by Mary Lou Cox, VCN Discipleship Ministries and Bible Study Teacher
For the last few months, I have been researching and reading about the importance of Sunday School. Not only is it vital to the growth of the church, but it is also vital to the lives of children, youth, and adults. I am reminded of how it has impacted my life, and I want to share some of my thoughts.
When Jesus chose the disciples, He went up into the mountains and prayed all night asking God to guide His decisions.
The chosen disciples were not extraordinary but just very ordinary men with common occupations.
I am overwhelmed that this same Jesus prays for me, a common ordinary person. He calls for me to follow Him and learn from His Word what my role in building His kingdom is to be.
I am thankful that in the 1930s a missionary came to the hills of Eastern Kentucky to start a school for Appalachian children. That missionary not only started a school but took my mother and her four sisters and started the Dessie Scott Children’s Home when their mother died at an early age. This orphanage was a faith-based facility. They were taught that God loved them and that Jesus died on the cross so that they might have hope in eternity.
I am blessed that I was taught from as early as I can remember that Jesus loves me, my family loves me, and I am to love others.
As I grew up in church and Sunday School, I thought I was a Christian. I was there for every service, I was a good person, and Jesus loved me….but I began to ask questions at an early age. My mother explained to me that someday I would have a special feeling and that it would be Jesus talking to my heart.
In Vacation Bible School, the preacher was explaining the love of Jesus, and I felt a special tugging in my heart, and I asked Jesus to come into my heart.
When I got on the church bus to go home, I looked out the window and the grass seemed so much greener, the sky was bluer, and I felt so clean and pure. It was as if my life was starting over, and it truly was. I knew then that I had to make that personal decision to give my life to Christ.
That has been nearly 60 years ago. Those years have brought great joy and fulfillment, and happiness but there have been tragedies, sadness, bad times, and difficult decisions also.
His Love Never Changes. He has shown mercy and grace to me in extraordinary ways. In the valleys, He has restored my soul.
As a child of God, I am to pattern my life after Jesus. He was a Teacher, a Leader, a Healer, and most of all a Savior who loves others. He expects me to do those things to bring glory and honor to His name.
My prayer is that I become more like Him so others can see the love of Jesus in my life.
I read a statement recently that says, “True beauty of life is not how happy you are but how happy others are because of you.” I challenge you to be the disciple you have been called to be.
In keeping with the Sunday School Promotion I would also say I am where I am in my Christian walk because of loving Sunday School teachers who gave of their time and love to encourage me, teach me the importance of God’s Word, and provide an example of God’s love in actions.
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You are invited to join a Sunday School Class! Every Sunday at 9am, we have something for everyone - for the young and the young-at-heart! Stop by the Fellowship Hall (the building entrance closest to Venice Avenue) any Sunday at 9am for directions to a class designed just for you!