How to Use My Bible Lesson 3: Cool Bible Tools. TM.com

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1 How to Use My Bible Lesson 3: Cool Bible Tools TM.com

2 How to Use My Bible Lesson 3 Cool Bible Tools TM Unit Summary For children, the Bible can be a very intimidating book simply due to its size. This unit will erase kids impressions of the Bible as a giant, overwhelming volume that will take years to wade through. Instead, they will view the Scriptures as a collection of smaller books written personally for them. You will introduce children to exciting tools that will help them delve more deeply into the Bible. Watch their confidence grow as kids gain a broader understanding of how the Bible is organized and how to navigate its pages! Students will be motivated to practice applying biblical principles to their daily lives. The Bible is not just a book to be studied but God s Book that can change their world! Lesson Summary This lesson introduces children to reference tools that can transform the Bible from a confusing, intimidating book to one that is loaded with intrigue and treasure just waiting to be discovered. Once kids see that helpful tools are readily available to assist their understanding, they will be encouraged to dive deeper into God s Book that is studied and talked about so much at church. In addition, children will begin to see that the Bible is connected to the real world that they see and hear about at school, on television, in museums, and in other media. Although world-view conflicts exist between the Bible and modern-day culture, seeing the same names, places, and topics brings excitement and relevance to a Book that kids might otherwise consider dull and disconnected from daily life. Paul s Power Principle: Understanding the Bible will help you live a good life. Lesson Outline Spark Interest Welcome! (p. 2) Let s Worship! (p. 3) Connect with Your Kids (p. 4) DiscipleTown Visitor (p. 4) Explore Scripture Let s Search! Bible Dash (p. 5) Paul s Power Principle (p. 5) Let s Learn! (p. 5) Dee s Disciple Tip (p. 6) KeyVerse (p. 6) Inspire Action Dramatize the Point (p. 7) Object Talks (p. 7) Let s Talk! (Small Groups) (p. 8) Let s Pray! (p. 8) Disciple Targets In this lesson, your children will... Know Reference tools help them gain insights into the Bible Feel Eager and curious to explore Bible reference tools Do Identify several Bible reference tools and how to use them.

3 SUPPLIES General Supplies Bibles, puppets, video projection (optional) Pencils, pens, paper Spark Interest WELCOME!: Bible reference books LET S PLAY!: list of the books of the Bible CONNECT WITH YOUR KIDS: personal tool Explore Scripture LET S LEARN: Bible maps or charts KEYVERSE: wrapped gift Inspire Action DRAMATIZE THE POINT: sign, dictionary, explosion sound effect, backpack Bonus Items SNACK: knotted pretzels GROUP ACTIVITY: two Bibles PowerPoint Presentation As you plan your lesson, select PowerPoint slides that correspond to the lesson elements you choose. In the Slide Sorter View, you can rearrange and/or delete the slides as necessary. For descriptions of the included slides and tips on their use, see the notes accompanying each slide. SPARK INTEREST Choose from the following activities and ideas to engage kids and grab their attention. Welcome! Big Words Before class begins, write big words and their definitions on two different colors of paper slips. As each child arrives, give him or her a slip of paper with a big word or a definition. During the preservice time, challenge the children to find the child who has the word or definition that matches the one they were given. On a table up front, have a variety of Bible reference books available. Give kids permission to use these cool tools to help with this activity. You don t need to announce that, but if they notice and ask, simply grant permission. As the children pair up with the person who is their match, give them a small prize. If time allows, you may choose to resume this activity at the end of children s church. Examples: Edification the process of building something or someone up Sanctification the act of making holy, of setting apart for a special purpose Eucharist the Lord s Supper Justification the act of accepting or treating as just (righteous) Redemption the act of buying back, paying the cost for Let s Meet-n-Greet! Turn and greet the children around you. Invite kids to share the words or definitions that they had in the previous activity. Make sure they share their names as well. Leaders: walk around and greet any children you do not recognize. Let them know you are so glad they are here today. Ask if anyone had a birthday this past week. (See the How to Use DiscipleTown guide for quick and easy ways to acknowledge visitors and birthdays.)

