The story of the Tower of Babel is the last story in the section of Genesis that deals

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1 Fear of Change Bible Verse The Lord will protect you on your journeys whether going or coming from now until forever from now. (Psalm 121:8) Did You Know? The story of the Tower of Babel is the last story in the section of Genesis that deals with the cosmic scope of God s creation. The first 11 chapters deal with the origin and history of humanity as a whole. Only with Chapter 12 does the narrative narrow in on the particular family (Abram s) from which God s people would emerge. Genesis 1 11 is universal in scope, starting with the creation of the world (and of the first humans) and then recounting the world-wide flood and repopulation of the world through the descendants of Noah. Finally, this universal history concludes with the story of how humanity came to be so diverse and dispersed across the earth. Session 2 Bible Story Genesis 11:1-9 Navigation Point We face new situations with faith. Historically, people have read this story as one of punishment, thus ending the cosmic recounting of history on a bad note. In this reading, the humans who began constructing the tower were excessively proud, competing with God by making a name for themselves. God thwarted this display of human pride by diversifying the languages and scattering the people across the earth. There is another way to read the story, however, that has existed throughout Judeo-Christian tradition and reemerged in contemporary biblical scholarship. Commentators have long recognized that the ending of the story that people are dispersed over all the earth echoes the divine command at the beginning of Genesis, that humans multiply and fill the earth. Perhaps the sin of the humans in Babel was not pride, but fear and anxiety. Although they presumably knew the divine plan for humanity, they were unable to take action toward fulfilling it. This new, post-flood humanity, still recovering from the trauma of near-extinction, wanted to huddle, not spread out and discover new worlds. They wanted to stay together; build a tall, sturdy tower that could surely survive rising floodwaters; and focus on survival. Fear trumped faith in the post-flood world. God, seeing the humans paralyzed with fear about what lay beyond their city, intervened. God forced them to spread out, create new cultures, and explore new places. God s vision for a diverse humanity that was spread throughout the world was accomplished. Chances are, your 11- to 13-year-olds know something about the fear and anxiety that comes with taking risks. Whether it s trying out a new activity, standing up for themselves, or facing a mental health issue, preteens have plenty of experiences that may bring anxiety. This story reminds us that it s human to be afraid; but when we face our fears, great things can happen. Requires preparation. Fall 2017 Session 2 deepbluekids.com/submerge 7

2 Jump In Choose from the following activities those that best suit your group. Diver s Log, colored pens, pencils, colored pencils DIVER S LOG Make colored pens, pencils, and colored pencils available. Give each student their copy of the Diver s Log. Encourage them to respond to the prompt on page 4 and to write, doodle, or draw their prayers on page 5. After some amount of time, invite your students to share their responses to the prompt as they are comfortable. ASK: How have your fears changed over time? Why did they change? Jenga game (or playing cards) GAME - JENGA Invite the students to play Jenga as a group, following the instructions that come with the game. Play as many rounds as you have time to play. Make sure each student is involved in the game. TIP: If you don t have a Jenga game, have the students build towers with playing cards. See which student or group can build the tallest tower without the cards falling. SAY: This game produces a lot of anxiety, as you never know when the tower will fall. The people in the Bible story today were anxious and wanted to build a strong tower that would never fall. Dive Deeper DVD Navigation Guide NAVIGATION GUIDE Invite your students to watch today s DVD segment together. Bibles (CEB) READ THE BIBLE Invite your students to look up Genesis 11:1-9 and to take turns reading. Discuss these questions from the DVD Navigation Guide: 1. Where do we create circles of sameness in our world today? 2. Based on this story, how do you think God feels about our human instinct to surround ourselves with people who are like us? 3. As people of faith, how are we called to respond to change? 8 Session 2 submerge Leader Guide

3 ACT IT OUT Photocopy page 11, one for each student. Assign each of the roles. Read through the script as a group. Where indicated, invite the students to say what they think the character(s) would say. Leader Guide TIP: Speaking as a character in the story is a form of Bible improv. Each student can share an answer from the character s perspective as she or he feels comfortable. It s okay for students answers to conflict. Each student will enter the story differently. DISCUSS IT Photocopy page 12, one for each adult discussion leader. Divide your students into groups of four to six. Assign each group an adult discussion leader. Invite your leaders and students to spend time discussing the questions. You may choose to discuss all four topics, or dive deeper into one or two. Leader Guide Grow Stronger TIME FOR A CHANGE Give each student their copy of the Submerge magazine. Encourage them to read the article on pages 6-7 and to respond to the prompts. Submerge magazine, colored pens ASK: What kinds of changes have you experienced in your life? What are some ways you can overcome the fear of change? PURA VIDA (PURE LIFE!) Invite your students to read the article on page 3. Submerge Magazine ASK: What does Pura Vida mean? (Pure Life) What did you learn about Guatemala? Have you ever thought of school as something you get to do, rather than as something you have to do? MISSION ACTIVITY - MAKE COLLECTION CANS Collect coffee cans. SAY: We ll start collecting money for Pura Vida in a couple weeks. In the meantime, we ll learn a bit more about Guatemala. Since one of Guatemala s main exports is coffee, we ll use coffee cans to make collection containers. Invite the students to use the art supplies to make decorative labels for the cans. coffee cans, markers, colored pencils, construction paper, scissors, tape, stickers, glitter glue, etc. Fall 2017 Session 2 deepbluekids.com/submerge 9

