Our church put the \u201cschool\u201d in Sunday school \u2026 but not in a good way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I vowed if I was ever a Sunday school teacher, I\u2019d jazz things up. Make it interesting. Nix the \u201csword drills.\u201d Torpedo the pop quizzes. And the first thing I\u2019d toss overboard would be everyone looking up passages so we could read them aloud in unison.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because that never worked. Ever. Some kids had King James Bibles, some had other translations, and a few tried repeating passages from memory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was a hopeless muddle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Scripture Connection is Important for Our Kids<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Fast forward to a few years ago and there I stood: a Sunday school teacher with decades of experience using a snazzy new curriculum that sent video clips of Bible passages rolling across a screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I loved it. Every kid could see the same version of the passage. We didn\u2019t have to pause as kids tried to remember if Ephesians was in the Old or New Testament. The process was smooth, easy, and \u2026 it suddenly dawned on me \u2026 completely flawed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There\u2019s authority in God\u2019s Word and, like you, I want my kids to trust the Bible as foundational truth for their lives.<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n Because the kids had no way of knowing if those wise words on the screen were God\u2019s words, my words, or something Ben Franklin cooked up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And some weeks I made things even worse. Rather than me reading the passages, I copied them and handed them out to kids to read aloud when I gave them the nod.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019d set the stage for a passage and then a kid would leap to her feet and read it to the group. A little later in the lesson another kid would do the same. The crowd never quite knew who\u2019d be hopping up next.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But<\/em> I never opened a Bible and read from it<\/em>. There was zero evidence those quotes were straight from God\u2019s inspired Word, no visual cue kids should give the passages the weight they deserved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019d changed things, all right\u2014but not for the better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wonder Ink\u2019s 3-year, 52-week children\u2019s ministry curriculum offers kids space to fully find their place in God\u2019s Big Story. Children discover they are Known by God, Loved by Jesus, and Led by the Holy Spirit.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\n\n\n There\u2019s authority in God\u2019s Word<\/a> and, like you, I want my kids to trust the Bible as foundational truth for their lives. To see that through it they can discover so much of what God wants them to know about Himself, this world, and about themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So it\u2019s essential that Scripture steers my lessons and that kids know<\/em> it\u2019s Scripture they\u2019re hearing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When we connect Scripture to our lessons, it grounds kids in truth that works its way from their heads to their hearts. In the same way the Holy Spirit<\/a> uses God\u2019s Word to shape us, the Spirit uses it to shape our kids, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yes, I still send passages scrolling across the screen on Sunday mornings. And I still copy passages from a kid-friendly version of the Bible for kids to read aloud. But I never let those happen without making sure kids know they\u2019re hearing Scripture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And they see me read aloud from my Bible. Every lesson. Without fail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fortunately, there are ways to connect Scripture to our Sunday school lessons\u2014and to impress upon kids the importance of the Bible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Build some or all of the following into your teaching and you\u2019ll give the kids you love a healthy respect for Scripture. And you\u2019ll reassure them your lesson is less about what you think and more about what God says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When you connect your kids to Scripture you\u2019ll help them see themselves as God sees them: infinitely valuable, desperately loved, and entirely welcome. Your Wonder Ink<\/a> lessons are a good example. From choosing topics to crafting lesson components, our friends at Wonder Ink work with their Bibles open<\/a>. Every lesson is developed around a central Bible passage and truth, and each lesson element reinforces one or both of those. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As you teach you have opportunities to circle back to the Scripture passage often\u2014so take them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The physical act of standing will help them pay attention. And that they\u2019re briefly at attention signals that what\u2019s read is important. Use this technique sparingly so when you do use it, it\u2019s meaningful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Young children are concrete thinkers so if you want them to see that your Bible story is in the Bible, help them see<\/em> it in the Bible. We have a stack of Bibles from Ye Olde Before-Screen-Scrolls Days, so now and then I team up older with younger kids and have them physically find passages. <\/p>\n\n\n\n But no winner-take-all-and-everyone-else-is-a-loser \u201csword drills\u201d\u2014not on my watch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You\u2019re confirming that what you\u2019re teaching isn\u2019t something you dreamed up; it\u2019s Scripture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here\u2019s a tip: If you don\u2019t happen to use the same version as what will appear on the screen, tape the screen version of the passage into the appropriate place in your Bible and read that aloud. It minimizes confusion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When many kids hear the word \u201cstory\u201d they automatically file whatever follows alongside Pinocchio, Rumpelstiltskin, and the Avengers. Stories are fiction, told to entertain. Stories are for fun, not shaping your life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So when you transition to sharing a narrative from the Bible, introduce what\u2019s coming with, \u201cAnd here\u2019s a true story from God\u2019s Word,\u201d or \u201cAnd here\u2019s a story from the Bible\u2014and it really happened.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/mlzai04amy7e.i.optimole.com\/w:1500\/h:1001\/q:80\/f:best\/https:\/\/wonderink.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/GettyImages-1175243403.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/mlzai04amy7e.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:80\/f:best\/https:\/\/wonderink.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Wonder-Ink-logo.png\"){kind=logo}
Authority of God’s Word<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
And it just doesn\u2019t get much better than that.<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\nScripture Connection: Teach lessons tightly tethered to God\u2019s Word.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Now and again have kids stand as you read Scripture.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Occasionally have kids find passages in Bibles<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/mlzai04amy7e.i.optimole.com\/w:1500\/h:1000\/q:80\/f:best\/https:\/\/wonderink.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/GettyImages-1481416693.jpg\")
Let kids see you read from the Bible itself.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Consider yourself deputized to make absolutely, positively, 100% sure your kids understand stories you share from the Bible are real.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n