08/31/2026
Week 1
“If any of you needs wisdom, you should ask God for it. He will give it to you.” James 1:5 (NIrV)
God calls us to seek Him for wisdom in times of trouble.
THE BIG BIBLE STORY — BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE JUDAH
In the Old Testament, there was a king named Jehoshaphat who loved and followed God. One day, some people came to him and told him that trouble was on its way a huge army was coming to destroy him and the people of Judah. The Bible says that King Jehoshaphat was alarmed, but like a good space cadet, he stayed cool in the face of trouble.
Instead of freaking out, Jehoshaphat decided to pray and ask God for wisdom, but he didn’t pray alone. The people of Judah traveled from every town to pray with him. When all of the people were together, Jehoshaphat stood among them. He folded his hands. He cleared his throat. (And he prayed in a loud, kingly voice, “Lord, You are the God of our people.” “We will cry out to You when we’re in trouble.” “And You will hear us.” “We don’t have the power to defeat this army.” “We don’t know what to do.” “But we’re looking to You to help us.”
When Jehoshaphat finished praying, God’s Spirit whispered to one of the people., the man said, “King Jehoshaphat, listen!” The Lord says ‘Prepare for battle.’” “But you will not have to fight.” “The Lord will fight for you.”
The next morning, Jehoshaphat and the people of Judah marched out to face the enemy army. As they marched, Jehoshaphat had the people sing songs of praise to God. Then the people shouted, “Give thanks to the Lord.” “His faithful love continues forever.”
When the people of Judah came to a high place, they halted. They looked down at the desert floor and saw a miracle — the entire enemy army had already been destroyed. Not one person had escaped. God had confused the enemy army so that they turned on each other and destroyed themselves. The people of Judah erupted in cheers. And they marched back to Judah filled with joy and praising God.
Week 2
“Don’t just listen to the word. You fool yourselves if you do that. You must do what it says.” James 1:22 (NIrV)
God calls us to listen to His word and do what it tells us.
THE BIG BIBLE STORY — JOSIAH AND THE BOOK OF LAW
The Bible we use today has 66 books in it, but in Old Testament times, before Jesus was born, they didn’t have all of these books. They only had the first five books of the Bible: The Book of… Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. But instead of calling those books the Bible, they called it the Book of Law.
The Book of Law was God’s story of love for His people, but it was also an instruction guide to help God’s people live in a way that made Him happy. There was just one major problem — nobody was doing what it said. After King David died, the kings of Israel became more and more wicked, and they led the people of Israel into doing wicked things. Not only were they not doing what the Book of Law said to do, they eventually stopped reading it too. In fact, the Book of Law got shoved into a deep, dark corner of the temple where no one was able to find it for a long, long time.
Until one day when God raised up a good king named Josiah. Josiah was only 8 years old when he became king.
One day, King Josiah paid some workers to make repairs to God’s temple. While the workers were making repairs, the high priest found the Book of Law that had been lost in the temple..When the high priest brought Josiah the book, Josiah heard God’s words for the first time. When he finished reading, King Josiah realized that he and the whole nation of Israel had been sinning against God., King Josiah was so upset that he tore his royal robes as a sign of grief and wept in front of God. He said to the high priest:
“Go. Ask the LORD for advice. … The LORD is very angry with us. That’s because our people who have lived before us didn’t obey the words of this book.” 2 Kings 22:13 (NIrV)
The Lord said, “I am going to bring horrible trouble on this place and its people.” But not for King Josiah. Because Josiah was sorry and because he listened to God’s word and did what it said, God promised to spare him from all of the horrible trouble.
Week 3
“My brothers and sisters, you are believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ. So treat everyone the same.”
James 2:1 (NIrV)
God calls us to love and treat everyone the same.
THE BIG BIBLE STORY — JESUS AND THE 10 LEPERS
In the Bible, in the Book of Luke, there’s a story about 10 l***rs. They were called l***rs because they had a horrible skin disease called leprosy. They would have been all wrapped up in bandages because their skin was covered in painful sores.
And if that wasn’t bad enough, the l***rs were made to live outside of the town, away from everyone else, because people were afraid of catching their disease The l***rs were treated like outcasts — nobody wanted to hang around them. If a l***r saw people they would have to yell out “I’m unclean”.
