RELIGION

OBJECTIVES FOR GRADE 1

By the end of grade 1, students will be able to:

1. Explain that God sent Jesus to be the Savior for all people.

2. Praise and thank God for all His goodness to them, especially

for His love for them in Jesus.

3. Recognize that God promises to be with them and always bless

them.

4. Verbalize that Jesus was born as a baby to grow up to suffer

and die on the cross.

5. Demonstrate a desire to tell others about Jesus, the Savior of

the world.

6. Ask God to help them grow as Jesus grew.

7. Perform acts of kindness as they serve one another in love.

8. Tell that Jesus gave the Lord's Supper to assure His disciples

of the forgiveness of their sins.

9. Rejoice in the hope that because of Jesus' death and

resurrection, they too will live in heaven.

10. Acknowledge that Jesus is alive.

11. Joyfully worship God in obedience, through songs, prayers,

and actions.

12. Demonstrate a desire to share God's gifts to them with

others.

13. Recognize that God calls them to be His own dear children so

that they may follow His purpose and plan for their lives.

14. Express a desire to go to God in prayer trusting that He will

answer the prayers according to His plan for their lives.

15. Demonstrate self-control as they realize that God gives them

the ability to live as His redeemed children who obey His will

for their lives.

16. Realize that when they have difficult choices to make, God's

way is always the best.

17. Rejoice that God loves them not because of their looks,

abilities, strength, or age but because they are His own forgiven

children, redeemed by Christ Jesus.

18. Acknowledge that they can hear God's Word and learn about

Jesus at home or in school as well as in church.

19. Define prayer as simply talking to their heavenly Father.

20. Praise God that He provides for life on earth and forever in

the Promised Land of heaven.

21. Appreciate God's care for them and the wonder of creation.

22. Respond in thanks for God's great blessings by loving and

taking care of the things He has given us.

23. Plan ways to offer their love to God by giving Him their

gifts of time, praise, money, and talents.

24. Praise God that He takes care of our physical and spiritual

needs.

25. Express appreciation of the special words the Lord taught us

in the Lord's Prayer.

OBJECTIVES FOR GRADE 2

1. Praise God for His goodness in creating and redeeming the

world.

2. Recognize that in Baptism we become part of God's family.

3. Remember the suffering and death of their Savior for them

whenever they observe the Lord's Supper being celebrated.

4. Acknowledge that because of Jesus they are declared "not

guilty" and sinless in God's eyes.

5. Express confident assurance that God keeps all His promises to

them, including His greatest promise of eternal life through

Christ.

<*dv_0*>6. Rejoice that God wants them to live with Him in the beautiful

place He has prepared in heaven.

7. Demonstrate confident trust that God will protect and care for

them.

8. Rejoice that God uses His power to set them free from sin.

9. Recognize that children are important to God and that He

desires that they grow in faith and knowledge of His Word.

10. Demonstrate a desire to grow in God's peace as they see His

power in their lives.

11. Evidence patience and love as they realize that God is always

present and active in their lives, doing what is best for them.

12. Express a desire to share God's love beyond the close circle

of family and friends.

13. Identify leaders and helpers in their communities who are

God's gifts to them.

14. Recognize that God prepares them for their service in His

kingdom.

15. Celebrate God's love with words and actions.

16. Recognize that Jesus came to save people of all nations.

17. Acknowledge that our heavenly Father hears all prayer at all

times and in all places.

18. Praise God by taking care of His creation.

19. Express feelings of security knowing the great power of

Jesus.

20. Express confident trust in Jesus' loving care and healing.

21. Acknowledge that as the Holy Spirit came to believers at

Pentecost, so He comes to them today through His Word and

Baptism.

22. Appreciate the diversity of people in the Christian church.

23. Thank God for the blessings of forgiveness and salvation.

24. Identify the many blessings of God in their lives.

25. Offer God joyful prayers and praises of thanksgiving for

blessings.

OBJECTIVES FOR GRADE 3

By the end of grade 3, students will be able to

1. Express awe and wonder at God's creation.

2. Acknowledge that Abraham received God's promise through faith,

not through works or self-worthiness.

3. Identify the commandments that focus specifically on our

relationship to God and those that focus specifically on our

relationship to others.

4. Praise and worship God with their songs, prayers, gifts, and

lives of service.

5. Recognize that God sometimes helps them overcome problems in

unexpected ways.

6. Demonstrate a desire to come to God in prayer regularly and

often, confident that their loving Father hears their prayers.

