Pastor Larson’s Corner: Called to teach

As fall approaches, congregations are busy getting ready for another year of Sunday School. Teachers have to be found, Sunday School rooms readied, and supplies ordered. Most congregations will once again have difficulty finding enough teachers. If you are asked to teach Sunday School this year I hope you will give it careful consideration. Like all teachers, Sunday School teachers can make a big difference in a child’s life.

I will never forget my fifth grade Sunday School teacher. We lived near the University of Minnesota when I was growing up and my teacher was a student there. He took a special interest in our class and planned several activities outside of our Sunday morning class. I still remember the night he took us up to a high hill and we looked at the moon and the stars through his very large home-made telescope. I came away that night with a new appreciation of the grandeur and wonder of God’s great universe.

It is easy to get discouraged when it comes to teaching and learning. Teachers are set back when students don’t take a real interest in learning. Learners, on the other hand, can be discouraged with a teacher who has difficulty communicating with them. The secret to success lies with two basic Christian principles, forgiveness and love. As we teach each other and learn from each other, we do so in a spirit of Christian love and forgiveness.

Perhaps this year you will answer the call to teach Sunday School in your congregation. If you do, you will experience the giving and receiving of God’s most generous gift, the knowledge of God’s forgiving love and grace. We all know from our experience that this gift can make a wonderful and dramatic difference in our lives and the lives of those we teach.

Pastor Larson’s Corner is written by Jerry Larson and appears weekly in the Norwegian American Weekly.

Pastor Jerry Larson retired to his cabin in Zimmerman, Minn., after 39 years in parish ministry for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. In 2011 he published a book entitled “Speaking the Word Freely: Writing with purpose, preaching with power.” Contact him at jerlarson@visi.com

This article originally appeared in the Sept. 5, 2014 issue of the Norwegian American Weekly. To subscribe, visit SUBSCRIBE or call us at (800) 305-0271.