Activities - Online Tours of the Holy Lands

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Activities

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.

In June, July, and August, we are doing something very different on our Activities pages. We’ve asked Olene Carroll, who has taken many people on trips to the Holy Lands, to develop a “Kids’ Tour” of the Holy Land for BibleWise. Obviously, there is much more to “show and tell” about than we have space for in three months, but it will be fun to get started by associating places in the world today that were traveled by Bible greats. There are several ways to work with the tour. For June, the cities on the tour included: Netanya, Caesarea,and Megiddo. Due to a flat tire on the tour bus (that is, an unexpected bump in the road at BW), we were unable to get to Caesarea when planned. We are now on target to have those cities posted. For July, we traveled to Mt. Carmel, Nazareth, Tiberius, Capernaum, and Magdala. In August, we will finish the tour with stops in Bethsaida, the Sea of Galilee, Caesarea Philippi, and the Jordan River. We will continue to list a few Bible stories to read that happened at these locations, but we’ve left a few for you to discover on your own.

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.

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Memory Work

Activities

Discussion Questions

You can now download all three sections for ease in using these materials for teaching.

MEMORY WORK

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. We can not 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.

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.

August 3
(NLT) Ps 23:4 Even when I walk through the dark valley of death, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me. Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me.

As we travel this summer, why is it good to know that God is protecting and comforting us?
How has God helped you overcome your fears?
What is the difference between God’s rod and His staff?

August 10
(KJV) Ps 23: 5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

Who prepares a table for us?
Who do you think would be your enemies?
Why would you want your head to be anointed with oil?

August 17
(BEB*) Ps 23:6 Truly, blessing and mercy will be with me all the days of my life; and I will have a place in the house of the Lord all my days.

Why do we have a place in God’s house?
What kind of gifts are “blessing” and “mercy”?

August 24
(KJV) Ps 91:1,2 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.

Where is the “secret place”?
How do you know God as your refuge?
What is a “fortress”?

August 31
(KJV) Ps 91:11 For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.

What are angels?
How have God’s angels kept you safe?

*BEB = Basic English Bible

Bible Stories
This month we are touring more of the Bible locations where these stories actually took place. Study the slides of the city and think about these Bible characters and their stories.

Bethsaida: Multitude Feeding - Matt 14:15-21
Younger: A Big Picnic
Older: The Feast Beside the Sea and What Followed It

Sea of Galilee: Stilling the Storm - Luke 8:22-25
Younger: Winds and Waves
Older: The Flooded Ship That Did Not Sink

Caesarea Philippi: Pop Quiz - Matt 16:13-23
Younger: Jesus Asks, “Who Am I?”
Older: How Peter Answered a Great Question

Jordan River: Naaman - II Kings 5:1-27; Baptism of Jesus - Matt 3:13-17 Younger: Naaman; Jesus Is Baptized
Older: How a Little Girl Helped to Cure a Leper; Jesus’ Baptism

ACTIVITIES

Bible Overview continues the work on the Apocrypha with Prayer of Manasseh.

Make A Difference talks about how Prayerful Preparation = Awesome Results.

Teen Time’s Guest of the Month shows how trusting God for employment makes all the difference.

Kids Korner offers puzzles, games, and stories about the Kids’ Holy Land Tour.

Parenting with the Bible describes living life without excuses.

Exercise: Get ready for a Holy Land Tour – download each stop on the tour or watch the Flash version, and read the background and the Bible stories that go with each city.

View Holy Land Tours

Color: Kids on Dig

Exercise: Download the map find this month’s tour stops: Bethsaida, the Sea of Galilee, Caesarea Philippi, and the Jordan River. Now find a modern map of that region. Place the names of today’s cities on the ancient map. What are some of the differences between the two maps? Do you see any major similarities? Why does this region continue to be so important? What’s happening there today?

Print/Download Map from Holy Land Tours

Exercise: Use your Bible and a good Bible dictionary to discover what else Elijah did during the drought. Find out who fed Elijah at the brook Cherith and in Zaraphath. What unusual things did Elijah do?

Exercise: Use your Bible to discover what Jesus said to his disciples when they were in the ship during the storm. Look for information about Jesus walking on the Sea of Galilee. Who else walked on the waves? Draw a picture of Jesus walking on the water.

Exercise: Pop quiz – Jesus gave his disciples a Pop quiz when he asked them what people were calling him. Connect the individual with the statement about them.

Statement	Character
1. Started to walk on water but sank out of fear	Disciples
2. Initially refused to wash in the Jordan River	Jesus
3. Baptized in the Jordan River	Naaman
4. Fed 5000 people with 2 fish and 5 loaves of bread	Peter
5. Frightened by a storm

Exercise: Many people keep a journal or a log of their travels. Keep a journal of each Holy Land stop. Using a concordance, look up the name of each location and then read all the stories about that place in the Bible. Include your findings in your daily log of the Holy Land trip.

