Discussion Questions: Beginning of the Church

Friday:	Discussion Questions: Beginning of the Church
Story Passages:	Acts 1:1-11, Acts 2:22-24,29-41
Other Passages:	Matthew 28:16-20, Mark 16:14-20, Luke 24:36-49, John 10:16, John 21:15-19, Hebrews 10:11-14
Memory Verse:	Acts 2:32

1. Where is Jesus right now?
2. Why did Jesus ask the disciples to wait in Jerusalem?
3. How old is the church? Who started it?
4. Why is the church important? What does it accomplish?
5. Why is it important for each of us to be involved in a local church?
   Can't we each just worship God on our own?
6. Whose job is it to tell people in [your town] how they can go to heaven?
7. Why did God wait until Pentecost to send the Spirit? Why didn't he just come as soon as Jesus ascended?
8. What might have happened if the disciples hadn't waited in Jerusalem?

If you need hints to answer some of the questions, look up the listed scripture passages.

Discussion Questions: Beginning of the Promise

Thursday:	Discussion Questions: Beginning of the Promise
Story Passages:	Genesis 15
Other Passages:	Romans 4:3-16; Genesis 3:15, 9:8-17, 12:2-3, 15:1-21, 17:15-22, 28:10-15; Hebrews 11:8-10; Revelation 21; Isaiah 9:1-7; Isaiah 53; Malachi 3:1, 3:16-4:6
Memory Verse:	Hebrews 11:6

1. Why was Abraham willing to obey God without knowing all the details of how everything would work out?
2. If Abraham believed God, what exactly did he believe God would do?
3. Did God keep his promise? Who are Abraham's descendants? Where are they now?
4. Is there anything God promised Abraham that we're still waiting on? When will that happen?
5. Why is it important to have faith?
6. Does it really matter what we believe? Why does God care so much?
7. What are some things God has asked us to do by faith?
8. Why did God say that Abraham was righteous?
9. What does it mean to be righteous?

If you need hints to answer some of the questions, look up the listed scripture passages.

Discussion Questions: The Beginning of Sin

Tuesday:	Discussion Questions: The Beginning of Sin
Story Passages:	Genesis 3
Other Passages:	Romans 3:9-26, 5:6-6:2; Hebrews 9:23-28; Revelation 12:9; Isaiah 64:6; Galatians 3:6-24; 1st Timothy 2:14; Ecclesiastes 7:20; Psalm 143
Memory Verse:	Romans 3:22

1. Why did Eve decide to eat the fruit from the tree of knowledge?
2. Why did Adam decide to eat the fruit from the tree of knowledge?
3. Why does everyone have to die?
4. What if you never sin by breaking any of God's commands?
5. Is it ever right to disobey God?
6. How many times must the penalty for our sin be paid? How can that be accomplished?
7. Who did Jesus die for? If everyone has sinned, how can one person pay for all of that?
8. How can you be sure that you will go to heaven?
9. How good do you have to be to get to heaven? How many people achieve this?

If you need hints to answer some of the questions, look up the listed scripture passages.

Discussion Questions: The Beginning of Creation

Monday:	Discussion Questions: The Beginning of Creation
Story Passages:	Genesis 1, Acts 17:16-33
Other Passages:	Eph. 2:8-10, Col. 1:15-16, Romans 1:16-21, Romans 8:18-25
Memory Verse:	Acts 17:24

1. How long did it take for God to create the world?
2. If God created the sun on the fourth day, how was there light on the first day, shining on half the earth so that there were night and day? Doesn't that light come from the sun?
3. If we apply this same principle to stars, what can we conclude about stars that are millions of light years away, that we can see with telescopes?
4. The Bible tells us that each plant and animal reproduces its kind. What does this mean?
5. Darwin developed his definition of species so that if a group of animals splits into two groups, and those groups become separated by some barrier that prevents them from mixing most of the time (e.g., an ocean that they cannot cross), they are considered separate species. How is this different from the kinds that the Bible talks about? Why is this difference important?
6. When Paul was speaking in Athens, why did he bother to talk about creation? Isn't the gospel more important? Why didn't he just tell them about Jesus?
7. With so many sources of conflicting information available in the world today, why do we look to the Bible first for the answers to all of our questions? Why not just use the Bible for religious questions?
8. How is the beginning of the earth, and of human life, a religious question?
9. How did Paul treat the idol worshipers in Athens? How should we treat people who don't know the true God?

