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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.
The greatest proof we have of Jesus’ victory over death is the changed lives of the disciples. Before the resurrection, they mentally limped along. Fifty days after Jesus’ resurrection, while celebrating Pentecost, they caught the spirit that altered the course of history. Please help your students embrace this story, so they can understand their part in discipleship. This month we’ll discuss Pentecost, the start of the Christian church, some of the women disciples as we commemorate motherhood, and we’ll look at the book of James, written by Jesus’ brother.
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. Three years ago, our pupils were asked to tell Bible stories to the preschool children. Now they ask all the time when it’s their turn to tell a story. The children in the preschool class can’t wait for a story and are quite vocal in asking the older children to come and tell them a story. There are some preschoolers who are anxious to try their hand at telling the stories as well. On a recent class visit of 4th graders with 3 and 4 year olds, the preschoolers didn’t hesitate to add details to the story of the three Hebrew boys.
We cannot overlook the significance of memorizing a verse or story.
Consider sharing with your Sunday school pupils and parents ways 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 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 May 6
James 4:8 (to .)
Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you.
- Why is it important to get close to God?
- How do you get close to God?
- What’s the reward for getting close to God?
Sunday May 13
James 4:11 (to .)
Speak not evil one of another, brethren.
- Why shouldn’t we speak evil of someone else?
- What would be an evil thing to say?
- What kinds of things should we say about our friends? Family? Teachers? Coaches?
Sunday May 20
James 4:7
Philips
Be humble before God. But resist the devil and you’ll find he’ll run away from you.
- What does it mean to “be humble?”
- Who or what is the “devil?”
- How do we resist the devil?
Sunday May 27
James 5:15 (to ;)
And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up;
- What is a prayer of faith?
- How does prayer save the sick?
- What does it mean that “the Lord shall raise him up?”
Sunday June 3
I Peter 3:10 (The Message)
Whoever wants to embrace life and see the day fill up with good, here’s what you do: Say nothing evil or hurtful, snub evil and cultivate good, run after peace for all you’re worth.
- How do we “embrace life?”
- Describe a day filled with good.
- How will saying nothing hurtful make it a good day?
- Why should we “snub evil?”
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Bible Stories
This month we look at Pentecost, the early church, discipleship, motherhood, and the book of James.
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ACTIVITIES |
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Bible Overview covers the book of James.
Hot Topic deals with Performance without fear.
Explore Celebrating Motherhood on Parenting with the Bible.
This month we are reviewing Bible stories related to Pentecost, motherhood, and the letter of James. |
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Exercise:
When Pentecost became a birthday party!
Plan a birthday party for the early church. Instead of wrapped presents, what kinds of gifts would you as an individual member bring that would help the church grow? All parties require preparation. How do you plan for this event? Who would you invite? What activities would be appropriate? At birthday parties, people often talk about the person being celebrated. What would you say about Pentecost and the birth of the church? |
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Exercise:
Create a newspaper or magazine that features the Birthday of the Early Christian Church.
Ask each Sunday school pupil to write an article or draw pictures for the publication.
Some articles or headlines might include:
- 10 Days After Jesus Ascended, the Holy Spirit Blew into Town
- Pentecost was never like this
- The Barley Festival turned Upside Down
- Peter Preaches
- The Holy Spirit speaks so all can understand
- Jesus’ Church Starts in a Home
- An interview with Preacher Peter
- An Eye Witness account of the rushing wind
- Interviews with Mary Magdalene; Mary, Jesus’ Mom; Jesus’ brothers
- Meet the newest disciple – Matthias
- Who are these women? Mary Magdalene, Joanne, Susanna [see Women Disciples]
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Exercise:
With Mother’s Day approaching, this would be a good time to ask your pupils to write a letter that tells what they love most about their mothers. You might ask them to add specific details about what they have learned from their mothers. Statements such as “Mom you’re great, I love you” are nice, but giving an example of a special experience they have had with their moms is much nicer – it’s thoughtful.
Ex: “Dear Mom, I love you. You make every day special. Do you remember when we went canoeing and I tipped over the canoe by accident, and ruined your new shirt? You didn’t get mad, you just told me it was part of the learning experience. Do you remember when I ran the canoe into the bank and hit a tree and all the spiders fell out? Again, you didn’t get upset. Thanks. I also appreciate it when I need to talk, you always have the time. You’re the best mom ever.”
Don’t leave grandmothers, aunts, or other church members and friends out of the letter writing, either. |
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Exercise:
In preparation for Mother’s Day, you might have the students take the Mother and Child Matching quiz. You can add depth to this by asking older students: in which book of the Bible would we find the mother; what wonderful things did this mother do; how did her children turn out? You might want to be selective. There are two matching quizzes, one for little ones and one for older children.
 Print/Download Match Mother and Child Younger
Print/Download Match Mother and Child Younger Answer Sheet
Print/Download Match Mother and Child Older
Print/Download Match Mother and Child Older Answer Sheet
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Exercise:
Figure out who the women are in the Bible from the clue and the unusual arrangement of the letters in More Women in the Bible. After discovering who the woman is, discuss her story in the Bible.
