Praise Jesus! Peter Testifies to the Inspiration of Scripture Lesson 9 Bible Point God inspired people to write the Bible. Bible Verse All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right (2 Timothy 3:16). Growing Closer to Jesus Students will n orally pass on a message, n learn that the Bible was written by people who wanted to share special experiences they had with God, n write eyewitness accounts, and n examine different Bible accounts of the same event. Teacher Enrichment Bible Basis n Peter testifies to the inspiration of Scripture. 2 Peter 1:16-21 As he begins this passage, Peter seems to be refuting the accusations of false teachers who apparently suggested that he and the other apostles had made up stories about Jesus and his power. What was Peter s defense? We saw with our own eyes (2 Peter 1:16). It appears that one story the false teachers questioned was that of the Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-8), where Jesus face shone like the sun and Moses and Elijah appeared with him. Peter, James, and John were right there on the mountain and witnessed it all, including the voice of God confirming who Jesus was. Peter then turns to the witness of the prophets to substantiate that Jesus was who he claimed to be. Peter put all prophecy and authorship of Bible texts into perspective: The writers of Scripture wrote only as inspired by God and guided by the Holy Spirit. Likely Peter was suggesting here that God wouldn t put up with the falsifying of stories about Jesus they couldn t have come from human imaginations any more than the prophets prophecies came from their imaginations. Other Scriptures used in this lesson are Matthew 28:1-8; Mark 16:1-8; Luke 24:1-12; John 5:39; and John 20:1 9. Prayer Read Matthew 17:1-8. What does it mean to you that God inspired the writers of the Bible text? Pray: Lord, help me instill in my students an understanding of how true and vital your Word is. 101
Lesson 9 Before the Lesson n Collect the necessary items for the activities you plan to use, referring to the Classroom Supplies and Learning Lab Supplies listed on the chart. n Make photocopies of the Hands-On Fun at Home handout (at the end of this lesson) to send home with your students. n Pray for your students and for God s direction as you teach the lesson. This Lesson at a Glance Attention Grabber What Students Will Do Classroom Supplies Learning Lab Supplies Follow Directions! Follow oral and written directions. Newsprint, marker, tape Bible Exploration & Application Great News! Share exciting news about Jesus, read 2 Timothy 3:16, and praise God for giving us the Bible. Bibles Pass It On Pass on a story they ve heard, and discuss 2 Peter 1:16-21. Bibles, CD player Eyewitness Accounts Write accounts of what they see, and compare the four Gospel accounts of Jesus resurrection. Bibles, newsprint, tape, pencils, paper, marker Closing Inspired, Too Choose a book of the Bible, and commit to reading it. Bibles 102
Peter Testifies to the Inspiration of Scripture Welcome As kids arrive, ask them how they have applied last week s lesson to their lives. Ask questions such as, In what areas of your life did you trust God? and If you went without your prized possession last week, what was that like? Tell kids that whenever you click the bug clicker and spell B-I-B-L-E, they are to stop talking, clap twice, and focus on you. Explain that it s important to respond to this signal quickly so the class can do as many fun activities as possible. Practice the signal two or three times before the lesson. Attention Grabber n Follow Directions! SUPPLIES: newsprint, marker, tape Before class, write the following directions on a sheet of newsprint: Stand up. Sit down. Touch your left little finger to your right ear. Grab your left ankle with your right hand. Let go. Stand up. Turn around. Say Hip, hip, hooray three times. Shake hands with your neighbor on your left, and sit down. Keep the directions hidden until kids have tried to follow your verbal instructions. Have kids form groups of no more than four. Make sure each person has a chair. Say: In your group, scoot your chairs apart so you ll have room to move around. After groups have moved their chairs, say: I m going to give you some instructions, but don t do anything at all until I say go. Read the following directions quickly so kids won t be able to remember everything. Say: These are the instructions: Stand up. Sit down. Touch your left little finger to your right ear. Grab your left ankle with your right hand. Let go. Stand up. Turn around. Say Hip, hip, hooray three times. Shake hands with your neighbor on your left, and sit down. Ready? Go! If kids complain, quickly read the instructions again. If they complain that they still can t remember what you said, ask: