GKidz Timothy Club (K1-2) Small Group Guide Theme: God Keeps His Covenant Promises

Transcription

1 Date: 17&18 Jan 2015 GKidz Timothy Club (K1-2) Small Group Guide Theme: God Keeps His Covenant Promises Lesson 1 Part 1: God Blesses Us through Abram Memory Verse: The LORD is good. His faithful love continues forever. It will last for all time to come. Psalm 100:5 (NIRV) Bible Passage: Genesis 12:1-8 Learning Objectives: Children will learn about God s choice to bless Abram, and the many blessings God gives to us. Value Highlighted: Gratefulness Materials Needed: Rio Package BBP, Memory Verse Poster GKidz will provide - Mahjong paper, sheep and goat headgears, signs (Haran, Shechem, Bethel, Jordan River Plain, Hebron, Welcome to Canaan), name tags (Abram, Sarai, herdsmen, sheep, goats etc.), paper bag rocks, Bible passage posters, Vocabulary cards A. CONNECT (15 min) 1. Before you get started, put up the Psalm 100:5 Memory Verse poster on the whiteboard. Tape the signs for five different locations: Haran, Shechem, Bethel, Jordan River Plain, and Hebron around the room. Also put up the sign that says, Welcome to Canaan. Distribute te nametags (one per child) for specific roles from today s Bible passage. Make sure the main characters are covered (Abram, Sarai, Lot) before assigning other roles such as the large tree of Moreh, a Canaanite greeter, Lot s herdsmen, Abram s herdsmen, sheep, goats, etc.. 2. Let the children share their vacations or visits experience and what made these trips so special. 3. In your small group, allow children to list down the things they will need to pack for an overseas trip (eg. Korea, China, etc). They can write or draw the items on the mahjong paper. If the group is too big, leader will write the items as the children share. 4. When they are done, ask some children to share why they need these things to go to that special place. 5. Leaders please share one of your most memorable trips. 1

2 Transition: Children, in today s lesson we will talk about Abram who went for a long trip. Let us find out more about Abram s trip! B. INTO THE WORD (15 min) 1. Write the name Abram on the whiteboard, point to it and tell children that this word is Abram. 2. Show the Genesis 11:27-30 poster. Ask children to find the name Abram. Tell children that out of so many people listed in these verses, God chose to bless one man, Abram, in special ways. 3. Ask children to find Abram from the Genesis 12:1 poster and read out the verse together. Then ask the following questions: (a) What did God ask Abram to do? (Answer: God asked Abram to leave his country, his people and his father s family) (b) What did God say He would do? (Answer: God said that He will show him where to go) Transition: Children, many times in the Bible, God took time to announce important blessings to His followers. God gave Abram a special blessing containing words about the future and a promise to build a nation. It was through Abram s line that our Saviour, Jesus Christ, came to earth and brought everyone the hope of eternal life (Matthew 1:1-17). What a privilege to be able to read the first words of this blessing for Abram and know it affects us even now! C. GO DEEP (Part 1) (15 min) 1. Show the vocabulary cards bless and blessing, and explain the meaning. Then ask children to look for these words as they read Genesis 12:2-3 aloud from the poster together with their leaders. 2. Ask children the following questions: (a) What were some of God s promises to Abram? (Answer: God will made Abram into a great nation, God will bless him, God will make his name great and he will be a blessing to others) (b) Whom did God promise to bless through Abram? (Answer: God promised to bless those who bless Abram, all peoples on earth will be blessed through Abram) 2

