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This web-site is for everyone interested in learning more about the Bible.
This section helps Sunday school teachers find new ways of teaching familiar materials. Our goal is to augment lessons you may already have in your Sunday school curriculum. This fall we are working with the four requests mentioned in Jabez’ prayer. In September, we put prayer into practice. This month, we examine the importance of enlarging our borders.
The entire Activities section is divided into Memory Work, Activities, and Discussion Questions. You can go to any of these sections and select what best works for your pupils.
You can now download all three sections for ease in using these materials for teaching. |
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MEMORY WORK |
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Teachers and Parents
It is so important to encourage our little ones as well as ourselves to memorize Bible verses and stories – to become so familiar with the passage or story that its timeless relevance appears to us more and more clearly with every retelling. A major difference was evident between Sunday school pupils required to tell the story versus those who gave nodding recognition to the same story. Last year I asked three third graders to tell the story of Jesus’ birth. They couldn’t. After working with them to learn to tell the story in their own words and share it with family, friends, and our nursery children, they not only could tell the story at Christmas last year, but they remembered it without prompting. We can not overlook the significance of memorizing a verse or story.
Consider sharing with your Sunday school pupils and parents how to help little ones learn the verse and understand the impact of the message on their lives.
- Write out or type this week’s Bible verse on a card and place it on a mirror the child uses each day.
- Place the verse for the week in his/her lunch box.
- Ask the child to recite the verse before or after grace at the dinner meal.
- Practice as a family at dinner, going around the table with each one saying a word until the verse is complete.
- Put the verse to music. Create your own tune for each Bible verse. Create pictures to help remember the verse.
- Write it in a Bible verse notebook as many times as you can.
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Bible Verses
Work with your child and your students to learn each verse. Then, discuss the meaning of the verse and how it can be applied to our everyday lives. On Sundays during class, riding in the car, or at dinner, it's fun to share stories of how the children have used the verse in their lives that week.
We provide memorization verses for each week. You can add your own.
Sunday October 1
Col 3:2
Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
- What is affection?
- How do we set our affections on things above?
Sunday October 8
I Thess 5:21
Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.
- What do we need to prove?
- How do we hold fast that which is good?
Sunday October 15
I Thess 3:12
And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you:
- What would you do to improve on your love quotient?
- How could you show more love to people in our lives?
Sunday October 22
I Thess 5:15
See that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men.
- Why shouldn’t we do something bad to someone if he or she did something bad to us?
- How do we follow good?
Sunday October 29
I Thess 5:5
Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.
- Why can’t we be children of darkness?
- What qualities do we express as children of light?
Sunday November 5
II Thess 1:11
…we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with power:
- How do we pray for others?
- How do we know we are pleasing God?
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Bible Stories
This month we are looking at individuals who expanded their borders. With Halloween approaching, let's look at a few Bible characters who disguised themselves while tricking others.
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ACTIVITIES |
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This month we are reviewing some of the Bible characters who expanded their borders. Bible Overview covers the letter to the Thessalonians (I Thess.). You might be wondering why there’s so much emphasis on prayer. Prayer is the most powerful weapon we can use against evil. Our world needs our prayers. We need to teach our children to pray and understand the efficacy of prayer. |
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Exercise:
Read the Prayer of Jabez from I Chronicles 4:9-10. On a white board, have the students list the four principle aspects of the prayer. Help the students create a pneumonic for remembering the second request to ask God to enlarge or expand our borders or territory. Draw a picture as a reminder. |
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Exercise:
Continue adding Bible people who prayed and those who asked to have their coasts (borders of territory) enlarged. Have them include their results in their prayer journals. |
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Exercise:
Teach Me to Pray – If Jesus’ disciples wanted a lesson in prayer, we’re never too old or too young to practice praying. This would be a good time to bring out the cloth dolls or stuffed animals. I prefer the dolls. With young children, pair each one with a doll. Ask the pupils to teach their companions how to pray. Listen to their instructions. Children tend to be very animated as they teach the dolls to pray. You can observe exactly how to improve on their praying. After you’ve given 5-7 minutes to teach their dolls, then ask the dolls to pray. The children readily give a voice to the doll and pray for them. Encourage them to keep an on-going conversation with God everyday. |
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Exercise:
More Bible Drills: How well do you know the books of the Bible? All students should have a non-indexed Bible.
- Start with the Bible closed.
- Announce the verse.
- Ask if it is in the Old or the New Testament.
- Who is speaking?
- What do these verses have in common?
This is a fun one to keep track of their points. You can earn points for:
- Knowledge of the correct testament
- Knowing who said it
- Finding it first
- Ability to say it without looking.
Start with books of the Bible they know and then move to some verses listed below:
- Job 22:22
- Ps. 4:1
- James 5:15
- Philemon 1:4
- I Thessalonians 5:17
- Mark 14:38
- Matt 6:9
- What is the common theme of these verses?
Keep track of their scores. The Bible drill will get them familiar with where to find their favorite Bible stories or verses. |
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Exercise: [Older classes]
Ask them to list people who prayed in the Bible. What did they pray for? What were the results of their prayers?
Put the list on a white board and add some of your own and see if they know the individual and circumstances. For example:
Abraham prayed for…
Sarah prayed for…
Hagar prayed for…
Isaac prayed for…
Rebekah prayed for…
Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Gideon, Samson, Deborah, Elijah, Elisha, Hannah, Samuel, David, Solomon, Hezekiah, Ruth, Job, Nehemiah, Daniel, the three Hebrew boys, Jonah, Joel, Mary, Jesus, Peter, Nicodemus, John, Paul and so on. |
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Exercise:
If your Sunday school allows it, ask your pupils to come dressed as their favorite Bible Character. The other members of the class must guess who each student is. Each child should be prepared to give five clues about his/her identity for the others to guess. After the character is revealed, the student dressed as that Bible figure needs to tell a story about that person and where to find his/her story in the Bible. For example: One child came dressed as Moses. He was wearing a striped robe and sandals. He carried a big stick to look like a staff. He had on a cotton ball beard and sideburns.