Could you follow the directions better if they were written so you could read them? Tape the directions on a wall, and then say: Now see if you can follow them. Let kids follow the written instructions. Then say B-I-B-L-E, clicking the bug clicker as you say each letter. Wait for kids to respond, and then have them discuss the following questions in their groups. Read the questions one at a time, and give groups a minute or two to discuss each one. Ask: What was it like trying to follow instructions as I read them to you? (I felt confused; I couldn t remember them all; I was upset because I was getting it wrong.) How was trying to follow those directions like the way Christians might have felt before the Bible was written? (People could get confused about what God wanted them to do; they might not remember everything God expected them to do.) It s important to say the Bible Point just as it s written in each activity. Repeating the Bible Point over and over throughout the lesson will help kids remember it and apply it to their lives. If your kids are too lively to learn during an activity, take a break and use up some of that energy. Have kids sing an action song, run a relay race, or do some jumping jacks or stretches. Then return to the lesson. You ll find that they will be able to focus much better. 103
Lesson 9 What was it like following the written directions? (Better, I could look at the directions when I forgot what to do; more relaxed, I could check the directions to make sure I did everything.) How was this like the way Christians might have felt after the Bible was written? (People could look again to make sure they were following God s directions; people didn t have to remember so much at one time.) Call groups back together by saying B-I-B-L-E and clicking the bug clicker as you say each letter. Wait for kids to respond, and then have volunteers share their groups answers with the rest of the class. Say: Sometimes it s hard to follow directions just by hearing them. We can follow the directions in God s Word better because they ve been written down. God inspired people to write the Bible so we could read God s Word any time we want to. Participate in activities, don t just observe. Your enthusiasm will draw kids into an activity and help them see you as a friend, not just someone in authority. Get down to kids eye level so they don t think of you as just another adult, but as an accessible, caring friend. Bible Exploration & Application n Great News! SUPPLIES: Bibles Ask kids to form pairs. Say: In your pairs, you ll all tell a story about something great that s happened to you. Maybe it s that amazing roller coaster ride you survived or how you hit a home run in a baseball game or the day you got a perfect score on a test. For me it would be a story about [give a brief personal example here]. Whatever counts as a great thing in your life, tell your partner. But make it brief: You ll have just 30 seconds to tell your story. First, take a few seconds to think about what story you want to tell your partner. Got something in mind? Good. The person in your pair who is wearing the most blue will go first. Ready? Go! After 30 seconds, click the bug clicker while saying B-I-B-L-E, and tell kids it s time for the second person in each pair to share. When another 30 seconds have passed, click the bug clicker while saying B-I-B-L-E to draw attention back to yourself. Say: It s fun to share stories about great things! Now, suppose you wanted to tell your story to someone who was far away. How would you do that? Allow volunteers to make suggestions, such as using the telephone or e-mail, texting, writing letters, making a video, or visiting the person. Say: Here s my point: If it was a great enough thing you wanted to tell about, you would find a way to share the story. You d be inspired to tell it! Many Bible writers had great news to share, too. They d met Jesus or learned about Jesus. They wanted people to know what they knew, and they just had to tell about it. We know some great, exciting things about Jesus, too. Let s pretend that we have the opportunity to tell the world one thing about Jesus on a worldwide radio broadcast. Millions of people are listening. What would you say? 104
