One Cycle At Last

Object Lesson No. 1: If God gave you ten apples and asks you for an apple back, would you give him an apple or just the core?






I presented three object lessons taught together within the lesson hour during Junior Worship last Sunday. At first glance, they appear as isolated lessons but thrown together, they do present a whole. I taught this series of lessons several times during 1999-2001 in different churches. But after I accepted the position at Fort Bend Comm. Ch., I haven't had the chance to "re-teach" it to the kids.

Last Friday, I came to a realization though. Five years have passed since I first came to Fort Bend. The grade school kids I taught to in those five years have passed on to the youth, and one whole Cycle for me has arrived. I can now teach all the lessons I taught back in 2001 without repeating to any one child. Such freedom, such relief. This is extremely liberating!

I went back to my teaching history notes (back then, I religiously kept track of my teaching topics) and found some of the old but reliable sets of lessons I used. One such set is the Ten Apples-PB on My Face-Jonah Surprise Sketch. I have to confess to being exhilarated to teach the kids with something "low-tech" for a change. No computers, no fuss, no videos, no remotes. Just me, some apples, peanut butter, a marker, and a sketch pad. One of our Junior Worship volunteers commented that this was certainly not her idea of "low-tech," given the amount of creativity presented in one lesson.

Later, I talked with Tony Y., who serves as CM deacon and Junior Worship coordinator, about the Cycle. Since we teach third through fifth graders as a group, we actually have a three-year Cycle. Instead of looking at new lessons every turn, it's about time to take a look at the lesson series taught the last five years, evaluate them, and select the ones that will fit into a three-year Cycle.

This is certainly one of the best lessons I've learned from serving at Fort Bend these five years. That as you accumulate lessons and history, it is time to stop and evaluate which lessons God has truly used and you will want to teach again. We have a scope and sequence in our Sunday school curriculum, but have not considered that even in worship this will be effective.