I wish I'd known...the big picture of the Bible

From Heather:
As a fairly new Christian, when I started doing Children’s work, I didn’t have a clear picture of the whole Bible story – I gained it quite quickly, but it would have been good to have a clear overall Bible story picture!

From Andrew:
I know it was a long time ago when I started Youth Work but without a doubt the thing I most wish I had experienced/known is a Bible Overview. Such a thing was rare or even unknown in the 1960s. Now they are freely available but I do wonder how many of our Youth and Children's workers have had the opportunity to hear one taught or have studied one. I believe my Crusader and Covenanter work would have been so much more effective had I had that input, and the lads I taught would have had a better grasp of the gospel.

Again, I can echo what Heather and Andrew are saying. I had been a children’s worker for 15 years before being introduced to a simple Bible overview. It made a huge difference to my own understanding, and informed every part of my teaching too. And now, when I teach, I make sure there’s a Bible timeline around so that the group can see where a particular event or character fits in Bible history.

There are various tools around to help us grasp the big picture of the Bible. Here are a few to try:

• God’s Big Picture by Vaughan Roberts
• Mini Bible Timeline: I created this to go with an issue of XTB Bible-reading notes for children, but have since given copies to many adults as well. It’s very small when folded up - easy to tuck inside your Bible.
• CEP Bible Timeline: Ideally, I’d have one of these on the wall whenever exploring the Bible with children and teens (and adults!). Earthing Bible events within Bible history helps all of us understand them, and also reinforces that they are real historical events that can be pinpointed in time. Bible maps are great for this as well.