Teacher BIBLE STUDY. Preschool Bible Study Leader Guide Unit 3 Session LifeWay Christian Resources

Transcription

1 Teacher BIBLE STUDY The covenant that God issued to Abraham is a significant and important event. Compare Genesis 22:17-18; 26:4; and 28:14. What do you make of the significance that God gave Abraham a covenant, then reaffirmed it with both Abraham s son and grandson? Abraham likely reminded Isaac about the promise God had made. But just to make sure, God retold the promise to Isaac, too. (See Gen. 26:23-24.) Isaac was 60 when he fathered the twins, Jacob and Esau. God shared some information with Rebekah about her twins futures. (See Gen. 25:23.) Another famine in the land forced Isaac to move. He planned to move to Egypt, but God told him to stay where he was because the land he was on would be the land God would give to his many offspring. (See Gen. 26:4.) God reaffirmed the covenant with Isaac. Isaac blessed Jacob, and Jacob moved away to the land of his uncle, Laban. While spending the night en route, he dreamed about a ladder or stairway with angels ascending and descending the stairway. God Himself stood by Jacob and reaffirmed the covenant He had made with Abraham and Isaac. In the morning when he awoke, Jacob took the stone he had slept on and anointed it with oil to use as a stone of remembrance. He renamed the place Bethel (house of God) and made a vow to God the only patriarch to make a formal vow. God s plan was clearly communicated to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Jacob would become the father of the twelve tribes of Israel, the nation through which God would fulfill His covenant promise by sending His Son, Jesus Christ, to be the Savior of the world. Preschool Bible Study Leader Guide Unit 3 Session LifeWay Christian Resources

2 The BIBLE STORY The Promise Reaffirmed Genesis 25:19-26; 26:1-6; 28:10-22 God had a wonderful plan for Abraham. Abraham would never have thought up God s plan by himself. God chose Abraham and his descendants to be a special family and nation that would bless the whole world. Blessing the world means helping other people everywhere know that God loves them. God told Abraham His plan so that Abraham and his descendants would know the plan. We know God s plan, too, because we can read God s promises to Abraham in the Bible. Many years after Abraham lived, God s Son, Jesus, would be born into Abraham s family. Jesus would be a great-great-great grandson of Abraham. He would be a descendant of Abraham. God told Abraham s son Isaac and Abraham s grandson Jacob the same plan that He had told Abraham, and He made the same promises to each of them. They did not have to guess what God would do. God promised that Abraham would have so many descendants children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren that nobody could count them all; they would become a great nation. A nation of people needs land to live on; God promised that the land Abraham moved to would belong to his descendants. And God promised that people everywhere in the world would know Abraham s name and be blessed because of him. They would be blessed because Jesus would come. Abraham probably told his son Isaac and his grandson Jacob what God had promised their family. But God Himself told Isaac and Jacob these promises, too. God spoke to Isaac during a time when there was no rain and food did not grow. God told Isaac not to move his tents and family to look for food in another place because the land where they were living would belong to his descendants someday. God had promised that same land to Abraham. Isaac would have as many descendants as there are stars in the sky. And people all over the world would be blessed by Isaac s descendants. God also made the promises to Isaac s son Jacob. Jacob was running away from home because he had tricked his brother Esau, and Esau was Preschool Bible Study Leader Guide Unit 3 Session LifeWay Christian Resources

3 very angry with him. When night came, Jacob lay down on the ground with a rock for a pillow. He fell asleep and dreamed of a giant stairway reaching from earth to heaven. Angels were moving up and down the stairway. God was standing beside him. God made the same promises to Jacob that He had made to Abraham and Isaac. God also said to Jacob, Look, I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go. Early the next morning, Jacob took the stone that was near his head and set it up as a marker to remember where God had spoken to him. He poured oil on top of it and named the place Bethel. Jacob said, If God will be with me and watch over me on this journey, then the Lord will be my God. This stone that I have set up as a marker will be God s house. In many places in the Bible, God is called the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God wanted their descendants, the people He had chosen to be His people, to remember that God had a plan and He had made promises to them. Christ Connection: God s wonderful plan to Abraham extended well beyond his lifetime. The plan was shared with Rebekah, Isaac, Jacob, and eventually an entire nation leading to the birth of a baby boy named Jesus. Jesus fulfilled God s plan to provide salvation and redemption for all of God s people. The Covenant Renewed LifeWay Christian Resources

4 Small Group OPENING Session Title: The Promise Reaffirmed Bible Passage: Genesis 25:19-26; 26:1-6; 28:10-22 Big Picture Question: How did people know God s plan? God told people His plan. Key Passage: Genesis 28:15 Unit Christ Connection: Despite difficult circumstances, God remained faithful to the people to whom His promise was given, in preparation for the salvation that would come through Jesus Christ. Prepare: Play Starry Night in the background. Set an offering basket near the door. Post the allergy alert for the snack ingredients. Set out a few favorite toys such as puzzles and blocks. LOW PREP Which Twin Is Which?, 1 per kid crayons black or brown yarn, googly eyes, glue, paper plate, cotton swabs (optional) Welcome and Session Starter (15 20 minutes) Welcome parents and preschoolers; follow your church s security procedures for signing in. Offer the child one or both activities to set the stage for today s lesson. Activity Sheet: Which Twin Is Which? If you are using glue, squeeze a little glue onto a paper plate and let children spread it with a cotton swab. Give each child an activity sheet as he arrives. Read the description of each twin, and color twin #1 and twin #2 appropriately. Print the names with each twin: #1 Esau; #2 Jacob. Say Do you know what identical twins are? They look alike, and sometimes people mix up which is which. Were Esau and Jacob identical twins? On the sheet you colored, which twin was Esau? How can you tell? Jacob and Esau were also very different people. They liked different things. Listen to learn more about them today. Preschool Bible Study Leader Guide Unit 3 Session LifeWay Christian Resources

