What is a Bible Study and Creation

Camper Bible Studies

The goal of Bible Studies is to connect God’s redemptive story for humanity as told to us in the Bible with the story of kids’ lives. Use your own story (how God has worked in your life and continues to work) as a point of connection of God’s truth and life. Even more important will be your living breathing walking example of Christ, nothing speaks like actions. You have an opportunity to not only speak the truth of Christ but to BE Christ as well, we are his ambassadors.

Remember that although we share the gospel over 5 days, introducing people to Jesus Christ is not a “set in stone” step by step process. We share the gospel in this way so that kids have time to think, understand, ask questions and are not overwhelmed with information


On Illustrations –
Explain a few things well
Choose one or two illustrations and try to carry them throughout the week
Introduce a few terms that are new. (Eg. Use one term of missing the mark, or impure, or defile).
Don’t use all of them, you can’t explain everything. Stick to a central idea. Try to avoid theological jargon- ex. Redeemed, saved, lamb of God….if you do use these words, make sure you explain them

Don’t use every verse we give you. Focus on a few and ensure that campers understand them, don’t just read them: have campers put them in their own words.

Spend the last 15 minutes of your Bible study hour memorizing the verse of the day… Be creative in how you do this: songs, poems, pictures, actions, word order games….

We have given you an Objective for the day, use your creativity in making these lesson objectives come to life:
-Write an ongoing story
-Make or bring your own pictures and props
-depending on what keeps your kids attention, get them moving, capture their imaginations and attention
-make sock puppets
-get them opening their Bibles and discovering truth inside




Day 1 -
God Created Me and Loves Me

Objectives:
1) To introduce kids to the Bible as God’s Words to us.
2) To explain that God created the world and loves it. To explore his character, and his longing for relationship with us.

NOTE: God as loving Creator is where the story of redemption starts. Remember that this is the first day of Bible study and will set the tone for this hour for the rest of the week. Don’t allow disruptions or else kids will think it is the norm for this time.

Lesson:
1) Most kids don’t know what the Bible is. You will be talking about the Bible all week, this is a Bible camp Do a short intro into what the Bible is for those who don’t know what it is.

- It is God the Creator’s message to his creation. It is the most important message to
listen to.
o Illustration #1 - Ask who knows the most about a house? The person who made it or the person who buys it? God knows the most about life and we should listen to him.
o Illustration #2 - Road map. Why do you listen to road maps? It tells us where we should go in life because it is made by someone who has a knowledge of the area.
o How do we know the Bible is trustworthy? See Appendix A: “Answering Tough Questions.”
- Explain how to find a verse. Explain the books of the Bible and how it is good to memorize their order. Explain what the numbers mean. The first one is the big number on the page, and the second is the small number. Liken it to a street and number in a house address.

2) Bible Study:
Bible References to know:
Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning, God created the heavens and earth.”
Acts 17:28 – “In him we live and move and have our being.”
Psalm 139
Job 12:7-12

I. Explaining God the Creator
Talk about how God created. Read the Creation story or recap it for cabins who have heard it before. God made things out of nothing. Can humans do that?
God created the world to be a good place. Read Genesis 1:31. “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.”

Ask the kids where the best and most beautiful place they’ve been. Describe a place where you’ve been. Explain that the world God created was perfectly peaceful; a paradise. Even better than camp!

After talking about God the Creator, teach about God as a loving Creator who wants and seeks relationship with his creation, especially humans.

Genesis 1:27 - God made man in the same image as himself. This means that we can relate to God because we are made of the same type of things. Emotions, will, the ability to love, are things we have the same as God. God has a special place for humans in creation. God can love humanity in a special way because we are made in his image. God spoke all of creation into existence, except man – he formed man with his hands (Genesis 1:27 and 2:7). God created man in his own image so that he could have relationship with him.
o Illustration: Younger kids - Who can you be better friends with? A tree or your parents? A dog or your best friend? Have the kids hug a tree (if outside) or the posts on their bed. Then have a group hug. Which is better?
o Older kids – Bring a funny drawing, or a stuffed animal, or any inanimate object. Put your arm around it and introduce it to the cabin. Pretend it’s your best friend. Try and be serious about it for as long as you can. Use this as a springboard to explain how we are in the same image of God and how it makes relationship possible.

