The other day a missionary friend called me for recommendations for Sunday school curriculum in Thai that he could use for a small church plant on the outskirts of Bangkok.\u00a0 There was only one that I could think of, but I didn\u2019t know if it was in print anymore.\u00a0 I was stumped for a moment.\u00a0 What could I recommend to him… that was in Thai?\u00a0 What do you do if you don\u2019t have any ready-made materials to put in the hands of the Sunday school teachers at your church?\u00a0 What if there just isn\u2019t anything available?<\/p>\n
Then it dawned on me. Just tell Bible stories.\u00a0 But not just any stories.\u00a0 And not in any old way. Select a set of stories from the Old Testament and New Testament, and systematically work your way through the entire Bible.\u00a0 And don\u2019t just tell a story, but help the kids really learn the story and discover what it means.\u00a0 Get it in their heads.\u00a0 Get it in their hearts.\u00a0 A couple years back, I started learning how to do Bible storytelling via Simply the Story<\/a>, and ever since then I\u2019ve been seeing ways to put it into practice all over the place.<\/p>\n There is a whole Simply the Story training workshop<\/a> to learn how to help people learn Bible stories well, but the basic format that I suggested to my missionary friend goes like this.\u00a0 The teacher (who has already learned the story), tells it to the kids, using their own words, but being careful to maintain content accuracy.\u00a0 Don\u2019t add to, or subtract from the story.\u00a0 After the teacher tells the story, have one of the kids tell the story back to you.\u00a0 Or have them tell it to each other in pairs, as much as they remember.\u00a0 After that go through the story again as a group, lead them through the story with simple who \/ what \/ where \/ when, and fill-in-the-blank type questions.\u00a0 Then, talk with the kids about the story, asking who did what? what other choices did they have?\u00a0 do we know what the people in the story were thinking or feeling (from what we see in the story)?\u00a0 What does the story teach us about God? About ourselves?\u00a0 Do we see any situations like this today?\u00a0 And whatever other questions will help the kids discover what is happening in the story and why it matters.\u00a0 If the kids are old enough to read and have Bibles out to look at, the Bible story can be read before the story telling.\u00a0 But if they can\u2019t read, this method still works as long as the teacher has learned the story well and has questions in mind.<\/p>\n And that is basically it.\u00a0 There is your Sunday school curriculum without needing to spend the time and money on acquiring some sort of fancy set of books and activities.\u00a0 And in some places, especially on the mission field, there aren\u2019t any fancy sets of Sunday School curriculum to choose from.\u00a0 They simply aren\u2019t available in the language you need them in.\u00a0 But that\u2019s not an excuse to not teach the kids.\u00a0 If you have a Bible in the language you need it in, then you are good to go.<\/p>\n \u201cBut\u201d, you may object, \u201cthe Sunday school teachers at our church aren\u2019t able to put together a lesson like that on their own.\u00a0 We need a ready-made curriculum to put in their hands!\u201d\u00a0 That is a valid concern, but it highlights a weakness in many churches that needs to be fixed.\u00a0 We have become far too dependent on mass-produced Bible study guides and Sunday school materials, such that those teaching don\u2019t really know what they are teaching, but are just passing on whatever is in the book.\u00a0 That method can work okay for a while, as long as you have a good book.\u00a0 But what really needs to happen is pastors, elders, church planters, and other mature Christian leaders need to sit down with those who will teach Sunday school or a small group Bible study and teach them the material first.\u00a0 We need to wean people off of external aids so that they know how to rightly understand the Bible for themselves and are able to pass it on to others (2 Tim 2:2).\u00a0 Putting a book in someone’s hand is no replacement for personal instruction.<\/p>\n Anybody will a little bit of natural ability can stand up and tell a Bible story to a bunch of kids, but if they themselves don\u2019t have a good understanding of the Gospel, grace, and the grand redemptive narrative of Scripture, then the Sunday school lessons will quickly degenerate into moralism and legalism.