by Dennis Su

Summer is winding down and that means a new year of Sonlight (elementary age children’s ministry) is just beginning.  With that comes change.  Some staff are moving on to different ministries or have relocated entirely, and new prospective staff are in the process of observing to confirm their interest or have already committed.  We’ve promoted two of our oldest children to Lumos (youth ministry) and are excited to get a new batch of young ones from Sparklers.  Each year we also see change come in the form of curriculum.  To give some background, children’s curriculum is often created by different providers and can span multiple years, focusing on different themes for an entire year.  In years past, we’ve gone through curriculum put out by Children Desiring God and this last year, Answers in Genesis.  This year we’ll be using curriculum created by Generations of Grace (http://www.generationsofgrace.com/).  It’s exciting to know that we’ll have new resources to aid in teaching the kids and to provide our staff with new ideas on how to share God’s truth.

This year we’ll be studying the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers.  We’ll take a short break to focus on Christ’s resurrection during Easter and on Christ’s birth during Christmas.  Every few weeks we’ll also be having a review of past lessons to help us remember what we’ve learned and to re-emphasize the major objectives of the lessons.  At the end of the year, we’ll be reviewing the MVP (mission, vision, passion) of Lighthouse.

Despite all the changes happening in Sonlight including any new curriculum, it’s important for us to constantly remember our objectives in Sonlight.  In particular, to share the gospel and impart the sinfulness of man.  To say it another way, we need to be God-focused.  While the excitement of a new curriculum is refreshing and something to look forward to, it’s more important that what we do teaches the kids the holiness of God and that He is the one who sent his Son to be our Savior, and to exemplify God’s work in our own lives.