Psalm 78:1-8
English
Standard Version (ESV)
78 (B)Give ear, O my people, to my teaching;
incline your ears to the words of my mouth!
2 (C)I will open my mouth (D)in a parable;
I will utter dark sayings from of old,
3 things that we have heard and known,
that our (E)fathers have told us.
4 We will not (F)hide them from their children,
but (G)tell to the coming generation
the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might,
and (H)the wonders that he has done.
incline your ears to the words of my mouth!
2 (C)I will open my mouth (D)in a parable;
I will utter dark sayings from of old,
3 things that we have heard and known,
that our (E)fathers have told us.
4 We will not (F)hide them from their children,
but (G)tell to the coming generation
the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might,
and (H)the wonders that he has done.
5 He established (I)a testimony in (J)Jacob
and appointed a law in (K)Israel,
which he commanded our fathers
to teach to their children,
6 that (L)the next generation might know them,
the children yet unborn,
and arise and tell them to their children,
7 so that they should set their hope in God
and not forget (M)the works of God,
but (N)keep his commandments;
8 and that they should not be (O)like their fathers,
(P)a stubborn and rebellious generation,
a generation (Q)whose heart was not steadfast,
whose spirit was not faithful to God.
and appointed a law in (K)Israel,
which he commanded our fathers
to teach to their children,
6 that (L)the next generation might know them,
the children yet unborn,
and arise and tell them to their children,
7 so that they should set their hope in God
and not forget (M)the works of God,
but (N)keep his commandments;
8 and that they should not be (O)like their fathers,
(P)a stubborn and rebellious generation,
a generation (Q)whose heart was not steadfast,
whose spirit was not faithful to God.
If
you were able to read my testimony at the beginning of this blog page, you know
that this passage means so very much to me.
You would also understand why I teach children Sunday morning and
Wednesday night and why I have a passion for education. I am
going to repost it for those of you who may not have ever read it.
This
scripture emphasizes the importance of telling our children about the times of
old. We can teach them in our home but
it is also so important that we allow our trusted brothers and sisters in
Christ to help us with this. Our world
is becoming that generation whose heart is not steadfast and whose spirit is
not faithful. Are we putting our family,
our job, our activities before God? Are
we too tired on Sunday from all the activities of the week that we just skip
church and stay home? We are missing out
on the fellowship of believers where we can get our support for the remainder
of the week if we are not attending church.
We are missing out on having our children learn more about God because
chances are we are not reading the Word or telling them ourselves. I have
seen many churches put an emphasis on small groups, which are great, but they
have left out learning activities for the children. We send them off to another room to play
while we study the word. As you read my
testimony my hope is that God will use those words to inspire you to remember
the importance of telling our children about God. Taking the foundational values of God out of
our schools was a huge mistake but taking them out of our homes and our
churches is an even greater mistake. Our
schools teach our children how to read so they can read the Bible. Our homes and our churches should be
inspiring our children to use that education to read the Bible. How are we doing on that?
By Sheila Koop
It was a beautiful bright summer day in 1966,
a six year old little girl, and her eight year old sister stared into the blue
sky and began a discussion about Jesus.
They had been taught, early on, that Jesus who died and rose from the
grave, and forgave them of their sins, was in Heaven, somewhere beyond those
blue skies, and they began to dream about seeing Him some day. Now, the eight year old bragged that she
would see Jesus before her younger sister.
If you are not the youngest in your family, you may not understand but
the youngest dislikes being last all the time so the six year old informed her
older sister that she, the youngest, would be the first to see Jesus. The eight year old tried to explain that she
was older so she would see Him first but the little one would not believe this.
Shortly after that
discussion the two sisters got on one bike and headed to the firecracker stand.
They both knew how to ride a bike but
for some reason the older sister decided to pump the younger one. They purchased their fireworks for the soon
to be blast and headed home as supper was almost ready. As events unraveled the two found themselves
going down a sandy alley which was very hard to pedal through but the two
laughed and greeted a neighbor as he worked in his backyard. At the end of the alley they found that they
could not stop and their bicycle headed out into the street and was struck by an
oncoming vehicle. The six-year old found
herself on the curb in front of a red-bricked home, crying for her sister. Her older sister lay dead on the street after
hitting the windshield of the car. She, now
in glory, was in the presence of her Lord and Savior.
This vibrant life, full
of love for the Heavenly Father, and one who touched many lives in her short
time on earth, was my sister, Carol. I
was the six year old girl on the curb calling out her name. I must say, I was a little upset with her because
she got to see Jesus first. I don’t believe that previous conversation was an
accident. I believe the Lord was
preparing me for a life without her and a hope that I would see her again
someday. It was also no mistake that our
parents took us to Sunday school every Sunday morning.
