July 26: God's People Grow

After reviewing the last 4 weeks, read "part 5" of The Big Picture Story Bible. I started out by giving each child a coloring page of Joseph. I explained that the this story begins when his dad, Jacob, gave him a coat of many colors. I encouraged the kids to color the picture while I listed several reasons Joseph's brothers hated him, before beginning the story.

After reading, we discussed what happened.

What did Joseph's brothers do to him? Why? Was Joseph alone in Egypt? Who was with him?

How did God take care of Joseph? Why do you think God made Joseph a helper to the Egyptians?

When Joseph's brothers came for food, how did he respond?

What parts of God's promise to Abraham can we see in this story?

If Joseph had chosen to be spiteful to his brothers and turn away their request, God's promise to Abraham could have ended right there. He would've had his revenge on his brothers, but would have (unknowingly) lost God's blessing for the family to become great. God's people kept growing!

Do you think Egypt will be the promised land for Abraham's family?

July 19: God's Big Promise

We reviewed how so far God had created humans and they chose to disobey Him. Over time, people continued to disobey so He sent a great flood and save the only obedient family: Noah's. After some time, people began to disobey God again and He wanted to honor Abraham, who had chosen to obey Him when so many others chose not to. He had a big blessing promised for Abraham and his wife, Sarah. 

How many stars are there in the sky? After reading the story, we discussed that God told Abraham that he would have many descendants (kids, grandkids, great-grandkids, etc.) The kids estimated about how many descendants they thought he might have. Many thought that 2-3 kids, 5-10 grandkids, and about 20 great-grandkids would be adequate for God's blessing.

We discussed how God told Abraham to look at the stars in the sky- he would have as many relatives as there are stars! Most of the kids guessed 10-1,000,000 stars, so we created our own starry nights to see about how many stars there might be.

We did this by going outside and flicking white paint from dollar-store toothbrushes onto blue or black construction paper. The older kids had a blast using the toothbrushes for "play" instead of work (haha!) and although some of the little ones used it more as a paintbrush, everyone agreed their artwork looked like a night sky.

Then week came back inside and had snack as our paintings quickly dried. After eating, I asked the kiddos how many stars were in their skies. Many started (and tried miserably!) to count but everyone decided there were just too many to count.

And that's the whole point, I told them! God wanted to bless Abraham, just like he wants to give us blessings today. We are okay with little things in our lives, just like Abraham would be happy with an extended family of 50, but God wants SO MUCH MORE for us. If we love and obey God He wants to give us His blessings. They might not come in the way of money or fame, but He gives us mercy, grace, patience, love, the list goes on. And the more we honor God, the more He will bless us by giving us the things we really need while we're on this earth.

July 12: Life Outside the Garden

I promised the kiddos time outside on our recently refurbished playground, so we simply read the story, answered questions, and had rice-krispie treats outside today!

July 5: A Very Sad Day

Last week we talked about how God created everything. He spoke the words and the heavens and earth were created. He spoke the words and the sun and the moon appeared. He spoke the words and made every thing come alive- even us! Last week we learned that God created Adam and Eve in His image. He created you and I in His image, too!

God put Adam and Eve in a place called the Garden of Eden. Some people think that its where the Middle East is, now. It was not a desert then, though, it was the most wonderful place on earth! God told Adam and Eve that they were in charge of all of the plants and animals- they got to pick out names for them, and everyone there lived peacefully. There was a big tree that God put in the center of the garden. Their only rule was that they could not eat the fruit from that tree. As long as they obeyed God's rule, then they were in charge of everything. 

{Read the story from The Big Picture Story Bible.}

Some people say, "Oh, I would never have eaten the fruit from the tree!" but honestly, we likely would. Have any of you ever done something you shouldn't have? Our hearts want to follow God's rules, but sometimes we still mess up and sin. Even though we know something is wrong, we choose to do it anyway.

God does not want us to live like that. He wants us to obey Him. God had to punish Adam and Eve so they would learn an important lesson about obedience. Sometimes our parents punish us to teach us to follow the rules too!

{I also showed "Creation" from The Beginner's Bible: Volume 2 DVD that I picked up at Sam's Club this week. It has the story of Creation through the Fall. It was a little long, but all 23 kids ages 3-12 sat in their seats and watched the whole thing!}

While the kids were watching the dvd, they colored an important reminder to take home with them.

June 28: Begin Old Testament "The Very Good Beginning"

June 28: Begin Old Testament "The Very Good Beginning"

Have several different Bibles sitting around the room and ask kids to take a look at them. How are they similar? Different? Do they have the same words? Do they look friendly to kids? Pull out the Big Picture Story Bible.

We're going to start way back at the beginning of time to see how the Bible comes together to tell the story of God's love. Even though grownup bibles are much bigger, this bible will help us understand the big picture- or what the Bible is truly about.

We're going to start today with the very first story in the Bible. No matter which of these books you go to, it's going to be at the very beginning. In fact, we can call this lesson "The Very Good Beginning." Bibles label the first stories into a book called Genesis. This story comes from the book of Genesis.

p16-19 Wow- that's pretty amazing. God made everything simply by speaking words.

p20-24 So people were made in the image of God.  p25-31

Look at the picture on page 32. Adam and Eve look really happy. They were in the Garden of Eden and everything was perfect.

p33-35 God gave the people His good words to obey. What would happen if Adam and Eve disobeyed God's words? What special instructions did God give to Adam and Eve? (Do not eat from the special tree)

Today we're going to make a marble earth picture to remind us that God created the whole world. He simply spoke the words and it was created. We were created, too, in the image of God. In the beginning, Adam and Eve lived in God's place, the Garden of Eden. They ruled God's world because they obeyed His good word.

Hand out circle cut from white construction paper or cardstock. On small trays (the circle can fit into), spray a bit of shaving foam for each child. Add a few drops of blue and green acrylic paint or food coloring. Using toothpicks, allow students to marbleize the foam. Carefully set the circle onto the foam and pull back up. Wipe the foam away and a beautiful earth design will remain. While drying, have students glue small phrase on the bottom of a piece of black construction paper. (add yellow dots for stars if you wish!) Then, kids can glue their earth into their solar system. The phrase should say "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. He created Adam and Even in His image. We are special to God because we are made in His image, too!"

Marbleized Earth Project directions

Tony Kummer's Ministry to Children lesson

P.S.- My kiddos are using an earth pattern from Creative Clips to marbleize, then will be gluing them on a sheet like this (minus the earth) created using Creative Clips and KB Fonts.

The Big Picture Study Bible

I first used The Big Picture Story Bible by David Helm beginning in August of 2010. Each week during Children's Church I would read one part of the story and we would discuss the theme and how it connected with what we had previously learned, and then complete an activity. I actually went through the entire book twice, so that by Christmas 2011 I felt that the kids who regularly attended will have heard the big-picture of Jesus. {I wish I could find those lesson plans...grrrr}

Since then, I have taught primarily New Testament (it's SO much better for the kids, I think, to know about Jesus and not just the major stories {creation, flood, King David} from the O.T.). From now until December (2015) we'll be going through the book again.

In addition to the resources here, there is an AMAZING site on Ministry-to-Children.com (scroll to the bottom) that has a lesson plan for the first 12 parts of the story. I'll be pulling in some wording from there but since I like a variety of craftiness to keep things interesting, most of my activities will be from other places {Pinterest}.

I've also created bookmarks for the kids to take home the first week to help guide parents into conversations with their kiddos about what we're learning.

June 21: VBS Program/Father's Day

June 21: No Children's Church (VBS Program!) Also, Father's Day