Songs from Sunday School

            A friend of mine in Illinois recently reminded me of songs we learned in Sunday School. He had enjoyed learning those songs which remain in his memory. I got to thinking, “When was the first time I attended a Sunday School class?” As a child, we didn't go to church at all let alone some Sunday School class. I didn't even attend a Sunday School class when I was dating the daughter of a local Christian Church minister. My first Sunday School Class was probably at Christian Fellowship Baptist Church in Alexandria, Virginia in the early 1970's. I began to learn a lot of class songs by attending a weekly session of Child Evangelism Fellowship that would prepare teachers for the coming Sunday lesson. I was the junior church leader at that time. I missed out on a lot of those old songs but have picked some of them up during my later years. “Sunday schools were first set up in the 18th century in England to provide education to working children. William King started a Sunday school in 1751 in Dursley, Gloucestershire, and suggested that Robert Raikes start a similar one in Gloucester. Raikes was editor of the Gloucester Journal.” I have been very thankful for the Sunday School ministry in many of the churches in our country. It gives us a chance to look into the Word of God and to learn more about His Word and its application in our lives. Second Timothy 2:15 says, “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

          Today's verse is a famous one that is often the foundational verse for many religious school and colleges especially in our country. It was the theme verse for Washington Bible college The people have not always had the opportunity to learn God's Word for themselves. In recent years, it was up to the “clergy” to tell the people what the Bible said. They would receive instruction that if they had a question in regard to the Bible, go find a preacher or a priest and find out the answer. In fact, for many years, the public, the common folk, did not have access to a Bible. We have learned about men like Wycliffe and Tyndale who gave their lives translating the Bible for the common folk of the English speaking world. Not everyone has a copy of God's Word today. Mission agencies such as Wycliffe and New Tribes Mission and the Lutherans are still about the business of translating God's Word for various groups that currently do not have their own copy of God's Word. If you are reading this, you probably have a copy of the Bible and in fact, may have several copies around your home today. The average citizen of the U. S. A., probably has at least one or more copies of the Scriptures. Since we have access to the Bible so freely, the question may come up as to whether or not we are spending time reading what God has to say to us in His Word? We have no excuse. You probably have the Word on your computer, your phone, your tablet, your Kindle and your laptop but have you read a portion of it today? While missionaries gave their lives to translate the Scriptures, what are you giving up to read just a portion of it today? We need to praise God that we have our own copies of God's Word and spend time in hearing it, reading it, studying it, memorizing it and meditating on it. Praise Him for His Word today.