H e l lo ! ! !
We kick off this issue of Topz with a look at prayer, such an important thing for us to understand – and do! There are times when I spend quite a lot of time talking to God about lots of different things. And there are times when I spend quite a while talking about one thing in particular. But there are also times when all I seem to be able to do is call out, ‘Help me, Lord’, and not a lot more! But do you know what? One of the most important things to God is that we do talk to Him and involve Him in our lives every day, so I hope the opening section gives you some pointers as to how important and powerful prayer is – and also answers some of your ‘who, what, why, when’ questions. Prayer is often described as a conversation with God, and a conversation always involves both speaking and listening – so we’ve also included a section on listening to God, as well as speaking to Him. When you really think about it, it’s mind-blowing that we can talk to the Creator of the universe, and that He cares enough about us to speak to us too! There’s a whole host of other splendiferous stuff in here as well, including the equally mindblowing story of Easter. So many amazing things to think about – but don’t fry your brains! Happy Easter, readers!
IN THIS . TOPZ .. ‘Hello God’ – Prayer Power Page 3 On His Knees Page 16
Topz Topicz: Family trees Page 21 GOd is speaking Page 22 Topz To Colour Page 31
God’s Tent Page 32 Topz Bitz: Readers’ Own Club Pages page 36 Paul’s birthday treat Page 51 Topz Arty Bitz: Celebrating Easter page 60
Jesus is alive! Page 61
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 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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‘Hello God’ – PRAYER POWER How do you do it?
Mine never turn out right!
It never works for me!
Oh, it’s easy when you know how!
When learning to pray and learning to bake, we need to follow the instructions. The Bible teaches us how to pray and Jesus helps us. Learning to pray is one of the best things we can ever learn to do – so let’s get going! 3
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TUESDAY
1ST MARCH Matthew
7 v 7–11
An invitation If your favourite pop star, TV or sports celebrity, or member of the royal family sent you an invitation to meet them, would you:
In today’s verses, Jesus gives us an invitation to come to God and talk to Him about all the things we need and hope for.
4
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Dear God, thank You that You want me to talk to You. Amen.
q Ignore the invitation? q Send someone else? q Gladly go?
Look again at verse 11. God only gives ‘good things’!
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Scared Perhaps you would like to talk to a VIP – a Very Important Person – such as the Queen, but feel you’d be too scared! Do you think the Queen’s own children or grandchildren are afraid to talk to her?
WEDNESDAY 2ND MARCH 1 John
3v1
I’m stuck on these sums. Will you help me?
q YES q NO Why? ____________________ ____________________
answer Look at today’s verse and these questions: YES NO 1. Does God love me? 2. Will He listen to me? Dear God, thank You that when I trust Jesus I become Your child, and You love me very, very much. Amen.
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q q q q
John 1 v 12 tells you how you become God’s precious child.
5
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THURSDAY
3RD MARCH 1 John
5 v 13–15
Are you sure? Q
Match the numbers with the letters on the keyboard to read what the words ‘according to his will’ mean (v 14): God will always ...
A
Z
1
11
21
W S
2
12
X
22
E
3
D
13
C
23
R
4
T
5
Y
6
I K
L
,
:
7
F
G
H
J
V
B
N
M
14
15
16
24 25 26 S P ACE
O
U
17
27
8
18
9
19
28 29
P
10
;
20
%
30
13, 9 2, 16, 11, 5 ____ _________ 8, 12 25, 3, 12, 5 ____ _________ 14, 9, 4 7, 12. ______ ____
How amazing! We can ask the King of all the universe for help and He has promised to listen.
6
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Dear God, Your will is to do what is best for me. Please teach me to say prayers that are ‘according to Your will’. Amen.
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FRIDAY
Anything wrong?
4th MARCH James
4 v 1–3
Think of somet hing that you’v e asked God fo in the past. Ho r w did God answ er?
God always answers, but sometimes His answer is ‘No’ because He knows what’s best for us, and sometimes He says, ‘Wait a bit!’
What reason does today’s Bible reading give for God not giving us the things we prayed for? CODE
= b,
= e,
= f etc.
b e f g h i k r s
Please give me a new computer, and make Sarah let me have my programmes on TV. t
ay
p w l
Dear God thank You that You always answer my prayers. Help me to understand what answer You are giving. Amen.
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God does not give to those who are greedy but to those who are needy.
7
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SATURDAY
5th MARCH Luke
15 v 11–20
A hard word to say
When we do wrong things (sin), it may make us feel we can’t talk to Jesus. But there’s one word that can put things right, if we really mean it. Colour that word in the puzzle:
In today’s reading, the son felt really sorry for his sin, so he went back to his father to say so. Verse 20 tells us how pleased his father was to have him back. That’s how God feels when we say sorry.
8
Dear Lord Jesus, please forgive me for the wrong things I’ve done. I’m sorry they hurt You. Amen.
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Are there some things in the puzzle that you need to tell God you are sorry for?
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SUNDAY
Come with joy
6th MARCH Psalm
100
Praying is not just asking for things – it’s praising God too. What sort of songs should we sing to God? Look in verse 2 and sort out the muddled letters: p y pah n so sg
There are some ‘happy’ words in today’s psalm. Find them in the wordsearch. PRAISE SING LOVE
JOY HAPPY THANKS
(Answers on page 73)
W T
H A N K S
P R A
I
S
E
P F
I
C V
K D P G N
L O
A H
It’s always good to be with God; and it’s great that He always wants to be with us!
Praise God in your own words. It could even be a song! You might like to send your praise song in to Topz!
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J O Y O G V
E
L
People who love each other love to say nice things to each other. So let’s tell God how great He is!
9
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