Word of God.”

·       “The questions . . . asked were very challenging and helped me think about the Bible in a new way.”

How wonderfully the Lord worked in the lives of these kids!

Does all this sound SELF centered?  I hope not!  I didn’t write this so that anyone reading it will think that I am great.  I am writing this so that anyone reading it will know how great our God is and how absolutely critical the study of His Word is for us as Christians – all of us – from childhood through adulthood. 

The BEST gift we can give our children – after we have told them how important it is to trust Jesus as Savior - is to help them to know and love God’s Word because it is through the study of the Bible that we understand who God is and how we can live a life that pleases Him.

The Bible is anything but dry and boring!  It is exciting, and challenging, and practical in every way, and it is the means by which we grow as Christians. 

Psalm 115:1 “Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to Your Name be the glory, because of Your love and faithfulness!”