Teaching The Next Generation

Teaching the next generation is not an easy task. However, it is a calling that the church cannot refuse. The psalmist said, "We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might, and the wonders that he has done. He established a testimony in Jacon and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers to teach to their children, that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children, so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments" (78:4-7).

The heart of this passage and other commands to teach the next generation is a call to carefully teach the Scriptures. Unfortunately, many children & youth curriculums fail to do such. Oh, it's not that they do not make an attempt and blatanly disregard the Bible. It's that they reduce the Bible to a moral handbook or ethical code rather than a book that teaches the commands of a holy God flowing from his character. An example is when Jesus feeds the multitudes. This is reduced to a story on sharing because a little boy shared his lunch, rather than fueling faith in an all-sustaining provider God named Jesus, who can perform miracles such as this. In other words, the point of the Bible is to introduce and strengthen faith in God. All the other characters in the Bible stories are subplots in the grand Story. We must be faithful to teach the next generation how to read and apply the Bible accurately (2 Timothy 2:15).

For a deeper look at our church's children's ministry curriculum please check here.

For an interesting article on this topic check here.