Ever ask your children what they learned when they came home from school? Ever done that with Sunday School? Here’s your chance to bring Sunday School into the home. Below is a complete lesson outline for our 4 years old through 3rd grade Sunday School program.
Each session of Sunday School will have a main theme of a specific Fruit of the Spirit. And each individual week’s lesson will relate to the main theme through a Bible story and other activities. This outline will prepare you to talk with your children after Sunday School, and many Sundays they will bring home crafts they made or have a favorite activity to discuss.
Fruit of the Spirit – “God working in us” (Galatians 5:22-23)
Overall Theme: God isn’t telling us how we should act, but how we will act if we are experiencing the Holy Spirit.
1st Session (4 classes)
Love – involves imitating Jesus, the ultimate example of love, who loved us enough to die for us. What are we willing to do for others?
- September 18 – Jesus shows us how much death and unbelief both sadden him, and his love will overcome both. John 11
- September 25 – Jesus loved his disciples enough to do a servant task and Jesus even loved Judas, who would betray him. John 13:1-11
- October 2 – The Holy Spirit is God helping us to love others. John 20:19-23
- October 9 – Jesus says that to love him involves loving others. John 21:15-19
2nd Session (5 classes)
Joy – is heartfelt. It’s spontaneous and not contrived. A Christian shouldn’t try to be joyful, it just comes naturally if we’re really believing in God.
- October 16 – Paul and Silas in Prison, they’re still singing hymns and actually sharing their faith. Acts 16:19-32
- October 23 – The Bereans (men and women!) were so excited about what they heard they wanted to know more. Joy can be about learning and listening too. Acts 17:1-12
- October 30 – Paul is under house arrest and he’s still getting opportunities to share Christ. Acts 28:23-30
Peace – is not something inward. It implies what we do with each other, living in peace with others.
- November 13 – Ananias is afraid of Saul, but God can bring enemies together in peace. Acts 9:10-19
- November 20 – We’re actually sharing and doing things to help other people out, not just saying “peace be with you.” Acts 4:32-37
3rd Session (6 classes)
Patience – putting up with others even when we don’t want to
- December 4 – David’s older brother treats him harshly, but remember David eventually became king of everyone, including him. You never know what’s going to happen with the people we treat. I Samuel 17 (specifically verses 28-29)
- December 11 – Treating others well can avoid a lot of problems. Judges 8:1-3 compared to Judges 12:1-4. See also Proverbs 15:1
Kindness – the general way we act towards everyone. Does everyone see us the same way, or do we treat different people in different ways?
- January 8 – Paul says they were treating different people in different ways. Galatians 2:11-14
- January 15 – It’s the outcast woman who actually treats Jesus better than the “good guy.” Luke 7:36-50
Goodness – is actively working to help other people. We’re not just going to be nice if people come to us, but we’re going to go to others to help them.
- January 22 – Moses is scared to leave his comfort zone, but God promises He’ll always be with him. Exodus 4:1-17
- January 29 – The Good Samaritan goes and helps someone, who might not even like him because he’s a Samaritan. Luke 10:25-37
4th Session (5 classes)
Faithfulness – a sign that God is working in our lives. We believe in God because He’s helped us to believe in Him.
- February 12 – Enoch and Elijah had such real faith in God, that God took them to see Him personally. The same thing will one day happen to us. Genesis 5:5:24, 2 Kings 2:9-14
- February 19 – Abram doesn’t just believe in God, He believes that God will keep His promises, do what He says He will do. Genesis 15:1-7
- February 26 – Esau has more faith in food and earthly things than he does in God. Genesis 25:29-34
- March 4 – Joseph keeps on encountering setback after setback, but God is faithful to him. Genesis 39:1-6, 19-23
- March 11 – Joseph tells his brother that even with all the bad that’s happened, God brought good about through all of it. Genesis 50:15-21
5th Session (5 classes)
Gentleness – is almost the same as humility. None of us really deserve anything, even to be treated well. We do it because God has treated us well without us deserving it.
- March 25 – Jesus defends the woman because we’ve all messed up and nobody can really judge another. John 8:1-11
- April 1 – The prodigal son realizes he doesn’t deserve anything from the father, but the older brother has the idea he’s somehow earned his way. Luke 15:11-32
- April 15 – Other people may hate Levi, but Jesus recognizes it’s the hated people who need him most. Mark 2:13-17
Self-control – how we act matters, and we have God helping us out even when we’re ready to do something bad
- April 22 – James and John wanted to see bad things happen to those who reject Jesus, but Jesus himself has a different way of doing things. Luke 9:51-56
- April 29 – We pay things back with love, no matter how we’re treated. That’s how God acts towards us. Matthew 5:38-47
6th Session (4 classes)
- May 13 – Mary and Elizabeth celebrate the fact they are becoming mothers. The Holy Spirit blesses us and always gives us reason to celebrate with joy! Luke 1:39-56
- May 20 – The Prodigal Son returns home and the father welcomes home with more celebration. We should always celebrate the return those who are lost. Luke 15:11-32
The rest of the 2011-2012 curriculum will be posted as soon as it is available. We appreciate your patience.