4 Let s Worship! At the beginning of worship time, ask if any children play a musical instrument. As they raise their hands, say, Did you know you can worship God whenever you play your instrument? Even when you aren t at church, just play for the Lord. People just like you wrote the songs we are singing. They wrote songs and music to praise God. Someday some of you may write new worship songs that people will sing in churches all over the world. You never know! (It never hurts to plant a seed in young hearts.) Recommended Song: I Will Magnify the Lord Puppet Intro Leader & puppet introduce today s lesson. You will find a scripted version of this intro at the end of the lesson. Supplies: puppet Puppet comes out dressed like a construction worker, wearing a safety helmet and belt full of toy tools. When asked why he looks like a construction worker he says, Hola! Because I heard we were going to be using Cool Bible Tools today, and I love tools! Just call me Handy Randy, the tool guy. You have a problem with your Bible? I ve got the tool to fix it! Leader tries to explain, Um, well, those aren t the kind of tools we are talking about, uh, Randy. The tools we are talking about are other books we use to study the Bible. Puppet asks, You use books to study another book? Leader laughs, Yes, of course. These books are filled with the information people have discovered over the years. Puppet is not impressed, Sounds boring. Sounds like school. Leader understands, I know, it does at first, but there s a big difference when you study the Bible. Puppet is a little curious, What s that? Leader explains, When you study the Bible, it gets very interesting and it starts to change your life and that gets exciting! Puppet is more curious, What kind of stuff? Leader continues, Oh, the Bible is filled with real history of our planet great battles, amazing natural events, stories of kings, warriors, secret missions, small bands that defeated huge armies, and then a Man who came and changed everything Puppet jumps in, Jesus! Leader is pleased, Yes! And after He left, the Bible describes how to live in order to experience the abundant life God has for us. These tools help us unlock the great secrets of the Bible. Puppet is excited, Well, what are we waiting for? Let s Play! I m Thinking Of... Supplies: list of books of the Bible As the leader thinks of a book of the Bible, the children take turns trying to determine which book it is by asking questions. The leader can only answer with a Yes or No. Students who receive a Yes answer are entitled to ask questions until they receive a No. Then the next child goes. In order to guess the book in ten questions or fewer, kids will need to use the testament and division break-downs to narrow down their choices. For example, if the book is Proverbs, they may ask first, is it the Old Testament? (Yes!) Is it one of the Prophets? (No.) Is it a book of poetry? (Yes!) Is it Psalms? (No.) Is it Proverbs? (YES! in only five questions!)

