Standard Class

Requirement 1a

Memorize in order the names of the New Testament books of the Bible and know the four areas into which the books are grouped.

The Books of the New Testament and the sections into which they are divided are as follows:

Gospels	History	Epistles	Prophecy
Matthew Mark Luke John	Acts	Romans 1 Corinthians 2 Corinthians Galatians Ephesians Philippians Colossians 1 Thessalonians 2 Thessalonians 1 Timothy 2 Timothy Titus Philemon Hebrews James 1 Peter 2 Peter 1 John 2 John 3 John Jude	Revelation

Memorization is so much easier when it is done in song rather than by rote. The Books of the New Testament can be sung to the tune of the "A, B, C" song. You can listen to it on YouTube.

Matthew, Mark, Luke, John,
Acts and Romans
First Corinthians, Second Corinthians,
Galatians and Ephesians,
Philippians, Colossians
First Thessalonians,
Second Thessalonians
First and Second Timothy
Titus and Philemon
Hebrews, James
First and Second Peter
First and Second, Third John,
Jude and Revelation!

If that version does not appeal to you (or your Pathfinders), there are other songs that accomplish the same goal also on YouTube.

If some song using the New Testament is sung during the opening ceremonies at the beginning of each meeting, each Pathfinder in regular attendance will know the books of the New Testament by the end of the year.

Requirement 1b

Demonstrate your ability to find any New Testament book.

Once the books of the New Testament are known in order, finding them in the Bible will be much easier. If you save this requirement for closer to the end of the Pathfinder year, then your Friends will have had a chance to sing the New Testament song dozens of times before they have to demonstrate their ability to do this. Tell them to practice it at home ahead of time.

A fun way of having the kids find books quickly is to have a Bible Sword Drill. When all the kids have their Bibles ready (that is, their swords), you announce a verse from the New Testament for them to find. The first one to find it wins, and reads it aloud to the rest of the class. If all of the Friends in your class are able to win at least once, you are finished. Otherwise, you can treat this as practice for when they need to demonstrate it to you.

It is important to have them do this with a printed version of the Bible rather than an electronic device. Otherwise they are demonstrating their ability to use the device rather than to find a book in the Bible.

Requirement 2

Memorize a Bible text for the following subjects:

Prayer
Doctrine
Behavior
Salvation
Relationships
Promises/Praise
Great Passages

Prayer

Doctrine

John 10:10
2 Timothy 3:15
Exodus 20:3-17 (The Ten Commandments)

Behavior

Salvation

Relationships

Promises/Praise

Great Passages

Psalm 23
Exodus 20:3-17 (The Ten Commandments)
Matthew 5:3-12 (The Beatitudes)
Psalm 8:5-9

Techniques

There are several approaches to memorizing Scripture.

Erase the words: Write the Bible verse on a white board and have everyone read it aloud together. Then erase a word and have them read it again, supplying the erased word. Continue erasing words and reading the verse aloud until all the words are gone. At this point, the entire class should know the verse.

Hand write the verse: Write the verses down several times by hand until you can do it from memory.

In song: Many passages of scripture have been set to music. Memorizing the lyrics to a song is a lot easier than memorizing raw text, and the memory will last for years. If the verse you are trying to memorize has already been set to music, switch to the version of the text that matches the song. If it has not been set to music, make up your own tune. Explore different translations of the text to see which one lends itself best to your song.

Say it aloud: Hearing it and saying it will reinforce it much better than just "thinking" it will.

Say it with rhythm: This is similar to the "in song" approach from above, but it is often easier to make up a rhythm than it is to make up a whole tune. Clap your hands and stomp your feet at various places in the verse if that helps. Turn it into a clapping game like "pat-a-cake" and learn it with a friend.

Add action: How many songs do you know that have motions associated with them? If you're making up hand claps and foot stomps, it will help even more if you add other actions such as casting a fishing line, or tracing the outline of a heart in the air.

Make a rebus: A rebus uses pictures to represent words or parts of words. For instance, the word "I" is represented with a graphic depiction of an eye. If you spend enough time coming up with a clever rebus for your verse, you will likely have memorized it by the time you are finished.

Find structure in the verse: Write the verse out so that it highlights the structure. Recall that Hebrew poetry works by repeating an idea using different words. Line them up! We also find structure in New Testament verses. For instance, 1 John 2:3 could be written like this:

Now by this
we know that
we know Him,
if we keep His commandments.

This approach lines up the common words "we know" and helps the brain to organize the verse more effectively. It also lines up the third "we" with the first two, so that it's possible to memorize a shorthand for this verse - "we know, we know, we keep". This forms a skeleton upon which we can hang the rest of the words. Look for other structure as well, such as that the word following "we" always starts with a 'k' and has four letters.

Use a Puzzlemaker Online: to create written activities for scripture such as:

Crosswords
Wordles
Fill in the blanks/Missing letters
Blank out (Similar to Hangman)
Scripture Scrambles

Step On It: Print out each word of a passage on paper, one word per page in large print. Lay the paper on the floor and step down on each page as you say the text. Remove words from time to time.

Writers Block: Write each word of a passage on blocks of wood, one word per block. Mix up the blocks and put the text back together. Two block sets of the same verse makes for an exciting game!

Do you know some approaches? Click here to add them!

Requirement 3

Participate in a skit on a story about the life of Jesus like:

Jesus in the temple at 12.
Jesus being tempted in the wilderness.
Jesus feeding the 5,000.
Or another favorite story about Jesus

Requirement 4

Learn about the world-wide Advent Awakening (late 1700s to 1844 time period) by identifying seven people and three events explaining why they are important.

Trail Friend

Requirement 5

Complete Friend requirements.

The Friend requirements for this section are all the requirements above this point on this page.

Requirement 6

Create a time line showing the main events of the life of Jesus.

Investiture Achievement/Friend/Spiritual Discovery