H e l lo ! ! ! Hello, readers – and hello 2014! This year begins with a party for Topz Parties are usually all about celebrating something, whether it’s a birthday, a wedding, the start of a new year or maybe the end of a school year. There are lots of places in the Bible where we read about parties and festivals, so we thought the start of a new year was a good time to read about how people celebrated special occasions in Bible times. If any of you have been to any unusual or interesting parties do write and tell me about them. It’s not all about celebrating in this Topz though, and we do learn about how to help friends who are sad for any reason, how to be kind and friendly towards others even if they are very different to us, and how to be there for our friends when they or their families are having a hard time. I’m sure you are like me in that you really like it when your friends and family are there to celebrate the good times with you – but also to help you when things aren’t going so well. And remember – Jesus is always there for you too, whether you’re happy or whether you’re sad. Enjoy all that this Topz has for you ...
IN THIS . TOPZ .. TIMES TO PARTY PAgE 3 PA SARAH d SA ANd gIRl AN d gIR THE SAd 5 P gE 115 PA
TOPZ TIPZ TIPZ: HOw TO HE HEllP A fRIEN IENd d P gE 20 PA 0 dANIEl fOR dINNER PAgE 22 PA TOPZ BITZ: REAdERS’ OwN CluB PA P gES P gE 38 PA
JONNY’S B BA Ad NEwS N PAgE 42 PA
wISE wORdS 477 AgE 4 PA P dANNY’ NY ’S vIISITOR PA P AgE 62
TOPZ IN THE TOPZ CITY PA P AgE 6 68 8
SwERZ ANd ANSw RM OR TOPZ ORdER ffO 3 E 773 PAgE
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
How to use It may be that some of you haven’t looked inside a Bible very much before. If so, here’s a few helpful hints:
1: Each day in Topz there’s a Bible reading.
Genesis
25 v 2–5
It’s shown like this:
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: You 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: After 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.
TIMES TO PARTY Josie enjoys celebrating her birthday! It reminds her mum of the day Josie was born.
Benny enjoys celebrating Easter. The chocolate eggs remind him of Jesus’ gift of new life.
The twins’ parents enjoy celebrating their wedding anniversary. Their photos remind them of that special day.
dave aave enjoys celebrating Christmas. The presents remind him of the gifts the wise men gave baby Jesus.
Topz enjoy celebrations! Celebrations often remind us of happy things that happened in the past. Celebrating the start of a New Year is a time to be thankful for the past year – and look forward to the new one. The Bible tells us about lots of festivals and feasts that celebrate God’s goodness to His people. Jesus would have taken part in these celebrations when He was here on earth. So let’s party! 3
WEDNESDAY
u RY uARY 1ST JANuA Exodus
13 v 3–10
Bread festival Bread-making with Mum ... Now put the dough in a warm place to rise.
You can’t make bread rise in a hurry!
But I’m in a hurry!
It’s the yeast in bread that makes it rise, otherwise it would be a flat lump! Bread without yeast (unleavened) can still be nice to eat, though.
God’s people were slaves in Egypt for 430 years. But God used Moses to set them free. Cross out the wrong answers: 1. They had to leave Egypt in a ferrari/hurry/boat (see chapter 12 v 33). 2. They only had time to pack a toothbrush/eat a bag of crisps/make unleavened bread (12 v 34). 3. d during the festival (or party) in today’s reading God’s people were to eat pizza/unleavened bread/chips for 7/21/8 days (13 v 6). what were the people to do on the last day of the festival? Colour in the dotted bits:
When you’ve had a party, do you remember to thank God for the happy time you’ve had?
4
Thank You, lord god, for all the ways You have taken care of me. Amen.
Keep a notebook to write down all God’s blessings to you. Or why not write a list, illustrate it, and send it in to Topz.
Harvest festival
THURSDAY
2Nd JANuA u RY uARY Deuteronomy
16 v 9-12
The Harvest Festival was a time of great rejoicing and thanksgiving for God’s gifts of food. write ite down some food for which you would like to thank God:
The Harvest Festival was a holy day and a holiday so people could stop working and start singing and dancing their praises to God for all He’d given them. Put this apple together to find out how we should worship God: presence (v11) the
joyful in
Lord’s Be
Many churches today still have harvest festivals at the end of the summer when all the crops from the fields have been gathered in.
