Category: Uncategorized

Featured

Episode 5: David vs. Goliath

Everything You Need to Know (about God) You Can Learn in Sunday School Series

The story of David and Goliath is one that most people know, even non-believers. It’s a story that when I have taught to boys and girls alike over the years they all lean in and want to learn more. For me, every time I read this story in the Bible something different stands out to me that I feel I have never read before. The scriptures hit differently as my faith and foundation in Christ grows. There are so many ways to look at David’s life and find modern day applications and analogies. He was so chosen by God, anointed, but also so human in all of his mistakes. He is someone that you can’t help but root for even when he sins or rushes into very serious decisions too quickly.

His Biblical story starts years before he meets up with Goliath. When he was a young boy the prophet Samuel (lead by God’s guidance) anointed David in secret to be the next king after Saul. Even with this promise he continued being a normal shepherd boy. The Israelites had been in battle with the Philistine army for a long time and his father sent him to check on his older brothers that were in the army.

When he got there he learned of something crazy that had been happening every day. The Philistine’s had a literal giant that towered over 9 feet tall! Every morning and night he would challenge the Israelite army to send one person to fight with him. During this time armies would present their “champions” to fight each other in order to save the lives of many of their soldiers. It was actually a pretty smart way to prevent a huge loss of life on both sides. The problem here was Goliath was so large that no one on the Israelite side was interested in his offer. Even King Saul and his military leaders were afraid and would not go into battle with the giant. This went on for 40 days and nights. I have read these scriptures and taught them many times but I do not recall paying attention to the number 40 being significant in this account.

The number 40 appears in both the New and Old Testament and it is thought to represent a period of trial or testing. What was the testing here? Was each person on the Israel side being tested of their faith? Could you imagine something happening twice each day and no one attempted to do something about it? I know that if something happens to me just a few times on repeat I start to lose my patience or find a way to make the recurrence end. David as a fifteen year old boy saw this happen and couldn’t believe that no one had the faith in God to go to battle with Goliath to make it end.

What is our Goliath? Who is our enemy? Satan of course is our ultimate enemy, but does he use anything or anyone to attack us daily?

When word got back to King Saul that David was questioning why no one had fought Goliath he requested he come to him. David told Saul that he would fight Goliath. I wonder what must have went through the King’s mind. He, himself, the king was not willing to fight Goliath or any of his military leaders… but a very young man with no military experience was willing to risk his life to put all of this to an end.

King Saul dressed David in his own personal armor, his tunic, helmet and a large sword. Little David began to walk around and realized that all of the weight would weigh him down and do the opposite of protecting him. Instead, he gave them up for his sling and selected five smooth stones from the stream. David was not comfortable in the heavy armor he was not used to wearing. He traded it in for the armor of God. He knew that what he needed was God’s protection and the weapon he had used many times with God’s help. We as Christians can have the ability to wear the Armor of God too as stated in Ephesians 6:10-18!

I’m guessing that you probably know the rest of this story. David goes to battle Goliath. Goliath actually says some belittling remarks to David and in his mind more than likely he had little concern about fighting the shepherd boy. David lets him quickly know that Goliath’s weapons mean nothing compared to what David has – the Lord almighty.

David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whome you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands…

1 Samuel 17:45-46a

I left some of the rest of the verse out in case you are sharing this article with younger innocent minds. I encourage you to read the scriptures of this battle on your own.

Goliath continued to press towards the shepherd, but David moved quickly (remember he is not weighed down with heavy armor) and this is when he was able to reach into his bag to remove a smooth stone, he slung it and struck the giant in the forehead. The giant comes crashing down to the ground. This is also another set of scriptures that you might want to look up away from little minds. This is where I usually stop reading and explaining when I teach younger children. If you are interested look up 1 Samuel 17:50-54.

The Israelites were so excited and they started to charge towards the Philistine army and they ran away! The Israelites win the battle!

The little shepherd boy wins the battle over the giant all with the help of a small sling and a big God. If this isn’t a story of faith over fear I don’t know what is.

What is your Goliath? How can putting on the Armor of God prepare you for the battle you have ahead?

Verses to check out on your own: 1 Samuel 17; Ephesians 6:10-18

Have a Blessed Day!

Please Like, Share & Follow to receive the next episode.

** I am not theologically trained. This is just my explanation at a very basic level and hoping to make relatable for children and adults to understand to grow their relationship with God. The literature from my Sunday School class is from D6 – Elementary Teaching Guide through D6 Family Ministry – I have made all attempts to not reference their materials directly but they are great lessons and this is what I use in my class. I try to take as much from my own learnings from the Holy Bible in addition to the lessons for this blog. **

Episode 4: Paul and his conversion

Everything You Need to Know (about God) You Can Learn in Sunday School Series

Have you ever felt like you don’t deserve God’s forgiveness? Have you ever felt like you have done too many bad things for God to love you? I think that most of use have felt this way at some time or another. What if I told you that the man that God chose to write most of the New Testament and was once feared all over the land by Christians. This man was feared because he would hurt believers and even have them put to death! His goal was literally to wipe out all of Christianity. I’m sure you are wondering why God would choose such an awful man to one day be a great Apostle. Maybe after you learn about his conversion you will start to understand God’s plan.

Today we are going to learn about a man called Paul (formerly known as Saul). Paul has become probably my favorite person in the New Testament (other than Jesus of course)! When I really started to study the Bible a few years ago I became fascinated by Paul and his conversion. Whenever I would think about my past or if I could really be forgiven- Paul’s life would give me comfort. Even after I had turned my life to Christ- I would still find myself questioning if I deserved God’s forgiveness. I hope that the story of Paul can give you some hope and comfort as well.

We are going to look at Saul’s conversion to Paul in the book of Acts (written by Luke). To summarize: Saul was an extremely religious Jewish leader, a Pharisee, who had been trained by a man named Gamaliel. Gamaliel was considered the finest Jewish teacher as well a saint and Pharisee doctor of Jewish Law. Saul truly believed that the Christian movement was dangerous to his religion, Judaism, and persecuted any and all of the Christian believers without any mercy.

