Biblestart

Biblestart is a 20-sheet series, written by Graeme Young, which is designed for boys and girls who want to understand the Bible story, in order to help them to follow Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit. Biblestart is designed for children and youth above the age of seven, and adults should find it equally useful.

Each of the 20 Biblestart worksheets is based on a different Old Testament character, and contains seven different sections which are detailed below. Often there are questions to answer and blanks to fill in by looking up passages in the Bible.

You can download Biblestart here (PDF):

• Biblestart Introduction
• Adam
• Noah
• Abraham
• Jacob
• Moses
• Joseph
• Aaron
• Joshua
• Gideon
• Samson
• Ruth
• Samuel
• David
• Solomon
• Elijah
• Elisha
• Isaiah
• Jeremiah
• Daniel
• Nehemiah

Each Biblestart sheet is set out in these seven sections:

1. The “Newspaper” section has some of the ‘headlines’ of the time of that person:- what has happened, what is happening and what is going to happen. Reading these sections from sheets 1 to 20 gives a clear picture of the order of Old Testament events.
2. The “Phone” section is about God’s call for the person – what God wanted them to do and what He wanted them to be. This can help us think about what God is calling us to do. There are questions to answer and blanks to fill in (using any modern translation of the Bible).
3. The “Stories” section gives the main stories in the person’s life so that you can know what they are, and where to find them.
4. The “FactFile” section has some extra information about the person or about the books of the Bible relating to them.
5. The “Loss of Power” section shows either what the person did wrong, or the pressure on them to do wrong. This helps us to learn to avoid the mistakes they made, and there are lessons too about putting right things that have gone wrong.
6. The “Connection” section is about the person’s link with JESUS. Were they like Him in some way? Is their life a helpful picture for us in following Jesus? How does knowing about this person help us to know Jesus better?
7. The “Headphones” section points to a lesson from the person’s life to think about, pray about and do something about.

The 20 Old Testament characters that there are Biblestart sheets about are: Adam, Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Aaron, Joshua, Gideon, Samson, Ruth, Samuel, David, Solomon, Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel and Nehemiah. These have been chosen to show how the events of the Old Testament link together.

Biblestart can be used in many different ways. Here are some suggestions for use:-

Group

• Introduce the subject in the group.
• Look at some of the sections together.
• Do other sections individually at home.
• When together again, share what has been discovered. Talk together and pray about issues raised. Decide what to do about it.

On Your Own

• Work through the sheets at your own pace.
• You may not want to look up all the passages first time round.
• You can come back later to fill in details.
• Use the sheets to look up information when you need it.

Projects

• A sheet could be used as a basis for doing a project or detailed study on the character.

Family Services / Church Children’s Programme

• Sheets could give subjects for a series of services.
• Sheets could be given as a follow-up at home or in groups.

Seminars / Workshops

• Sheets could give a structure for seminar/workshop style teaching for larger groups.

Focussed Studies

• A series could be followed using the same section from each sheet, e.g. God’s call, things to avoid, lessons about Jesus from the Old Testament.