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I & II Thessalonians Unit Study

Wednesday, June 1st, 2016

Thessalonians-unit-study

We had a great time filming our I & II Thessalonians Unit Study. We re-enacted lots of skits, referred to a map of Thessalonica, and baked a cake to represent the Day of the Lord.

When looking at the overview for I & II Thessalonians, we saw that one of the main themes was the Day of the Lord. We filmed Jesus and an archangel up on a chair holding some clouds while the archangel blew the shofar, the Jewish trumpet. The dead in Christ rise first to meet the Lord in the air, so we had a black gravestone made out of black poster board. One of my sons floated up out of the gravestone to meet the Lord in the air. You see him in the clouds with Jesus and the archangel.

map-of-thessalonica

We looked at a map of where Thessalonica was located, which is in Macedonia north of Greece. I have a beautiful biblical map that a woman from my mom’s church gave her. It was created with markers on a large piece of felt. You can easily look in the back of your Bible to find a map of Paul’s missionary journeys, and you will find where the city is located.

be-patient-with-all-men

We acted out various skits to bring to life the topics discussed in these two letters from Paul to the Thessalonians:

  • If you don’t work, neither shall you eat. (Give bread to the one that is working, but don’t let the lazy person have any bread.)
  • While saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction comes. (Throw lots of couch pillows on an unsuspecting person.)
  • Admonish the unruly. (An out-of-control person gets scolded.)
  • Encourage the fainthearted. (When someone is sad, give them a hug.)
  • Help the weak. (Help an elderly man walk across the street.)
  • Be patient with all men. (Have a kid sit in a chair while people around him are being annoying. Have him sit patiently, as pictured above.)
  • Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks. (Act out each of these commands.)

rapture-cake

We also make a cake that represented the Day of the Lord. It is a cloud shape with white frosting. A trumpet shaped by chocolate frosting is on the top. This was the culminating activity for our I & II Thessalonians Unit Study.

If you enjoyed these activities, you will love the Bible section of the Unit Study Treasure Vault that includes unit studies for every book of the Bible!

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Colossians Activities for Kids

Monday, June 15th, 2015

put-on-Christ

Here are some fun Colossians activities you can do with your kids to internalize this book of the Bible. You will need card stock paper in various colors, string, a hole punch, scissors, and glue. You will also need a computer with a printer so that you can print out various words.

Are you ready?

Colossians Activity #1: Blindfold

Put a blindfold on a child and have him walk around in darkness. How did it feel? Ask: Did you bump into things? Were you disoriented? This is what happens when we walk in sin. It leads us astray and ends up hurting us. When you take off the blindfold, your eyes are full of light, and you can see where you are going. There is safety and peace when you walk in the light.

Colossians Activity #2: Deeds of the Flesh

Print out the deeds of the flesh, which include anger, malice, slander, abusive speech, and lying. Print them in bold letters from your computer, leaving plenty of space around each word so that you can cut them out and paste them to a piece of black card stock paper.

Punch two holes in the top of the paper, and tie string through each hole, making sure to leave enough space for a child’s head. The child can now wear the deeds of the flesh around his neck (see above illustration).

Now you can make another card stock sign of love. Cut out a heart from red card stock paper, and print out “love” from your computer. Glue the label to the heart. Hole punch two holes on the top of the heart, and the child can put off the deeds of the flesh and put on love.

love

You can also put on Christ after taking off the deeds of the flesh. Use your creativity to make a sign representing Christ. We used a yellow cross glued to black card stock paper. Once again, you will need to punch two holes and tie string to the holes so that the child can “put on Christ.”

Explain what it means to put on Christ. This means we are to yield to Christ and manifest the fruit of the Spirit in our lives rather than the deeds of the flesh.

Colossians Activity #3: Sing Hymns

We are to encourage each other with Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, so go ahead and obey the verse by taking out some hymn books and singing your favorite hymns.

Colossians Activity #4: Cancelled Debt

Print out a sheet of paper with the title “Debt.” You can show negative money numbers listed on the paper. With a pen, mark “Cancelled” over the debt. You could also print the word “Cancelled” on another sheet of paper and glue it over the debt. I outlined the word “Cancelled” with black marker.

debt-cancelled

Talk about how our debts (our sins against God) have been nailed to the cross and cancelled because of what Christ did for us. You could have kids mention specific sins, and write “Cancelled” in another colored marker over those sins to represent that the sins are now gone because they have been forgiven if we have repented of them.

