Rebecca Kirkpatrick is an ordained pastor in the PC(USA) and has written an interesting blog called called “Bread, Not Stones” from her experiences teaching the Confirmation Class at her local church. She has also published a new book, “100 Things Every Child Should Know Before Confirmation.” It’s worth reading!
Over the course of the next several months, we’ll be re-posting her blog posts for you as she tackles the privilege of guiding our children into a deeper, more trusting relationship with Jesus Christ. May her thoughts, your coaching, and your child’s active participation with their FPC Sunday School small group work together to raise your child to be a faithful follower of our Lord!
In teaching the Ten Commandments to children, it is certainly helpful to start them off with the story of where they came from. You can talk to them about God meeting Moses on Mt. Sinai and teaching him the laws that the people were to follow. What could be better than the image of Moses carrying these two heavy stone tablets down to the people only to discover them breaking numbers 1 and possibly 2 already? Then he smashes them to pieces – how exciting!
It is a bigger question to consider how we teach our children to actually follow the Ten Commandments. While there are a variety of Sunday school posters or charts that we might use, in reality we teach our children to follow the Ten Commandments in pretty simple ways.
Carolyn Brown, on her blog Worshiping with Children, has a great exercise to do with children: helping them to write opposite commandments as a way to help them understand what the actual commandments are trying to teach.
When a student starts Confirmation class, the key is not to make sure that they are not lying, stealing, coveting or worshiping idols – but to make sure that they know that the Bible teaches in very clear ways that these are not God’s intentions for us.
16. You shall worship God alone
17. You shall not make any idols of God
18. You shall not abuse the name of God
19. You shall keep the Sabbath holy
20. Honor your father and mother
21. You shall not murder
22. You shall not commit adultery
23. You shall not steal
24. You shall not lie
25. You shall not covet what your neighbor owns