God’s Covenant With Abraham And Sarah Sand Art Workshop

Summary of Lesson Activities:

Students will examine sand to realize how many descendants God promised Abraham. They will decorate a star shape with their name & colored sand. This lesson emphasizes our connection to Abraham.

Note: This workshop was visited by 1-3 grades.

Scripture References:

Genesis 12:1-9; 15:1-6, 17:1–8, 15–17; 18:1–15; 21: 1-3, and 22: 1-18

Leader Preparation:

• Read the scripture for this lesson.
• Read and reflect on the overview material provided for this lesson.
• Gather the materials

Supplies List:

• Easel with appropriate marker
• On-My-Own Reader Bible (or another picture Bible with this story)
• Beach sand
• Magnifying glasses
• Tooth picks
• Pieces of construction paper
• Pencils
• Pre-cut star shapes cut out of Bristol board
• Hole-punch
• Colored sand (or use dry Jell-Ο powder)
• Funnel
• Salt shakers (empty)
• White glue (a container for each student)
• Meat trays (clean) or paper plates

Before Start of Class:

• Clean the tops of all of the glue bottles to make sure that they dispense glue.
• Separate the various colors of sand into shaker bottles.
• Use the hole-punch to punch a hole in each star so they can be hung up if desired.
• Write the key Bible verse on the easel.

LESSON

Opening:
Greet your students warmly, welcoming them to the Art Workshop. Introduce yourself and any other adults.

Say: Let’s start with prayer.
Ask for any prayer requests. Ask if anyone would like to lead the group in prayer. Use the Lord’s Prayer as the ending. A suggestion: “Dear God, we thank you for this time together to share your word. We thank you for the blessings you always give us. Help us to always remember that you will keep your promises to us. As we each travel on our journey of faith, help us to follow you always. (End with everyone joining in on the Lord’s Prayer) Amen.”

Dig:

Say: Tell me what you would think of this situation: God tells your parents that you are going to have to move. You are going to start over someplace new and wonderful but far away from friends and family. Oh and by the way, you will live in a tent in this new place.
Ask: What would your reaction be to this? (accept all responses)

Say: We are going to hear a Bible story today about a family that was called by God to move away from their home.
Ask: If Jesus learned this story when he was your age, would we find it in the Old Testament or the New Testament? (in the Old Testament)
Say: The Bible is divided into two testaments – the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Old Testament is stories that Jesus learned as a child. The New Testament tells us the story of Jesus’ life.
Say: Besides being divided into two testaments, the Bible is divided into 66 books. The Bible is like a library – a library of 66 books.
Ask: Does anyone know which book our Bible story is from?
Say: Our Bible story is found in the book of Genesis. Genesis is the first book of the Bible

Distribute Bibles to the older students; demonstrate this for the younger students.
Have them find Genesis, chapter 12. Make sure to point out that chapters are the large  numbers. [Don’t continue until you and your helper make sure that everyone is at chapter 12.]
Have the students keep one hand at chapter 12 and turn the pages until chapter 22.

Say: This is how long our story is – from chapter 12 all the way up to chapter 22. That is too much for us to read right now; but do read this at home with your families. Let’s look up our key Bible verse – this is the verse that we try to learn during each Rotation.

Have the students find Genesis 22:17. Refer to the easel. Point out that the actual key verse is Genesis 22:17a. Explain that the “a” means you stop after the first part of verse 17 – stop reading at the period in the sentence. Have everyone read together the key verse from the Bible.

Say: Let’s hear our story of the family called by God to move away from their home.
The main character in our story is an old man named Abram. Abram is 75 years old.

Read them the story on pages 24-31 in the On-My-Own Reader Bible. Show pictures as you read the story.

Ask: What is a covenant? (a promise)
Say: Last month we learned about the covenant God made with Noah.
Ask: What was the covenant that God made with Abraham? (that he would be the father of many people)
Say: God used a word picture to talk about how many children Abraham would have.

Ask: What was it that God told Abraham?
Say: God told him that he would have many children and grandchildren and great grandchildren – that they would equal the number of stars in the sky.

Refer to the easel.
Say: The promise that God made to Abraham is in our key Bible Verse.

Read the key verse to the students and then have kids say the verse together.

Ask: What is a descendant? (Abraham’s children & grandchildren & great grandchildren)
Say: Let’s see if we can count the number of Abraham’s descendants.

Examine Sand:
Pass out a piece of construction paper to each student. Distribute magnifying glasses, toothpicks and some sand. (Put a pinch of sand on each piece of paper.)
Say: God said that Abraham would have as many descendants as the sand on the seashore. Ask: Can you count the grains of sand.
Encourage them to try to count the sand. They can use the magnifying glasses to see better and the toothpicks to move the sand around. After they have counted for a few minutes, have them estimate the grains of sand on their paper.