He told the class:
- The Pharaoh's daughter found me in the Nile.
- I was forced to take off my sandals.
- My staff turned into a serpent.
- God helped me free the Children of Israel.
- God told me the Ten Commandments.
Who Am I?
Another child dressed as Joseph with a robe with many colors on it.
She told the class:
- I was my dad's favorite child.
- I could tell people their dreams.
- I had ten older brothers.
- My dad made me a special coat.
- My brothers threw me in a pit.
Who Am I?
Even if your Sunday school doesn't allow for costumes, it is a good exercise for the children to select a character and prepare clues for others to guess who they are.
I have dressed as Noah, Moses, and Joseph to teach Sunday school. All with great success.
Teachers: If you feel brave enough, dress as your favorite character and give a press conference. Open with a statement about your life and then let the children interview you and get the details. After the interview, ask them to write their own stories and draw pictures for their news articles. |
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DISCUSSION QUESTIONS |
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Discussion questions for some of this month’s Bible characters. |
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Prayer of Jabez
I Chronicles 4:10 “…enlarge my coast.” [teachers see – Swap Shop]
- What does it mean to “enlarge our coast?”
- How would you practice “enlarging your coast?”
- Read some other translations. Now how does that verse read?
- How would you enlarge (increase, expand, magnify, extend, widen, strengthen) your coast (territory, borders)
- At home?
- School?
- The world?
- What kinds of activities might enlarging our borders include?
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Four Disciples
Read Matthew 4:18-22 or Jesus Calls the Disciples or Four Fishermen Who Left Their Nets to Follow Jesus
- How did Jesus broaden his coasts?
- How did the disciples enlarge their borders?
- Name some of the qualities of the disciples who left their nets for Jesus.
- Would you leave your life to follow Jesus?
- Why do you think Andrew, Peter, James and John were willing to give up their careers to follow Jesus?
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The Woman at the Well
Read John 4:5-42 The Tired Stranger Who Rested by a Well
- Who is the woman?
- Why was it odd for Jesus to talk with her?
- What did Jesus ask her to do?
- What did Jesus tell her about her life?
- What did the woman do?
- Is this an example of Jesus enlarging his borders? Why?
- Did the woman enlarge her borders? How?
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Healing of the Paralytic
Read Matthew 9:2-8 or Mark 2:1-12 A Man Who Could Not Walk or Why Four Men Tore Up the Roof of a Crowded House
- How is this story an example of expanding your borders?
- What kind of friends did the paralyzed man have?
- Would you go to that trouble for a friend?
- Would you say the faith of the friends were the expanding borders?
- What kind of faith did they display?
- How did Jesus respond to their faith?
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Paul and the storm
Read Acts 27 Paul Sails for Rome or The Story of a Shipwreck
- What happened to Paul?
- What was the name of the wind?
- What did the soldiers want to do to the prisoners?
- How is this story an example of expanding one’s borders?
- Describe Paul’s qualities.
- What kind of a man was Paul?
- Why did the soldiers finally listen to him?
- What lessons were learned?
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Halloween - what is it? Why do we have it?
- What do masks and costumes represent?
- Have you ever thought that you were just wearing a costume when you have disobeyed your parents?
- What do masks do?
- Why would we want to hide our identity?
- When you say "trick or treat," what does it mean?
- Make a list of those who were "tricksters" in the Bible.
- What are their names?
- What did they do?
- Who did they hurt?
- Make a list of those who were "treaters" in the Bible.
- What are their names?
- What did they do?
- Who did they help?
- Can you see a difference between tricking and treating?
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Halloween disguises:
Jacob Steals the Blessing
Read Genesis 27 Jacob Gets the Blessing or What Two Boys Thought About Their Father’s Blessing
- What kind of disguise did Jacob use?
- Who helped him prepare his “costume?”
- Why did he trick his Dad?
- Do you think his Dad suspected it wasn’t Jacob?
- What clues suggest that Isaac didn’t think it was Jacob?
- What was Esau’s response?
- What happened after Jacob pretended to be his brother?
- Where did he go next?
- Have you ever heard the expression, “What goes around, comes around?”
- What does it mean?
- In the next story, Uncle Laban tricks Jacob.
Jacob’s Wedding
Read Genesis 29:13 -28 Jacob Gets Married or How Jacob Was Deceived by Laban
- What was the trick played on Jacob?
- How was that similar to the trick Jacob played on his Dad and brother?
- Who wore the “costume” this time?
- Why didn’t Jacob know he was marrying the wrong woman? (every part of the woman was covered except for her eyes)
- What do you think Jacob learned from this experience?
- Did he keep on being tricked or tricking his Uncle Laban?
Saul’s Disguise
Read I Samuel 28:5-25 Halloween Chat
- What did Saul ask his servants to do?
- Why did Saul want to visit a witch?
- Why did he disguise himself? [he ordered all witches and wizards out of the land and now he was going to see a witch]
- Why was the witch of Endor afraid to work with Saul? [she thought it was a trick to find her]
- Did Saul intend to hurt her?
- What did Saul want?
- What did Saul find out about his life?
- Is it ever right to trick someone?
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Don’t forget to read Make a Difference; the Guest of the Month – Wendy Mattson, a Q & A about judging; the Bible Overview and Bible Characters about Thessalonians.
Encourage your pupils to find ways to expand their borders and trust God more. |
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