In the book of Acts it tells us that Saul was traveling far away from Jerusalem to a town called Damascus, where he planned on gathering believers of Christ to bring back to punish. On Saul’s way to Damascus here is what happened:

3 As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”

5 “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked.

“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. 6 “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”

7 The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. 8 Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. 9 For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.

Acts 9:3 NIV

After this Saul and the men traveled on to Damascus. The Lord had already spoken to a man named Ananias and told him that Saul would be coming and to go find him praying. Jesus also gave Saul a vision of a man named Ananias would put his hands on him and restore his sight. Ananias was scared because he had heard the stories of Saul. This is what Jesus said in response:

15 But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. 16 I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”

The two men finally meet up and Ananias speaks with Saul and prays with him and of the Holy Spirit. Something like scales fall off of Saul’s eyes and he is no longer blind! He got up and was baptized!

Saul started preaching that Jesus is the Son of God! Everyone was amazed and could not believe this was the same man that had been so feared by all of the followers of Christ.

God took one of the worst people at that time and turned him into one of the greatest followers of Christ! Paul spread the word of Christianity even to the non-Jewish people. This had really not been done before. God used him to do something extraordinary that others had not done- and Paul did it extremely well! He used his intensity that he once used for bad to spread the word of God!

If we ever think that our pasts are too bad for God to use us, forgive us or to love us please remember the story of Paul. Who knows…. one day God might use you for something extraordinary too!

The Books of the Bible believed to be written by Paul (according to my Bible: Life Application Study Bible- NIV):

  • Romans
  • 1 Corinthians
  • 2 Corinthians
  • Galatians
  • Ephesians
  • Philippians
  • Colossians
  • 1 Thessalonians
  • 2 Thessalonians
  • 1 Timothy
  • 2 Timothy
  • Titus
  • Philemon
  • Partial- Hebrews along with others

Have a Blessed Day!

Please Like, Share & Follow to receive the next episode.

** I am not theologically trained. This is just my explanation at a very basic level and hoping to make relatable for children and adults to understand to grow their relationship with God. The literature from my Sunday School class is from D6 – Elementary Teaching Guide through D6 Family Ministry – I have made all attempts to not reference their materials directly but they are great lessons and this is what I use in my class. I try to take as much from my own learnings from the Holy Bible in addition to the lessons for this blog. **

Episode 3: The Holy Spirit

Everything You Need to Know (about God) You Can Learn in Sunday School Series

The Father, The Son and the Holy Spirit. These three make up the Holy Trinity. The first two of these are very easy to understand and when explained to children and adults there usually are very little questions. The third, The Holy Spirit, can baffle the minds of believers of any age. Hopefully, today I can explain it in a way that will at least help you understand who the Holy Spirit is and how your relationship with all three in the Holy Trinity is important to your walk in your faith. This explanation is not a deep theological explanation but one at a very high overview so that you can at least start to wrap your mind around the Holy Spirit.

Let’s start with the first two parts of the Holy Trinity:

The Father- God, our Heavenly Father

The Son- God’s Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior- the only way we can reach the Father

Now we are going to try to understand the Holy Spirit. The easiest way to start is we must understand the Good News of Jesus and why we have the Holy Spirit.

When I was teaching the lesson a few weeks ago we started by talking about what “the church” means. The children started out by answering with obvious explanations about the physical church building itself. Then we started talking through why we even have a “church” building in the first place. When did the first “church” start? What had to happen to start the belief in Christ and start the “Christian church” where followers gathered together?

Then we discussed how the “church” is not a place but it is the group of people who believe in Jesus Christ as their savior. The “church” was created as a way for us to learn about, praise and worship Jesus, as well hold each other accountable.

Children (and adults) that have been raised in church take our religion for granted. We don’t even consider how differently our lives would be and what a world without Christianity would be like. It shapes so many different aspects of our daily world. Children are alarmed when we remind them we would not have Christmas or Easter if Jesus was an ordinary man. We would not have church, Sunday school, VBS, Youth Group and the list goes on and on.

The Good News:

The reason we need to learn, praise and worship Jesus is because He was the Son of God (born of a virgin birth from Mary), He was crucified on the cross, died for our sins and rose from the grave on the third day. The payment for sin is death. The only way we can escape the payment of sin was for Jesus to pay for our sins. He was the perfect lamb that paid for our sins so that we do not have to.

He also was on earth for another 40 days until His “ascension” into heaven. When He left, He told the disciples that He would not leave them alone and that He would send the Holy Spirit to help them. The Holy Spirit would live in believers.

If you believe the Good News and invite Jesus into your heart the Holy Spirit resides in you too!

The Holy Spirit:

“for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say.””
‭‭Luke‬ ‭12‬:‭12‬ ‭NIV‬‬
https://bible.com/bible/111/luk.12.12.NIV

He Teaches Us

“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—”
‭‭John‬ ‭14‬:‭16‬ ‭NIV‬‬
https://bible.com/bible/111/jhn.14.16.NIV

He Helps Us

“But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.”
‭‭John‬ ‭16‬:‭13‬ ‭NIV‬‬
https://bible.com/bible/111/jhn.16.13.NIV

“In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭8‬:‭26‬ ‭NIV‬‬
https://bible.com/bible/111/rom.8.26.NIV

He Makes Us Strong (when we are weak)

“And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭8‬:‭27‬ ‭NIV‬‬
https://bible.com/bible/111/rom.8.27.NIV

He Connects us to the Father (can help us pray when we don’t know what to say)

““When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me.”
‭‭John‬ ‭15‬:‭26‬ ‭NIV‬‬
https://bible.com/bible/111/jhn.15.26.NIV

He Tells Us Things About Jesus- (helps us to understand the Bible and God)

These are just some of the ways the Holy Spirit assists those of us who have invited Jesus Christ into our hearts. Scripture mentions the Holy Spirit from Genesis until Revelations.

