LESSON date: Bible Passage: Genesis 6 9:17 (Noah and the Flood) God Keeps His Word REMEMBER VERSE Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves; ensure justice for those being crushed. Yes, speak up for the poor and helpless, and see that they get justice. Proverbs 31:8 9 (NLT) SCHEDULE Connect 5 10 minutes Gather 20 25 minutes Respond 15 20 minutes Engage 10 15 minutes Bless 5 minutes Environment: RESPONSIBILITY In this lesson, you will see the environment of RESPONSBILITY highlighted in how God entrusted Noah with building the ark and keeping his family safe.. TruResources are developed in partnership with ROCKHARBOR Church and a national network of family and children s ministry leaders. All Rights Reserved.
Inspire NOTES: It was near the end of my senior year of college. After spending nearly four years making friends, building relationships, learning more about myself, and learning more about God than I ever thought possible, it was time to leave time to look for a job and live in the real world. And I was worried. I had absolutely no clue about what I wanted to do and no clear direction on where God was leading me. I cried and wondered if God had forgotten me. But during this time, my mother reminded me about the truth of who God is and that He had a plan for my life. He had been faithful to me before and would not forget His promises to me in my moment of need. So I waited, prayed, and found reminders in Scripture that God was in control, that He would take care of me, and that He would keep His Word. The week before I graduated, I found out about an amazing job opportunity that seemed designed just for me. I was overjoyed that God had revealed exactly where He wanted me to go. God reminded me that He keeps His Word and He does not forget His promise to take care of His people. Today, when I struggle with similar anxieties, I remember how God has always proven Himself faithful. The God who took care of me then is the same God whom I serve today. My God does not forget His word. RaeLynn Lott TruStory Team 2
Equip God keeps His word. However, when God told Noah He would soon destroy all life on the earth, it s easy to imagine Noah hoping that, in this one case, God s words wouldn t come to pass! But they did, and God once again proved Himself true to His word. Afterward, in the wake of that devastation, mankind would have been left with a holy fear of God and the consequences of sin. It s possible that every time it rained, people thought the flood was starting all over again. But God made an agreement with mankind a covenant (or contract) with the human race that formalized God s promise that He would never again destroy all life with a flood. Understanding this idea of covenant is crucial to fully grasping the outworking of the plan of God. It is through the establishment of covenants that God first entered into a relationship with mankind and revealed elements of His plan for dealing with sin. Through the covenants, God revealed His divine intentions. He set out the parameters of His relationship with mankind. Because God s holy nature requires punishment for sin, and mankind s fallen nature ensures a continual fall into sin, mankind would always think there was an imminent danger of receiving the wrath of God. So, in His mercy, God established covenants with mankind promising (through the covenant with Noah) that He would never again destroy the earth that same way. Then, through the redemptive covenants, God promised an ultimate way of salvation from sin. Because of His covenant promise, people would know what to expect from God. This was the first clear revelation of God s plan to humanity.. Environment of RESPONSIBILITY This environment captures the ability to take ownership for one s life, gifts, and resources before God. A child must be challenged to take responsibility for his or her brothers and sisters in Christ, as well as for those who are spiritually lost. Our hope is that the Holy Spirit will use this environment to allow each child to understand that God has entrusted His world to us. The 10 Environments guide us in creating a climate that puts God on display. Encourage your families to discover more about creating the environment of RESPONSIBILITY in their homes by checking out HomeFront: A Spiritual Parenting Resource and Spiritual Parenting by Michelle Anthony. The Redemptive Covenants Abrahamic covenant: Genesis 12; 13; 15; 17; 18; 22 Mosaic covenant: Leviticus 26 Davidic covenant: 2 Samuel 7; 1 Chronicles 17 New covenant: Jeremiah 31:31 37; Ezekiel 36:16 28 3
Support Think of a time in your life when someone kept his word to you. Did a friend keep her word to keep quiet about sensitive information you told her? Did a coworker keep his word to speak up on your behalf during a difficult meeting with a boss? How about a husband or wife who kept his or her word to remain faithful to you? In each of these situations, think about how it made you feel to know these people kept their word. ADAM & EVE NOAH Here are some promises God has made to us: The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. (Deuteronomy 31:8) I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with lovingkindness. (Jeremiah 31:3) He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 1:6) Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! (2 Corinthians 5:17) This week, take some time to read these verses and respond to God through them. Ask yourself: How does my heart respond when I ponder the fact that God will keep these promises to me? How does it make me feel to know I serve a God who keeps His word? Praise Him for being a good and gracious God who desires to give His children good gifts a heavenly Father who faithfully keeps His word. TruStory Team TIMELINE JESUS YOU & ME OUR FUTURE WITH JESUS 4
