Posts Tagged ‘Sunday School’

Job Unit Study

Friday, October 3rd, 2014

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For our Job Unit Study, we re-enacted the book of Job and drew pictures of his suffering. But to really understand the book of Job, you must go through hardship yourself. Until you go through a situation where you’re not sure if you will survive, when the pain lingers on and on, and yet you cling to God through it all–only then can you truly “get” this book. Because, you see, the whole point of suffering is burning off the carnal to make room for the intense presence of God.

Yes, God showed up at the end of the book of Job, and Job said, “My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen You.” (Job 42:5) Imagine talking to God audibly and having God Himself defend you in front of your friends, claiming that you were innocent the whole time? Imagine proving to Satan and the hosts of demons that no matter what hell on earth you have to endure, you will cling to God, so help you God? How precious is that to God–how much exquisite glory does God get when you have nothing, and yet you fling yourself onto God over and over until God finally shows up… And then, when the gut-wrenching sobs subside, you drink in the Spirit.

The Story of Job in Song

When I heard this beautiful song about Job, I could tell that the musician (Todd Smith) truly understood. When Job raises his hands to God in praise after all he’s been through, tears streamed down my face.

Drawings from the Book of Job

My children drew pictures of Job. This first one illustrates the misfortunes of Job that befell him so suddenly in one day. One disaster upon another befell him, so that before the previous messenger was finished speaking, another messenger had more bad news. When it rains, it pours. Read about Job’s loss of possessions and the death of his children in Job, chapter 1.

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My other three children drew pictures of Job sitting on an ash heap, miserable, scraping himself with pottery. My daughter’s picture is at the top of this post. The other two are below:

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Here are Job’s so-called friends, peeking around the corner and falsely accusing him of wrongdoing. God calls Job righteous not only at the beginning, but also at the end.

the-story-of-jobRe-tell the Story of Job

Have your kids narrate or re-tell the story of Job. They might ask you hard questions, and you will have a great discussion that will impact the rest of their lives. They might also want to write a summary of the story in a Bible journal, and what the life of Job teaches them about suffering.

Here is a re-telling of the story of Job, in a song by Michael Card:

Screaming in anguish is not sin.

Jesus screamed in anguish, and He was God. Screaming in anguish is not sin. So many Christians have falsely accused other believers who have a deep walk with God as sinning because they are groaning under the weight of agony. God never reprimands Job for his sorrow. Job cried out God-ward and was soon filled with the presence of God.

Dramatize the Story of Job

My children re-enacted the story of Job on the dirt pile at the back of our house, and our filmed version is found exclusively inside the Unit Study Treasure Vault. But I found this other version that can help you to re-enact the story:

After Suffering: Filling of the Spirit

How do you feel at the end of suffering when God has filled you with His presence? Indescribable! This song includes a lot of references to the book of Job, so I wanted to end with this song:

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If you enjoyed this Job Unit Study, you will love the huge Bible section of the Unit Study Treasure Vault. Bring Scripture to life for your children while supporting my family!

31 Days of Drawing through the Bible

Wednesday, October 1st, 2014

31-days-of-drawing-through-the-Bible

This month I am doing a series called “31 Days of Drawing through the Bible.” My children have been drawing their way through many of the greatest stories from God’s Word, and they have internalized those stories! Some of the drawings are hilarious. For many of the posts, I made a full unit study out of the Bible story, including videos, activities, and printables. I really want parents to bring Scripture to life for their children!

We began drawing back in January, so many of the posts are already here in the index. I will be adding the remaining drawings during the next few weeks. Enjoy!

  1. Drawing the Days of Creation
  2. Plagues of Egypt
  3. Tabernacle Diagram
  4. Gideon Unit Study
  5. David and Goliath Unit Study
  6. Solomon Unit Study
  7. Elijah Unit Study
  8. Ezra Unit Study
  9. Nehemiah Rebuilds the Walls
  10. Esther Drawings
  11. Psalm 1 Watercolor
  12. Drawing Proverbs
  13. A Time for Everything
  14. Song of Solomon Printable
  15. Mount Up with Wings
  16. Job Unit Study
  17. Daniel Unit Study
  18. Jonah Unit Study
  19. Old Testament Drawing and Overview
  20. John the Baptist Unit Study
  21. Bethlehem Scene
  22. Foolish and Wise Builders
  23. Jesus Walks on Water
  24. Feeding the 5,000
  25. Triumphal Entry
  26. The Crucifixion and Resurrection
  27. Pentecost Activities for Kids
  28. I Corinthians 13: Love Illustrated
  29. Armor of God Diagram
  30. Hebrews Hall of Faith
  31. New Jerusalem Drawing

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If you enjoyed this “31 Days of Drawing through the Bible” series, you will love all the Bible activities inside the Unit Study Treasure Vault!

