Reach Texas 2012 Children s Bible Study The focal verse: I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. Phil. 1:3-6 you, Purpose of the Reach Texas lesson: To educate people about the Reach Texas Offering. This year the Hispanic culture is emphasized. The Southern Baptist of Texas Convention financially supports many efforts within the Hispanic community. Bible Study: Acts 16:11-15 Using the story of Paul and Lydia, along with the verses from Philippians, we will talk about prayer, praying for others, and learn about the Hispanic culture. If you are knowledgeable or are from a Hispanic background, please add to this curriculum. For example, teach children who are not fluent in Spanish to say the Bible verse in Spanish. Enjoy this lesson with a Tex- Mex flavor! Early Arriver Activity: Supplies needed: Colorful markers White butcher paper a long piece of paper to allow the children to create a mural. o Label three sections, leaving room for children to draw and write below the titles. Section one I am thankful for my family and friends. Ask children to draw and/or write the names and faces of their family and friends. o Section two I am thankful for my church. Ask children to draw and/or write things, people, and/or activities at church that they are thankful. o Section three I am praying or will pray for Ask children to draw and/or write prayer requests for others. As children arrive guide them to draw and write on the butcher paper. Encourage them to create a colorful mural. Talk to the children, as they draw/write about being thankful for others and praying for others. Hang the prayer mural with children are finished.
Large Group Activity: Prayer Basket Supplies Needed: A large basket Print the following information from the Reach Texas Brochure. Cut into strips. If there are more than 8 children in your Bible Study class, make duplicates. Make enough prayer strips for each person in your class. Include the appropriate amount of information on the cards according to the age of the children. o Pray for Jose Vazquez, church planter in Pflugerville, Texas. His church reaches the first generation Hispanic population. He started the Primera Iglesia Bautista de Plugerville in 2002. Today the church has 220 members and baptizes about 35 people per year. Also, Primera now operates a church planter training institute. The institute trains people how to start new churches. o Pray for Pastors Juan Munoz, Joe Rivera, and Roland Johnson. They are helping in planting churches in Bajio of Mexico. Pray for the millions of lost people in Bajio. Pray that more Texas churches will take on the responsibility of reaching lost people in Mexico. o Pray for Pastor Marco, his wife, and three children. He recently completed the church planter training institute in Pflugerville. He is at the beginning stages of planting a new church. Pray that God will continue to give him wisdom as he guides a new church. o Pray for the Disaster Relief ministry supported through the offering of Reach Texas. Pray for more volunteers willing to be trained to help people who have experienced tragedy from natural disasters, like tornadoes, wildfires, etc. o Pray for Tim and Candy Fleming. They are church planters in Granbury, Texas. Their church, Centro Abba, ministers to the Hispanic community in Granbury. o Pray for the apartment ministries throughout Texas, like Booker T. Washington Terraces in Austin, Texas. Every Thursday evening the residents gather for a time of prayer and Bible study. People of all ages gather for worship. Pray for existing apartment ministries. Pray for more leaders and churches to begin new ministries in other apartment complexes. o Pray for Pastor Rigoberto Garza and his wife. They live in El Paso, Texas. They are new church planters. He is leaving his job to become a full- time pastor and church planter in El Paso. Place the prayer request strips in the prayer basket. Choose one of the two activities using the strips and the basket.
