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| Artwork Credit: Children of Our Town pl. 1 (1902) by Ethel Mars (1876–1959). Public domain image accessed via Artvee.com. |
The lessons we teach in Sunday School are not meant to be forgotten as soon as the children leave the room. Our hope is that they will remember God’s Word long after the crafts are gone and the activity papers are lost. This is why we think carefully about how to make truth take root in ways they can recall and understand.
Making truth memorable does not mean making it flashy or filled with endless activity. It means using the means God has given us to help His Word dwell in their hearts. The Lord told Israel to teach His commands diligently to their children, to talk of them at home and along the way, to bind them as reminders, and to write them where they could be seen (Deut. 6:6–9). These instructions show that truth sinks in through constant, intentional reminders.
In our church, we have seen how even simple things can help. A repeated phrase from Scripture, a visual that clearly connects to the lesson, or a question they can answer at home may all serve as anchors. When we taught about the spotless Lamb, we asked the children to remember why it had to be without blemish and how it pointed to Jesus Christ. Later, when we revisited another Old Testament story, they could recall that the Lamb’s perfection showed the need for a perfect Savior. Those connections were made because the same truth was gently repeated and linked to different stories.
We can also make truth memorable by giving children ways to speak it themselves. When they answer a question in their own words, they often hold it longer in their minds. Even a short verse, read and explained together, can stay with them if they hear it often. Songs based on Scripture can work the same way, allowing them to remember without realizing they are doing it.
This is not about getting perfect responses. Some children will respond immediately, while others may take longer. What matters is that we keep putting the truth before them in ways that they can carry beyond the classroom. Paul told Timothy to hold fast to the pattern of sound words (2 Tim. 1:13), and we can help the children do the same by giving them those words in every lesson as possible.
Our goal is not to fill their minds with scattered facts, but to plant truth they can return to when life tests them. When the world offers lies, they will have something true to stand on. And while we may never see all the fruit in this life, we trust that the God who gives the seed will also give the increase in His time.
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