Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6

Why should I go to school on Sunday?

Education is a hot topic in Singapore. From the time our children can walk and talk, we consider sending them to school, enrichment classes and other lessons.

Our aim: to provide our children with the best possible foundation for life.

The Junior Department has classes for children from Primary 3 to Primary 6 (ages 8+ to 12+). Our students are generally attending secular schools from Monday to Friday and possibly enrichment classes on weekends.

Isn’t Sunday School just another class? Why should they come to Sunday School after a full week of school?

On Sundays, our church has both Children’s Ministry worship services and Sunday School classes for the children.

Why is there a need for both, and how are they different? Children’s worship is to give the children an opportunity to worship God. Sunday School, as its name suggests, is a school, where students learn about God.

So if our children attend so many different church and educational classes, is Sunday School necessary?

We asked our students how Sunday School is different from everyday school.

Here are some responses:

From our P3 class:

Sunday School is about Christ Jesus and normal school is just about studies.– Micah Chia

Sunday School is different from everyday school because you learn about God. – Matthew Lum

From our P4 class:

I like Sunday School because we learn about the almighty God and what happened when God made the earth. We learn a lot more things like how God created the earth by just talking, then everything was perfect. God is very powerful and did many miracles. Sunday School is different because it is where we learn about the powerful and mighty God. Everyday school is where we learn about English, Chinese,  Science, Maths and so on. It is for us to have knowledge for our daily lives. – Grace Wee

I like Sunday School because we learn about the wonderful things God did. For example, we learnt about creation week, and the fall, and how God redeemed us and saved us from our sins. Sunday School is different from (normal) school as instead of learning everyday normal stuff we learn about the things I mentioned earlier. – Isaac Kum

From our P5 class:

As a student, I have had the opportunity to experience two different institutions – primary school and Sunday School. Both play different roles in my educational journey differing in teachings and focus.
In primary school, I acquire knowledge in different subjects, such as English, maths and science. I am taught problem-solving skills to help in the future as well as some extra knowledge from textbooks.
In contrast, Sunday School teaches me about God’s Word and to remain holy in manner of conversation. The environment is calm and sacred to praise God (for His) wonderful miracles, read the Bible and pray and more!
In a nutshell, both primary school and Sunday School are excellent places for me to gain understanding to help me in life. However, primary school teaches me skills that can help in future jobs, but Sunday School tells me about Jesus’ second coming and how to have eternal life. – Faith Lum

From our P6 class:

I will like to sum up the things different about my normal school and my Sunday school into five things. Firstly, I don't do normal school work in Sunday school, so I get to focus on the bible and its truths. Secondly, because I am homeschooled, I read and learn about the bible with my family or on my own, I don't read and learn about the bible with my friends, thus Sunday school gives me the opportunity to learn with my friends, and so we, along with our teachers, can also share about our life and our struggles we face in life, and how we should look at the different views that people think in a biblical world view, which is our Sunday school theme, and how we think different from the world. Thirdly, because I am homeschooled, I learn at my home, however, at Sunday school I read the bible and learn from it in a more solemn place, our church library. Fourthly, there is less distractions in a library than in my home. At my home I can play and fidget with my different toys, however at the church library I can study the bible in a place with less distractions, although I am guilty of getting distracted at Sunday school also. Lastly, I get to rest from all my daily work and can learn about God  and spend time learning about what He wants me to do. Come to Sunday school to learn more about God and how He has a plan for His people who believe in Him. - Elliot Ong

IN Sunday school we learn about God unlike in my normal school, we have friends that are Christians and some are not. I feel that Sunday school is more interesting than school time as we learn more about God and fun activities. School is all about exams and tests. I always feel stressed by the school's lesson but at Sunday School we feel happy and elated unlike being stressed, I enjoy the class.
The lesson I learnt help me learn more about God. It helps me improve on my knowledge on God. In fact, after class in Sunday School we have a discussion on prayer. We always talk it out and pray for each other. I enjoy Sunday School - Corine Xie

From these responses, we can see that our children enjoy the opportunity to fellowship with each other and learn more about God.

So, why should our children attend Sunday School? In Sunday School, we provide a systematic study of the Word of God. As our students have pointed out, in secular school, they learn Maths, Science, and languages. These are important subjects to prepare them for further education and adult life.

However, Sunday School nurtures their spiritual life. Through a systematic study of the Bible, our students are introduced to God and who He is. They then develop a Christian worldview. This Christian base is what is lacking in secular education.

The Sunday School Junior Department has four classes, and we meet at the Life Meeting Hall for singspiration with the Nursery/Primary Department every Lord’s Day at 9.40am. The students then proceed to their classes.

We welcome all children between ages of 8 and 12 (primary 3 to 6) to join us in studying God’s Word together.

 We also welcome brothers and sisters in Christ to join us as teachers. Just drop by the Life Meeting Hall on Sunday mornings after the 8am service to join us and find out more.

Trudy Lim-Dhevarajulu
Junior Department

Our Primary 3 class 

Venue: Cry Room 2
Teachers: Linda Listiyani, Christina Tarigan, Abigail Kusuma
Lessons: Truths for Life

Our Primary 4 class

Venue: Bell Tower
Teachers: Susan Yee, Grace Ong
Lessons: The Pathway of Promise

Our Primary 5 class 

Venue: Balcony Room 3
Teachers: Chiam Tok Ling, Elsie Lim
Lessons: Living in God’s Love

Our Primary 6 class

Venue: Library
Teachers: Adrian Kum, Lim Minli
Lessons: Basics for a Biblical World View