Our First Few Nuggets From The Gospels

Our elementary Sunday school class has just finished studying our way through the Old Testament. It has taken more than a year, but it's been an amazing study. They even have the beginnings of an illustrated Bible that we drew while we learned.

And today we begin the New Testament. This study will be a little different, since we want to cover more of the stories from the four gospels. The first lesson will be an overview of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, talking about who they were and how they ended up being part of the canon of Scripture. Our fourth- through sixth-graders couldn't be more excited about it!

Here are just a few nuggets from Matthew that we'll be talking about today.

* After 400 years of silence, Jesus is the one-word proclamation.

* God's time to step in and give direction is often when we are at a standstill.

* Satan always promises things he can never fulfill.

* Jesus always preached humility, especially by His example.

* When Jesus calls, there should be no hesitation.

* Jesus Christ didn't come just to teach us - He came to make us what He teaches we should be.

* Purity is the outcome of conflict, not something that arises in us automatically.

* Jesus bases everything on God-realization, not on self-realization.

Before you say that these are deep subjects for children, let me tell you about the kids in our class. They are smart, funny, deeply caring and outrageously committed to learning. They ask about a bazillion questions every week, and they expect to get some answers. Our prayer is that we can be so close to the Lord as teachers that we're able to keep up with how quickly our students are learning. It's a joy, a blessing and a privilege to be able to share God's word with young people who have such open hearts and open minds.

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