3 (c) How do you think God has blessed us by keeping His promise to Abram? (Answer: God has blessed us with our Saviour Jesus Christ, who is Abram s great great.grandson. Jesus brought everyone the hope of eternal life (Matthew 1:1-17) and Jesus is our living God who loves and cares for us) 3. To get a feel for some of the places Abram traveled and his experiences with God in Genesis 12:4-8, lead the children on a journey around the room, stopping at the locations identified by the signs you put up in advance. Invite the children to participate by playing the roles of different people or places mentioned in today s passage (Abram, Lot, Sarai, large tree of Moreh, Canaanite greeter). Make sure all of your kids have nametags, including those who will portray herdsmen, sheep, etc. Place the Canaanite greeter between Haran and Shechem and give him the Welcome to Canaan sign to hold. Then place a person under the sign at Shechem to act as the large tree of Moreh. After everyone has prepared for the journey, begin your travels by reading Genesis 12:4 5 aloud at your starting point: Haran. Then head toward Canaan and give your greeter a few moments to make everyone in the group feel welcome in the new land. Exchanging a few salutations and waves at this point will help make your arrival fun for both the travelers and the greeter. Read verses 6 and 7 aloud and keep moving through the room until you come to the large tree of Moreh. 4. Read aloud Genesis 12:4-5 together with the children from the Poster and then verse 6-7 Poster accordingly and ask the following questions: (a) What did God do for Abram here? (Answer: God appeared to Abram) (b) What was His promise to Abram? (Answer: God promised to give the land to his children after him) (c) What did Abram do after hearing from God? (Answer: Abram built an altar there to honour the Lord) 5. Ask the children if they know what an altar is. Explain to the children that altar is a place to remember what God had done. Just like Abram who created an altar at a place he would regularly see to worship God. 6. Spend a few minutes building an altar together near the great tree of Moreh by using the paper rocks given. Give children the freedom to build the altar any way they want. (Leaders, please make sure to lead the children to build the altar with a reverence heart to honour and worship God, not just as a building game) 7. Leader says: Abram worshipped God by building an altar. We can worship God by praising Him for His goodness and love. Let s read this verse together to praise God! (Show Memory Verse Poster and read together with the children) 8. Ask children to find some of the key words love, good, forever, all time from the Memory Verse Poster. Leaders please help them if necessary. 9. Leader, please teach the children the signing for love, good and all time. 10. Ask children what does forever mean. Use vocabulary card to explain if they need help. Then teach children the signing for forever. 3

4 11. Ask children to offer their praises to God as a group by reading it aloud together with signing. Transition: Children, Abram also believed that God is good and His love endures forever. He believed God s promises for him, he prayed and worshiped God at the altar. God not only promised to bless Abram, but to bless us too! Children, God blesses us through many ways in our life. We can in turn, bless God through different ways too! Let s bless God with our craft now! D. CRAFT (Blessing Scroll) (30 min) 1. Show the children the Blessing Scroll sample and read out what are the blessings that are drawn on the Blessing Cards (on the ribbon). 2. Tell the children that having parents and guardians who love them is a blessing (be sensitive to children s family background), having enough food to eat, clothes to wear, books to read, toys to play, plants and animals in the nature are also blessings in our lives. 3. Steps to do craft: (i) Give each child a pipe cleaner ring, a ribbon, a set of blessing cards (includes Memory Verse card, heart shape letter, 3 coloured papers of different shapes) (ii) Ask the children to write their name on the heart shape letter 4

5 (iii) Put the pipe cleaner ring through the hole on the Memory Verse card, then stick the Memory Verse Card first and the heart shape letter next on their individual ribbon with Scotch tape or double sided tape. (iv) Ask the children to draw or write the blessing that they have on the given coloured papers, eg. family members, food, clothes, home, toys and books, good health, friends, pets, able to walk and run, etc. Then stick the papers onto the ribbon in sequence. 4. If the children still want to draw or write some more blessings, leaders please give them some more papers. 5. Ask the children to continue to draw or write their new blessings during the week and bring back the Blessing Scroll the following week to share with their friends. Leaders please show the parents the sample and inform them continue the craft at home as a family devotion or family project. They can lengthen the ribbon and add on more papers at home. 5

6 6. Ask the children to say God Bless You to their friends next to them, and leaders close the lesson with prayers for the children. Reference: Rio Reference: Rio Early Elementary Leader s Guide, Fall