The Commandments in Action!

This past week we talked about the first 5 books of the Old Testament. We had activities that reinforced our scripture readings from Genesis 1, Exodus 20 and Psalm 19. I hope your kids shared their drawings with you illustrating God's creation!

We talked about the 10 Commandments and I asked the kids to take turns acting out each law...

Can you guess which is which?

.......A........................ B.............................. C.

.......D......................... E................... F.

.......G.......................... H.

............I............................... J.

1. You shall have no other gods before me. (Picture E)

2. You shall not make for yourself an idol. You shall not bow down to them or worship them. (Picture B)

3. You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God. (Picture J)

4. Remember the Sabbath day, and keep it holy. (Picture F)

5. Honor your father and your mother. (Picture A)

6. You shall not murder. (Picture C)

7. You shall not commit adultery. (Picture I)

8. You shall not steal. (Picture G)

9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. (Picture H)

10. You shall not covet. (Picture D)

The kids have done great with our first memory verse. Almost everyone can say it!

"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path." Psalm 119:105a

Learning about God's Word

The kids asked, "What are we going to be learning about this time?"... I said, "The Bible"... they said, "Duh!... what part?"... I said, "Exactly!"... and so we have begun a study about the Bible!

Some of the concepts that we have talked about in the past few weeks....

* The Bible is God's word to us! It is a special book that tells us about who God is and what He wants for us to be.

* The Bible has 2 major divisions... The Old Testament and the New Testament. We discussed what each part contains and the types of materials found in each. We talked about the different types of writings that are found in the bible: Stories, poetry, songs, "how to's" (laws and instructions), history and prophecy.

We made rainbow bookmarks and have practiced finding different scriptures in the bible and marking them with our bookmark. Did you know that if you open your Bible directly in the middle, you are in the book of Psalms? Did you know that if you find the half-way point between the middle of your bible and the end of your bible you are in the book of Matthew?

The kids did an exercise to illustrate the concept of grouping things together to make a task easier. They each got a handful of skittles and were required to work as a team to count the number of each color of skittles they had. They all quickly discovered it was much easier to separate and group the colors together before counting. We applied that to the way that the Bible is organized and grouped. We discussed the major groupings of both the Old Testament - Law, History, Poetry & Prophecy - and the New Testament - Gospels, History, Letters & Prophecy. We are working to identify each book of the Bible and what group it belongs to.... And, of course, we got to eat skittles in class!

Our Memory Verse is from Psalms 109:105a...

"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path"

Week 13: Final Destination! Rome

Rome was one of the 2 largest cities in the world in the 1st Century with a population of 1 million people. It was the political capital of the Roman Empire. It was surrounded by a wall over 13 miles in circumference. There were many temples to various gods, theatres, forums, palaces, baths, roads and gardens.

Paul arrives in Rome to appear before Caesar and plead his case. He is under house arrest which allows him to find his own place to live, but he was required to be chained to a Roman soldier at all times.

Paul requests a meeting with the Jewish leaders to explain what had happened and tell them his story. The Jewish leaders agreed that they had heard nothing bad about Paul and allowed him to tell the the good news about Jesus. Some believed that Jesus was the Messiah and put their faith in him. Paul remained a prisoner in his house in Rome for 2 years. Many people visited him to hear about Jesus. They were impressed that Paul wasn't depressed and complaining about his situation. He used his time by sharing God's message of love and salvation with everyone he could. He also used this time to write letters to his friends and churches. The journey ends with Paul still under house arrest in Rome. It is believed that Paul was eventually executed in Rome.

The kids finished the time by playing some types of games that would have been played during Paul's time. A dice game called "Seven" was popular as well as games such as Pente and Mancala.

The last week will be a time for the kids to redeem their dollars they have been collecting for attendance, bringing their bible and saying the memory verse.

Week 12: Hello and Goodbye!

This week, we did not move forward in our journey with Paul. We reviewed the various places that Paul visited. We then discussed how Paul would write letters to the Christians in the various cities. He would send letters of encouragement and instruction to the churchs and individuals. We talked about Ms. Sonya's upcoming trip to the Ukraine and how we could encourage the children at the church in Zhitomir. The kids made cards to send over to the Ukraine to go with the money that had been collected over the past quarter.



We were sad to say goodbye to Taylor and Bailey Matthews. We enjoyed having them with us this summer. They are back in Searcy, Arkansas to get ready for the new school year. We wish the entire family God's blessings as they begin another year of exile in Arkansas! (Just kidding!) We shared cupcakes with them and wished Bailey a Happy Birthday as well!



This week we will be outside for fun and games... Vacation Bible School will keep the hearts and minds focused on Jesus this week.

Week 12: Shipwrecked on Malta

Malta is a tiny island in the Mediterranean Sea, about 60 miles south of Sicily. The word "Malta" means refuge.

We reviewed the activities from last week and were reminded that Paul was defending himself in front of several different officials. During one of Paul's trials, he was asked to go back to Jerusalem to face the Jewish leadership. Paul knew that he would be killed if he went to Jerusalem, so he appealed to Caesar. The Roman soldiers guarded Paul and arranged for Paul's journey to Rome. Paul and the other prisoners boarded a ship that would carry them across the Mediterranean Sea to Rome.