But that’s not all. At least one of the l***rs was also a Samaritan. Samaritans were from a place called Samaria, and they were disliked by the Jewish people for having weird beliefs. The Samaritans were treated like outcasts — nobody wanted to hang around them. If someone saw a Samaritan l***r, they would have said, “Double eww, gross!”
But not Jesus. One day Jesus was passing through on His way to Jerusalem. When the l***rs saw Jesus, they called out to Him in a loud voice.
“Jesus! Have pity on us!” “Help us, Jesus!” “Heal our disease!” When Jesus saw them, He stopped. Instead of treating the l***rs like outcasts, He treated them the same as anyone else. He told the l***rs to go to the temple and talk to the priest in charge. But on their way they noticed something. Jesus had already healed them — all their sores were gone.
The l***r from Samaria couldn’t believe it — he had always been treated differently. No one had ever treated him with such love and kindness. So he ran back to Jesus. Then he dropped to his knees. (And he thanked Jesus. Jesus said, “Weren’t all 10 of you healed? But you’re the only one who said thanks.” Then Jesus said, “Get up and go. Your faith has healed you.”
Week 4
“The tongue is a small part of a person’s body. But it talks big. Think about how a small spark can set a big forest on fire.” James 3:5 (NIrV)
God calls us to honor Him by being careful with our words.
THE BIG BIBLE STORY — DAVID AND ABIGAIL
In the Book of 1 Samuel, there’s a story about a rich man named Nabal. Nabal had a big problem, though — he was rude and mean. Nabal had a wife named Abigail. Abigail was both beautiful and wise.
One day, David and his army were camped in the desert near Nabal’s house. David would one day become the greatest king in all of Israel. David and his army needed food and water, so they approached Nabal to see if he could help. Listen to what they said.
“May you live a long time! May everything go well with you and your family! Please give me and my men anything you can find for us.”
But when Nabal heard the request, he shouted:
“Why should I give away my bread and water? Why should I give food to men who come from who knows where?”
When David heard what Nabal said, he was furious. He gathered his army and prepared for battle.
When Abigail heard what Nabal said to David, she jumped into action. She gathered enough food and drink for the whole army and took it to David. Then she said:
“I’m sorry for what my husband has said. The Lord is with you. I’ve brought a gift for you and your men.”
When David heard these kind words, the anger drained from him. He laid his sword down and accepted the food and drink. With just a few kind words, Abigail was able to stop David from killing Nabal
Week 5
“So confess your sins to one another. Pray for one another so that you might be healed.” James 5:16a (NIrV)
God calls us to share our struggles with one another and to pray for each other.
THE BIG BIBLE STORY — EZRA PRAYS WITH THE PEOPLE
In the Old Testament, God gave the Israelites a special land to live in called the Promised Land. The Bible says it was a land flowing with milk and honey — which means it was filled with everything the Israelites wanted and needed. There was just one problem with it — the neighbors!
The Bible says that the Promised Land was surrounded by people who didn’t know or love God. They worshipped false, made-up gods, and they did terrible things that broke God’s commandments. God gave the Israelites one really important rule about the neighbors — don’t get married to them. Why do you think God told the Israelites not to marry the neighbors? God knew that if the Israelites married people who didn’t worship Him, then they would eventually stop worshipping Him too. When we get married, God wants us to marry someone who helps us to love and follow Him.
One time, there was a priest named Ezra who loved and followed God with his whole heart. Ezra had been away from the Promised Land for a long time, but when he returned he found out that a bunch of Israelites had done exactly what God said not to — they had gotten married to the neighbors.
Ezra was so upset that he began weeping, tore his robes, and pulled the hair out from his head and beard Then he fell down to his knees, spread his hands out to God, and prayed. The Bible says that Ezra prayed,
“I’m filled with shame and dishonor, my God. I can hardly look to you and pray. That’s because our sins are piled up above our heads. Our guilt reaches all the way to the heavens.” Ezra 9:6 (NIrV)
When the people around Ezra heard him weeping and praying, they began weeping too. They confessed to Ezra that it was true — they had sinned against God by marrying people who didn’t worship Him. That’s not all, though. The whole nation came together and prayed with Ezra. They prayed with each other and for each other. They prayed that God would forgive them and heal them from their sins. And because of Ezra’s prayer, the Israelites once again devoted themselves to following God and living His way.