Print/Download More Women in the Bible
Print/Download More Women in the Bible Answer Sheet
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Exercise:
Name some mothers in the Bible. [Eve, Sarah, Hagar, Rebekah, Leah, Rachel, Hannah, Bathsheba, Naomi, Elisabeth, Mary (mother of Jesus)] What qualities do they have in common? What makes them different? What makes a “great” mother? |
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Exercise:
Ask a girl in your class to play Hannah or the teacher can be Hannah. Ask the pupils to interview Hannah and find out what kind of a mother she was. Describe her qualities. Do you think you could have promised your child to God? What kind of a son was Samuel? Did Hannah do the right thing by allowing Samuel to grow up in the temple? |
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Exercise:
The importance of listening. Tell the story of Samuel thinking Eli was calling him? Are we willing to say “Speak God, I’m listening?” What does that kind of listening require? Describe the best listener you know. What makes someone a good listener? Why is it important to listen to God? |
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Exercise:
Divide the class into teams. Have each team take one chapter of James and write down all the statements for living a good life. Example from chapter 1: Be patient; ask God for wisdom; don’t be double minded, etc. After making the lists, ask them to create posters of rules to live by. |
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Exercise:
As we get close to camp time, many churches have camperships for Sunday school pupils who could use help to attend camp. One way to help determine who might deserve this financial assistance might be to create a contest for those interested in the campership aid. The top prize might be 2 weeks at camp, 2nd place might be 1 week at camp, and 3rd place might cover the deposit for camp. For example, you could have a Bible verse memory showdown. The student who has memorized the most verses and proves it, wins. Each person says a Bible verse from memory. They should let you know which translation they used and have one handy to check for accuracy. You can create bonus points for knowing who said the verse, to whom, the occasion or special circumstances, whether it was from the Old or New testaments. If the student can answer all the questions after reciting the verse correctly, he or she wins the bonus points. It’s important that there be a special night of sharing camp experiences and gratitude after all those who have gone to camp return home. This can be a pot luck, pizza party, or dessert buffet that might include photos or written stories of their individual experiences. I’ll remind you of this again in August so that you don’t miss out on what these dear ones have learned. |
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Exercise:
Create a job description for filling the empty disciple post left by Judas.
What kind of qualities should the candidate possess? What kind of experience is required? What will they need to do if hired?
Now after filling out the job description, have each member of the class apply for the job. After they have written their applications, interview each one. Explain to them before the interview ends what they will be expected to do. Optional - the class could vote for who should be selected or see if after the interviewing process they would still want to serve. |
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DISCUSSION QUESTIONS |
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Review of Jesus’ ascension
Read Acts 1
- Who wrote Acts? (Luke, Acts is volume 2)
- Who is Theophilus? (Luke’s patron)
- What is the difference between being baptized with water and the Holy Ghost?
- How were the disciples to receive their power? (Acts 1:8)
- What were the disciples required to do?
- Who told them to leave?
- Where did they go?
- Who was there in the upper room?
- How is Judas referenced?
- How is Judas’ death different in Acts from the Gospels?
- Who replaced Judas as one of the twelve?
- How did the selection process take place?
- Would you have been willing to serve with the 11 disciples?
- How would you tell the story of Jesus’ life?
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Pentecost
Read Acts 2; Wind and Fire; The Sound as of a Rushing Wind, and What it Brought
- What is the day of Pentecost? (A Jewish harvest festival)
- When was it celebrated? (Fifty days after Passover)
- What was special about this Pentecost?
- This Pentecost was 10 days after Jesus’ ascension and was known as the birthday of the Christian Church.
- What happened in that house? (Acts 2:2)
- What do you think happened to them?
- Why did people think they were drunk?
- What do you think the fiery tongues above their heads represented?
- Which prophet did Peter quote?
- What did he tell the people who had gathered outside the house?
- Did you know the early church met in homes early on Sunday mornings?
- Sunday was the first day of the work week.
- What did Peter preach?
- How did people receive his message?
- How many were baptized that day?
- Why was Peter’s message so moving?
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Healing of the lame man
Read Acts 3:1-11; Peter and John and the Beggar; The Crippled Man Who Received a Wonderful Gift
- Where were Peter and John going?
- Which gate did they enter?
- Who stopped them?
- Why did he stop them?
- What did Peter say to the lame man?
- What happened after Peter said that?
- What did Peter then say to the crowds?
- Have you seen any change in Peter since the resurrection?
- How do you think the resurrection changed his life? The lives of the disciples? Your life?
- What if Peter and John gave the lame man money instead of healing him?
- What did they give him instead?
- How do we know the man was grateful for the healing?
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Hannah prays for a son
Read I Samuel 1:1—3:18; A Special Prayer; The Little Boy Whose Mother Lent Him to the Lord. Caryl Krueger’s article about Hannah – Celebrating Motherhood.
- Why was Hannah unhappy?
- Why do you think Eli thought she was drunk?
- What did she pray for?
- What was she willing to do if God answered her prayer?
- Do you think you could give up your son to serve God?
- How did God answer her prayer?
- What did she name the child?
- What did Hannah make for Samuel every year?
- How many children did Hannah have after she gave birth to Samuel?
- What kind of a child was Samuel?
- Was Hannah a good mother?
- Describe the qualities you love in your mother?
- Have you told her about the qualities you love? If not, make sure you do!
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God calls Samuel
Read I Samuel 3:1-10; A Voice at Night;
- What did Samuel hear?
- Who did Samuel think was calling him?
- How many times did he hear a voice calling him?
- What did Eli tell him to do?
- Who called Samuel?
- What was their relationship like after Samuel told God to speak, that he was listening?
- Are we willing to listen for God’s voice?
- How do you know God is speaking to you?
- When is the last time God told you to do something?
- Did you do it?
- Why is it important to obey God?
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Lessons in James
Read James 1-5; Control What You Say
- James is a very short book, about five pages.
- After you have read the book of James, what things stand out?
- Did you know that Jesus’ brother, James, wrote this letter?
- What was he trying to help church members do?
- Name five things that James said we should do?
- What does James say about the tongue?
- Why does the “tongue” get us in trouble?
- Why is it important for us to bridle our tongues?
- Have you ever said something you wish you hadn’t?
- How can we have better control over what we say?
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