7. Praise God for the worth He gives them in Christ.

8. Thank God for the blessings of Christian friends.

9. Demonstrate a Gospel-motivated desire to love and forgive all

others, including those who hate them.

10. Demonstrate a desire to make continual use of God's Word so

the Holy Spirit may continue to work saving faith in their

hearts.

11. Recognize that God uses world events and their consequences

to call sinners to repentance in order to strengthen repentant

sinners with His grace and love.

12. Acknowledge that only by God's grace we are empowered to do

His will.

13. Confess their sins, expressing confidence in the forgiveness

God offers them freely in Christ Jesus, their Lord.

14. Express their trust and confidence in God to care for their

physical and spiritual needs.

15. Describe the unfolding of God's plan to send a Savior.

16. Show acceptance of others as either brothers and sisters in

Christ or as fellow sinners with whom one can share the Good

News.

17. Describe and appreciate the work and blessings of the Holy

Spirit in their lives.

18. Consider the vocations of professional church workers and the

possibility of becoming one.

19. Acknowledge Jesus as the Son of God yet true man and Savior

of the world.

20. Identify the blessings of the sacraments of Baptism and the

Lord's Supper.

21. Recognize that one sin often leads to more sins.

22. Profess that Jesus our Savior physically rose from the dead.

23. Express confident trust that they will go to heaven someday

to live forever with Jesus.

24. Confess Jesus as their personal Savior from sin and eternal

death.

25. Explain that Jesus will return to earth on the Last Day to

judge the world.

26. Demonstrate a desire to share the Gospel with others through

the power of the Holy Spirit.

27. Express reliance on the power of the Holy Spirit to enable

them to live transformed lives.

28. Recognize that even during times of persecution and

opposition, God blesses them and leads them to live transformed

lives.

OBJECTIVES FOR GRADE 4

By the end of grade 4, students will be able to

1. Thank God for His creating and preserving might.

2. Express appreciation to God for the blessings of rebirth in

Baptism.

3. Describe God as holy, just, and gracious.

4. Pray for God's guidance in building Christian relationships.

5. Acknowledge that God gives them power to forgive others.

6. Rejoice that we have been restored to a peaceful relationship

with God through Christ.

7. Identify faith in Jesus as the only way to heaven.

8. Acknowledge that Jesus, the Savior, is both true God and true

man.

9. Acknowledge that God desires all people to receive the gift of

eternal life and salvation.

10. Demonstrate reliance on God's strength when they are tempted

to sin.

11. Explain that Jesus' miracles demonstrated His power as God's

Son.

12. Identify the means through which God equips them to overcome

Satan's power.

13. Verbalize that they are saved by God's grace and not their

own good deeds.

14. Demonstrate an understanding of the meaning of the terms

grace and faith.

15. Discuss the four elements of prayer: confession, adoration,

supplication, and thanksgiving.

16. Demonstrate a desire to pray more often, confidently trusting

in God's promises to hear and respond to their prayers.

17. Evidence a desire for the spiritual food offered through

God's Word.

18. Acknowledge Jesus as omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent.

19. Confess their sins to God, trusting that He will forgive them

because of the saving work of His Son, Jesus.

20. Express their love for God in acts of service to other

people.

21. Rejoice that they are justified through Jesus' life, death,

and resurrection.

22. Demonstrate a desire to trust God for help, strength, and

forgiveness.

23. Acknowledge that at Easter Jesus proclaimed His victory over

sin, death, and the power of the devil.

24. Express reliance on Jesus' presence and the power of the Holy

Spirit for the courage and ability to witness the Christian faith

in their daily lives.

25. Acknowledge the communion of saints as a special blessing

from God.

26. Realize that God gives them faith and a change of heart so

that they may live as His children.

27. Express reliance on the power of the Holy Spirit to remain

firm in their faith, knowing that even persecution and opposition

can lead to further opportunities to spread the Gospel.

OBJECTIVES FOR GRADE 5

By the end of grade 5, students will be able to

1. Acknowledge with confidence God's plan of salvation as clearly

revealed in Scripture.

2. Determine whether selected Bible passages reveal God's

Law showing our sinfulness and our need for forgiveness or God's

Gospel message the Good News of salvation by grace through faith

in Jesus Christ or both.

3. Use Bible reference tools to discover Gospel passages.

4. Praise God for His plan of salvation.

5. Describe Scripture as the work of many human authors and yet

the pure, "God-breathed" Word.

6. Identify grace as the motivation for good works.

7. Express joy and confidence in the forgiveness God freely

offers them through Christ.

