DiscipleshipCurriculum RaisingDisciples - Flipbook - Page 15
WEEK 1
Getting to Know You
Instruct them write the names of the children in the appropriate circles.
Ask each participant to share the document they have created.
Discuss how this activity made them feel encouraged, surprised, or convicted.
Say, “Over the next eight weeks, we are going to discuss the opportunities God has
given us to partner with him in the important work of helping to disciple children.”
TIME OF PRAYER
Thank God for the opportunity to join Him in this important work of discipleship.
Pray for the participants in the study.
Pray for the children represented on the documents created.
Thank God for His Word, which instructs us about His character and how we can
become more like Christ.
STUDY GOD’S WORD
Say, “When God created humanity, he created us in community. This includes the
community of family as well as the broader community of the people of God.”
BACKGROUND TO THE BIBLICAL TEXT
The book of Deuteronomy contains the Word of the Lord given to Moses as the people were
preparing to enter the Promised Land. Deuteronomy 5:1 records, “Moses summoned all
Israel,” indicating that the entire community heard these words—men and women, young
and old, parents and children.
The title of this biblical book means “this second or repetition of the law,”[i] as much of its
content is a reminder of the laws and teachings the Israelites need to follow. Deuteronomy 5
contains the recitation of the Ten Commandments (originally found in Exodus 20).
Deuteronomy 6 includes one of the most significant biblical texts in the Old Testament.
Deuteronomy 6:4-5, referred to as the Shema (the Hebrew word for “hear” or “listen”[ii]), is
one of two Old Testament commandments quoted by Jesus as the greatest commandments
(Mark 12:28-34).
ENGAGE SCRIPTURE
Read Deuteronomy 6:4-9
Keeping the background information in mind, guide a conversation to understand these
verses. You may choose to use some or all of the following prompts:
Discuss the meaning and importance of verses 4 and 5
Identify all the action verbs in verses 4-9 (hear, love, impress them, talk, tie, bind, write).
[i] Gary Hall, Deuteronomy (Joplin, MO: College Press), 14; [ii] Merrill F. Unger and William White, Jr., Nelson’s Expository Dictionary of
the Old Testament (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1980), s.v. “to hear”, 107.
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