Another way that I have explained the Holy Spirit to children is when we have the Holy Spirit we can listen for this voice to steer us in the right way.

Have you ever seen a cartoon where the character is battling with a big decision and on one should they have an angel directing them on the right path and the devil directing them on the wrong path? It seems funny as part of the cartoon but I like to think of the Holy Spirit in this way. He is there to teach us, help us, make us strong, connect us to the Father when we pray and can help us understand the Bible and what we need to know about God the Father and Jesus.

I hope this helps you understand the Holy Spirit more than you did or to share it with someone who could use some help understanding.

Have a Blessed Day!

Please Like, Share & Follow to receive the next episode.

** I am not theologically trained. This is just my explanation at a very basic level and hoping to make relatable for children and adults to understand to grow their relationship with God. The literature from my Sunday School class is from D6 – Elementary Teaching Guide through D6 Family Ministry – I have made all attempts to not reference their materials directly but they are great lessons and this is what I use in my class. I try to take as much from my own learnings from the Holy Bible in addition to the lessons for this blog. **

Episode 2: How to Pray

Everything You Need to Know (about God) You Can Learn in Sunday School Series

When we read the Bible, this is the simplest way for God to speak to us. When we pray to God, this is the simplest way for us to talk to Him. Any relationship needs both sides to participate to make it work. If we want to grow our relationship with any friend we have to communicate with them or the friendship becomes one-sided and falls apart.

Praying may seem simple enough for a lot of believers – but for some children and adults it is very intimidating. When we pray in my Sunday school class it may be in many different ways: we bless the food (when we remember), we take prayer requests and we pray for the class for the upcoming week when we dismiss. Some Sundays I may fail for us to pray as much as I would like because we are trying to get as much of our lesson in as we can in a short amount of time! Our Sunday school classes aren’t that long and we try to accomplish a lot- which makes it’s very similar to our busy lives outside of class. Some days I may get to pray a lot and others not enough. Prayer is probably one of the most important topics I teach the children over and over the most. It is important to build the foundation of a healthy prayer life no matter the age of the believer.

Prayer is the one thing we do every class no matter the topic. It’s one of the core principles along with the story of the Good News (the story of Christ as our savior – His death, burial and resurrection) that is woven into each class. Whatever the lesson one of the foundations of learning about having a relationship with God is learning how to pray.

I think that as adults we over complicate prayer. We hear people say elaborate and complex prayers that use lots of large theological words and we feel we can’t compare in our prayers – which then dampers our prayer life. This is not what God wants for us at all. We may think God wants us to say certain words or to have everything in our lives straight when we pray. In reality, I believe God wants the exact opposite. God wants us to come to Him and pray to Him not just over the big things but especially the small things in life. He wants to be our best friend so we turn to Him and confide in Him always.

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”
‭‭Philippians‬ ‭4‬:‭6‬ ‭NIV‬‬
https://bible.com/bible/111/php.4.6.NIV

I can sometimes be a very nervous/worrisome person and stress about little trivial things. This verse has helped me greatly over the years to know that I should turn to God and pray about anything I am worried about throughout the day. I have noticed I have become less stressed and less chaotic since I started turning these little things I’ve to Him. It has also helped grow my faith in Him tremendously as well.

At the end of the Sunday school lesson today I asked the kids in class to pair up and pray together just as they did in the early church. I quickly realized that they were intimidated and didn’t know where to start. Even children in their purest season (especially school aged) become self conscious about prayer. Like anything else sometimes it needs to be taught in a super simple way with an example given and then they know how to follow. I outlined a simple way to pray for them on the board and then I gave them an example prayer for the class.

This is an easy way to start your prayer life and it uses the letters that spell PRAY as a way to remember. Sometimes I get overwhelmed with life but know I need to talk to God. I use this way myself especially when I don’t know where to start:

P – R – A – Y

  • P – Praise- Give God praise for good things in your life. This is a good time to thank Him for any blessings big or small. It’s not a coincidence that this is first so that we can can give thanks before we ask for more. Everyone, including God, wants to be appreciated.
  • R – Repent – We all sin and make mistakes. This is a great time to talk to God about things you feel guilty about or things you need help with to be a better person. It’s just as easy as saying “I’m sorry for….”
  • A – Ask – This is where we can ask for concerns for others. This is very important at this point in the prayer so we can make our requests known for others before we ask for ourselves. We may run out of time or forget others if we start with ourselves. Love others as we love ourselves.
  • Y – Yourself/ Yes – This can stand for two things- this is where you can ask something for yourself (after praying for others first). The Y can also stand for Yes as a reminder that God can do all things and we know He has the power to do anything!
How to Pray using the letters P – R – A – Y

Jesus also gave us an example in the Bible for how to pray. You can use His example or you can start with the P-R-A-Y version which can be found above. Either way, choose one and grow your relationship with God.

The following verses you may be very familiar with and it’s also know as the Lord’s Prayer:

““This, then, is how you should pray: “ ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. ’ For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭6‬:‭9‬-‭15‬ ‭NIV‬‬
https://bible.com/bible/111/mat.6.9-15.NIV

I hope this adds a simple way to add to your prayer life. If you don’t have much of a prayer life right now I hope this helps you start. I also really enjoy writing my prayers down in a journal or placing them in a prayer jar. Placing a date on the prayer also is an extra blessing to reflect on all that God has done on my life at a later date!

Have a BLESSED day!

Please Like, Share & Follow to receive the next episode.

** I am not theologically trained. This is just my explanation at a very basic level and hoping to make relatable for children and adults to understand to grow their relationship with God. The literature from my Sunday School class is from D6 – Elementary Teaching Guide through D6 Family Ministry – I have made all attempts to not reference their materials directly but they are great lessons and this is what I use in my class. I try to take as much from my own learnings from the Holy Bible in addition to the lessons for this blog. **

Episode 1: Old Testament- The Commandments

Everything You Need to Know (about God) You Can Learn in Sunday School Series

When I first started studying the Bible I didn’t see much point in understanding the Old Testament. Now, I love the Old Testament and want to know as much as I can from it!

