- Why shouldn t a person walk in the counsel of the wicked? (A person will miss the blessing of God if he chooses to live by wicked counsel.

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1 Lesson One Psalm 1 Early Arrival Activity: (15 minutes or until all your students arrive) Today your students will learn about how we are to be like trees with strong roots. As a way to introduce the lesson, your students will paint trees onto paper plates, which will have a ribbon attached so that it looks like a frame. Spread out newspapers to cover the table. Then give each student a paper plate and a piece of ribbon. Instruct them to tape the ribbon to the top and back of the paper plate. Also give each student a small paintbrush. Have green, brown, yellow, red and orange paint on a plate and one plate of paint at each table. Instruct your students to paint a tree trunk with roots (provide an example on the board) and then add the tree top. Ask them to write the following words on the roots (one word per root): Jesus, the Bible, prayer and church. Set the plates aside to dry. Your students will take these framed trees home to remind them to stay rooted in God s Word. Supplies Needed: Paper plates, ribbon, scissors, tape, newspapers, paintbrushes, paint (green, brown, yellow, red and orange paint is needed), paper towels, whiteboard or chalkboard, dry- erase marker or chalk Reinforcement Activity: (10-15 minutes) Play a review game with your students. Have your students sit in a circle on the floor. Play Hot Potato by using a beanbag or a small ball. Ask one of the teachers to start the music and instruct the students to pass the beanbag around the circle. When the music stops, whoever is holding the beanbag will try to answer the review question. You can use the following questions: - What did Psalm 1:2 say we are to delight in and meditate on day and night? (God's Law) - What thing from nature is a righteous man compared to in Psalm 1? (a tree) - What part of the tree gathers the nutrients and water and holds the tree up? (the roots) - What are we to be rooted in if we want to be strong in the Lord? (God s Word) - Which part of the grain were the wicked people compared to in Psalm 1? (the chaff) - Who is the only one who can give us hearts that delight in God s Word? (Jesus) - Who is the only perfect person who ever lived on earth? (Jesus) - What kind of things do we need to do in order to be strongly rooted in the Lord? (read the Bible, pray, go to church, have godly friends, obey the Lord, etc.) More advanced thinking questions: - Why shouldn t a person walk in the counsel of the wicked? (A person will miss the blessing of God if he chooses to live by wicked counsel.)

2 - What does sits in the seat of scoffers mean? (hanging around with people who mock Christianity or God) - How do we avoid sitting in the seat of scoffers? (We can quietly slip away from them or if we have a good relationship with those people we could politely tell them what we believe about Jesus.) - What does the Bible say about when we should meditate on the Word? (The blessed person mediates on the Word day and night.) - Talk about the life of a tree and make spiritual connections to this illustration. (The tree starts as a seedling; needs sunshine, air, water and soil; is held in place by the roots of the other trees around it and thrives in the right environment. The tree also provides shade and comfort to any who sit in it or under it and offers a great place to play. The tree doesn t reject trials that come its way; rather, it trusts the Creator to sustain it.) Treasure Verse Learning Activity: (10 minutes) Today s Treasure Verse is Psalm 3:3: But you, O LORD, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head. Write the verse on the board and read it once together as a class. Tell your students that they are going to be like a radio and that you are going to control the volume. As they read the verse, you are going to raise and lower your arm. When you raise your arm, the students will get louder as they say the verse. When you lower your arm, your students volume will get softer. Continue until your students can say the verse without looking at it. Supplies Needed: Whiteboard or chalkboard, chalk or dry- erase marker My Mission Activity: (10 minutes) Ask your students to get their paper plates from the Early Arrival Activity and then sit in a circle on the floor. Look at each of their pictures and briefly talk about the colors used and the way the roots were painted. Talk about the importance of roots and their function. Roots collect nutrients and water from the soil. In order for the tree to grow and remain healthy, the roots have to search and sometimes stretch far out to collect the nutrients and water. Compare that to how we need to make an effort to stay in God s Word. We need to search the Scriptures and pray even when we may not feel like it. The students mission this week is to spend a few minutes every day reading God s Word and praying. Remind them that a tree with very shallow roots can easily fall over when the wind blows. By neglecting God s Word and not praying, we will grow very shallow roots. God wants us to be rooted strongly in his Word. Discuss practical ways to read the Bible this week. Ask for volunteers to share if they have a quiet time and how they do it. Teach your students how to keep a spiritual journal. Talk about what time might work best, what book of the Bible to start with and how much to read. Emphasize the importance of praying for Jesus to speak to their hearts as they read the Bible.