5 Connect with Your Kids This object lesson primes the kids to think about value. Supplies: a personal tool Bring an unusual tool that you actually use for guys, it might be from your toolbox or garage. For girls it can be from the kitchen or craft room. But be sure to explain why you have it, what it is and does, how it makes your job easier, etc. Perhaps you have a story of a time when you were having a difficult time getting a job done, and this tool made the job easier. Compare your tool to other cool tools that help you study the Bible making the Bible easier to understand. DiscipleTown Visitor Find a script version of this segment at the end of this lesson. Handy Randy*: As the leader finishes talking about tools to help study the Bible, in comes the DiscipleTown visitor! Hola! [Leader s name]! Leader turns and greets him in return, Hola, Handy Randy! (If you used the Puppet Intro, leader can turn to the children and say, It s the real Handy Randy! ) Handy Randy asks, Did I just hear you talking about some cool Bible tools? Leader says, You sure did! Today we are learning about tools to study the Bible. Handy Randy says, Well, everyone knows I love tools, and I love the Bible, too. But I didn t know the Bible was broken, mi amigo! Leader laughs, Oh, the Bible isn t broken, Randy. These tools aren t for fixing the Bible; they are for understanding it better. Randy looks very relieved, Ah, that s good! I have tools that do that, too. Some tools are for getting readings and diagnosis. They find out information you can t get with the naked eye. Leader nods, That s right some things we don t understand just from reading, but a Bible tool will help us dig a little deeper. Randy asks, Okay, maybe you can help me. The other day I was reading about Daniel being taken to Babylon, and I was wondering where that is. It sounds like a long journey from Israel where most of the Bible events took place. Would a Bible tool help me out there? Leader says, Oh, yes! A Bible atlas will show you exactly where Babylon was then, and what country it is in today, too. Handy Randy looks surprised, Wow, that is muy cool. What about when I read a big word that I don t understand, like a man was wearing an ephod is that a hat or a pair of slippers or what? Leader laughs, Well, a Bible dictionary would tell you that an ephod was a special breastplate worn by the high priest. In fact, some cool tools even give you a picture of what it looked like, complete with twelve valuable jewels. Randy says, That s nice, but I don t think you ll see me wearing one any time soon! Leader assures him, That s okay. My favorite Bible tool is the concordance. Randy looks confused, I want to find out how you do the concorddance. (He starts to dance around a little.) Leader laughs, It s not a dance it s another book, and a very helpful one. When you want to find a verse in the Bible, but can only remember a few words of the verse, look up the key words in the concordance and find the verse! Randy says, Oh, wow! I ve been trying to find a verse about the Bible being like a hammer. Can you help me find it? Leader pulls out a concordance, Sure, let s look up hammer. Do you remember anything else about the verse? Randy gets excited, Yeah, something about it breaking a rock! Leader scrolls down with his finger and stops, Here it is! Is not my word like fire, declares the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces? Jeremiah 23:29. Was that it? Randy jumps up and down, I have been searching for that forever! All I needed was a cool Bible tool a concordance! Leader smiles, Yes, you did. Here, you can have mine. Randy hugs it and then tries to put it in his tool belt, It s a little big for my tool belt, but I ll put it on my desk where I keep my study Bible. Thanks, [leader s name]! From now on I m gonna be Handy Randy the Cool Bible Tools Guy! I m off to study my Bible. Bye! *CHARACTERS: These are suggested characters and names. Please feel free to change or adjust to suit your kids needs and tastes.

6 EXPLORE SCRIPTURE Seize on the children s interest and direct them into God s Word. Let s Search! Bible Dash Supplies: Bibles Kids with Bibles all participate, or invite volunteers to come to the front. Let s see what the Bible has to say about learning God s Word. As children hold Bibles closed with hands on covers, leader states the reference twice. Then on the command, SEARCH! the students race to locate the verse. Once they have a finger on the verse, they can stand and call out, FOUND IT! Have the child read the verse aloud while you project the verse on a screen via PowerPoint. See suggestions for comments on each verse below. Keep comments brief and to the point of the lesson. Deuteronomy 11:18-19 Study the Bible, learn it well! Colossians 3:16 Dwell in you richly means you keep studying and learning. Psalm 18:30 God s Word is flawless; a shield protects. Matthew 4:4 We eat bread daily we ought to read the Bible daily, too. Psalm 119:11 Knowing God s Word helps to keep us from sin. Psalm 32:8 We can only do this if we are reading His Word. Paul s Power Principle: Understanding the Bible will help you live a good life. The one thing you want kids to learn today is that the Bible can change their lives. It is not just the good book or even a great book. Learning how to navigate a giant book can be boring to children on the surface. You combat that by being excited about why this book is worth learning to understand and navigate. Be enthusiastic and passionate every time you mention how this book can change their lives, as it has yours! Let s Learn! A Book Worth Learning Psalm 119:11 Supplies: Bibles, Bible dictionaries, Bible atlases and maps, Bible charts, concordance Note: Copyright laws prohibit us from providing maps and charts for this activity, but for local church use you are permitted to scan or take digital photos of a variety of maps, charts, and other images to show the children online or to insert into the PowerPoint. Read Psalm 119:11. Learning the Word of God will help you live a good life. The better you know God s Word, the better you will understand God s heart and the easier it will be to honor Him with your life. Read Psalm 32:8. This is a wonderful verse and promise from God however, it has a condition. God instructs, teaches, and counsels through His Word. If we neglect His Word, or misinterpret what it says, then we limit God s ability to instruct, teach, and counsel us. God has done His part in giving His message to us; we must do our part in reading and seeking to understand His Word. Then He will again do His part in helping us understand and live out His Word. Through the years, while the Bible has not changed and God s Truth has not changed, cultures and languages have changed. As a result, Bible reference tools have been created to help us understand the Bible s message clearly and accurately. Dee will give us an overview!

