Date: June 28, 2026
Elementary Essential: God is relational: We are made to be in relationship with him and with each other.
Unit Overview:
Not only are books a way to connect and build community, but they can also teach us, help us understand emotion, and give us perspectives that may be different than our own. Echoes of Eden is a curriculum written by Crossing Kids that uses popular children’s picture books and helps pull in concepts of the Gospel, or “Echoes of Eden.”
In this unit, kids will examine how the Gospel helps us to make sense of all of life—including art in the words and illustrations of great books. Together we will search for places where the beauty of the Gospel intersects and points to the greatest story of all and discover how to engage with our culture in winsome ways. Each week kids will read a book and hunt for Gospel truths within while focusing on one key verse connected to the literature. They’ll do an activity (ex. craft, game, science experiment) to help them have a tangible reminder of what they just learned.
Lesson Title: The Quiltmaker’s Gift
Lesson Overview:
A kind quilt-maker makes beautiful quilts that she gives to those in need and who have little money. When a greedy king hears of her beautiful quilts, he demands that she sell him one. She refuses but says that she will give him one if he gives away all his possessions. He begins to travel the world giving away his treasures. When he returns to the village as a happier man in ragged clothing, she gives him a beautiful quilt. Kids will consider how they can serve those in need by making cards to give to older people living alone or in nursing home facilities.
Lesson Scripture: Matthew 19:21
Lesson Objective: Learn that only Jesus can satisfy us forever.
Lesson Application: Because Jesus satisfies me more than possessions, I can give to those in need.
Date: June 28, 2026
Unit: The Lord’s Prayer: Teach Us to Pray
Elementary Essential: God is relational: He invites us to talk to him through prayer.
Unit Overview:
Jesus’s friends and followers asked Jesus how to pray. He gave them the Lord’s Prayer as a model. Jesus gave this prayer for his followers then, but also for his followers today. Throughout the summer, children will learn that prayer is talking with and listening to God. They will explore what prayer is, how to pray, and work to memorize The Lord’s Prayer. Each week will unpack a phrase of this famous prayer in hopes that children will understand why Jesus uses this as a model prayer to teach us how to pray to God.
Lesson Title: Your Kingdom Come
Lesson Overview:
This week we’ll focus on the phrase: “Your kingdom come.” Kids will read and discuss portions of the Sermon on the Mount that explain what God’s upside-down Kingdom is like.
Lesson Scripture: Matthew 6:9-13, Matthew 5
Lesson Objective: Kids will understand the upside-down way that God brings his Kingdom through Jesus, the upside-down King.
Lesson Application: When I pray “Your Kingdom come”, I can remember God invites me to make the world I live in more and more like what things will be like when Jesus returns even now.
Date: June 28, 2026
Unit: Questions Jesus Asked
Elementary Essential: God is relational: He is compassionate and sees, hears, cares, and responds when his children are in need.
Unit Overview:
In this 13-week unit, 4th and 5th graders will spend their time looking at some of the questions Jesus asked real people in the New Testament. Each week, students will explore a question and the context surrounding it. They will discover that Jesus did not ask questions to learn the answer but rather to help us learn more about him.
Students will explore the life and ministry of Jesus, and most importantly, they will learn about Jesus who sees us, hears us, and loves us. Students will discover that far more than our outward actions, Jesus cares about the desires of our hearts and invites us into a relationship with him.
Each lesson will be rooted in building a greater understanding of how the entire Bible points to Jesus’ work on the cross. All of Jesus’ encounters with people were built around pointing them toward the good news of his death and resurrection and how that brought us into a reconciled relationship with our Heavenly Father.
Lesson Title: Have You Not Read What God Said to You?
Lesson Overview:
Students will look at the question Jesus asked the Sadducees when they didn’t understand that all scripture had been pointing to him: “Have you not read what God said to you?” Students will also work in teams of three or four to create a team flag that represents something they have in common.
Lesson Scripture: Matthew 22:29-32
Lesson Objective: Students will understand how the whole Bible ultimately tells one story that points to Jesus.
Lesson Application: I can know that just like God sent Jesus, God will do all he has promised in his Word, including rescuing me from my sin and giving me new life.