Pull out the inflatable microphone, and hold it up as if you re speaking into it. Say: I think I would say, Jesus loves you. What would you say? Walk among your students, offering each one a chance to say something about Jesus. Don t require anyone to participate, but make the opportunity available. Some things you might hear include, Jesus is God s Son, Jesus is our friend, and Jesus cares about you. Say: Those are great things for everyone to know about Jesus! Thanks for sharing those great things about Jesus with the world, but that was the easy part. Now let s take it to a deeper level by sharing the things we just said aloud or to ourselves with a neighbor. Ask kids to form pairs. Say: Just like before, you don t have to share aloud something you think is exciting about Jesus, but I hope you will. Tell your partner something that s great news about Jesus and what that means in your life. You ll each have 30 seconds to talk. Ready? Go! After 30 seconds, click the bug clicker while saying B-I-B-L-E. Tell kids it s time for the second person in each pair to share. When another 30 seconds have passed, click the bug clicker while saying B-I-B-L-E to draw attention back to you. Distribute Bibles, and help kids find 2 Timothy 3:16, All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. Have a volunteer read the verse aloud while others follow along in their Bibles. Say: The Bible writers didn t just write down the things they thought were important. They wrote down the things that God thought were important, too. They listened to God and what God wanted. God inspired people to write the Bible. Have students form a circle, and give each one a streamer. Say: In lots of ways, the Bible is like a letter from a friend. God loves you, and his friendship shows in the Bible. God inspired people to write the Bible so God could tell you that he loves you! When we write to a friend, we tell that person what s important to us, and we usually sign the note in a special way. Sometimes friends sign, Love, Jennifer. Or a friend might sign, I hope to see you soon, Jennifer. Pretend that you re signing a letter to your friend God. How would you sign the letter? When you ve decided, raise your streamer over your head, wave the streamer, and shout out how you would sign your letter. I d sign mine, I love you, God! Shout it out, and wave your streamer you re modeling for your kids. When everyone who wants to participate has done so, collect the streamers. Put them out of sight for use in another lesson. Say: God inspired people to write the Bible so we could learn about God and grow closer to him. I hope you re encouraged to read the Bible, talk to God, and get to know him in return! Peter Testifies to the Inspiration of Scripture 105
Lesson 9 Take the volunteers far enough away from the class so the rest of the kids can t hear you tell the story. You may need to take the volunteers outside the room. Have the rest of the class work on their Bible Discoveries handouts (p. 99) while you re telling the story to the volunteers. The more times kids have to pass the story along, the better. If you have fewer than eight students in your class, work in a single group. If you have a large class, form up to three groups. n Pass It On SUPPLIES: Bibles, CD player track 11 Say: Before the Bible was written, people passed the news about what God had done by telling one another. One person told another person. The second person told someone else. People kept telling their friends until everybody knew the exciting news. Let s see how it might have worked. Have kids form three groups. Choose a volunteer from each group. Take the volunteers aside, and quietly tell them the following story about the mystery masks. Make sure the other kids don t hear you tell the story. A long time ago there lived a family with no eyebrows. The Flergerbergers were wonderful people as nice as you could ever meet but they d all been born with no eyebrows. They lived just outside a small village, and whenever they went into the village to buy their groceries, people would point and laugh at them because they had no eyebrows. Little Penelope Flergerberger cried herself to sleep every night because no one would be her friend. Then one day, Mama Flergerberger had an idea. She took out paper; scissors; and green, yellow, and purple paints and went to work. She snipped, brushed, and snipped some more. Finally, her masterpiece was finished. Carefully, she showed Penelope how to hold the creation up to her face. Penelope squealed with joy when she saw the mask her mother had made. It was so beautiful and dainty and, best of all, it would hide her missing eyebrows. When Penelope wore the mask to school the next day, all the boys and girls lined up to be her friends. Everyone wanted to play with her and they wanted to try on her mask. Mama Flergerberger began making more masks. She taught Penelope how to make them, too, and when Penelope grew up she taught her son Egbert. Egbert taught his cousin Georgina, who taught her nephew Randolph, and so on. The Flergerberger family is still making masks today. When you return with the volunteers, signal for the kids attention by saying B-I-B-L-E and clicking the bug clicker as you say each letter. Give each volunteer a mystery mask to wear. Ask the volunteers to whisper the story and