St. Jonathan Facebook ad: “Deepen Your Faith Every Day”

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A mom in the back row rolled her eyes when Lucas asked why God chose David, but she stopped scrolling her phone when I started to explain. But that wasn't the first time Lucas asked that question. The first time, three weeks earlier, I froze. It was a Sunday morning in October. I was teaching my second and third grade class. Eight kids sitting on carpet squares in the church basement. We were doing David and Goliath. Safe territory. It's a story everyone knows with lots of pictures in the curriculum. I read the story from the teaching guide. David was the youngest. His brothers were soldiers. Goliath was a giant. Everyone was afraid. David volunteered. Five smooth stones. One shot. Giant falls. Israel wins. "So what does this teach us?" I asked. A girl named Emma raised her hand. "We should be brave like David." "Exactly," I said. "God can use anyone, no matter how small." Then Lucas raised his hand. Seven years old. Sitting cross-legged in the front row. "Why did God choose David instead of his older brothers?" he asked. I froze. "Well," I said, "David was brave. He had faith." "But his brothers were soldiers," Lucas said. "They were stronger than him right? So why didn't God pick one of them?" "That's... that's a great question for your parents," I said. "Let's move on to our craft activity." I handed out construction paper and glue sticks. The kids started making slingshots out of popsicle sticks. But I saw a woman sitting in the back of the room. Lucas's mom. She'd been on her phone the whole class. When Lucas asked the question, she looked up. Made eye contact with me. And then went right back to scrolling. Like she'd expected exactly what just happened. Like she'd seen me dodge questions before. After class, she walked out without saying a word. I stood there holding a pile of popsicle sticks thinking... she knows I didn't answer him. I've been teaching Sunday School for fifteen years. 15 years. My kids were in the class when I started. They needed volunteers. I said yes because I'd grown up in church and I knew the stories. And for fifteen years, I've stuck to the same rotation. Noah's Ark… Moses and the Red Sea… David and Goliath… Daniel and the Lions' Den… Jesus's parables… Easter… Christmas… Stories where the point is obvious and the kids don't ask complicated questions. I avoided entire sections of the Bible. Like the prophets, the epistles, Revelation… Books I didn't understand, and that would require me to explain context I didn't have. And whenever a kid asked "why," I deflected. "Why did God flood the whole earth?" "Because people were really bad, sweetie. Let's color our rainbow now." "Why did God tell Abraham to sacrifice Isaac?" "God was testing him, sweetheart. Now, here's your craft." I'd gotten really good at deflection. Really good at redirecting to the activity before anyone noticed I hadn't actually answered. But parents noticed. I could tell. The way they looked at me when they picked up their kids. The way they stopped asking me questions about what we'd learned. They knew I was just reading the curriculum. Just managing the classroom. Not actually teaching. Two weeks after the David and Goliath class, the children's pastor asked to meet with me. "I've had a few parents mention they're concerned about the depth of teaching in your class," he said. My stomach dropped. "What do you mean?" I asked. "They said the kids ask good questions and you redirect to activities instead of answering." "I'm teaching second and third graders," I said. "They don't need deep theology." "They need context," he said. "They need to know who, when, why, what. Otherwise they're just hearing disconnected stories." "I follow the curriculum," I said. "The curriculum assumes the teacher knows the background," he said. "It's written for the kids, not for you. You're supposed to bring the context." He pulled a thin guide out of his desk. Sixty-six pages. "Try this," he said. "One page for every book of the Bible. Just tells you who wrote it, when, why, what was happening. Read the page before you teach the story." I took it… but I didn't open it right away. Because it felt like an admission that fifteen years wasn't enough. That I'd been faking it this whole time. But the next Sunday, I was planning the lesson. First Samuel. David being anointed king. I opened the guide to 1 Samuel. "Samuel wrote this book around 1000 BC to show Israel how they transitioned from judges to kings. The people demanded a king like other nations, and God gave them Saul. But Saul disobeyed, and God chose David instead. The key theme is that God looks at the heart, not outward qualifications. David was the youngest, a shepherd, overlooked by everyone including his own family. But God saw his heart and chose him to be the king who would lead Israel and point forward to the ultimate King, Jesus." I sat there staring at that page. That's why God chose David. Not because he was brave. But because God looks at the heart. David's brothers were focused on outward strength and military ability. But David's heart was focused on God. The whole book of 1 Samuel is about this. Outward qualifications versus inward character. I'd taught David and Goliath a dozen times. I'd never known this. Three weeks later, I taught the story again. Different quarter, same curriculum rotation. But this time, before I read anything, I said, "We're learning about David today. But before we talk about the giant, I want to tell you why God chose David in the first place." I explained. David was the youngest. His brothers were soldiers. When the prophet Samuel came to anoint a new king, everyone assumed it would