GETTING TO KNOW GOD: BIBLE BASICS Week 3: God Speaks Through the Bible LEADER PREPARATION

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1 GETTING TO KNOW GOD: BIBLE BASICS Week 3: God Speaks Through the Bible This includes: Leader Preparation Lesson Guide LEADER PREPARATION BIBLE BASIS God has spoken to and through his people from the beginning of time using many means. One important way God speaks to us is through his Word. He reveals his character through the history of his people. He shows his presence in the book of Psalms. He tells us how to live through the Ten Commandments, the book of Proverbs, and Jesus teachings. And God tells us how to have a close friendship with him. Use this lesson to help children listen to and obey God s Word as they learn to understand God through his Word. DISCOVERY POINT God speaks through the Bible. BIBLE FOCUS Psalm 119: KEY VERSE Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path (Psalm 119:105). TEACHING PREP The short overview below is designed to help you prepare for your lesson. Supplies You ll Need: Getting to Know God: Bible Basics (Year 1/Quarter 1) CD, LIVE Children s Curriculum (Year 1) DVD, CD player, TV/DVD player, paper, scissors, Emotions handout, Bibles, flashlight, newsprint, marker, tape, and pencils Before This Lesson Print the Emotions handout, and cut apart the sections. Make sure there will be one emotion card for every two kids. You ll also want to keep one entire handout to read aloud. Assemble Bible Exploration Kits (one per four kids): Bible, one pair of scissors, one pencil, and a half-sheet of paper per child. Make one large newsprint poster with these questions on it: What did the writer of this psalm learn from God s Word? How did this psalm writer learn so much? What can we learn from this psalm writer? Post it at the front of the room. Review Psalm 119: Cue "Into the Bible" (Track 1) on the Getting to Know God: Bible Basics (Year 1/Quarter 1) CD or (Quarter 1/Track 1) on the LIVE Children s Curriculum (Year 1) DVD. Huddle briefly with your volunteers beforehand. Answer any questions they have. Encourage them and pray.

2 PARENT We ve provided you with a Family Devotion handout to send the Bible learning and faith discovery home. When kids and parents have faith discussions regularly, kids faith multiplies. So we ve given you two options: Print the Family Devotion handout and make enough copies for each child to take one home. the Family Devotion to families before or after the actual lesson. Or why not do both? That way you ll double the opportunities for parents to actually get the handout.

3 GETTING TO KNOW GOD: BIBLE BASICS Week 3: God Speaks Through the Bible LESSON GUIDE WELCOME! Supplies: Getting to Know God: Bible Basics (Year 1/Quarter 1) CD, LIVE Children s Curriculum (Year 1) DVD, CD player, TV/DVD player, prepared Emotions handouts 1. Play Into the Bible (Track 1) from the Getting to Know God: Bible Basics (Year 1/Quarter 1) CD or (Quarter 1/Track 1) from the LIVE Children s Curriculum (Year 1) DVD, as kids arrive. Into the Bible Makes me wanna jump! Jump! Jump! Jump! Jump! Makes me wanna sing! Hallelujah! It s the greatest book. Come and take a look. Makes me wanna shout! Shout! Shout! Shout! Shout! So that everyone will see I m getting into the Bible And the Bible...is getting into me! We re discovering a brand-new world As we dig a little deeper (deeper), Finding out about who God is. Open it up and see it (see it)! There s nothin like God s Word, and I get So excited. It makes me wanna, Makes me, Makes me wanna jump! Jump! Jump! Jump! Jump! Makes me wanna sing! Hallelujah! It s the greatest book. Come and take a look. Makes me wanna shout! Shout! Shout! Shout! Shout! So that everyone will see I m getting into the Bible And the Bible...is getting into me! Into the Bible by Jay Stocker Group Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved. Permission to use lyrics granted for local church use only. No unauthorized duplication permitted. 2. As kids arrive, have them form pairs. Then give each pair one of the emotions from the Emotions handout. Tell each pair to decide on a facial expression that shows the emotion.

4 (If you have a pair of nonreaders, simply tell the children what emotion they should be demonstrating.) Then have pairs try to guess other pairs emotions without giving verbal clues. 3. Officially begin by playing Bible Countdown (Quarter 1/Countdown Track 2) on the LIVE Children s Curriculum (Year 1) DVD, and turn the volume way up. Lead kids in cheering along. 4. SAY: Welcome! I saw some very emotional faces as we were gathering. I d like to see all of them. As I read each emotion, all of you can make a face to show that emotion. When you hear the emotion you were given, stand up and show everyone else. Read the handout, pausing after each emotion. ASK: How did you know what kind of face to make for each emotion? Where do you turn for help when you re feeling sad, mad, lonely, or any of these other emotions? SAY: There s one place you can always turn for help with all these feelings: God s Word, the Bible. God speaks through the Bible. God uses it to tell us what to do. LET S EXPLORE! Supplies: assembled Bible Exploration Kits, flashlight, prepared newsprint 1. Have kids form Bible Crews of no more than four. Hand out the Bible Exploration Kits. SAY: Let s try something as we get started. Everyone will need one of the halfsheets of paper and a pencil from your Bible Exploration Kit. Pause while crews get the supplies. Make sure you know exactly where your paper and pencil are because I m turning off the lights! Turn off the lights. (Make sure the room is as dark as possible. Talk to the kids while the lights are off to encourage and reassure them.) Now draw a detailed picture of yourself. Give kids several minutes to complete their drawings, and then turn on the lights. ASK: What was it like to draw in the dark? Why is seeing so important? SAY: We need light to see what we re doing. Listen to what God says about the Bible being a light. Close your eyes and hear from God s Word. Just listen while I read this Scripture to you. Read Psalm 119:105. ASK: How is God s Word, the Bible, like a light? How can the Bible tell us what to do when we re feeling sad, mad, lonely, or any of the other feelings you illustrated so well during our opening time? 2. SAY: God has spoken to us for thousands of years through his Word, the Bible. Even today God speaks through the Bible. Read Psalm 119: Find Psalm 119 in your Bible. You just listened to one part of this psalm. Pause while kids find Psalm 119. Now find verses Together in your crews, read these verses again. Then answer the three questions on this newsprint. Be sure everyone on your crew has a chance to answer each of the questions. When crews have finished, ask for two or three answers for each question, making sure each crew answers at least one question. 3. SAY: This psalm writer understood that God speaks through the Bible. He spent a lot of time reading and thinking about God s Word. God still speaks to us today.

