Notes From My Bible Class

I forgot to take pictures in class, but I managed to catch one of the kids in the parking lot!  This little guy hasn't been coming to class very long, and he seems to be enjoying it.  Our animal this week was zebras.  We began our class a little bit differently.  We made white handprints and I told them that by the end of class, that their handprint would be turned into an animal.  They made lots of guesses, but no one guessed zebra!  As I painted each kid's hand, we talked about God gave each person a different handprint.  We then learned a few fascinating facts about zebras from a library book.  For instance, they have excellent eyesight, hearing, and smelling.  They are constantly at danger from predators, such as lions, leopards, & hyenas.  We thought this picture was interesting:

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It may look like they're being affectionate, but actually they are standing that way so that they can see predators coming from either direction.  Of course, we talked about their stripes and considered the possibility that God gave them stripes as a form of camouflage.  When zebras stand alone, they are easy to see.  But they usually are found close together in herds, and predators have a hard time telling how many zebras are in a group.  Also, the stripes help them to stay hidden in tall grass.  The most interesting thing we learned about stripes is that each individual zebra has its' own unique stripe pattern.  Even though they make look the same to us, no two zebras are alike!

Then it was time to go back to our handprints.  Now we needed to add stripes.  I gave each kid a black marker and of course they all made their stripes different.  We talked about how God made each one of us different.  I read some verses from Psalm 139 and we discussed that God designed us before we were even born and he knows every detail about each one of us.  God is able to look at each of us and he watches us, no matter where we go, because he loves us so much.

Notes From My Bible Class

a pair of small postman butterflies from Central/South America

Butterflies are one of my favorite animals and I was excited to share this lesson with my class.  All of these butterfly photos were taken last Saturday at the Frederick Meijer Gardens in Grand Rapids.  (You can click on the photos for a closer look.)  Every year during March & April, the gardens has a special display of butterflies that have emerged from chrysalises from Central & South America, Asia, & Africa.  The butterflies fly freely all through a beautiful conservatory.  This was our first visit to the gardens and I was surprised to see hundreds of people there who were just as excited as I was about seeing butterflies!

 a monarch caterpillar feeding on a milkweed plant

 

 

 a malay lacewing from Asia

 

 

 a small postman sipping nectar

 

 

an emerald swallowtail from Asia

 

 

another postman

 

 



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a longwing from Central/South America

 

 

a pair of tree nymph butterflies from Asia

 

 

There were only three kids in class last night,  and they enjoyed crafting butterflies from tissue paper.  We talked about the amazing transformation that takes place as caterpillars change into butterflies.  These kids are only 5-6 years old, but I tried to help them see how its like the way people change when they become Christians.  I didn't go into all of this with the kids, but did you know that the word "metamorphosis" (which is the process of a caterpillar turning into a butterfly) is the very same word in Greek (the language of the New Testament) as "transform"?  There are three places where it is used:  Romans 12:2, 2 Corinthians 3:18, & Philippians 3:21.  God's plan for each person is for us to come to him and allow us to transform us into the image of his Son, Jesus.  It's described in 2 Corinthians 5:17 - "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"

 





Here are the kids holding the models of each part of the metamorphosis process: the egg, the pupa, the caterpillar, and the butterfly.  (McKenzie has the last two switched around.)  We ended our class time by looking at some books that showed pictures of some of the 20,000 different species of butterflies that God created.

Notes From My Bible Class

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We had an interesting study of horses in our class last night.  We talked about how horses are often considered a favorite animal of a lot of people.  Even babies are a bit familiar with horses (of the rocking horse variety)!  We read through a book that illustrated how God beautifully designed horses and made them to be strong and fast, so that they can be of great use to people.  

 

 This is a typical scene around the town where we live.  There are many Amish people who live in outlying areas and often ride their horse-drawn buggies into town.

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Last week I saw a team of plow horses very similar to this one, as we rode through an Amish community.  These large horses are known as draft horses, and are strong enough to pull heavy loads.

 

 



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Horses are often used on ranches to help round up cattle.

 

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Policeman sometimes ride on horses in patrolling large crowds.  Being on horseback makes them more visible than they would be otherwise.

 

 

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Horses are used by the royal family during important ceremonies.

 

 

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Horse-racing has been a popular sport for centuries.

 

 

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This is a scene from the movie War Horse, a story of a devoted horse in World War I.  We talked about a famous Civil War horse from our town of Coldwater, who returned from the war and was celebrated as a hero.  He is buried in one of the local cemeteries.

