Bible lessons for persons with cognitive disabilities
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Psalms 56 "when you are afraid" (© Jeff McNair)
We started by singing the song "You are my hiding place" because it has the section that says, "whenever I am afraid I will trust in you." I taught the group that song and we repeated that verse several times till they could sing it pretty well. I plan to repeat it often so that it becomes a part of their memory such that when they are afraid they will repeat the verse from Psalms 56 and really will trust in God. Words and music here.
Who of you in here are afraid of snakes? Many will raise their hands.
Who of you in here are afraid of spiders? We have tarantulas where I live which I sometimes find in my house.
Who of you are afraid of bees?
Who of you are afraid of mice?
Have you ever had a nightmare that scared you? What did you do when you woke up? You know, the Bible has something to say about being afraid.
Psalm 56:3 says, "When I am afraid I will trust in you"
You know those things we talked about may be scary, but there are other things that are really very scary. Things like, loosing friends or family members to death, or being very sick, or dieing, or being hurt or threatened by someone, or loosing your job, or loosing your house. But the Bible says that when I am afraid, I am to trust in God.
Well, how do you trust in God? What do you do? You can pray as that will help you to trust in God. When you pray you can ask God for help because you are afraid. You can be with other Christians who can encourage you. Things like that will help you to develop your faith in God.
v 4 - I God whose word I praise, in God I trust
What is God's word? The Bible they will respond
What does God's word tell us that should help us to not be afraid? Can you think of any Bible verses? Our group came up with Proverbs 3:5, Phillipians 4:6, and John 3:16. I was very proud of them for seeing the connection and coming up with those versus. Take each one and expand on it to show why I should praise God's word, and why it teaches me to trust God. Proverbs 3:5 is the one we come back to most often. Trust in God and don't lean on your own understanding is the part that is particularly relevant. It is always about trusting in God.
v 4 - Then says, "what can people do to me?" Well in a spiritual or salvation sense, nothing. But in a real life sense a whole lot. They can hurt you and can make your life miserable. But we are to put our trust in God. When we are afraid we are to trust in God. For it is God who can save us.
We ended by singing just the second part of the song beginning "whenever I am afraid I will trust in you" to the end and then back to that part. As I said I plan to do that song more in the future so it becomes a part of their response, hopefully, when they are afraid.
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© Jeff McNair