My Wonder Studio

Note to the parent or teacher: Here is an hour-long lesson plan (which can be divided up and studied in three sessions if desired) to fill out the class “Cities of the Bible: The City of Jerusalem.” It goes with the lesson objectives “Learn the major stories of the Old Testament” (Christian Life and Faith: Bible Knowledge: General Bible Knowledge-1d); and “Understand that God will give courage and provide strength in order for His will to be performed” (Character Building: Values and Virtues: Courage-2b).

Read “Cities of the Bible: The City of Jerusalem.”

PART 1
REVIEW PARAGRAPH 1:

Look up a map and pictures of the Judean Mountains. (Here is an informative Wikipedia article about the Judean Mountains.)

REVIEW PARAGRAPH 2:

Read Psalm 76:1–2.

Read Genesis 14:18 and Hebrews 7:1–2 .

REVIEW PARAGRAPH 3:

Read Judges 19:10 where Jerusalem is referred to as Jebus.

Read 2 Samuel 5:6–7, 9 about how Jebus (Jerusalem) came to also be known as the “City of David.”

View this short explanation about “Jebus, City of David.”

PART 2
REVIEW PARAGRAPH 4:

Read Joshua 10:1.

Explain that Joshua chapter 10 is both the first place where the city of Jerusalem is mentioned by the name “Jerusalem” in the Bible, and it is also the chapter where the amazing story is told about the sun standing still for one day.

Listen to “A Bible Adventure: The Hoax of the Moldy Bread and the Day the Sun Stood Still.”

PART 3
REVIEW PARAGRAPH 5:

Read 2 Chronicles 3:1.

View this description of “Solomon’s Temple.”

Read page 3 of “King Solomon and the Temple.” (See page 4 for a coloring page.)

Read Nehemiah 2:1–6

Listen to “A Bible Adventure: The Man Who Built a Dream” and “A Bible Adventure: In Defense of the Poor.”

REVIEW PARAGRAPH 6:

Find the State of Israel on a world map. Clicking on the name “Israel” on this map will give you a close-up view.

Additional material:

• “Level 2 Lesson Plan: Hero of the Month: Nehemiah”

Here is a 30-minute lesson plan that highlights the following lesson objective: “Understand that courage enables us to face the daily challenges that are known to us, as well as the unknown fears that we have yet to encounter,” and “Learn to recognize and practice courage in everyday situations, and understand that it is a skill that can be developed, which will allow one to face situations that previously had been thought too difficult.” (Character Building: Values and Virtues: Courage-2d,e)

Listen to “What Time I Am Afraid.” While listening to the song, have your children reflect on the picture that accompanies this song.

Read “Dealing with Dragons.”

Discuss with your children some of the feelings they deal with that prevent them from facing bigger or harder challenges. For example:

• they may feel they will fail at something,
• they are unsure of where to begin,
• they don’t understand everything completely and so they prefer not to begin,
• they fear people will belittle them if they do something wrong.

Whatever fear they may have, discuss ways or a step they can take toward overcoming or facing their fear. Remind them that sometimes courage grows slowly as they take steps to achieve whatever task they set out to do. With each step they receive more courage and confidence. Also discuss how to call on God’s help or use His help in whatever situation you are discussing.

Read “Feeling Shy?”

Discuss with your children how the girl in the story faced her fear when she talked to the new girl, discovering that they had a lot in common and became best friends. Talk about what would have happened if she hadn’t talked with her. Also discuss how scary it seemed to Moses to face Pharaoh, as God commanded, telling him to let the Hebrew people go free. It must have seemed daunting at first, and Moses probably had a lot of questions, but he took the first step and traveled to Egypt, and everything fell into place as he followed the steps God showed him to take.

Talk about this line from “Feeling Shy”: “The more you face your fear, the easier it gets.” Talk about how this applies to your children and the challenges they regularly face. If you think of examples from your own life, share those as well.

Listen to “God Is Our Refuge.”