 

After discussing some of the many ways horses are used, we looked at what the Bible says about horses.  When horses are mentioned in the Bible, it is usually in connection with battles.  Or as a symbol of power and status.  Interestingly, God did not want the kings of Israel to acquire large numbers of horses (Deuteronomy 17:14-16); rather they were to depend on the Lord.  However, this command was largely ignored.  In fact, we read that King Solomon had 12,000 horses & 1400 chariots (1 Kings 10:25)!  Contrast that fact with these two verses from Psalms:

 

A horse is a vain hope for deliverance; despite all its great strength it cannot save.

~Psalm 33:17

 

Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.

~Psalm 20:7

 

Horses are beautiful, strong, and fast.  But our God is even greater than the mightiest horse! 



Notes From My Bible Class

 

Last week's lesson was all about pigs.  This was at the special request of one of my students, who happened not to be there.  Hopefully he will see what he missed here on the blog!  Before I told the kids what animal we would be studying, I asked them what they had eaten for Easter dinner, the previous Sunday.  Everyone of them had ham.  So we wrote that on the board.  Then I told them that when I was about 10 years old, my very favorite food was hot dogs.  In fact, I loved them so much I had a hot dog necklace!  So then I wrote "hot dogs" on the board.  Then I told them what I had eaten for supper that night.  I had made a pasta salad, that had kale, tomatoes, & bacon in it.  It was a new recipe and I think the bacon gave it such a good flavor.  So we added "bacon" to our list.  Then I asked them what animal these three foods came from.  Most of the kids knew the correct answer!

 

 

I don't know why this picture is turned sideways and I can't get it to flip around, but it is from a book called Pigs by Gail Gibbons (one of my favorite children's authors). 

The book gives a good overview of the features of a pig's body and tells of the features of a pig.  There are two common misconceptions about pigs.  1) Even though pigs wallow in the mud, they prefer to be clean.  Pigs are not able to sweat and they often wallow in mud in order to cool themselves off.   2)Pigs do not "eat like pigs".  It may seem like they eat a lot, but that's because of their rapid growth rate.  Their bodies simply require a lot of food.  In fact, pigs are the fastest growing farm animal.  We learned that when a piglet is born, it only weighs about 3 1/2 pounds.  By the time they are six months old, their weight has increased to 200 pounds!

Next, we talked about what the Bible says about pigs.  We learned that the Jewish people were told by God not to eat pigs or to touch their carcasses (Leviticus 11:7-8).  The Jews of Jesus' time still followed this law and considered pigs to be unclean.  With that in mind, we looked at a story that Jesus told of a prodigal son in Luke 15.  We learned how the young man was in a hurry to receive his father's inheritance and then ran off  to a distant country & quickly spent it all on "wild living".    He became very poor and had to take a job feeding pigs (of all animals!).  Then he became so hungry that he even wanted to eat the same food that he was feeding the pigs!  He finally realizes how foolish and selfish it was of him to leave his father's house, and he goes back home, where he is welcomed by his father who had been waiting for him with open arms.  This is a beautiful picture of God's love for his children.  We talked about what it means to "hunger and thirst for righteousness" and to feed on God's word, which will satisfy all hunger.





We turned our attention back to physical food, and I showed the kids this picture from an old cookbook.  The kids found it interesting to see where different kinds of pork are found on the body of a pig.

  Then I told them about  a popular snack in Mexico, which is also found in the US, called chicharrones, or fried pork skins.  I brought a bag to share with everyone; two of the kids ate some, one just tried a tiny little taste, and the other two thought they looked disgusting!

While some of the kids were munching on their chicharrones, I showed them two ads that I had seen in the Shopper's Guide that both pertained to pigs.  Evidences of God's wisdom and creativity are all around us!

Notes From My Bible Class

 Spring is in the air and Easter is around the corner, so I planned my lesson accordingly.  We studied about birds a couple of months ago, but this week we focused on the amazing way that birds begin - in eggs!

I tried to make a connection between the new life that we celebrate in springtime and Jesus' resurrection that we celebrate at Easter with the new life that we can have as Christians.  I'm pretty sure the younger kids couldn't grasp the full meaning of all of it, but I think (or hope) that it made sense to the older kids.  Every year, I am amazed at the wonder of it all! 

 I read this Berenstein Bear book to the kids at the beginning of class.  It's about Brother & Sister bear being all excited to find lots of eggs & win lots of candy at an Easter egg hunt.  As they are hunting for eggs, they come across a nest of robin's eggs and watch as the baby robins hatch.  They end up not finding many Easter eggs or bringing home much candy, but they were thrilled to experience the miracle of witnessing new life.

