During the lesson, the information for you to know is written in regular type, and what we suggest speaking or reading aloud to children is in bold. All resources for this lesson, including the Teacher Guide and Student Page, can be downloaded in a ZIP file by clicking on the following link:
In some lessons you will find "resource articles." These are articles written by experts from around the world to help equip you for your work with children and adolescents. Share them with parents or guardians if you consider it appropriate.
The law of the Lord is perfect,refreshing the soul. The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes. The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever. The decrees of the Lord are firm and all of them are righteous.
Psalm 19:7–9
Do you need refreshing in some area of your life? Do you want wisdom or joy? Do you long for something to lighten your burden? There is a source for all of these—God’s Word! As you read it remember that Jesus is called the Word in John 1. He refreshes us, makes us wise, gives us joy, brings light to our path. He is the Living Word!
Read Psalm 19:7–9 out loud. As you read each phrase, say, “God’s Word is trustworthy!” Think of these words as a prayer of praise to God, who so graciously gave us His perfect Word that we may know Him more!
Tell families that this week their children will learn that the Bible is trustworthy and true. Encourage the families to discuss what it means for something to be true. They can play a simple game in which they each share 2 true statements and 1 false statement about themselves. Unlike their false statements, the Bible is always true!
Teacher Tip: If possible, email or text the Family Connection Card to the families of your students.
Greet your children by name as they arrive. Ask them to tell you 1 true thing about themselves. They might tell you how old they are or what their favourite colour is. Share 1 true thing about yourself with them.
What does the word “true” mean?
Allow children to share their ideas.
How can you tell if something is true?
Allow 2–3 children to share their ideas.
Sometimes people conduct tests to find if something is true. For example, scientists conducted tests to find out that the blue whale is the largest animal on earth. Let’s do our own tests to
see if something is true. I will say a statement, and we will decide how we could test to see if it is true.
Make a statement that children can easily test to determine if it is true. Some examples are given below. Change them if needed so they fit your children and situation.
After making a statement, ask the children:
How can we test to see if this statement is true?
Allow 1–2 children to share their ideas. For example, if you say, “It is raining outside,” the test would be to look outside and check the weather. If you say, “There are more boys than girls in this class,” children can divide into boys and girls and count how many are in each group.
Have children test the statements to see if they are true. As time allows, do this with several statements.
When we test something and know it is true, we know that it is something trustworthy. We all need something—or Someone—trustworthy in our lives. We need to know that we can count on that Person to do or say exactly what He means. Today we will learn how the Bible was tested and that it is trustworthy. There are many ways people have tested the Bible and found that it is true.
Today we have 66 books in the Bible. Why not 67 or 76? Remember that in our last lesson we heard that all Scripture is God-breathed. Just as He inspired the writers, God also guided early Christians to understand which books were from Him. For the Old Testament, Christians accepted the same 39 books that the Jewish people accepted, knowing that God had inspired them. For the New Testament, the early Christians used 3 tests to recognize which books should be included. These tests helped determine that the books were true and trustworthy.
Why do you think it was important to put the book to these tests?
Why do you think all 3 tests were important?
Guide the students to understand that all 3 tests are needed to ensure that the books included in the Bible were the true and trustworthy Word of God. A book might be accepted as useful by church leaders, but it might not agree with the rest of the Bible. Or an eyewitness of Jesus might accept the book but not the church leaders. Only books that passed all 3 tests became part of the Bible.
Another way we know today that the Bible is trustworthy is because scholars have compared the original, hand-copied writings. There are more than 5,700 surviving hand-copied manuscripts of the New Testament. They completely agree more than 98% of the time. This also shows that the Bible is very trustworthy and reliable.
It is good to know how we got the Bible. And it is good to know how people have tested that it is true. However, as we learned last week, the most important thing to know about the Bible is that it teaches us about who God is and how to live in relationship with Him.
Divide the children into pairs. Explain that you will read several verses. After each verse, the children will quickly think about how to say the verse in their own words. Then they will share the verse in their own words with their partners.
I will read a couple of sentences about God’s Word. They use several words “laws, rules, and commands” which all refer to God’s Word.
