The Biblical Path of Life

Category: Year One Quarter One

  • Lesson 5: The Five Books of the Law: Genesis – Deuteronomy

    Key Verse

    “But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.” Psalm 1:2

    After reading this verse, think of some laws or rules we are expected to obey.  Should we break the law?  What happens if we do?  Think about why it is important to have laws.  Understand God has laws.  His laws are the most important, and we are to obey them.  Help them understand the memory verse.  Remind your students that obedience is very important to God as we see throughout His Word.  When Adam and Eve disobeyed God, they were disciplined and cast from the Garden of Eden.  Take a few minutes to think of some examples in the bible where people disobeyed God’s commands and were disciplined, or examples of people obeying God’s commands and Him blessing.

    In this lesson we begin to consider God’s Law, and the importance of obedience to God’s Word.  The word Pentateuch means “five books.”  The first 5 books of the Old Testament are also referred to as “the Law.”  Moses recorded these books.  Within these books, we find the first 2500 years of history.  God’s laws are important.  God demanded obedience from his people.  By knowing and understanding God’s commands to His people, we are better able to live as Christians.

    Optional Worksheets to be downloaded:

    Lesson 5 – Volume 1 Children’s Worksheet 1

    Lesson 5 – Volume 1 Children’s Reinforcement Worksheet

     

    Ideas for children:

    • In any lesson, you may want to work on your coloring timeline – especially when it relates to the lesson.
    • Display the poster of the books of the Old Testament (may be downloaded from lesson 4 blog). Review the books of The Law (showing them on the poster).  You may have them draw a picture of their favorite story from the books of The Law.  Review the 3×5 cards if you made them, practicing the divisions.  Focus on putting the books of The Law in order for today’s lesson.
    • Review last week using their hands of the five divisions of the Old Testament if you made them.  Emphasize that the thumb was for the first division.  Today, for Genesis, begin with the thumb.  Hold up your thumb and say, “For Genesis, there are 4 Main Events to remember.”  As you say them, hold up a different finger for each one until all of your fingers are extended when you finish.  They are:  The Creation, The Fall, The Flood, and The Tower of Babel.  When you finish, repeat the process for the 4 Main People:  Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph.
    1. For Exodus, use both hands to remember:  10 Plagues, and 10 Commandments.
    2. For Leviticus, remind them that God created them and wants them to be His special people.  In Leviticus, God teaches his people to live as special people belonging to God.
    3. For Numbers, God’s people are counted 2 times (hold up two fingers.)  Also, there were 12 spies sent into the Promised Land.  10 said no, 2 said yes (that they should obey God and could conquer the land.)
    4. For Deuteronomy, the last book in this division, Moses reminds the people they will be blessed if they obey God, and they will be cursed if they do not obey God.  Moses died at the end of this book and Joshua (one of the 2 spies that believed they could conquer the land) was appointed their new leader.
    • You could also find a coloring sheet of one of the events you discussed.

     

    Mural idea: 

    Refer to the wall in your classroom that has become a mural.  For this week, have them each add the picture, news article, poem they have written, picture they may have drawn, etc. of something they believe is relevant to the lessons we have been studying.  Encourage everyone to participate.  Watch as it grows weekly, as they express what God is revealing to them through our study of how the Bible fits into His plan to help us become more like Him.

    Today, have them decorate another puzzle piece (may be downloaded from Lesson 3 blog) with some of God’s “laws” they should obey.  Have them come up with them on their own so they are not all the same.  After they have finished, have them share what they wrote on their puzzle piece as they add it to your wall.

  • Lesson 4: The 39 Old Testament Books: 5 Divisions

    Key Verse:

    “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein …” Joshua 1:8 

    Lesson Summary:  Understand that meditate in the verse means:  To dwell on any thing in thought; to contemplate; to study; to turn or revolve any subject in the mind.  For the next few lessons, we will “meditate” on how the Bible fits together.  Understand that by learning how God’s Word fits together, it will make it much easier for us to “observe to do according to all that is written therein”.

    In this lesson, we are going to begin learning how the Old Testament is divided into sections.  These divisions will help us understand how the Bible fits together.  It will make it easier for us to find our favorite Bible stories, verses, and help us grow to become better Christians.  Begin to understand how simply the Bible is laid out for us to understand how it fits together.  This cannot be learned in one lesson.  This is just an overview of what we will be learning in the lessons to come.  Become familiar with the basic divisions of the Bible by using your Bible.  It will help to begin to memorize the books of the Old Testament.

     

    Ideas for crafts or activities for children:

    Display the poster of the books of the Old Testament and One Page Old Testament Overview. Files may be downloaded:

    Old Testament Bookshelf

    One Page Old Testament Overview

    Optional worksheets that can be downloaded:

    Lesson 4 – Volume 1 Children’s Worksheet 1

    Lesson 4 – Volume 1 Children’s Reinforcement Worksheet

    One could also make a set of 3 x 5 cards – a different color for each division – with the names of each Old Testament book.  These could be used to practice putting the books in the correct order, or even help with memorization of the 39 Old Testament books.