The way I explain it to the kids is that the whole Bible is one big story mostly about one family and leading to Jesus. Our Savior grew up following the strict rules of the Jewish religion and He answered and fulfilled over 300 prophecies from the Old Testament!

I think that studying the OT is super important if we want to grow our relationship with the Lord. Knowing where someone comes from and why they do the things they do is a great way to understand them and trust them – and love them.

When we study the OT there is also another common thread throughout this whole division of the Bible and its that the Israelites repeat a relationship cycle over and over with God.

Here’a a simple explanation of the cycle:

  1. They love God, they follow His commandments.
  2. They forget what God has done for them and they fall away- usually turning to false gods/idols.
  3. Something really bad happens (a big test/trial)- a war, famine, slavery etc
  4. They turn back to God by turning away from their false gods/idols/disobedience and follow the commandments again.
  5. God forgives them.
  6. Repeat!

This literally happens over and over again throughout the whole OT more times than I know. This is how almost all of the stories in the Old Testament can easily relate to our lives today.

How many times do we do this same process? How many times do we forget all of the great things that God has done for us and turn our attention and time to other things? How many times are we then reminded we need God in our lives because something bad happens and we need His help? How many times do we ask Him to forgive us and then do it all over again?

If you are someone that is in the middle part of this cycle I want you to focus on items 4 & 5. You can still turn back to God and we know that God will always forgive us. Then the way we grow our relationship with Him is try really really hard not to keep repeating the process or if we do return to steps 4 & 5 as quick as possible.

God gave Moses the Ten Commandments after the Israelites had crossed the Red Sea fleeing from the Egyptians (the exodus of Egypt following the plagues). There were over 500,000 men plus women and children – so upwards of over 1,000,000 people! It makes complete sense that God felt He needed to give some rules to follow going forward to help keep them on the right path with Him.

Several years ago while teaching the children’s church class the Ten Commandments I came across a video that taught the kids how to use their hands to remember the commandments and it is the simplest and most memorable way I have used. I will link the video to the one most similar to the pictures I’m posting below. These are photos below of my ten year old daughter’s hands and explanation of each commandment. Please review these and I can promise you can learn them too! I used this in my Sunday school class with this lesson and every single kid (regardless of age) was able to share them all back to Mrs. Brenda and I by the end of the roughly 30 minute class!

Commandment 1: We are to have ONE and only ONE God (Use ONE finger to show the number ONE)
Commandment 2: TWO Gods are too many (use TWO fingers like a peace sign)
Commandment 3: WATCH your WORDS – Do not say God’s name in vain or say anything bad about God (The fingers make the shape of a W with THREE fingers).
Commandment 4: We are to rest on the Sabbath Day/Sunday and worship and give thanks to God on that day (Hold up FOUR fingers with the thumb resting on your palm- this is to show we are to rest on that day)
Commandment 5: Honor thy mother and they father (This is my favorite to teach kids about they usually have guilty reactions – hold all fingers together on one hand like you are making a pledge- FIVE fingers for commandment 5)
Commandment 6: Do not kill (don’t panic over this one and it works – hold one hand of all five fingers sideways and take index finger from the other hand like you have a squirt gun pointing at the other hand- this uses SIX fingers)
Commandment 7: Keep marriage sacred- married people should love each other and shouldn’t go on dates with other people (hold one hand with all five fingers out flat- take index and middle finger of the other hand to make two people walking together- you will be using SEVEN fingers).
Commandment 8: Do not steal (this one is fun and usually makes them laugh- hold four fingers up on both hands – not using the thumbs on either- put the EIGHT fingers in front of your eyes like you are behind jail bars).
Commandment 9: Do not gossip/tell lies about others (hold up one hand with all five fingers turned to the side- hold up four fingers on the other hand with the thumb turned towards the four extended fingers- this is to show the thumb is talking to the four fingers about the other hand of five fingers).
Commandment 10: Do not be greedy (You take all TEN fingers and hold them in front of you and scrunching fingers to show you are wanting something- we usually do this with funny greedy faces- I teach them that coveting is different than stealing- it’s being jealous of someone having something that you want and you may wish that someone loses that thing or that they get hurt so they can’t have it anymore).

These commandments are still very important today and we should follow them to the best of our ability. We know that when Jesus came in the New Testament some things from the OT went away such as animal sacrifice. When Jesus was asked about the Ten Commandments this was His response:

30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’[a] 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[b] There is no commandment greater than these.” MARK 12: 30-31

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark%2012%3A30-31&version=NIV

If we look at the above verse it summarizes all of the commandments into just two commandments! If we love everyone like we love ourselves- then we would not steal, not talk bad, not cheat, keep marriage sacred, not murder or not want bad for others. If we love God with all of our heart, mind and soul we will always put Him first, not have any other idols, we would put one day away for Him and would never say anything bad about Him. So really if we follow what Jesus says in this verse we would cover all of the Ten Commandments!

Thank you each for reading and I hope this helps you grow your relationship with God like it does for my Sunday School class.

Have a Blessed day!

Please like, share and follow to receive the next Episode!!

Link to a video version :

https://youtu.be/8pBrw4uVgz8?si=PLFCVwd8omhC1FZC

** I am not theologically trained. This is just my explanation at a very basic level and hoping to make relatable for children and adults to understand to grow their relationship with God. The literature from my Sunday School class is from D6 – Elementary Teaching Guide through D6 Family Ministry – I have made all attempts to not reference their materials directly but they are great lessons and this is what I use in my class. I try to take as much from my own learnings from the Holy Bible in addition to the lessons for this blog. **

Featured

Everything You Need to Know (about God) You Can Learn in Sunday School

A SERIES

Why I’m writing this series:

After the pandemic our church did not have enough Sunday School teachers to start back the program. My husband and I are the youth directors and we knew we had to rebuild the program one of the foundational youth programs at a time if we ever wanted to get the program to rebuild and ever get close to how it was pre- pandemic. After some prayer I decided to start teaching the Sunday school class that our youngest daughter would attend. This was going to be different than what I was used to with teaching children. Our children’s church program has several sets of amazing teachers, but we rotate teaching weeks. Committing to teaching every Sunday was much more daunting and a much bigger sacrifice on myself and our family. I knew this was something God wanted me to do… so I did it.