Lesson Overview Experience Time Summary Supplies/Prepare (Master Supply List under Resource Tab) Connect// 5 10 min. Kids will develop relationships with their leaders and one another through activities and conversation starters. Animal Play Acting none Gather// 20 25 min. A Storytelling Video is available for this lesson. See page 8 for details. Respond// 15 20 min. Engage// 10 15 min. Kids will experience and learn more about God through communal and personal prayer, a creative telling of the day s portion of The Big God Story, and an investigation into God s Word. Kids will worship collaboratively and individually through many different media while being mindful of the greater faith community. The So what? Now what? component. Kids will engage with one another through various forms of play, including interactive games and activities, engaging projects, and experiments. Prayer none Storytelling Bibles (1 per child) printouts: desert, Noah, hammer, ark, wind, mountain, rainbow (see Resource Folder) Investigate Discussion Questions Remember Verse Remember Verse strips (see Resource Folder) envelopes scissors God s Promises in Living Color watercolors, paintbrushes, cups of water butcher paper or poster board optional: tape, quiet worship music Rain and Clouds photos of clouds (see Resource Folder) pens or pencils Bless// 5 min. Kids will get the opportunity to take new steps toward living out their part of The Big God Story as they re blessed by their leader. Bible (for the blessing) HomeFront Weekly (1 per child; see Resource Folder) 5
Connect// 5 10 min. Connect encourages kids to develop relationships with their leaders and one another. Within a free-flowing setting that utilizes simple simple supplies and conversation starters, Connect gives kids and leaders the opportunity to get to know one another better. When God decided to send a great flood over the whole earth, He kept Noah and his family safe by housing them in a big boat (or ark). He also remembered the animals He had made, saying to Noah in Genesis 6:19, You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you. God loves everything He s created! Today children will have the opportunity to interact with their leaders and one another as they talk about and play act as their favorite animals. CONNECT QUESTION: Welcome and greet the children. Then open your time by asking them: If you could be any animal for the day, what would you be? Why? Animal Play Acting SUPPLIES none RELATE If you have a large group, ask them to form groups of two or three. (If you have a smaller group, skip this step.) Next, have each group (or child, if you have a smaller group) choose an animal to play act, and then have them act as that animal for the next 30 seconds. At the end of 30 seconds, have each group (or child) choose a different animal. To add variety to the game, consider calling out the names of different animals, such as a cat, snake, gorilla, or bird, and having the kids act as that animal. Play for a few minutes or until your kids have gotten their animal wiggles out! Developmentally Speaking First and second graders have great observation skills and love to play act because they enjoy engaging with their world and are curious about the way things work. Encourage these characteristics in your kids through this fun game. 6
Gather//20 25 min. During Gather, kids will experience and learn more about God through communal and personal prayer, a creative storytelling of the day s portion of The Big God Story, and an investigation into God s Word, which may include word studies, Scripture crossreferencing, and a look into the context surrounding the passage. In this section, your children will often act as detectives and investigators working together to understand the mysteries and truths found in the Bible. Prayer Gather your children into a circle. Encourage them to hold their hands in front of them, palms up, as a posture of receiving what God might speak to them today. Then designate a leader (or two) to open and close this time of prayer. Encourage the children to participate in this time of prayer if they d like. Remind them praying simply means talking to and listening to God, and He always hears us when we pray. As you pray, leave space between prayers for the children to take the opportunity to pray, in case some may feel apprehensive and need a little more time. Ask God to bless the day s lesson as you spend time in His Word. Ask Him to speak to the hearts of His children, revealing to them the truth of today s ponder point: God Keeps His Word. Storytelling Storytelling Technique: Play Acting SUPPLIES Bibles (1 per child) printouts: desert, Noah, hammer, ark, wind, mountain, rainbow (see Resource Folder) PREPARE Print the images from the Resource Folder. Gather your kids into a circle, either in chairs or on the floor, and set the printouts nearby. RELATE Earlier today you spent some time play acting like your favorite animals. And because you did such a great job, we re going to tell today s part of The Big God Story by doing some more play acting. You re going to help me share about Noah and the flood, which we re going to read about in the Bible. Take out your Bible and turn to Genesis 6 9. Read (or have a child read) verses Genesis 6:5 9; 7:17 23; 8:1 5, 13 21; 9:8 17. After reading these verses, ask for several child volunteers. Tell them that at certain points in the story you re going to hand them each a picture and ask them to hold up the picture for everyone to see. Today s part of The Big God Story begins in the desert. (Hand the desert printout to a volunteer. If you want, have the child walk around the circle while the rest of the kids play act how they might feel if they were in a desert panting, fanning themselves, etc.) At this time in the Bible, it s only been 10 generations since the very first people: Adam and Eve. That means Adam was the great-great-great (have the kids count out 10 greats ) grandpa of all the people living on earth at this time. 7