Exercise: Create your own time-line of each event that occurred in Bethsaida, the Sea of Galilee, Caesarea Philippi, and the Jordan River. When did each story happen? How much time passed between the stories?

Exercises for Bethsaida:
As you read the story of Jesus feeding 5,000 people, break the code for Waste Not--Want Not or color in the space to see how much food was left over in More than Enough.

Print/Download Waste Not--Want Not
Print/Download Waste Not--Want Not Answer Sheet

Print/Download More than Enough
Print/Download More than Enough Answer Sheet

Exercises for Sea of Galilee:
As you read the story of Jesus quieting the storm, complete the hidden words on Be Still! Or follow the maze of Jesus Stops a Storm.

Print/Download Be Still
Print/Download Be Still Answer Sheet

Print/Download Jesus Stops a Storm
Print/Download Jesus Stops a Storm Answer Sheet

Exercises for Caesarea Philippi:
Break the Code – Who Am I? and break the code for Two Meanings.

Print/Download Who Am I?
Print/Download Who Am I? Answer Sheet

Print/Download Two Meanings
Print/Download Two Meanings Answer Sheet

Exercises for Jordan River:
Complete the hidden word for Just Do It. Break the code for A Slave Girl Helps Her Sick Master. Color the x’s in Jesus’ Baptism and connect the dots in God’s Son.

Print/Download Just Do It
Print/Download Just Do It Answer Sheet

Print/Download A Slave Girl Helps Her Sick Master
Print/Download A Slave Girl Helps Her Sick Master Answer Sheet

Print/Download Jesus’ Baptism
Print/Download Jesus’ Baptism Answer Sheet

Print/Download God’s Son
Print/Download God’s Son Answer Sheet

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

Holy Land Tour of Bethsaida
Read Matt 14:15-21 A Big Picnic; The Feast Beside the Sea and What
Followed It

Find Bethsaida on the map. What is this city called today?
How far is Magdala from Bethsaida?
How long would it take you to get from one to the other by walking?
What would you ask Peter if you could interview him after feeding the multitudes?
What kind of faith was required of the disciples to see Jesus feed 5000 people with five loaves of bread and two fish?
What did the fragments represent or symbolize?
Who were the people in the multitude? (Jews)
What other Bible accounts are there of food being supplied?

— AES

Holy Land Tour of the Sea of Galilee
Read Luke 8:22-25 Winds and Waves; The Flooded Ship That Did Not Sink

Check the map to see the distance from Bethsaida to the Sea of Galilee.
What events do you know took place at the Sea of Galilee?
Which Bible characters lived by the Sea?
Is this the body of water where Jesus walked on the waves? [yes]
Why were the disciples afraid?
What did Jesus say to the disciples?
Why wasn’t Jesus afraid?

Read John 21 Fish for Breakfast; Stranger on the Shore

Who recommended the disciples go fishing?
Who asked them if they caught any fish?
Why don’t you think they recognized Jesus?
Did Jesus need the fish they caught?
How many fish were in the net?
What was unusual about the net?
What did Jesus fix for their breakfast?
What question did Jesus ask Peter?
What do you think he meant by the word “these” in “Lovest thou me more than these”?
What were Jesus’ responses to Peter each of the three times he asked if he loved him?
What do you think Jesus meant when he said, “feed my lambs” and “feed my sheep”?
Why was Peter interested in what the other disciple was going to do?
What did Jesus tell him?
Why is the morning meal significant?

— AES

Holy Land Tour of Caesarea Philippi
Read Matt 16:13-23 Jesus Asks, “Who Am I?”; How Peter Answered a Great Question

What great question did Jesus ask his disciples?
What was the first response?
Then what did Jesus specifically ask Simon Peter?
What was Simon Peter’s response?
How did Jesus react to this recognition of his mission?
What did Jesus tell Simon Peter specifically?
What is the significance of the name change?
How long did it take for Peter to fall out of favor with Jesus?
What did Peter do that led him from being called “the rock” on which the church would be built to deserving Jesus’ command, “Get thee behind me Satan”?
What does this tell us about getting in the way of our own spiritual growth?

— AES

Holy Land Tour of Jordan River
Read II Kings 5:1-27 Naaman; How a Little Girl Helped to Cure a Leper; and Matt 3:13-17 Jesus Is Baptized; Jesus’ Baptism

Why was the river Jordan so important in the Old and New Testaments?
How many times were the waters of the river parted for people to walk over on dry land? [Joshua parts it to go in the Promised Land; Elijah and Elisha part it]
Who was healed of leprosy by washing in the Jordan River?
Was he willing to go wash in the Jordan River?
Who convinced him to go?
How grateful was Naaman?
What is the significance of the river to Jesus? [he was baptized in it]
Who baptized Jesus?
What did God say at Jesus’ baptism?

— AES

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