Mary Rose and Me: Telling the Truth

Therefore, laying aside falsehood, speak truth each one of you with his neighbor, for we are members of one another.

(Ephesians 4:25-26, NASU)

Happy to be back in her Bible class, Mary Rose added a bright sticker to her chart for bringing her Bible! Everyone who brought their Bible got to add a sticker on their chart, even the teacher. Two of the students had forgotten to bring their Bibles so they used some from the book shelf in the class room. It held several books that were from time to time useful in class. Sitting in her chair at the table, Mary Rose was anxious for the Bible lesson to begin. They had already opened their Bibles and found the Old Testament book of 1st Kings. Then they opened the BIG Bible with a picture that marked the book of 1 Kings. Inside it had a picture of two faces. One had a smile the other a frown. There was also a crown, and a picture of an open mouth. The class tried to figure out what each picture had to do with the lesson. “A King!” said one boy. Mary Rose asked “Is someone sad then happy?” “And what about the mouth?” Said another. The teacher said, “Those are all good thoughts and if you put on your listening ears and come over to the Bible lesson area you will find out what all these things have to do with.” Part of the reason why they loved their Bible lesson so much was because that was when they got to sit in their Bible story tent! Everyone scooted in close sitting on their pillows. The teacher had a low chair to sit on in the corner and a small table beside her where she laid her open Bible and other things having to do with the lesson. It was just right and everyone could see the pictures as she talked about them. All the students enjoyed passing the globe around and finding the 3 X’s. A green one on the United States, a red one that pointed out Israel, and a yellow one that showed where the land of Aram/Syria was. Once the globe made its way around the teacher passed out a sad face and a happy face to each of her students. She explained as they listened to the Bible lesson when they heard about someone who was good or happy then they were to hold up the face with a smile, and if someone was bad or angry then hold up the frown. So they listened very carefully. They learned the crown in the BIG Bible had to do with 2 Kings! One was good King Jehoshaphat, everyone held up their smiley faces. Another was bad King Ahab, and up went the frowns. They learned how Jehoshaphat and Ahab sat and talked with each other wearing their royal robes and how they discussed going into battle to take back some land that the King of Aram/Syria had taken over from Israel. King Jehoshaphat said he would help King Ahab but wanted to ask God if going into battle was a good choice or not. He was smart! That’s where the Prophets came in. This was a new word to Mary Rose and some of her friends. They learned that the Prophets helped the Kings know God’s messages. They spoke boldly for God. Mary Rose spoke up and said, “That’s what the mouth was for!” And the teacher nodded. Sometimes God’s messages were good. Sometimes they would warn them about something bad that would happen. (Down came the smiles and up went the frowns.) King Ahab had 400 prophets in the lesson who lied to the king and only told him the things he wanted to hear. They lied and said it was a good thing to go into battle. Then he had ONE GOOD Prophet who spoke the words of the Lord, whose name was Micaiah. Mary Rose enjoyed using the faces and also liked it when the class said Micaiah’s name together (Mie-KAY-yah). Their teacher praised them for doing such a good job! They learned Micaiah always wanted to tell the truth but King Ahab did not like what Micaiah told him because God’s messages to the King were mostly unhappy messages. So when Micaiah saw all the other Prophets who had lied, sadly he went along with them and also lied. But King Ahab knew something was not right so he commanded him to be sure to tell the truth. And so that was what he did. Micaiah told the truth! Micaiah said “If you go to battle the people will be like sheep without a shepherd” (Ahab would die). Micaiah also said the other 400 prophets had lied. When he said that one of the other prophets became angry and hit Micaiah on the cheek. Poor Micaiah, even though he told the truth, he got hit. The King ends up putting Micaiah in prison with only bread and water to drink, but that did not change God’s true message to King Ahab. The King decides to go into battle and the people end up just as Micaiah said, “Like a sheep without a shepherd.” Bad King Ahab died from an arrow that was shot during the battle. Did Micaiah do the right thing by telling the truth? Yes he did, but sometimes those who are honest end up being hurt like Micaiah who did nothing wrong but told the truth. The teacher asked, “Can anyone tell me of someone else in the Bible who did nothing wrong but ended up being hurt?” Mary Rose thought about Jesus the Son of God and raised her hand.