3 Lesson Two Psalm 2 Early Arrival Activity: (15 minutes or until all your students arrive) As each student comes to class, ask them to tell you one thing that they fear. Write their responses on separate index cards but do not show these cards to the students. Once you have several objects written down, invite one student at a time to come forward and hand them an index card with a fear written on it. Be sure that the student doesn t say this fear out loud. The students will then have one minute to draw that fear while the class tries to guess the drawing. Reinforcement Activity: (10-15 minutes) To review the concept of heeding God s warning and paying attention to warning signs, your students will make warning signs to remind them not to turn from God. Provide large craft sticks (popsicle sticks), cardstock or construction paper, markers, scissors and tape. Draw a stop sign on the board and ask your class to identify the sign and explain what it is telling people. Ask them to create their own signs to help them remember the danger of turning away from the Lord. Supplies Needed: Large craft sticks, construction paper, markers, scissors, tape Treasure Verse Learning Activity: (10 minutes) Today s Treasure Verse is Psalm 3:3: But you, O LORD, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head. Write the verse on the board and say it together as a class. Instruct your students to sit in a circle on the floor. Toss an inflatable ball around the circle. As the children catch the ball, they will say the next word of the verse. Begin erasing the verse as the ball is tossed around the circle. Supplies Needed: Whiteboard or chalkboard, chalk or dry- erase marker, inflatable ball My Mission Activity: (10 minutes) Invite your students to share the warning signs they made in the Reinforcement Activity. Discuss how warning signs protect us and help us change directions when we are on a dangerous path. Discuss some dangerous paths your students may face, such as the temptation to cheat on a test, the desire to act in anger toward a friend or thoughts about disobeying a parent. Talk about what warning signs God has given us, such as the Holy Spirit convicting us, the Bible telling us how to live, parents guiding us and godly leaders teaching us. The students mission this week is to be aware of the warning signs that they are turning away from the Lord. Encourage your students to ask themselves: Am I praying every day? Am I reading my Bible every day? Am I acting in kindness to others? Am I asking Jesus to make me

4 more like him? Emphasize that they cannot follow God on their own power; they need Jesus to help them.

5 Lesson Three Psalm 3 Early Arrival Activity: (15 minutes or until all your students arrive) Today s lesson will cover Psalm 3 and will encourage your students to trust in the Lord and to find refuge in him. This activity will focus on Psalm 3:5: I lay down and slept; I woke again, for the LORD sustained me. Your students will make a small pillow to help them remember that God is with them while they are asleep and when they are awake. Pass out a section of felt material the size of a sheet of notebook paper to each student. Instruct them to fold the felt in half with the shorter ends together and write the reference of Psalm 3:5 on the felt material with a permanent marker. Next, they will use tacky glue to glue the two short sides together. Instruct them to use pressure to hold the ends together once they have glued them. Allow the glue to dry for a few minutes. Then have them use cotton balls, stuffing material or toilet paper to stuff their pillows. Encourage them not to overstuff the pillow because they will need to glue the open side together once they have finished stuffing. Remind them to place pressure on the seam after gluing the long end together. Set the pillows aside to dry. Encourage the students to take their pillows home and use them at night to remember that God is always there and wants them to come to him in prayer. He also wants us to spend time in his Word. They can always trust God. Supplies Needed: Felt material, tacky glue, permanent marker, cotton balls or other material to stuff pillows Reinforcement Activity: (10-15 minutes) To reinforce the importance of trusting God completely, your students will make bracelets with the word trust on them. Pass out bracelet cords and beads with letters that will spell out trust. Instruct the students to place the letters on the bracelet cord so that they form the word trust. They may add decorative beads if they want. Help your students tie the bracelets onto their wrists. Encourage them to take their bracelets home and share today s Treasure Story with their parents. Supplies Needed: Alphabet beads with the letters to spell trust, decorative beads, bracelet cords, scissors Treasure Verse Learning Activity: (10 minutes) Today s Treasure Verse is Psalm 3:3: But you, O LORD, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head. Encourage your students to find the verse in their Bibles and read it together as a class. Write the verse on the board. Instruct your students to sit on the floor shoulder- to- shoulder in a line. The first person in line will jump up and say the first word of the verse. The next person will jump up and say the next word and so on. As they continue this activity, begin erasing the verse. Repeat until the students can say the verse from memory.

