THE BIGGEST STORY
Below you will find accompanying activity pages and coloring pages for each series of lessons.
Parents: please feel free to download and print as much as you would like.
Part 1:
The Pentateuch
Genesis - Deuteronomy
The Bible was originally written in two different languages. The Old Testament was writting in Hebrew, and the New Testament was written in Greek.
The books of the Hebrew Bible are separated into three categories: Torah (Teaching), Nevi'im (Prophets), and Ketuvim (Writings). Some people take the first letter of these three Hebrew words and call the Hebrew Bible the Tanakh.
The books in the Tnakh are the same books in what Christians call the Old Testament, but the order is different. Moreover, the three categories (Teaching, Prophets, and Writings) don't nearly line up with the way most Christians think of the books and divisions of the Old Testament. To avoid confusion, then, our sections will stick with the more familiar categories: Pentateuch, History, Poety, and Prophets.
The first five books of the Bible were written by Moses and are sometimes called the Torah, which, as we've seen, means "teaching" or "law". The other name for Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy is the Pentateuch.
If we are going to make sense of the storyline of the Bible, we must take time to understand how the story begins. Knowledge of the Pentateuch is essential for being mature, biblically literate Christians. In the first five books of the Bible we discover not only how the universe came into being, how we came into being, and how sin entered the world, but we also learn about God's plan to set His people free and set them on a path of obedience and blessing.
Many of the Bible's most famious stories can be found in the Pentateuch. In this first part we will work through twenty different Bible stories. Our aim is to understand and enjoy these amazing stories, but also to understand how each story fits in with the Biggest Story.
Genesis 1-2
And So It Begins
Genesis 10-11
A Table and a Tower
Genesis 3
A Very Bad Day
Genesis 11-13
A Father of Nations
Genesis 3-4
From Bad to Worse
Genesis 15; 17
Let's Make a Deal
Genesis 6-9
Rain, Rain, Go Away
Genesis 18-19
The Judge Judges Justly
Genesis 21-22
It's a Boy!
Exodus 1-3
God Raises Up a Deliverer
Leviticus 16
A Tale of Two Goats
Genesis 25; 27
God's Tricky, Hairy, Blessed People
Exodus 4-15
Free at Last
Numbers 13-14
Big People, Little Faith
Genesis 28; 32
Blessings in the Night
Exodus 19-20
The Way to Stay Free
Numbers 16
You're Not the Boss of Me
Genesis 37; 50
Joseph's Mean Brothers and What God Meant to Do
Exodus 32-34
A Fancy Tent and a Foolish Cow
Numbers 27; 36
The Daughters of Zelophehad
Part 2:
History
Joshua - Esther
The historical books cover almost a thousand years of history, from the conquest of the Promised Land to the return from exile in Babylon and the building of the second temple. The history of God's people is marked with moments of great faith and triumph and moments of spectactular disobedience and failure. Through it all, God's promises remain true as the Lord prepares His people for the coming of the Snake Crusher.
Joshua 6
The Walls Came Tumbling Down
1 Samuel 1; 3
The Lord's Word and Samuel
1 Kings 3; 11
The Wise and Foolish King
2 Chronicles 34
The Boy Who Sought the Lord
Judges 6-7
The Fight of Gideon and the Flight of Midian
1 Samuel 8-15
The Rise and Fall of King Saul
1 Kings 12
The Kingdom Cracks
2 Chronicles 36
Promises Broken and Promises Kept
Judges 13-16
Samson's Strength
1 Samuel 16-17
David Stands Tall
1 Kings 18
Elijah Proves a Point
Nehemiah 6-8
Walls and Worship
Ruth 1-4
The Girl Who Wouldn't Go Away
2 Samuel 11-12
David Sins...and Repents
2 Kings 5
Grime and Punishment
Esther 1-4
More Than a Pretty Face
Part 3:
Poetry
Job - Song of Solomon
The Poetical Books in the Old Testament may not look like poetry to us. They don't rhyme, and they contain elements of history, prophecy, and song. But the writing is stylized and contains many of the patterns of poetry.
The five books of Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon are sometimes called Wisdom Literature. And that fits too. They contain wisdom about suffering, romance, and how to live a life pleasing to God. And of course, the Poetical Books also look forward to the coming of God's Wisdom, the one who doesn't just show the way, but is Himself the way, the truth, and the life.
Job 1
A Hard Life and a Good God
Job 38-42
Cover Your Mouth
Psalm 23
The Lord is My Shephard
Proverbs 1
The Beginning of Wisdom
Part 4:
The Prophets
Isaiah - Malachi
The last major section in the Old Testament consists of the Prophets, which are often divided into Major Prophets and Minor Prophets.
Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel are classified as Major Prophets, not because they are more important or more inspired, but because they are long. The books of the Major Prophets warn God's people of judgement for their sins, while also preaching good news about a deliverance to come.