The children of our church needed to get back into a routine of attending church each week and the classes for them that goes along with it. What I didn’t know was teaching that class was exactly what I needed also after the pandemic. I had been laid off from my job in 2020 and had just started with a new company when the Sunday school program started back. It was alot to juggle at first as we were all getting used to the new “normal”.

Why Sunday School is so special to me:

I grew up in a small country church that did not always have a Sunday School program or other programs for the youth. I listened to the preachers and Pastor during the main service each week and attended youth stuff sometimes. Thinking back I missed the basic stories from the Bible and the principles that went along with those foundational Christian teachings. When I went away to college I slowly drifted away from church and my religion. A large reason I feel God has called my husband and I to help with this youth is because I can see how important building this foundation is for children to grow up and into adulthood maintaining their faith.

My girls are now 14 and 10 and have grown up in church their entire lives. When Macie was 2 1/2 we took her to Vacation Bible School for the first time and she absolutely loved it. We were new parents and had never considered taking her to Sunday School before that summer. She loved VBS and at the end of the week someone invited her to Sunday School and told her it was a lot like VBS. Macie was sold and couldn’t believe that she could keep experiencing the fun she had that week. That is when she (and I) started attending her primary Sunday School class.This class was for 1st grade and under children. Mrs. Brenda had taught the class for probably close to 20 years at that point. She allowed me to stay in the classroom so I could help with Macie. What I didn’t know was how much I would learn myself over the next several years and then also after Tinsley was born as well and started coming as a baby to that class.

I learned all of those foundational Bible stories that I had not learned as a kid. I had lost most of my faith during college and I re-dedicated my life not too long before Macie was born. I learned along with my girls and I don’t know if I even realized it for a long time. Mrs. Brenda taught them ( and me) in a way that was simple but yet had big meanings. It taught me so many things I needed to know about God in a way that I could understand. Even though Mrs. Brenda was teaching to their level it was in a lot of ways what I needed also. The stories and life applications were not overly complicated. The questions the kids asked were simple, pure, honest and from a childlike perspective.

And said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 18:3 ESV

At first I taught the class by myself but a few months later another Mrs. Brenda volunteered to be my helper. Each week as I prepare my lesson I am reminded how this basic stories in the Bible even though thousands of years ago apply to today’s life. Not only does it apply to what little children need to know about God and His love, they teach about how to treat others with love and kindness and how to grow up to be good adults. Each week I take away a little something that helps me be a better Christian and a better adult.

Over the last couple of years God has put the title of this series on my heart and mind. There was a popular book years ago titled “All I Really Need to Know I Learning in Kindergarten” by Robert Fulghum. I never read this book but I do remember others discussing the life lessons that it talked about and how we can learn them at a very young age in Kindergarten. As I have taught these lessons week after week I think of how not only children but adults could benefit so much from the simple lessons and grow in their knowledge of the Bible.

I invite you to join me as I occasionally summarize the lessons, questions and learnings I come across while teaching 3rd graders and under and what I take away as an adult!

Please like and follow my blog page http://www.tiffanyshepherd.com and on Facebook HerSinsHaveBeenForgiven

Have a BLESSED DAY!

How my new vacuum is like Jesus

I have found it very ironic that looking back on the year 2020 makes the phrase “hindsight is 20/20” even more relevant. It’s almost like the phrase was prophetic in its meaning and none of us had any idea until 2020 actually hit. Now, that saying to me will never be the same. I’m not going to go through any political views or scientific rationales so don’t worry. I am however going to explain how receiving a fad new vacuum last summer in the midst of all of the craziness made me feel closer to all of y’all out there.

For all of my adult life I have worked out of the home. I worked before, during and after both of my girls were born and this is all they and I have ever known. I worked for very large companies and was home except for quarterly meetings every night. For years as part due to my very demanding job we had hired a wonderful lady that my girls called “Mammaw” to come into our home to clean a path for us during that very busy season of our lives. Of course, I still had to clean all of the time, between her visits, even though I’m sure to her it probably didn’t seem that way. I was even one of those crazy ladies that most weeks the night before she came, my husband and I would “clean” up the house. We were too embarrassed not to clean up, even though she was like family. She took care of many items but one big one was the floors and bathrooms. Yes, I still had to sweep and vacuum because a lot of times it couldn’t wait. There would be messes that had to be tackled immediately before they stained or ruined the surfaces below. We were so blessed to have her and I think back to when my girls were younger and I don’t know if I could have stayed sane without her help. Because of her extra help when we were called to take leadership of our church Youth Group and started up our church’s Children’s Church program the floors and the bathrooms were not on my mind. If we were in charge of a large church activity for the youth or fundraiser I didn’t have to choose between cleaning or putting in the extra service. Because I didn’t have to worry about those things I could devote that time to being at church extra hours and all the preparation needed. It also above everything else gave me time between work, serving at church and all other parent duties to spend time with my girls when we were actually at home and for that I will forever be grateful to her. I am also so grateful that we were blessed to be able to have her in our lives.

