Choosing Greek Words and Cross-References for Primary Participants

Did you know that the book of 1 Peter has 1,684 words in the original language?  In addition, Peter quotes or references the Old Testament more than 20 times in his first letter.  As if that wasn't enough, by my count, there are about 25 Old Testament quotes and references within the Primary 2019 NBBC Memory Passages.

It is no wonder that I (and maybe even you) have been drowning in Greek words and cross-references over the past few weeks.  In an effort to create lists that are organized and manageable for our family's Primary contestants (and to help our young Junior kiddos build effective study habits), I have been combing through lists of hundreds of terms, to the point of dreaming Greek words!  To say that picking "enough" of the "right" words and cross-references is overwhelming is truly an understatement.

For anyone checking out the resource pages here on our blog, you may notice that there are some changes.  That is because I started doing things one way and realized that it was never going to work. So, I developed a graduated approach to learning Greek words and I switched focus for the cross-references.

The result (so far) is three sets of Greek words and a concentrated list of cross-references.

For Greek...
The sets are organized into sets from the most to the least important terms.  This is subjective, but I did try to focus on the themes in 1 Peter, themes/words from the Worship DJ, repeated themes throughout 1 Peter and the memory passages, and some basic terms that are important for understanding big picture concepts.  It is not perfect, but it allows us to have a systematic approach.  There are corresponding Quizlet sets and flashcards for each Greek list.  And, if I can swing it, a growing list of study songs to include the Greek words from sets A, B, and C.

For Cross-References...
Because there are so many Old Testament quotes found in 1 Peter, it seems appropriate to focus on these for the cross-reference list.  Many of the memory passages are also cross-references to 1 Peter.  It is possible to have a fairly comprehensive cross-reference study by focusing on how the memory passages relate to 1 Peter.  Since the name of the game is to know God through His Word and to gain a better understanding of the book of 1 Peter, focusing on these two things - Old Testament quotes and references, and connections with the memory passages - seems like a reasonable plan of action.

As with the Greek terms, there are corresponding flashcards and Quizlet sets for these lists of cross-references.  I am also working on some listening tracks (NASB).

You can find both Greek and cross-reference resources on our page for Primaries.

There are so many ways to go about studying scripture.  I am not putting these resources out for any purpose other than to help parents who are trying to figure out how to prepare their young participants for the NBBC while also doing the dishes, running kids to lessons and practices, and attempting to sleep for more than 4 hours a night!