    Younger children:  try teaching them the five divisions of the Old Testament by using their hands.  Have them trace their hand on a piece of paper.  Carefully write the 5 divisions of the Old Testament, one on each finger.  Use the thumb to begin with and end with the pinky finger.  After you finish, help them cut out their “hand” and glue it to a piece of construction paper.  Make one to keep in the room to hang on the wall by your Old Testament Bookshelf.

    As you teach the lesson, use your fingers (and encourage them to hold up their hands to reinforce it with them.)  Point to your thumb and mention “Law.”  As you do, point to the Old Testament Bookshelf to help them understand you are talking about these books in their Bibles.  You can help them remember each division by briefly telling them (or having them tell you) a particular story they will be familiar with that is within that division:  i.e.

    1. “Law” – tell them God created the world, Noah’s ark, and Moses and the 10 commandments are all found here.
    2. “History” – tell them David and Goliath happens here
    3. “Personal” – tell them many of the Jews songs were recorded here, tell of the 23rd Psalm, or about Job.
    4. “Major Prophets” – tell them of Daniel and/or his three friends: Shadrach Meshach, and Abednego.
    5. “Minor Prophets” – tell them of Jonah

    Mural suggestion for today: 

    For this lesson, have them decorate a large puzzle piece with some pertinent facts about themselves it would be important for others to know, i.e.:  their favorite color, how many siblings they have, who their parents are, their favorite book, when they were saved, anything that tells all about them. Or, have them share how they would divide their personal life into divisions (write them on their puzzle piece).   Just as the books of the Bible are pieces of the Bible that tells us who Jesus is, let these puzzle pieces tell others who they are.  Encourage everyone to participate.

    5 Division Hand Prints
    39 OT Books Cards

  • Lesson 3: Why is the History Important?

    Key Verse:

    “Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.”  1 Corinthians 10:11

    Lesson Summary:  After reading this verse, focus on the fact that God’s Word was written for us to show us a picture of His plan.  We are to learn from what is written in His Word.  Each Bible “story” we have learned through the years is just a piece of the “puzzle” to complete the picture of God’s Plan.  History may appear boring, but we are going to show how fascinating, and especially important, it is in our lives.

    Because the history is so important, we should desire to know the history – just like Peter, Stephen, and Paul knew it.  We are to understand that the history found in God’s Word is there to help us better understand and know Jesus.  As we look at this lesson, we begin to understand that God had a plan.  In the Old Testament, men didn’t fully understand what that plan was, but through faith they believed.  In the New Testament, God’s plan was revealed through His Son, Jesus.  Men still didn’t understand until Jesus died, resurrected and ascended into heaven.  But once they understood, they could not keep silent.  They shared what they learned with others so they could know of God’s wonderful plan as well.

    In this lesson, we will learn as Peter preached the Old Testament history, and the response he received.  Then we will remember Stephen as he preached the same history, and the very different response to his message.  Finally, we will see Saul (later called Paul) who was transformed (believed in Jesus) after Stephen’s preaching, and how he became a mighty preacher, and teacher, of the history revealing Jesus.

    Ideas for crafts or activities to do with children:

    For an activity to prepare to discuss the lesson, have children begin working on the puzzle (ideally of a Bible Story) you have prepared for them to put together.  (Preparation:  Have a puzzle with chunks of it put together, yet with many loose pieces.  Have reserved (in an envelope set aside) 7 important pieces – to leave the puzzle obviously incomplete.  Focus on the fact that God’s Word was written for us to show us a picture of His plan.  We are to learn from what is written in His Word.  Each Bible “story” we have learned through the years is just a piece of the “puzzle” to complete the picture of God’s Plan.  History may appear boring, but we are going to show how fascinating, and especially important, it is in our lives.  Wait until after the lesson is discussed to do the following:

    Have the students reconsider the puzzle they worked on at the beginning of your time.  Ask them if they enjoy doing a puzzle that doesn’t have all of the pieces.  Why not?  Take out the missing pieces – 7 of them.  As you do, tell them that the puzzle could not be completed without the pieces.  They could guess what the picture was, but wouldn’t completely know without the final pieces.  Throughout history, people could try to understand what God was showing them.  They trusted that He held all of the pieces, and would fit them in place, in His timing.  As you begin fitting in the final 7 pieces of the puzzle, explain that it wasn’t until:

    1. Jesus’ birth
    2. the life he lived pleasing to God
    3. His obedience
    4. death on the cross
    5. burial
    6. resurrection
    7. ascension into heaven

    Then the picture became clear.

    Mural suggestion for today: 

    Have them share something that happened that they may not have understood at the time, but later understood why it happened.  Have paper or a puzzle shape for them to write or draw their experience.