6 Supplies Needed: Whiteboard or chalkboard, chalk or dry- erase marker My Mission Activity: (10 minutes) The students mission this week is to trust God with their fears. Just like they have learned to stop, look and listen before crossing a street, they need to stop, pray and trust God when facing their fears. Discuss some things and situations that make them afraid. This week when they become afraid, encourage them to stop and pray. God will give them strength and courage if they trust in him. To help them remember to stop, pray and trust, they will make signs that represent each of these actions. Pass out sheets of construction paper, scissors, markers, tape and craft sticks to each student. Make sure that they write the word for the sign they are creating on the sign. Once their signs are made, invite your students to sit in a circle on the floor. Describe different scenarios that may cause the students to feel afraid or anxious and ask them what they should do in each case. They will hold up the correct sign as they say the words stop, pray and trust. sticks Supplies Needed: Various colors of construction paper, scissors, markers, tape, craft

7 Lesson 4 Psalm 19 Early Arrival Activity: (15 minutes or until all your students arrive) Today your students are going to see that God has revealed himself through his creation and through his Word. To introduce the lesson and to help them to remember the importance of knowing God s Word, they are going to create bookmarks for their Bibles. Cut out strips of cardstock that are approximately three inches wide and eight inches long. Give each student a strip of cardstock and a copy of the Know God s Word Resource Page (see resources). Ask your students if they know the five steps to knowing God s Word. Write these steps on the board: hear, read, study, memorize and meditate. Spend a few minutes discussing each step. Instruct your students to write the five steps on their resource page and then color and decorate it. They will then glue it to the cardstock to make their bookmarks. They may use a hole punch to punch a hole in the top and add a yarn tassel. Teacher Note: Be sure that all glue is completely dried before the students put their bookmarks into their Bibles. Encourage your students to take their bookmarks home as a reminder to hear, read, study, memorize and meditate on God s Word. yarn Supplies Needed: Cardstock, Know God s Word resource page, scissors, markers, glue, Reinforcement Activity: (10-15 minutes) This activity will serve as a fun game to reinforce God s awesome power displayed in his creation. You will play a question game of Yes or No with your students. Tell your students that you are thinking of something that God created. They may only ask you questions with a yes or no answer, and you may only answer with yes or no. For example, if you were thinking of the moon, your students may ask if it is something on the ground and you would say no. They may ask if it is something big, and you would say yes. You would continue until someone guesses the correct object. Play several times, choosing different objects of God s creation. Close this activity by discussing what you can learn about God from the objects you mentioned. What does that object reveal about God? Encourage your students to really think about what they can learn about God from these different objects. For example, maybe the object reveals God s power, his attention to detail, his sense of humor, his love for us, his majesty, etc. Treasure Verse Learning Activity: (10 minutes)

8 Teacher Note: Before beginning this activity, cut out stars from construction paper. Then write the verse on the stars with one or two words of the verse per star. Try to have the same number of stars as you have students. Today s Treasure Verse is Psalm 3:3: But you, O LORD, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head. This is the last week the students will study this Treasure Verse. To see how well they know the verse, the students will race to collect stars that have the words of the verse written on them and then put the stars in the correct verse order. Line up your students on one side of the room and place the stars in a pile on the other side. When you say go, one student at a time will go collect one star and bring it back to the starting line. They will work together to put the verse in the correct order from memory. Time your students to see how long it takes them to get the verse in the correct order. Have them repeat the activity to see if they can get the verse in the correct order faster the second time. Supplies Needed: Construction paper, scissors, marker My Mission Activity: (10 minutes) The students mission this week is to spend time getting to know God better through his Word. To help them begin to see how much we can learn about God in the Bible, engage them in a few Bible drills. The verses they find will focus on who God is and who Jesus is. Tell them to start with their Bibles closed and their hands on top of their Bibles. You will write a reference on the board and then say the reference once. After you say the reference, say go and your students will find the verse as quickly as possible. The first student to find the verse will wait until everyone has found it and then read it to the class. Ask for another volunteer to share what the verse says about God. Encourage your students to help each other and even work together if needed. Here is a list of Bible verses to use: - Genesis 1:1 - Deuteronomy 6:4-5 - Psalm 19:1 - Isaiah 43:3 - Jeremiah 10:10 - Mark 1: John 1:1 - John 3:16 - John 4:24-1 Corinthians 8:6 - Colossians 1:15 - Philippians 2:10-11 Supplies Needed: Bibles for each student