7 Dee s Disciple Tip: Bible reference tools will be new to most children. To introduce Cool Bible Tools, you may want to place them into these four basic categories: A = ATLAS ancient and modern maps show where Bible events took place B = BIBLES comparing different translations brings fuller understanding C = CONCORDANCE leads you to places in the Bible where a word or phrase is used D = DICTIONARY explains what unfamiliar words, names, and places mean KeyVerse Topic: Delight in God s Word Reference: Psalm 1:1-2 Show the kids a wrapped present (with a Bible inside). What if this was a Magic Birthday Box and whatever you wanted would appear inside? What if all you had to do was think about it really hard all day and all night for one day for it to appear? Could you do it? Encourage responses. What would you concentrate on? Be careful to use the word concentrate instead of meditate at this stage. Invite kids to raise their hands and answer. Tell the children that you have been concentrating for several days! Want to see what I ve been concentrating on? Now open the present in front of the children and take out a Bible. How many of you believe I got a Bible to appear just by concentrating none of you? Well, of course I didn t. But God wants me to concentrate on the Bible day and night! Let s review our Bible KeyVerse! Review passage. (Use the hand motions from Lesson 1.) Delight means the things that we enjoy. There are many things we enjoy, but the Lord wants us to delight in the Word of God, so that we think about it throughout the day and even at night. What a challenge!

8 INSPIRE ACTION Encourage kids to apply the Bible truth to their lives. Dramatize the Point Act this out or read as a story. Supplies: sign that says Danger: Explosives, dictionary, explosion sound effect, backpack A group of guys are walking home from school when they come across a door marked with a large sign that says DANGER: EXPLOSIVES The boys struggle to read the words because they do not understand the big words. (The audience will try to help, but they will need to ignore the audience, and children may need coaching to wait and watch.) The boys try sounding out the words and pronounce them in humorous ways, Dee-Anger and X-Ploss-I ve etc. Finally, one of the guys pulls a dictionary from his backpack and suggests they look up the words. The others balk, saying they don t have time as he looks the words up and looks alarmed. As they decide to open the door, he tries to stop them, yelling, Guys! STOP! Don t open the door! You gotta see what those words mean! They say, Oh, don t start preachin at us, Billy. We know what we re doin! As they open the door, Billy dives away and puts the dictionary over his head in protection as another guy says, See? Nuttin happened. Fraidy pants. They all go in, except Billy, who just peeks toward the door. As soon as the door closes, a huge explosion is heard. (Play the sound effect loud!) Billy jumps, looks at his dictionary, and says, Sure glad I looked up those words! He runs off stage the other way yelling, Mommy!!!! Leader comes up, Good thing Billy looked up the meaning of that warning sign. Too bad for those other guys, huh? Don t worry, I m sure they are okay. But you know, boys and girls, the Bible is full of warnings, but many people don t take the time to understand them. Those people end up being hurt by the explosions of sin. Option: After the leader talks about the point of the drama, have the blown up guys come out dazed and dizzy their hair and clothes all messed up, pant legs and shirt sleeves shredded, black marks all over their faces, etc. Have the actors wear old clothes they don t mind ruining (purchased at a thrift store, perhaps). This is a great way to end the drama and will also help the younger children who may be concerned about what happened to the guys who went through the door. They will laugh and see that they are okay. Object Talks The Snowman and the Ear Supplies: video projection The video clip for this lesson features Karl, the Kidologist, doing a short object lesson on the meaning of repentance how the Bible contains warnings to keep us safe. A snowman learns (the hard way) to stay within the boundaries established for him. Use this short teaching video to show the kids or to train a leader to do the talk live. Featured verse: Psalm 32:8