If you enjoyed these Colossians Activities for Kids, you will love the huge Bible section inside the Unit Study Treasure Vault!

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3-D Jerusalem Model

Monday, February 23rd, 2015

Jerusalem-modelWhen my children made a 3-D Jerusalem model out of paper, they learned a lot about the layout of Jerusalem while constructing the city. I decided to use card stock paper instead of construction paper because it’s stiffer. I also decided to use hot glue instead of white school glue because the walls instantly stood up. You can also use white school glue like I did with my Bible class at the Christian school where I taught years ago. It will just take longer for the glue to dry, and meanwhile, the walls might fall down if you don’t hold them up for a few minutes. It’s definitely easier with hot glue.

3-D-Jerusalem-modelStart with a piece of white card stock paper. Look up a map of Jerusalem, either from a book on your shelf, the back of your Bible, or the internet. Grab a pencil and sketch the outer outline of the city. Then  fill in the major parts of the city, especially the wall that divides the city and the wall around the Temple.

Jerusalem-model-2You can cut out pieces of card stock paper to represent the Temple, Herod’s palace, and two pools of water. Then cut strips of card stock paper, making turrets for the walls.

Plug in your hot glue gun, and make a line of hot glue along the pencil line where the wall should be. Grab one of your walls and set it inside the hot glue. It instantly stands up. (I filmed this process, and you can watch it under the Lamentations Unit Study inside the Unit Study Treasure Vault.)

jerusalemThe leftover pieces from the wall were used for the buildings and houses inside the city of Jerusalem. Now your 3-D Jerusalem model is complete. You can use it to tell Bible stories from the time of David all the way through the ministry of Jesus. We constructed this city while studying the book of Lamentations, and we set fire to the city by using red, orange, and yellow tissue paper. We then lamented the fall of Jerusalem before going into exile to Babylon.

If you enjoyed this activity, you will love the Unit Study Treasure Vault. Why not join the Vault today and bring life to your Bible lessons?

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Pentecost Activities for Kids

Friday, November 14th, 2014

pentecost-activities-for-kidsWhen I taught my kids about Pentecost, here are some of the activities that we did:

  • We read the story from Acts 2.
  • We drew pictures of Pentecost.
  • We talked about being filled with the Spirit.
  • We compared the Spirit to the wind.
  • We made a fire headband to represent the tongues of fire.
  • We watched a video about Pentecost.

First of all, we read the story of Pentecost from Acts, chapter 2. Pentecost was 50 days after Passover, which was when Jesus was crucified. Jesus appeared to the disciples for 40 days; then He went up into heaven. He told them to wait in Jerusalem for Holy Spirit to come.

pentecost-drawing

When the day of Pentecost came, a noise like a violent wind came rushing into the house where the believers were congregated. Over each person’s head appeared something that looked like a tongue of fire. The believers felt a rushing of the Holy Spirit as He descended upon them. And they began speaking in other languages that were understood by the people outside.

As a result, Peter stood up and gave a sermon that caused 3,000 people to be saved!

Pentecost Drawings

pentecost

My children drew a wind, and tongues of fire landing on each believer.

pentecost-wind

The people experienced joy as they were filled with the Spirit.

pentecost-fire

How are the Holy Spirit and a wind similar?

Jesus compares the Spirit of God to a wind:

“The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” John 3:8 (ESV)

How are the Holy Spirit and a wind similar?

  • It’s invisible.
  • You see what it does (its effects).
  • It goes where it wants to go.
  • It has power that is somewhat uncontrollable.
  • You hear the sound of it.
  • It moves.
  • It causes a reaction.
  • Sometimes it’s gentle, sometimes it’s strong.
  • Refreshing; you can enjoy it.
  • You don’t walk against it but with it.

We talked about how to be controlled by the Spirit of God, and how to pursue holiness.

pentecost-activities-for-childrenPentecost Headband

We made a headband with a strip of orange card stock paper stapled together. For the flame, we cut out flame shapes out of red, yellow, and orange card stock paper, We attached it together with staples.

Video about Pentecost

Here is a video clip about Pentecost, so you can picture it better.

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If you enjoyed these Pentecost activities for kids, you will love the huge Bible section of the Unit Study Treasure Vault!

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