Read the following verses, pausing briefly after each line for the children to think and share. Give the children about 30 seconds to think and then about a minute to share with their partners.
The law of the Lord is perfect. It gives us new strength. The laws of the Lord can be trusted. They make childish people wise. The rules of the Lord are right. They give joy to our hearts. The commands of the Lord shine brightly. They give light to our minds. The law that brings respect for the Lord is pure. It lasts forever. The directions the Lord gives are true. All of them are completely right.
Psalm 19:7–9, NIrV
What do these verses tell us about the Bible, which is God’s Word?
We can always trust that God’s Word, the Bible, is true! It important to know how to find verses in the Bible. It was not originally divided into chapters and verses. They were added later as a way to make finding things in the Bible easier.
You can think of finding a verse as finding its address. For example, if you wanted to find a friend’s house, you would need to know what town or village he lived in. Then you would need to know what road your friend lived near. Finally, you would need to know exactly which house is your friend’s house.
To find the address of a verse, first you need to know the name of the book of the Bible. Most often the book of the Bible can be found at the tops of pages. You can also find what page the book starts on by looking in the table of contents at the front of a Bible. Next you need to find the chapter number. That is the large number inside the book. Finally you need to find the verse number. That is the small number under the larger chapter number. That is the address of the verse. For example, to find the verse of Psalm 19:7, you would look for the book of Psalms, the 19th chapter, and then verse 7.
Optional Supplies:
Write “Psalm 19:7” on a board or large piece of paper. Show children the name of the book (Psalm), chapter number (19), and verse number (7).
If you are using Student Pages, there is space for children to practice finding the “address” of a verse.
If you have a Bible, ask different children to use it to answer the following questions. If you have several Bibles available, let groups of 5–6 children practice finding the answers to the questions.
Ask them to go to the very beginning of the Bible and look for the table of contents. Explain that the table of contents gives a list of all the books of the Bible and the page numbers where each book starts. The page number will not be the same in every Bible, especially if the Bibles were printed at different times or if people are using different versions.
End of Option
You can always look up the page number in a Bible when you are trying to find a book, but it is faster if you memorize all the books in the Bible. Then you will know immediately if they are in the Old Testament or the New Testament. You will be able to find your place quickly.
Encourage the children to memorize the books of the Bible. Tell them that when they have memorized them all, they should tell you. This will be a great achievement.
The Bible is trustworthy. We have learned that the Bible is also God-breathed. God wants you to know Him more. He wants to show you how to live life to the fullest. He is trustworthy, just like
His Word is trustworthy. That means we can rely on Him to be who He says He is and do and say exactly what He says He will do.
Now we get to decide how we want to respond to what we have learned about the Bible. Everyone spread out and sit down with your eyes closed. You do not need to look around or respond to please anyone else. This is time for you and God.
I will read some statements of how you may want to respond. If you want to respond to that statement, then do the action that goes with it. You may also think of some other way you want to respond, and that is okay too.
Pause for a moment after each statement for children to respond.
If you are using the Memory Verse Poster, show it to the students.
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.
2 Timothy 3:16
Maybe you have some other response to what you have learned about God’s Word. If so, tell God what you think now.
Ask the children to open their eyes and stand up. Explain that now you will read the same verses they learned earlier and pause after each sentence. If they believe it is true and their life can be different because of what it says, they should say, “My life is different because I believe this is true.” Assure your children that it is okay if they are not ready to say these words.
Slowly read and pause after each line for children to respond.
God has breathed life into all of Scripture. It is useful for teaching us what is true. It is useful for correcting our mistakes. It is useful for making our lives whole again. It is useful for training us to do what is right. By using Scripture, a man of God can be completely prepared to do every good thing.
2 Timothy 3:16–17, NIrV
Close class by praying this blessing based on Psalm 33:4 over the children:
Blessing: May you always trust that the Word of the Lord is true and right. May God help you to know that He is faithful in all He does.
Lead the children in singing this quarter’s song, if possible.
Life on Life ©2020 David C Cook. Reproducible for home or classroom use only. All other uses require written permission from David C Cook [email protected]. All rights reserved.
