Being keen to take part in the youth teachings at my church, I became involved in the weekly teachings on a Sunday, known to most as Sunday School.
We are currently using a particular teaching pack. The pack contains information on teaching for each week, as well as a bible passage, and possible games and activities to make the teaching session more interactive.
I led the teachings on Sunday 1st November, and the theme was loving God with our whole being, not just with our hearts. This theme was reflected in the bible passage shown here:
The Greatest Commandment
28 One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”
29 “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
32 “Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. 33 To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
34 When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions.
I started the session with the game suggested in the program pack. However I needed to edit it to fit the the resources I had at my disposal, and to make it slightly more interactive.
I hid 10 red card hearts around the room, each had a letter/number on one side, and a symbol on the other. I told the young people we had a bible passage to talk about, and I wrote it down, but I lost all the pieces. This integration of a story makes the activity more fun. They were then asked to find the pieces, and place them together on the table. They were then asked to place each heart in the correct position on the large heart on the table. Each place with marked with a symbol, so the heart with the matching symbol was placed on each spot. This then spelt out the bible passage we were going to look at.
We then got the sticky notes out, and wrote on them as many things/people we could think of that we loved, and as many people we could think of who loved us. This transformed the large white heart into a multi-coloured sticky note covered masterpiece. We then proceeded to make a paper chain out of 6 strips of paper, with each strip having a section of the bible passage on it.
- Love God (Love the lord your God)
- Heart (With all your heart)
- Soul (With all your soul)
- Mind (With all your mind)
- Strength (With all your strength)
- Love Everyone (Love your neighbour as yourself)
What I learnt
Apart from ensuring to remember where hidden item were placed, I learnt some other important pieces of information.
- When preparing teaching sessions for a Sunday, you must be aware that whoever turns up is unpredictable. You may have five young people one week, and only one the next. You may end up having a communal teaching session because so few people turn up. Therefore, plan your session with this in mind, and ensure alternate methods for varying numbers can easily be arranged.
- The allotted time should be kept to as close as possible. Though it is OK to run over every now and then, or even to finish early, it's best to aim to be on time. Therefore encourage the young people to finish the activities within the allotted time, but don't rush things, simply keep an eye on the time.
- I found the passage contained words that may be confusing for the people I was teaching at the time. It would be best to find a version that is more understandable to the age of people being taught.
