Leader Guide

Video Leader Guide

Welcome (1 minute)

Hello and welcome everyone! Today, we begin a new Superbook adventure titled “Paul Keeps the Faith.” Paul faced many problems and trials as he boldly shared the Gospel with all who would listen. In today’s lesson, we will find out how he kept his faith. Speaking of trials, Joy’s life is turned upside down by a family emergency. Let’s watch the video to see what is happening. 

Play Video 2: Intro to Bible Story(6 minutes)

When her mom is rushed to the hospital with a serious illness, Joy wonders why God allows things like this to happen. 

Intro to Bible Story

SuperTruth and Discussion (2 minutes)

Today's SuperTruth is "I am more than a conqueror through the love of Christ."

Who can tell me what it means to conquer something? It means to defeat or to be victorious over it. 

As followers of Christ, we can be confident that through the love of Christ we can triumph over anything we face.

Name some things people might need God’s help to conquer in their lives? Fear, insecurity, pride, temptations; jealousy, Satan or the devil, evil, addiction, anger, hatred, prejudice.

What was Joy facing that she needed Jesus’ help to conquer? Her fear and anger because of her mother's illness.

What hardship was Paul facing? The cruelty of the Romans who arrested him.   

Paul suffered many things as he followed Christ and spread the Gospel. Though he faced trial after trial, he never lost his faith.

Let’s say today’s SuperTruth together: “I am more than a conqueror through the love of Christ.”           

Let’s watch the second part of the video to see what happens with Paul and Joy as they both face difficult circumstances.               

Play Video 3: Bible Story and Resolution

(17 minutes)

Superbook whisks Chris, Joy and Gizmo to Rome during the Great Fire. They meet the Apostle Paul, who fearlessly proclaims the Gospel despite persecution and suffering. When the children return home, Joy has the courage to share Christ’s love with her mom.

Be sure to preview this video, as certain scenes may be too intense for some children. If you wish to use a slightly less intense version, you can play Video 2 (Chris and Joy’s dilemma), Video 4 (the condensed Bible story), and Video 8 (Chris and Joy’s resolution).

Bible Story and Resolution

Video Discussion (1 minute)

What was happening while Nero, the Roman emperor, was playing his lyre or harp on the palace balcony? Part of Rome was on fire.

Who did Nero blame for the fire? The Christians. He said they refused to worship him and chose to worship Jesus instead.  

No matter what we face, we can have peace knowing that Jesus has overcome the world.

Play Video 10A: SuperVerse Graphic

The graphic loops 2.5 minutes without audio; turn off or freeze video after children repeat the verse.

10A: SuperVerse Graphic

SuperVerse Discussion (1 minute)

The Apostle Paul, Jesus’ other disciples, and many Christians of that day faced suffering, persecution, and even sometimes death for their faith. Our SuperVerse was written by Paul in Romans 8:37 (NKJV): 

Paul faced many trials and sufferings in his life. Still, he boldly declared that we are conquerors through Christ. Jesus’ love for us is greater than anything we could ever know or experience.     

Let’s say the SuperVerse together. Romans 8:37 (NKJV):

Children will have more time to learn the SuperVerse in Small Group. If any children are not able to memorize the entire verse, be sure they understand its meaning.

Prayer and Send-Off (1 minute)

Dear Jesus, we praise You for giving us total victory over all things that we may face in this world. We are more than conquerors through You! Help us to walk confidently and in victory as we live our lives for You! In Jesus’ victorious name, Amen.     

In Small Group today, you will pretend you are in Bible times, and you need to deliver Paul’s message to other Christians. However, you’ll need to overcome several obstacles during your mission. Are you up for the challenge?        

Teachers take children to Small Group classes for Grades 1–3 and 4–6. If the combined group is small, all children may stay together for Small Group time.

Relay Game

Special Delivery: Play a game to bring Paul's letters to others.

Let’s imagine you live in Paul’s day. He needs brave believers to deliver his letters to encourage other believers during these difficult times. Hold up the scrolls. 

This is not a mission for the faint hearted! You will encounter obstacles and hardships that you must overcome, maybe even Roman guards! Their mission is to hinder you from delivering the scrolls to the houses where believers meet to pray and study God’s Word.

Walk the course and demonstrate tossing the scrolls toward the boxes.

Each box represents a home, and the chairs represent hardships and obstacles we may face.

At each of the four “homes,” you must stand behind the line or mark and toss the scroll around or over the chair (or guard) toward the box. When it goes into the box, you quickly walk toward the next location and do the same thing until you complete the course. Then, the next player takes a turn as soon as he/she receives the scrolls from the “runner.”

Whenever a scroll misses the box, the player immediately moves to the landing spot of the scroll and tosses it from that location until it goes in. The player then moves to the next location. This is a timed game and we are all working together to achieve the fastest time. We will play at least two rounds to see how fast we can complete our important mission. The believers need to be encouraged, so let’s do our best to deliver Paul’s message safely but quickly!   

Have children line up at the starting line. Give the four scrolls to the first player. Start the game and the time as the other players will cheer them on! Choose the child at the back of the line to be the first “Runner.” The Runner stands at a safe distance from each box (to not interfere with the current player) and retrieves each scroll after it is successfully tossed into the box. Once all four scrolls are gathered, the Runner brings them quickly to the next player who begins his/her turn around the course. The Runner then takes his/her place in the back of the line. Each player who completes the course becomes the new Runner. The player role transitions should be quick and seamless, so the game doesn’t drag. Once all players have delivered letters, the round ends and the time is recorded on the board.             

Close: We may not have to deal with Roman guards, but we definitely will face other kinds of difficulties and hardships as we follow Jesus and share His message with others. Can you name some obstacles or difficulties we may face today in our daily lives? Fear, lack of confidence or timidity, doubt, suffering from ridicule, criticism, teasing, mocking, rejection, disbelief, persecution.

Jesus said that we will face many troubles and trials, but through His love and power, we can conquer them all! Let’s learn more about this in today’s teaching.        

Teaching

What was the name of cruel Roman emperor who persecuted Paul and other believers? Nero

In Rome, it wasn’t an easy choice to follow Jesus. Many Christians faced suffering and persecution.

Because of this, Paul shared God’s Word by preaching and writing letters called Epistles. These letters were an important way for Christians to learn about their faith. Paul’s epistles gave them hope and strength to keep their faith and not give up. And they still do that for us today!

Hold up the World Page, being careful to keep the Hardship Page out of view behind it.

This is the world we live in. There are many good people and things in it; however, there are many things that we can’t overcome on our own.

Bring the Hardship Page into view and hold it next to the World Page. Choose volunteers to each read aloud one “hardship word” from the page. Trials, Trouble, Sorrow, Suffering, Evil, Temptation, Injustice.

Jesus said in John 16:33:

To conquer something means to defeat or to be victorious over it. However, being a spiritual conqueror has nothing to do with physical might or weapons.

Does anyone know what language Paul used to write his letters? Greek.

By looking at the Greek words Paul wrote, we can understand an important message. When Paul wrote “more than conquerors” in Romans 8:37, he used the Greek words “huper nike.” Huper means beyond, bigger, or more than. The Greek word for conqueror was “nike.” Does that word sound familiar to anyone? Children answer.

The company that makes famous running shoes did not invent that word! Nike was the name of a Greek goddess, who had wings and represented victory. The symbol for her was over the Roman Senate.     

So, by putting the words “huper” and “nike” together, Paul was using a secret code language to encourage the persecuted Christians. He was telling them that Christians have more power than Rome! Even though they were suffering greatly, they would have the ultimate victory because they were conquerors. But how? The answer is at the end of the verse. Through Him who loves us!   

Jesus is our pathway to victory. He made that pathway for us by dying on the cross to pay the price for our sins, then rising from the grave. Why did He do all this for us? He loves us.

The love in this verse isn’t something we can produce on our own and we don’t earn or deserve, it is only given to us by God’s grace through Christ. So let’s shout our SuperVerse together in conquering, victorious voices! Romans 8:37:

Paul encouraged the Christians by telling them that God was greater and bigger than Rome and their current desperate situation. Hold up the World Page and Hardship Page again.

Sometimes the things in this world can seem so big and can begin to overwhelm us; yet, God is greater. Point to the ceiling, set the ladder up, carefully retrieve the God Page and show it to the children.         

What does this say? God

Remember the Greek word, Huper means above and beyond, bigger than. This sign was high above us the whole time and we didn’t even know it. When we face hardships in this world, God is above us and over everything in this world. Hold up the In God’s Hands Page.

God is above all. That is a big word that means God is independent of, above, beyond, and superior to anything. He is supreme!

Optional: read Psalm 113:4–6:

The road to victory is along the road of love given to us by God. Just as He loves us, we are to love others as He did to overcome the evils of this world.  

Optional read:

Jesus said to His disciples in John 13:34–35:

Now, it’s time for our Discipleship Challenge. Have you ever dressed in a particular way for a special occasion or event? In this challenge, you will learn how to spiritually dress as a conqueror—everyday!       

Give each child the appropriate Conqueror Page, children’s scissors, pencil, and glue stick or fast drying children’s glue to share. Display the model you made before class.

1. Have each child write their name on the blank line.

2. Have children carefully cut out the prayer image on the Armor of God Page and glue it on the marked spot on the Conqueror Page.

3. The remaining armor pieces on the Armor of God Page will be cut and assembled at home.

Use the model craft as you explain the challenge.

God is all powerful and He absolutely can work today like He did in the Bible to give victory to His people. However, He wants to work in us and through us to enable us to overcome and conquer! Nothing can defeat God, but this is no time to sit back and take it easy!  

 To empower us to be conquerors, God equips us with battle armor; not armor you can see—but invisible, spiritual armor! He will not dress us, we must choose to put it on! In this challenge, you will learn about each piece of armor He provides.

Optional: Let’s read about this invisible, spiritual armor found in Ephesians 6:13–18:

You glued an image on your Conqueror Page; what does it represent? Prayer, praying to God.

While on the earth, Jesus regularly took time away from the huge crowds and even His closest disciples, to spend time with His heavenly Father, God. Because of this, He never sinned and won every battle He faced. Prayer is a key part of being a conqueror, and each lesson’s challenge will begin with it; not only for yourselves, but for others!

Hold up the Conqueror Page and Armor of God Page. For each lesson, you will be challenged to pray, look up and learn verses, and glue the armor onto the Conqueror Page.    

Focus on the first two pieces now, and you will learn the other pieces of armor in later challenges. We will discuss the results of this challenge when we meet next time.      

SuperVerse

Let’s look at the board and say the SuperVerse together. Romans 8:37:

As we discussed in today’s teaching, Paul encouraged the Christians who were suffering for their faith in Christ. He secretly told them that they had more power than Rome and its false gods. The one true God is the source of all power. His love and might are beyond our imagination and knowledge.

What do you think Paul is referring to when he writes, “In all these things”? Anything that may come against us, anything that tries to shake our faith in Jesus.  

For example, any difficulty, trial, obstacle, opposition, temptation we face personally, physically or spiritually.

Paul said, “we are more than conquerors.” Now, focus on “more than.” Imagine not just being victorious, but MORE than victorious! Not just “squeaking by,” but totally dominating an opponent.

Raise your hand if you’ve seen an athlete hold up his/her hand and point toward the sky after scoring or doing something significant in a game. Children respond.

This action may represent many different things to that person. For a Christian athlete, it often represents giving God credit for the accomplishment.       

To help us learn Romans 8:37, you will stand at the proper time and point to heaven giving God the glory for making you a conqueror through Christ. He gives us the ability to triumph mightily not just in a game or contest, but in real life—every day!

Have the children sit in a row on the floor or in chairs facing the board with the SuperVerse written on it. Begin at the left. Have the first child stand, point up toward heaven, and shout the first word of the SuperVerse and then sit down. The second child will then stand and repeat this process for the second word of the verse. Continue in this fashion until the verse is completed. Begin again with the next child and continue for a few rounds. Then have children at the count of three stand together, point to heaven, and shout the entire verse together. If any children are too shy to participate, they can sit in a separate place and clap for the others.

Conclusion: To God be the glory for making us conquerors through Christ who loves us. Let us boldly stand in our faith no matter what we face!

Prayer

Need Prayers: Communicate with God.

Paul said that we can be victorious once in a while, correct? No, we are more than conquerors every time!

Smile. You are absolutely right; thank you for correcting me! We are up for any challenge because Christ loves us and gives us total victory! 

Today in our prayer time, I would like you to think of something in your life that you need Christ’s help to overcome. You may have several things that you are struggling with. It doesn’t matter how large or how many problems you may have; Jesus’ power is above and beyond them all. And if you have Jesus in your heart, you have His power—which makes you more than a conqueror!

If you haven’t asked Jesus into your heart, and if you would like to learn more about this exciting and important decision, please see me after class; and I’ll be happy to discuss this with you. Right now, let’s take a few moments to consider anything that you need His help to conquer. Allow children time to do this.

Now, let’s close our eyes and imagine those things in your mind, I would like you to repeat after me on the count of three, “I am more than a conqueror though Christ who loves me.” Let’s try it now.

1, 2, 3: “I am more than a conqueror through Christ who loves me!”  

Let’s close in prayer. Dear Jesus, You came into the world and were victorious over everything that You faced—even sin and death! You sacrificed Your life because You love us. And, as a result, we now can live in victory over everything we face. Through You, we are more than conquerors! Thank You for Your endless love and power which is far above and beyond anything we can imagine or experience in this world. In Your precious name we pray, Amen.   

Additional Activities

In the video, who was carrying a scroll to deliver to Christians in Rome? Julia.

What’s another word for the letters that Paul wrote? Epistles.

The word epistle comes from the Greek word that means “letter” or “message.” Many books of the New Testament are epistles, and most scholars credit Paul with writing thirteen of them. Paul wrote some of these letters while he was in prison!

Optional: Here is a list of the epistles or letters that Paul is credited with writing: Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, and Philemon.

For this activity, you are going to pretend that you live in Rome in the Apostle Paul’s time. And, you want to tell other believers something about your faith to encourage or instruct them. You can communicate your message by writing, drawing a picture, or doing both. Use your imagination and be creative! There is no wrong way to do this; it’s your personal, heartfelt message to others. For example, you could draw a picture or write about:

·      Helping or serving others.

·      Jesus or the disciples serving or healing someone.

·      You or someone preaching or reading the Word of God.

·      Jesus on the cross or rising from the dead.

·      Praying, because Jesus answers prayer. 

·      Some other personal experience like answered prayer or Jesus helping you in some way through a difficult time or trial.   

Give children a specific amount of time to create their epistle. When time expires, allow children the opportunity to share their epistles with everyone if they choose to. Then, demonstrate how to roll the scroll from both ends to meet in the middle. Or, the epistle can be rolled up from one end to the other.       

Conclusion: There are so many ways today to communicate our faith, our relationship, and our experience with Jesus. We are not limited by letters as Paul was. We can use technology and social media to share with people all over the world. We can also stand firm in our faith as Paul did to show others that Jesus is alive and faithful no matter the circumstances.

Throwing Activity

We’ve been learning about how we can be conquerors in this world through Christ.

Divide the class into two teams; they do not need to be equal. Have each team make a line behind the mark at one of the two tables. 

Let’s play a game about conquering the struggles, sorrows, trials, and troubles that are common in this world. Each numbered can (or bottle) represents a struggle or trial that we need Jesus’ help to overcome. The numbers correspond to a list of trials we will discuss.   

Hold up a sock. The socks represent Jesus’ love and strength that supplies the power to conquer. The first player steps to the line and throws one sock to knock down a can—it doesn’t have to fall off the table. When a can is knocked over, we will read the corresponding struggle from a list and briefly discuss each one.

Coloring Activity

1. What does Gizmo see when he grows three stories taller? An ambulance at Joy’s house.     

2. Why was the ambulance outside her house? Joy’s mother had fallen and her father called the ambulance.    

3. Gizmo transforms into his Mock—Rocket 4000 to take the children to the hospital. What did Joy do before they took off? She prays and asks Jesus to help her mother.      

4. Joy was frustrated, confused, and scared. What did Joy think should NOT happen once you become a Christian? Bad things.  

5. Raise your hand if you have ever wondered why something difficult has happened to you, a friend, or someone in your family. Children respond. 

6. What is the best thing we can do when something unexpected happens that causes fear, hopelessness, or anxiety? Pray; trust God.  

Allow the children to share their finished pictures with the class.  

Conclusion: Even though we are Christians, we still experience unexpected disappointment, sorrow, and trials. Though these things will come, we can take heart knowing that Jesus is with us and will strengthen us so we can overcome them.            

Bible Activity

We are more than conquerors in Christ. Through Him we can triumph over whatever we face. The verses we will look up are based on being victorious and about Jesus, the one who enables us!         

Have the children sit in pairs. Try to pair an experienced Bible user with a child who isn’t as familiar with the Bible. Give each pair a Bible. The experienced Bible user can quickly look up the verse while the other player writes the answer on a sticky note. The notes are then stuck to the board. If both players are experienced Bible users, the players can alternate looking up a verse and writing down the answer. Have children close their Bibles before you announce the next verse.

Note that the suggested answers are from the New Living Translation. If children are using different translations, their answers will vary.

I will say a Bible reference in the New Testament and then write the verse reference on the board. At this point, you may begin to find the verse. As you do this, I will read one or two questions to you in which you will find the answer or answers. I will repeat the question or questions one more time if needed. The player who is not looking up the verse will write the answer or answers on a sticky note and then walk quickly to stick it on the board. You have 30 seconds to do that. The first team scores 10 points for the correct answer; all other teams score 5 points for the correct answer stuck to the board within the time limit. Every pair will have a chance to finish, so don’t give up! The team with the most points wins. Are you ready to learn about being a conqueror?

Allow spelling errors because of the fast pace of the game. Do as many verses as time allows. Be prepared to help any children with special needs.

Read the verse reference but do not read the actual verse until after the questions are answered. 

If time permits, have a child read the verse.

1. Romans 12:21: Through Jesus, how can we conquer evil? By doing good. 

Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.

2. 1 John 5:4: