Bible Classes for All Ages

The Temple Terrace Church of Christ offers Bible classes for children of all ages from infants to high-school aged students.  All of our classes are firmly grounded in the Bible and seek to provide students with not only a knowledge of Bible facts but also applications that will be helpful in everyday life.  All of this is done in an atmosphere that encourages participation and enjoyment as students learn.

Pre-School

Our class for one-year-olds begins the learning process by exposing toddlers to well known Bible personalities and events through stories and songs.  We continue this education in two-and-three-year-olds class by taking a year-long journey through Bible history with each age group.  In the four-and-five-year-olds class more details and additional events are added as the class studies a one-year series of lessons from the Old Testament.  The Kindergarten class studies a similar one-year series from the New Testament.  Students can begin to see the overall theme of the Bible rather than just viewing the Bible as a series of unconnected stories.

Elementary

Children in grades one through six study from a series of lessons entitled Our Spiritual Heritage.  Through a variety of topics, the overall theme of the Bible is emphasized, as God’s plan for the saving of mankind unfolds.  Biblical principles equip students with the tools they need as they grow into young adults.

Our Spiritual Heritage introduces children to the concept that God created Adam and Eve and all the families of the earth because He desired a great family to love and to love Him in return.  Children see God’s plan to build His family unfold from Genesis through Revelation. They learn over a hundred stories that teach them about the kind of people God wants His family to be.  Memorable characters and events from the Bible illustrate these powerful moral lessons and fix them in young minds.  Children hear how the coming of Jesus was the fulfillment of God’s plan and the demonstration of God’s desire for our family to be a part of His family.  They come to understand that His book – the Bible, is our spiritual heritage, the story of our roots and destiny.

And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children…. Deuteronomy 6:6-7

Text-centered Bible learning is the strength of Our Spiritual Heritage curriculum.  Our Bible classes are just that – Bible classes.  They are crafted to help families raise children who really know the Bible.  Parents have plenty of resources available for entertaining children.  But few, if any, settings afford the opportunity for children to learn interesting Bible stories with memorable moral lessons and fascinating historical characters who model the spectrum of good and bad life choices and their respective consequences.  Offering text-centered Bible instruction is our first commitment.

Bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. Ephesians 6:4

What exactly will the children learn?

• The difference between the Old and New Testaments and yet how they are connected.
• The major periods of Biblical history – creation, the patriarchal age, the exodus, the conquest of Canaan, the judges period, the kingdom era, the captivity, the return from captivity, the time between the testaments, the life of Jesus and the story of the early church.
• The names and sequences of every Bible book as well as each book’s main events, teachings, characters, and historical period.
• The theme of the Bible, God’s plan to save man from sin, and trace its progress through every age from creation to the book of Revelation.
• Over a hundred Bible stories, each with important moral lessons made relevant and practical for their young lives and choices.
• About God – who He is, what He has said and done, and what He wishes for us. About Jesus – his life, His miracles, His teachings, His death and resurrection, and the story of His church in the first century.
• How to pray to God and how to praise Him and about the purpose and value of worship.
• Over time, the habit of reading, understanding, teaching and applying the Bible on their own.
• All of these lessons form their values, their priorities, their consciences, and so influence their character for good. In short, children learn a great deal about the things that matter most in life.

Middle School

Grades seven and eight are crucial moments as our young pass from children through adolescence into young adulthood.  Consequently, we aim to focus our 12-14 year olds on lessons from God's word that emphasizes--in year one--essential lessons from the Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, and the Pauline epistles.

In their second year of study, our seventh and eighth graders study from the richness of the Old Testament word, including the book of Genesis, Jewish history through the time of the Judges, the Israelite kingdoms, and the Wisdom literature.  These studies are meant to draw together and expand on the knowledge our young have gained in their primary years--yet, these studies are taught on a level which make them accessible to even young people unfamiliar with the Bible.

High School

As our teenagers develop in their faith, we expect them to understand--more completely--the nature of God's authority, the basis of our Christian belief, as well as continuing to broaden their knowledge of the Word.  Our ninth and tenth graders are grouped together in one high school class and study the teachings of Christ and the prison epistles of Paul over the course of one year; studies from Jewish history and a study focusing on "evidences" for the Christian faith in a second year.  Our eleventh and twelfth graders study the unique gospel of John and letter to the Romans as a class; then, in a second year, learn from the Old Testament "minor prophets" and focus on Christian doctrine in a second year.

Each spring quarter, all of our ninth through twelfth grade young men study a topic or text together, while our young women study together.  Some spring studies have included Wisdom literature, evangelism, the unique roles of men and women in the kingdom of God, and book of James.  Each summer quarter, all our ninth through twelfth graders--young men and women together--study a topic or text together.  Their summer studies have been drawn from Paul's letter to Timothy and the Proverbs of the Old Testament.