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Table of Contents

Junior Teacher Guide – February 2020

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Lesson Warm Up Story Activity Page February 2 – Learning Whom to Worship (based on Matthew 4:1-11)

Play “Thumbs up, Thumbs down”

Zion and Zaya Talk about the Right One to Worship

Make a “Stop Temptation” medal

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February 9 – The Meaning of Worship (based on Matthew 5:3-11)

Watch “God’s Story: The Sermon on the Mount”

Zion and Zaya Talk about What Worship Means

Make an invisible blessing garden

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February 16 – A Model for Prayer (based on Matthew 6:9-15)

Watch the pretzel demonstration

Zion and Zaya Talk about How to Pray

Make a prayer bag 7

February 23 – Pray without Ceasing (based on Daniel 6:10-22)

Watch “Daniel in the Lion’s Den”

Zion and Zaya Talk about How We Should Always Pray

Make a lion face magnet

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Appendices Title Page

Appendix A Stop Temptation Medal Template 11 Appendix B Lion Face Magnet Pattern 12

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Lesson 10 – February 2, 2020 | Matthew 4:1-11

Learning Whom to Worship Get Excited! Below are the instructions for the warm-up activity – Play “Thumbs up, Thumbs down.” Tell students to show “thumbs up” if the action you describe is something they should do and “thumbs down” if the action is something they should not do. Their various responses may inquire more in-depth discussion. Action examples are listed below. You can also come up with your own.

• Stealing in the cafeteria • Praying every day • Saying thank you • Telling a lie

Key Verse Exercise Read the verse to remember aloud. Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.” (Matthew 4:10)

Use Google to hear how the key verse word is pronounced in Spanish. Then tell students to color the word. Read and Learn! Read Zion and Zaya Talk about the Right One to Worship aloud. Zion and Zaya Talk about the Right One to Worship Zaya – Because Adam and Eve yielded to temptation and disobeyed God, humankind moved further away from God.

God tried to bring His special creation back to Him through judges and prophets, but humankind got worse. God’s people even spent 70 years in captivity in Babylon. Nothing seemed to change God’s people. So Jesus volunteered to come to earth to redeem humankind.

Zion – Jesus was in heaven, a peaceful, joyous place. Jesus gave up the serenity of heaven to become human and experience life as one of us. At age 30, Jesus began His public ministry. Jesus experienced baptism though He was sinless and did not need to be baptized. As Jesus came out of the water, God identified Jesus as “My Beloved Son.” The Holy Spirit in the form of a dove descended and sat on His shoulder.

Zaya – The Holy Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness. There, without companionship or support. Jesus’ faithfulness to His mission was tested, Jesus experienced temptation just as humankind did then and still does now. For forty days and nights, Jesus fasted and prayed. Satan realized he had an opportunity to confront and tempt the Son of God.

Zion – Satan’s first attack came after Jesus had been without water and food. Satan knew that Jesus was hungry, so the first temptation presented to Jesus involved food. Here the conversation between Jesus and Satan:

Satan: “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” Jesus: “One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”

Zaya – When the food temptation did not work, Satan led Jesus up to the pinnacle of the Temple in Jerusalem and tempted Jesus to jump off the temple. Satan quoted Scripture as an incentive for Jesus to throw Himself from the highest point of the Temple. Here is the second conversation between Jesus and Satan:

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Satan: ‘if you are the Son of God, throw yourself down…”He will command his angels concerning you” and “on their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.” Jesus: “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.”

Zion – Then Satan tried to tempt Jesus with wealth and power. Satan took Jesus to a high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world. Satan: “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Jesus: “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, “Worship the Lord your God , and serve only him.”

Zion – But the wealth and power temptation failed. With great skill, Satan had attempted to sabotage Jesus’ mission, but Jesus rejected the idea of popularity and self-satisfaction. Jesus’ temptation experiences show us how to overcome Satan’s attempts to defeat us. Also, in this episode in Jesus’ life we learn who we must worship – only God.

Rise Up! Answers to questions in What Do You Think are underlined. Discuss the equation: Jesus + [your name] > temptation (Answers will vary but emphasize the ways Jesus taught us to fight temptation. Limit the discussion to five minutes.) Complete the Superhero Challenge if time permits. Tell students the Faithful Five want to know the significance of the number 40. Help them by writing the words your teacher shares with you in the image below. You can display “a period of testing or discipline” on a flip chart or a projector so students can copy the answer. Then ask students what the number 40 represented in the scripture lesson.