4 none ACTIVE GAME - SCATTERED ABOUT Invite the students to begin walking around the room randomly, being sure not to touch anyone else in their path. When you yell Time, the students find the nearest person and form a pair. Invite each pair to exchange responses to a get-to-know-you question that you provide, such as Are you a morning person or a night person? or In what city were you born? or What s your favorite food? Play several rounds. ASK: Did you learn anything new about your friends? How would this game have been different if we d stayed seated instead of getting up and moving around? SAY: The people in Babel didn t want to explore beyond their city or to be scattered about and learn new things. But God can teach us a lot if we re willing to step outside our comfort zone. Leader Guide, white candle, lighter, any decorations necessary to create a sacred worship space Worship Photocopy page viii, one for each worship volunteer. Light a white candle to symbolize Christ s presence in your worship space. Invite your students to share their responses to these questions: 1. What brought you joy this week? 2. What brought you sadness? 3. Where did you see God at work? TIP: Use mutual invitation to answer these questions. The leader invites a student to respond to the question. When the student is finished sharing, he or she may invite a student to share next. It continues this way until everyone has had the opportunity to share. Any student may pass. Invite one student to lead the litany. Invite the students into silent reflection for a set amount of time. Invite another student to lead the closing prayer. 10 Session 2 submerge Leader Guide

5 Act It Out STORYTELLER: Today is the day! Noah is finally getting off the ark. Noah; his wife, Naamah; and his three sons and daughters-in-law have been cooped up in this wooden boat with two of every kind of animal for a whole year. They re ready to return to their normal lives on earth. Noah opens the hatch to the ark and sees that the earth is dry. NOAH: Here it is the dry land we ve been waiting for. We can finally leave this boat and start living on solid ground. NAAMAH: I m so happy I could kiss the ground! But where are we? NOAH: We seem to have floated far away from our home during the storm. NAAMAH: It doesn t look like anything survived the destruction. No living creatures. No buildings or houses. NOAH: I guess we have to start all over. It s up to us to rebuild humanity and all that was lost. NAAMAH: (Say what you think this character would say.) STORYTELLER: Noah s three sons went on to have children whose children had children and their community slowly grew. Every year, in the second month, they gathered to hear Noah retell the story of the Flood. They knew that God had promised never again to send a huge flood like that, but they remembered what it felt like to lose everything. They were cautious people. They decided to build a city with a huge tower that would keep them safe and help them stay together as a people. GOD: There is now only one group on the whole earth. They are working well together, so they ll never split up. Come, let s go down and confuse their language so that they won t understand one another. STORYTELLER: The people were getting along well and felt safe and happy. But one day they stopped being able to communicate. They could no longer understand one another s words. They wondered what was happening. They can tell you themselves how they felt. PEOPLE: (Say what you think these characters would say.) STORYTELLER: Slowly, they realized they wouldn t be able to work together anymore. They d have to split up into smaller groups in which they could understand one another. They began packing their things and looking for new places to live. They can tell you themselves what it was like leaving for a new land. PEOPLE: (Say what you think these characters would say.) Fall 2017 Session 2 deepbluekids.com/submerge 11

6 Discuss It God Created Diversity SAY: When God saw that the people in Babel weren t planning to split up and fill the earth, God intervened. God created new languages and cultures and forced the people to spread out. This suggests that God really wanted the earth to be filled with all kinds of people. ASK: What kinds of languages and cultures have you experienced? Have you traveled to a new place or made a friend from another culture? How was that place or friendship different from what you ve experienced in your community? Why do you think God cares so much about diversity? Trusting God SAY: The humans building the tower didn t seem convinced that following God s plan was the best idea anymore after the Flood. Instead of filling the earth, they wanted to play it safe and stick together. ASK: Have you ever experienced something that made you question your faith in God? Where do you find the courage to follow God s plan, even when it feels scary? Faith Language SAY: If you ve ever tried to learn another language, you know it can be difficult. Some languages have words that don t really translate into other languages. Some languages have multiple words for something that another language has only one word for. Translating is challenging! ASK: Have you ever learned another language? What did you learn from the experience? Do you think worshipping God or praying feels different in another language? Why or why not? Old Habits SAY: In this story, God forces the people to change and adjust to a new situation. Change sometimes comes suddenly like that. But even when our situation changes, sometimes it s still hard to let go of old ways of thinking and acting. ASK: Have you ever had a habit that was hard to break? How did you change it? Has your life ever changed suddenly? What was that like? 12 Session 2 submerge Leader Guide