Tower of Babel Genesis 11:1-9. Kids will understand: February 10. God confused the language when the people built the

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1 1 Tower of Babel Genesis 11:1-9 Kids will understand: God confused the language when the people built the Tower of Babel Focus is a good thing when it s on the right thing what s in God s plan. I honor God when my focus, motive, and attitude reflect His plan February 10

2 Copyright 2012 KidzMatter All Rights Reserved. 432 East Val Lane Marion, IN Editor/Writer: Tina Houser Design: Nicole Irons Ilustrations: Emily Jenness

3 Game Choose one student to come forward. They will stack the blocks as high as they can, but they only have 30 seconds. Really get them excited about how many blocks they ll be able to stack. Start the 30-second timer. Once they start building, attempt to distract them with questions. building blocks/jenga blocks 30-second timer How did you do in school this week? Tell me about your favorite movie. What s the funniest thing you ever did with your family? If you could take a vacation next week, where would you want to go? What s your favorite candy bar? Count how many blocks they were able to stack. If you want, you can do this several times with different students. What reaction did the builders have when I started asking questions? Some kids will ignore you. Others will give simple, one-word answers. And, other won t be able to do two things at once talk to you and build. What would ve made it easier? If they wouldn t have been distracted. If there had been more people working on the tower. If they had more time to complete it. It was difficult to try to complete the highest possible tower when someone was trying to talk to you. You probably wanted to focus on the building and not talk at that time. Activity The children will draw a special scenery picture. The things that should be included in the picture are listed below, but are also on a PowerPoint slide, if you want to project it. large pieces of paper markers or crayons PowerPoint slide of directions Be ready for lots of questions when the kids try to figure out what some of these words mean. Just encourage them to imagine what each one could mean and go from there. It s a MORHUG day and there are 4 BLOTWOODS in the sky. There s a ZUPLID under a JINKLIP and 2 CRITCHINS together by the MOOGOOGLE. The RAFUDS are having fun DAPPING by the GRADIT. Add a LEEPTO and your picture is done. Go through the made-up words and ask the kids what they thought the words meant. By doing this, the children will be able to show their work to help explain. There are no right or wrong answers. How did you feel when you didn t know what the words meant? What was difficult about drawing with these instructions? Did anyone make up additional words to include in your picture? 2

4 In the book of Genesis, God tells us about a time when He confused the language so people could not understand one another. Why do you think He would do such a thing? Let s see what the Bible says to us. Bible Account The book of Genesis, the first book of the Bible, tells about an interesting thing that happened when the people lost their focus on God and started thinking about how they could get the attention of the rest of the world. They took on a self-centered attitude, only thinking about completing a project that would make them famous. Let s take a look at this video and see what our friend, Willie Bildit, has to say. video Willie Bildit alternative: storytelling technique at end of lesson We love Willie Bildit, but if you choose not to use the video, the story is found in Genesis 11:1-9. * If you would like to present the story in person, there is an alternative storytelling technique at the end of the lesson. Message (show slide #1) WHO are we talking about today? PowerPoint slides #1 and #2 You might think we re talking about some people in the book of Genesis who got themselves in trouble. But, let s not talk about other people. Let s talk about you and me. The Bible was written for you and me for what s going on in our lives today. (show slide #2) WHERE is your focus? Everybody, look at one of your fingernails. Keep looking at it. Notice the little things about it. Are you wearing fingernail polish? Do you have a hangnail? Do your fingernails need to be cut? Do you have a bruised nail? Have you been biting your nails? What happens when you look at something very closely and concentrate on it? You end up blocking everything else out. When you were looking so closely at your fingernail, did you notice that someone walked past the door? Did you see the bush outside the window moving because the wind is blowing? Did you notice that your shoe in untied? In our story today, what did the people get their minds focused on? Look up and read 1 Chronicles 28:9b. What does this verse say to you? What should our focus be on? 1 Chronicles 28:9 tells us that we are to serve God with a willing mind, because He understands all our 3