Below are the instructions for the Time to Create activity – Make a “Stop Temptation” medal. Materials: Long strips of ribbon (one per student), copies of the Stop Temptation Medal template in Appendix E (one per student); crayons or markers, scissors, hole punch Instructions: Give each student one piece of ribbon and a copy of the Stop Temptation Medal template. Ask students to share ways to fight temptation like praying, remembering a bible verse, saying kind words, or thinking

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about what Jesus would do in the situation. Then allow students to use the crayons/markers to write or draw an action on each circle in the Stop Temptation Medal template. When done, cut out the circles and punch a hole at the top. String the circles on the ribbon and tie it around the student’s neck. Close the lesson with prayer. Dear God, help me today and every day make the right choices. When temptation comes, help me to say no! In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Lesson 11 – February 9, 2020 | Matthew 5:3-11

The Meaning of Worship Get Excited! Below are the instructions for the warm-up activity – Watch “God’s Story: The Sermon on the Mount.” Watch the YouTube video, God’ at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ze7w3-BL3OM. Key Verse Exercise Read the verse to remember aloud. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. (Matthew 5:8)

Use Google to hear how the key verse words are pronounced in French. Then tell students to color the words. Read and Learn! Read Zion and Zaya Talk about What Worship Means aloud. Zion and Zaya Talk about What Worship Means Zion – We are “kingdom kids under construction.” The Beatitudes describe the characteristics of “kingdom kids.” In

the Beatitudes Jesus teaches virtues and values that will result in blessings and rewards. The Beatitudes demonstrate the way to heavenly blessedness as opposed to the worldly path of the pursuit of happiness. We will be happy in Jesus if we learn and practice the “be-attitudes” that Jesus taught.

Zaya – Jesus taught about the Beatitudes – the “be-attitudes.” Jesus listed the qualities He was looking for in His followers – humility, mourning, meekness, hunger and thirst for righteousness, mercy, pure in heart, peace, obedience and faithfulness. Each quality is the opposite of the qualities the world emphasizes.

Zion – Verse 3 is about humility. “Poor in spirit” is the opposite of pride and self-sufficiency. We must recognize that we are to depend on God and not ourselves. We can do nothing apart from God.

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Zaya – Verse 4 is about mourning. We mourn because of our wrongdoing/sins. But we are comforted by knowing we are forgiven,

Zion – Verse 5 is about meekness, which means being mild-mannered or having self-control empowered by the Holy Spirit as we develop the fruit of the Spirit. We must be quick to forgive others and obey God so we can reign with Christ.

Zaya – Verse 6 is about having “hunger and thirst” for righteousness. We must seek God’s righteousness by studying God’s Word. We cannot be righteous on our own. Only God can give us a right relationship with Him.

Zion – Verse 7 is about being merciful, which means to obtain a new life through the work of the Holy Spirit. Zaya – Verse 8 is about being pure in heart or having a heart that desires good. Psalm 51:10 - “Create in me a clean

heart and renew a right spirit in me.” As “kingdom kids under construction” we desire to be new creatures in Christ.

Zion – Verse 9 is about being a peacemaker. Desire to make and live in peace with all people. We can be ambassadors of God’s message to a troubled world. Jesus is the King of peace and we must pattern ourselves after Him.

Zaya – Verse 10 is about being persecuted for righteousness’ sake. Jesus teaches that we are in direct contrast to the world. We may be persecuted for following Jesus,

Zion – Verse 11 tells how people may revile you. We may be insulted and falsely accused because we are followers of Jesus. We are faithful and in the words of the praise song, “I am soul’d out.”

Zaya – We can rejoice because we have a great reward waiting for us in heaven.

Rise Up! Answers to questions in What Do You Think are underlined. What are the Beatitudes? A list of blessings from God Who is blessed? People who are poor, people who are sad, people who are peacemakers and people who are hungry Complete the Superhero Challenge if time permits. Tell students the Faithful Five know they should do things like be kind and be obedient. Help them come up with other “be-attitudes by creating a list of your own. Students may need help with examples. A few examples include be respectful, be patient, be nice, etc. Below are the instructions for the Time to Create activity – Make an invisible blessing garden. Materials: White cardstock paper (one per student), white crayons, watercolor paint, paint brushes, cups of water, plastic tablecloth Instructions: Give each student a piece of cardstock paper and a white crayon. Ask students to draw a picture of a garden full of plants, flowers, bumblebees and butterflies. As they draw, explain that sometimes God’s blessings can be invisible in our lives. For example, we don’t always see his mercy, or see his peace and strength in our lives. As the students work, ask them to tell you ways that God has blessed them. Encourage them to look for the invisible things, beyond physical stuff. When they finish their drawings, have them use watercolors to paint over the whole paper so the picture shows up. Remind them that God’s love and blessings in our lives are like the paint that helped us see the beautiful picture. Close the lesson with prayer. Dear God, we know that each day is a blessing. Help us show be-attitudes toward everyone we meet. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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Lesson 12 – February 16, 2020 | Matthew 6:9-15

