VISIT SandBoxBible.com Verse by verse from the ESV

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Set 1 | 1-10 Events around the early life of Jesus (S1 E/10 C/145)
Set 2 | 1-29 Events around the Birth of Jesus (S2 E/29 C/145)
Set 3 | 1-37 Events around Jesus Teaching & Parables (S3 E/37 C/145
Set 4 | 1-6 Events around the beginning of the disciples (S4 E/6 C/145)
Set 5 | 1-33 Events leading up to the cross & resurrection (S5 E/33 C/145)
Set 6 | 1-30 Events around the last command & missions (S6 E/30 C/145) STEP

1: Read the passage and place the chosen wooden figures in the sand to portray the story as you read it. Move the pieces as the story unfolds. Once the story or parable is portrayed in the sand, think about what the story meant to the original audience.

STEP 2: - Each member finds a wooden figure that would represent them in the box. - Ask: Who do I identify with, in the story today? Put your wooden figure there in the sand. - How does it make me feel to be here?
Example: I can be one of the disciples, or the sick man, or next to Jesus, or far away in a desert removed from everyone. Do I feel happy, mad, sad, glad, confused, or anything else? - What story in your personal life do you connect this to now? - Finally, where do you see Jesus now? Is he far or near? Is he inside the box or perhaps outside of the box? - What do you think he is saying? Share with one another.

THE SANDBOX BIBLE IS BASED ON WHAT WE CALL REFLECTIVE READING

Reflective Bible Reading is a 3rd-century practice of reading, meditation, and prayer intended to promote communion with God and to increase the knowledge of God's word. It does not treat Scripture as text to be studied but as The Living Word. The Bible uses two different Greek words to refer to the word, 'word' of God. One is logos and the other is rhema.

Understanding the meaning of these two words for the word, 'word' can help us know and experience scripture in a more meaningful way. In the Bible, the word logos are used to refer to the constant, 'written word' of God, which we have recorded in the Bible. This is the Old and New Testament as we have it. Rhema is the lesser-known Greek word used in the Bible for 'word', and refers to the instant, personal speaking of God to us. God wants to communicate with us not only through His written logos-word but also through the rhema-word, speaking directly to us in our particular situations. It’s by the rhema word that we can know God subjectively and experientially. Both logos and rhema are crucial to our Christian life.

God uses His logos Word to speak His rhema word to us. The SandBoxBible will help you and your child to learn how to discern rhema while reading the Bible. Why is this so crucial? There are three scriptures that I would like to mention here. The first really important verse that brings understanding to this concept has been recorded to us by Matthew in chapter 4:4, “He answered and said, it is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word (rhema) that proceeds out of the mouth of God” (NIV). This word of God is rhema and we live by this word, not logos (the written word) only. The implications are that if we just read the written word, logos, but do not wait for God to speak to us, (the word becoming personal rhema) we miss out on our daily bread to live on. It is when we remind God of the rhema words He gave us, that we start to see prayer being answered. John 6:63 and Ephesians 5:26 are also rhema and not logos.

Spiritual Warfare is thus connected to rhema and not logos - a grave mistake for those who pray only logos and not rhema to see prayer answered in daily situations. It is not God who does not answer prayer - this responsibility falls on us to pray rhema words that God stirred in us. We need to learn to sit a little bit longer with logos until rhema unfolds. The SandBoxBible will help you if you follow the "Steps for Practical Application” May you, as you follow these simple steps with your Bible study group or Sunday school discover how near God is to you through His word, both logos and rhema.