If your class is meeting online, invite students to bring a sheet of paper and pens/pencils with them to class. Before this step, go to the following website and familiarize yourself with this Bible study method.
You might want to write out the acronym on the whiteboard (or display this page on a screenshared document).
In our lesson today, we saw what happened when the Israelites decided to pay attention to God’s Word; Josiah was able to get their focus back on the Word of God, and he led them in promising to obey and follow God with all their hearts. The Israelites stopped worshiping idols and instead made every effort to pay attention to what God asked of them. Their attitudes reflected their hearts as they celebrated the Passover, and they began to serve the Lord and do what He said.
Paying attention to God’s Word is easy to do here at church, but it might be harder to do as you go through the week. Being focused on what God tells us and striving to live in a way that glorifies Him is important to do no matter where we are.
- What are some ways that you can worship God by paying attention to His Word this week? (As students share ideas, write them on the board or display them on the screenshared document. Suggestions may include reading the Bible, praying, memorizing Scripture, being obedient to what God asks us to do.)
The Bible is one way that we can confidently know what God wants us to do and how He wants us to live. God wants us to read His Word, to meditate on it, and to hide it in our hearts. But it can be challenging sometimes to focus on what a passage of Scripture might be telling us. Having a tool that can help us focus our reading can help us apply it to our everyday lives.
The S.O.A.P. method is a tool that we can use to study the Bible and focus on what God is telling us. Refer to the acronym on the whiteboard or screenshared document.
By using the acronym S.O.A.P., we can work our way through a verse or passage of Scripture and really focus on what God is telling us through that Scripture. This method can help us pay close attention to what the passage is saying.
Read through each step of the S.O.A.P. method. Allow students to ask questions and/or make observations as you read and discuss each step. Distribute the sheets of paper and pens/pencils. If your class is meeting online, invite students to have those items ready. Have students write today’s memory verse on their paper and give them time to work through each step of the S.O.A.P. method. After you’ve given your students time to think and write, come back together as a group.
Our lives can get very busy from day to day, and they are filled with all kinds of things that we have to focus on and pay attention to. It can be easy to get caught up in the busyness and forget to focus on the most important thing—God’s Word. This week, spend a few minutes each day using the S.O.A.P. method and discover what God wants to tell you through His Word. The time that you spend focusing on a verse or passage of Scripture will allow you to know God more and more; you’ll see just how much He loves you, how He wants you to live, and how you can show Jesus to others.
Before students leave, have them put their papers in their Bibles to refer to during their quiet time.
Close in prayer: Father God, thank You for the gift of Your Word and the countless ways that it points us back to You. Thank You for what the Bible teaches us, for the ways it encourages and guides us. Give us a desire to focus and pay attention to what You tell us, and give us the strength to take what we learn from Your Word and apply it to our lives each and every day. Fill our hearts with a desire to know You more and more. In Jesus’ name, amen.