8. Acknowledge Holy Scripture as the final authority for both

doctrine and practice.

9. Describe the impact of God's Law and Gospel on their lives.

10. Compare the old covenant with God's new covenant in Jesus.

11. Recognize signs of God's love and care in their own lives.

12. Recognize that God is faithful, strengthens them, and gives

them the victory over their enemies sin, death, and the power of

the devil.

13. Express reliance on God and His Word for courage, wisdom, and

direction throughout their lives.

14. Recognize that no force is more powerful than God and His

love for them in Christ.

15. Identify opportunities in which the Holy Spirit can use them

in service to God.

16. Trust that God will accomplish His good purposes in their

lives, even in times of conflict and crisis.

17. Acknowledge Christ's forgiveness and rely on the Holy

Spirit's power to share God's love with others, especially with

those who have not yet heard the saving Gospel of salvation by

grace through faith in Jesus.

18. Express confident trust that Jesus their Savior will renew

and strengthen them to respond with forgiveness toward others.

19. Define worship as our response to God's grace in which we

demonstrate our love, honor, and respect for Him in everything we

say and do.

20. Acknowledge Jesus as the Messiah, the Christ who fulfilled

Old Testament prophecies.

21. Recognize that through the means of grace, the Holy Spirit

leads people to identify and trust in Jesus Christ as their Lord

and Savior.

22. Daily remember the covenant God made with them in Baptism as

they repent of their sin and receive the full assurance of God's

forgiveness.

23. Realize that the Holy Spirit empowers us to live as God's

children.

24. Express confident trust in God's promise to work through the

means of grace to help them overcome the temptations they face.

25. Acknowledge that through His suffering and death, Jesus

earned forgiveness of sin and eternal life for them and for all

people.

26. Appreciate the need to witness to all people, including

people of every race, color, and nationality.

27. Study Bible references that describe the joy that awaits them

in heaven through faith in Jesus Christ.

OBJECTIVES FOR GRADE 6

By the end of grade 6, students will be able to

1. Plan for their own personal devotional use of Scripture.

2. Determine when and how to apply Law or Gospel in various

situations.

3. Identify Jesus as the central character of the Bible.

4. Recognize that God's faithfulness to His covenant people is

the unifying theme of all the historical books.

5. Identify and appreciate various themes and moods found in the

poetry and wisdom literature of the Old Testament books of Job

through Ecclesiastes.

6. Describe the themes found in the prophetic books in terms of

Law and Gospel.

7. Identify the purpose and primary theme of each of the four

gospels and Acts.

8. Recognize that through His Word God strengthens their faith in

time of danger and testing.

9. Identify the work of the Holy Spirit in inspiring the biblical

books and preserving Holy Scripture for them.

10. Confess that the Bible is divinely inspired, inerrant, and

the infallible Word of God.

11. Recognize that Baptism's power to forgive sins and create

faith comes from the Holy Spirit working through the Word of God

that accompanies the water.

12. Use the power the Holy Spirit offers them through their

Baptism daily to put to death their sinful selves and live

God-pleasing lives.

13. Recognize the real presence of Christ's body and blood in,

with, and under the bread and wine in the Lord's Supper.

14. Confess their faith in the promise of forgiveness, life, and

salvation that Jesus gives with His body and blood.

15. Explain that God offers all people peace through the

forgiveness and salvation that Jesus won on the cross.

16. Regularly study God's Word so that their life-preserving

faith might be strengthened.

17. Daily remember their Baptism as they repent of their sin and

receive the full assurance of God's forgiveness.

18. Acknowledge that God seeks to redeem all people and values

each person as one for whom Christ has died.

19. Describe Jesus' willingness to suffer humiliation,

excruciating pain, and death at the hand of earthly rulers in

order to earn our forgiveness, life, and salvation.

20. Identify key Scripture passages that affirm God's message of

justification by grace through faith.

21. Acknowledge God's Word as the source and norm by which all

matters of faith and Christian life should be measured.

22. Describe how cultural barriers can separate and hinder the

sharing of the Gospel.

23. Seek opportunities to share their faith in Christ Jesus.

OBJECTIVES FOR GRADE 7

By the end of grade 7, students will be able to

1. Describe God's creation and preservation of the universe.

2. Demonstrate reliance on the power of the Holy Spirit to move

them to lives filled with loving actions toward God and others.

3. Identify righteousness as God's gift, credited to them through

the merits of Christ.

4. Demonstrate an understanding that God remains with His people

in times of trial, providing strength and encouragement for even

life's lowest moments.

5. Express an understanding of how God uses Law and Gospel to

bring us to love and trust in Him.

6. Demonstrate reliance on the power of the Spirit to guide them

as they enjoy and rightfully use their freedom.

7. Give thanks to God for His unfailing mercy, forgiveness, and

power to live for Him.

8. Demonstrate a desire to offer God their time, talents, and

treasures in lives of grateful service to Him.

9. Demonstrate an appreciation for the means of grace as the

media through which God works in the lives of His people.

10. Acknowledge that their faithful God will give them strength

to overcome sin, Satan, and death.

11. Recognize the cycle of sin desperation under the consequences

of sin, repentance, and deliverance in the history of Israel

during the time of the judges as well as in their own lives.

<*dv_3*>12. Demonstrate an appreciation for the victories Jesus has won

for us and an understanding of the meaning of these victories for

<*dv_1*>the Christian life.

13. Acknowledge God's desire to forgive, restore, and equip them

for lives of service by the power of the Holy Spirit.

14. Demonstrate dependence on God for the power to abide in His

grace and to honor Him in our lives as citizens of an earthly

nation.

15. Apply what they have learned about God's mercy to their own

lives, remembering God's unfailing love for them in Christ Jesus.

16. Express gratitude and appreciation to God for the forgiveness

and strength for daily living available to them in Christ through

the working of the Holy Spirit.

17. Rejoice in God's guidance and protection as they study Old

Testament people and events.

18. Give thanks to God for continuing to preserve His means of

grace, Word and Sacraments, despite threats from within and

outside the church.

19. Praise God for bringing people to faith in Christ Jesus, and

providing the means of grace through which the Holy Spirit

creates and sustains saving faith.

20. Express confidence in God's Word as the holy and inerrant

Word of God which is used to interpret itself.

21. Express faith in Jesus, the Savior revealed in God's Word.

22. Compare Luther's opportunity to defend the Gospel with

opportunities that arise today to defend the Gospel.

23. Express the intent to test the spirits to see if they are

faithful to the true teachings of God's Word.

24. Demonstrate a desire to continue the effective use of

creative means to spread the Gospel.

25. Explore ways they might participate in the work of their

congregations and synod.

26. Demonstrate a desire to honor God in whatever vocation He has

chosen for them.

OBJECTIVES FOR GRADE 8

By the end of grade 8, students will be able to

1. Identify the author, date and place of writing, audience for

which it was written, and purpose of each of the gospels.

2. Demonstrate appreciation for the gospels, together with the

rest of the Bible, God's Word, the means through which God brings

and sustains the saving faith.

3. Express confident trust in Jesus, the Promised One, their

Savior and King, who restored the broken relationship between God

and people and enables them to restore broken relationships

between themselves and others.

4. Proclaim with Paul that, trusting in God's power, we are

strong in our weakness.

5. Acknowledge God as provider of all blessings physical, mental,

emotional, and spiritual.

6. Recognize and be moved to serve God and others with their

whole hearts.

7. Identify childlike qualities that God would have us treasure

as we rely upon His strength in our lives and relationships.

<*dv_2*>8. Identify ways in which the love of material things can keep us

from fully following Jesus and accepting His offer of eternal

life.

9. Recognize Jesus as a servant king who came not to establish an

earthly kingdom, but rather to earn forgiveness, life, and

salvation for us.

10. Identify the biblical events recorded as evidence of the

resurrection.

11. Demonstrate a desire to serve the Lord as faithful disciples

and messengers of the Good News, trusting that the Holy Spirit

will work to transform the lives of others.

12. Express reliance on God's Word as God's answers to our

questions and concerns regarding the new life that is ours

through faith.

13. Explain the importance of having people with differing

talents and abilities in the church and rejoice in the diversity

God provides.

14. Demonstrate reliance on the power of the Holy Spirit to keep

us in God's grace until we join those who already live with

Christ in our eternal and happy home in glory.

15. Anticipate Christ's second coming, confident of His saving

love and care for us.

16. Identify the marks of a disciple.

17. Demonstrate a desire to worship God in thought, word, and

deed.

18. Demonstrate a desire to serve and honor God in whatever

vocations or daily activities they undertake.

19. Consider how God desires people to deal with dependency and

the means by which He enables people to remain dependent on Him

alone.

20. Demonstrate a desire to glorify God in their sexuality.

21. Demonstrate a godly desire to honor God with their

possessions.

22. Identify the fruit of the Spirit and evidence of it in their

lives.