by Abram Kim
We are more halfway through the school year, which means Sonlight is more than halfway through the year too. It has certainly been an exciting year so far, and we are looking forward to what God has in store for our ministry for the remainder of the year!
If you have wandered into the Sonlight room at some point this year, you may have wondered why the room is decorated with question marks, footprints, and fingerprints. We are not giving a tribute to the Joker or Sherlock Holmes. We have been trying to figure out the greatest mystery of all time. It involves the most famous Person at our church (we talk about Him like every week). It is the greatest story ever told, starting at the Fall and culminating at Calvary.
This year’s curriculum by Children Desiring God is called “In the Beginning… Jesus.” It has been a great blessing. If you have ever wondered how the cool stories of the Old Testament relate to the Person and Work of Jesus Christ, you would benefit from this year’s curriculum. Though you may not be able to join us, you should certainly ask the staff and children what they are learning each week! The big question we have been asking is: why did Jesus of Nazareth have to die on the cross?
We started where the Bible starts, in Genesis 1:1 with creation. We have worked through all the familiar yet fascinating stories in Genesis like Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, Noah, and the patriarchs. We talked about the miraculous showings of God’s power in Exodus through Deuteronomy, specifically about the salvation of a chosen nation over slavery, the requirement of blood to atone for sins, the institution of the Levitical priests, and the building of the Tabernacle. We have now discussed the book of Judges, seeing evermore clearly the cyclical pattern of Israel’s sin, God’s judgment, Israel’s repentance, and God’s grace in showing grace, relenting of His judgment and renewing His covenant. We will be wrapping up the OT in the coming weeks, talking about David’s kingdom, Solomon’s kingdom, and the warnings of the prophets. With the OT as our context then, we will use the remaining weeks of the curriculum to study Jesus in order to help us solve the mystery of why Jesus had to die.
In Sonlight, as in any other ministry at our church, the emphasis is on teaching, preaching, and modeling the gospel. There is no other message that can save eternal souls from the eternal wrath we all deserve. The gospel of Jesus Christ is the most important news we need to share week in and week out. As Sonlight staff, we want to be committed to continue to keep the gospel central in all we do, especially in what we teach. Therefore, the goal of Sonlight isn’t to to get a confession of faith from the children, but for them to love God more than anything else (cf. John 21:15-17). This starts with knowing and understanding the whole gospel message, of course; as with the adult ministries, teaching is always central. At the same time, we don’t want to assume faith upon people just because they assent to a set of facts and ideas. We want to see genuine fruit before confirming someone as a true believer. Jesus said that was a good test so we’ll follow His advice (see Matthew 13, among other similar passages).
Please pray for our staff! The church has entrusted us with some of the most precious souls at our church. We, the staff, take this responsibility extremely seriously, and we need all of your prayers to grow in our knowledge and ability to minister to the Sonlight kids. Pray for the kids that they would understand and personalize the messages of Scripture. Pray for the parents of these kids, as the primary care givers, as they rear these young ones in the fear of the Lord.