Jesus Chooses His Disciples

Our theme for this weeks Bible lesson is "Jesus Chooses His Disciples".

Our memory verse that goes along with it is John 15:16:

"Ye have not chosen me but I have chosen you and hath ordained you that ye should go and bring forth fruit."

Our verse was when Jesus was speaking to his disciples but we also talked about how he speaks to us too. Once we have Jesus in our hearts we become one of Jesus' special friends (disciples) and so we are also 'ordained to bring forth fruit'. What does it mean to be ordain? Well, we talked about how it means that god has a special plan for us. He has made or appointed us for a specific purpose. 

And what should we do now that we know God has given us a special purpose? We should GO! We should go and do what he has called us to do. We shouldn't sit around expecting other people to do things or think that other people are more equipped than us. No! We are called to 'go'! 

And what happens when we go and do what God has called us to do? We will bring forth fruit! Does that mean we are going to be growing strawberries on our arm? Or watermelons on our back? No! It means that if we do what God has ordained (or called us and made special for his purposes) us to do, then we will "make our lives count for God". 

So here's another way we could say this verse: 'Ye have not chosen me but I have chosen you and appointed you that you should go and make your life count for God."

Along with our memory verse work we did our flannel board lesson which goes through the story of how Jesus finds and calls his disciples. Our story touched on how some men were John the Baptists disciples and we're learning from him until Jesus walked by and John said he was the Messiah, so these men started following him. Later we saw how he found four men who were fishermen and how he asked them to follow him. (This was the main focus of our story and we elaborated how they chose to leave all they had and now fish for men).Then we see him asking a couple other men to follow him like Matthew and Philip. We also saw how Jesus wanted 12 men and he had chosen some but didn't know who else to choose so he went to a mountain and prayed and seeked his father god for guidance on the matter. And after that he chose the other disciples until he had: twelve. 

Some key points we focused on:

-none of the disciples were alike. Some could do one thing. Some another. Some examples:

-Andrew and his brother and friends could manage boat

-Matthew was good with math and keeping records

-judas took care of the money

- Thaddeus meant praise, so maybe he was happy. 

-Thomas was a sad and more thoughtful person. 

-Each would help Jesus in different ways but there was something that each of them could do. 

-What things can you do to serve God? Are you a good writer? Public speaker? Teacher? Are you good at singing? Are you good at witnessing and telling others about Jesus? Or are you really kind and just help to make people feel welcome? EVERYONE  has a gift they can use toward God. And none are greater than others. 

-No one can do everything well but every person can do something well. 

-He chooses for us to work for Him in the way that He made us! 

After our lesson we did sing "I will make you fishers of men". And we started listening to "The Twelve Disciples" by Bryan Sirchio, which helps to teach the names of the twelve disciples in a fun way. We have plans to listen to it all week until we get them all! Which Kara's amazing memory has already got half of them this morning. I found a coloring sheet of all twelve disciples for her to color too, while we listened to the so g over and over. 

Hope you have a fun time learning about how Jesus chose his disciples (and us) for a purpose. And we have to 'go!' to be able to bring the fruit to our lives. 

I would love to hear of any other ideas you have for teaching on the twelve disciples. We are always looking for fresh ideas to add to our Bible time. 

Until next time, Happy Bible Teaching! And God Bless!

Heather Joy

Bible Story Box: Adam and Eve

This is my first attempt at making a Bible Story Box or Godly Play box for my girls' Bible time. I love the idea of Godly Play which is pretty much just using actual objects that the kids can feel and touch to help tell Bible stories. It helps the Bible stories come to life for them and I also love how having these Bible Boxes available to them allows for them to become avid storytellers reenacting the Bible stories themselves, which is just another way of remembering the stories. They say the best way to learn is to teach. So, with this principle I have a day near the end of our weeks bible lesson and have her teach and tell me the story herself.

