Notes of Lessons: New Testament Story, Class II

[We have thought that it might be of use to our readers (in their own families) to publish from month to month during the current year, Notes of Lessons prepared by students of the House of Education for the pupils of the Practising School. We should like to say, however, that such a Lesson is never given as a tour de force, but is always an illustration or an expansion of some part of the children’s regular studies (in the Parents’ Review School), some passage in one or other of their school books.—Ed.]

Group: History • Class II • Average age of children: 10 • Time: 30 minutes

By Lillian Lees
The Parents’ Review, 1903, p. 387-388

The Stilling of the Tempest

Objects

I. To try to give to the children some new spiritual thought and a practical idea of faith.

II. To bring the story of the Stilling of the Tempest vividly before their minds.

III. To interest them in the geography of the Holy Land.

IV. By means of careful, graphic reading, to help them to feel the wonderful directness, beauty and simplicity of the Bible language: in short, to make them feel the poetry of the Bible.

Apparatus Required

1. Bibles for the children.

2. A good map of Palestine.

3. Thomson’s Land and Book.

4. Pictures of (1) A storm on a lake; (2) Galilean boats; (3) The Sea of Galilee.

Lesson

Step I.—Ask the children to find St. Matt. viii. 23 in their Bibles. Tell the story of the Stilling of the Tempest, keeping as closely as possible to the language of the Bible.

(a) Let the children find the Sea of Galilee on the map, and, gathering from the map, some notion of the surrounding country; compare with Lake Windermere.

Show course of journey by reference to verses 5 and 28 in the same chapter.

Show pictures of ships used in the East and the Sea of Galilee.

(b) Describe the tempest graphically, drawing from the children the reason for the sudden storms (caused by the ravines down which the winds rush); get from them their idea of a storm at sea or on a lake.

Show photograph of a storm on Lake Windermere.

(1) His Humanity—He was evidently weary.

(2) His Divinity—His power over Nature.

(d) Try to make the children feel the exquisite simplicity of the Bible language and the forceful way in which it brings pictures before the mind.

There arose a great tempest—His disciples came to Him—He arose—there was a great calm. Refer to Psalm cvii.

(e) “The men marvelled.” Try to show the children that faith is just another word for understanding, knowing; how the better we know a person, the more we can trust them. Draw from the children how faith is shown in nearly every verse of this story, but, as far as the disciples were concerned, it did not go far enough.

Draw from them that it is not necessary to be with a person always in order to have faith in them. Ask them how people show faith in all the actions of their daily lives.

Step II.—Read the story from the Bible; read it carefully, so that the children will appreciate its literary value and see the vivid pictures which it brings before the mind.

Step III.—Let the children narrate the story, keeping as much as possible to the Bible words.