Fast forward to the world as we knew it all being shut down. From that point forward we have been home. Both my job, my husband’s job as well as the girl’s school all became virtual. The girls have gotten to attend school about 5 days since last March and now my husband has to report in person to work but that goes back and forth depending on the numbers. I worked virtually for almost the entire year until my entire division was laid off in December of 2020. So, guess what? Myself, along with everyone else in America and the world found ourselves spending more time than ever thought possible in our homes. What did we do to fill the time? We cleaned! I’m sure I’m not the only person to go from not having to worry about all of the best cleaning tips and tricks to Googling and searching Pinterest for the easiest way to clean a microwave. (I have the answer now 😉 ) I remember even reading an article during that time that the royal family in England were having to clean their own toilets for the first time, ever. Boy, and I thought that I was in for a rude awakening! At least the rest of us have had to do those things before or at least seen someone do it. They probably had no clue where to even start. Here I am, a mid-thirties career mom that was used to juggling it all forced into a working from home juggling maintaining a perfect house because that became the absolute center of the world as we now know it.

I think that all of this is why when a new vacuum that can clean your hardwood floors, your tile and your rugs/carpet came to the market and put all of your disgusting filth into a clear container full of dirty water we all went mad wanting to clean our houses with this new toy! Its one of those things that literally shows you just how gross your family is and how ineffective your cleaning was up until that point. I was gifted one of these magical and hard to find vacuums as an early birthday present. My facebook was on fire week after week all through summer and into Christmas with pictures of peoples filthy disgusting water from houses that the owners thought were clean. It was like this illusion they had been living was shattered and destroyed and now they were addicted to see if if it would ever be possible to use the vacuum and have the water be somewhat not brown and muddy. I had friends from all over the country sharing memes and hopefully comments about getting their hands on one of these.

One day when I was cleaning rooms for what seemed like the millionth time of 2020, it hit me. Here, women ( and men) from all different pay grades, religious backgrounds, races and locations were all wanting this vacuum like it was the best invention since sliced bread. It quickly made me realize that one verse that had been on my heart for most of 2020 was very true:

” For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. ”

Matthew 6:21 NIV

Let that verse soak into your heart and your soul. Now, ask yourself: “Did I realize last year where my true treasure is and that is where my heart is?” if not “Do you know where your heart is? Is that the same place as your treasures?”

God allowed us to turn our heart back to where our true treasure should have been. It turned back for most of us to our family and to the place that we spend our time with them. Yes, we have all been cleaning like crazy people. But why? I think my why is because we want to invest our time into the place that we are making memories with our precious loved ones in. I don’t know about you but I want it to not just be a house but a home more now than ever before. I have finally been able to invest “in” and not “out” of my home. Invest “in” my family and not with”out” my family. It has changed me for most likely the rest of my life.

This past year has been horrible, difficult and I am forever saddened by the amount of people that have given their lives to the horrible happenings and disease. I don’t want you to think that I am not sympathetic or empathetic to all that has happened. All that I can control is the happenings in my own home and hopefully be a little bit of a light for Jesus to others I can come into contact with.

my own actual dirty filthy vacuum water

Here’s something else I realized while using my awesome new vacuum. This dirty filthy water that I would discover each time I cleaned would remind me of the sin in my life. It would then remind me how Jesus is like this little vacuum and even though to the outside things look good and clean, Jesus can come into our hearts and give us a fresh start. He can make all of us pure no matter what we have done in our pasts. He will forgive the person who has barely sinned and the drunkard, drug dealer or the prostitute all the same. He will continue to forgive me as I fall short each day. I, like the water I see each time, reminds me to examine my heart and see where I need to try harder. I am not trying to act like another Christian but I have to be more like Christ himself. This is something I will always have to work at.

I’m not surprised now when I vacuum to find the water disgusting even when I think we have done better to keep our house clean. I know that we will never be perfectly clean.. but I do know that with the grace of my savior He will keep forgiving me and giving me new mercies each and every morning.

“It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, saith my should; therefor will I hope in Him.”

Lamentations 3:22-24 KJV

Thank you for sharing this time with me. Please like, comment and share if this made any sense to you in hindsight of the last year. Have a blessed day!

Finding God’s Grace in my Laundry Room

to the working mom who feels she needs to keep it all together

I’m like most working moms of the year 2019. I feel so pulled to keep it all together. We are of the generation that women are able to have careers, children, homes, marriages but we feel that we must do these things like our moms and mammaws (if you are not from Eastern Kentucky- your grandmother) did before us. We feel like our house must be clean. Dinner must be prepared in some sort of a way, whether it’s a sandwich, home cooked for real or just carry-out. Our kids must be clean and all of their school work done. We must try to be a great wife and great mom to our kids. Juggling in our heads everyone’s schedules, deadlines and due-dates. We try to get to church services of some kind as often as possible and also serve our church when and where God calls us to serve. We want to be great at our jobs and not let being a mom and a woman hold us back. To be honest sometimes it’s very, very exhausting. I don’t think I could have ever imagined the amount of pressure I would put on myself to “keep it all together”.  

Some days I let things go and know that I will get to it later. The large amount of clean laundry baskets that I have hidden in the guest bedroom upstairs keep waiting on me. I reward myself by watching Hallmark movies as I do my least favorite chores. I work on them when I get a chance and know that one day I may finally get caught up. Some days I tell myself it doesn’t matter if everything is taken care of and then I find a way to make myself pull it together. I have to because I know I can’t let it go too long.  I think a lot of it is because I feel that deep down, I have to be able to do it all and have a career or I would have to admit that I can’t juggle it all. I want my girls to know that women can have it all, if they want. I try to explain to them that they can truly be anything they want to be when they grow up as long as they have prayed and asked God to show them what His plans are for them. That they need to use the gifts that He gives them. They live in a time when it is truly acceptable for women to have any career they want. They just have to work hard, study and understand they can mentally do any job that a man can do. I never felt growing up that I had that encouragement from society. 

 I could go a million different ways with this. I wanted to describe the above because if you are not like me you might not understand the pressures that some women put on themselves and why these things matter to them. 

This weekend our church will be putting on a Veteran’s Day tribute and a meal to follow for the veteran’s and for their families. I am helping with this but another working mom from church is taking the lead. We had planned on her coming over on Friday night for us to finalize the program details. 