II. The Creator Loves You
Use Psalm 139 to explain God’s love for humans. Don’t use the whole thing, but explain a few`key part in it. Here are some ideas.
o V. 1-10. For little kids, you can get them to do the actions mentioned (sit, stand, lie down, put finger on tongue or stick out tongue, for hemmed in, lay a hand on each other).
o V. 7-10 Talk about how God is throughout the world, and he knows everything about me. God knows whether you’re on the zip-line or in chapel. He is like air – everywhere.
o Explain how important we are to God - make it personal by telling a story about how you’ve been taken care of by God
o Vs. 11-12 – When are you most scared of the dark? When you’re alone. But God is there even when we’re scared of the dark.
o Vs. 13- 16 – God was interested in us before we were even born! Even before we knew who we were, God knew his creation
o Vs. 17-18 – Sweep some dust off the cabin floor in front of the campers. You could start counting the specks, or give some to each of the campers. God’s thoughts about you and me outnumber not only the sand in the cabin, but the sand at the waterfront, the sand in BC, and the sand in the whole world!
o V. 7-12 Talk about the fact that God is everywhere. He’s like air. Even though we can’t see him, we can know he is still there because he says he is. Only, he’s not like air because he loves us, and the air doesn’t love us. This means that wherever you are God is with you.
o V. 13-14. We are fearfully and wonderfully made. Not accidents of our parents, not a mistake, not junk, not ugly, and not here by chance. God has made each of us his way, and his way is best. God made us, so everyone is valuable.
o Matthew 6:26 – We are more valuable than the birds, and they are taken care of well. Look at how well creation works. God will take care of us, even more so.
o For younger kids, you might talk about different views of the Creator making someone – did he just kind of stand by and let things happen, or was he a “mad scientist,” or was he like an assembly-line worker (grabbing the next nose in line and sticking it on, taking the next set of arms) and then the loving Creator, who formed us with his hands and watches where we go.

III. Respond
o Have the kids write letters to their creator. Just as the Bible is a letter to us, have the kids write a letter to God. Have them put it in their Bibles and keep adding to it.
o Romans 1:19-20, Psalm 19:1-6 - God reveals himself through creation
If God is Creator, then his creation will show his character. Ask the kids what things you see from his creation. If you are outside, use specific examples.
Vastness  Stars, Mountains, Ocean, Universe
Power  Thunder, Earthquakes, Wind, Storms, Waves, (anything beyond human control)
Purpose and Order (Telos)  Seasons, Animals (such as instincts to migrate and caring for young), how the body works
This is a good way to take the creation message into an everyday ability to see God.

End the lesson with a recap and questions on what was taught.

Verses of the Day:
- Genesis 1:1

End the lesson with a recap and questions on what was taught.

Other Illustrations:
When you make a car…who knows the car? The mechanic. He knows how everything goes together. Except, humans can make a car. Humans can’t make a human. In fact, humans can’t really make anything. We just use what is already made to make other things. It’s like Lego. You can’t make Lego, but you can make all kinds of stuff out of the Lego. God is like the person who made the Lego. He made everything that exists. God knows everything about us. He knows what is good, and what is bad for us. He also loves us.

Take campers outside: on the dock if it’s allowed, somewhere where they can see the stars, etc.
Ask: “How does creation tell us about God?”
e.g. The world seems big to us, but it is only one tiny part of our galaxy that is full of more stars than we can count. But our whole galaxy is only a small part of the universe. God is vast, huge, beyond our understanding. We are only tiny specks in comparison to the universe, but he still knows each one of us, and loves us. Psalm 19:1-6 - God reveals himself through creation
Psalm 19:1-6 - God reveals himself through creation

Note: It is difficult to move a cabin around. If you are going to a Bible Study outside, do it all outside in order to cut transition time between cabin and the destination. Be wary of distractions (bugs, warm enough, other people etc) Well behaved cabins do well with outside Bible studies.

Use the example of unseen forces (magnets, gravity, wind, balloon)
John 1:18 “No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known.”

John 4:24: Remind kids that God is not a force, but a person. He’s not like the Star Wars “Force”, He’s a personal Creator God who uses his power in a personal way.