How to Pass Down Your Faith for Generations

It’s Sunday morning! Time to get up. Time for old-fashioned Sunday School!

I know. I know. Churches are closed…thanks to the “Coronavirus.” But that’s ok. WE are the church, remember?

The truth is…Sunday School has been closed for YEARS…in most churches at least. That was something we did in the “good old days.”

I remember it fondly….a WHOLE HOUR right before morning service. We gathered as kids, separated by age or grade, and sat on the floor or in those REALLY uncomfortable chairs. ;) We heard the MOST AMAZING Bible stories…all REAL LIFE, TRUE STORIES…back in the day of flannel-graphs and puppet shows! It was Sunday School–LIVE!! Boy, do I miss those days!

I used to LOVE going to Sunday school! I had the BEST TEACHERS MONEY COULD BUY…for FREE! You see, my church also had a Christian school. Most of OUR Sunday School teachers were PROS! They taught 6 days a week!! They were THE BEST…the BEST OF THE BEST!

They told the BEST STORIES and had the BEST visual aids…some of them HAND-MADE! I remember my Grandma telling me how she taught her little class the story of the “Feeding of the Five Thousand.” She brought in goldfish crackers and pretzel sticks and pretended they were the 5 loaves and the 3 fishies. Oh, how I wish she was still alive! I wish I could go to her Sunday School class…even now, as a big girl!

Oh, how I LOVED my Sunday School Teachers!! They really brought the Bible to life for me!! In some ways…they made me who I am today.

Well, now it’s OUR TURN. We’re stuck at home with nothing to do but pray…and worry…and pray some more. OR…we can LIVE our faith OUT LOUD! We can try something new! This is OUR CHANCE to pour God’s Word into our kids as we WALK and as we SIT and as we EAT…just like Deuteronomy commands us to. DON’T MISS OUT on YOUR chance to pass down your faith! This is your chance to MAKE HISTORY…in your own family at least.

You’ve GOT TO read it…Deuteronomy 6. It is an AMAZING passage you don’t want to miss. It’s a passage on PARENTING. A passage on “passing down your faith” from generation to generation. 

It’s a passage about LOVE…loving the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and MIGHT. You know the verse. You’ve heard it A MILLION TIMES!! “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” Deuteronomy 6:5 (NIV)

But you’ve got to KEEP READING so you don’t miss the good parts. The very next verse goes on to say “⁶ These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts.⁷ Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” Deuteronomy 6 goes on and on with PRACTICAL ways to pass on your faith.

That’s for us!

Yep, for me…Deuteronomy 6 has been a passage I live by… the ultimate passage on “How to Pass Down Your Faith” to your kids…AND your GRANDKIDS!!…….“so that you, your children and THEIR children after them may fear the Lord your God AS LONG AS YOU LIVE by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that YOU may ENJOY long life.” Deuteronomy 6:2 (NIV)

It’s really quite simple. All you have to do is TALK!! Talk about God. Talk about what He has done in your life.

Tell them YOUR stories! Tell them about the good times AND the bad times. Don’t shelter them. Tell them how they hurt you…how scared you were. Tell them the REAL feelings you had and the real fears. Be GENUINE! They can understand. After all…it’s YOU! THEY KNOW YOU! They TRUST you. They need to hear it from YOU!

So today…while the churches are closed…HOLD YOUR OWN SUNDAY SCHOOL!! Even if it’s just through Facetime or Facebook live! YOU KNOW THE STORIES. Now share them! Stories of your life. Stories from the Bible. Today is YOUR DAY! After all, who knows about tomorrow? All we’re promised is TODAY!

So GET OUT THERE, Grandma and Grandpa…Mom and Dad! And BE Sunday School–LIVE!…TODAY!!