This lesson is for the end of September:
Print the discussion questions and end of OT exercise here.
Discussion Questions:
- What did you struggle with the most in the OT?
- What surprised you the most about the OT?
End of OT Exercise:
This exercise is my very favorite!
If you are doing this in a group: You will need to print a copy of the timeline and tape it to a wall or a dry erase board. You will also need little sticky notes in three colors.
If you are doing it alone: You can print a copy of the timeline and write on it with different color markers.
You may want to play some soft music during this activity. Allow quite a bit of time for this. It takes a while to think through the stories.
Part 1:
Hand each lady a pad of yellow sticky notes, and give them the following instructions:
Look at the timeline and think about God’s experience through the stories. As you think about a particular story, write a one or two word description of what God experienced during that story and put it on the timeline by that story. Try to think of the good and the bad.
Example: write “Rejection” on the timeline under the words “Adam and Eve”.
Part 2:
After everyone seems to be finished, give them another pad of sticky notes in a different color. Ask them to look up Galatians 5:22 and read it. Then read this:
If this is the fruit of the Spirit and it is God’s spirit, then this is what He is like.
How do you see these characteristics in the stories of the OT? Spend some time writing the fruits of the spirit that you see God displaying above/below the stories on the timeline.
Example: write “gentle” under the story of Adam and Eve because He made them garments.
Part 3:
Give them another color of sticky notes, and read this:
Look at the whole story, and think about all that God said, all that He did, and all that He experienced. If you could summarize it into one line, what do you think God is saying through the whole story? What is He shouting through the pages, through the years, through prophets? What is His heart cry? Write it on a sticky note, and put it at the end of the timeline.
Part 4:
Spend some time just sitting and looking at the timeline with all the words on it. Ruminate on all that it means. Discuss with the group what this exercise was like for them.
Whole Bible Challenge 