REASON #1 - Sunday School’s Primary Purpose Is To Teach All Persons Of All Ages About God, The Bible And God’s Will For Our Lives
Call together all the men, women, and children, and the foreigners who live in your towns, so that everyone may hear it and learn to honor the Lord your God and to obey his teachings faithfully.
(Deut. 31:12)
When Robert Raikes started the very first Sunday school in Gloucester, England, way back in 1780, his purpose may have been a little different than the primary purpose that we see for Sunday school today. Raikes was concerned about the children of his community. This was near the start of the Industrial Revolution and children as young as 6 and 8 years of age were working long hours, six days a week in the factories of the London suburb. Sunday was the only day off, and on that day, many of the kids were roaming the streets in gangs, creating all kinds of trouble throughout the community.
Raikes was concerned about these children. He was concerned because of the destruction that they were causing, but he was also concerned because they were not getting any education. To help remedy both problems, he gathered the kids of his community and brought them together on Sunday – their only day off – to teach them “the 3-R’s” and the Bible. Raikes’ Sunday school was a big success! The idea quickly spread across England, and within a few years, came here to America.Today our Child Labor Laws keep kids out of the workplace and our public schools teach children all reading, writing and math, plus much more. But, Sunday school is still needed to teach our children, our youth and our adults about the Bible – God’s Word – and how to apply its lessons to our day-to-day lives.As we begin our 42-day journey to think about the importance of Sunday school, we hope that you will stop and think about the glorious history of Sunday school. But, remember, Sunday school is still very important today! Do you and your family attend Sunday school each week? If not, why not make your plans now to be in Sunday school next week! Hope to see you there! Questions To Think About: What do you remember about Sunday school from when you were a child? How has Sunday school changed since then? Have these changes been good or bad?
Prayer Suggestion: Pray for a friend who does not know Jesus Christ as personal Lord and Savior.
A Call To Action: E-mail, text or talk with several persons that you know who do not attend Sunday school and ask them why they don’t attend. Compare their answers with your own feelings about Sunday school.