5 Large Group BIBLE STUDY Session Title: The Promise Reaffirmed Bible Passage: Genesis 25:19-26; 26:1-6; 28:10-22 Big Picture Question: How did people know God s plan? God told people His plan. Key Passage: Genesis 28:15 Unit Christ Connection: Despite difficult circumstances, God remained faithful to the people to whom His promise was given, in preparation for the salvation that would come through Jesus Christ. Large Group Bible Study Time (10-15 minutes) Look! Introduce the Bible story Sing an echo song Look! about a promise God made to Jacob. Kids will echo the word look. Whisper a message from God in the ear of the child nearest you in the circle: I will watch over you wherever you go. The child whispers the message to his neighbor, and the message continues around the circle. Ask the last child what the message was. Repeat the original message for all to hear. Ask whether it is better to hear a promise secondhand from somebody else or from the one who really made the promise in the first place. Say God made wonderful promises to Abraham. Abraham probably told his son Isaac, and Isaac probably told his son Jacob these promises. But Isaac and Jacob also heard them from God Himself. They knew for sure that the same promises were for them, too. Listen to the Bible story about the promises. Preschool Bible Study Leader Guide Unit 3 Session LifeWay Christian Resources

6 The Promise Reaffirmed video Bible Use the timeline from the Timeline Map or Small Group Visual Pack. Big Picture Question Poster Key Passage Poster Look! Tip: Do activities one of these ways: at the same time as a group in small groups that rotate through each activity set up as centers, allowing preschoolers to browse and choose the ones they prefer Tell the Bible story or watch the video Tell the Bible story, or, if you choose, show the Bible story video The Promise Reaffirmed. Talk about the Bible story Examine the timeline, big picture question, and key passage. Point to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob on the timeline. Say How many descendants did God promise them? (like the number of stars in the sky more than a person can count) God told them His plan, and we know His plan because it is written in the Bible. How did people know God s plan? God told people His plan. Say that we will hear a Bible story soon that shows God kept this promise to Jacob; show some of Abraham s grandchildren in the timeline picture of Jacob s family for the Jacob s New Name Bible story. Read the key passage from the poster. Ask where we can read it. (Genesis, in the Bible) Show the verse in the Bible. Ask whom God made this promise to. (Jacob) Sing again the echo song about God s promise Look! Transition to small groups Describe the activities you have chosen to set up, and tell how you will organize working in them. Explain that people who travel long distances on foot often carry a staff. Return to small groups walking like Jacob, using a pretend walking staff. The Covenant Renewed LifeWay Christian Resources

7 white 3-by-5-inch index cards pastel-colored crayons dark blue, purple, or black crayons toothpicks LOW PREP Bible Key Passage Poster View hand signs at an American Sign Language site online. Color a starry sky Children must press hard as they color over the card with pastel crayons. They can use different colors if they like. Then they will color over the whole card with the side of a dark crayon, also pressing hard. After the sky is completely dark, show how to scratch a spot out of the dark and see a star in the night sky. After making more stars, count them. You may want to teach how to make a fivepointed star, a six-pointed star (intersecting triangles), or a snowflake star (like an asterisk). Say God promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that they would have as many descendants as the stars in the sky. How did people know God s plan? God told people His plan. Play out the key passage Read the key passage. Talk about motions to make with some of the words, such as Look ( V fingers moving from eyes to point outward) I (point to self) you (point to someone else) go (open hand, palm toward face, moves from body as fingers close, like a figure getting smaller in the distance). Practice going through the passage with motions. Repeat, substituting each child s name for you and all pointing to that child. Say God watched over Jacob all the time he was traveling and living far from home. The Covenant Renewed LifeWay Christian Resources

8 countown video or bell (optional) allergy alert for the snack paper cups and napkins water small crackers or cookies Bible story coloring page journal page books and puzzles crayons Snack Time and Transition (20 minutes) Call for attention and enlist kids to help put supplies away. Take a bathroom break, wash hands or use hand sanitizer, and recruit helpers to set the table. Distribute a few crackers to each child. Remind kids not to begin eating until everyone has been served and to say thank you to teachers and helpers. Thank God for the snack. Pray briefly or ask a volunteer to pray. Do not insist that a child pray aloud. Suggest laying a path of crackers or cookies. Chant Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, laying one cracker as each name is said. Continue, repeating a name with each cracker until each child has made a path. Then eat the path. Transition When a child finishes his snack, tell him to throw away his trash and select a book or puzzle to look at, color the Bible story coloring page, or work quietly at something else you provide. Those drawing on a journal page might draw Jacob s dream of the stairway to heaven. Welcome the parents or next session teachers softly. The Covenant Renewed LifeWay Christian Resources