If you need hints to answer some of the questions, look up the listed scripture passages.

Running the Race

We found five passages in the New Testament that speak of the Christian life as a race that we run, and so we wrote from them five lessons that emphasise lordship, faithfulness, the importance of God's word, holiness, and heavenly rewards. In Galion we initially developed these materials for use in 2005, then we polished them up and used them for the second time in 2011, so they're fairly complete at this point.

This theme is essentially complete, although there are a few bits that I still need to finish posting online (most notably, the teen and preschool Bible lessons).

	Elementary		Preschool		Teens
Monday	Bible Lesson:	David and the Lord's Annointed: Jesus should be Lord and Master of our lives.	Bible Lesson:		Bible Lesson:
	Memory Verse:	1st John 2:3	Shape Lesson:	The Ball	Discussion:	8 questions
	Missions:	(Skit) What is a Missionary?			Missions:	[same as elementary]
	Craft:	Bean Mosaic	Craft:	Felt Pennant	Craft:	Baked Rock
	Game: Baton Relay
	Snack: animal crackers
Tuesday	Bible Lesson:	Daniel and the Satraps: God Expects Faithfulness	Bible Lesson:		Bible Lesson:
	Memory Verse:	1st Corinthians 15:58	Shape Lesson:	The Book	Discussion:	7 questions
	Missions:	(Skit) Why Do We Send Missionaries?			Missions:	[same as elementary]
	Craft:	Suncatcher	Craft:	Lion Face	Craft:	Suncatcher (same as elementary)
	Game: Water Relay
	Snack: Lion Cookies
Wednesday	Bible Lesson:	Josiah and the Book: we should study God's word and apply it to our lives.	Bible Lesson:		Bible Lesson:
	Memory Verse:	1st Thessalonians 2:13	Shape Lesson:	The Heart	Discussion:	9 questions
	Missions:	(Skit) What Does a Missionary Do?			Missions:	[same as elementary]
	Craft:	Painted Silhouette	Craft:	Watercolor Painting	Craft:	Painted Silhouette (same as elementary)
	Game: Obstacle Course
	Snack: cupcakes*
Thursday	Bible Lesson:	The Rich Young Man: throw off things that entangle	Bible Lesson:		Bible Lesson:
	Memory Verse:	2nd Timothy 4:7-8	Shape Lesson:	The Cross	Discussion:	7 questions
	Missions:	(Skit) Where Does a Missionary Go?			Missions:	[same as elementary]
	Craft:	Felt Pennant	Craft:	[Needed]	Craft:	Felt Pennant (same as elementary)
	Game: Sand Relay
	Snack: chocolate coin and fruit cup
Friday	Bible Lesson:	The Finish Line: Heaven (John on Patmos)	Bible Lesson:		Bible Lesson:
	Memory Verse:		Shape Lesson:	The Crown	Discussion:	8 questions
	Missions:	(Skit) Who Can Be a Missionary?			Missions:	[same as elementary]
	Craft:	Potato Painting (heaven scene)	Craft:	Posterboard Crown	Craft:	Colored Sand Design in Glass
	Game: Dress-Up Relay
	Snack: crown cookies

* - Items marked with an asterisk are incomplete or otherwise need work.

Preschool Memory Verse (all week): Luke 11:28, Jesus said, Blessed are those who hear the word of God and obey it. (NIV)

Substitute Indoor Games:

• [Needed]

Decorations:

I do have photos of most of the decorations we did. I'll post some at some point, and link to them here once they're up. I wanted to go ahead and get this summary posted first.

Running the Race Snacks

Monday: Animal Crackers

Each person gets a small cup of animal crackers, and punch to drink.

Lesson Tie-In:

The animal crackers go with the preschool shape lesson on creation. We were unable to devise a snack to go with the elementary or teen Bible lesson (suggestions welcome), but you can ask them questions about the lesson while they eat.