9 Lesson 5 Psalm 22 Early Arrival Activity: (15 minutes or until all your students arrive) Pass out a small brown paper bag and several adhesive bandages to each student. Instruct the student to make little tears in the bag and then to cover the tears with adhesive bandages. Explain that the bag represents each person. The tears are hard things that happen to us, such as when someone we love dies, when a best friend moves away or when someone we trust hurts us. The bandages represent when God helps us through those hard times and heals us. Now pass out ribbon, markers and stickers and instruct your students to decorate their bags with these items. Explain that these decorations represent the joyful things we experience in our lives. God is there in the hard times and the joyful times. Pass out strips of paper and pencils and instruct your students to write about different times and ways God has helped them through a difficult time, answered a prayer or shown his power in their lives. Encourage them to fill their bag with as many reminders of God s faithfulness as they can remember. Point out to your students that the outside of the bag only tells part of the story, just like our outward appearance doesn t tell the whole story of who we are. The real value of the bag is what is inside. What we look like on the outside isn t what is important. What is important is that we know Jesus and that we trust him with our lives. Supplies Needed: Small brown paper bags, adhesive bandages, ribbon, scissors, markers, strips of paper, pencils Reinforcement Activity: (10-15 minutes) Engage your students in Bible drills to reinforce today s lesson. Write the verse references on the board. Say the reference and then say go. Your students will find the verse as quickly as they can. The first student to find the verse will read it to the class after everyone has found the verse. Use the following verses that will reinforce the truth that God is with his children during times of suffering. - Psalm 18:1-2 - Psalm 34:7-9 - Psalm 46:1 - Romans 8: Corinthians 15:57-2 Corinthians 12:10 - Hebrews 13:6 - James 1:12 chalk Supplies Needed: Bibles for the students, whiteboard or chalkboard, dry- erase marker or Treasure Verse Learning Activity: (10 minutes)

10 Today s Treasure Verse is Psalm 42:1: As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. Encourage your students to find the verse in their Bibles and read it together as a class. Ask your students to share what the verse means. Explain that this verse is describing our great need for God. We need God more than we need anything this world has to offer. Only Jesus can fill up our hearts and souls with his love. David was saying in this psalm that he needed God more than he needed anything else. Write the verse on the board. Read it twice together as a class and then begin erasing one or two words at a time as your students continue to read the verse. Continue until all the words are erased and your students can recite the verse. Supplies Needed: Whiteboard or chalkboard, chalk or dry- erase marker My Mission Activity: (10 minutes) The students mission this week is to turn to God for help and ask him to be their strength. David cried out to God for help, reminded himself of who God is and then trusted God to help him. Encourage your students to do the same. Emphasize that our help comes from the Lord, the Creator of heaven and earth (Psalm 121:2). Ask for a volunteer who doesn t mind being pushed a little. Ask the student if he thinks that he could stay standing if one person pushed on him. Could he stay standing if three people pushed on him? Could he stay standing if the entire class pushed on him at once? Instruct your volunteer to stand in front of a wall with his arms fully extended and palms flat against the wall. Now ask one student to push on the volunteer s back from behind. The volunteer will be able to easily stand against the pressure of the student pushing. Invite more students to come forward and make a human chain each pushing on the shoulders of the student in front of them. Be sure to encourage your students to push gently to avoid injury. Even with all the force pushing against the volunteer, he will easily be able to stand up against the force. Invite your students to sit down. Discuss with them how easy it is for us to fall under the weight of sin and how easily we are crushed by hard things that happen in our lives. Emphasize the importance of staying close to God so that he becomes our rock and strength. We need to be reading his Word, praying every day and thinking about him. Tell your students to picture God as the wall that the student was leaning against. No matter how much weight was pushed on him, he didn t fall because the wall held him up. God will hold us up when hard times and sin start pushing on us. God is our rock. We simply need to trust him.

