Hi Bay Kids Whanau,
What a year! The term is bustling away already and suddenly it’s November. I’m so very grateful for sunshine and those lovely moments to linger after Church and actually have a good chat. Many blessings on your family as you take a deep breath and ready yourself for the upcoming Season Of Advent.
The Old Testament and our Bay Kids Curriculum
Teaching the Old Testament to our Bay Kids is both thrilling and wild. In these pages are the incredible heroes of our faith. God makes Himself so real to them, and their need for the coming Rescuer gets clearer and clearer.
But it also makes me a little nervous. Crazy things happen. Unexpected ruthless storylines weave their way through beautiful narratives of faithfulness and restoration. And sometimes it feels like we're just completely blindsided and surprised by where the chaotic and dramatic action takes us. And so I was a little anxious this term, embarking on an Old Testament based Curriculum for our Team Bay Juniors and Seniors. Perhaps thinking back to my own Sunday School days and how, alongside the epic drama of Kings and Queens, Lions and Fire, Swords and Ruins, it was sometimes upsetting for me to picture some of those more visceral, ‘scary’ moments that my Children’s Bible seemed to like to illustrate in dark foreboding detail.
But the vision is clear across all our Bay Kids Programmes - we want our children to have a high sense of Biblical Literacy, both Old and New Testament; We want them to understand the Meta-Narrative of the whole Big God Story, not just moralistic hero stories in silo; We want them to come to know God, and build a framework for that that makes sense for them; And we want them to memorise Scripture, carrying it in their hearts like treasure, as well as knowing the context of where it came from.
So let’s unpack some of how we’ve been doing that through what we’ve been learning about this term. Notice that the theme is focused on who God is - the attributes of God and the ways we can know Him.
Starting with the story of King Josiah, from 2 Kings 22 and 23, carrying the theme of God Awakens.
God awakened Josiah, and God also awakened the people of Israel. In 2 Kings 23:3 it says that, ‘The king promised to serve the Lord and obey his commands, directions and rules. He promised to obey them with all his heart and with all his soul. So he agreed to the terms of the covenant written down in that book. Then all the people committed themselves to the covenant as well.’
King Josiah renewed the covenant that God’s people had made with God many years ago. With this covenant, the Israelites had promised to follow God and keep all of His commands, so they could be in relationship with Him.
Just as God awakened His people in the days of King Josiah, God awakens us today!
When we choose to trust in Jesus, we’re saved from our sins, the Holy Spirit comes to live inside us, and we enter into a relationship with God. The Holy Spirit inside us helps us to obey God’s commands.
The very well-known story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego from Daniel 3, shows us really powerfully and ‘on-the-edge-of-your-seat’ dramatically that God Rescues.
God rescued His servants Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego from a fiery furnace. They survived because God rescued them. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego believed that God is powerful and cares about His people. God is the one true God and that He is mighty to save.
God still rescues today. When we trust in His Son, Jesus, God rescues us.
And even though we might not be thrown into a fire like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, we still go through times when we need God to rescue us. Sometimes God doesn’t take away the hard things in our lives, but we can still trust Him and know that He loves us.
We can pray, as these three men did, that even if God doesn’t take away these hard things, we can still trust Him and follow Him. He comforts His people. He is always with us. He is our Rescuer.
Another equally exciting familiar favourite is the story of Daniel, from Daniel 6, that reminds us that God is Real.
We loved the happy ending. Amazing! The moment when the king removed Daniel from the pit and saw that the lions hadn’t hurt him. The Bible says in Daniel 6:23 that, “No wound was found on him, because he had trusted in his God”. We were relieved and excited that Daniel was alive! And a bit surprised when even the King proclaimed that Daniel’s God is real!
The king even issued a new announcement. The announcement told everyone to worship the one true God! Daniel 6:26–27 says “I order people in every part of my kingdom to respect and honour Daniel’s God… He has saved Daniel from the power of the lions.”
Daniel knew God is real—really real! Daniel prayed to God, and God saved him from the lions’ den and changed the king’s heart. Daniel’s faith made it possible for everyone to see that God is real. God still does amazing things when His people pray. We can pray about anything.
Our last two Old Testament stories of this term are Esther (Esther 1-10), one of my absolute favourites, beauty pageants and bravery thrown in together. This story strongly lets us know that God Is in Control regardless of the circumstances. And then before Advent we’ll finish with the story of Nehemiah, from Nehemiah 1—4; 6—9. God redeems and restores and makes things right. This sets us up well for an understanding of the world in waiting for the Messiah to come.
As you re-read all these stories together (I know they are often the most requested) and enjoy their epic narratives, take time to be curious and questioning, take time to talk about what’s weird and wonderful, and take time to use language that points your children back to the bigness and the ‘known-ness’ of God.
Arohanui,
Charlotte