YOUNG BELIEVERS LESSON 1: THE BIBLE AND BELIEVERS Special Note: This CrossTrainer unit is designed to be a class that the children attend with their parents. However, it can also be used as a regular children s class unit. It is recommended you plan a baptismal ceremony for the end of this unit. KEY VERSE All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness. 2 Timothy 3:16, NIV ADDITIONAL VERSES Isaiah 7:14; 35:4-6; 40:3; 53:12; Micah 5:2; Zechariah 9:9; Matthew 1:18-25; 2:1; 3:1-3; 9:35; 11:2-6; Luke 19:29-36; 23:34; 2 Corinthians 5:21 OBJECTIVES Children will Discover what the Bible is, how the Bible was written, who wrote the Bible, and why the Bible is important Understand the purpose of the Bible and why God gave it to us Learn the order of the books of the Bible Learn that the Bible is similar to a baby book, documenting Jesus life Explore prophecies of the Old Testament and how they are fulfilled in the New Testament Be introduced to the Young Believers Journal and learn the importance of completing at-home assignments Teacher Tip To encourage class participation, you may choose to give children who answer or ask questions a piece of candy. SUPPLIES ACTIVITY PREPARATION SUPPLIES NEEDED General Supplies for Lesson 1 Place markers, nametags, and nametag holders on each table. Print the Young Believers Covenant. Lesson 1 Young Believers Journals, pencils or pens, baby book, optional: individually wrapped candy All artwork in Leader Lesson 1: Shutterstock 1
ACTIVITY PREPARATION SUPPLIES NEEDED Small-Group Activity #1: Did You Know? Small-Group Activity #2: Table Topics Active Activity: Hitting the Books Small-Group Activity #3: Prophecy Fulfilled Partner Activity: Bible Wrap-Up Print and cut out the 66 Books of the Bible Cards Print Lesson 1 Young Believers Journal Print Lesson 1 Young Believers Journal nametags, plastic holders for nametags, markers paper, pencils or pens tape, card stock Bibles, pencils or pens Bibles, pencils or pens Welcome Welcome each child and parent. Invite them to find seats at a table. As children and their parents or guardians arrive, have them pick up a Young Believers Journal. Give each child and parent a nametag. Have the children and parents draw something that tells about themselves on the nametags; for example: sports, hobbies, pets, subjects at school, job, something they collect, and so forth. This will be used for the Did You Know? activity. Parents and children will form groups around tables. They will stay in their table groups for small-group and active activities. Graphic #1 Young Believers: The Bible and Believers Introduction I am glad that you and your parent(s) or guardian(s) have chosen to participate in our Young Believers class. We are going to meet together for the next six weeks. During this class, we will be getting to know one another better as we find out more about what it means to be a believer in Jesus Christ. Overview of Class Today we ll be talking about what the Bible is, how the Bible was written, who wrote the Bible, and why the Bible is important. By the time we dismiss, you will have a better understanding of the purpose of the Bible and why God gave it to us. There are expectations of all of us as we meet together. In Bible times, a covenant was like a legal contract or a treaty. It was the strongest possible promise a person or country could make. We also have a covenant in this class. Let s look at the covenant together. Young Believers LESSON 1: THE BIBLE AND BELIEVERS 2
Graphic #2 1.) attend all classes; 2.) complete all journaling activities; 3.) participate in class; 4.) memorize the assigned Bible verses; 5.) record my classmates prayer requests; 6.) faithfully pray for others. YOUNG BELIEVERS COVENANT You will find the covenant that you may photocopy at the end of this lesson. As an agreement between God, the class leaders, my parents, and myself, I commit to: 1. attend all classes; 2. complete all journaling activities; 3. participate in class; 4. memorize the assigned Bible verses; 5. record my classmates prayer requests; 6. faithfully pray for others. Signatures Child Parent Class Leader Read the Young Believers Covenant aloud. At the end of today s class, if you agree to everything and this class is what you expected, please sign the covenant. Are there any questions? Let s begin class in prayer. Opening Prayer God, thank you for leading all of us together today. Thank you for this wonderful opportunity you have given to us to discover and grow through your Word, the Bible. We ask that you will guide our hearts and our minds as we journey together. Please help us to connect with each other in this time of learning and fellowship. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. Small-Group Activity #1: Did You Know? Now, to help us get to know each other better, you are going to use your nametags to tell your table groups about yourself. You may include your name, age, and grade. Parents may include their name, job or hobbies, and child s name. Explain what you ve done with your nametag. What Is the Bible? The Bible is God s way of talking with us in written form. It shows us what God is like, what God has done, and what God wants us to do. It tells us about ourselves about how our God made us and how sin came into this world. It also tells us about Jesus, who came to show us how much God loves us and wants to have a relationship with us. The Bible is like a whole bunch of stories and letters put together. Each separate letter is called a book. There are 66 books in the whole Bible. But even though there are 66 books, it s one big story from Young Believers LESSON 1: THE BIBLE AND BELIEVERS 3
beginning to end. It s the love story of our God who created us and wants to be in a mutual personal relationship. It was written over a long period of time, with about fifty different writers. Even though it took hundreds of years for so many different people to write, it is all one story from Genesis, the first book, to Revelation, the last book. Small-Group Activity #2: Table Topics Right now I want you to take a few minutes at your table group to brainstorm an idea for a story. You will not write the story; you just have to think of a topic. Be ready to share the idea with the large group. (Have one child from each group share her or his group s idea.) How Was the Bible Written? We have many creative people here. We have many different ideas for many different stories. All of us were right here in the same room together, and yet we came up with totally different ideas. You all thought completely differently from one another. Now, how does this relate to the way the Bible was written? Well, remember I told you that the Bible was written over a 1600-year period? That s quite different from what we just did. We were all here together at the same time. We could have talked with each other about a story and worked together. The writers of the Bible were not together when they wrote. They did not have each other to talk with to be sure that they were all writing about the same thing. And fifty different people, not just a few, wrote the Bible. Do you see how difficult it would be for these people who didn t know one another, didn t talk to one another, and didn t even live at the same time to write a part of one complete story? And yet they did, and it all came together. They all wrote one complete story about God s love for us and how we can live within that love! How did it happen? It is a miracle! Let s look at 2 Timothy 3:16, NIV. It reads: All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness. Graphic #3 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16, NIV). Second Timothy 3:16, NIV, tells us that God has breathed life into all Scripture. That means that God was able to guide all of the people who wrote parts of the Bible. God inspired ordinary people what to write, and they wrote it. That s a miracle! Although the Bible is one story, it s divided into two sections. The Old Testament is made up of the first 39 books and covers Creation, when God made everything, up till 400 B.C., which means four hundred years before Jesus was born. Let s all find the Old Testament in our Bibles. Have children and parents work together to find the beginning of the Old Testament in their Bibles. Young Believers LESSON 1: THE BIBLE AND BELIEVERS 4
The New Testament has 27 books and starts when Jesus was born and goes until approximately one hundred years after Jesus was born. Now, let s all find the New Testament in our Bibles. Have children and parents work together to find the beginning of the New Testament in their Bibles. Here is an easy way to remember how many books are in the Old Testament. All you have to do is count the letters in the word Old (3) and count how many letters there are in the word Testament (9); put them together and you have 39 books in the Old Testament. Now, there are 66 books total in the whole Bible. If you subtract 39 from 66 you end up with 27 books left for the New Testament. Graphic #4 Old (3) + Testament (9) = Old Testament Books 39; Books in the Bible (66) Old Testament Books (39) = New Testament Books 27 Active Activity: Hitting the Books Take the 66 Books of the Bible cards and shuffle the cards. Divide the 66 cards between all of the table groups, ensuring each group has cards from both the Old and New Testaments. Each group will separate its cards into two piles, the books of the Old and New Testaments. On