11 Lesson 6 Psalm 25 Early Arrival Activity: (15 minutes or until all your students arrive) Teacher Note: Have an example pair of binoculars made up ahead of time for your students to use as a visual reference. Today s lesson focuses on Psalm 25. Your students will learn that God wants to give them instruction and direction as they walk along his path. As a way of introducing the lesson, your students will make binoculars with Psalm 25:4-5 written on them. The binoculars will serve as a reminder to keep their eyes on Jesus as they are guided along his path. Each student will need two sheets of paper, markers, scissors and tape. Instruct your students to cut a one- inch strip from the bottom of each page. They will write the words form Psalm 25:4 on one sheet: Make me to know your ways, O LORD; teach me your paths. On the other sheet, they will write Psalm 25:5: Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long. If time allows, the students can decorate their pages. They will roll each page into a tube shape and secure each tube with tape. They will then tape the two rolled up tubes onto the one- inch strip of paper they cut earlier. This will give support and spacing to the binoculars. Teacher Note: You might want to sketch margins onto the students papers so that they don t end up with the words inside of the glued area. While they are working on their craft, discuss how God gives us instructions and help through his Word. Supplies Needed: Paper, markers, scissors, tape Reinforcement Activity: (10-15 minutes) To reinforce the truth that God will guide us in his path, your students will participate in scavenger hunts where one person will hide an object while the other student must find it. Divide your students into pairs. Instruct one member of each pair to hide a small object you give them. If possible, have another teacher wait with the rest of the teammates outside of the classroom while the objects are being hidden. Next, instruct half of the students who hid their objects to create a map of where in the classroom the object is hidden. The other half will not make a map. Invite the other students back in, pass out the maps to those who get a map and instruct all the students to find their object. Those with a map should find their objects much faster. Invite all your students to sit down after several minutes. Discuss if it was easier to find the object when they had a map. Point out that God gave all of us a map with his Word. When we know what the Bible says, we can better know his path for our life and how he wants us to live our lives for him. Supplies Needed: Small objects

12 Treasure Verse Learning Activity: (10 minutes) Today s Treasure Verse is Psalm 42:1: As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. Assign a word or words to each student in the class. Your students will write their word or words onto pieces of construction paper. Once all the words have been written, invite your students to place their words in the correct order and make a pathway out of the pages. They will then walk along the pathway as they say the verse. Supplies Needed: Construction paper, markers My Mission Activity: (10 minutes) Teacher Note: You will need to make two pathways on the classroom floor for this activity: one will be out of butcher paper and the other out of masking tape. They need to be about two to three feet long. Ask your students to imagine that the pathways you placed on the floor are roads. One is a brand- new highway. It is full of fast new cars and all lit up. The second is a well- worn, one- lane road. It is a quiet road with some new cars, but a lot of older, slower cars on it. Just by imagining what the two roads look like, which one would seem more fun to drive on? Then tell you the students that the one- lane road ends at a beautiful palace where a kind and generous king welcomes everyone into his castle. The fast highway, however, ends on a hidden high cliff. The drivers on this new road can t see that the road ends, and they fall off the cliff and crash into the sea. Now which road do the students want to drive on? Read Matthew 7:13-14 with your class. Discuss the passage with your students. Compare the passage to the activity they just did. The wide gate is like the highway, and the narrow gate is like the one- lane road. The wide road may look easier and more fun at times, but it leads to death. The narrow road may be harder and not as popular, but it leads to life and to Jesus. The students mission this week is to spend time each day asking God to show them if they are walking on the narrow road or the wide road. Encourage them to read God s Word and ask him to show them how to stay on the path he has planned for them. Supplies Needed: Butcher paper, masking tape

13 Know God's Word Resource Page - Elementary