After a little more discussion, their teacher pulled out a poster with the face of a boy on it. His mouth was kind of curled up on one side. The teacher progressed to tell them a poem about this boy who wasn’t honest about some of the things he did.
“…And the amazing thing” Mary Rose told her parents, “was his eyes moved from the right to the left to see if anyone was around to see!” “But there was something he forgot, when he did something he should not, God was watching.” Mary Rose thought about how God could see her all the time and knew she didn’t want to EVER tell a lie. To please God we must always be honest. Col. 3:9-10, Heb. 4:13
Click here for a printable PDF file of this Mary Rose and Me lesson.

Greetings!
To my Sister Bible class teachers,

This month Mary Rose got to be part of an interactive Bible lesson. She and her class mates loved it! Though many of us do not have the luxury of a classroom large enough for a tent, some of us just might. Effectiveness comes in big and small packages! As Bible teachers we seem to go to great lengths to draw the attention of our student’s into the Bible lesson and I say that is wonderful. Keep on keeping on! You are doing great!!

Many of us know making a Bible lesson, especially from scratch, can be a bit overwhelming at times. Preparation does take time and must include study, which means study materials for looking up words, context and such. If you do not have a good Bible program on your computer, then you may want to look into checking out some basic study materials from your church library or look into purchasing some of your own a little at a time. Everyone has their favorites but I find these listed to be helpful.

Nelson’s Bible Dictionary
Strong’s Concordance
Interlinear Bible
Vines Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words
Talk Thru the Bible by Bruce Wilkinson and Kenneth Boa.
Bible Commentary
Various translations of the Bible to compare verses such asAmerican Standard

New American Standard Update
English Standard
New King James

Hopefully along with developing your Bible lesson, some sort of visual aid creativity not too hard to find. Oops! Did I say CREATIVITY? Do you have a fear of that word? Don’t close the door just yet! I am hoping to encourage you just a bit in that category. Within the last few years I have found a wonderful on line site that can make this process a bit easier and you can really come up with some attractive visual aids. Google “Distant Shores Media” and click on “Bible Illustrations from Sweet Publishing” (or click here). Click on the book of the Bible you are developing a lesson from and you will find a ton of beautiful, free, color visual aids right at your fingertips! I have loved learning new and easier ways of developing visual aids and try to make things as easy on myself as possible while still getting the point across. Using stick figures can be very effective as well. The kids love them. If you have never googled “Screen Beans” you should. They can bring across an emotion well.

Download visuals – here!

Serving in Christ,
Gwendolyn Schnell

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Gwen Schnell

Gwendolyn (Gwen) Schnell is a dedicated Christian wife, mom, Grandma, Nina, daughter, sister, and friend. She is known to many as “Miss Gwen”.
She enjoys opening the Word of God with various ages, but children are one of her all-time favorites. Gwen has had the pleasure of putting the Word into the hearts of children for over 40 years and loves it still! Gwen also loves to conduct personal home Bible studies.
Gwen has been married to her husband Dan for over 45 years. He has been the pulpit minister at the Owasso Church of Christ in Owasso Oklahoma for over 26 years. They both love working with this congregation. They are richly blessed with 3 grown children who along with their spouses love and serve in the Lord’s kingdom in various ways. Gwen and Dan are even further blessed to have Jonathan, Matthew, Micaiah, Lydia, and Esther Rose join the ranks making them Grandma/Nina and Opa!
Gwen enjoys lectureships, outdoors, good movies, reading, crafting/sewing, organizing, pizza, and a comfortable chair.

She is the author of the book, Mary Rose & Me Learn Bible Truths Together! Mary Rose will help you love God, others, and yourself! Check it out at the link below!
https://www.amazon.com/Keaac-Womens-Pieces-Crewneck-Sleeve/dp/1943245150#customerReviews

About Gwen Schnell

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