I have had a normal crazy busy week. My washing machine decided to literally unlock its door and burst open when it was filled to the top with water (it had been having problems for a while and we put off buying a new one too long and it got the last laugh.) I had to use probably 20-30 towels and beach towels to clean up the mess. Followed up by our youngest getting a stomach bug for the second time in one week and me catching my own version to boot. Somehow, we had managed to have the house back in somewhat of a decent manner but it was still a wreck in my mind. My friend A and I texted back and forth and confirmed our plans. I tell her that my house is a wreck. All the while I’m trying to think of a game plan on how I can make my house not a wreck! I am somewhat crazy when it comes to the house getting back in order so I probably would have done this even if company wasn’t coming, it just speeded up the process. Please tell me you have been here before? I was at work and wouldn’t be home for hours but I knew the moment I got home I would have to pull it all together to make it presentable. When I got home from work my husband and girls were already home. My hubby had to leave and then I quickly made a deal with my girls that if they each helped me clean, they could play on their iPad when my friend arrived. Deal. Done. Easy peasy lemon squeezy. I am completely not above bribing my kids in a healthy manner to get help when I need it. At least I am teaching them how to clean the house in the process I tell myself.

We each started on our areas of the house. The trick is we didn’t need to clean the whole house. We just needed to clean the main area of the house. The areas where A and I would be working around.  I know I am not the working momma that invented this trick so let’s not judge please…

 After I cleaned up the kitchen, I started putting things I didn’t have time to deal with in rooms I knew A would not go into. I put stuff in the laundry room, office and my bedroom. As I was shoving some items in the laundry room it hit me. These things I put in there I felt were not important and would be ashamed of it they were left out. This is when God reminded me of His Grace. I love how He does things like that. Here I am shoving dirty laundry and a vacuum in rooms and He goes and reminds me of His love! Just like the junk that I was putting in rooms that would be closed off, my past that I too am ashamed of is locked away. With God’s Grace through Jesus Christ those things are as good as gone. It’s still a part of me and always will be. They are there. They have added to my life story and those trials have made the woman I am today. Some of those trials have made me the Christian I am today. God reminded me though, that, the difference between my past and the junk in those rooms is that He has forgiven me, locked the door and thrown away the key. Another reason I know that those things are still there even though God has locked them away by His grace is that the devil sometimes reminds me of what’s locked away in those rooms and wants me to go and unlock them. He wants me to let those things creep back into the rest of the house, my house. That’s when I tell him, NO!

            I also want you to see where in the craziness of me trying to pull it together I found a reminder of God’s Grace. It’s always amazes me of God’s sovereignty when He wants me to write about something. I usually never know how it will all piece together until I actually sit down to type. How the Holy Spirit guides me and slowly gives me what He wants me to write about. You see, recently the word Grace has been given to me many times in the last couple of weeks. It keeps popping up in different places. It has been appearing in Bible verses, in my thoughts and in different podcasts that I listen to. It all make sense now. I also feel silly now that I thought I needed to hide my junk from my friend A . I know that she wouldn’t have judged me or expected me to have a perfectly clean house. None of us are perfect and we all have problems, imperfections and junk in our laundry rooms. The only thing that truly matters is that we have God’s Grace. 

This is what I found last week when I looked up the verse in the Bible that defines God’s Grace: 

“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace the he lavished on us.” Ephesians 1:7-8

I am blessed to have one of those Life Application Bibles with lots of extra explanations at the bottom of the page. I could not study without it. In the notes on this particular verse it has helped me understand why I can have God’s Grace even though I am not deserving. Here’s what is says, “Grace is God’s voluntary and loving favor given to those he saves.” (NIV Life Application Study Bible by Zondervan 2011)

He has saved me so I have received His grace. It’s as simple as that. 

There are lots of amazing verses in the Bible about grace and I hope that this inspires you to find some of God’s grace in your own life today.  I also hope that when you have days you feel you need to get it together that you can realize that you do have it together! We have all we really need and thats God’s Grace!

Have a blessed day!

Which school are you gathered?

Like most people one of my favorite vacation spots is the beach. Growing up we didn’t travel much for various reasons, which I think has made me appreciate it now more than a lot of people. I saw the ocean for the first time when I was 19 years old. I remember seeing the sea go on forever and being unable to comprehend its size. I also remember thinking that all of these people had witnessed the ocean before me and how lucky they were.

I know that there are still many people who have not seen the ocean and all of its glory that God has given us. I hope that each of them are able to at some point. Each time I see the ocean again it reminds quickly of our Creator and all of His power. I feel like there is no way to witness something of that magnitude and not believe that our Earth and everything on it was not divinely planned with a purpose.

Since I was 19 I have been blessed to have visited beaches and view the ocean from many different places: New England, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Grand Cayman, Bahamas, Mexico, California and Hawaii. I am not listing these places to brag but to bring you up to speed with my realization. The waters at these beaches are each very different. Some have very murky, cloudy and brown water and some have crystal clear water that is almost like looking through a fish tank.

Recently we got to visit one of these beaches. Its our favorite beach, because of its white sand and perfectly see-through water and waves. I think at this point in our lives we enjoy it so much because of its security and translucent nature. We can play with our girls and see easily that no dangers are lurking or that there are no predators. The other reason we love it so much is that we can see all of nature swimming through the waters. It’s like we get to play in God’s natural aquarium.