5 ASK: What kinds of things does God say through the Bible? How did God speak to you through the Bible today? How can you hear God speak to you through the Bible after today? SAY: God speaks through the Bible; there s no doubt about it. We can find answers to help us with any situation. Today we ve seen only a few examples of the many ways God speaks through the Bible. LET S PRAISE! Supplies: Getting to Know God: Bible Basics (Year 1/Quarter 1) CD or LIVE Children s Curriculum (Year 1) DVD, CD player or TV/DVD player 1. SAY: Just like the psalm writer, I want to praise God when I realize how much God speaks through the Bible! Let s take a few minutes to praise God for speaking to us. 2. Set up the Getting to Know God: Bible Basics (Year 1/Quarter 1) CD or the LIVE Children s Curriculum (Year 1) DVD. PLAY: He Cares For You (1 Peter 5:7) (CD Track 2) (DVD Quarter 1/Track 2) What are you worried about now? Trying to figure it out now- God knows right where you are now. You know it s all in his hands now. You know he cares for you; He always cares for you. You know he ll see you through; He ll always see you through. (Chorus) Cast all your anxiety On him Because he cares for you. He cares for you. Cast all your anxiety On him Because he cares for you. He cares for you. Jesus cares for you. (Repeat from beginning.) What are you worried about now? Trying to figure it out now- God knows right where you are now. You know it s all in his hands now. He Cares for You (1 Peter 5:7) by Jay Stocker Group Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved. Permission to use lyrics granted for local church use only. No unauthorized duplication permitted. No Greater Gift (CD Track 3) (DVD Quarter 1/Track 3)

6 Not a gift that we can earn, So much more than we deserve. It would take a million words To thank you for your love! Not a gift that we can earn, So much more than we deserve. It would take a million words To thank you for your love! Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah, hey! Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah, hey! Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah, hey! Not a gift that we can earn, So much more than we deserve. It would take a million words To thank you, Thank you, Thank you for your love! No Greater Gift by Jay Stocker Group Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved. Permission to use lyrics granted for local church use only. No unauthorized duplication permitted. You Are the Messiah (CD Track 5) (DVD Quarter 1/Track 5) You healed the sick, You made the blind to see, You walked on water, And you set us free. There is no other like you How could we ever doubt you? You are, you are, you are the Messiah.

7 You broke the chains That kept your people bound. You gave your life So that we could be found. There is no other like you How could we ever doubt you? You are, you are, you are the Messiah. The Son of the living God, The Son of the living God, You are, you are the Messiah. You Are the Messiah (Matthew 16:16) by Jay Stocker Group Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved. No unauthorized duplication permitted. LET S PRAY! Supplies: assembled Bible Exploration Kits and drawings from Let s Explore! 1. SAY: I m so grateful that God speaks through the Bible. Get out the drawing you made in the dark. Use the scissors in your Exploration Kit to turn your paper into a shape that reminds you that God speaks through the Bible. The shape could be a lamp, a flashlight, or even an open Bible anything that s meaningful to you. When all the scissors are put away, I ll turn off all the lights but one. Spend some time talking with God about how he s the light for your life. When you re ready, quietly come and sit near the light. The room should be very quiet since this is a time you talk only to God. I ll turn the lights on when our prayer time is finished. 2. Watch for kids to finish cutting, and then turn off as many lights as possible. After a few minutes of prayer time, turn the lights back on. HIGH FIVES Supplies: none SAY: Today as we re getting ready to leave, let s give God our high fives. Let s thank him because God speaks through the Bible. What does it look like to give God a high five? Pause for kids to demonstrate their responses. Give him as many high fives as you d like! FOR-EXTRA-TIME ACTIVITIES A Lamp for Me Supplies: AA batteries, small LED or flashlight bulbs, copper wire, wire cutters

8 Help kids make their own flashlights. Give each child a battery, a light bulb, and a 5-inch length of wire. Have kids wrap the wire around the bulb so the bulb is in the center of the wire. Have them touch one end of the wire to each end of the battery. The light should work. Talk with the kids about how God s Word, the Bible, is a light for us. Hiding It in Your Heart Supplies: scissors, paper, pencils Have kids look again at the Key Verse, Psalm 119:105, and then talk about what it means. Then ask kids to each trace one of their feet onto a piece of paper and cut it out. Have them write the verse on their footprints and add symbols that help explain what it means (for example, a light, a path). Ask kids to put their footprints on the floor to make a footprint path. As they walk along the path, they can repeat the verse. Create a Bible Dictionary Supplies: paper, markers, dictionary, CD player, Getting to Know God: Bible Basics (Year 1/Quarter 1) CD Ask kids to create one or more pages, each with a new word, for a Bible dictionary. Have kids suggest words from today s lesson Bible and guide are two suggestions. Have them write each word on a sheet of paper in fun letters, add a definition, list Scripture references, and make illustrations. Play The Books of the Bible Song, (Track 8) from the Getting to Know God: Bible Basics (Year 1/Quarter 1) CD while kids work. Add each page to a three-ring binder, and watch the dictionary grow!