Verse for meditation:

“My son, if your heart is wise, then my heart will be glad; my inmost being will rejoice when your lips speak what is right” (Prov. 23:15, 16).

Let us praise God for the blessed institution the Sunday school which helps children grow spiritually through the study of the word of God. This institution helps the children to become inheritors of the kingdom of God through Christ and to nurture them in Christian faith. The words of Jesus, “Let little children come to me do not prevent them” should be remembered at this point. Let not the life style of the elders or their un-exemplary characters separate children from God. The Sunday school is an important ministry of the Christian Church. It is good to meditate how the children are nourished in their faith. Here we meditate on Jesus Christ, Who is the master of faith. Secondly, the fellowship and nurturing of children to the church is discussed. Finally the need for nurturing children to bear witness is discussed.

1. Nurturing in the word of God (Prov. 23:15-26).

The word of God nurtures the faith life. Therefore, the word of God induces us to read and study the Bible, the Word of God. The Bible says, “My son, if your heart is wise, then my heart will be glad” (Prov.23:15). The commandment is given from the beginning to read, to hear, to teach, to believe and to grow in the Word of God (Deut.6:6-8). Faith starts from the Word of God (Rom.10:17). The Word of God should give answer to the manifold questions of contemporary issues of the new generation. They should be lead in spirituality. To this, they should be nourished by the Word of God. The Christian education and the Sunday school stand for this. 

2. Wear the armor of God – Nurturing of Faith (Eph. 6:10-18)

St. Paul admonishes to wear the armor of God for the nurturing of Faith. We should oppose all evil forces and win over all challenges. Here armor means the spiritual qualities that we should have in our day to day life. We should wear truth, justice, peace, faith, salvation, meditation of Word of God and prayer every day in our Faith life. These are necessary to fight against the evils in the war field of Faith. 

3. Family and church: channels of nurturing of Faith  (Ps. 127)

Family is the source for the nurturing of Faith. Parents are the channels. The Lord builds the house (Ps.127:1). It is the responsibility of the parents to bring up their children who are given as an inheritance and fruit of the womb. Christian education should start at home. The model for children is found in the aggregate instructions found in Psalm 1. This Psalm starts with the words, “Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners…” (Ps.1:1) and this motto should guide the children towards persons with spiritual maturity. Due to many reasons such a model life is not possible for children at times, which cause wrong paths to be chosen. There are many things those may distract the modern generation that they may go astray. But the fellowship of the Church should lead them towards spiritually and morally giving them good value education. Therefore, it is said that the Lord gathered them those came to the Church in the first century (Acts 2:47). At this world Sunday school day let us realize that the nurturing of faith of the children is the total responsibility of the Christian church.

Prayer

God the Great Guru, Who builds and guards the people of God in Your wisdom, Make us obedient listeners of Your Word, mould us to be strong in You, enrobe us with the armor of God, enable us to stand firm in boldness to the mystery of the Gospel, so that we may humble ourselves to Your wisdom and turn to become like little children to be nurtured in Your word, to overcome the evils of this world, Through Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, One God, now and forever more. Amen.