December 1st/2nd 2.3 Kinder Lesson Plan Isaac and Rebekah Bible Passage: Genesis 24 Story Point: God gave Isaac a wife. Key Passage: If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham s seed Galatians 3:29 Big Picture Question: Why can we trust God? We can trust God because He is faithful. INTRODUCE THE STORY TEACH THE STORY EXPERIENCE THE STORY (15-20 Minutes) (10-15 Minutes) (20-25 Minutes)
The BIBLE Story Isaac and Rebekah Genesis 24 Abraham was old, and his son Isaac was grown up. Abraham wanted Isaac to get married, so he told his servant, Go to my family s land and find a wife for Isaac. The servant went to the land. He took camels and presents with him. When he got there, he went to a well. It was evening, and the women from the town were coming to the well to get water. The servant prayed and asked God for help. God, help me find the right wife for Isaac. I will ask a girl for a drink of water. If you want her to be Isaac s wife, let her give water to my camels too. When the servant looked up, he saw Rebekah. She was beautiful and had never been married. The servant asked her for a drink of water. Drink this, she said. I will give water to your camels too. When the camels finished drinking, Abraham s servant gave Rebekah a gold ring and two bracelets. Who is your father? he asked. Rebekah said, My father is Bethuel. The servant asked to stay the night at her father s house. Then he thanked God for providing a wife for Isaac. Rebekah ran home and told her family what had happened. Rebekah s brother invited Abraham s servant inside. The family gave him a meal, but he did not want to eat. First, let me tell you why I am here, he said. The servant told them about Abraham and Isaac. He explained how God showed him that Rebekah should be Isaac s wife. Rebekah s family agreed that God wanted Rebekah to be Isaac s wife. The servant gave gifts to Rebekah and her family. The next day, Rebekah went with the servant back to the land of Canaan where Abraham and Isaac lived. In the evening, Isaac was walking in the field when he saw the camels coming. Rebekah got off her camel and covered up with her veil. The servant told Isaac everything that had happened. Isaac married Rebekah, and he loved her. Christ Connection: God gave Isaac a wife. This was part of His promise to give Abraham a big family and bless the whole world. One day, Jesus would be born into Abraham s family. 2
INTRODUCE the Story WELCOME TIME: Greet each kid as he or she arrives. Have one leader stand by the door with the clipboard to greet children by name and welcome their parents as they arrive. Use this time to collect the offering, fill out attendance sheets, and help new kids connect to your group. Prompt kids to discuss a time they were given a specific job to do, or sent on a mission. Did they take out the trash? Did they have to deliver a note to another teacher in school? Say Being trusted with a task can make you feel very important and special. But it can also be a little scary if the task is something you don t know for sure how to do. Today we will hear about one of Abraham s servants doing something very important. ACTIVITY PAGE Invite kids to complete the Here Camel, Camel activity page. Instruct kids to find and circle 10 camels, 1 gold ring, and 2 bracelets hidden in the Bible story art. SAY Today we will hear a story about how God provided a wife for Isaac. The story includes the items you found hidden in the picture. What do you think camels, bracelets, and a gold ring might have to do with our story today? We ll find out soon! ACTIVITY: Ring toss Set up the ring toss game and have kids take turns tossing plastic bangles at the sticks. Award points when a bangle lands around the stick. You may assign higher point values to certain bottles. At the end of the game, the kid with the most points wins. SAY In our story today, we will learn that Abraham s servant went to find a wife for Abraham s son Isaac. The servant found a wife for Isaac and gave her bracelets and a ring to show that she would marry Isaac and he would take care of her. WORSHIP: While the children finish playing or coloring, get the worship DVD ready. Choose 3 or 4 songs to sing today. SAY It s large group time! Come sit on the rug with us! We re going to sing some fun songs together that worship God! Why do we sing to God? (Answer: To honor Him with our worship!) 3
