By: Richelle Milner

I never planned to teach preschool. I love to teach adults about God’s love and have led adult Bible studies for years. I was not looking to teach young children, but God has his own plans for us! When God called me to teach at Holy Cross Lutheran School, I really did not know how it was going to go! However, I knew without a doubt that God wanted me there, and I stopped questioning God long ago.

I learned a great deal during my first year of teaching at Holy Cross.

“I had no idea that most of the children who attend school here do not have any home church.”

Many of them have never been to church at all and would not know who Jesus is if they did not go to school here. What a joy and privilege it is to share Christ with the next generation!

It is wonderful to watch a child’s face change at their first moment of understanding. When they figure out how to add together numbers or put together sounds and read their first word, the look of pride, amazement, and joy is incredible! At the same time, we teach these kids how to interact with their world through…

• • Science
  • Social studies
  • Art
  • Social-emotional development.

Yet nothing has made teaching at the school more rewarding than getting to share Jesus and the fullness of His love with my students.

“They’ve never heard the stories from the Bible that we who have attended church all our lives tend to take for granted.”

They don’t need to analyze every little detail; they just listen and believe as each truth about God is revealed. It is good to return to that simple solid foundation of the gospel.

When we arrived at Holy Week last school year, the children were familiar with Jesus and knew Him as their loving friend.

“I was not prepared for the level of their emotion when I walked them through the crucifixion of Christ. I had to reveal what happened next immediately.”

The power and elation of His resurrection was reflected in their faces as we celebrated the truth of what God did for each one of them. What God did for each one of us.

They understood, they believed, and we celebrated God’s victory over sin and death for the rest of the school year. I will always thank God for allowing me to experience His love and care through the eyes of His precious children. I look forward to doing it again with each new group of students for as long as God calls me to teach at Holy Cross.

By: Christie Hampton

Here at Holy Cross Lutheran Church, we have moved from starting a social media account to the challenge of actually being effective in how we use it. So why?

“What is the purpose of using social media in the first place?”

For us at Holy Cross, social media is used to share God’s love, devotions, stories, images, and upcoming events.

According to Pew Research Center, nearly two-thirds of all adults are active on social media, and the average person is on social media 116 minutes a day (Social Media Today, “How Much Time Do People Spend on Social Media?” Nov. 28, 2018). The average person who attends Church attends eight to ten times a year.

“How are we as Christians engaging people during the 167 hours of the week outside of church service?”

Besides just informing social media users of opportunities, we share stories of people who have been impacted by the Holy Spirit. We want to engage our audience, giving opportunities for us to share hope, love, and encouragement. This strategy is hard work, but it’s worth it.

How blessed that we have the greatest message to communicate! As the Media and Website Coordinator here at Holy Cross, I’m so at peace knowing that it’s not my job to grow followers or likes on our page. God never put that in my job description. He has given many blessings of watching Him do the work on our social media platforms. Families who are home sick or traveling are able to join us Live on Facebook Sunday morning for the sermon. Many new members first learn about us online, and others receive encouragement and reminders of God’s truth during the week.

Our challenge as a church is to ask ourselves how we can use our social media pages to glorify God, build one another up, and have others see Him instead of us.

“Lord, please help people worship beyond Sunday to engage, connect, and grow in relationship with you.”