St. Paul Lutheran Church, Austin
One word from Jesus, and death lets go.
Jesus walks up to the gate of a town called Nain and meets a funeral coming out. A widow is burying her only son. Nobody asks Jesus for anything, but He sees her, He has compassion on her, He tells her not to weep, and He says to the dead boy, "Young man, I say to you, arise." The boy sits up and starts talking, and Jesus hands him back to his mother.
Every room in the building is in Luke 7 this morning. The older classes are learning that death is not natural, that it came into the world as the punishment for sin, and that Jesus has broken it. The high schoolers are working on why the resurrection is a resurrection of the body and not a spirit floating free of one.
The short version, if a parent asks at pickup: Jesus is God, He is stronger than dying, and He is going to raise everyone who belongs to Him on the last day.
Jesus is alive, and He takes care of you.
Say. "Jesus is alive." Say it while you rock a baby, while you buckle a shoe, while somebody is crying. It does not need a big moment.
Sign. Trace the sign of the cross on a child's forehead, the way the Pre-K room opens every week, and say the words: "In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen." They will know this motion by Christmas.
Sing. Stanza 1 of "Jesus Loves Me," the same gathering song the Pre-K room uses, so a child who moves up mid-year already knows it. Sing it more than once. Repetition is the whole method down here. They are learning the sound of the Good Shepherd's voice before they can tell you a thing about Him.
Heavenly Father, thank You for these little ones. You made them to live, and You have promised them life with You that never ends. Keep them safe, keep them close, and bring them at last to the day when Your Son calls all His people out of their graves. For Jesus' sake. Amen.
Then pray the Lord's Prayer together, and close with the Apostolic Benediction.
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
These Sunday School Lessons are built especially for St. Paul Lutheran Church by Pastor Bryan Wolfmueller with Claude AI on the same Sunday Gospel Lesson.