Wesley Church

People Blessing People

Daily Devotional September 30

1 Give ear, O my people, to my teaching;
    incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
2 I will open my mouth in a parable;
    I will utter dark sayings from of old,
3 things that we have heard and known,
    that our ancestors have told us.
4 We will not hide them from their children;
    we will tell to the coming generation
    the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might,
    and the wonders that he has done.
5 He established a decree in Jacob,
    and appointed a law in Israel,
    which he commanded our ancestors
    to teach to their children;
6 that the next generation might know them,
    the children yet unborn,
    and rise up and tell them to their children,
7 so that they should set their hope in God.

-Psalm 78:1-7, NRSV

Have you ever read the poem “All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten”? It’s a short and simple poem, but it carries a profound message: All of the really important stuff we need to know in life can be learned in kindergarten. Things like: Share. Don’t hit other people. Clean up after yourself. Say you’re sorry when you hurt someone. These most important things we need to know in life really aren’t much more complicated than that. And we learn those things in kindergarten.

But as a pastor, and as a Christian, I would say the very same thing about Sunday School. Throughout the past few weeks, as we’ve been planning our upcoming “Rally in the Gallery” virtual rally day, I’ve been thinking a lot about Sunday School. 

Sunday School is important. Sunday School, like kindergarten, is a place in which we can learn many of life’s most important lessons and encounter some of our most critical and life-sustaining beliefs. For many, Sunday School is one of the first places in which we first learn the stories of our faith and first hear the message of a God who loves us and who calls us to reflect that love in the world. The most important things we need to know in life really aren’t much more complicated than that. And we learn those things in Sunday School.

Did you grow up going to church? To Sunday School? If so… what do you remember learning there? It’s a question I’ve asked some of my own friends and family… and I’ve received some interesting responses! One friend from seminary said, “In Sunday School, I learned that if you do something bad, your guardian angel will trip you.” (For the record, church… that’s not true.) 

If you went to Sunday School as a child, what do you remember learning there? In our upcoming devotionals, I’ll be sharing and reflecting on some of the responses I’ve received to that question. I encourage you to reflect on that question, too. 

But even more than that… I invite you to spend today reflecting on another question: if you could share only one message, one Bible story, one Sunday School lesson with the children in our church and community… what’s the one thing you’d want to tell them about God? What’s the one thing you’d pass on to them, that they may (in the words of the psalm) “set their hope in God”? What’s the one thing you’d want them to know?

Blessings,
Pastor Candy

And don’t forget to join us for our “Rally in the Gallery” — a virtual Rally Day pancake breakfast — on Saturday October 17 at 10:00 AM. Click on the link to RSVP (and to reserve your jar of pancake mix, if you like!). It’ll be a great way to connect with your church family!
RSVP here: https://forms.gle/gTbiVqtmfj2FJs7o7

Reflect on that, friends, and remember:

Our God is bigger than coronavirus. 
Our vision is bigger than coronavirus, too. 
We are people blessing people. 
We are Wesley Church.   

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