Here is a lesson plan that can be covered in 30 to 40 minutes, or made into a more in-depth study over a few days. It highlights the lesson objectives: “Be able to articulate why the Holy Spirit was sent to believers after Jesus departed” and “be able to define the baptism (or overflowing) of the Holy Spirit, and understand the purposes of Holy Spirit baptism, to give one comfort and peace, power to give more love to others, to be a greater witness of God’s love through Jesus, transformative power, a closer relationship with Jesus, wisdom to understand God’s Word, and help in hearing God’s voice; read and memorize Bible verses which highlight the purposes of the Holy Spirit.” (Christian Life and Faith: Biblical and Christian Foundation: The Holy Spirit-1a,b)

Listen to the song, “Ye Shall be Witnesses.” 

Read “The Acts of the Apostles: The Gift of the Holy Spirit”

Read “The Gift of the Holy Spirit.”

Listen to “Rivers.”

Talk about the various ways the Holy Spirit helps us with the following:

• Understand God’s Word and apply it in our lives
• Hear God’s voice or the convictions laid on our hearts by God
• To be filled to overflowing with the love of God for others so that we are open to Him working through us to help others
• Gives us power and boldness to be a witness for Him

Read “Faith-filled Models from the New Testament: Peter the Apostle.”

Listen to the audio “A Bible Adventure: Peter’s Transformation.”

Read “The Acts of the Apostles: Healing of the Lame Man.”

Listen to “Perfect in Weakness.”

Bring out the ways Peter changed from denying he knew Jesus just prior to the crucifixion (John 18:15–28), to becoming a man of great faith and courage, not afraid to stand up for Jesus after he was filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:14–38, Acts 3). He even defied the high priest and elders of the temple who commanded them to not teach about Jesus (Acts 4:13–31).

Choose and memorize a verse from “Crazily Cool Card Set: The Holy Spirit.”

Additional resources:

• Power of the Holy Spirit
• Bright Pebbles: When We Receive God’s Power
• 3D Picture: The Acts of the Apostles: The Gift of the Holy Spirit
• Coloring Page: The Acts of the Apostles: The Gift of the Holy Spirit
• 3D Picture: The Acts of the Apostles: Healing of the Lame Man
• Coloring Page: The Acts of the Apostles: Healing of the Lame Man

Note to parent or teacher: Here is a 20- to 30-minute lesson plan that highlights the lesson objectives: “Learn what faith is, i.e.: faith is a belief in the unseen, and a substantial and real commodity in the spirit, etc.; read and memorize Bible verses that build on the concept of faith,” and “learn of God’s condition for miracles, and in what circumstances God likes to perform miracles.” (Christian Life and Faith: Biblical and Christian Foundation: Faith-1a, Christian Life and Faith: Spiritual Insight and Awareness: Miracles-1b)

Listen to “A Strong Tower.”

Pray one of the prayers found in “Pray a Way: Courage.”

Read “Nothing Is Impossible for God.” While reading it, here are some points to highlight:

• Pages 2–3: Ask the children to reflect on how frightening it must have been for the children of Israel to be faced with the Red Sea and the Egyptian army closing in behind them. At this point, Moses told them, “Stand still and watch the Lord rescue you” (Exodus 14:13 NLT). Discuss how this took great faith because they couldn’t see any solution to their difficulty.
• Page 4: Talk about recent Word studies you and the children have had together, or verses they have memorized, and how these have strengthened your faith.
• Page 5: Talk about how Jesus forgives us if we sometimes don’t have enough faith. Peter started to sink because he stopped trusting. But later, after Jesus had returned to His heavenly home, Peter showed great faith for miracles as recorded in the book of Acts, such as the story in Acts 3 when Peter and John prayed for the lame man to be healed.
• Pages 6–7: Read the full account of this story in Joshua 3:7–17.
• Page 8: If you have an age-appropriate story about a challenge you faced in your life, tell the children about it, relating how the three faith-building steps played out. (1. Keep your faith strong. 2. Keep your eyes on Jesus. 3. Put your faith into action.)