Resource Tip A Storytelling Video is available for this lesson. Premium, Unlimited, and Combo users may access this resource on the My Lessons page > Extras > Storytelling Videos. NOTES: The people living during this time did very evil, bad things. They sinned so much they made God really, really sad (have the kids show sad faces). In fact, they made Him feel so sad that He decided to do something. Let s look in the Bible to see what God decided to do. (Have children look up Genesis 6:7 in their Bibles. Ask a child to read this verse aloud:) I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth men and animals for I am [so, so sad] that I have made them (Genesis 6:7). God decided to destroy the world and everything in it through a giant flood (have the kids snap their fingers, stomp their feet, and make swishing noises to mimic the sounds of rain and a flood). Though God decided to send a flood, He picked one man and his family to save. This man was righteous, which means he followed God even when no one else did. He took responsibility for his faith by believing in God and obeying Him. Let s look in the Bible to see who this man was. (Have children look up Genesis 6:9. Choose one child to read this verse.) What was his name? You re right, it was Noah (hand the Noah printout to a volunteer and have him hold it up and wave). To save Noah and his family, God gave Noah directions for how to build a big boat, or ark. So Noah hammered (hand the hammer printout to a volunteer and have her walk around the circle while everyone else play acts hammering into their hands or the ground) away at a bunch of pieces of wood following the directions God gave him for how to build the ark. God also told Noah to find two of each living creature a boy and a girl of each type of animal. He did this so they would also survive the flood and fill the earth again with animals after the flood ended (have all of the kids make animal sounds). After Noah did everything God had told Him to do, it started to rain (have kids to make rain sounds again) and rain and rain. It rained so hard the whole earth became one giant ocean. Even the tall mountains were covered with water! But Noah, his family, and two of each kind of animal were safe, because God had shut them inside the ark. (Hand the ark printout to a volunteer and have him walk around the circle while the rest of the kids hold out their arms and mimic a boat bobbing in the waves.) It rained for 40 days and 40 nights. Then God did something! Let s look in the Bible to see what God did. (Have children turn in their Bibles to Genesis 8:1, and have one child read the verse aloud.) Did you see what God did? Yes, God remembered Noah, his family, and the animals and God sent a great wind (hand the wind printout to a volunteer and have her walk around the circle while the rest of the kids make wind sounds) to blow away the clouds and stop the rain. Even so, no one could get off the ark because they couldn t find any dry land! Almost a year went by before the water soaked into the ground enough for Noah, his family, and the animals to leave the ark. Then they stepped out onto a mountain. 8
NOTES: (Hand the mountain printout to a volunteer and have him walk around the circle while the rest of the kids hold up their arms to form mountains.) This mountain was called Ararat. (Have the kids say it with you: AIR-uh-rat ). Finally, everyone on the ark could stretch his or her legs (have kids stretch their legs while staying seated). And Noah worshipped God for bringing him and his family safely through the flood, just as He had promised He would. God was really happy with Noah s worship. As He smiled down on Noah as Noah worshipped Him, God made Noah a promise. God said He would never again destroy the earth with a flood (Genesis 9:11). God also put a sign of His promise in the sky: a rainbow! (Hand the rainbow printout to a volunteer and have her walk around the circle while the kids hold their hands above their heads to form rainbows.) God promised that whenever He saw the rainbow, He would remember His promise and keep His word (9:16). Do you think God has kept His promise? (Allow them to answer.) Yes! God has kept His word, and He always will. In fact, God kept the most important promise of all: His promise to send the Redeemer Jesus to be our Savior. Because we know that God has kept His word in the past, we can count on Him to keep His word in the future. We can trust that Jesus will come back to make everything right again. We can trust that God loves us, takes care of us, and wants good things for us. Because God keeps His word, we can take responsibility for our faith by trusting Him and following Him. We can live each day knowing our God keeps His word. (This would be a great time to share a story of when God kept His word to you or someone you know.) When you re finished, close in prayer, thanking God for the time you all spent in His Word and how His Spirit teaches us about His faithfulness through His Word. 9
Colors of the Rainbow The colors of the rainbow result from light refracting (or changing direction) when it hits water. When sunlight shines through a raindrop, the light is reflected off of the back of the drop, then reflected again in another direction. Interestingly, light refracts at different angles. Blue light comes out of a droplet at a smaller angle than red light. That s why the color blue lines the bottom of the rainbow and red lines the top of the rainbow. Each color of the rainbow is created by water refracting at a different angle. Developmentally Speaking First and second graders can begin to participate in collaborative discussions. They enjoy What if? statements but connect more readily to concepts that relate directly to their lives. Investigate Discussion Questions Have you ever seen a flood or a really hard rain? What was it like? How do you think Noah felt about God choosing him to build the ark? What if you had been Noah? How might you have reacted to God choosing you? What did God promise to Noah? When we see a rainbow outside, what can it remind us of? When was a time in your life when God kept His word? (Leaders, please lead by telling stories from your own lives.) What are some promises God has given us through Scripture? (Help kids look up some promises, such as Proverbs 3:5 6 and Hebrews 13:5 6.) How does it make you feel to know that God keeps His word? Remember Verse Each week children will spend time memorizing a portion of Scripture together. Remember Verses are chosen according to the 10 Environments. The environment of RESPONSIBILITY says, God has entrusted me with the things and people He created around me. Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves; ensure justice for those being crushed. Yes, speak up for the poor and helpless, and see that they get justice. Proverbs 31:8 9 (NLT) Game: Verse in an Envelope SUPPLIES Remember Verse strips (see Resource Folder) envelopes scissors PREPARE Print the Remember Verse strips, cut apart each word, and put the words in an envelope (one envelope for every group of three to four kids). RELATE Form the kids into groups of about three or four, and give each group an envelope. Then read through the verse several times with the children. Once you think they have it, on your signal, let the groups race to see who can put together their verse the fastest. (If you have a smaller group, distribute the contents of just one envelope to your kids.) 10
Respond// 15 20 min. During Respond, kids will have the opportunity to process what the Holy Spirit has been teaching them. They will be encouraged to demonstrate their response to God in a time of handson worship, to express themselves individually through the use of many media, and to worship collaboratively with a mindset focused on the greater community. God s Promises in Living Color SUPPLIES watercolors, paintbrushes, cups of water butcher paper or poster board optional: tape, quiet worship music SET UP Tape the butcher paper or poster board to the wall or place it on a table. Set out the rest of the supplies. Optional: Cue the music. RELATE We serve a God who keeps His word. The Bible is full of God s promises to us, telling us who He is and what He promises to do in our lives. We know God always does what He says He will do! Knowing this gives us the strength to carry out our responsibility to play our part in The Big God Story. (Ask the kids to sit quietly and listen as you read the following Scriptures. Optional: Play quiet worship music as you read.) The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. (Deuteronomy 31:8) I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness. (Jeremiah 31:3) Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! (2 Corinthians 5:17) He is the Lord our God. His laws are for all the world. He will keep his agreement forever; he will keep his promises always. Psalm 105:7 8 (NCV) Now encourage your kids to respond to what they ve heard by painting with the watercolors on the butcher paper or poster board. They can paint images of what they heard, words or promises they remember, prayers for others, or anything they would like to say to God. Give the kids space and freedom to express their worship and response to God through art. 11
Engage// 10 15 min. The Engage section gives kids time to play, laugh, and explore together through interactive games and activities, engaging projects, experiments, and more. Rain and Clouds SUPPLIES photos of clouds (see Resource Folder) pens and pencils SET UP Print multiple copies of the cloud photos (at least one per child). Set out the pens and pencils. RELATE Pass out the photos of the clouds to the kids. Encourage them to look for shapes inside the clouds. Once they think they ve found a shape for example, an elephant or a car have them trace that shape onto the cloud. Have the kids keep working until they can t find any more shapes in the clouds. NOTES: Developmentally Speaking Because first and second graders are constantly learning new information, engaging with new people, and experiencing new emotions, they love stability and clarity. Because of this, they love to work independently on a project with clear instructions. Resource Tip Minute To Win It activities are available for this lesson. Premium, Unlimited, and Combo users may access this resource on the My Lessons page > Extras > Small Group Enhancements. 12
Bless// 5 min. As followers of Christ, we ve been blessed to be a blessing to others. This Bless time will allow children to take new steps toward living out their part of The Big God Story. This time will lead kids to go out into the community and respond to what they ve learned and received from God by sharing and giving away their knowledge and blessings to others. Before you bless the children in your group, pray about the blessing God would have you give to them. Gather the children together and read the blessing from Psalm 105:7 8 (NCV) over each one of them individually: [Child s name], God s Word says in Psalm 105:7 8 that He is the Lord our God. His laws are for all the world. He will keep his agreement forever; he will keep his promises always. Another option: Ask the children to stay seated in a circle as you walk around and bless each one of them. Touch each child on the head or shoulder and speak a blessing over her, saying, [Child s name], God always keeps His word. HomeFront Weekly: Be sure to send home the HomeFront Weekly for next week s lesson! This PRETEACHING tool for parents encourages families to spend time in God s Word together BEFORE children arrive at church. HomeFront: A Spiritual Parenting Resource: Each month we highlight one of the 10 environments. This resource gives families ideas for how to live in the environment while creating fun, spiritually forming times in their homes setting aside a sacred space for family in the midst of their active, everyday lives! 13