For Parents and Teachers

This interactive website for junior-aged children (ages 9-12, 4th-6th grades) teaches biblical principles concerning sexual purity and the sanctity of human life. It was developed by Life Matters Worldwide to coincide with a downloadable 13-lesson curriculum for use by parents and teachers with the same age-group. Both are organized around the Christian worldview framework and follow this outline:

INTRODUCTORY LESSONS

Lesson 1: Decisions, Decisions, Decisions (decision-making skills)
Lesson 2: The Big Picture (worldview overview – Creation, Rebellion, Redemption, Consummation)
Lesson 3: God Gives Life (the source and significance of life as God’s gift)

WHO AM I?

Lesson 4: CREATION – Who Am I? (human beings are made in the image of God from conception)
Lesson 5: REBELLION – What’s the Problem? (sin and the sanctity of human life)
Lesson 6: REDEMPTION – Jesus is the Only Way (Jesus - the perfect Image of God)

MY RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD

Lesson 7: CREATION – God and Me (God’s intent for my relationship with Him)
Lesson 8: REBELLION – Replacing God (sin’s effect on my relationship to God)
Lesson 9: REDEMPTION – Powered by God (restoration of the relationship through Christ)

MY RELATIONSHIPS WITH OTHERS

Lesson 10: CREATION – Role Play (God’s intent for our relationships with others)
Lesson 11: REBELLION – Who’s Who? (sin’s effect on our relationships)
Lesson 12: REDEMPTION – Take Off the Old, Put On the New (enablement of renewed of relationships by the Holy Spirit)

SUMMARY

Lesson 13: CONSUMMATION – What Are We Waiting For? (the ultimate restoration of image and relationship in the new heaven and new earth)

More about the two formats

The 13 downloadable lessons are available for purchase by teachers and parents for use in a variety of settings: Sunday schools, home schools, and Christian schools. They coordinate with this interactive website and offer supplemental material that should not be shared with young children without parental guidance. Each lesson offers parents and teachers extensive background preparation for understanding the biblical basis for the sanctity of human life and sexual purity.

The interactive website PoweredByGod.org can be beneficial on its own; used with the 13-lesson downloadable curriculum it will reinforce important biblical truths. As students progress through the website, they will read Bible passages, respond to questions, view videos, write essays, and engage in supplemental activities. Scores for correctly completed lessons and activities will be stored on the site; students can “compete” with other users.

Why Powered by God is needed

Secular education’s failure to acknowledge our creation by a loving, sovereign God has serious repercussions. If human beings are only the product of evolution, we’re little more than animals behaving by instinct. Eliminating the creation narrative from public education has left students with no basis for morality, no recognition of their accountability toward God, and no common ground for understanding mankind’s special place in the world.

Human beings bear God’s image and can have deep and fulfilling relationships – with God and others. But because another key aspect of the biblical worldview has been left out of secular education – the truth about our fallen nature – students fail to learn why we sin and need a Savior.

Abstinence education programs have been available in public schools for decades, and many teenagers have benefited from them by delaying the onset of sexual activity, if not always until marriage. Statistics about sexual activity among never-married young adults remain alarming, even among survey respondents who say they attend church regularly. Sadly, many who call themselves Christians differ little in practice from secular peers.

The contribution that the Powered by God curriculum and website make are 1) their significantly younger target audience, and 2) their placement of human sexuality and the sanctity of human life squarely within the biblical framework. By teaching key principles at ages well before temptations are faced, the aim is to arm students with core beliefs and crucial decision-making skills.

It’s not enough to teach that certain behaviors are abnormal, “non-traditional,” or risky. Biblical principles for living have stood the test of time and are sufficient to confront whatever temptations students may face – even those that are currently unknown to or unimagined by educators.

Biblical teaching should not be confused with so-called traditional morality. Many otherwise good abstinence programs leave out references to a key component to purity: the sanctifying work of God’s Holy Spirit. Individuals may succeed at being abstinent on their own, but cannot be sexually pure without Him.

What Powered by God is not

The Powered by God curriculum and website are not explicit. In the material for students, you will not find reference to sex or sexual acts, genders, sexual orientation, body parts, pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections, or abortion. These topics are covered in the teacher preparation portion of the downloadable lessons and may be discussed with students if deemed advisable or appropriate.

Exceptions: Lessons 3 and 4 reference prenatal development in the womb without detailing how babies are conceived. Lesson 10 compares the concepts of “reproduction” and “procreation.” Lesson 12 explains terms such as “immorality,” “Impurity,” “lust,” “evil desires,” and “filthy language” as found in Colossians 3:1-14.

Powered by God is not intended to replace godly instruction in the home. This is why we recommend children seek permission from parents before using the interactive website, and why teachers are advised to obtain parental approval prior to teaching the course. Parents and teachers are welcome to submit feedback after reviewing the website and/or lessons.