When you think of the word ‘superhero’, who or what do you picture? Men in tights, masked riders, baddie-defeating robots or caped do-gooders? I saw someone wearing a T-shirt the other day with the words ‘Jesus is my Superhero’ on the front – which got me thinking! What is my definition of a superhero? And I came to the same conclusion as the person wearing that T-shirt – that Jesus has to be my all-time hero. But there are lots of others we can read about in the Bible – check some of them out in the opening section of this Topz.

You may agree that Jesus is the best hero you can think of – but perhaps there is someone else you know who you would also describe as a hero. My music teacher was my hero when I was at primary school, and yes, it’s him you can blame for the fact that I love singing so much. Maybe it’s your teacher, or a parent or grandparent, neighbour or friend? Write to me at Topz (address on page 35) and tell me about them. I’d love to hear from you!

I hope you enjoy reading about some amazing heroes in the Bible in this issue of Topz – as well as all the other coolio sections inside. I’m going to count to three – then you can turn the page and start reading: 1–2–3–GO!

Hello!!!IN THIS

TOPZ ...

SUPERHEROESPagE 3

amaZINg gRacE PagE 11

BIBlE DETEcTIvE PagE 19

TOPZ BITZ: REaDERS’ OwN clUB PagES

PagE 35

mOSES – PRINcE TO PROPHET

PagE 39

aNSwERZ aND TOPZ ORDER FORm

PagE 73

gOD’S gIFTPagE 49

TImID TIm PagE 54

amOS THE SHEPHERD PagE 63

TopzMay-June2011.indd 1 17/12/10 16:25:24

the bible books How to use

1: Each day in Topz there’s a Bible reading. It’s shown like this:

2: To find this, turn to the Contents page near the front of your Bible and look for the name of the book – which in the example above is Genesis. Now find the page this book starts on and turn to it.

3: You will have to turn on a few pages now

to get to the right chapter.

4: Now look for the verse numbers which will be in smaller type. The chapter and verse will look like this: Chapter Verse

5: After reading the Bible passage, go back to the Topz page and see what it says. Each day ends with a prayer and sometimes an action point too. To solve the puzzles in Topz you will need a Good News Bible. If you don’t want to turn to the Contents page of your Bible all the time, you will see we’ve listed all the Bible books in order for you (see left). The ones you’ll be reading from in this Topz are highlighted with a star . Use this Topz Marker to keep your place in Topz. Cut it out and stick it to a piece of card to strengthen it.

It may be that some of you haven’t looked inside a Bible very much before. If so, here are a few helpful hints:

Genesis 25 v 2–5

OLD TESTAMENT GENESIS ExOdUSLEVITICUSNUMBErSdEUTErONOMYJOShUA JUdGESrUTh 1 SAMUEL 2 SAMUEL1 KINGS 2 KINGS 1 ChrONICLES2 ChrONICLESEzrANEhEMIAhESThErJOBPSALMSPrOVErBS ECCLESIASTESSONG Of SONGSISAIAhJErEMIAhLAMENTATIONSEzEKIELdANIELhOSEAJOEL AMOSOBAdIAhJONAhMICAhNAhUMhABAKKUKzEPhANIAhhAGGAIzEChArIAhMALAChI

NEw TESTAMENT MATThEW MArK LUKE JOhN ACTSrOMANS 1 COrINThIANS 2 COrINThIANSGALATIANS EPhESIANS PhILIPPIANS COLOSSIANS 1 ThESSALONIANS2 ThESSALONIANS1 TIMOThY2 TIMOThYTITUSPhILEMON hEBrEWSJAMES1 PETEr 2 PETEr1 JOhN2 JOhN 3 JOhNJUdErEVELATION

TopzMay-June2011.indd 2 15/12/10 09:54:44

Let’s play superheroes!

I’ll be Superman!

I’m Super-Benny! Anyone need to be rescued?

Don’t worry, Benny’s dad rescued him! King David had mighty men in his army.

We are going to read about them and learn how we can be mighty for God!

3

SUPERHEROES

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Dear lord, please take my life and make

it great for You. Thank You! amen.

Do the ‘little’ things well and then God can trust you with bigger jobs.

King Saul wanted to kill David, so David hid in the cave of Adullam in the desert.

Here 400 men came to him looking for help.