Next, have the kids imagine looking at the stars at night.
Ask them if they can count how many there are.
Ask: Do you now see how magnificent and unbelievable God’s promise to Abraham was?
Say: We can count ourselves as descendants of Abraham because we also believe in Abraham’s God and his Son, Jesus. We are one of the stars that God promised Abraham. Let’s make stars with our name on them using sand art.

Create Sand Art
Pass out pre-cut star shapes. Have the kids write their name on the star with pencil (lightly!). Go over the name with glue. Not too heavy-- i.e. not too thick or the glue will absorb all the sand and it won’t work. Cover the glue with sand and holding star over a tray or plate, tip off excess sand. If time permits and there is room on the star, they also can decorate the star with other designs.
Note: to do each letter of their name in a different color requires writing one letter at a time in glue. Pour excess sand back into the containers before using a different color.

Discussion: (while the kids are working)

• Ask: Did God keep his promises to Abraham?

Say: Abraham and Sarah were blessed with a son that they named Isaac.

• Ask: How many of you know the ages of your grandparents?

Say: Sarah was 90 years old and Abraham was 100 when they had Isaac; pretty old for becoming parents! They had waited 25 years for God to fulfill his promise of a son.

• Ask: Could you wait that long for a promise?

Say: Think about how becoming parents at such an old age seems unlikely. Then again it does say in the Bible that God asked Abraham: “Is anything too hard for God?” That means that God can handle anything!

• Ask: What things in your life seem impossible to you?

What does this story tell us about God? (he keeps promises)

Say: Back at the beginning of our story, Abraham was called by God to begin a journey. Abraham has been on more than just a walking journey. He’s been on a faith journey – a journey where his faith grew.

• Ask: Would you say that you are on a faith journey?

What parts of your faith journey are similar to Abraham’s?
(hint: when have you had to trust God?)

Reflection:
Refer to the easel and have kids say the verse together.

Say: In making this covenant God was saying: I love you. I want you to be my people. I will be your God. If you obey me, I will see that you receive the blessings that I intend for you. Take all of your concerns to God. Nothing is impossible for God.

Send the stars home with the students. Urge them to hang them up at home.

Resources:

• Penrod, Kim. “Abraham and Sarah:” 2001. (An old lesson no longer at the rotation site.)
  
  Scripture quoted is taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

A lesson written by Carol Hulbert from: First UMC, Ann Arbor, MI
Copyright  First United Methodist Church, Ann Arbor, MI.
Permission to copy materials granted for non-commercial use provided credit is given and all cited references remain with this material
If you use this material, even in a modified form, please include the following reference:
Hulbert, Carol. "God’s Covenant with Abraham and Sarah: Art Workshop ." Oct. 2007. Place URL where lesson found inside angle brackets<>.

A representative of Rotation.org reformatted this post to improve readability.

God’s Covenant With Abraham And Sarah Sand Pudding Cooking Workshop

Summary of Lesson Activities:

Make sand pudding and discuss God’s covenant with Abraham, relating the key verse to a reminder that God keeps his promises. [Note: Scripture references are slightly different for this workshop.]

This workshop was visited by 1st-3rd grades.

Scripture References:

Genesis 12:1-9; 15:1-6, 17:1–8, 15–17; and 21: 1-3

Leader Preparation:

• Read the scripture for this lesson
• Read and reflect on the overview material provided for this lesson
• Gather the materials
• Divide the contents of each box of pudding in half (put half in each quart jar).
• Place 3 cookies into each sandwich sized bag (one bag per child)
• Wash the metal table
• Prepare a pitcher of ice water

Supplies List:

• Items in kitchen:
  • Liquid measuring cups – 1 cup (1 for every 4 students)
  • Rolling pins
  • Serving spoons (1 for every 4 students)
  • Spoons (1 per student)
  • Clean-up supplies
  • Napkins
  • cups or small bowls (1 per student)
  • Spatulas
  • Aprons
• Large box 5.1 ounce (6 servings "family" size) Instant Vanilla Pudding Mix (1 box for every 8 kids)
• Item in refrigerator: Milk (1 cup for every 4 students)
• Quart size jars with tight fitting lids (1 for every 4 students)
• Sandwich-size plastic bags (1 per student)
• Vanilla Wafers - 3 or 4 cookies per student
• The Children’s Bible in 365 Stories or your favorite picture Bible with this story

LESSON

Opening:
Gather everyone around the tables in the Social Hall. Greet your students warmly, welcoming them to the Cooking Workshop. Introduce yourself and any other adults.

Say: Today we will learn more about Abraham and his relationship with God.
But first let’s begin with prayer.

Ask for any prayer requests. Ask if anyone would like to lead the group in prayer. Be prepared to say a prayer yourself, working in prayer requests. A suggestion: “Dear God, please help us listen to what God wanted Abraham to do. Help us listen to what God wants us to do. Amen”

Dig:

Ask: How many of you have ever gazed at the stars at night?
Have you ever tried counting the stars?
Were you able to count the stars?
How many were there?
What about sand on a beach, have you ever tried to count the grains of sand?