What you'll need for your Adam and Eve Bible box:
-Adam peg doll
-Eve peg doll
-Angel peg doll
-Trees (one with red fruit painted on it for the tree of the knowledge of good and evil)
-Miniature apples (I used fake holly berries from the craft store and cut one off)
-Fence (I hot glued these fences to popsicle sticks to make them stand)
-Grass fabric or felt
-Serpent (snake or green pipe cleaner in snake shape)
-Animals figurines
-Leaf coverings (tutorial below, after story)

The Story:

Remember when God created the whole earth? He was creating a special place for his most favorite creation: man.

He created a man on the sixth day.  His name was Adam.

God placed Adam in the garden of Eden, which had lots of trees with fruit to eat, water to drink and lots of animals.  Everything was perfect in the garden.  God gave Adam a job in the garden.  His job was to name each of God's created animals and to rule over them (take care of them).

 

So, Adam saw each of God's creatures and he chose a name for each animal.  What was the name Adam gave this animal? (Hold up an animal) What about this one?... (at this point we put the ocean animals in the water).

 

Adam enjoyed all the animals but in all the animals God made there was not a suitable companion for him to talk and relate to.  So Adam became lonely.  God saw this and he said, "This is not good that man be alone."  So, God put Adam in a deep sleep.

Then while he was sleeping God took out a rib and made from it a woman: Eve.

 

Eve was created as a perfect help meet to Adam.  Adam loved Eve and took her as his wife.

 

Every day Adam & Eve lived in the garden enjoying all it's fruits and splendor and even walking with God in the garden.  But God had given them a rule. One simple rule: "Don't eat from the tree in the middle of the garden.  If you do, you will surely die." (Make sure to point out which tree is the middle tree. Ours has painted red 'fruit' on it although it's hard to see in pictures.)

One day Eve was walking in the garden and a serpent came up to her.

 

He asked her about the rule and brought doubt in her heart by asking, "Did God really say you must not eat from the fruit?  You won't die."  The serpent said, "It will make you like God."  Well, that sounded pretty good to Eve, so she took a piece of the fruit and ate it.

 

Then she took a piece to Adam and he ate it too.

  

 At once, they realized that they were naked!

So, they made some clothes out of leaves to cover themselves. 

 

Then they heard God.  Instead of walking with him they now hid behind a tree. God called for them.  And they answered and said, 'Here we are Lord."  God asked, "Why are you hiding? Have you eaten from the tree I forbid you not to?"  "Yes, Lord" they answered.

Then Adam blamed Eve, and then Eve blamed the serpent saying he tricked her. Because of their bad decision he told them they could no longer live in the garden of Eden.  They had to leave and from here on out they had to work and struggle to get food and shelter.

And to make sure they wouldn't try to come back in god protected the entrance to the garden with an angel with a flaming sword.

The End

 Now, here is a quick tutorial of how I made the leaf coverings. You'll need your peg dolls and some of the really thin elastic.

 All I did was wrap the elastic really tight around the peg doll...

...Then, pulling really tight because it will be leaving a little extra I sewed it back and forth a ton in my machine.

 

 Here it is afterwards.  If you have a lot of extra string simply cut off.

 

 Here I kept doing a few more on the same string of elastic.  It looks cluttered but once I cut them off it will make more sense. 

 Then simply hot glue on a paper leaf of some sort and you have got your leaf coverings. Not exactly perfection but they work for how often we will be using them. Hope you enjoy!

Happy Crafting!
God Bless!

Heather Joy

Bible Lesson: The Wise Men

A couple weeks ago our Bible focus for the week was: The Wise Men.  I realize that it's a bit delayed from Christmas, but I like to try to wait a bit after Christmas before telling about the wise men because they didn't visit Jesus until he was 2 years old, not in the manger scene like all the books and nativities show.

We used my flannelboard set to tell the story of the wise men.  We talked about King Herod and how his heart wasn't on the things of God, but how the wise men were willing to leave their comfort and their entire country to travel across deserts and mountains to come and worship him.  We talked about their love for Jesus and one way they showed that love was by bringing him gifts: gold, frankincense and myrrh. We talked about how we give gifts to ones we love too.  It's a way to show we care.

We also asked the questions:
What did God want the most from these wise men?
Was God thankful they brought gifts to Jesus?
 -Yes, but the greatest gift they gave was themselves! And that's what God wants the most. And that's what he wants from us!  He wants our hearts about all else.


