What should be our aim in Sunday School ministry? As we meet with the children week by week, what are we trying to do? That is a question that most teachers rarely ask.

In most Sunday Schools, teachers simply do what has always been done. Whatever the Sunday School was like when they joined as a teacher, that is what they continue to do. Alternatively, they remember what they did in Sunday School as children, and seek to replicate that in their own ministry. Doing what has always been done might be good or bad. It all depends on how biblical is was in the first place.

It is important that all Sunday School teachers have their goal and method in children’s ministry informed by the Scriptures and not simply tradition. In this article, we revisit the fundamental question – what are we aiming to do in children’s ministry?

1. What we MUST NOT do

In most Sunday Schools in Malaysia, one of four models is usually adopted:

a. Day Care

According to this model, children are viewed as a distraction that must be removed from the main service. Children are sent to Sunday School for “day care” so that the parents can focus on “real church”. Perhaps the teachers give them some colouring or simple activities to keep them occupied. But essentially there is no real effort to engage the children or teach them. That is not considered important. The problem with this philosophy is that children can and do come to faith in Christ, and therefore are part of the church. Hence, they need to be discipled, just as much as their parents.

b. Fun & Games

In general, if children have nothing to do they’ll be bored and misbehave. When children are bored with church, they often resist attending. For this reason, many churches try to make their Sunday School as fun as possible in the hope that the children will enjoy attending churches and invite their friends. Some youth groups adopt the same philosophy. But like the “day care” model, they don’t teach God’s word. It’s all about fun, not discipleship. Although fun and games may draw a crowd in the short term, it won’t keep children or youth in church in the long term. If they are only gathering for fun, children and youth will quickly discover that more fun is to be found elsewhere.

c. Moral Instruction

The good thing about this common model is that teachers attempt to teach the Bible. The problem with this model is what is taught. Children are taught only to be good people, through moral values drawn out from Bible stories. A similar approach is often adopted in many Children’s Bibles. Children are taught to follow the Ten Commandments, obey their parents, do their homework, and not lie or steal.

It sounds harmless enough, but children who grow up under such moralistic teaching, often respond in one of two ways when they grow up:

• They become proud. Some children grow up keeping the rules. But sitting regularly under moralistic teaching they develop a mindset that church is a place to become a good person. Since they think they are already good and don’t need further teaching, they conclude that they no longer need to attend church.

• They despair. Many children will rebel in various ways as they grow up and eventually come to realise that they are not morally good. However, since they have been taught that church is a place to become a good person, and they are not good, they conclude they don’t belong at church.

Either way, there is a danger that moralistic teaching will result in children leaving the church in the long term.

The problem with moralistic teaching is that Christianity is not about being a good person. The whole reason Jesus came is because we are sinners who have failed to live God’s way. The gospel is about what Jesus has done, not what we do must do. Yes, we must respond to the gospel by living a good life. But good works are the fruit of salvation, never their cause (Ephesians 2:8-10).

d. Bible Stories

Perhaps the most common model of Sunday School is that of “Bible Stories”. As you might expect, the most popular Bible stories are stories like David and Goliath, Daniel and the Lion’s Den, Noah and the Ark or Jonah and the Fish. These stories nearly always feature animals or children (or both!). They are chosen because they seem interesting and relevant to children.

But telling Bible stories without explaining them or showing how they relate to Christ can be dangerous too. Children love to read all kinds of stories. It’s entirely possible that children grow up thinking that Bible stories are no different – fairy tales that have nothing to do with Jesus and nothing to do with them. If they retain such a belief about the Bible in the long term, there is every chance that they will leave the church once they grow up.

It is crucial that we explain the story of the Bible, not just Bible stories. We must show how the Bible fits together as one big story that is centred on Christ and the gospel. We must show how each part of the Bible, including these famous Bible stories, are ultimately pointing to Christ. In other words, we must have a Gospel-Centred Sunday School.

2. What we MUST do

Children’s ministry must be seen first and foremost as discipleship. At the heart of discipleship, is teaching the gospel, from all of the Scriptures.

a. Teach Children The Gospel

Paul reminds us of the gospel in 1 Corinthians 15:1-2.

Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.

The gospel message is a message that we hear and believe and then pass on. We don’t change it or improve it, but faithfully deliver it. This gospel saves but it only saves if we hold fast to it. If we don’t hold fast to the gospel, it doesn’t matter if our parents were Christian, or we went to Sunday School as children, or we gave money to church, or served in a ministry. These are all good things, but if we don’t hold fast to the gospel it will all be in vain, because we won’t be saved.

That’s why Paul continues in verse 3:

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received:

This is the number one priority in children’s ministry. This is our central focus and goal. We want children to receive and believe the gospel of Jesus Christ and be saved.

Paul summarizes the gospel in verses 3-6:

that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.

The gospel is the good news that Christ died as or Saviour and was raised as our King. It’s all about who Jesus is and what he has done. Who is Jesus? He is our Saviour & King. What has Jesus done ? He’s died and risen.

The gospel is the message of the whole Bible, not just the New Testament. Christ died for our sins and was raised on the third day “in accordance with the Scriptures” (v3, 4). The whole Bible is about Jesus and the gospel. The Old Testament Scriptures look forward to the time when God would send his Son to save and rule his people. In the New Testament, we’re shown how Jesus fulfils all of God’s promises. This means that whatever part of the Bible we are teaching, whether David and Goliath, or Daniel and the Lion’s Den, or Noah and the Ark, we must show how they are related to Jesus and the gospel.

The risen Jesus teaches the same thing in Luke 24:25-27:

And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

Here again we clearly see that all the Scriptures are about Christ and the gospel. The Old Testament makes it clear that Christ must suffer for our sins and be raised into glory as our King.

Thus, all faithful children’s ministry must be gospel-centred. In each and every lesson, we should show how our Bible passage links to Christ and the gospel, and thus how it applies to us today.

b. Engage in Discipleship

However, it is not enough to see that the Scriptures are centred on Christ and the gospel. The gospel is a message not only to be believed, but to be proclaimed. Thus our goal in children’s ministry must not only be teach the gospel, but to bring up every child into a personal relationship with Christ as their Saviour and King. That goal may only be achieved by proclaiming Christ and the gospel from all the Scriptures. But it also requires our prayers, love, example and encouragement.

In other words, faithful children’s ministry involves discipling children with gospel, through teaching the Bible.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the measure of success of any children’s ministry is not how large the Sunday School is, or how much fun is had or how well the children behave. These are all good things. But the measure of success in children’s ministry is whether the children in my care, understand the gospel as it is expounded in all the Scriptures. As we do so, we pray that the Spirit will brings children to faith in Christ as their Lord and Saviour. But we will only see children come to Christ and grow in Christ as we commit to intentional discipleship, through prayerful teaching of the gospel in all the Scriptures.

So this Sunday, what will be your goal? Will you prayerfully teach the gospel in all the Scriptures?

Find out More

If you want to find out more about the gospel, check out our “What is the Gospel” page.

If you’re looking for gospel-centred resources for children’s ministry, check out this page.

If you’re looking for training in Sunday School ministry, check out Equip Sunday School Training.