be one of the older, stronger brothers. But God told Samuel, "I don't look at what people look at. People look at appearance. I look at the heart." And when Samuel saw David, God said, "This is the one." Lucas raised his hand. Same kid. Same question. "So God picked David because he loved God more than his brothers did?" "Yes," I said. "David wasn't stronger or smarter or more qualified. But he had a heart that wanted to follow God. And that's what mattered." Lucas's mom was in the back row. Same seat. Phone in her hand. But she wasn't scrolling anymore. She was watching me. Listening. Lucas nodded. "Okay, I understand." I kept teaching. When we got to Goliath, another kid asked, "Why was David the only one brave enough to fight?" And I knew the answer. Because David had already learned to trust God when he fought lions and bears as a shepherd. He'd seen God protect him before. So when everyone else saw a giant, David saw an opportunity to show God's power. I wasn't reading that from the curriculum. I was explaining it from understanding. After class, Lucas's mom came up to me. "That was different," she said. "Different how?" "You actually answered his question," she said. "Three weeks ago, you told him to ask his parents. Today, you explained it. What changed?" I showed her the guide. She took it. Flipped through it. Read the page on 1 Samuel. Then Genesis. Then Jonah. "Where did you get this?" she asked. "The children's pastor gave it to me," I said. "He said I needed to bring context, not just read the curriculum." "Can I get one?" she asked. "Check with him," I said. "I think he has extras." She kept reading. "I've been sitting in the back of this room for two years waiting for my son. I've heard you teach the same stories over and over. And every time a kid asks why, you change the subject. I thought you just didn't care." "I cared," I said. "I just didn't know." "Well, you know now," she said. "And Lucas noticed. He told me on the way home, 'Miss Sarah knows so many things now.'" Over the next month, I read all 66 pages. Every single one. And I started teaching books I'd avoided for fifteen years. Jonah. I used to skip it because I didn't understand why God cared about Nineveh. Now I knew. Jonah was written after the exile to show Israel that God's mercy extends even to their enemies. The whole book is about God's compassion versus Israel's bitterness. When I taught it, a kid asked, "Why did God send Jonah to Nineveh instead of just destroying them?" I didn't freeze. I didn't deflect. I said, "Because God wanted to give them a chance to turn back to Him. Nineveh was Israel's enemy. They'd hurt Israel for years. But God still loved them. And He wanted them to repent." The kid's eyes went wide. "So God loves bad people too?" "God loves everyone," I said. "Even people who've done terrible things. And He gives everyone a chance to turn back to Him." Lucas's mom was in the back again. Phone in her lap, not in her hand. After class, she came up. "I need to tell you something," she said. "I've been a Christian my whole life. I've sat through hundreds of Sunday School lessons. And I've never understood Jonah until just now." She pulled out her phone. "Can you text me the name of that guide?" I did. And two weeks later, she told me she'd ordered three copies. One for her, one for her sister, one for her mom. "We're reading through it together," she said. "Every book. It's the first time the Bible has ever made sense to me." Three months later, Lucas's mom started volunteering in my class. She uses the guide to prep just like I do. And last month, the children's pastor told me he's been recommending it to every Sunday School teacher in the church. "The difference in your class is night and day," he said. "Parents are noticing. Kids are noticing. You're not just managing the room anymore. You're actually teaching." Since then, I've given this guide to: Every volunteer in children's ministry. We all prep with it now before we teach. Parents who sit in the back scrolling their phones. I hand it to them and say, "If you want to understand what we're teaching, start here." New teachers on their first day. I tell them, "Read this before you teach anything. It'll save you fifteen years." My own kids, who are in high school now. So they can understand what they're reading instead of just knowing the stories. And I keep extras in my classroom. Because when a parent asks how I teach now, I don't just tell them. I show them. Look, I've been teaching Sunday School for fifteen years. I should have had this on day one. But nobody ever taught me the context. They taught me the stories. They taught me the moral lessons. They never taught me who, when, why, what. This guide gave me what I should have had all along. And now when a kid asks "why," I don't panic. I don't deflect. I don't change the subject. I just answer. If you've been teaching kids the Bible but live in fear of their questions… If you stick to safe stories because you're terrified of the hard books… If you've been deflecting instead of explaining… this is what every Sunday School teacher should have before they step into a classroom. Right now, if you get two of these guides, you get one free. One for you, one for another teacher, one for a parent sitting in the back row wondering why you can't answer their kid's questions. Or you can get just one for yourself. It's 35% off right now. I'm still teaching Sunday School. Still in the church basement every Sunday with second and third graders. But now when Lucas raises his hand, I don't freeze. I just answer... because I finally know. — EDIT: Oops, almost forgot to give you the link to get the guide. Here it is below:

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