I spent part of this last week preparing to teach a Religious Emblem Class, God and Family, to a group of cub scouts. The class is designed to help youth understand the importance of family, as well as God’s role in a healthy family. The material is taught through a metaphor of pizza – because what 5th grader doesn’t love pizza? The first lesson is all about the crust, the foundation of a great pizza. Just as pizza needs a good crust, our faith needs a strong foundation. With faith as a foundation for our family, our family is stronger. With this strength, we won’t crumble during the hard times. What are the foundational pieces of our faith? I want to highlight a couple of them with two key scriptures. 

First, Deuteronomy 6:4-9. The Hebrew people had hundreds of laws to help them stay faithful to God and to live as God wanted them to live.  But in Deuteronomy, Moses lifts up the most important law – to love God. He reminded the Jewish people to teach this law to their children and to say it every day. Many Jewish families keep these words from Deuteronomy on their door frame in a mezuzah, a small container attached to the door frame that holds a parchment with the scripture written on it.  They may touch it every day as they pass through their door as a reminder to keep God first in their lives. 

4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. 6 Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. 7 Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. 8 Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead, 9 and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Jesus took these words, “Love the Lord your God” and added to them, “and Love your neighbor as yourself” as the greatest commandments in Matthew 22:36-40, reminding us that we cannot love God if we do not love our neighbor. This is a building block of the Christian faith that serves as the foundation for our families at home, our church family, and our community. 

The second scripture is John 3:16. This cornerstone belief of our faith centers on the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Matthew 28:1-10 tells the story of how Jesus rose from the dead, giving truth, meaning, and hope to God’s love. John 3:16 is a mini-story about God’s love. 

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.”

Each of us is important enough that God sent Jesus for you. Our response is faith in Jesus Christ. To help the children understand this, one of the activities in the God and Family class is to read John 3:16 aloud, adding their own names to the verse.  Try it now. Substitute “the world” and “everyone” with your own name. This is God’s promise to you – that you are important to God. But not just you. This is God’s promise to each member of God’s family. Each person is important enough that God sent Jesus for just that person. Next time you are having a hard time loving someone who may be different than you, try this exercise. Read John 3:16 aloud with their name, as a reminder that you will never look at another person God does not love. 

The God and Family course continues for six sessions, exploring sauce, toppings, and cheese to help the children understand key elements of the Christian faith and how their family can be strengthened by God’s plan. The final lesson is “Eat and Share” which teaches that God’s love is meant to be shared with those around us. The kids love this lesson because that means they get to eat the pizza they have been talking about for so long! As they eat their pizza, the children love to think of creative ways they can share God’s love with others, by meeting physical needs and by telling the story of Jesus!

How will you share the love of God this week?

Rev. Leigh-Anne Williams, Director of Family Ministries