Leader s Guide Overview

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Week 1: Epistles Week 2: Paul’s Letters

Week 3: Justification, Grace & Faith Week 4: Righteousness

LESSON SCHEDULE

Video 1 / Small Group 1: Envelope Game (5 Min)

Video (2 Min) / Small Group (3 Min) Video 2 / Small Group 2:

The Letter (15 Min)

Video (7 Min) / Small Group (8 Min) Video 3 / Small Group 3: Epistlecopters (25 Min)

Video (6 Min) / Small Group (19 Min) Video 4 / Small Group 4:

Bible What’s It? (20 Min)

Video (4 Min) / Small Group (16 Min)

EXTRAS!

Video Outtakes Parent GO HOmE Card Graphics

music

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LESSON OVERVIEW

Today the children will learn about Paul’s Epistles and discover they can stay strong in the faith.

TODAY’S VIDEOS

Today’s videos come from What’s In the Bible? Volume 12. To purchase or learn more about this volume visit whatsinthebible.com.

VIDEO 1 / SMALL GROUP 1

The purpose of this time is to build relationships with the children. It’s important for chil-dren to feel welcomed and connected before engaging in active learning. Usually this activity is a simple game that encourages interaction. Take time to say each child’s name and how glad you are to see each person! (Use the Shepherding Guide to make notes of what the chil-dren say during this time. Ask follow up questions next time you see the child at church.)

VIDEO 2 / SMALL GROUP 2

The purpose of this time is to introduce the day’s lesson and review the previous lesson. Because this is a Biblical literacy curriculum, this segment is important for helping children build a cohesive understanding of the entire Bible. The questions and games are designed to provide repetition and reinforcement for helping children understand the Bible.

VIDEO 3 / SMALL GROUP 3

The purpose of this time is to teach the main content of the day’s lesson. New information and the key lesson can be found during these activities. Provide children adequate time to

process the new information. Feel free to skip questions, add questions or tweak the activities so that children are able to fully grasp the new stories and concepts.

VIDEO 4 / SMALL GROUP 4

The purpose of this time is to review the day’s lesson. A “Bible What’s It? Game” is always provided which includes review questions. Following the review questions, take time to encourage reflection. Ask open-ended questions that encourage children to apply the lesson

specifically to their context. Consider making this a quiet time, followed by quiet prayer.

MAkE IT YOUR OWN!

What’s In the Bible? gives you the freedom to customize your own curriculum. That means you have the ability to change, edit, remove or add anything you want to make this

les-son a perfect fit for your children’s ministry. If you have a template that you use every weekend, feel free to copy and paste the Leaders Guide into your template. Have fun

customizing this lesson!

ThIS WEEk’S SUPPLY LIST

Video 1 / Small Group 1: Video 1, 1 Paper (Per Child), 1 Envelope (Per Child), Markers or Colored Pencils

Video 2 / Small Group 2: Video 2, Bible, 1 Two-Inch Ball of Play-Doh or Modeling Clay (Per Child), 1 Popsicle Stick or Plastic Spoon (Per Child)

Video 3 / Small Group 3: Video 3, Bibles, 1 Epistlecopter (Per Child), 1 Paperclip (Per Child), Scissors

Video 4 / Small Group 4: Video 4, GO HOME Cards (1 Per Child)

Grades 1-4 – Week 1

Leader’s Guide Overview

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Week 1/Small Group 1

PREPARATION

Supplies: Video 1, 1 Paper (Per Child), 1 Envelope (Per Child) and Markers or Colored Pencils

ACTIVITY

PLAY: Video 1

Welcome the children!

SAY It’s great to see all of you at church today. How was your week?

SAY Today, we’ll be learning about Paul’s letters. The Bible has 13 letters that were written by Paul.

SAY Let’s draw our own letters today!

GIVE each child one paper, one envelope and some markers or colored pencils.

SAY Let’s draw a picture of one person we saw this week. Maybe it was your teacher, or your brother, or your mom or dad or grandpa. Draw a picture of someone you saw and then seal it up in an envelope. Don’t write your name on the picture or the envelope.

PLACE all of the sealed envelopes in the middle of the circle.

