ASSEMBLIES OF GOD CHURCH CHILDREN’S SUNDAY SCHOOL MANUAL,17TH SEPTEMBER, 2023.

TARGET:

To help the child understand that the Bible is the true and living Word of God as it is the original message God gave about Himself.

During and after the lesson, each child will show that he/she understands the lesson by:

1. Discussing why he/she agrees the Bible is the Word of God.

2. Answering correctly the questions asked on the lesson.

3. Praying and thanking God for giving him/her and everybody the Bible.

1. The Bible Is True – 2 Tim 3:14, 16a

2. The Bible ls Active – 2 Tim 3:15, 16b. 17

3. The Bible Is Trustworthy – 2 Pet 1:19-21

Can you estimate how many books you have seen and read in the years you have lived on the Earth? Is the Bible one of them? If your answer is yes, then how do you see the Bible? Some see it just as a story book, about many and many things. Others see it just as any other book. Some see it as a book of laws and commands. The Bible is more than all these. It is a great and wonderful book, the greatest book the world has had and still has and will ever have. It is God’s message to man which reveals the mind of God to man.

The Bible is the written Word of God. It is a book written by the Men of God. It contains the mind of God. The words in the Bible are from God himself. This week and the following weeks, we shall talk about the Bible and what it contains.

Here Paul is trying to help build Timothy up so that he can become a leader when he, Paul is no longer around. Paul encouraged him to hold firm to the things he learnt from his mother and grandmother when he was a child and that thing is the Word of God. The two women had taught Timothy that he must endeavour to continue in those things he had learned and which he was assured were true knowing the kind of people who had taught him these things.

Paul went on to prove to Timothy that the Word of God is indeed true. The reason, according to him, is that the whole Scripture is given by inspiration of God. This means that God gave the writers of His Word guidance through the Holy Spirit and sanctioned what they wrote. Here Paul is saying that God was very active in the writing of the Bible.

Every chapter and verse of the Bible is inspired or God-breathed. This means that as the writers of the Bible were writing, God caused their heart and mind to be filled with His Words. God sent His Holy Spirit to help them know what to write.

The Word of God is not passive. It does things and brings result, It is very useful. In the words of Paul in our passage, the Word of God is profitable or valuable. It is profitable for four things, namely, doctrine, reproof, correction and instruction in righteousness. Christians need all of them in order to live as strong Christians.

Firstly, the Word of God is useful in teaching someone about God, how to know Him, and how to live the Christian life. To know God and how to live the Christian life, one needs to know some basic teachings. These basics are in the Bible and are called doctrines. As one studies the Word of God and grows in God, one’s knowledge of the things of God increases.

Also, the Word of God is useful for reproof or rebuke. This is letting someone know that something he is doing is wrong. The Bible reproves people when they sin. Then comes correction. Correction is showing the person the right way something should be done. It happens when people learn why their actions did not please God. The Word of God does this, too. The Word of God is also useful for instruction. Instruction here means giving directions to a person as how to avoid doing something wrong in future. Things are made easier when people have some means of instruction. Paul describes this kind of instruction as “instruction in righteousness”.

The Bible is trustworthy because it is light and can be trusted as light. Peter calls it light that shines in the darkness. Since it is dangerous for one to be in a strange and dark place without light to show the way, so it is dangerous for a person to be in this dark world of sin without the Word of God. The Word of God is the Lighthouse that shines in a dark world. It lights the believer’s way in a dark, dangerous and evil world.

The Bible is also trustworthy because it came from the Holy Spirit. No part of it came about from the writer’s will or reasoning. It is free from mistake, errors, falsehood, and deceit. It is entirely true and reliable in all it teaches.

The Bible touches every aspect of our life. It explains how we can praise God, what we can do when we have problems. It talks about the reward we will get for being good, obeying and even disobeying God as the case may be, and most importantly, it deals with God’s gift to us in His Son Jesus Christ. “The Bible shows us the way of salvation. It gives us the creed we are to follow. It shows us the way we are to live. It is our source both of doctrine and life of godliness”.

The Bible is God’s Word. We should not use it as a magic book as some people do. They put it under the pillow hoping it will drive away evil spirits, We should not swear with it as some do. Some even tell lies while swearing with it. We should not use it as an ornament for ourselves. Rather, we should read always and listen to it so that we may know what God wants us to do.

QUESTIONS:

1. What is Paul trying to do to Timothy and why?

(A) To train him up so that he can become a doctor when there is no doctor.

(B) To train him up so that he can become a leader when Paul, is no longer around.

(C) To teach him how to write the Bible.

(D) To teach him how to be a successful businessman and be rich.

2. Who taught Timothy when he was a child and what did they teach him?

(A) His father and mother.

(B) His mother and school teachers.

(C) His mother and grandmother.

(D) Paul and his grandfather.

3. What four things is the Word of God profitable for?

(A) Doctrine, Correction, Reproof.

(B) Love, Forgiveness, Mercy.

(C) instruction in righteousness.

(D) b and c.

(e) a only

(f) a and C.

4. What does the Bible do as a light? It lights

(A) our homes and God’s temple.

(B) believer’s way in a dark, dangerous and evil world.

(C) the temple of God only.

(D) it is the light that shines during the day.