Another life was
changed that day, the life of a teenage boy who did not see us and was the one
that hit us. The little I know about him
is from my oldest sister who went to school with him. Although my parents made sure to go visit him
and let him know that they did not blame him, he held on to the guilt of this
accident and had nightmares for many years to come. He did not and as far as I know still doesn’t
have the peace of Christ that surpasses all understanding. This is even more tragic than the death of a
little girl, who knew Christ.
If it had not been for
my faithful parents, who demonstrated their love for Christ everyday and who
took us to church every time the doors were open, we would not have learned
about a loving God who cares for His children and a place called Heaven. My parents did not stop taking me to church
after the accident, rather, they showed me their faith by remaining faithful
and taught me to always trust in the Lord through whatever life may bring. My sister and I learned at home, how to act
right and to do good but at church we learned the stories of how God
demonstrated His love to His people. I
truly believe that we all need to have the experience of learning and growing
with our peers. As an adult, we can love
Christ, be a Christian, and never step out of our home. But, we learn more, love more, and grow more
when we share His love with others and walk together in our Christian life. If you are a parent that does not see the
need to take your children to Sunday school and church, I urge you to
reconsider the impact it may have on your child’s life. If you are an adult that does not see the
need to be in Sunday school, I urge you to reconsider this decision. Scripture urges us in Hebrews 10:25, “Let us
not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us
encourage one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”
I learned, that dreadful
day, that life is short. One minute we
can be laughing and anticipating the future and in a blink of an eye that
future changes forever. What are we
doing in our churches to ensure that the future of our people will be one of
delight whether here on earth or in the presence of our Lord? How are we teaching our children to seek His
face or to even know that He exists? How
are we teaching our adults to hold on to their faith in the midst of
trials? How are we teaching the
teenagers to trust in the Lord even in times of turmoil and strife? These are questions that we as a Christian
Education Commission struggle with. Through
a recent survey given by the Christian Education Commission, we learned that churches
are approaching Christian Education in many different ways or they are not
addressing it at all. Some indicated
that they feel satisfied with what they are doing and have not changed for
years because they like it the way it is.
Others are trying to be more innovative and in the process may be leaving
out key components of the ministry of Christian Education namely, the children
and youth.
As the Christian
Education Commission Chair, I want to challenge you as a congregation to not
take the issue of educating both young and old, lightly. There is, and always will be a need to focus
on, in depth teaching of the gospel. In
Sunday school and small groups, we have the opportunity to be fed what we need
in order to grow in Christ. Children and
babes in Christ may need milk while more mature Christians are on solid food
but we are all the same, we need to be fed.
Let’s not be like the Jewish Christians in Hebrews who should have been
teaching but were still needing to learn “the elementary truths of God’s word”
(Hebrews 5:12 ). In the worship service, the pastor is
required to preach to a congregation with varying spiritual needs. If I would have spent my first years of
life, sitting in the pew, counting the tiles on the ceiling (which I did
often), I would not have heard the gospel in my church, even though it was being
preached. I was privileged, along with
my sister, to sing many songs about the love of Christ, letting my light shine,
and building my house on the rock, then hearing the stories about His love in
Sunday school. At home we had a loving
family that put the words we were taught in Sunday school into practice. Carol did not accept Christ at church, she
accepted Him at home in her bedroom.
This does not negate the fact that her church experience had a huge
impact on that decision. These
experiences, guided by the Holy Spirit, gave her the ability to share Jesus’
love with many others in her school. She
was not bashful and could share with anyone; I on the other hand, liked her to
do the talking for me.
Many of you have heard
the term, “No Child Left Behind”, some of you may agree with this philosophy
while others of you shake your head at the concept of everyone scoring
proficient on state standards. Well, I
propose that we adopt the same philosophy for our churches, let’s make sure, through
the ability that the Holy Spirit affords us, that no child of God be left
behind but that we bring them in and teach them of the love and forgiveness of
Christ our Lord. It is my hope, that the
experience of my life will encourage you and your church to hold Christian
Education in high regard, as I believe you do.
As you look at ways to do this effectively, I would urge you to share
your tactics with fellow believers so that His love will spread throughout all
of our churches. Pastors, it is my hope
that you will encourage your congregation to catch hold of this need and seek
out those who have the gift of teaching.
Those in your congregation, who do not feel qualified to teach but have
the desire, urge them to seek out mentor teachers and become involved in
leading others to the Lord. I would love
to hear the positive impact Christian Education has had in the life of your
church collectively and your lives individually.
May God bless each and
every one of you who serve Him with gladness.
Seek Him and teach your children to do the same.
Seeking Him with all my heart,
Sheila
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