9

"What is the Bible?”


Big Idea

The Bible is God's message to everybody about himself.


Materials Needed:

1. Paper and pencil


Setup:

Fold the piece of paper in half, so that it forms the shape of a book


Lesson

1. Review the big idea from last meeting's lesson: "Prayer is talking with God. You can tell him anything, anywhere, and at anytime." Ask the question, "What is prayer?" and have the children repeat the big idea a few times, doing the motions below as you say each word.

Prayer: place palms together and hold them in front of you
Talking: pretend to make a puppet speak with your hand
God: point up
You: point away from self
Tell: cup hands around mouth
Anything: move arms out in one big circle
Anywhere: hold hand over eyes and look around
Anytime: tap on wrist as if tapping a watch


2. Explain the following:

    Last time, we learned how to talk to God so he can hear from us. But how can we hear what he has to say to us? So the question we're going to answer today is "What is the Bible?" (Write "What is the Bible?" on the board.) Let's do a demonstration of one way God can get his message to us.


3. Select a child to come up front. Ask him/her, "Tell me some things about yourself: your age, where you live, what you like and don't like." As the child responds, write down what he/she says on the inside of the folded piece of paper. On the outside, write "The Book of ....", inserting the child's name at the end.

    Select another child to come up front. Have him/her read what you wrote down, including the title of the book. Ask the children, "What are some things we learned about him/her from reading what I wrote?"


4. Explain the following:

    This is one way we hear from God. Over thousands of years, God told dozens of different people about himself, and had them write down what he said. He also had them write down the things that had happened to them, and what God had done. That way, when we read these things today, we can learn about who God is and what he's done.


5. Ask, "Where can we find these writings about God?" Explain the following:

    Over the years, God's people protected these writings, letters and books, copied them, and assembled them all into one big book. Today, we call it the Bible.

    The word Bible simply means "books." The Bible is one big book made up of a lot of smaller books. And they all contain God's message to us about himself. If we want to hear from God, we can read the Bible and find out all about him.


6. Explain that the big idea from today's lesson is: "The Bible is God's message to everybody about himself." Ask the question, "What is the Bible?" and have the children repeat the big idea a few times, doing the motions below as you say each word.

Bible: mime opening a book with your hands
God's: point up
Message: cup hands around mouth