Although the story of Job is not included in the CSSA notes for Stage 1, there may be an opportunity for you to share the story of Job during a review week, or if you happen to have extra available classes in your Sunday School year. This could also be used as a Bible School class and craft.
This is a Junior lesson sheet (PDF) or (WORD) (Thanks to Jim S. for providing this from an older version of the CSSA notes!)
This is a Junior homework sheet (PDF) or (WORD) (Thanks to Jim S!)
For a class of 6-10 year old children we made canvas pictures for the children to hang on their walls to remember an important lesson from the book of Job – that God is the creator of the earth and has been actively involved in the lives of His children since He breathed into Adam the breath of life.
For this craft you will need:
– an old Bible (more on this below)
– scissors
– modge podge glue (an all-in-one glue, sealer and finish used to attach paper and fabric to various surfaces – you can use regular white glue however it doesn’t give as shiny of a finish)
– 8×10 canvas (one per child – most Dollar Stores around us sell them for $1.25 each)
– blue or green card stock squares slightly larger then the printable verse (one per child)
– Bible verse card printed onto card stock (one per child)
The craft works better if you prepare the pages of the Bible ahead of time. I needed 7 sheets from the Bible for each canvas. I carefully cut them out down the centre margin and trimmed off all the red edges. In my example version I didn’t realize how much the red would show through so I made sure to trim all the children’s Bible sheets before the class.
**A number of the children were very concerned about tearing pages out of a Bible. I explained to them that I had purchased the Bible at a thrift store and it already had a number of pages ripped and tattered in it, so I kept it for Bible craft projects. It also gave us an opportunity to talk about people in the scriptures who ripped the Bible apart and why they did it. We contrasted King Zedekiah who spitefully tore Jeremiah’s scroll because he didn’t want to hear that what he was doing was wrong. We contrasted that to men like Jeremiah, Ezekiel and John who were all told to eat the word of God! We talked through how the same action can have two different outcomes based on our motives. We aren’t trying to be disrespectful to our God but trying to have His word surround us on every side, so that we can be more like Deuteronomy 11:18-20:
“Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes. And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thine house, and upon thy gates.”**
Next I lay the Bible sheets across the canvas to make sure I’d be able to cover all of it. I tried to overlap pages and start at different heights on the page.
After making sure my pages were placed in a way I liked, I used ALOT of glue! It was very sticky and temperamental for the first two pages, but after that it just got easier and easier. When I did it with the children I warned them of this, and although they did have difficulty, they all managed to get past it and pretty much do all the gluing on their own (with encouragement!)
Once I was happy with the Bible sheets glued down, I glued down my colored card stock in the centre. This was followed by the printable card with the globe and Bible verse. You can leave this black and white or have the children color it in as time allows. When it begins to dry, you’ll have your doubts on whether it will turn out – but after 30 minutes the modge podge dried completely and left a beautiful shiny veneer.
This is the printable of the globe and Bible verse to go on the top of the canvas. (PDF)
“The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised.” Job 1:21