Since our focus was on the gifts given: both presents and themselves.  Our Bible verse for the week was:

Thanks be unto God, for his unspeakable gift. 

-2 Corinthians 9:15

We discussed how God's greatest 'gift' to us was Baby Jesus, because he sent him with the plan and purpose of saving us from our sins.  And how this gift is so amazing and great that we can't even describe it with words adequately, so we call it an 'unspeakable' gift.

After our lesson this week we make some paper crowns with jewels.

The girls had a great time walking around the house imagining what they would bring on their trip with them to see baby Jesus.

God Bless,

Heather Joy

Quiet Book #20: New Testament Bible

I previously posted the Old Testament of my mom's quiet books she made for us as kids and I wanted to make sure to follow up with the New Testament book as well.  So, here it is:

The cover:

Here are the Nativity page & the Wise Men page.

Here they are in action.  On the nativity page Mary, Joseph & baby Jesus are removable.  The wise men page was hard to show but they have little stone gems inside of the pockets.  The one in the middle has a clear one and the one on the right has a blue one.  Can you see them now?

These next pages are of Jesus growing up as a carpenter and of him getting baptized.

For the carpenter page you pull out the pieces of wood to build the table and chair.  On the baptism page the white flaps open to reveal the dove that descends down on Jesus after being baptized.

This used to be my favorite page as a kid: the Fisherman's page and the paralyzed man page.

The fish are removable with snaps and can be put into the net. The crippled man is healed and stands up.

This is the story of the Lost Sheep and the women with her offering.

The shepherd finds his lamb in the thorns of a bush. You unbutton it and place it in the arms of the shepherd with another button.  The women's bag opens with her offering coins inside and you can place it into the offering bucket.

This is the Good Samaritan page and the Last Supper Page.

The Good Samaritan removes some cotton balls, alcohol swabs and some warn out bandaids (not quite too sticky) and cleans up the wounds of the hurt man.  The last supper pieces are inside the pocket of the table and match up to the shapes of a cup, and bowl of bread representing the communion.

This was also one of my favorite pages: Jesus' Death on the cross and the Resurrection.

It was probably hard to see but the crosses were in pockets lower on the page (made from felt and popsicle sticks) and were hidden again the black of the mountain, but they are now placed in the higher up three pockets and reveal the three crosses of Jesus and the two thieves.  The rock on the opposite page rolls away to reveal Jesus alive again!

I need to ask my mom about this page, not quite sure how this lacing one fits in.  Anybody else have an idea?  The opposite page however is of Paul spreading the word and establishing churches.

The first page obviously unlaces.  The page with Paul, the churches are removed from the Bible as he spreads the Word and velcro onto the different place.

And this is the final page representing Jesus on the throne.

I hope you all liked this.  My mom remembers spending hours creating these two Bible books for us and I'm so glad she did!  They've been around for over 30 years at least and have still held up quite well I must say.  Thanks Mom for all your dedication in teaching us and surrounding us with the Word.  I know this was just one of the many ways you did and now my girls can enjoy them too!

Blessings to you all!

Heather Joy

Quiet Book #18: Going to Church

This is the Going To Church Page.  It has a car that represents ours and you drive it down the street to the church.  It's really fun and simple.  The girls seem to really like this page.

To start here are all the pieces you'll need: tree top, tree trunk, house, roof, door for house, two pieces of the street, church, two church windows, two doors to church, a bunch of yellow strips for the lines on the road.

Here were my plans when I first started, it kind of shifted and turned into a church page.  It was originally just a car driving page, but why not incorporate some church into it I say?!

Here's everything pinned down and ready to sew.

Before you start sewing I made sure to glue down the stripes for the road.

Here's the final picture again.  The doors on the church open and the top of the roof of the house opens to reveal the gold car that comes out and can drive down the road to the church.  The girls especially love pretending their friends are coming in and out of the doors. 

Sorry for the sideways pictures! I couldn't find my files to even fix it. Anyhoo...

Happy crafting and God Bless!

Heather Joy