9 on presented by month day year Let s Talk! Small Group Discussion If you break into small groups, the following discussion questions will help your group leaders get personal with their students. Ideally, have some Bible reference tools that the children can handle and explore. Let them take turns looking at the cool tools as the small group leader shows how they are used, giving examples from the books you provide. 1) Do you have any cool Bible tools at home? 2) Which of these tools interests you the most? 3) Let s discover something we didn t know about the Bible and then share it with the group. (Allow 2-3 minutes for the children to hunt for something in a reference tool.) Awarded to for Bringing God s Word award DiscipleTown Super Citizen Choose a child who was observed looking at his or her own cool tools in the back of the Bible during the lesson time or who used the Bible tools during one of the activities. Let s Pray! Prayer: At the end of the service, ask the children to take out their Bibles and hold them in their laps. Dear God, thank You for the gift of the Bible. How amazing to think that You worked through the lives of so many people over so many years in so many places in so many languages in so many walks of life through so many adventures to create a Book with such unity and a single clear message of Your love and desire to know and save us. Thank You also for giving even more men and women over the ages the ability to create tools to help study and learn more about the Bible so Your message can remain clear and impact lives in countless languages across this world eventually reaching us. How blessed we are to hold these copies of Your Word in our hands today. May we cherish them, but even more important, may we study them and learn Your Truths so we may know You, the Author, better and live for you every day. We love You, God. In Jesus name, amen. Cy s Challenge: Get to know your own Bible. Check to see if it has any cool Bible tools and practice using them. If not, see if you can get one of the cool Bible tools we learned about today and start using it. Remember Paul s Power Principle, Understanding the Bible will help you live a good life! Let s Review! If you have extra time, use these review questions to keep the kids focused on the lesson until time to dismiss. A handful of candy will help you keep their attention. After each question, take a minute to reiterate the lesson point related to the question. 1) What will understanding the Bible help you do? 2) What tool did the leader bring, and what is it used for? 3) How do you use a concordance? 4) Which Bible tool has maps in it? 5) Where do you look to find the meaning of a big word? For the Home

10 DiscipleTown Table Talker: Give each child a copy of this week s DiscipleTown Table Talker. Be sure to show them how to put it together and encourage the kids to ask their parents to lead family devotions three times this week. Parent Copy and send the below to help your parents connect with their kids during the week. Send them early in the week, but not on Sunday. As a courtesy, be sure parents have opted to receive these s. Review and edit as necessary to reflect the lesson elements you have used. You can also find this as a Microsoft Word document in your download bundle. Dear Mom and Dad, It is our prayer that during this How to Use My Bible unit in children s church your child is developing a new curiosity and interest in getting to know his or her Bible. This past Sunday we learned to use what we called Cool Bible Tools Bible reference books such as a Bible dictionary, atlas, and concordance. Your child may express an interest in getting one of these Bible resource books and let me encourage you to make the investment! Many excellent Bible tools are geared toward children and few things are a better investment than your child s interest in the Word of God! I would also like to encourage you to take a few moments just three times this week to use the DiscipleTown Table Talker. It will help you enter into eternally meaningful discussions with your children around the Bible. These short family discussion times can have a long-term impact! If you need any advice or input on choosing a Bible or resource tool for your child, please do not hesitate to let me know. I m here to help any way I can! Making Disciples for Jesus, [Your Name] Chip s Snack Time!

