Exploring the Bible
In 2021, St Paul’s Kids will be following along with the book ‘Exploring the Bible: A Bible Reading Plan for Kids’ by David Murray. Each week there will be a memory verse and a summary video to accompany the week’s reading.
Expedition 20 | The Choice
Monday 24 may 2021
Snapshot verse
Proverbs 14:7
“The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, turning people away from deadly traps.”
Summary
Throughout Proverbs, King Solomon keeps reminding us of the choice between Wise Road and Foolish Road. Last week we looked at Solomon’s longer descriptions of these two roads. This week we’ll look at a number of snapshots that keep making us choose between Wise Road and Foolish Road.
Expedition 19 | A fork in the road
Monday 17 may 2021
Snapshot verse
Proverbs 1:7
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge but fools despise wisdom and discipline.
Summary
Explorers often have to choose between two paths. One goes to the right and one goes to the left, but which one do we take? That’s the choice we find in the book of Proverbs. It’s main author, King Solomon, describes two roads – Wise Road and Foolish Road – and calls us to choose Wise Road and run from Foolish Road. We should listen to King Solomon because he was one of the wisest people ever (1 Kings 4:29-34).
Expedition 18 | Songs about The coming Kingdom
Monday 10 may 2021
Snapshot verse
Psalm 72:17
“May his name endure forever; may it continue as long as the sun. Then all nations will be blessed through him, and they will call him blessed.”
Summary
Now that we know who this suffering King is, let’s put a spring in our step as we listen to two more beautiful songs that praise him for his glorious and everlasting kingdom.
Expedition 17 | Songs about The coming King
Monday 3 may 2021
Snapshot verse
Psalm 2:12
“Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, when his wrathwill suddenly burn. Blessed are all that trust in him.”
Summary
Get your headphones on because for the next two weeks we’re going to be listening to the songs God gave to his people to sing while they waited for the coming King. These songs have an unusual combination: the King is opposed, the King suffers and the King is victorious. As you listen to these songs, think about who matches this description: an opposed King, a suffering King, and a victorious King.
Expedition 16 | The devil attacks
Monday 26 April 2021
Snapshot verse
Job 19:25
“I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the end he will stand on this earth.”
Summary
We’ve now traveled over three thousand years since we started our expedition in Genesis! We’ve covered a lot of miles and discovered many evidences of God’s love to sinners. Despite Adam’s sin, God promised a King who would destroy sin and save his people. And despite the Israelites’ constant sinning, God’s promise still stands. We’re going to pause now and travel backward a bit to look at how various poets and prophets wrote about their hope for deliverance by God’s King. We’ll start with Job, a man whom the Devil attacked so badly that he lost his home, his family, his wealth, and his health. But did he give up hope in God? Let’s see.
Expedition 15 | A Rebuilt nation
Monday 19 April 2021
Snapshot verse
Ezra 7:27
“Praise be to the Lord, the God of our ancestors, who has put it into the king’s heart to bring honor to the house of the Lord in Jerusalem in this way”
Summary
We are ready to start our expedition into the book of Ezra. God has moved the heathen King Cyrus to release God’s people, allowing them to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the city and temple. Ezra and the people rebuild the temple. However, despite this progress there’s still disappointment because the temple is much smaller than before, the people are still sinning, and there is no king.
Expedition 14 | A Captive nation
Monday 12 April 2021
Snapshot verse
1 Kings 8:56
“Praise the Lord! He has kept his promise and given us peace. Every good thing he promised to his servant Moses has happened.”
Summary
When you sin against your mum or dad, they may have to discipline you even though they still love you. That’s what we see God doing in the remaining chapters of David’s life. Because God still loves him, God disciplines David with a number of sad events in his life. This includes the rebellion of his son, Absalom, which ends in Absalom’s death. However, at the end of his life, we will hear David sing a beautiful song of praise to God and then some beautiful words of trust in God’s promises of a greater and everlasting King.
Expedition 13 | Songs in the midst of Sadness
Monday 5 April 2021
Snapshot verse
1 Kings 8:56
“Praise the Lord! He has kept his promise and given us peace. Every good thing he promised to his servant Moses has happened.”
Summary
When you sin against your mum or dad, they may have to discipline you even though they still love you. That’s what we see God doing in the remaining chapters of David’s life. Because God still loves him, God disciplines David with a number of sad events in his life. This includes the rebellion of his son, Absalom, which ends in Absalom’s death. However, at the end of his life, we will hear David sing a beautiful song of praise to God and then some beautiful words of trust in God’s promises of a greater and everlasting King.
Expedition 12 | A special promise of a special king
Monday 29 march 2021
Snapshot verse
2 Samuel 7:16
“I will make sure that one of your descendants will always be king.”
Summary
David, was Israel’s greatest king, and we’d love to spend time exploring the details of his life. However, because we need to keep moving, our explorations will have to pick the most important events. This week we’re going to look at the highest point in his life – the special covenant promises God gave to him. Then we’re going to look at the lowest point in David’s life – when he committed terrible sins.
Expedition 11 | A bad king and a good king
Monday 22 march 2021
Snapshot verse
1 Samuel 16:7
“The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
Summary
On our trip through Joshua and Judges we saw how much Israel needed a king. We don’t have time to stop in the book of Ruth, but its fascinating to see that it ends with Ruth’s family tree. Who’s name is last in that list? It’s David (Ruth 4:18-23). Unfortunately, Israel took a wrong turn and chose their own king, a man named Saul, who turned out badly. We pick up the story with the prophet Samuel trying to find God’s choice of a king to replace the people’s choice.