The Minor Prophets consist of the twelve books from Hosea through Malachi. Since some of the Twelve Prophets are quite short - and all are much shorter than Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel - these last books in the Old Testament are called Minor Prophets. They deal with sin and salvation in Israel, in Judah, and in the time after the exile. The last two books in particular speak often about the Messiah and the coming day of the Lord when God will judge the wicked and save His chosen ones.
Isaiah 6
What Isaiah Saw
Daniel 5
Writing on the Wall
Amos 8-9
Famine and Feast
Jeremiah 1
Jeremiah Against Everyone
Daniel 6
The Miraculous Catnap
Jonah 1-4
Big Fish, Bigger Mercy
Ezekiel 37
The Valley of Dry Bones
Hosea 1-3
A Marriage Made in Heaven
Zechariah 3
A Change of Clothes
Daniel 3
The Fiery Furnace
Amos 5
Let Justice Roll Down
Malachi 3-4
The Great and Awesome Day of the Lord
Part 5:
The Gospels
Matthew - John
Now we come to the second half of the Bible called the New Testament. Actually, this "half" is quite a bit shorter than the first "half", but it represents a new covenant with God's people and the climax of the story that began in the garden. What we saw in shadow and symbols in the Old Testament, we will see in living color in the New Testament.
The word gospel means "good news". The four Gospels in the New Testament tell the good news of Jesus' birth, death, and resurrection. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are not four different stories, but four different angles on the central events of the Biggest Story. That's why the books are not called the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Mark, as if they each had their own good news to share, but the Gospel according to Matthew and the Gospel according to Mark. The four books differ in their style, in their emphases, and in their outlines, but not in the gospel they announce.
Here we meet - in flesh and blood - the long-awaited Prophet, Priest, and King.
Matthew 1
A New Baby and a New Beginning
Matthew 5-7
The Sermon That Was
Mark 4
A Story about Soils
Mark 6
The Voice is Silenced
Matthew 2
Wise Men, Smart Move
Mark 1
Mr. Clean
Mark 4
The Scary Boat Ride
Mark 6
The Happy Meal That Kept on Going
Matthew 16
Confessing Christ
Luke 15
Lost and Found
Luke 19
The King Comes
Mark 14
Everyone Leaves Jesus
Matthew 17
Glory Mountain
Matthew 18
Debts and Debtors
Mark 11
Jesus Cleans House
Mark 15
The Snake Crusher is Crushed for Us
Matthew 3
The Pointer and the Point
Mark 2
Get Up!
Mark 5
Send Us to the Pigs!
Matthew 14
A Walk on the Water
Mark 10
The Kids Can Come Too
Matthew 20
Grumbles and Grace
John 12
A Woman to Be Remembered
Luke 24
Jesus Lives
Matthew 4
The Sin That Wasn't
Mark 3
Follow the Leader
Mark 5
A Sick Woman and a Sad Dad
Mark 7
A Dogged Faith
Luke 10
Who Is My Neighbor?
Luke 19
Little Man, Big Faith
Matthew 26
A Meal for the Ages
Matthew 28
A Mission for the Ages
Part 6:
Acts & Epistles
Acts - Jude
The Gospels are obviously about Jesus - who he was, what he did, and what he taught - but we shouldn't think the rest of the New Testament is about something else. If the Gospels are about what Jesus "began to do and teach", then the Acts of the Apostles are about what Jesus continued to do and teach. The book of Acts is sometimes called a history of the early church. That's true, but it's also a history of what God was doing by the Spirit to proclaim the word around the world.
Most of the books in the New Testament are letters, or what are sometimes called epistles. Most of the letters are from the apostle Paul, but there is also one from James, two from Peter, and three from John. These letters are addressed to specific churches, groups of churches, or church leaders, and they explain what the gospel is, how Christians should live, and how the church should be organized. Because of the Spirit's inspiration, these letters, along with Acts, are every bit as much about Jesus and from Jesus as the sermons and miracles in the Gospels.
Acts 2
The Spirit Comes
Acts 7
Stephen's Speech
Acts 12
Knock Knock, Who's There?
Romans 8
No Nothing
Acts 3
The Beautiful and the Beggar
Acts 8
Philip and the Man from Africa
Acts 16
Paul, Purple Goods, and a Prison Quake
1 Corinthians 13
Love Is
Acts 4
One Name under Heaven
Acts 9
Saul Sees the Light
Acts 17
The God Who Can Be Known
Philemon
More Than a Slave
Acts 5
The Couple Who Lied and Died
Acts 10
Peter Eats and a Soldier Believes
Acts 27-28
Ships and Snakes and Sermons, Oh My!
James 3
Taming the Tongue
Part 7:
Revelation
Revelation
The last book of the Bible - Revelation - is a letter, a prophecy, and an apocalypse. That's a big word, but it just means that Revelation is a book of revealing. It's a book that shows the past, the present, and the future through "pictures" written with words.
Although the book can be confusing, the big idea is simple: God and the Lamb sit on the throne, and those who overcome all the trials and temptations of the world will enjoy eternal life with them in the new heavens and new earth. Revelation focuses our attention on Christ as our conquering King and on the church as his beloved people.