Teaching and Learning

My days are filled with preparing for a new year of teaching and learning at First Church. To help learners claim the life of Jesus as their own is an awesome responsibility and challenges me to do the very best that I can. What makes a good teacher?

Jesus told of his experiences of God and humankind in stories. Obviously, he had a creative imagination that was fed by the people, places and events around him. His approach was fresh, surprising, new, and unexpected. He must have been a good listener, too. He had a great respect for his audience as his use of parables helped make things clear without being overbearing. He left the conclusions to the ones who heard. He rarely moralized after having told his stories. No wonder that his teaching made a great impression on them, because he taught and preached unlike the scribes (Mark 1:22)

I believe that as Christians, we are all called to teach and that our teaching depends on continued learning. Not all of us are meant to be Sunday school teachers, but we are all called to help one another grow in the faith by sharing our stories that have related us to God.

"May my teaching drop like the rain, my speech condense like the dew; like gentle rain on grass, like showers on new growth. For I will proclaim the name of the Lord; ascribe greatness to our God!" Deuteronomy 32:2,3.