We read from Acts 27 and listened to the events that happened on the way to Malta. Paul was confident that God would take care of him and that he would arrive safely in Rome. The travel was slow due to the wind blowing against them on the 1st leg of the trip. Paul told the sailors that their voyage would become dangerous on the 2nd leg of the trip due to the fact that they had entered the stormy season. The ship got caught in a terrible storm and everyone gave up hope that they would survive. Paul assured his fellow travelers that not one person would perish and the God had told him he would make it to Rome to stand trial before Caesar. They ran the ship aground and it was broken to pieces. Everyone made it safely to the small island of Malta.

(Hmmmm... looks like Ms. Susie lost her place!)

The islanders showed Paul and his traveling companions great kindness. As they were building a fire, Paul was bitten by a poisonous snake. Everyone expected Paul to die, but he shook off the snake into the fire and suffered no ill effects. The people decided that Paul must be some type of god. Paul healed many sick people while staying on the island and he was honored and taken care of by the islanders. Paul had faith that God would provide safe passage to Rome for him. He didn't doubt God's word even when times became difficult and it seemed like he might die.

The kids made snakes to remind them about Paul's faith that God would take care of him in all circumstances.

We've only got a few weeks left in this adventure. Please remind the kids to study the Bible Verse...

"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!"
"I can do everything through him who gives me strength."
Philippians 4:4,13

Week 11: Chained in Caesarea

The city of Caesarea is located on one of the three international north/south roads running through Israel. King Herod built Caesarea on the Roman pattern with an ampitheater, market, harbor, temple to Augustus, fountains, good streets and houses. Roman procurators were based in Caesarea.

We started the class by making chains and pairing the children up to be handcuffed together for the entire class. We reviewed the riot that occurred in Jerusalem last week and how Paul was arrested. We were reminded that the Jewish leaders did not like Paul because he preached the good news about Jesus. Paul was going to be chained and in prison from this time forward. The kids were chained together while they completed their papers, listened to the Bible Story and played a relay game. Several of the kids learned that even going to the restroom would have to be done while chained up!

Paul was taken to Caesarea under the protection of the Roman guards when they learned that there was a plot to kill him in Jerusalem. Paul was held in Caesarea for over two years. During that time he defended himself in front of various officials. He presented his story to these officials and was able to tell his conversion story and God's plan of salvation. His defense was the same each time... Paul told them the following things about himself in his defense:

1) He was born Jewish

2) He studied the scriptures since he was a child

3) He persecuted the followers of Jesus

4) Jesus spoke to him on the road to Damascus and Paul was converted to a believer

5) He was doing God's will by preaching the good news

The officials did not feel that Paul had done anything that deserved punishment. They understood that there were strong disagreements between Paul and the Jewish leaders. Because Paul appealed to Caesar for judgement, he was required to be sent to Rome for a trial.

Don't forget to practice the memory verse!

"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!"

"I can do everything through him who gives me strength."

Philippians 4:4,13

Week 10: Back to Jerusalem

Jerusalem sits high above the surrounding territory with several hills within the walls of the city including Mt. Zion and the Temple Mount. Jerusalem is less than 11 acres, built on terraces. It was conquered and invaded by various invading armies throughout the years and was already a walled city when David captured it and made it his capital. It was the most important of Solomon's royal cities because the temple of God was there. The city grew under King Herod and he rebuilt the temple, a palace, an ampitheatre ,theatre and a fort. Jerusalem is also known as the City of God, Zion, and the Holy City.

We used pictures to help the children remember the story of Paul's journey back to Jerusalem. We reminded the kids that he spent some time traveling throughout the region where he had spent the last few years encouraging the churches and preaching to the Christians. He left the area of Asia Minor, which is now known as Turkey, and headed toward Jerusalem.

Paul sailed down the coast of Turkey and docked in Tyre. The Christians here begged Paul not to go to Jerusalem. There were people in Jerusalem who were not happy that Paul had been preaching the gospel and converting many people to Christ.

Paul explained how he wanted to reach Jerusalem by Pentecost so he could join in the celebration of the beginning of the church in Jerusalem.

In Caesarea, a believer named Agabus predicted Paul's fate. He demonstrated it by taking Paul's belt from him and binding Paul's hands with his belt. He showed that Paul would be bound in chains and be taken prisoner when he reached Jerusalem. The believers in Caesarea loved Paul and they begged him not to go to Jerusalem. He was determined so they had several people that went with him on his journey.

Church leaders in Jerusalem became concerned that Paul was not honoring the Law of Moses because of some lies that were being told about him. They said that Paul had let some Gentiles into the Temple, which was against the Jewish laws. Paul defended himself and spoke to the Jews about his Jewish heritage. When he began to discuss his conversion and the mission God had given him to take the gospel to the Gentiles, a riot broke out.

The Roman soldiers were quick to break up the riot. They put Paul in chains and took him to prison. The commander of the Roman army ordered for Paul to be whipped. When Paul revealed that he was not just a Jew, but also a Roman citizen, the Roman soldiers became afraid. Roman citizens had certain rights and could not be beaten and punished without a fair trial. Paul ended his journey to Jerusalem just as it had been predicted. He was beaten and imprisoned for preaching the gospel of Christ.

I can see that the kids are tiring of the memory work. Some of the children mastered parts of last month's memory verse! Congratulations to Ashley Hartley!

This month's verse relates to the section of Paul's journey that will include his journey to Rome for his trial before Caesar. I am going to shorten the memory work so the kids should be able to get these verses easily...

"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!... I can do everything through him who gives me strength" Philippians 4:4,13