Page 7 - Lessons and Activities on the Bible

This Book
e lessons in this book give children keys to unlock Scripture. ey learn, not the spe- ci c content of the Bible, but rather, basic understandings about it, attitudes toward it, and skills for using it that will make them biblically literate. With this foundation, they will be equipped to explore and mine the riches of the Bible e ectively.
For each of the thirty lessons in this book, a one-page plan is provided with one focused objective. Catechist Notes o er background on the topic and also suggest additional ideas for the lesson. Materials needed for the lesson are listed. e steps
for developing the topic are few and simple. ey engage the children, draw on their experiences, and vary from lesson to lesson. Each lesson is accompanied by an Activity Sheet to be duplicated for the children. e sheets develop or reinforce the lesson in di erent ways, such as a prayer service, plays, art projects, and paper and pencil activi- ties. A brief prayer concludes the lesson.
Swedish Carmelite Wilfrid Stinissen said, “As a rocket res o a spaceship outside the earth into space, so the word can propel us into God’s endlessness.” Several lessons teach how to use the Bible for prayer. is is appropriate, for the ultimate purpose of Scripture is to deepen our relationship with God, a relationship that is nourished by prayer.
By supplementing regular religion lessons with the lessons in this book, teachers, catechists, and parents will bring children closer to praying the prayer of the prophet Jeremiah: “Your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart” (Jeremiah 15:16).
Important!
e Scripture citations in this book are based on a Bible that begins number- ing psalm verses with the psalm itself. Some versions of the Bible, such as The New Amerian Bible, identify a psalm's introductory information as verse 1. If your children use Bibles where this is the case, the psalm citations for the activities in Lessons and Activities on the Bible will be one verse less than the ones in their Bibles. For example, Psalm 21:1 in this book will be Psalm 21:2 in their Bibles.
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