Can you believe September starts next week? The weather will begin changing soon for many of us. Apples are beginning to ripen – which means homemade apple butter in our house. In a couple of weeks, we will be six months into our COVID experience. How well are you, your Bible students and their families coping? You may want to search our website for ideas to help. Here are our social media challenges for this week.
Monday: Teaching Bible students online? Try adding interesting backgrounds or bringing items to show them. It’s important for your virtual class space to be as interesting and engaging as your real one.
Tuesday: A lot of parents are struggling right now. The parents of your Bible students may be among them. A great way to bless your students is to show love to their parents. Check in on them. Offer to listen and find resources to help them with some of their struggles. It can make a huge difference for many young people and their families.
Wednesday: These people were frozen in time when Vesuvius erupted. It was obvious many of them were unaware what was about to happen to them. Young people often make decisions as if they will live forever. They may not consider the negative consequences of poor choices – or assume they will be able to avoid them. Some even assume there is a path in life where they can believe in God and willfully disobey Him until they are “old” and can start obeying God then. It can be hard to balance the need to awaken these young people to what God actually wants from them without scaring more sensitive and obedient young people. It’s important to address topics like Heaven and Hell in age appropriate ways. To not only look at what God asks of us, but what we know happened to those people in the Bible who disobeyed Him. If not, sin can become entrenched, time will pass,and they – like the people of Vesuvius- will run out of time to make those planned “fixes” to their lives.
Thursday: This taxi driver has a huge map to guide him to his destination. Do your Bible students understand the Bible is there to guide their lives? It may be difficult for them to see how God’s commands and principles apply to the situations in their daily lives. Giving them guided practice with real life scenarios can help them start making those all important connections.
Friday: Poverty can’t always be seen from the street. Just because your congregation may be middle class, doesn’t mean there aren’t people struggling financially. Many children are suffering from food insecurity because of distance learning. Checking to make sure each of your students has enough to eat is one way to show your love for them. (Note: Even middle class families may not be able to afford all the devices needed for working at home and distance learning. Not all school systems are providing devices. Providing or loaning devices can also help struggling students and their families.)