They brought their problems with them. What were they? (Unscramble the letters on the sacks

to finish the words. Verse 2 will help.)

1. d _ _ _ 2. U _ _ _ _ _ _ 3. dissat _ _ _ _ _ _

Do you sometimes feel useless? David made brave,

mighty warriors out of people who felt useless, so God can do it for you too.

i s fd i e

b t e

h a n p p y

1.2.3.

4

SUNDAY1ST maY1 Samuel 22 v 1-2

Outlaws

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Dear god, please help me to be strong as I try to live for You. amen.

Don’t think about how weak you feel; think about God’s mighty strength in you.

Colour the dotted sections

Our Bible reading

tells us that they won because ...

Even these mighty men knew they couldn’t overcome their enemies alone.

They became strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. You too can overcome difficulties in the same way.

5

The famous threeMONDAY2ND maY2 Samuel 23 v 8–10

TopzMay-June2011.indd 5 15/12/10 09:54:57

Stand your ground when temptation comes – don’t give in!

Dear Jesus, please help me to

stay faithful to You always. amen.

finish off the verse by taking every second letter until you’ve used all the letters:

Like Eleazar, who refused to give up the fight even though others turned back, Shammah stood

his ground.

‘So put on god’s armour now! Then when the evil day comes, you will be able to resist the enemy’s

attacks; and after fighting to the end, you

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ .’

(Ephesians 6 v 13)

6

TUESDAY3RD maY2 Samuel 23 v 11–12

Stand your ground

TopzMay-June2011.indd 6 15/12/10 09:55:02

a11

Z21

X22

c23

v24

B25

N26

m27

,

28:29

S12

D13

F14

g15

H16

J17

K18

l19

P10Q

1w

2E3

R4

T5 Y

6U

7I 8

O9

S P a c E

;20

%30

(Ephesians 6 v 13)

Three mighty men heard David longing for a drink from the well in Bethlehem and because they loved him they risked

their lives to bring the water.

Dear lord, please show me how I can

best serve You. amen.

Use the computer code to finish the sentence.

11.5.5.3.27.10.5

15.4.3.11.5

5.16.8.26.15.12

14.9.4 15.9.13

You might like to write out the saying of william Carey and keep it in your Bible.

he was a mighty man of God!

William Carey became a Christian as a young boy.

He spent his life working as a missionary in India,

bringing the good news about Jesus to the people.

He said, ‘Expect great things from God, and ...’

7

I dare youWEDNESDAY4TH maY2 Samuel 23 v 13–17

TopzMay-June2011.indd 7 15/12/10 09:55:08

Dear lord Jesus, thank You that I am not alone in my fight

for You. amen.

Thank the Lord for any special Christian friends you have. Make a list of their names, and pray for them.

Pack it in!

Why should we?

We’re outnumbered!

Today’s verse gives two reasons for the success of the mighty men.

fill the gaps:

Here comes his mates.

1. The l_ _ _ _ had p_ _ _ _ _ _ _ it.

2. T_ _ _ _ _ _ _ they helped David.

8

THURSDAY5TH maY1 Chronicles 11 v 10

Together

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Dear lord Jesus, I will do my best never to let You

down. amen.

1. ThE BUSIs the bus always on time?

2. frIENdSdo your friends ever

let you down?

3. ThE WEAThEr fOrECASTIs the forecast always right? 4. YOU

(Join the dots.)

Every soldier must be reliable. Which of these are reliable?

Learn to be reliable so that people will know you are a person who can be depended upon.

1. The l_ _ _ _ had p_ _ _ _ _ _ _ it.

2. T_ _ _ _ _ _ _ they helped David.

9

I’m counting on youFRIDAY6TH maY1 Chronicles 12 v 1–2

TopzMay-June2011.indd 9 15/12/10 09:55:19

Now that Solomon was king, the mighty men promised to be loyal and true to him.

do you give in when you are tempted to do wrong?

have you been strong enough to do what is right when others

were doing wrong things?

do you stand up for your friends when they need you?

Do not allow anyone or anything to take Jesus’ place in your life.

Dear lord, You are the One I love and

want to serve. amen.

It’s true, sir. It wasn’t his

fault.

10

SATURDAY7TH maY1 Chronicles 29 v 22–25

loyal and true

TopzMay-June2011.indd 10 15/12/10 09:55:24