Play the game by giving each child a turn to pick an envelope. As each envelope is opened, guess who drew the picture. When the correct guess has been made, ASk the child who drew the picture follow up questions: Who did you draw? Where did you see this person this week?

SAY Thank you for sharing! That game was a lot of fun! Today we’ll learn about Paul’s letters.

ShEPhERDING GUIDE

Teacher Note:This tool is to help you know the children in your small group. It can be used as a tool for remembering what each child shares each week, so that you can follow-up in future weeks. (Make several copies of this page so that you have a box for each child.)

During these four weeks commit to writing a letter to each child. You can write a few letters each week so that every child receives one over the course of the four weeks. Write about how you’re praying for their specific requests, and compliment them on ways you’re noticing they are growing in faith. Mail the letters to their homes.

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2 PREPARATION

Supplies: Video 2, Bible, 1 Two-Inch Ball of Play-Doh or Modeling Clay (Per Child), and 1 Popsicle Stick or Plastic Spoon (Per Child)

Teacher Note: To set up the activity, provide each child a 2-inch ball of play-doh and a popsicle stick. Ask each child to flatten the clay like a pancake. As you ask the questions, encourage the children to write or draw their answer in the play-doh.

ACTIVITY

PLAY: Video 2

SAY Let’s answer today’s questions by writing our answers in clay similar to the way the people in Biblical times wrote on their tablets. After each answer, roll your clay back into a ball and flatten into a pancake so that we can write another answer.

QUESTIONS

1. In Genesis we learn about the amazing world God created and how He made us to be in a perfect relationship with Him. What entered the world, broke God’s creation and broke our relationships with him? Write your answer on the clay.

2. God launched a rescue plan to fix the broken world. He picked a man named Abraham and his descendants, the Israelites. He told them that if they followed the laws He gave to Moses they could live together again. They made a promise. What is this promise called? Write your answer on the clay.

3. In the New Testament we learn about Jesus – the Son of God. Jesus is part of the Trinity. The first two parts of the Trinity are God the Father and God the Son. What is the third part of the Trinity? God the _______ ________. Write your answer on the clay.

4. Jesus took our sins upon himself, all the bad things we have ever done and will ever do, and paid the price for all of them. What kind of news is this? Write your answer on the clay.

5. God used Peter to communicate that the Good News wasn’t just for the Jews. Who is the Good News for? Write your answer on the clay.

6. Who did God use to spread the Good News all over the Roman Empire? Write your answer on the clay.

7. What does the Greek word “Epistle” mean? Write your answer on the clay.

8. Who wrote the Pauline Epistles? Write your answer on the clay.

ANSWERS

Sin Covenant Holy Spirit Good News Everyone Paul Letter Paul

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3 PREPARATION

Supplies: Video 3, Bibles, 1 Epistlecopter (Per Child), 1 Paperclip (Per Child) and Scissors

Teacher Note: This is a discussion activity. It’s good to give children something to do with their hands while they’re discussing the lesson. As you discuss the Epistles and dig into the Bible with your group, encourage the children to work on creating their Epistlecopters. (Print one Epistlecopter per child prior to class. There are 13 different versions – 1 per epistle. Distribute them evenly through the class.)

ACTIVITY

PLAY: Video 3

SAYIn the video, we learned about the letters of Paul. Let’s talk about the Epistles. Do you remember what the word Epistle means? (Letter) While we talk about the Epistles, let’s make Epistlecopers by cutting them out and adding a paperclip to the bottom. After we have finished our discussion and made the Epistlecopters, we can play the What’s In the Bible? Epistle Song (found in Video 3) while we fly our Epistlecopters.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

1. Open your Bibles to the table of contents. There are 13 total epistles that Paul wrote. They start at the book of Romans and end with Philemon, let’s say them together.

2. How are the Epistles arranged in the Bible?

3. How many years did it take Paul to write the letters?

4. The titles of the letters help us know to whom the letters are written. Let’s look in the following verses and see for whom the letters are intended.