Activity #1 A CD player and CD will be needed for this activity. 1. Ask the children to place their chairs in a circle. 2. This activity is similar to musical chairs. 3. Start the music. 4. When the music starts, pass the basket from child to child. After a couple of minutes, stop the music. When the music stops, ask the child to take one prayer strip and read it out loud. The teacher may want to pray for the request. Ask the child to put the strip under their chair. The game is over when everyone has a prayer request. Ask the children to take the requests home and pray for the Texas missionaries. Activity #2 1. Ask the children to place their chairs in a line. 2. Ask the children to sit in a chair. 3. Pass the basket and let each child take a prayer strip. 4. Read each prayer request aloud. Either read by the teacher or the willing child. 5. Next ask the children to kneel, using their chair as a kneeling bench. 6. Have a time of silent prayer, allowing the children time to pray for the request. 7. Encourage the children to take the request home and continue to pray throughout the week. Large Group Time: If the children are already in a circle, ask them to go get their Bibles for Bible Study. If the children are not in a circle, ask them to get their Bible and form a circle with their chairs. Begin circle time by explaining that today we are talking about mission work in the state of Texas. Lead the children in an opening prayer, praying for the people, mission work, and churches in Texas. Bible Study: Ask children to locate Philippians 1:3-6 in their Bibles. Tell the children about Paul s relationship with the Philippians: The Apostle Paul first visited the city of Philippi during his second missionary journey (Acts 16:12). (Show the children a map of Paul s missionary journeys if possible.) Read Phil. 1:3-6. Paul developed a very close relationship with the Philippians who were Christians. The letter to the Philippians was one of the most cordial and affectionate written by Paul. According to the book of Acts they were the first congregation to be established through the apostle s preaching on European soil (Acts 16:11-15). (The New Testament by Bruce Metzger) From all accounts, Paul s relationship with the Philippians was very close. They supported him by sending money and supplies when he was in Thessalonica (Acts 4:16). At the time of this letter
Paul was in prison. The Philippians sent a messenger, Epaphroditus, to take him supplies that he needed. Paul a letter back to the people with Epaphroditus. In the letter, Paul expresses his affection for his friends in Philippi. Lydia was a person that Paul met in the city of Philippi (Acts 16:11-15). Paul told Lydia about Jesus. (The following is a skit. Adults or older children can be used as the actors.) Narrator: Lydia and her friends had gathered outside of the city gates of Philippi on the Sabbath. Lydia was a seller of purple fabrics and was a very successful business woman. As she and the other ladies gathered outside the gates they met Paul and Silas. Woman 1: Look, there are some men coming toward us. What do you think they want? Hello. We have not seen you here before. May we help you with something? Hello. My name is Paul and this is my friend Silas. We've come here to find a place to pray. Oh, are you a worshiper of God? So are we. Come, sit with us. We do worship God, the God of Jesus Christ. Have you heard about Jesus and what He's has done for you? No. I don't understand. What are you talking about? Let me tell you about what God has done for you through His only Son, Jesus. Jesus came and lived a sinless life on earth. He died on a cross to pay the price for our sins. Then He rose from the grave and conquered death. Now He calls us to believe in Him and have true life. Lydia, now that you have heard about Jesus, do you believe that He died for your sins? Would you like to become a follower of Jesus? Oh my. Thank you, Paul for coming here and for telling me this. I feel so different inside. I feel like my heart has changed because of the message you have given to me. I do want to become a follower of Jesus. But first, let me run home to get my family so that they can hear this good news. Will you wait here for us?
Narrator: Paul waited at the river while Lydia went to get her family. After they heard Paul's message about Jesus they all wanted to become followers of Jesus just like Lydia. Paul, the river is right here. Would you please baptize me and everyone in my household? I would love to. Come, we will do it now. Lydia, I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. I am so excited. I don't think I have the words to tell you how joyful I am. I have so many people that I want to tell about Jesus. Paul and Silas, please come stay with me in my home for as long as you are in Philippi. I am sure that more people will want to hear about Jesus and I have plenty of room for you to meet with them at my house. Thank you Lydia. We would be honored to stay with you. I believe that God will use you here in Philippi. Narrator: God opened Lydia's heart to hear Paul's message about Jesus. Questions about the story: (Ask the children the following review questions) 1. Who wrote the letter to Philippi, known in the New Testament as the Book of Philippians? (Paul) 2. Did Paul have a close friendship with the Philippians? (yes) 3. How do we know Paul had a close friendship with the Philippians? (by reading verses 3 and 4) 4. Who was Lydia? (A lady who lived in Philippi. She was a successful business woman who sold purple cloth) 5. What did Paul tell Lydia? (He told her about Jesus Christ and how to become a Christian) 6. What did Lydia do? (She became a Christian and then wanted Paul to tell her household about Jesus) 7. What happened after Paul told Lydia s household about Jesus? (They were all baptized) As you end the story time, talk about how Paul prayed for the Christians in Philippi. He thanked God for them and prayed that God would continue working through them to spread the gospel. Just like Paul we should pray for each other, as well as, missionaries. Talk about the missionaries from Texas. Mention them by name (see above in the large group activity for names of missionaries). Encourage the children to continue to pray for God to use them in their work.
After you have told the story and answered the review questions, play the following game before dividing into small groups: Supplies Needed: A small object for children to hide Hide the Stick Hot or Cold 1. Read the verse together as a group. Display the verse on a white board or poster board insight where everyone can see it. (Philippians 1:3-6) 2. Choose one person to leave the area so that the group may hide the stick. 3. Let the group decide where to hide the stick or object. 4. Ask the person to come back to the group. 5. The group recites the verse together over and over until the stick is found. 6. When the person is cold or far away from the stick the group says the verse in quiet voices. 7. As the person gets closer to the stick or is getting hot, the group speaks louder and louder. 8. When the person finds the stick, let group hide the stick from another person. End large group time in prayer, remembering to pray for the people of Texas and the mission efforts that take place every day. The following are activities for small groups: Activity #1 Papel Cortado-This art activity encourages the children to think about the Hispanic community. Papel picado (punched paper) is a Mexican popular art form with roots in the country's ancient cultures. The Aztecs used the bark of wild mulberry and fig trees to make a rough paper called amatl. Amatl was used to make flags and banners to decorate temples, streets and homes. Today, professional craftsmen use awls, chisels and blades to make intricate designs depicting flowers, birds, angels, crosses, skeletons, historic figures and even words. The design the pattern on a piece of paper and then cut through it and as many as 50 sheets of tissue paper with their special tools. Sound complicated? Well, never fear... in it's simplest form, papel picado is done as papel cortado (cut paper) and is made a lot like a paper snowflake. Toddlers and up will be proud to display their unique artwork!
Supplies Needed: tissue paper (I cut store bought sheets into 4 pieces - - each about 8x10 inches) scissors string scotch tape Instructions: Fold tissue paper a number of times. It should be folded edge to edge, not corner to corner. For younger children, don't fold too many times or it will be difficult for them to cut. Cut shapes from the paper, but don't cut off any corners (we want the rectangular shape of the tissue paper to remain) Unfold Edges may be straight, scalloped, zig- zagged or fringed. these are the shapes we cut... you can do any you like Fold over the top 1/4 inch of the papel cortado over a long piece of string and tape to make a pocket Add additional sheets (we used all green, but they're usually done in different colors) to form a long decorative streamer (http://www.dltk- kids.com/p.asp?b=m&p=http://www.dltk- kids.com/world/mexico/ppapel_picado.asp Activity #2 The Beach Ball Game Supplies needed: Beach ball Black Sharpie Before Sunday write the following questions on the beach ball: a. Name the people in the story. b. Where is this story found in the Bible? c. What happens at the beginning of the story?
d. How does the story end? e. What does this Bible story mean to you? f. What lesson is God teaching us in this story? Have the children sit in the circle. Toss the beach ball around the circle. When the person catches the ball, they must follow the instructions where their thumb catches the ball. Activity #3 Matching Game Supplies Needed: Large pieces of construction paper with the names and words printed on duplicate cards for a matching game: o Booker T. Washington Apartments (Austin) o Reach Texas State Missions Offering o Jose Vaszquez o Primera Iglesia Baurtista of Grand Prairie o Disaster Relief o Tim Fleming o El Paso o Pastor Rigoberto Garza Shuffle the cards. Turn the cards face down on the floor. Play the matching game. When it is a child s turn he or she turns over to cards. If the cards match, they pick- up the cards. The next person takes a turn. Play the game several times. Talk about the information on the cards (refer to the attached Reach Texas Brochure). Activity #4 Word Puzzle- see following page. (Please write these words and other words from today s lesson on a white board or poster board to help children with their answers.) Word Key: Texas Marco Castilla Jose Vazquez Bajio, Mexico Disaster Relief Austin
Reach Texas Unscramble each of the clue words. Copy the letters in the numbered cells to other cells with the same number. Created by Puzzlemaker at DiscoveryEducation.com Please remember to send the prayer strips home with the children. Encourage them to continue to pray for the Texas missionaries.