11 BONUS MATERIALS Use these options to extend your time or as substitutes for the ideas above. Supplies: knotted pretzels Provide bowls of large, knotted pretzels and have the kids team up in groups of three or four friends. See how big a Bible book title they can spell by breaking the pretzels into letters. They can use their mouths to bite the pretzels into various letters (this actually works better than breaking them by hand). It is possible to make every letter of the alphabet with a pretzel! You can put the books of the Bible on a chalkboard and assign points based on the difficulty of the different book names. Group Activity The team Bible Dash is similar to the basic Bible Dash, except that it involves every child, and more kids receive rewards. Divide the room into two sides, or two teams. Only two Bibles are needed. The Bibles begin in the possession of the first person on each team. After the reference is announced, the first person finds the Bible book and passes the Bible to the next person on the team. The second person locates the chapter and passes the Bible on to the third person, who locates the verse, and after marking it with his or her finger, stands up and declares, GOT IT! The child with the Bible reads the verse, and the team that finds the verse first gets one point. Pass the Bibles on to the next child seated in the group and begin a new round of play. Don t skip any child. If someone during a round doesn t get the Bible because the other team won, allow him or her to be part of the next round. Additional Ideas Senior Pastor Video Interview Make a five-minute video interview with your senior pastor in his office. Ask how he prepares sermons and have him show the children several of the cool Bible tools that he uses to help him study the Bible and prepare messages. Ask your pastor to use the phrase cool Bible tools and to pull books from his shelves, give the titles, and briefly explain what each is and how it helps him. End the video with him sitting at his desk, Bible open, returning to study his Bible. Hit a Book Block? Do some kids get hung up on the order of certain Bible books? Try these memory boosters to help them. Mnemonics aid the memory through word association. The first letters of a familiar phrase match the first letters of the new concept (in this case, Bible books) you are trying to remember. Do not to try to teach ALL these mnemonics, but have them on hand when a student needs one to help him or her remember. Or, encourage your children to have fun inventing their own MEMORY BOOSTERS! By the time they figure out a mnemonic, they often know all the books! For: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy REMEMBER: Go Eat Lettuce Not Donuts! For: Isaiah through Malachi REMEMBER: I Just Let Eddie Drink His Juice And Overheard John Mention Now How Zebras Have Zany Manners! (or make up your own!) Matthew, Mark, Luke and John REMEMBER: Many Men Love Jesus! 10

12 Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians REMEMBER: Go Eat Pop Corn! Just for fun, here is the entire New Testament: Make My Life Just A Righteous Cool Great Enthusiastic Powerful Creative Testimony To The People Hearing Jaws Proclaim Jesus Just Rose! Dee-Cy-Paul Application Script There is no application script for this lesson. Dee, Cy, and Paul puppets are available at Disciple- Land.com 11

13 Puppet Intro A BIG Book DIRECTOR S NOTES The words in italics are notes for you and your puppeteers; they are not to be read aloud. You will need safety helmet and toy tool belt with tools. Leader: Uh, [puppet name], why do you look like a construction worker today? Puppet*: Hola! I heard we were going to be using cool Bible tools today, and I love tools! Leader: You do? Puppet: Mm, hmm. Just call me Handy Randy, the tool guy. Leader: [Looking at kids.] Handy...Randy? Puppet: You have a problem with your Bible? I ve got the tool to fix it! Leader: Um, well, those aren t the kind of tools we are talking about, uh, Randy. The tools we are talking about are other books we use to study the Bible, not fix it. Puppet: You use books to study another book? Leader: [Laughs.] Yes, of course. These books are filled with the information people have discovered over the years. Puppet: [Downcast.] Sounds boring. Sounds like school. Leader: I know, it does at first, but there s a big difference when you study the Bible. Puppet: What s that? Leader: When you study the Bible, it gets very interesting and it starts to change your life and that gets exciting! Puppet: What kind of stuff is in the Bible? Leader: Oh, the Bible is filled with real history of our planet great battles, amazing natural events, stories of kings, warriors, secret missions, small bands that defeated huge armies, and then a Man who came and changed everything Puppet: Jesus! Leader: Yes! And after He left, the Bible describes how to live in order to experience the abundant life God has for us. These tools help us unlock the great secrets of the Bible. Puppet: [Excited.] Well, what are we waiting for? *PUPPET: Develop a puppet character to use regularly. The children will get to know the personality and enjoy these regular visits. Dee, Cy, and Paul puppets are available at DiscipleLand.com How to Use My Bible Lesson , DiscipleLand. Permission granted to reproduce for volunteers.

