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Editor's Preface
God has given us a gift in the earth. The earth provides us with everything we need to prosper physically, emotionally, and spiritually. It is our responsibility as inhabitants of earth to preserve God’s creation, to protect it as we would our children, and to ensure that generations that follow will be able to enjoy God’s greatest blessing to us.
This Bible study serves as a guide to exploring the connectedness between God’s commandments and the earth, us and the earth, and the call on the community to care for one another as we care for ourselves. We are blessed with the responsibility to advocate for one another in terms of justice and freedom. We are blessed with the responsibility to correct our wrongs and learn from the mistakes of those who paved the way for us to have these civil liberties. We are further blessed with the responsibility to call out environmental injustice and present ways to heal our communities from all harm, including pollution, climate change, and hazardous waste and chemicals.
For God so loved the world that He not only gave His only begotten Son, but He gave us earth to love and humanity to grow with. What a happy day when we can all exercise our right to breathe His pure breath of life as we continue our daily journey to be more Christlike and show others the essence of Jesus.
Shakeila Stuckey James
Author's Preface
We will save the earth when we love her, and we can only love her
when we know her. This Bible study will introduce to you the interconnectedness of air with the other three elements and why that unity must be preserved in order to save the air. You will also discover how to enhance your child’s breath of life for generations to come.
God’s creation is always in motion. The air we breathe is powered by the jet stream which forms a “line dance” around the planet. I call it a dance because of the consistent and rhythmic ways it encircles our earth home. You may want to think of this Bible study as a dance between the word of God and your actions in the world.
Sometimes our missteps in the dance of life create great harm in our children’s bodies and the planet at large. I hope this Bible study inspires you to review your own actions and then move full steam ahead to lead your children, homeschool, or congregation in redeeming the “Breath of Life” given to you and your family.
Rev Dele
Leader's Notes
There is a theme for each chapter and focus scripture(s) to guide the study. If you have time, you may also want to study the scriptures listed in the “Other Resources” Section which follows each chapter. People rarely all arrive at Bible study at the same time and it can save time to have a standard way to begin the study. If you have found it difficult to interrupt the casual conversations which occur during this time, consider using the Gathering Activity. It is given as a suggestion to discipline people’s focus to spiritual matters while they wait for others to arrive. If your group prefers to do a circle “check in” to allow everyone to share something significant in their day, that is a fine opener as well.
The opening prayer and song give everyone gathered the opportunity to “tune in” to one another before you begin your teaching. There are original and shared prayers to provide diversity of expression. Songs are chosen for diversity as well. The reflection contained within each lesson is intended to provide guided practice in the class as well as independent practice at home. Suggested actions cover activities you may do personally and with a child; with your homeschool or Sunday school group; and of course activities you may perform with your congregation of faith.
Also included in this Bible study is a children’s guide to help readers keep their children engaged. Chapters 1-4 have a fun fact and a word bank. Instruct your child and his/her friends to go through and find the bolded words, write down the definitions, and discuss them with the group. At the conclusion of the study, encourage your child and Sunday school groups to present what they’ve learned to the church and/or his/her classmates.
[All Scriptures come from the Green Bible, New Revised Standard Version, unless otherwise noted.]