each table are cards with the books of the Old and New Testaments. When I say Go, each group will separate its cards into two piles, the books of the Old and New Testaments. Any questions? Go! You will find Books of the Bible Cards that you may photocopy at the end of this lesson. For the second half of this activity, collect the Old Testament pile of cards from each table. Bring them to the front of the room and set aside. Have one member from each group bring his or her New Testament card piles to the front of the room. Have that representative tape the New Testament cards in order onto the wall or board for his or her group. Group members can yell from their tables to assist their teammate. If any New Testament books are missing, they must be in the pile of Old Testament cards. Have the representatives work together to find any of the missing cards and disregard any unnecessary cards. For the second half of this activity, I will collect the Old Testament pile of cards from each table and bring them to the front of the room. One member from your group will bring your New Testament card piles to the front of the room. That representative will work with the other table representatives to tape the New Testament cards in order onto the wall or board. If you are a group member still sitting at your table, you can yell from the table to help your teammate. If any New Testament books are missing, they must be in the pile of Old Testament cards. Representatives must work together to find Young Believers LESSON 1: THE BIBLE AND BELIEVERS 5
any of the missing cards and disregard any unnecessary cards. Are we ready? Go! Great teamwork! Head back to your seats to cool down. Let s watch this video. Video #1 The Ultimate Baby Book Who Wrote the Bible? Do you have a baby book at home about yourself, or have you seen a baby book like the one in the video? (discuss) I will pass this one around the room for you to look through. At home this week, you can look through your own baby book or baby pictures with your parents. When do parents write the information in a baby book? (discuss) Did they write in it before the child was born or after the child was born and as he or she was growing? (discuss) That s right. Parents write the details of a child s life in a book after they happen. Could your parents know when you would get your first tooth before you were born? (discuss) No! They had to wait until you did all of those very special things and then write it in the book! It becomes a written history of your life. Graphic #5 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16, NIV). Let s look again at 2 Timothy 3:16, NIV. As a class, let s read it together. This verse tells us that: All Scripture is Godbreathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness. Bible verses may also be called Scriptures. They both refer to passages in the Bible. When we read verses in the Old Testament, we find that there are over three hundred Scriptures that were written to tell about Jesus before he was born! How could these writers have known about Jesus before he was born? (discuss) That s right! God told them. God wanted God s people to know who was in control of everything that was happening and what was going to happen in the future! Telling about Jesus and his life hundreds of years before he was born was God s way of making sure that we could all understand God s plan. When the Bible says that something is going to happen in the future, it is called prophecy. Then, when the event happens, the prophecy is fulfilled. The Old Testament is filled with prophecy, and the New Testament records when all the prophecies are fulfilled. Sending God s Son, Jesus, was God s wonderful plan for us! God loved us so much and made a great plan for us to be able to know and to live with God forever. Young Believers LESSON 1: THE BIBLE AND BELIEVERS 6
Small-Group Activity #3: Prophecy Fulfilled We re going to look at Scriptures in the Old Testament that tell us a prophecy about Jesus. Remember, these Scriptures were written hundreds of years before Jesus was born. Then we ll look at some New Testament Bible verses to see what happened after Jesus was born. Each table group will get different verses to look up; answer these questions as you go: 1. What does the Old Testament Scripture say will happen? 