THE PEOPLE SANG LIFE POINT: People can worship God through singing to Him. LEADER BIBLE STUDY CHURCH LEVEL OF BIBLICAL LEARNING Corporate worship is responding to God. BIBLE PASSAGE Ezra 2:1,68-70; 3:1-13 WEEKLY BIBLE VERSE I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing the praises of your name, O Most High. Psalm 9:2 UNIT VERSE Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. Psalm 95:6 Some people enjoy jigsaw puzzles. Taken alone, each puzzle piece is just a glimpse of the bigger picture. When you bring the pieces together, a beautiful image unfolds. When we think of worshiping God, we can name many expressions of worship, such as reading God s Word, bringing our offerings, speaking and listening to God through prayer, and singing His praises. Each of these is a glimpse of the bigger picture. Brought together, these pieces help to show that we value God and honor Him above all other things. Today s Bible story focuses on singing. The people of Israel had come home, leaving Babylon and the years of exile far behind. Jerusalem was in ruins. So the people set to work rebuilding a place to worship God. Through their obedient actions, they focused their attention on God, bringing Him back to a right place in their lives. With the foundation of the temple laid, the people paused to worship God. They sang, He is good; his love to Israel endures forever. The Bible does not say that only the young singers, or the loud singers, or the singers with the best voices sang. It says all of the people praised God. Think about where and how you can worship God through your singing this coming week. Do you think of singing as worship? If not, why not? How can you help the preteens you teach better understand that they can worship God with their voices? NOTE: Downloadable versions of items identified as CD are available in the Music and Print Extras Bundle. Items identified as DVD are available in the Digital Video Bundle. SUGGESTED DATE week of November 25 Training for Bible Studies for Life: Kids is available at ministrygrid.com/web/biblestudiesforlife. Bonus teaching helps and a social media plan are available at biblestudiesforlife.com/kidshelps. 84 Unit 3, SeSSion 4
PRACTICE BIBLE SKILLS Bible Word Search 1. Conduct a short review of previous lessons. Ask: --Can you name the twelve books of Old Testament History? --What were Psalms 120 134 called? (songs of ascents) 2. Introduce preteens to the Bible concordance and explain its use. 3. Create two teams; assign one to the word sing and the other to song. 4. Direct teams to use the printed concordances or electronic search tools to locate and record the number of times their assigned word is used in the Bible. Ask: --How many times does your word appear? --In what books is it most commonly used? 5. Explain that pastors and teachers will use these tools to discover as much about a topic as they can. INTRODUCTORY ACTIVITY Making Music 1. Emphasize that everyone enjoys music. Share your favorite song with the group. 2. Before sharing that you ve written a song about the class, briefly mention some things people write songs about. 3. Guide preteens to join you in a clapping rhythm, and rhythmically recite these lines: I teach this class every Sunday. That makes it my favorite fun day. 4. Allow the group to express their thoughts about your effort before challenging them to write a few lines about the class. 5. Form teams of three or four members. After providing some time for preparation, invite the teams to share their verses. Explain that while this sort of singing can be fun and silly, God s people have long used singing to worship Him. MISSIONS EMPHASIS 1. Show the Missionary Jobs video. 2. Distribute copies of Missionary Jobs and pencils. 3. Guide the kids to match each type of missionary with the jobs he/she might do. 4. Explain that missionaries around the world do these jobs and many others. 5. Thank God that missionaries use their abilities and talents to tell people about Jesus who otherwise might never hear how much God loves them. topical Bible (such as So That s in the Bible, ISBN 1-55819-474-6) or concordance (such as The Holman Bible Concordance for Kids, ISBN 0-80549- 373-5) copy paper, pens DVD Click on the missions tab on the DVD menu to find the video Missionary Jobs. International Missions: Amazon Jungle (CD) Print Missionary Jobs (1 per preteen). pencils BIBLE STUDIES FOR LIFE PRETEENS 85
STUDY THE BIBLE GETTING TO THE POINT Worship God at Church Title Banner (Pack Item 23) Call attention to the title banner. Ask kids to remind you what this month s focus is on. Invite kids to share different ways to worship. Show The People Sang: Bible Story video as a preview to today s lesson. Pack Items 23, 24, 25, 33, 34 Tape the Ezra 3 Cards (Pack Item 33) to the wall in random order, mixing in the fake items with the genuine ones. Teaching Picture 13 DVD tape LOOK IN THE BOOK History Books Time Line, Ezra 3 Cards, Ezra 3 Key (Pack Items 25, 33, 34), Teaching Picture 13 Display the Teaching Picture. Direct the group to locate Ezra 2 in their Bibles. Use the History Books Time Line to illustrate that today s story takes place long after Solomon first dedicated the temple. Place a mark at 520 BC as the time for today s account. Ask someone to read Ezra 2:1. Explain that the people of Judah had been taken away to Babylon years before. Challenge the preteens to imagine how exciting it would have been to come home and be able to worship God at the temple again. Point out that the rest of this chapter lists the people who returned to Jerusalem and then, in verses 68-70, the gifts that the people gave to rebuild the temple. Guide the preteens to turn to chapter 3. Point out that on the wall they will find the Ezra 3 Cards listing events included in this chapter as well as a few events that are not in the chapter. Challenge the group to work together to eliminate the fake events and to place the real events in the proper order using Ezra 3 as a reference when needed. Work through the events of the chapter using the Ezra 3 Key as a reference. Use this chronology to summarize the chapter. REVIEW CHALLENGE Guide the group to locate Psalm 136 in their Bibles. Point out that in this psalm, the writer lists a great number of good things that God did and ended each one with a statement about God s love. Invite a volunteer to share what the statement is and what it tells us about God s love. Remind preteens that none of the things that are recorded in Ezra 3 could have happened had God not been helping the people. Direct them to follow along as you read the events from the Ezra 3 Cards, one by one, each time repeating together what Psalm 136 says about God s love. 86 Unit 3, SeSSion 4
