Commentaries

Week: March 31st - April 4th, 2025

3/31/2025 - Teaching about Religious Holidays

This Easter, public school teachers can explain the Gospel to their students.

Does that surprise you? Well, here’s what the U.S. Department of Education says about religious holidays in its newly published guidance on religious freedom in public schools:

“Although public schools may teach about religious holidays, including their religious aspects, and may celebrate the secular aspects of holidays, schools may not observe holidays as religious events or promote such observance by students.”

I like to put it this way: teachers should talk about “acknowledging” the holiday, not “celebrating” it class. Not every student will celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. But, to understand the American culture, all students should learn about it.

Do you know public school teachers? How about blessing them with this information. For details on the new guidance from the Department of Education, visit Free to Speak.

4/1/2025 - The Cross & The Psalm

Easter is approaching, and public schools can teach about it.

The U.S. Department of Education explains in its guidance on teaching about religion that “public schools may teach about religious holidays, including their religious aspects.” For Easter, this means telling, or reading, the story of Christ’s death and resurrection. Students can read the disciples’ account of the death of Jesus in the Gospels.

We’ve created a lesson that does this for public schools. We’ve paraphrased Luke 22 through 24, inserted cultural and literary references, and made it look like pages straight out of a textbook. Teachers can make copies of the pages and give them to students. It also explains how to teach about Easter in a way that legal and appropriate. For a free copy, visit Easter Lesson.

4/2/2025 - Easter Textbook Lesson

Christian young people know the Easter story of Christ’s death and resurrection, but they most likely don’t know its impact on history, literature, and culture.

It’s sad that many public school students don’t know the religious aspects of the Easter story. That can be fixed if educators will just teach the facts about the holiday. But it’s also important that students in our churches understand the cultural impact of the Easter story.

We’ve created a lesson that does this for Sunday schools and youth groups. We paraphrased Luke 22 through 24, inserted cultural and literary references, and made it look like pages straight out of a textbook. Churches can make copies of the pages and share them with their students and families. For a free copy, visit Easter Lesson.

4/3/2025 - Easter & MLK

Easter is coming and public school educators should teach their students the cultural and social impact of the death and resurrection of Jesus.

For example, Martin Luther King, Jr., was accused of being an extremist by local clergy after his protest in Birmingham, Alabama. In his famous “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” he wrote:

"In that dramatic scene on Calvary’s hill three men were crucified. We must never forget that all three were crucified for the same crime---the crime of extremism. Two were extremists for immorality, and thus fell below their environment. The other, Jesus Christ, was an extremist for love, truth and goodness, and thereby rose above his environment. Perhaps the South, the nation and the world are in dire need of creative extremists."

For a free copy of our public school lesson about Easter visit Easter Lesson.

4/4/2025 - Easter & Language Arts

With Easter approaching, public school teachers have an opportunity to help students understand how the story of Christ’s death and resurrection is reflected in language arts.

Several terms we use in literature and conversation come from the Easter story. We talk about somebody being a Judas - that is, a traitor. To suffer under something is referred to as "your cross to bear." To be criticized unfairly and persistently is sometimes referred to as being "crucified." An action or relationship that ruins someone is referred to as "the kiss of death." To disassociate from someone or something can be referred to as "washing my hands of this." A person who refuses to believe something until shown proof can be referred to as "a doubting Thomas."

For a free copy of our public school-friendly lesson on Easter, visit Easter Lesson.