pass the mystery mask to one person in their group. Have group members pass the story and the masks until everyone has heard the story. Then have the last person in each group tell the story aloud to his or her group. Call the class together by saying B-I-B-L-E and clicking the bug clicker. Wait for kids to respond, and then play History of the Mystery Masks (track 11) on the CD. Collect the mystery masks, and place them out of sight for use in future lessons. Then ask: What went through your mind as you heard the last person tell the story? (I wondered if it was the same story; I was confused because some of the details were different; I thought it sounded pretty much the same.) Did the story told by the last person in your group match the story you heard on the CD? If not, how was it different? (No, it was really different; yes, sort of the details were the same, but the words weren t exactly the same.) 106
What might have happened if people had just told stories of God s Word without writing them down? (Somebody may have gotten mixed up; some of the words may have been changed.) Say: God wanted to make sure the Bible message didn t get mixed up, so he sent the Holy Spirit to help people write it. Let s read about that now. Distribute Bibles, and have kids look up 2 Peter 1:16-21. Explain that 2 Peter is in the New Testament, near the end of the Bible. When all kids have found the verses, ask a volunteer to read them aloud as the other kids follow along in their Bibles. Then ask: What experience did this writer of the Bible want to share? (He saw Jesus; he heard God s voice from heaven when he was with Jesus on the mountain.) What do you think might have happened to this story if it had been passed orally to several people? (The story might have been changed; people might not have believed the story.) How did this writer of the Bible know what to say? (God inspired him; he asked God for help; he was led by the Holy Spirit.) Where do these verses say that all Scriptures and Bible prophecies come from? (From God; from the Holy Spirit.) Say: At first, God s Word was passed along by one person telling another. But sometimes the stories about God s people got changed a little. So God inspired people to write the Bible so others would hear the message God wanted them to hear. Because the Bible has been written down, we can read about God and know the story hasn t gotten mixed up. Peter Testifies to the Inspiration of Scripture HANDS-ON BIBLE Give everyone a string at least a foot long. Make sure kids have their Hands-On Bibles. Have students turn to 2 Timothy 3 in their Bibles and complete the It s Knot a Problem activity found there. Then ask: Without the Bible, how would you know how God wants you to live? (We wouldn t; people like our parents and teachers would tell us their ideas, but they wouldn t be based on anything.) How does the Bible help you to make wise decisions? (The Bible tells me what s right and wrong; the Bible tells me what God wants me to do.) n Eyewitness Accounts SUPPLIES: Bibles, newsprint, tape, pencils, paper, marker Before class, lay a sheet of newsprint on a table or the floor, and put tape by it. Place the linking hearts and stars and the fishnet at opposite sides of the room. Take a volunteer aside, and whisper the following instructions: On your signal, he or she will walk across the room, pick up the linking hearts and stars, place them in the fishnet, and then pick up the newsprint and tape it to the wall. Distribute pencils and paper. Say: Watch what our volunteer is about to do. Then write an eyewitness account of what you saw. Describe everything you saw the volunteer do. 107
Lesson 9 Bible Insight The two books of Peter have distinct purposes and messages. The first epistle urges readers to resist outside opposition to Christianity. The second epistle cautions readers not to be misled by false teachings and destructive heresies. Signal the volunteer to begin, and give kids a few minutes to write their eyewitness accounts. Call for kids attention by clicking the bug clicker while spelling B-I-B-L-E. Wait for kids to respond, and then form groups of no more than four. Have kids read their eyewitness accounts to one another and discuss the following questions in their groups. Ask: Were all the reports exactly the same? Why or why not? (No, some people wrote more details than others; the things that happened were the same, but each person used different words.) When you were writing, did you write only what you saw or did you make some things up? (I tried to write only what I saw; I made up a reason why the volunteer was taping the newsprint to the wall.) Now that you ve written an eyewitness account, how do you think the people who saw the Bible events felt as they wrote about what they saw? (They