Changes to KidQuest and FirstLook for Parents and Kids (Part 3 of 6)

NEW SCOPE AND SEQUENCE

We believe that the Bible is God’s final authority in our lives. Our goal in KidQuest and FirstLook is to investigate what Scripture meant to its original audience and draw out the corresponding biblical truth principle for application. We are going to switch to a historical-literal approach to Bible interpretation and have used an exegetical approach to inductively extract out these biblical truths in order to be true to the original languages in which the Scriptures were authored.

By using this approach to Bible interpretation, we have discerned certain narratives or doctrines to be taught at specific times in the life of a child in order to best represent the truth portrayed in it. For example, the story of Samson is a typical character study done during the preschool or elementary years. In these years, we tend to focus on things that will interest children of this age, such as his strength and his long hair. However, this narrative is a sad story of a leader whom God chose to be used in Israel’s history, but due to his lust for Delilah, his heart was seduced away from honoring God. This story is not about strength and hair—it is about the choice we have to honor God above all else, above all other temptations. We will choose to tell this story in its entirety during the high school years where we will deliberately discuss the issue of seduction and sexuality and Samson’s eventual downfall because of his choices.

Over the past two years, your children have been taught a monthly virtue.  This has its advantages because it teaches your kids how to live in Christ, so instead of completely ridding ourselves of this virtue model, our monthly virtue and character teaching will now take place on Wednesday nights through The Challenge where we will continue to have a monthly virtue backed up by Bible stories.

One of the downfalls of presenting the Bible in a virtue format is that our kids don’t see the “story” of the Bible as it happened.  They get to hear great stories, but those stories are never presented in the order in which they happened so our kids loose some of the effectiveness and BIG PICTURE of God’s story.

We define The Big God Story as God’s entire story … it incorporates all of history, stretching from Genesis to Revelation and even beyond. Our God, the Alpha and Omega, has woven His redemptive plan throughout time. We hope to communicate each Bible story within the context of God’s bigger story, so that the Bible doesn’t become a collection of short stories or Jesus just another character. We also desire for children to understand that they not only play a part in this incredible story, but are also part of a much larger faith community of past, present, and future believers.

In the past, we told fragmented stories of God, Jesus, or other people in the Bible. We did so in ways that were not linear or not part of a greater narrative. Most children who know the stories of the Bible would still not be able to tell you whether Abraham was born before David, or if baby Jesus was alive when baby Moses was. What happens is that our stories are told in isolation and often don’t tell the bigger life story where God is central. Instead, baby Moses is the key figure one day, Noah is the key figure one day, and Jesus is merely the key figure on another occasion. By putting each story in context of the meta-narrative, we can begin to elevate Jesus, the Redeemer, to His rightful place in the storyline.

Therefore, we have organized teaching the Bible’s content in the context of its original storyline. During the preschool years, in FirstLook, children will have the opportunity to hear a Big-God-Story perspective before they hear the particular piece of the narrative. The elementary years, in KidQuest, will be the years in which we focus on telling “The

Big God Story” in its chronological storyline, while the teen years will give us the opportunity to take a greater in-depth look at issues and character studies referring back to the foundation and context of the greater story. Our desire in the children and student ministries is to create an 18-year path through a comprehensive scope and sequence rooted in the Big God Story. We believe this will enable students to have an acute understanding of who God has been throughout history, who He is today, and the part they play in His story both now and in the future.

Come back in a few days to read part 4 of these changes.