In God’s natural aquarium one of the most interested things to me is the way that the fish swim together. They swim in schools. Usually, it is fish that are all of the same species, but not always. Sometimes there are two groups of fish swimming together. Sometimes there are random fish of other kinds mixed in with the larger school. After some research I found that there are shoals of fish and schools of fish. The shoals are groups of fish swimming together for social reasons. The schools of fish are shoals of fish swimming together in the same direction. They see a danger and they move together as a group to avoid that danger. When you watch from above the water you can see the schools move and dart around your own body sometimes as a whole group. One of the reasons that fish also school is so that they look much larger to predators to deter them from bothering them. Maybe I’m a nerd, but I think these kinds of things are pretty cool. No one has told these fish to do this, but they know to do it. They know to gather together and not scatter themselves apart to protect themselves. (www.wikepedia.com)

A few months ago I woke up early one morning with a particular Bible verse on my mind. I had not read this verse recently but I believe the Spirit gave it to me in my sleep. I was not sure what I was to do with this verse until I recently observed these fish in their “schools” not scattering.

“Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.”

Matthew 12:30 NIV

This made me think about the times in my life when I was almost neutral about God. I believed. I had Jesus in my heart, just not in the front of my heart. I didn’t want to change my life or do inconvenient things to show God how I felt. I wasn’t completely for Him and I wasn’t against Him. Even now that I have given my life to Jesus there are times that my faith is tested or that I may not have the time to devout to my relationship with God. This verse has reminded me that I have to quickly get myself back on track when this happens so that I don’t “scatter”. Scattering from the “school” of trying to be Christ-like is very dangerous. This is when the enemy seeks us out more easily and tries to remove us from the school all together. He wants us to be left vulnerable.

The more I think about this verse the more direct the verse becomes. God is telling us very plainly we have to make a decision. We have to decide which side we are on. We can’t be neutral. We can’t think that just because we are not against God that we can feel safe and comfy in that decision. He wants us to gather with Him and His followers. Which school are you gathered with? Are you gathered with other Christ-followers or are you still swimming in a neutral school of fish?

There may be someone reading this that is not sure if they belong to the “school” of Christ. If this is you, please pray and reach out to someone that can help guide you as a new Christian.

This brings me to another verse that comforts me when I feel life is trying to scatter me from the school.

“What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?”

Romans 8:31 NIV

Isn’t this amazing? When we decide to side with God, God is for us. He is there for us. He is our protector from the enemy. He is our shoulder to cry on. He is our Heavenly Father. He will watch over us and guide us. Who can be against us? If we stay on track and we don’t scatter too far then we will finish the race set before us and will be rewarded one day my dear friends.

Have a BLESSED Day!

My Mother’s Day Wish

and how it made me realize the simple things God wants from us

First off I want to make it very clear that I truly loved every precious gift my girls, husband and parents gave me for Mother’s Day this year. My girls made me lots of cards and crafts. Some they did on their own here at home and others they made at school, the baby-sitters and at church. These are always my favorites. They put so much thought and care into making me something special and just from them. I especially love the things that I can save as keepsakes and withhold the the test of time. The hand written thoughts about why they love me or the shape of their little hands in this point of time are worth more than diamonds to me.

This year marked my tenth Mother’s Day as a mom. This holiday means so many different things to so many different women. I also know that as children grow the day changes. I have friends that have lost their mother in recent years and I feel their pain around this time of year. I have friends that have not been able to biologically be called a mom but mother children in many different ways. My first few Mother’s Day I remember feeling like it was a day that I deserved to take a nap and that was all I wanted. I don’t remember if I was ever able to “gift” myself with a nap or if I received it from anyone else even. Mother’s Day is usually a very hectic day for most families if they are fortunate enough to celebrate between church and visiting family members. So I gave up years ago wishing for this “gift” of nap-time. Im ok with this as I have grown to appreciate the day more and realize this is an un-realistic item to request.

As a mom, I feel like the title Mom, Momma, Mommy have started to define me so much that I feel like Mother’s Day has replaced its level of importance in my head more than my own birthday. I know this may seem strange, but stay with me. When I was growing up I would wake up on my birthday and it was an almost magical day. I felt that nothing could go wrong on my birthday; if it did – it would magically correct itself. On my birthday, that was my day! I felt like whatever I wanted to do or whatever happened revolved around me. I felt like people were nicer. I felt like I didn’t get in trouble as much. I felt like everyone knew it was my birthday (even though most people had no clue). Does anyone out there remember this sublime feeling of birthdays in the prime of our youth years? As adulthood kicks in, reality kicks in also. The world around us no longer cares that its our birthday. Work doesn’t care, our adult responsibilities don’t care, sickness doesn’t care, holidays happen, crying babies still cry and the world around us doesn’t care- as much… I know that it was a fantasy in my own head. As the magic was removed from my birthdays I think I transferred some of that magic to Mother’s Day.

As my girls have grown I think I started hoping that I could have one magical day each year on Mother’s Day. I started hoping that my girls would magically behave better, get along better, love me better, treat me better, respect me better and listen to me better. A little while before Mother’s Day this year, like every year, my husband started asking me for gift ideas. This year I came up with a few ideas. Some were way too expensive, but a girl can dream, right? One was something much more do-able. Then a few days before MD my girls started asking me what I wanted. I would tell them I wasn’t sure and then finally I told them what I really wanted. I wanted them to just get along, treat me like you love me and to listen to me for one day.

Do you think that some days this is all God wants from us?

That He wants us to get along?

A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

John 13:34-35 KJV

Treat Him like we love Him?

We love him, because he first loved us.

1 John 4:19 KJV

I’m sure you are wondering if I got my MD wish? The answer was a big N-O. I think I had set me expectations so high for this magical day for moms that I thought it would actually work. It was a normal Sunday of motherhood. My kids didn’t listen. My kids argued. My kids- one in particular-got in trouble a lot. At the end of the day I had a great and thankful day. I realized I had wished for something once again that was un-realistic.

What did I get? My most amazing husband did listen to one of my ideas and they all gifted me with a gift-certificate to have pictures made of my girls this summer. I honestly was more happy with this than the expensive in-practical gift I asked for.

I hope that each of you had a magical Mother’s Day in one way or another. Also, remember that your Heavenly Father loves you like you love your own children and like your parents love you. He forgives us and loves us no matter what we have done. Feel free to share your comments below and follow to receive future articles sent to your inbox.

Have a BLESSED Day!