Autumn/Winter 2020
All Saints Anglican Church
Junior and Senior Youth Sunday School: Youth Leadership – If Jesus Christ is the Answer…what is the Question?
To fight antireligious sentiment and Christian skepticism on campus, a freshman college student went into one of his lecture halls after class and wrote “Jesus Christ is the Answer!” in large print on the whiteboard. Feeling rather saintly, if he did say so himself, the young man returned to class the next day to find, “What was the Question?” written below the bold statement he had placed in defense of his Savior. The young Christian stood stunned, void of a response. The conundrum for the young man was that he was taught Jesus is the Answer, however, unfortunately for him, he was never taught why Jesus is the Answer. When our young adult Christians go into the world, they must be armed with the truth of their faith and the word of God. The truth of faith is knowledge. The word of God is the expression of that knowledge. In both the Old and New Testaments, the Armor of God is used symbolically as a defense against the world and darkness. The truth of faith is our Breastplate of Righteousness, and the word of God is both the Helmet of Salvation and the Sword of the Spirit. In St. Paul’s First Letter to the Thessalonians, he speaks of the breastplate as faith and love and the helmet as the hope of salvation in our Lord, Jesus Christ. It is beautiful and encouraging imagery. But how does that relate to the real world?
The goal of our study in leadership is to give our junior and senior youth the Armor of God in reality. Together we will strive to build religious literacy as we tackle such topics as the difference between subjective and objective morality, the understanding of contrition over attrition as repentant sinners, and much more. As our church youth approach adulthood, they should be prepared to face a worldly culture, which at times, can be hostile to their religious commitments. More than ever, they will need the skills to put their faith into practice. To do that, they must begin to bring their knowledge of the doctrine of our faith into effective comprehension, transforming these young believers into active and armed disciples. In short, the objective is for our youth to know that Jesus Christ is the Answer as well as why Jesus Christ is the Answer. As always, Scripture will be the foundation of our learning and students should bring a Bible with them to class each Sunday. In the Old Testament, we will explore the periods of Daniel and David in their youth and study St. Paul’s Epistles to Timothy and the Ephesians in the New Testament. We will learn new terms to improve our spiritual vocabulary and do fun exercises to develop humility, integrity, and wisdom. All of which are important to become better leaders in the Christian faith and the world. We at All Saints look forward to getting back to the work of Christian education on Sunday mornings. All Saints Church is both delighted and honored to be entrusted with your children.
Our Junior and Senior Youth Sunday School Class will begin on Sunday, September 13 at 9:45 in the large classroom of Simcox Hall.