2. What does the New Testament Scripture say happened? Assign each table a group number. Have each group look up its Scriptures as listed in the Young Believers Journal. Group 1: Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:18-25 Group 2: Micah 5:2; Matthew 2:1 Group 3: Isaiah 40:3; Matthew 3:1-3 Group 4: Isaiah 35:4-6; Matthew 9:35; 11:2-6 Group 5: Zechariah 9:9; Luke 19:29-36 Group 6: Isaiah 53:12; Luke 23:34; 2 Corinthians 5:21 I want each group to have a spokesperson report back to our class the prophecy and how it was fulfilled. Why Is the Bible Important to Me? The Bible is what we call inspired. This means it is God s truth. The Bible is more than just a bunch of old stories about some people who lived in history. It is God s love letter to you, telling you that God loves you and will take care of you every day. Let s look at your Young Believers Journal. There is a list of the Old Testament and New Testament books. The Old Testament covers a lot of history and laws, beautiful poetry, and prophecy. The New Testament includes the Gospels, history, letters, and prophecy. This awesome book holds all of the promises that God has for us. The Bible is the main way that God talks to us and lets us know that God is real. It s important that we read it every day. As we read it, we get to know God better and better. As we get to know God, we become more like God as we love and care about others and the world. Graphic #6 Young Believers: The Bible and Believers Partner Activity: Bible Wrap-Up With your parent or a partner, complete the Bible Wrap-Up multiple-choice questions in your journal. Prayer Requests At this time every week, we will take prayer requests. If you have a concern you would like to share with the class, please raise your hand. We will all pray for each other throughout our unit. Write these requests and praises on your prayer request sheet in your journals, and pray for them throughout the week. (Allow the children to respond and record prayer requests in their journals.) Young Believers LESSON 1: THE BIBLE AND BELIEVERS 7
Conclusion Every week we will be working out of our Young Believers Journals. Every week you will have a journaling activity to do with your parent(s) at home. Find this week s journaling activity and take a look at it. We ask that the children and parent(s) read the assigned Scriptures together, and then journal separately. Then come together again and share your thoughts with one another. Bring your journal back each week. Your work will be checked every week as you arrive at class. We will also have a weekly Bible verse to memorize. This is also located in your Young Believers Journal. At the beginning of every class, the children will recite the memory verse for an adult. Once the verse is recited, parents and children can sign the journals. Parents, you have to do this too! Your child will have to sign your journal also. Be sure to sign your covenant. Remind students and their parent(s) to sign the covenant, if they plan on returning for the rest of the six-week session. Closing Prayer We re going to close our class with prayer at our table groups. When we re praying together, we re going to close our eyes. This will help us to stay focused on God and not be distracted by our friends. I want each person to complete this sentence: Thank you, God, for. You just have to fill in what you are thankful for. I could say, Thank you, God, for bringing each and every person here today! An adult at each table will start. Then the next person prays until we have gone around the whole table. It can be difficult to pray out loud, but we are in a safe place here. It s good to be able to pray with other people. When your table is finished, just look up at me. Leader ends with prayer, thanking God for the Bible. Young Believers Lesson 1: The Bible and Believers 8
GENESIS EXODUS LEVITICUS NUMBERS DEUTERONOMY JOSHUA JUDGES RUTH Lesson 1: The Bible and Believers 9
1 SAMUEL 2 SAMUEL 1 KINGS 2 KINGS 1 CHRONICLES 2 CHRONICLES EZRA NEHEMIAH Lesson 1: The Bible and Believers 10
ESTHER JOB PSALMS PROVERBS ECCLESIASTES SONG OF SOLOMON ISAIAH JEREMIAH Lesson 1: The Bible and Believers 11
LAMENTATIONS EZEKIEL DANIEL HOSEA JOEL AMOS OBADIAH JONAH Lesson 1: The Bible and Believers 12
MICAH NAHUM HABAKKUK ZEPHANIAH HAGGAI ZECHARIAH MALACHI Lesson 1: The Bible and Believers 13
MATTHEW MARK LUKE JOHN ACTS OF THE APOSTLES ROMANS 1 CORINTHIANS 2 CORINTHIANS Lesson 1: The Bible and Believers 14
GALATIANS EPHESIANS PHILIPPIANS COLOSSIANS 1 THESSALONIANS 2 THESSALONIANS 1 TIMOTHY 2 TIMOTHY Lesson 1: The Bible and Believers 15
TITUS PHILEMON HEBREWS JAMES 1 PETER 2 PETER 1 JOHN 2 JOHN Lesson 1: The Bible and Believers 16
3 JOHN JUDE REVELATION Lesson 1: The Bible and Believers 17
YOUNG BELIEVERS COVENANT As an agreement between God, the class leaders, my parents, and myself, I commit to: 1. attend all classes; 2. complete all journaling activities; 3. participate in class; 4. memorize the assigned Bible verses; 5. record my classmates prayer requests; 6. faithfully pray for others. Signatures Child Parent Class Leader Lesson 1: The Bible and Believers 18