Color the coloring page: Exodus 14:14. 

Read “Doomed, but Saved by a Princess,” about a mother’s step of faith that saved her baby boy.

Memorize one of the scriptures quoted in “Pray a Way: Courage.”

• “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear” (Hebrews 13:6 ESV).
• “You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you” (Isaiah 26:3 NLT).

Additional resources:

• Coloring Page: Pray a Way: Courage
• With God’s Help
• A Bible Adventure: Highway Through the River and a Most Unconventional War
• A Bible Adventure: A Soldier’s Great Faith

Note to parent or teacher: Here is a 15-minute 0–5 lesson plan on how to have courage when faced with difficult or challenging situations.

Read “Bright Pebbles: Power! Power! Power!”

Talk about anything that your child may be facing that is difficult to do, or challenging to face. The next article discusses how God can give comfort, power, and instruction for the difficulties and challenges in our lives.

Read “With God’s Help.”

Pray together for Jesus’ guidance regarding whatever difficulty you had talked about earlier.

Read “Carina and the Christmas Play.” Highlight how sometimes there are practical steps we can take so that we can be courageous in facing challenges. Can your child think of one or two ways that Carina was able to be courageous in facing her fears? See if you can come up with a few practical steps that will help your child with her challenges.

Claim Psalm 37:5 (NIV), “Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this.”

Note to parent or teacher: This lesson plan on the life of Esther (which can be broken into shorter parts) highlights the following lesson objectives:

• Learn of more of the lives of the great men and women of the Bible. (Christian Life and Faith: Witnessing and Missionary Training: Great Men and Women of God-2a)
• Learn of historical characters who displayed great courage in the face of fear or seemingly insurmountable odds. (Character Building: Values and Virtues: Courage-2c)
• Understand that justice is fairness and equality; it is rewarding good work and punishing evil; it is standing up for what is right and doing one’s best to right wrongs. (Character Building: Social Skills: Justice-2b)

Read “Heroes of the Bible: Queen Esther.”

Listen to or read “The Story of Esther, Part 1.” (Runtime: 7:55)

Read the following facts on the history and background of the story of Esther:

• The book of Esther spans ten years, 483–473 BC.
• Go here for a world history timeline chart that depicts other major world events occurring during this time period. (After following the link, click on the “history” link that should appear on the left-hand side, then click on “500 BC – AD 1” that will appear on the right-hand side under other historical time period links.)
• The book of Esther takes place in the area that is present-day Iran. Find Iran on a map or globe, or go to Google Maps and search Iran.
• King Ahasuerus was also known by his Greek name, Xerxes.
• For more on the Persian civilization, read “Persian Empire” for a comprehensive article on this ancient civilization.

Listen to or read “The Story of Esther, Part 2.” (Runtime: 9:39)

Discuss how God can use those in government positions to help perform His plan. See if your child can list seven characters (including Queen Esther) in the Bible who held positions in foreign governments that God used to perform His will. (Answer: Queen Esther, Daniel, Joseph, Nehemiah, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.) God can use each of us in whatever place we are in. Look up 1 Corinthians 7:20. "Each one should remain in the situation which he was in when God called him" (NIV).

Listen to or read “The Story of Esther, Part 3.” (Runtime: 10:52)

Talk about how sometimes doing the right thing is difficult. Queen Esther, probably still in her late teens or early twenties when this story takes place, knew that seeing the king to plead for the life of her people could cost her position and even her life. So she fasted for three days and asked her people to do the same. She knew this enterprise would require courage—courage that she alone did not have. When we are called on to act courageously, we can ask God for help through prayer, and ask others to pray for us so that we can make the right decisions.

Color “Hero of the Month Coloring Page: Esther.”

Do “Hero of the Month Quiz: Esther.”

Additional resource:

• “Bible Word Search: Esther”