A Model for Prayer Get Excited! Below are the instructions for the warm-up activity – Watch the pretzel demonstration. You will need two bags of pretzels for this activity. Crush the pretzels in one of the bags. Take an unbroken pretzel out of a bag and say, “See this treat? It’s a pretzel! You’ll notice how the pretzel is shaped. You can see that in the center of the pretzel the arms are crossed? This is to remind us to always pray. Show me what you do when you pray.” (Ideally, students will clasp their hands, bow their heads, or get on their knees) “Now let’s look at the outside shape. See how the pretzel is like a circle? This reminds us that we can always go to God and pray, over and over again. He will always listen and answer us. Every time you see a pretzel it is a reminder to always pray.” Next, take a few broken pretzels out of the bag and say, “At times we or people in our families can be like the broken pretzels. Things happen in our lives that make us feel sad or broken. God wants us to know that if we pray to him and tell him what we need, he can heal us. Prayer is an important way for us to talk to God.” Key Verse Exercise Read the verse to remember aloud. Your Father knows what you need before you ask him. (Matthew 6:8)

Use Google to hear how the key verse words are pronounced in Swahili. Then tell students to color the words. Read and Learn! Read Zion and Zaya Talk about How to Pray aloud. Zion and Zaya Talk about How to Pray Zion – Have you ever really thought about what prayer is? Prayer is not only talking to God, it is talking with God. It is

listening to God with your heart. It is heart-to-heart conversation with God. Prayer is not always about words. Although God already knows what we need, our prayers reveal who God is and what God means in our lives.

Zaya – The wonderful thing about prayer is that you can pray anytime and anywhere. In fact, we can pray in our hearts all the time. I Thessalonians 5:17 teaches us “to pray without ceasing.”

Zion – As an introduction to our lesson on prayer, Jesus said that our prayer time should not be a time for us to show off. Our public prayer, one of the means of grace, must not be the repetition of meaningless words or the recitation of flowery words.

Zaya – If Jesus, God’s perfect Son, prayed, we must pray, too. The Scriptures tell us about Jesus’ prayer life: Jesus prayed before making decisions: “He went out to the mountain to pray, and he spent the night in prayer to God. And when day came, he called his disciples and chose twelve of them, whom he had also named apostles.” (Luke 6:12-13)

Jesus prayed for faith: “Jesus looked upward and said, “Father, I thank you for having heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.” (John 11:42-43)

Jesus prayed for courage: “He threw himself on the ground and prayed, “My Father, if is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not what I want but what you want.” (Matthew 26:39)

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Zion – When Jesus’ disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray, Jesus gave His disciples then and us now a model prayer. We call it the Lord’s Prayer, but it really is not a prayer Jesus prayed. (Jesus’ prayer can be found in John 17.) It is a model for us when we pray. It could very well be called the “Disciples’ Prayer.”

Zaya – This model prayer is only 63 words, but it is a perfect prayer. Let us look closely at the prayer that Jesus taught: “Our Father which art in heaven” teaches us that God is our Father. Not just my Father, but the Father of all people who love and serve God. Jesus refers to God as father more than 150 times in the Gospels.

“Hallowed be Thy Name” honors God’s name. We must be reverent when we go to God in prayer. We must have the right attitude toward God for God is holy and God’s name is above all names.

“Thy Kingdom come” means that God’s kingdom begins in our hearts and reaches out into all the world. “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven” refers to God’s purpose being accomplished in our lives. We must pray that God’s will be done in our lives. Not what we want, but what our heavenly Father wants us to have or to be.

“Give us this day our daily bread” means that we know that God is our provider (Jehovah-jireh). We must understand that we can do nothing without God. We must trust God to take care of us.

“Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors” – Jesus said we must practice forgiveness to be forgiven. “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil” is a way of asking God to keep us on the right path. We are asking God to help us not follow evil, to help us turn away from things that tempt us.

“For Thine is the Kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.” This is the final statement of our faith!

Rise Up! Answers to questions in What Do You Think are underlined. Jesus taught us how to pray through the Lord’s prayer. True False Rewrite the Lord’s Prayer in your own words. Complete the Superhero Challenge if time permits. Tell students the Faithful Five need help with identifying three things that are related to God and three things that are related to people. Then ask what words come to mind when they think of God and what words come to mind when they think of people. See two examples below.

• God is a spirit. People are made of flesh (or muscles, bones and tissue). • God provides food. People need food.

