Scripture: 2 Kings 22-23, 2 Chronicles 34-35, Habakkuk, Zephaniah
Learning Objectives:
- Students will learn a godly leader can convince people to follow God.
- Students will learn it is important to constantly read God’s Words to make sure we are following His commands and principles correctly.
- Students will learn God gives us the Bible to remind us to stay faithful to Him, just like He gave the people in Judah prophets for the same purpose.
- Students will participate in an activity to help them better understand where to find things in the Bible.
Guiding Question: Have can we find the things we need to know to obey God in the Bible like Josiah did?
Materials: sample maps, plain paper, pens and markers
Procedure: Tell students the story of Josiah. Introduce them to the prophets Habakkuk and Zephaniah by telling them a little about each prophet and reading a few verses each one wrote. (Habakkuk was a prophet and possibly a priest. He probably prophesied during the reign of Jehoikim in 609-598 BC. Zephaniah was the great-great grandson of King Hezekiah. He prophesied during the reign of Josiah from 640-609 BC., probably after Josiah had discovered the scrolls of the Law.)
Explain to students that although we have printed Bibles everywhere, we too can forget what God has told us to do. We need to constantly check the Bible to make sure we are doing everything God wants us to do. We can also be like Josiah and encourage the people around us to obey God, too.
Explain that it is important to understand what types of things we can find in the Bible and where we can find things when we need them. Explain that they are going to design a Bible map today. They can design and decorate it any way they would like, but you will all work together to decide what “places” should be on your map.
Each place should be a topic students may want or need to find in the Bible. It could be a book of the Bible or an actual scripture. (Make sure you have access to Google or a concordance so you can help them find what they want if you don’t already know where it is in the Bible.)
Some categories they may want to include:
- Stories about the life of Jesus – Matthew, Mark, Luke and John
- Stories about Creation and the Fall – Genesis 1-3
- Stories of the early Church – Acts
- The Two Greatest Commands – Matthew 22:36-40
- Good short advice from God – Proverbs
- How God describes the way we should love – I Corinthians 13
- Poems about God – Psalms
If time allows, you may also want to play Bible trivia or review some basic facts, stories, commands or principles.