\u00a0 Every lesson will conclude with, \u201cGod is love,\u201d \u201cBe good like this person in the Bible,\u201d or \u201cDon\u2019t be bad like that person in the Bible.\u201d\u00a0 But the goal of Sunday school should not be crowd control or behavior modification.\u00a0 It should be heart change.\u00a0 And you\u2019re only going to get that if kids are seeing and hearing the Gospel of grace, and the character and nature of God through His mighty deeds in Scripture.<\/p>\n While pre-packaged Sunday school materials are not necessary to teach Sunday school, a firm grasp of the Gospel is.\u00a0 If someone understands the Gospel, and has a maturing understanding of Scripture, then it is completely do-able to teach Sunday school week after week by simply learning and preparing questions about a different Bible story each week. If you want an activity to do, you can have the kids act out the story.\u00a0 Or for something a little calmer, there are plenty of free Bible coloring pages online that you can download and photocopy.\u00a0 I\u2019ve also included below a set of 50 Bible Stories that are suitable for oral Bible storytelling.<\/p>\n If you are a Sunday school teacher looking for something to teach, I hope that this brief article has given you some ideas and inspiration on what to teach and how to do it.\u00a0 For pastors and church planters who are looking for something to put in the hands of Sunday school teachers, I would recommend not only forwarding this article to them, but better yet, set a time to get together with them mid-week and go through together the Bible story they will teach this coming Sunday.\u00a0 If you can teach and equip them first, then their time with the kids will be more productive and the likelihood of the lesson ending up in moralism or legalism will be greatly reduced.\u00a0 You\u2019ll be able to help your teachers mature in their own understanding of Scripture, and to make their Bible storying with the kids more Gospel-centered.<\/p>\n The following list was complied by the folks at Simply the Story<\/a> as a selection of stories suited for oral storytelling.\u00a0 This list is not set in stone and you may want to add or delete stories as you see fit.\u00a0 But if you are wondering where to start in working through the Bible with a class, this is a good place to start, covering about one year’s worth of lessons. Jesus\u00b4 temptation -> Matt 4:1-11 The other day a missionary friend called me for recommendations for Sunday school curriculum in Thai that he could use for a small church plant on the outskirts of Bangkok.\u00a0 There was only one that I could think of, but … Continue reading 50 Bible Stories for Oral Bible Storytelling<\/h1>\n
\nCreation of Man\/Woman\u00a0 –> Gen 2:15-24
\nTemptation of Eve –> Gen 3:1-13 (19)
\nCain and Abel –> Gen. 4:1-8 (12)
\nPromise to Abraham –>\u00a0 Gen 12:1-9
\nAbraham\/Sarah in Egypt –> Gen 12:10-20
\nJoseph and Potiphar’s wife –> Gen. 39:6b-23
\nBurning Bush –> Ex. 3:1-12
\nCrossing the Red Sea –> Ex. 14:21-31
\nMoses rod and rock –> Ex 17:1-7
\nBrass serpent –> Numb 21:4-9 cf. Jhn 3:14-16
\nJoshua meets Captain of Lord’s Host –> Joshua 5:12-6:5
\nDagon –> 1 Sam 5:1-12
\nGoliath\u00b4s defeat –> 1 Sam 17:31-51
\nDavid\u00b4s sin –> 2 Sam 12:1-14
\nJars of oil –> 2 Kings 4:1-7
\nLost Axe –> 2 Kings 6:1-7
\nRighteous and wicked –> Psalm 1
\nJonah runs –> 1:1-12<\/p>\n
\nWalk on water –> Matt 14:22-33
\nTransfiguration –> Matt 17:1-8
\nUnforgiving slave –> Matt 18:21-35
\nTriumphal Entry –> Matt 21:1-11
\nOne leper –> Mark 1:40-45
\nParalytic –> Mark 2:1-12
\nJesus asleep in the boat –> Mark 4:35-41
\nBlind Bartimeus –> Mark 10:46-52
\nWidow’s Mite –> Mark 12:41-44
\nResurrection –> Mark 16:1-10
\nCatch of fish –> Luke 5:1-11
\nWithered hand –> Luke 6:6-11
\nGaderene Demoniac –> Luke 8:26-39
\nJairus Daughter Raised –> Luke 8:40-55
\nGood Samaritan –> Luke 10:30-37
\nMary and Martha –> Luke 10:38-42
\nRich fool –> Luke 12:13-21
\nBent over woman –> Luke 13:10-17
\nProdigal son –> Luke 15:11-32
\nRich man and Lazarus –> Luke 16:19-31
\n10 Lepers cleansed –> Luke 17:11-19
\nTwo men went up to temple to pray –> Luke 18:10-14
\nZacchaeus –> Luke 19:1-10
\nWedding at Cana –> John 2:1-11
\nHealing at Pool of Siloam –> John 5:1-14
\nMary anoints Jesus –> John 12:1-11
\nLame man at beautiful gate –> Acts 3:1-10
\nAnanias and Sapphira –> Acts 5:1-11
\nPaul Stoned –>Acts 14:8-23
\nShipwreck on Malta –> Acts 28:1-6(10)
\nLook at face in mirror James 1:23-25<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"