Below are the instructions for the Time to Create activity – Make a prayer bag. Materials: Paper lunch bag (one per student), large craft sticks (seven per student), crayons, markers Instructions: Give each student a paper bag and seven craft sticks. Allow students to use the crayons to make designs on the paper bag. Then ask students to write the names of people or situations they want to pray about each craft stick. Emphasize how important it is to pray to God every day. Each day they should pull a stick out of their prayer bag and pray for that person or situation. Close the lesson with prayer. Dear God, thank you for everything. Every day I want you to know how much I appreciate you and all that you do for family, my friends and me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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Lesson 13 –February 23, 2020 | Daniel 6:10-22

Pray without Ceasing Get Excited! Below are the instructions for the warm-up activity – Watch “Daniel in the Lion’s Den.” Watch the YouTube video “Daniel in the Lion’s Den” at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8tXENptCSo. Key Verse Exercise Read the verse to remember aloud. I was found blameless before [God] and also before you. (Daniel 6:22)

Use Google to hear how the key verse words are pronounced in Arabic. Then tell students to color the words. Read and Learn! Read Zion and Zaya Talk about How We Should Always Pray aloud. Zion and Zaya Talk about How We Should Always Pray Zaya – King Darius reigned over a large kingdom. In order to keep order and communicate with his subjects, the king

appointed 120 satraps (provincial governors). Their job also included preventing loss from military revolts, tax evasion and fraud.

Zion – Because Daniel found favor with the king, King Darius was about to appoint Daniel over all the other administrators. Daniel had experience, wisdom, leadership, a good reputation, ability and attitude, as well as revelation from God.

Zaya – It was no wonder that King Darius wanted Daniel to oversee his kingdom. Zion – But when the other administrators learned of the king’s intention to appoint Daniel to such a powerful position,

they sought to discredit Daniel. Zaya – When they could find no fault with Daniel’s work of his loyalty, they plotted to get Daniel in trouble. Zion – Because they knew that Daniel was more loyal to God than to anyone, they decided to trap Daniel by finding

fault with his worship of God. Zaya – The jealous administrators came together to establish a royal statute, a decree that anyone who worshipped

God or man other than the King for 30 days would be cast into the lions’ den. Zion – In presenting the decree to King Darius, the sneaky administrators flattered the king with these words: “King

Darius, live forever.” In other words, the king was being referred to as a god. Zaya – Without thinking, King Darius signed the decree that could not be changed. Zion – Now the administrators thought it would only be a meter of time that they would be rid of Daniel. They knew

that Daniel was loyal to God. Zaya – Upon hearing that the king had signed the decree, Daniel went to his house, knelt before an open window facing

Jerusalem and prayed and gave thanks to God as he always did. Even though Daniel knew the consequences of his actions, he did not hesitate to pray to God.

Zion – The plotting, jealous officers of King Darius’ kingdom watched Daniel as he prayed to God. Of course, they were delighted to make a report to the king. Now they could get rid of Daniel.

Zaya – The king was upset with himself because he had not realized that the decree was directed at Daniel. The king respected Daniel’s God. But the king had to carry out the decree.

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Zion – Daniel was bought to the king who cast Daniel into the den of lions. But the king acknowledged the power of Daniel’s God: “May the God you serve all the time save you” (6:16).

Zaya – King Darius rose early in the morning and quickly went to check on Daniel. He called Daniel, hoping he would answer: “Daniel, servant of the living God! Has your God that you always worship been able to save you from the lions?” (6:20)

Zaya – Daniel answered: My king, live forever! My God sent angel to close the lions’ mouths. They have not hurt me, because my God knows I am innocent. I never did anything wrong to you, my king” (6:21-22). When Daniel was taken out of the lions’ den he had no injuries. God had closed the jaws of the lions. King Darius was overjoyed. God had honored Daniel’s faith.

Zion – King Darius had the men who had accused Daniel thrown into the lions’ den along with their wives and children and they were eaten before their bodies hit the ground of the den. They received the punishment they had planned for Daniel. Then King Darius wrote a new decree: “Daniel’s God is the living God. He lives forever. His kingdom will never be destroyed. His rule will never end.” (6:26)

Rise Up! Answers to questions in What Do You Think are underlined. Daniel was a faithful servant of God. True False Daniel was thrown in a bear cave because he continued to pray to God. True False Discuss the importance of prayer. Complete the Superhero Challenge if time permits. Show a clip of the Disney movie Lion King when Simba did not listen to what his father asked him to do (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeTO8GEAETM). Ask students to help the Faithful Five determine how Daniel and Simba were different with obedience. Below are the instructions for the Time to Create activity – Make a lion face magnet. Materials: Copies of the Lion Face Magnet Pattern in Appendix F (one pattern per student), self-adhesive magnet strips (one per student), strips of brown tissue paper, crayons or markers, glue, scissors Instructions: Give each student a Lion Face Magnet pattern and enough strips of brown tissue paper to cover the mane. Allow students to color the lion’s face. Cut out the pattern. Stick the magnet strip on the back of the pattern. Glue the strips of brown tissue on the lion’s mane. Allow to dry. Close the lesson with prayer. Dear God, help me to be faithful like Daniel. Give me the courage to do all that you ask me to do without being afraid of what others may say or think. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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Appendix A | Stop Temptation Medal Template

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Appendix B | Lion Face Magnet Pattern