 Then we looked at this book, which shows the variety that exists among birds' eggs.  Eggs can be many different colors, shapes, and textures.  We learned two interesting facts that show how God uniquely designed birds for laying eggs:  1)The breeding/nesting season coincides with the time of year when food is plentiful, so that there is a ready supply for birds to feed their young chicks.  2) Most species of birds have a "brood patch", an area on the chest that loses most of its feathers and becomes suffused with blood vessels during the nesting season.  This enables the embryos to stay warm and properly develop, as the birds sit on the eggs. 

There was another book that I wanted to read to the kids, but unfortunately it was checked out of the library.  It is called An Egg Is Quiet by Dianna Aston.  I managed to find a video online of it, but wasn't able to show it to the kids because there is no wireless connection at the church building.  But if any parent's are reading this, click here and watch it with your kids.  It's less than three minutes long, but it's really informative & beautiful! 

We had an Easter egg hunt inside, using a set of "resurrection eggs."  After the kids found all twelve of the eggs, we opened them up, one at a time, and discussed how each item inside the egg pertained to the death & resurrection of Jesus. 

 

At the end of class, I gave each of them a "new life" egg, filled with a little bit of candy to take home.

I wore this necklace especially for this lesson.  My daughter, Caitlin, made it for me a couple of years ago out of wire and pearl beads. 

Notes From My Bible Class

 We continued our study of fish this week.  We reviewed some of the things we learned last week (how God designed fish) and then I asked them how many of them like to eat fish.  This got a mixed response (some kids like "fish sticks", another kid made a yuck face, a couple of thumbs' up)!  The next question was "How many of you like to go fishing?"  This got a more favorable response.

 Then we learned about some fishermen in the Bible.  We talked about how fishing was very important during the time that Christ lived on Earth.  We looked at a map of Israel and located the Sea of Galilee, the Jordan River, the Dead Sea, & the Mediterranean Sea.  Then we read about Jesus choosing the first of his apostles (Matthew 4).  He found them along the Sea of Galilee, where they were working as fishermen.  When Jesus told them to follow him, they "immediately left their nets & followed him."  Now they had a new job - "fishing"  for men.  We read about when Jesus left them on Earth, right before he ascended into heaven, he instructed them to "make disciples".  They continued in their work, fishing for men & teaching them how to follow Christ.

 We talked about how many people became Christians in the first century and eventually Christians were persecuted by the government.  It was during this time that the fish began to be used as a symbol by Christians; kind of like a secret code.  The common language of that time was Greek, and the word for "fish" was "ichthus".  In the photo above, you can see how the letters in "ichthus" form an acrostic for who Jesus is.  (How COOL is that?!)  Oftentimes, when two people were meeting each other for the first time, a safe way to find out if the other person was a Christian was to draw, with the toe of your sandal, a curve on the ground in front of you.  If the other person was a Christian, they would draw an adjoining curve, making the symbol of an ichthus.

Then, we talked about how the ichthus symbol is still used today.  Pictured above is an ad in a phone book.  (A free ad for this business in Wasilla!  They did some work on our car a couple of years ago and we highly recommend them.)  Notice that there is no mention of Christ in the ad, but we recognize the fish symbol & know that it means that this business is run by followers of Christ, which is a nice thing to know!  There were at least 3 other ads that had also had a fish.

 This is one of the boys showing his ichthus necklace that he made last week.  He also brought to class some books from home on fish, one of which was a project he had made in school a few years ago.  I'm glad he wanted to share them with us!

At the end of our class,  we sang a song that featured the above words, with some fast hand motions and tongue-twisting words.  This was a fun lesson, from beginning to end!

Notes From My Bible Class

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Last night we began a 2-part lesson on fish.  With all of the many different kinds of fish (there are around 30,000 species) plus all of the times fish are mentioned in scripture, I knew there was no way we could cover fish in one week! 

Plus, I planned a craft project that would require two weeks to finish.  The kids were excited to make fish (ichthus) necklaces out of clay.  They got to choose their color of clay, roll it out, and then etch a fish design on it.  I brought the pendants home and baked them & next week they will get to put them on a cord.  I plan to explain in next week's lesson what this important symbol means.

 These are the youngest two in class.

Fish Face!

We spent some time talking about how God purposefully designed a fish's body so that it could live in the water.  We learned about gills, scales, swim bladders, and fins.  Our God is so creative!  Only he could design a fish and then make 30,000 different kinds of them!  Most of the kids actually have aquariums with fish at home.  They enjoyed looking through the library books that I brought to share and finding pictures of exotic-looking fish.