might have worried about writing things exactly as they happened; they might have wondered what they were supposed to put in and what they should leave out.) Bring groups back together by clicking the bug clicker and spelling B-I-B-L-E. Wait for kids to respond, and then encourage them to share the responses they discussed in their groups. Say: Your eyewitness accounts were different, just like some in the Bible. Let s look at the eyewitness accounts of Jesus resurrection to see how they compare. Assign each group two of the following passages about Jesus resurrection: Matthew 28:1-8; Mark 16:1-8; Luke 24:1-12; and John 20:1-9. Have groups read their two assigned accounts, compare them, and list any differences they notice. After about five minutes, call groups back together by clicking the bug clicker and spelling B-I-B-L-E. Wait for kids to respond, and then ask kids about the differences they discovered. Divide the newsprint your volunteer taped to the wall into four columns, and record the details unique to each Gospel account in separate columns. Ask: Why weren t all these reports the same since they all told about the same event? (Different people saw different things; each person wrote what he thought was important.) Why did people write about what they saw when they were with Jesus? (It was important; God wanted them to; they wanted other people to know what happened.) Say: Many people were eyewitnesses to the events that happened in the Bible. They wrote in their own ways about the events they saw. But all of them were equally inspired by God. God inspired people to write the Bible so we wouldn t miss any important details of the Bible events. Say: God inspired people to write the Bible. And Jesus tells us that the whole Bible points to one thing: him! Check it out in John 5:39. Have a volunteer read the verse aloud. 108
Closing n Inspired, Too SUPPLIES: Bibles Say: God inspired people to write the Bible so that people like us could read the Bible. Regular Bible reading is one of the most important things we can do, right up there with brushing our teeth and flossing. And because the Bible is inspired by God, we know it s all true. Have students open their Bibles to the table of contents. Say: Choose a book of the Bible to start reading this week. There are plenty of short ones, and some are easier than others. I would suggest Proverbs; James; 1, 2, or 3 John; Psalms; Ruth; Jonah; or one of the Gospels, but you can choose any book you want. Form a circle with your students. Beginning with yourself, have each person tell which book of the Bible he or she will begin reading this week. Affirm each person s choice, and encourage kids to follow through. Close with a prayer thanking God for inspiring people to write the Bible so the kids in your class can read and learn from it. Peter Testifies to the Inspiration of Scripture Growing closer to Jesus extends beyond the classroom. Photocopy the Hands-On Fun at Home handout (at the end of this lesson) for this week, and send it home with your kids. Encourage kids and parents to use the handout to spark meaningful discussion on this week s topic. 109
Lesson 13 9 God inspired people to write the Bible. All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right (2 Timothy 3:16). Draw a light bulb on a sheet of yellow or white construction paper. Copy Psalm 119:105 from your Bible onto the light bulb. Decorate your light bulb with fluorescent markers. Cut out your light bulb. Tape it to the lampshade of your bedside lamp, or cut a slit in it so you can tape it over your light switch. Look at it often to remind you to trust God s Word to guide you. Read Romans 16:25-27. Why did people write the Bible? Read Psalm 19:7-8. Make a list of good reasons to read and study the Bible. Read Joshua 1:7-8. How can following the teachings in the Bible help you be successful? Have family members record on separate sheets of paper any special events that happen during the week. You might write about a good grade on a homework assignment, a birthday party, a family outing, or even a favorite meal. At the end of the week, share your reports. Did you report the same events? Were your reports the same, or did they have different details? Talk about how God inspired people who wrote the Bible to make sure they included all the details he wanted. Read what the following people wrote in the Bible. What can you learn from their writings? Pray and thank God for inspiring these people to write their parts of the Bible. David Psalm 23 Paul Ephesians 5:1-2 James James 5:7-8 Peter 1 Peter 2:24 110 Permission to photocopy this handout from Group s Hands-On Bible Curriculum, Grades 3 & 4, granted for local church use. Copyright Group Publishing, Inc., 1515 Cascade Ave., Loveland, CO 80538. group.com