Toolbox For Faith

This summer I am writing Lectionary focused Sunday School material for a class of kids who range in age from kindergarten to fifth grade. In searching around online, I found a couple of interesting websites that have helpful resources and tools.

Here are a few helpful sites if you are interested.
Sermons4Kids.com

Lesson Plans that Work (from ECUSA)

Make your own Word Search

You can also look at the “With Children” section which is at the end of the links provided weekly by Textweek

Our Vacation Bible School happened at night last week which meant that we included a program for adults. I wish that I had come up with the design we used with our adults because it is so good but the credit goes to Eda Morelli, a former member from Aiken, SC.

Our school lasted from 6:30 to 8:30 pm. For the first hour, I led a Bible Study for the adults. The second hour was a delightful change of pace. On Sunday night, one of our members led a session on how we make decisions in our day to day life and the guidelines we use in choosing that decision. On Monday night, another member who has a passion for quilting told us about her hobby and specifically about a quilt she is making that has squares symbolic of 30 different Psalms. Our Tuesday session featured two lawyers talking about a variety of different issues in a gathering entitled “When you really need to call a lawyer!” Another member who is in charge of working in exercise, disease prevention and nutrition with over 4,000 employees of a local hospital gave very helpful tips on exercise and nutrition on Wednesday. Our final night’s theme was “Thrills from the grills with the Mills.” The father and son team of Edward and Michael Mills are fantastic cooks who led a session on gourmet items that can be grilled. Our only mistake was scheduling the nutrition session before we tasted the “thrills from the grills.”

Our attendance was excellent and the participants were excited about the experience. Eda’s idea is one that you might wish to try.

I am working on a Comparative Religion Sunday School class this summer and I just came across a really interesting website called, religionfacts.com. There seems to be a little bit of everything on the site including information about every imaginable faith, but the section I found most helpful contains charts. There are comparison charts, like the Christianity vs Jehovah’s Witness that I found, but also charts listing things like the early church fathers. Obviously I can’t vouch for all the information, but at least the Lutheran stuff seems fairly accurate.

Over the last several weeks during a study of Ephesians, my adult Sunday School class began talking about the obstacles to sharing our faith with others. I have long believed that in their hearts, most people know what they believe. The problem is translating that belief into words and confidently sharing those words with others. In response to these questions, the Sunday School class has decided to spend the next year building a Toolbox for a Life of Proclamation. Over the summer, we will focus on comparative religion, so we can feel more comfortable talking to others about their beliefs. In the fall, we will focus on learning and sharing key stories from the Bible and then next spring, we will focus on specific Lutheran teachings and on translating faith into the modern world. The group of about 20 adults is excited about the idea and I am excited about working through the topics with them. I still have to work out the details but you can see the basic outline for the class here.

If you are looking for a helpful book on Revelation, I have been using a book entitled, “Come, Lord Jesus: A Study of Revelation” by Pastor Mark Braaten, who proposes that at its core, Revelation is about calling people to live faithfully. The format of the book is extremely helpful.  He prints a passage from Revelation and then follows with an explanation.  You can find it here on Augsburg Fortress’ website.