5 thoughts. God understood that the people working on the Tower of Babel had a change of focus. What were the people focused on before? They had been focusing on including God in their lives. What were they focused on during their building project? It was on making their tower huge and getting the attention of others. Have you ever started working on something and didn t want to think about anything else? Ask a few of the children to tell you what they were focused on. How did that make your family and friends feel when all you could think about was your project? When do you get focused on something (like sports or sleepovers or entertainment or a video game) and leave God out? How do you think that makes God feel? Puppet Script Display a blue ribbon where the audience can see. Post a sign that says, Writing Contest. (with pencil and paper in hand, she s talking to herself) This is going to be good. I m going to win that blue ribbon. And when I do, everyone will look at me and they ll wish they were me and they ll tell me what a great writer I am. I ve got to get this done. Write, write, write. blue ribbon piece of paper pencil phone 2 puppets or actors Hey, Marla. Whatcha up to? Writing for the writing contest. Is there something special you re supposed to write about? Yeah. It s supposed to be about how we serve God. (looking back at her paper) This is gonna be so good. That s a great topic. I m heading down to the food bank. They ve had a big donation of canned goods and they need help sorting them. Sounds like a great idea. (looking back at her paper) They could sure use some more help. Would you want to come along? There s lots of hungry people that we need to get this food to. I really can t. I ve got to get this paper done for the contest. I want to win that blue ribbon really bad. Tell me again what you re writing about? Serving God. Yeah, right. (exits) 4

6 (phone rings and Marla answers) Hey, hey, hey this is Maaaarla. (pause, listening to person on phone) Oh, I m writing a paper for the writing contest. (pause, listening to person on phone) It s about serving God, and I m going to win a big blue ribbon, because it s going to be the BEST paper ever. (pause, listening to person on phone) You need help making cookies for the prison ministry? Oh, I just can t. I ve got to keep writing so that blue ribbon will be mine. Maybe some other time. Bye now. (as she exits) I m going to look so good wearing that blue ribbon. Voice Offstage: And the winner is Marla! (Marla and Andre come on stage together, Marla wearing a blue ribbon) (excited) Wow, we had such a fantastic time at the food bank! You should have seen the faces when we handed out those boxes of food. What a great feeling to know you re doing what God wants you to do. (not so excited) Well how do you like my ribbon? It s nice, I guess, but you don t sound very excited. What s the matter? Listening to how excited you were about the food bank, I just realized that the only thing I could think about was writing this paper about serving God and I got so wrapped up in it that I didn t SERVE GOD. You wanted me to go to the food bank, and Cierra called to ask me to make cookies for the prison ministry and I didn t do either because of this dumb ribbon. There s nothing better than being in God s plan, Marla. You did get a little sidetracked and confused. I really don t think I look so good in blue. And, all of a sudden, I m really wanting to bake cookies. I m going to call Cierra back. And, I think I d better get my focus back on God instead of on me. How did Marla s focus get messed up? The only thing she could think about was writing that paper, and she missed the whole point of learning about serving God. 5

7 Message (show slide #3) WHY do you do what you do? PowerPoint slides #3 and #4 That s called motive. What was the motive of the people in our Bible story today? Why did they want to build this tower? The Bible tells us that the people who were building the tower wanted to make a name for themselves. They wanted to feel important. They wanted people in other cities to talk about how wonderful their tower was. Let s turn our attention back to Marla. She had a motive problem, also. What was her reason for writing the paper? When Marla s motive got messed up, she missed the point of writing the paper, and that was to learn about and celebrate serving God. When have you participated in something just because you wanted to be noticed? Or, you wanted people to be impressed with how good you are at whatever you are doing? Have you ever done something to serve someone, but ended up telling other people how much you did, rather than how God used the situation to help others? (show slide #4) Romans 12:3. Don t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us. What does this verse tell us about our motive? It warns us to not think higher about ourselves than we should. Romans 12:3 tells us not to get a big head and not to worry about being in the spotlight. (show slide #5) WHAT happens when your focus and motives are wrong? When we operate outside of God s plan there is confusion. The word Babel means confusion babel, babel, babel we could call it the Tower of Confusion! Building this tower was not something God told them to do. It was an idea to make themselves feel bigger. When the people became self-centered instead of God-centered they started making poor choices. Ask the children to share with one another a time when they were confused. Turn to one or two kids sitting next to you and share for three minutes. When the time is up, let a few of the kids share what their confusing experience was like. More than likely, it will have something to do with being lost or not knowing what to do. When you aren t focused on God when your motives are wrong you get confused, because you re not doing what God wants you to do and you re not acting the way God wants you to act. Then, you re very likely to do something that God is not pleased with. Watch out! Keep your motives and your focus on God and not on yourself! God was not upset with the people for building a tower. He was upset with the people because they forgot about serving Him because they were so wrapped up in building the tower. What they were doing 6

8 became all about them. It wasn t about God. If we re God-followers, then our lives have to be about following God. That s first. That s the top thing. There s nothing more important! Anything less than that, and God is going to be upset with us, just like He was with the people who built the Tower of Babel. Do you ever do what the builders of the Tower of Babel did? Do you ever get so wrapped up in what you re having fun at that you forget to honor God? Do you miss the chance to help someone? You see, it s not about us. It s not about people looking at you and clapping for what you re doing. It s not about getting awards and being better than anyone else. It s about pointing other people to God. It s about putting God in the spotlight. The people who built the Tower of Babel wanted to stand back and say how cool their building was. They wanted people to give them a highfive and slap them on the back for the wonderful things they were able to accomplish. If you re doing something and God is not getting glory from it in any way, then you need to think about whether or not you should do it. Activity What does it mean when we say someone is really wrapped up in that? They get extremely focused on a club, a sport, how they eat, what they wear and so on. Tear some old sheets into long strips about 5 wide. Create groups of 4-6 kids and give each group enough strips so that each child has at least one strip. Each group will choose one child who will get wrapped up in the strips. Use the safety pins to connect the ends of strips, so the wrapping is continuous. There is no need to go around the head, but do challenge the groups to bind the arms and legs securely. strips of old sheeting safety pins strips of paper tape markers Once each group has a wrapped person, give the kids this assignment. On the pieces of paper, write things that kids get wrapped up in. What are you and the kids you know tempted to get wrapped up in? As the kids come up with examples, they will write them on a piece of paper. Then, tape that piece of paper to the person in their group who is wrapped. You now have a living, breathing, physical presence of what it means to be wrapped up in something and to be focused on something other than God s plan. Don t forget the camera! These photos will be priceless. Post them where the adults can see them and wish they were a kid again. 7

9 Prayer Pull all the pieces of paper off your kids who are wrapped up and keep them. Unwrap all the sheeting strips. Now, choose some of the papers and ask the kids to tell how God can be included in that activity. How can you change your focus in something you re involved in? Our lives are so busy. The people in today s scripture got real busy, too. They got themselves so busy, focusing on what they were doing, that they left God out of their lives. Still in their groups, ask each child to pray, completing the following sentence with the one thing that seems most difficult to include God in. If kids do not feel comfortable praying, ask them to tap the person next to them on the arm. Dear God, I want you to be part of my. Go around the group again to complete this prayer sentence. Help me to remember that you are more important than my. Object Lesson level Show the kids a level. The bubbles in the level serve a very important purpose. There are two marks on each glass tube. The direction you are holding the level determines which of these marks you use. There s a little bubble inside each glass tube. Move the level slightly until the bubble lies right between the two lines. Then, you know whatever you re trying to make level is level! Give several of the kids an opportunity to hold the level against the wall so that they think it is level. Show them how to check the bubbles to see if they are accurate. Then, guide them to move the level ever-so-slightly until the bubbles rest in between the lines. How can we know that our focus is level in God s sight? (It will line up with what God s Word says.) How can we know if our motives are level in God s sight? (They line up with what God s Word says.) How can we know if our attitude is right? (It s level with what God s Word tells us it should be.) 8