    Optional worksheets that can be downloaded:

    Lesson 3 – Volume 1 Children’s Worksheet

    Lesson 3 – Volume 1 Children’s Reinforcement Worksheet

    Puzzle Shape to write or draw on for mural.

    Another idea is to make a collage on a bulletin board of many Old Testament pictures that are very familiar.

  • Lesson 2: God Made Me

    For this week, I have included a sample lesson.  Hopefully this will give you a glimpse into the simplicity of the beginning lessons.  By beginning with an overview of the Bible (in Lesson 1), we can better understand where The Biblical Path of Life study is going – completely through the Bible from beginning to end.  In Lesson 2, we acknowledge that God created all, but his greatest creation is man.  So few people in the world today truly understand their worth in God’s eyes.  By remembering the importance of each person, and the great love God has for them in the sending of His only Son, Jesus, to bring them back to Him, we can once again understand the importance on our part to receive the great gift God has made available to us.

    God created the world and everything in it.  In this lesson, we focus on the fact that the greatest thing God created was mankind.  We will emphasize that man is God’s greatest creation – for God created man in His image.  And God created man to have fellowship with Him. But the first man disobeyed God, which caused separation. This meant that man could no longer fellowship with God as before because of this separation.  But God promised One would come to bridge the gap between sinful man and God.

    God made each and every one of us.  One of the most important things that each person should understand is that God created me.  He made me a unique individual.  And God created me to have fellowship with Him. God has a plan for me.  But because of sin that separated man from God, each person must trust Jesus to reconcile us, restoring that relationship.

    Key Verse

    “All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.”   John 1:3

    The Biblical Path of Life Volume 1 sample chapter

    Ideas for crafts or activities for children:

    There is a memory verse fill in the blank worksheet you may want to download.

    Lesson 2 Volume 1 Children’s Worksheet

    • Have each child draw a picture of themselves. Emphasize their uniqueness, while also showing them their remarkable similarities, as they consider that God made them.
    • Younger children could have someone trace their outline on butcher paper.  Then each child could then color it to look like him/her.
    • Older children or youth:  Some of the classes designated a wall in their classroom to become a huge mural.  For this week, have them each bring a picture of themselves.  You may even take a group picture to put in the center of your mural.  Emphasize that they are each different, yet special in God’s eyes.  Each week hereafter, there will be ideas or suggestions as to what to add to the mural weekly.  They may bring a picture, a news article, a poem they have written, a picture they have drawn, etc. of something that is relevant to each of the following lessons.  Watch as it grows weekly, as they express what God is revealing to them through our study of how the Bible fits into His plan to help us become more like Him.  Encourage everyone to participate.  I have posted a few pictures of murals that different classes made.

     

     

     

     

  • Lesson 1 of The Biblical Path of Life Volume 1

    For each lesson, I will post ideas or suggestions of activities we have tried to help in the teaching or reinforcing each lesson.  Each idea will begin with a summary of that lesson.

    In this first lesson, we will begin by understanding that that we were created by God for a purpose.  While God dealt with man in different ways through the ages, He created us to have a relationship with Him.  As we begin this study of the Bible from beginning to end, we will first take time to see how it is laid out in certain timeframes – dispensations.  Dispensation basically means God’s method of dealing with mankind in respect of sin and man’s responsibility. Each of the dispensations may be regarded as a new test of the natural man, and each ends in judgment, marking his utter failure in every dispensation.  It is with that thought that we will look at the scriptures as a whole.

    God created the world perfect, but man sinned, bringing the judgment of death into the world.  Throughout the ages, God gave man many opportunities to have a relationship with Him, but each time man failed.  Man had to understand that the only way that relationship could ever be restored would be by the atoning death of His Son, Jesus.  We will try to see how God dealt with man throughout the ages, and how God was working, revealing the way to bring man back to Himself – through Jesus.

    Key Verse

    “For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:”    Colossians 1:16

    Ideas for activities or crafts for children:

    There is a memory verse worksheet that can be downloaded.

    My very talented sister drew pictures of a timeline in five different coloring sheets for children to color, making their own timeline.  It includes a line that begins after man sinned in the garden and when God gave the promise of Jesus.  Our class colored this line red to follow the promise of Jesus to the fulfillment of that promise. We then glued them to a roll of brown paper cut down to fit so we could post them on our classroom wall.  I have posted these coloring sheets of that timeline. You may download them to make a timeline for each student.  A simple way would be to copy the coloring sheets (on legal sized paper) and have them color them throughout the first few lessons.  They could be glued to a roll of brown craft paper cut to size as they are completed.  Our classes made them and added to them weekly, leaving them hung on the wall for viewing as we learned some of the Bible lessons that were pictured on them.

    To open the links below, right click and choose “open link in new tab”.

    Lesson 1 Volume 1 Children’s Worksheet