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Tuesday: Lion Cookies

Using a lion-shaped cookie cutter, prepare lion-shaped cutout cookies. Frost them in yellow or orange. Optionally, some of them can have manes made of licorice or coconut (but be sure to have some available without, too: a lot of children don't like licorice or coconut). Preschool should get one cookie each, and punch to drink. Older children will be able to eat two cookies.

Lesson Tie-In:

The lion cookies correlate with the story about Daniel, prayer, and God's care for us. Ask the children to tell you about the Daniel lesson while they eat.

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Wednesday: Cupcakes

Each person gets a cupcake, and punch.

Lesson Tie-In:

This one unfortunately does not correlate with the lesson. (If you can figure out a way to make scrolls out of some kind of food, that would correlate with the Josiah lesson, but we were unable to work out a good way to do this. Suggestions welcome.) However, you can ask the children questions about the lesson while they eat.

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Thursday: Chocolate Coins and Fruit

Each person gets one (foil-wrapped) chocolate coin and a cup of fruit.

Lesson Tie-In:

The coin goes with the lesson about the rich young man. Ask them questions about the lesson while they eat. (The fruit cup is just there to make the snack more substantial, so they have something to eat besides a piece of chocolate.)

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Friday: Crown Cookies

Make cut-out cookies in the shape of crowns, frosted bright yellow. If desired, they can also be decorated with gumdrop "gemstones". Preschool children should get one crown cookie each, and punch to drink. Older children will be able to eat more.

Lesson Tie-In:

The crown goes with the elementary and teen Bible lessons (on heaven) and with the preschool shapes lesson (also on heaven). Ask the children to tell you about the lesson while they eat.

Colored Sand in a Bottle

Friday:	Colored Sand in a Bottle
Bible Lesson:	The Finish Line: Heaven (John on Patmos)
Memory Verse:	2nd Timothy 4:7-8

Age Groups:

• elementary
• preschool
• teens

Supplies Needed:

• small (clear) glass containers with lids or corks
• colored sand

Preparation:

You can actually dye sand, but the colors come out fairly muted in my experience. Brighter colors can be achieved by rubbing colored chalk into the sand so that chalk dust mixes with the grains. You can also use salt instead of sand.

Instructions:

Give each teen one glass container (skinny jar, cork-lidded vase, etc). Allow them to pour in different colors of the colored sand, in layers, to make a design. Tilting the container when inserting some of the layers may result in a more interesting design. When the design is complete, fill the remainder of the container with plain sand and attach the lid.

Posterboard Crowns

Friday:	Crowns
Bible Lesson:	Fishing All Night
Shape Lesson:	The Crown: Heaven

Age Groups:

• preschool

Supplies Needed:

• yellow posterboard
• gold glitter
• gemstones (can be construction paper)

Preparation:

Pre-cut the posterboard into bands (strips) with decorative protrusions along one edge, so that when the ends are brought together a crown shape results.

Instructions:

Give each child one of the posterboard crown shapes. Allow them to decorate the crown by glueing gemstones and stuff on it it, maybe beads or gold glitter. When they finish, fit the crown to their head and staple it together. Let the teacher hold onto the crowns until time to go upstairs.

Potato Painting

Friday:	Potato Painting
Bible Lesson:	The Finish Line: Heaven (John on Patmos)
Memory Verse:	2nd Timothy 4:7-8

Age Groups:

• elementary

Supplies Needed:

• raw potatoes, cut in pieces
• paint, paper, damp paper towels

Instructions:

Each child gets a hunk of paper. Put several pieces of potato with each color of paint – each piece should stay in the same color. Children dip the potato pieces in the paint and stamp it onto the paper, picking it up and down like a stamp, to create a scene depicting heaven.

You should provide them with a list of things the Bible says about heaven. For example:

• pure gold as pure as glass
• streets of gold
• river flowing from the throne through the middle of the city
• tree of life on the banks of the river
• many homes (John 14)
• great, high wall
• twelve gates, three on each side, always open
• each gate is a giant pearl
• the city is a square, as long as it is wide
• the foundations are decorated with gemstones (rubies, emeralds, and so on)
• no night, the glory of God gives it light