Thanks Sunday School Teachers

Dear Seven Mile Road Sunday School Teachers,

We have said before that the primary responsibility of raising our sons and daughters in the knowledge of the Lord falls on dads and moms. But in His grace, the Lord has provided our parents with godly men and women like you to help them in this important work. What a blessing you are as you support fathers and mothers through weekly Sunday morning instruction of our children.

An example of this was evident in our family worship this evening. We’re working our way through some of the stories in Genesis. Tonight we talked about Isaac’s twin sons, Jacob and Esau. After explaining how Jacob tricked his father, cheated his brother, and stole the blessing, Hannah asked, “So Jacob is a bad guy?”

“Yes, Jacob is a bad guy,” I answered.

But then the story takes a twist. Bad-guy-Jacob is running for his life from his angry older brother, when one night, he has a dream. In it, heaven is opened, and God appears, promising blessing upon Jacob and his descendants. So I asked Hannah, “Did Jacob do what was good or bad?”

“Bad.”

“Then why did God promise to bless him? Why was God going to bless someone who was bad?”

“Because even when we are bad, Jesus loves us.”

Hannah may not know it yet, but she’s learning the grammar of the gospel. Shainu and I were thrilled. But what she said next made the whole thing even sweeter.

“It’s because while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

I was stunned. I didn’t teach her that verse. Shainu had the same look of surprise I did. “Hannah, where did you learn that?” we asked.

“In Sunday School. My teachers told us that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Thanks Sunday School teachers. Grateful for your labor in the Lord – it is not in vain.