Sunday School

Teaching Techniques & Methods Using Mnemonics and Association for the Young of Age

Lodgie James

• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Year: 2023
• Print ISBN: 9781635258257
• eBook ISBN: 9781635258264
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Education

Sunday school is the best department in the church to learn about God!

Many people are aware of the great promise given by God to children in Exodus 10: 12, "Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord they God giveth thee."

There is also a great promise given by God to parents regarding their children in Proverbs 22: 6, "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it."

Sunday school is one of the best ways to achieve this God-given promise. Sunday school teaches children the moral and ethical values of life according to God's Holy word.

LODGIE JAMES has been a pastor for over 25 years in San Francisco. One of his passionate areas in ministry is Sunday school.. Over many years he has developed and utilized the methods and techniques in this publication. They work! He is a graduate of the C.H. Mason Bible College and received his Doctorate in Christian Education from the East Bay Theological Seminary in 2011. He is married and has three adult children and eight grandchildren.

Chapter 1

Association

Example No. 1: Fruit of the Spirit

Use of the “association” method is similar in principle of how Jesus used parables in many of His teachings. The use of parables (associations) was something that people were familiar with, such as the following:

• The Parable of the Sower and the Seed—a great story for those familiar with farming and how seeds grow in different types of soil.

• The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant—a narrative demonstrating the requirement of forgiveness and compassion for one another. The issue of, “How can God forgive and show compassion for you if you refuse to do this for others?” is addressed.

• The Parable of the Good Samaritan—an excellent story of defining who your real neighbor is.

As an example for the association method, let us use the fruit of the Spirit as listed in Galatians 3:22–23, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.” Begin by asking the students to name their favorite fruits. You may get a good variety of answers from the students, such as,

• Watermelon

• Bananas

• Oranges

• Apples

• Strawberries

• Pears

• Apricots

• Plums

• Lemons

Encourage the students to name as many fruits as they can to get more involved and conversing with each other. To get them more involved and participating, you could ask them to further classify fruits by questions such as the following:

• What fruits are red?

• What fruits are very large?

• What fruits are very small?

• What fruits have seeds?

• What fruits are sour?

• Do they have any fruit trees in their yard?

• Do some fruits take longer to grow than others?

Please note the above questions take time, but your goal is to make the class fun for the students. It may be a little time-consuming, but this gets the students really excited and “prepped” for the biblical explanation of the fruit of the Spirit.

When the students have named as many fruit as they can think of, explain to them how Christians also have fruits that God (Holy Spirit) gives them. And then proceed with the nine fruits of the Spirit listed in Galatians 3:22–23:

1. Love

2. Joy

3. Peace

4. Long-suffering

5. Gentleness

6. Goodness

7. Faith

8. Meekness

9. Temperance

You can further explain to them that it may take time for these
“spiritual” fruits to grow like it does regular fruit to do. At some point, it is God’s desire that each Christian has all the fruits demonstrated in their life. To memorize the “fruit of the Spirit,” you can use the round-robin method of memorization, which is described later in this book.

Example No. 2: Books of the Bible

Ask the students in the class if they know the basic food groups. Depending on their answer, you should tell what they are:

• Grains/Beans

• Fruits

• Vegetables

• Meats

• Milk and dairy products

• Fats and sugars

Now begin naming different types of foods and ask the st...

Table of contents

• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• Chapter 1
• Chapter 2
• Chapter 3
• Chapter 4
• Chapter 5
• Chapter 6
• Chapter 7