Thank You, lord, for giving us food. Please help those people who do not have enough to eat, and show me ways I can help them. Amen.
At meal-times, remember to say ‘Grace’, a ‘thank You’ prayer to God, for the food you have.
5
FRIDAY
u RY uARY 3Rd JANuA Leviticus
23 v 39–43
Camping festival
John likes camping. The first time he stayed in a tent, it was in his back garden!
The festival of shelters was one of the happiest and most popular festivals! The people of Israel must have liked camping, because in this festival they had to live outside, not in gardens or on roof tops, but in huts made of branches.
Match the pairs:
A reminder of promises made at a wedding. A reminder of the way Jesus died. A reminder that God’s people lived in tents when He led them out of Egypt.
6
look at some old photos. Thank god for your happy memories.
B
enny’s oke
J
What do you fix a torn Native American tent with? Apache !
Draw your home and thank God for where you live.
SATURDAY
Restival!
4TH JANuA u RY uARY Exodus
20 v 8–11
which one is different? Colour it:
God has made one day, called the Sabbath, diff erent to the others in the week. It’s a day for us to rest and worship Him. Do you know which day that is? God wants it to be a day to enjoy, a festival day every week! Imagine what it would be like if people had to work every day of the week, or if you had to go to school all week! read God’s message to us. Cross out the xs. xxKxExxEPxxsxUxNxdxAxYxx sxPxExCxIxAxLxxfxoxrxx MxExx sunday is God’s gift to us. w we need at least one day of rest a week.
for many people today sunday is like any other day of the week!
How does God feel about that?
Happy
Thank You, lord, for giving me a special day to enjoy each week. Help me to keep it special. Amen.
sad
Not Bothered
7
SUNDAY
Trumpet festival
u RY uARY 5TH JANuA Numbers
29 v 1
what tells Topz that the school day is starting?
The Festival of Trumpets There was a blast on the trumpets at the beginning of every month and every festival. But on the first day of the seventh month there was a special trumpet – blowing to begin a New Year celebration.
Topz sometimes make a noise when they are celebrating. TOOT!
UNITED!
Yeah!
Can you work out what these people are saying to God? sairPe iHm!
aannsoH!
Haeuallljh!
We can make a noise when we are praising God. 8
Read Psalm 149 v 1–3 as a prayer of praise to god.
MONDAY
Scapegoat day Who did that?
Benny did it!
6TH JANuA u RY uARY Leviticus
16 v 20–22
Benny, you will write me 100 lines! But that Dixon threw it!
Benny was punished for something a dixon had done! The dixons made Benny their scapegoat. A scapegoat is someone who is blamed or punished for the sins of others. Sending out the goat was one way God showed the people that He was forgiving their sins. It was done on the Day of Atonement. This means AT-ONE-MENT: God was saying that the people could be AT ONE with Him, not apart, 1. write some of because He forgave the things you have them. done wrong on this cross.
Nowadays, we can be at one because Jesus died on the cross for our sins. He took our punishment! Thank You, Jesus, for being the scapegoat for me, so that I could be at one with god. d. Amen.
2. sayy sorry to God for them.
3. scribble over your sins. God has forgiven you!
FINGERFLICKIN’ TIME: Read Isaiah 53 v 6.
9
TUESDAY
u RY uARY 7TH JANuA John
10 v 22–23
A light feast How many lights can you find in this picture?
The Festival of the Dedication of the Temple is also called the ‘Feast of Lights’. It reminds Jews of the time when a nasty king stopped them worshipping God in the Temple. They won a great battle against him, then re-lit the Temple’s lights, with only enough oil to last one day. But it lasted eight!
4
The puzzle below is about another Light ... rearrange the squares in the correct order: 3 2 5 1 7 2 the Christ 7 6 5 6 3 8 of is
the
1 COdE
=Jesus
= Light
4 8
= world w
That’s why we sing the song ‘Shine, Jesus, shine’!
10
Thank You, lord, that You are the light of the wo w rld. Help me to let my light shine where I live. Amen.