Our American Heritage- week 2

Here is week of my compiled lesson plan in order for you as a Christian educator help the next generation be informed. 

Scenario 2- read and discuss by showing how God’s word can be use to help them that situation- allow 5 to 10 minutes

Your class just got a new kid. All your friends say the new kid looks weird and tease them behind their back. You talked to the new kid and they seem nice. What do you do? What do you think God would want you to do?

1 John 3:16-17, 2 Tim 1:7 or if you found any verses yourself

Bill of Rights- ask if anyone remembers the 3 they learned and what the Bill of Rights are and give 4 more - 5 minutes

Lesson: What Happen to Our Country?!- 15 minutes

The goal for this lesson: to share of the story of separation of church and state

Verse: 2 Timothy 3:1-5, 13

The Lesson (remember this is only a brief outline for you to add or take away and allow God to lead you)

Ask if the kids if they have heard their parents or on T.V the phrase, “separation of church and state” Most will tell us that it was apart of our Founding Fathers desire for our country or that it was apart of the Constitution. But it was not. It was never discussed among them. It was through a letter from a Baptist church to Thomas Jefferson, who was not even apart of making the Bill of Rights, that the phrase “separation of church and state” came from.

The Baptist church was afraid that the 1^st Ammendment (ask if anyone could tell you what it is) would give some government officials in the future a way to away take our freedom to exercise the way we worship God. The 1^st amendment states “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…”  The intent of the first amendment was 2 things

1)    The Federal Government was prohibited to have one denomination or church run the nation (like the church of England did)

2)   The Federal Government was prohibited from limiting and interfering with the people’s religion exercise

The 1^st amendment was for government to have no part of religion.

 “What it doesn’t mean is that either of these institutions is separate or independent from God and His law…does not mean ‘separation of God from government. If it did mean separation of God from government, then there be no basis for us as citizens to claim that you have unalienable rights.” (7)

         http://www.theamericanview.com/does-separation-of-church-and-state-mean-separation-of-god-and-government/

Our unalienable rights, which comes from the Declaration of Independence, are given to us by our Creator which are life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. We all have the same rights. Inalienable means they cannot be taken away and right means something we exercise. So when the government takes away the right to worship the way we want to, they are saying there is no Creator in which we have no rights at all. Our Founding Fathers did not want that for our country. Remind them of last week’s lesson.

But as we know, at school we are longer able to pray and read God’s word. How did that happen? In 1962, a court case called Engel Vs Vitale changed the meaning of what Jefferson said to the Baptist church. “A group of parents sued a New York public school district for requiring students to begin each school day by reciting a nondenominational prayer. Written by the New York State Board of Regents, the prayer read: "Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence upon Thee, and we beg Thy blessings upon us, our parents, our teachers and our country." (8)

            http://religiousfreedom.lib.virginia.edu/court/enge_v_vita.html

The court said it was unconstitutional and the prayer was taken away. When they did that, they changed the word “church” from the 1^st amendment to now meaning a religious activity performed in public. The government now does not allow religious activity.

Because that has happen, there has been a gradual change in our school system. But if we read God’s word, He told us that people were going to not want God’s way but their own sinful way.

Read 2 Tim 3:1-5 and Luke 24:4-8: explain to them what those verses mean to you concerning how the world no longer cares about the ways of the world. If you can find other verses share those too. The whole point is that this is not a surprise to God. He is still in control.

Ask: But what do we need to do even though this is going on? Allow the kids to give their thoughts.

To finish up the lesson, BRING HOME THAT THEY TOO CAN TRUST IN GOD AND LEARN TO LIVE FOR HIM THROUGH READING HIS WORD AND REMEMBERING WHAT THEY MEMORIZE FROM CHURCH

GIVE ALSO A BRIEF GOSPEL INVITATION FOR THOSE WHO ARE NOT CHRISTIANS 

Our American Heritage- The Bill of Rights

I have recently wrote and presented a presentation on our American Heritage. The journey God has taken me has been unbelievable. The next 5 blogs will what I have learned and is for you as a

church educator to teach the kids in your class about Our Biblical American Heritage. It is a very basic outline. I want to encourage you as a church educator to go into God’s Word and study it for yourself. It is important God lies on your heart what He wants to show you in order to teach.
 

The Goal for this curriculum is for kids to learn about:

Their Founding Fathers and their Biblical Influence on our country

The definition of separation of church and state

The Moral Decay of their Country

What is going on in their schools?

What can kids can do in order to be able to stand up for God by using Scripture?

Learn the Bill of Rights in a fun way

                                                   

Each week there is a lesson, a scenario from everyday life to discuss in order to find scripture to defend their stance, and learning the Bill of Rights. The teacher presents 3 Bill of Rights for the first and third week, 4 for the second week to learn, and for the last week, to review them. It is optional, for game time, to play games in order to enforce what they learned about Our American Heritage. It is also optional for the scenario to be reserved for handbook time. This could be done in the month of September to start out the year and because September 17^th is Constitution Day. It also could be done in February for Presidents day. This curriculum is intended for 3^rd-6^th graders, but anyone could take it and improve it for any age. It is important that we educate Biblically the next generation. EVERYTHING THAT IS BOLD IS NOTES FOR YOU TO READ AND DECIDE ON WHAT YOU WANT TO DO WITH IT FOR THE LESSON.

The Bill of Rights- in order to learn all amendments, the kids will use their hands and the use of the number to remember each one- my main source for this was http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWdfHK6g_C8 Here are other sources to explain to the kids on their level http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/explaining-bill-rights

http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/northamerica/after1500/government/billofrights.htm

 

#1 Freedom of Speech- use ONE finger and point to your lips

#2 The Right to Bear Arms- show your TWO fingers and then make it into a gun

#3 The Right to not house soldiers- show your THREE fingers and then hide them under your other hand while saying they are going into a house and then pull them back “Get out of my house soldiers”

#4 The Right to not have anyone search your house without a search warrant- show your FOUR fingers and bring them forward like you are telling them to stop and say “where is your search warrant”

#5 The Right to not testify against your self- show your FIVE fingers and then cover your mouth while saying, “not testify against yourself”

#6 The Right to a speedy trial- show your SIX fingers and with the one finger bring over fast to your other hand who is your jury

#7 The Right to have a jury of your peers- show your SEVEN fingers and with the one hand face the palm towards the kids and then the 2 fingers in front of those also faced towards the kids. Make it look like 7 people in 2 rows just like you see in a real court room.

#8 The Right to no excessive bail or punishment- show your EIGHT fingers and with the 3 fingers slap the back of your other hand.

#9 The Right that the Constitution and the Bill of Rights do not define all of the fundamental rights people have- to be honest, I don’t know what to do for this one. This is your freedom to do whatever you think works. ; )

#10 The Right for states to make their own rules that don’t go against the Constitution- show your TEN fingers and form a state with them. I can form the state of California and Florida. Maybe you can do more : )

The next blog will be about the faith of our founding fathers. But the whole point of this is for you to allow God to work in your life and to impact others. 

1st you need to pray if this is for you. 

2nd if you have a heart to change this nation only by God's word this is for you.

3rd if you have a heart for kids, this is for you.

I challenge you to open your eyes to what this nation needs.