Summer Bible Challenge
In all the summer busyness, God can sometimes fall into the background. Instead, join in our Summer Bible Challenge and focus on him more! All ages are invited to take part - get creative as you learn, reflect and share the Bible.
And anyone who sends in what they've done will get a small, chocolatey reward in September!
Share - Week 4
Here’s a fun fact: the Hebrew word for meditate (i.e. to meditate on scripture) is also translated as ‘speak’, ‘declare’ or ‘proclaim’ (e.g. Psalm 35:28: my tongue will proclaim your righteousness, your praises all day long.). Of course, that could just mean we talk to ourselves – but how great it is to also share with others and declare God’s goodness to each other?
Our final ‘theme’ for the summer Bible Challenge is to ‘share’ – but what could this involve?
Here is a non-exhaustive list of ideas, for both old and young:
Use some of the ideas below and create a piece of artwork that can be then photocopied or printed multiple times, and then send to or give out to friends or family. You could create cards, bookmarks, or framed pictures.
Put something you’ve created in a prominent place in your home, or create a place in your home, such as a chalkboard, where you can write up scriptures to reflect on together as a family.
Act out a Bible story for your family or friends.
Sing together (see suggestions on family songs in our section on Memorising Scripture below.
Come and share what you’ve created in the Sunday service.
Getting Creative - Week 3
Now the summer holidays are truly underway, it would be great to see what you’ve been doing for the Summer Bible Challenge. Last week we shared ideas for memorising scripture; so this week here are some ideas for getting creative!
‘Mindfulness’ colouring: there are many colouring books available for adults and children alike with Bible verses to colour. Canaan Bookshop has a good selection, including some that incorporate devotional material. (See example below.)
Calligraphy or writing: write out your verse and passage in a way that conveys the meaning of the text.
Artwork: whatever your medium, from crayons on paper to oil on canvas, from playdough to clay, from sweet-wrappers to stained glass, create something beautiful inspired by your chosen verse or passage.
Create or decorate a functional item: e.g. paint a verse onto a plant pot and then plant some seeds and watch them grow; make a new bookmark to use when reading your Bible; or decorate a mug so you’re reminded of God’s word every time you have a coffee.
Photography: all creation declares the glory of God, so you might wish to just go out and capture it in photographic form, and then use as a basis for adding the words of a relevant verse to reflect on.
Music or songwriting: if music is your thing, why not have a go at setting a passage to music, or even using as basis for a new song.
Nature pictures: don’t fancy buying a load of art materials? Use nature as your canvas. Collect up twigs, leaves, feathers, flowers, stones, or anything else that is lying around and created a piece of artwork on the ground, take a photo, and then leave it there to return to nature.
Biblical metaphors: the Bible is full of metaphors that reflect the general activity of human beings – walking, knitting, weaving, dancing, throwing a pot, herding sheep, sowing seeds, armour; or reflecting creation around us – lions, lambs, trees, water, fruit. Use these as a muse, or even do these activities so that you can reflect on what they tell us about God. (On Sunday, Evie shared her weaving she did using scraps of material, with reference to Psalm 139 – see picture).
