H e l lo ! ! !
I had so much fun last year when I visited Australia. It was just as I imagined it would be – and I saw surfers, kangaroos, koalas and wombats! You’ll see that Dave is off ‘down under’ in this issue of Topz – and he gets a bit confused about the weather. I know exactly how he feels because I went there thinking it would be really warm only to find it was unexpectedly chilly. I found myself having to borrow coats and scarves to keep warm! Find out all about Dave’s exciting trip in this issue, and the next one! I hope many of you readers in Australia will particularly enjoy hearing about Dave’s escapades in your lovely country. We are also going to meet Jesus (and of course you can do that wherever you are in the world!) and learn from some of the conversations He had while He was here on earth. We meet Moses too, and we meet Elijah. Lots of important meetings! But let’s start at the very beginning, a very good place to start (oops, I feel a song coming on – any of you know it?!), with our first section, highly originally called ‘Beginnings’! So off you go, and begin this Topz. See you again next time. J
IN THIS . TOPZ .. BEGINNINGS Page 3 Moses – God’s Messenger Page 14
Jumbo to Australia Page 26 Meet Jesus Page 31 Topz Bitz: Readers’ Own Club Pages page 35 Power Prophet Page 49
Boomerangs and surfboards Page 63
Answerz and Topz Order Form Page 73
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the bible books OLD TESTAMENT Genesis Exodus Leviticus Numbers Deuteronomy Joshua Judges Ruth 1 Samuel 2 Samuel 1 Kings 2 Kings 1 Chronicles 2 Chronicles Ezra Nehemiah Esther Job Psalms Proverbs Ecclesiastes Song of Songs Isaiah Jeremiah Lamentations Ezekiel Daniel Hosea Joel Amos Obadiah Jonah MicaH Nahum Habakkuk Zephaniah Haggai Zechariah Malachi
new TESTAMENT 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
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How to use
Top
It may be that some of you haven’t looked inside a Bible very much before. If so, here are a few helpful hints:
1: Each day in Topz there’s a Bible reading. It’s shown like this:
Genesis
25 v 2–5
2: To find this, turn to the Contents page near the front of your Bible and look for the name of the book – which in the example above is Genesis. Now find the page this book starts on and turn to it. 3: Y ou will have to turn on a few pages now to get to the right chapter.
4: Now look for the verse numbers which will be in smaller type. The chapter and verse will look like this:
Chapter
Verse
5: A fter reading the Bible passage, go back to the Topz page and see what it says. Each day ends with a prayer and sometimes an action point too. To solve the puzzles in Topz you will need a Good News Bible. If you don’t want to turn to the Contents page of your Bible all the time, you will see we’ve listed all the Bible books in order for you (see left). The ones you’ll be reading from in this Topz are highlighted with a star . Use this Topz Marker to keep your place in Topz. Cut it out and stick it to a piece of card to strengthen it.
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BEGINNINGS Topz are playing hide and seek ...
Mmm ... these trees all look the same to me; what a great hiding place. Topz’ll never find me. In fact ...
... I’ll never find them! I’m lost! How will I find my way back?
Benny will be able to find his way back if he follows the trail he’s left. At the beginning of this Topz, let’s go back to where everything began. In the next few days we’re going to discover how the world was at the beginning, and where things began to go wrong. So let’s begin!
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FRIDAY
In the beginning
1ST JULY Genesis
1 v 1–2
The book of Genesis tells us about the beginning of things – what came first. Look in today’s verses and work out the crossword:
3.
2.
1.
Across: 1. Who made the world? 5. ‘Formless’ means without _ _ ape. 6. _ _ the beginning.
4.
5.
6.
(Answers on page 73)
4
Dear Lord God, You are the first and most important Person in my life. Amen.
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Down: 2. There was no light. It was _ _ _ _. 3. The earth was a raging _ _ _ _ _. 4. God’s power _ _ _ moving.
Remember: all life came from God.
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SATURDAY
The first day This is the first time I’ve made a cake!
2ND JULY Genesis
1 v 3–5
Do you want a piece?
Can you remember the first time you did something new? What was it?
How did you feel?
How did God feel on the first day of creation (v 4)?
God knows and understands how happy we feel when we do well at something new. Dear Lord God, please be with me in all the new things I will do. Amen.
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Is there something new you would like to do? Speak to Jesus about it.
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SUNDAY
3RD JULY Genesis
2 v 7–9, 15–17
The first person
Who was the first to ... (choose from the names below)
un o
A walk on the moon?
B sail round the world?
C climb to the top of Mt. Everest? 1 Sir Edmund Hillary 2 Neil Armstrong 3 Sir Francis Drake (Answers on page 73)
The first man to walk on the earth was Adam. He was the first to see the beauty of the world. His first breath came from God. The first voice he heard was God’s voice.
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Dear Lord God, thank You for every breath I take and every day I spend in this amazing world You created. Amen.
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Remember: God cares as much for you as for the first human being, Adam.
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