10 Activity labeled cards Make up sets of six small cards for each child. The cards should read: sports, God, family, grades, video games, friends. The kids will work on these individually, placing them in the order of how much they focus on them. Assure the kids that these won t be shared. The important thing is that you recognize and admit what you re focused on. What is your main focus on? How busy are you on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being crazy busy? Where does God fit into your focus? Scripture Memorization 1 Corinthians 2:9 (The Message) No one s ever seen or heard anything like this, never so much as imagined anything quite like it what God has arranged for those who love Him. Have you ever been somewhere and the people spoke in a language that you didn t understand? How did that make you feel? Have you ever thought you knew what someone was saying in another language and then found out that you were wrong? What if they said I d like a cookie in their language, but you thought they wanted to know where the garbage can was? When you pointed at the garbage can, they would think you were telling them their cookie was in there! It can be very confusing if you don t understand someone s language. Use a line from our memory scripture. Come up with your own unique language to say that one line from the scripture. The kids might choose to say the line in pig-latin, or say the last syllable at the beginning of the word, or change every word to start with the letter T. Let the kids try to figure out which line from the passage their friends are saying in their made-up language. Snack Let s make a cracker and cheese Tower of Babel! The children will work on these snacks in pairs or small groups. They ll just take turns at adding the next section. We ve all tried to build a structure using a deck of cards, but you can also do it with rectangular crackers and squirt cheese. Stand two crackers on end on a napkin, about an inch apart. Lean the top edges into one another. Squirt a line of cheese down the seam where the crackers meet. Carefully, very carefully, set 9 squirt cheese cans Waverly crackers (rectangular crackers)

11 two crackers next to this one and join them the same way. Lay one cracker across the top to make the next platform. Then, the really challenging part is to add one more tent on top of this platform. Enjoy and stop babbling! Music music video downloads We re excited to provide you with two songs by contemporary Christian artist, Yancy, to use in worship. Your kids will love this music, because Yancy presents a Christian message in the style that kids enjoy. It s not the same music that you grew up with, so relax and enjoy how much your kids connect with it. Throw the graphics on the wall and let your kids loose to have a blast worshipping God. The two downloads for this quarter are: Shout! and No Other Name. If you d like additional music by Yancy, check out Blessing May you have the attitude, focus and motives that God wants you to have. Storytelling Technique For this storytelling technique, the storyteller will be building something as they talk. This will give the kids something to focus on as they listen (which keeps them from being distracted by the people around them). You can use something like Jenga blocks, but these would be best used with a small group because they d be difficult to see in a large room. We suggest a large number of small and medium size cardboard boxes. Don t just stack the boxes one on top of the other, but build a base that will support your tower easily. YOU don t want to be distracted from telling the story because you re concerned about whether or not the boxes are going to fall. lots of small and medium size cardboard boxes In the book of Genesis, the Bible tells us about some people who got distracted and got their focus off God. While you listen to this story, I d like for you to keep your focus on the boxes here at the front. The people in Genesis had moved to a new place in the plain of Shinar. Now, there s a name for you! Out there on the plain they started a new community. There must not have been many big stones to build with, because the Bible says they made bricks and used tar for mortar. That s no easy task to make bricks! 10

12 They built themselves a nice little city and my, how proud they were of it. Then, they got this wild hair idea that they also needed a tower. This wasn t going to be just any tower, though. They wanted their tower to go all the way to heaven. They talked about how they would be famous all over the world because of this marvelous tower they were going to build. They built day and night. When the Sabbath came around and it was time to come together for worship, they worked on the tower instead. Sick people needed help, but there wasn t time, because they needed to work on the tower. A neighbor had a problem, but they couldn t talk, because they needed to work on the tower. After all, this tower was going to make them famous. The Bible says that God came down and when He looked around at the city and the tower, He was n-o-o-o-ot happy. This was not His plan. There was no time for God. The people had to work on the tower that would make them famous and they just didn t have time for God. Enough of that! God brought the work on the tower to a screeching halt. (stop building with your cardboard boxes and come around front) He confused the people by causing them to speak in all different languages. They couldn t call out for help with bricks. They couldn t call out for help when they needed bricks. What a mess! The people got tired of not understanding one another and the work on the tower stopped. The people who could understand one another decided to move away where they could live together and speak the same language. (move away from the boxes, deserting your work) What a confusing time and all because the people focused on being in the spotlight and not staying in God s plan. 11