TEACH the Story TRANSITION TO THE STORY: To gain the attention of all the kids to move them to Bible study, flip off the lights or clap a simple rhythm for the children to copy. Place a bookmark at Genesis 24 in your Bible. Invite a kid to open it and reverently display the open Bible. SAY Remember, we learned two weeks ago that God made a covenant to bless the all the world through Abraham. Abraham did not have a large family at that time, but God promised that he would. Soon, Abraham had a son Isaac just as God had promised. When God asked Abraham to offer Isaac as a sacrifice, Abraham trusted God even when he did not understand God s plan. Thankfully, God provided a ram for sacrifice instead. When Isaac grew up, he needed a wife in order to start a family of his own. Today we will learn about how God provided a wife. Our story is called Isaac and Rebekah. Point to the Bible story picture. Remind children that all the stories in the Bible fit together to tell an even bigger story. The Bible tells us the big story of how God rescues sinners through His Son, Jesus. TELL THE BIBLE STORY: Show the Bible Story Video and then recap the Bible story by reading the words below. SAY God gave Isaac a wife to keep His covenant with Abraham. Abraham s servant trusted God to help him find the right woman for Isaac to marry. God wanted to continue working His plan to send Jesus. God is faithful because that is who He is, not because we earn His favor. PRACTICE THE KEY PASSAGE: Cut out the Key Passage Marker and place it at Galatians 3:29. Invite a volunteer to come up and open your Bible to the key passage. Read the key passage aloud. Practice the motions you created for the verse. SAY One wonderful thing about this key passage is that it tells us that we are part of Abraham s family if we trust in Jesus. That means the covenant promises to be blessed apply to us! Those blessings are not physical possessions or wealth, but something much better: eternal life with God! MISSIONS MOMENT: SAY Rebekah obeyed God by leaving her home and marrying Isaac. Missionaries also obey God by going! They go so that they can tell people living in other places about Jesus. In this video, DJ and his mom leave their home in Canada to help their friends who are Christian workers in South Asia. Show the They Matter to Jesus (Part 1) missions video. 4
SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION: Break into smaller groups with one leader in each group. We can trust God because He is faithful. God always keeps His promises. In our story today, God provided Rebekah as a wife for Isaac as part of His covenant to bless the whole world through Abraham s family. Show the Bible story picture as you ask the following questions. Retell parts of the Bible story as needed. What did Abraham want Isaac to do? (get married) What did Abraham s servant ask God to help him do? (find the right wife for Isaac) Who gave water to all the camels? (Rebekah) Who thanked God for providing a wife for Isaac? (the servant) Why can we trust God? We can trust God because He is faithful. PRAY TO CLOSE: SAY Why do we pray? (Answer: To open our hearts to God and talk to Him!) Ask the group if anyone has any prayer requests and pray together as a group. SNACK: Gather preschoolers for snack time and have them wipe their hands with a sanitizing wipe. Pray, thanking God for the snack. Pray, thanking God for the snack. Serve a snack. Remind children we can trust God because He is faithful. EXPERIENCE the Story ACTIVITY 1: Animal charades Play out being an animal using motions and noises and invite preschoolers to guess what animal you are pretending to be. Invite preschoolers to play out animals of their choice. Play as long as preschoolers are interested. End the game by pretending to be a camel. SAY The servant knew that Rebekah was the woman God had chosen as Isaac s wife because she kindly offered to draw water for his camels. God was faithful to help the servant find Isaac a wife. Why can we trust God? We can trust God because He is faithful. ACTIVITY 2: Make a camel Give each preschooler a sheet of construction paper with the outline of a camel. Provide markers and googly eyes for the preschooler to decorate the a camel. Write the story point on each child s paper and set it aside to dry. SAY Abraham s servant prayed that the girl whom God wanted Isaac to marry would offer water to him as well as his camels. Rebekah was the wife God chose for Isaac. God gave Isaac a wife. This was part of His promise to give Abraham a big family and bless the whole world. One day, Jesus would be born into Abraham s family. 5
TRANSITION AND DISMISSAL: For the remainder of the time, kids may color the Bible story coloring page, play a simple game to practice the key passage, or sing another song together. CHECKOUT PROCEDURE: As parents begin to arrive, open the door and have one leader stand just outside the classroom door with the attendance sheet. Take the parent s security sticker and call loudly for the child to come. While you wait for the child to come, tell the parents something that their child enjoyed doing or did well during the service and distribute the preschool big picture cards for families. Before you let the child leave the classroom, look to see that the parent and child security codes match and remove the sticker from the child s shirt as they leave. Note: If a parent lost their security sticker, send them to the check-in desk for approval; never allow a child to go to a parent unless they have the security sticker. 6