LIFE POINT People can worship God through singing to Him. UNIT VERSE CHALLENGE Psalm 95:6 Unit Verse (Pack Item 24) Display the Psalm 95:6 Unit Verse poster. Ask the following questions to review: --Can anyone recall the verbs used in this verse? (come, worship, bow down, kneel) --What words let us know this is for a group and not for just an individual? (us, our) Arrange preteens in two lines facing each other. Direct them to recite the first half of the verse from memory when you point to their line. Point to one line of preteens to recite the first half of the verse. Point to the second line of preteens to recite the remainder of the verse. Switch sides and continue until everyone seems to have the verse memorized. OPTION: Memorize the Weekly Bible Verse: Psalm 9:2. APPLY THE BIBLE AND PRAY Quiet everyone down and point again to the word worship on the title banner. Ask softly, Earlier I said, worship is loud. Why would it be loud? Allow preteens to share their ideas of why worship would be loud. Emphasize that loud worship is not loud simply to be loud. Point out that worship can be loud because of how strongly believers feel about what God has done for them, but worship can also be silent as people pray and focus on God. Show The People Sang: Life Action video. Lead the group in a prayer, asking God to help them to sing with enthusiasm whenever they gather together to worship. BIBLE STUDIES FOR LIFE PRETEENS 87
LIVE IT OUT CHOICE 1 CD copy paper, pens CHOICE 2 Activity Pages CD hymnals or praise song lyrics CHOICE 1 (GIRLS) A New Song of Ascent, Glorious Your Name (CD, track 5) or We Are Your Church (CD, track 6) 1. Challenge girls to recall what Psalms 120 134 are called. (songs of ascent) Point out that the word ascent means going up. 2. Direct girls to locate Psalm 133 in their Bibles. Read aloud Psalm 133 verse by verse. Point out that verse 1 is very clear but that verse 2 sounds strange. 3. Invite the girls to explain the thoughts behind the comparisons in verses 2 and 3. Agree that this psalm may seem challenging to understand in our world. 4. Challenge the girls to create their own songs of ascent using Psalm 133 as a model. 5. Allow them to substitute adjectives in the first verse if they would like and to create a song about sisters. As they write comparisons as in verses 2 and 3, urge them to use images and ideas that would speak to worshipers today. 6. Allow the girls to sing or read their completed songs. Suggest that one of the benefits of singing together in worship is that it helps Christians grow together in harmony. Remind kids that singing is a way to worship with others. 7. Invite girls to sing along with Glorious Your Name or We Are Your Church as a way to end with an act of worship. CHOICE 2 (BOYS) Vertical vs. Horizontal (Activity Page), Glorious Your Name (CD, track 5) 1. Acknowledge that for many boys, singing worship songs is a least favorite part of worship time. Allow the boys to share what they do and do not like about singing in worship. 2. Encourage them to name songs that they enjoy as well as ones they do not like. 3. Distribute the Activity Pages and point out the Vertical vs. Horizontal item. Read through it together to ensure everyone is clear on what each term means. 4. Ask boys to consider various song texts and to categorize each as either vertical or horizontal. Encourage them to vote by taking the appropriate posture. 5. Present a series of lines from hymns or songs. Use texts that the boys are likely to hear in your church. If you have appropriate selections recorded, you could play the songs. 6. Conclude by playing the song Glorious Your Name and asking the boys to consider whether it is vertical or horizontal. Challenge the boys to think about the 88 Unit 3, SeSSion 4
LIFE POINT People can worship God through singing to Him. direction of a song whenever they hear worship music. CHOICE 3 (BOYS AND GIRLS) Way Back Machine: Music (Activity Page) 1. Lead the group to express their preferences by moving to either the left or to the right. Ask: Would you rather sing a lot of songs in worship (to your left) or listen to a long sermon (to your right)? Discuss their choices. 2. Ask: Do you ever wonder why we sing songs in worship? 3. Distribute the Activity Pages and point out the Way Back Machine: Music item. Suggest that by looking at what the Bible says about singing in times past, preteens can discover what singing should mean in worship today. 4. Take preteens way-way back to Old Testament times. Form and assign three groups to locate and consider the three verses. Ask each group to determine a primary purpose, based on the words of their verses, why God s people sang. 5. Look to the time of Paul. Repeat the previous process with the three Scriptures listed there. 6. Based on what they have learned, challenge the groups to write down and share one or more purposes for singing that would still hold true today. WRAP UP Point out that followers of God have been singing in worship since at least the time of Moses. Encourage preteens to be genuine and enthusiastic in singing during worship. Remind kids to give their One Conversation pages to their parents. CHOICE 3 Activity Pages pens WRAP UP No advanced preparation or supplies needed Teaching Tip: Mail the December Postcards Wonderful (005806087) to all the preteens on your roll. BIBLE STUDIES FOR LIFE PRETEENS 89