14 DiscipleTown Visitor Script DIRECTOR S NOTES The words in italics are notes for you and your volunteers; they are not to be read aloud. You will need a Bible concordance. [As the leader finishes talking about tools, Handy Randy* crosses the stage, as if strolling through town.] Randy: Hola, [leader name]! Leader: Hola, Handy Randy! [if you used the Puppet intro, say to kids:] It s the real Handy Randy! Randy: Did I just hear you talking about some cool Bible tools? Leader: You sure did! Today we are learning about tools to study the Bible. Randy: Well, everyone knows I love tools, and I love the Bible, too. But I didn t know the Bible was broken, mi amigo! Leader: [Laughs.] Oh, the Bible isn t broken, Randy. These tools aren t for fixing the Bible; they are for understanding it better. Randy: Ah, that s good! I have tools that do that, too. Some tools are for getting readings and diagnosis. They find out information you can t get with the naked eye. Leader: That s right some things we don t understand just from reading, but a Bible tool will help us dig a little deeper. Randy: Okay, maybe you can help me. The other day I was reading about Daniel being taken to Babylon, and I was wondering where that is. It sounds like a long journey from Israel where most of the Bible events took place. Would a Bible tool help me out there? Leader: Oh, yes! A Bible atlas will show you exactly where Babylon was then, and what country it is in today, too. Randy: [Surprised.] Wow, that is muy cool. What about when I read a big word that I don t understand, like a man was wearing an ephod is that a hat or a pair of slippers or what? Leader: [Laughs.] Well, a Bible dictionary would tell you that an ephod was a special breastplate worn by the high priest. In fact, some cool tools even give you a picture of what it looked like, complete with twelve valuable jewels. Randy: That s nice, but I don t think you ll see me wearing one any time soon! Leader: That s okay. My favorite Bible tool is the concordance. Randy: [Confused.] I want to find out how you do the concord-dance. [Begins to dance around.] Leader: [Laughs.] It s not a dance it s another book, and a very helpful one. When you want to find a verse in the Bible but can only remember a few words of the verse, look up the key words in the concordance and find the verse! Randy: Oh, wow! I ve been trying to find a verse about the Bible being like a hammer. Can you help me find it? Leader: [Brings out a concordance.] Sure, let s look up hammer. Do you remember anything else about the verse? Randy: Yeah, something about it breaking a rock! Leader: [Scrolls down with finger.] Here it is! Is not my word like fire, declares the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces? Jeremiah 23:29. Was that it? Randy: [Jumps up and down.] I have been searching for that forever! All I needed was a cool Bible tool a concordance! Leader: Yes, you did. Here, you can have mine. Randy: [Hugs book and tries to put it on tool belt.] It s a little big for my tool belt, but I ll put it on my desk where I keep my study Bible. Thanks, [leader name]! From now on I m gonna be Handy Randy the Cool Bible Tools Guy! I m off to study my Bible. Bye! *CHARACTERS: These are suggested characters and names. Please feel free to change or adjust to suit your kids needs and tastes. How to Use My Bible Lesson , DiscipleLand. Permission granted to reproduce for volunteers.