5. Where was Paul when he wrote several of the letters?

6. Why did Paul write the letters?

7. Why didn’t people just read the New Testament?

ANSWERS:

Romans, First Corinthians, Second Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, First Thessalonians, Second Thessalonians, First Timothy, Second Timothy, Titus, Philemon

From Longest to Shortest

About 15 years -- from 50 AD to 65 AD

1 Thessalonians 1:1 (Thessalonians) Philemon 1:1 (Philemon)

Romans 1:7 (Romans)

In Prison

Take a minute to close your eyes and imagine what it would have been like for Paul while he was writing in prison. What do you think it felt like for him? As Paul traveled on his journeys, people started following Jesus. All the Jesus followers in a city would meet together and form what we call a “church” - a word that means “a group that assembles together.” But Paul couldn’t stay and keep teaching every one of these groups, so when they had questions about what Jesus taught or about how they should live as his followers, Paul would write them letters!

The New Testament hadn’t been written yet.

SAYI really enjoyed our discussion. Now it’s time to fly our Epistlecopters. Hold it in the middle of the stem and gently toss straight up in the air.

SAYLet’s fly them again as we listen to the Epistle Song. When you hear the name of the Epistle on your Epistlecopter, toss it into the air.

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QUESTIONS

1. What does the Greek word Epistle mean?

A. Envelope B. Piece of paper C. Letter D. Postcard

2. How many of Paul’s letters are in the New Testament? A. 21 B. 13 C. 17 D. 66

3. True or False: In the New Testament, Paul’s letters are put in the order that they were written.

4. In the book of Genesis we learn that God launched his great rescue plan because ____ had entered the world?

A. Sin B. Jesus C. A mean brother D. None of the above

5. What kind of plant did Egyptians use to make paper? A. Trees B. Orchids C. Plantain D. Papyrus

6. Why was Paul in prison?

A. He robbed a bank B. He preached about Jesus C. He wrote letters D. He sang songs

7. True or False: The Trinity has three members: God the Son, God the Father, and God the Holy Spirit.

8. Paul’s Epistles were written over how many years? A. 65 B. 102 C. 20 D. 15

9. True or False: During Paul’s journeys, people could read the New Testament in order to learn what it meant to “belong to Christ.”

10. Turn to a friend and tell them what question you would like to ask Paul.

ANSWERS

C. Letter B. 13 False A. Sin D. Papyrus

B. He preached about Jesus

True

D. 15

False: The New Testament had not yet been written.

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4 PREPARATION

Supplies: Video 4 and GO HOME Cards (1 Per Child)

Teacher Note: This activity is a set of review questions that will appear on the video. Take time to answer and discuss each ques-tion with your small group. At the end of this time, take prayer requests and lead a time of prayer with your group.

ACTIVITY

PLAY: Video 4

SAY: Let’s play Bible What’s It? I will divide you into 2 teams. You can work with your team to answer each question. The team who answers the most questions correctly wins!

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SAYToday we learned about the letters Paul wrote to different people. He wrote to tell them about Jesus, and how to follow Him, and to encourage them to stay strong in their faith.

SAYLet’s pretend that Paul could write us a letter today. That letter would be the same as our name. My name is ____________ and so my letter would be called ______.

What would your letter be called?

SAYIf Paul wrote you a letter today, what would he say to you? What would he tell you about Jesus? How would he encourage you to follow Jesus? And how would he encourage your faith?

ENCOURAGE the children to share what they think would be included in their letter

from Paul. Take note of what they say about their own faith. Follow up by writing a letter to them this week encouraging them to stay strong in their faith.

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PARENT WALk OUT TIME

GIVE each family 1 Parent GO HOME Card.

GO hOME CARD

Today the children learned about Paul’s Epistles and discovered they can stay strong in the faith. A few discussion questions for the way home:

• What does the Greek word “Epistle” mean? (Letter) • How many of Paul’s Epistles are in the Bible? (13)

• Can you name Paul’s Epistles? (Romans, First Corinthians, Second Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, First Thessalonians, Second Thessalonians, First Timothy, Second Timothy, Titus, Philemon)

• If Paul could write you a letter today, how would he encourage your faith? • What would you like to pray about this week?

OPTIONAL AT hOME ACTIVITY:

Today the children learned about papyrus. Consider creating a family papyrus. An example to guide you: