Renewing our hearts for learning God's Word
Sunday School is how churches share the major stories and themes of the Bible. It's not worship or fellowship, or a soccer team. It's unapologetically focused on learning the life-changing story and values you just can't get anywhere else. And we teach it in such a way that they'll both remember the Word, love it, and keep on reading it.
Through our love for learning the stories of scripture, we help children discover what it means to call Jesus their savior and how to have a lifelong relationship with him. That's why we come to Sunday School.
That makes your renewal or kickoff a great time to 
- Emphasize learning about the Bible
- Give out Bibles and Bible storybooks to students
- Hold a family night gameshow about "what's in your Bible"
- Review the upcoming stories the children will be learning.
- Preach sermons and give children's sermons about the Bible
- Have the preacher make a commitment to preach or deliver children's sermons about the lessons children are learning in Sunday School.
- Invite young people to be scripture readers in worship
- Start a "Big Stories of the Bible" program that has all the kids, adults, and worship services focusing on a number of key stories throughout the year at the same time. This could be a set of 8 or 10 "Big Story Sundays" throughout the year, each with a special event or theme.
Kids love making book covers, and they can easily make a Bible book cover for
- their own Bible or Bible storybook
- their family's Bible
- or their classroom Bibles
- And book covers make a great gift to remind fellow church members to study theirs!
- A scripture reading challenge made to the kids or the congregation
Make a brown paper bag Bible cover with a secret message!
Rather than a "bling" Bible cover, a brown paper bag Bible cover reminds us that
- God is a brown paper bag kind of God (what do we mean by that?)
- God's word is like groceries for the soul (how does the Bible feed us?)
- The metaphor of "food for the soul" opens up all sorts of teaching possibilities.
Here's one kind of brown paper bag Bible cover that can have a hidden message in it that's fun to open:
- First, poke a very small hole in the middle of the front of your paper bag Bible cover.
- Next, copy or write a message on a separate piece of paper, then use white glue to make a ring of glue behind the front cover of your brown paper bag Bible cover underneath the hole. Make the circle a little bit wider than the message on your white paper and center the white paper's message inside that ring of glue.
- Then when you give the cover to someone, invite them to discover why reading the Bible is so important (or whatever your message is about) by carefully PEELING BACK the center of the book cover to reveal the message. Encourage them to leave the strips of paper in place as a reminder of the gift.
What other messages could be on your Bible covers?
Speaking of where your treasure is...
Where is your Bible right now?
Go to Rotation.org's "About the Bible" lesson ideas for more ideas.