Esther Drawings

Wednesday, September 24th, 2014

esther-drawingsWhen we studied the book of Esther, my kids re-enacted the story, colored some Esther drawings, wore Esther masks, and celebrated the Feast of Purim! We caught it all on film for our Esther Unit Study located in the Unit Study Treasure Vault. Today I would like to show you some of the Esther drawings.

One of my sons drew a banquet hall, since Esther invited the king and Haman to a banquet three times, trying to work up the nerve to ask the king to spare the lives of her people, the Jews.

esther-drawings-3Esther had to approach the king without permission, so she risked being put to death. The laws back then were extremely severe, and kings were treated like gods. Here is a drawing of Esther bowing to the king before speaking her request for him to come to the first banquet. She looks a bit like an acrobat, and my husband laughed hysterically when he saw this drawing.

esther-drawings-2One night the king could not sleep, so he had an attendant read some boring pages about the history of his reign. Suddenly he realized that he had never rewarded Mordecai the Jew for overthrowing a plot to kill him. When Haman walked down the hallway, he was called in to see the king. “What should I do for the man that I seek to honor?” he asked Haman.

Haman replied that he should ride on the king’s donkey and wear a royal robe and be led by a high official. That’s because he thought he himself would be honored. In an ironic twist, the king tells Haman to perform all those things for Mordecai the Jew, whom Haman hated!

mordecai-drawingHaman had been trying to put Mordecai to death by building a gallows for him, but in another twist of fate (God’s providential plan), Haman was hung on his own gallows. You will have to watch the fun video in the Vault, where my husband acted the part of Haman. We all shook rattles and booed whenever Haman came onto the stage as we were re-enacting the story of Esther. We had a great time!

Nehemiah Rebuilds the Walls

Friday, September 19th, 2014

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People made fun of Nehemiah for rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. It seems like when we’re doing God’s work, we’re under constant attack.

After reading the book of Nehemiah, my children made drawings entitled “Nehemiah Rebuilds the Walls.” They drew a wall being built, and people laughing at the Jews for rebuilding Jerusalem. The walls had been torn down and set on fire when King Nebuchadnezzar conquered Jerusalem in 586 BC. King Nebuchadnezzar also burned the Temple at that time and stole all the Temple treasures.

Seventy years had passed, and according to the book of Jeremiah, God would move the heart of King Cyrus to allow the Jews to go back to Jerusalem to rebuild it. Ezra had taken thousands of Jews back to Jerusalem, but for some reason the walls had still not been rebuilt. Nehemiah heard about the broken-down walls of Jerusalem, and he wanted to do something about it. He wept and felt a burden for God’s people.

nehemiah-drawingEven though Nehemiah was cupbearer to King Artaxerxes, the king allowed him to take a group of people back to Jerusalem to rebuild the walls. Scripture makes it clear that prayer is what caused the king’s heart to be won over.

When Nehemiah arrived in Jerusalem, he rode on a donkey at night, surveying the walls to see what sort of damage there was, and seeing what would be required to build the walls back up. He later met with the officials of the city to draw up a plan for the reconstruction of Jerusalem.

When they started rebuilding, they made a lot of progress. Sanballat and Tobiah were the enemies of Israel, and they taunted and made fun of the Israelites for rebuilding the walls. They said that if a fox stood on the walls, the walls would topple down.

sanbalat-and-tobiahMy son who drew this picture of Sanballat and Tobiah has another guy hiding in a bucket. I’m not sure why the short guy is hiding in the bucket, but I just wanted you to know that it’s not a disembodied head. There are plenty of disembodied heads in Scripture (John the Baptist, Goliath, Saul, etc.), but this is not one of them.

nehemiah-rebuilds-walls-of-jerusalemThe people of Israel worked really hard and finished building the walls of Jerusalem in 52 days! That’s just crazy incredible! It showed that the power of God and His blessing was on this project.

nehemiah-unit-study

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