Say: We are going to hear a story about a time when God told a man named Abram to count the stars! Let’s see why God told Abram this.

Ask:  Jesus learned this story as a child, so where would we find this story in the Bible? (Old Testament)
Say: The Bible is divided into two testaments – the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Old Testament is stories that Jesus learned as a child. The New Testament tells us the story of Jesus’ life and the start of the church after Jesus’ death.

Ask: Who knows in what book of the Bible our story is found? (Genesis)
Say: We find our story in the Old Testament of the Bible, in the first book of the Bible, Genesis. Genesis means “beginnings”. This is a story at the beginning of the Bible. It is a story that comes after the story of Noah that you learned last month.

Say: Before we read our story there are some words I want to be sure that you understand. Last month we learned about God’s covenant with Noah.
Ask: What is a covenant? (a promise or agreement)
What does it mean if someone has descendants? (it means that they have children, and those children have children)

Hand out Bibles (or open your Bible with pre-readers). Find Genesis, chapter 12. Make sure to point out that chapters are the large, orange numbers.
Say: Our story continues all the way into chapter 22. It is too long to read from the Bible today.
Do have them look up the key verse: Genesis 22:17.

Hold a copy of the story “The Story of Abraham and Sarah” in your open Bible while you read the retelling of the story. At the appropriate times, show them the pictures on page 24-25 of The Children’s Bible in 365 Stories. Or read the story from a picture Bible.

Say: God said Abraham would have millions of descendants. Our key verse for the month tells us about this promise God made. Let’s all say this key Bible verse together.

Have the students repeat the key verse a couple of times:
“I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore.” Genesis 22:17a

Say: We are going to make sand pudding in the kitchen to demonstrate the million of grains of sand representing the millions of Abraham’s descendants.

Have everyone put on aprons, wash their hands, and gather around the metal table. Give each student a sandwich size bag with the cookies in it. Have each child pound on the cookies with the rolling pins to make them into crumbs. Set aside.

Ask the assistant teacher to help you divide students into groups of four. Provide them with:

• Quart jar and lid with ½ a box of pudding mix
• One cup - measuring cup
• A serving spoon and spatula
• 4 cups or small bowls

Say: Work together in your group to make pudding. We’re going to make the pudding by shaking the ingredients in these jars. Everyone can take a turn shaking the jar.

Pass the milk among groups, having students measure 1 cup. Instruct students to:
1. Add the 1-cup of milk to the pudding mix in their jar,
3. Cover tightly (check!),
4. Shake. Warn them about being careful to hold jars tightly when shaking!

This pudding thickens quickly (because we are using less milk than recipe calls for). When the pudding is ready, have them spoon it into their cups (or bowls), layering in their crushed cookies.

As the kids work:
Ask: Do you suppose you’ll be able to count the grains of “sand” in your sand pudding?
Say: This sand pudding reminds us of God’ promise to Abraham.
Ask: What was it that God promised? (that Abraham would have many descendants)

Go back out to the Social Hall to eat the pudding. Take the pitcher of water with you.

Reflection:

While the kids are eating, review:

• Where was this story of Abraham found? (in Genesis)
• What is a covenant? (a strong promise)
• What was the covenant God made with Abraham? (that he would have many descendants, that he would have land & be blessed)
• Who knows another example of a covenant God made with someone? (with Noah, the rainbow, the promise never to destroy the earth with a flood)
• What does Abraham mean? (father of many)
• Did God keep his covenant with Abraham? (yes)
• Why did we make sand pudding? (various answers, to remind us that God keeps his promises)

Say: Abraham trusted God when he left his home to go on a journey.
Ask: Do we trust God to guide us?

Say: While Abraham was on his journey, he had lots of chances to learn to trust God.
Ask:

• Are we on a journey – a journey where we are learning about God?
• What are some times where you’ve had a chance to learn to trust God?

Say: This week during school and at home, let’s see if we can listen to what God wants us to do. We need to remember that with God, all things are possible.

Have the kids repeat the key verse with you.

Before dismissal, everyone helps clean up the mess!

Extra Activities (If you have extra time):
Play a name game: start off by saying: “God made Abraham, Jesus, and me - members of God’s family.” Each person adds his or her name to the list in place of “and me,” until everyone is named. Then go around and see if everyone can do the entire list. “God made Abraham, Jesus and Andrea, and Carol, and…”

Resources:

• Batchelor, Mary. The Children’s Bible in 365 Stories. Batavia, IL: Lion Publishing, 1985. (Story paraphrase was adapted from this Bible. The paraphrase is not included here because it is basically just copyright words rearranged.)
• Shackelford, Paul and Barbara . “Abraham and Sarah lesson set.” 2001. (name game). Rotation.org
  
  Scripture quoted is taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

A lesson written by Carol Hulbert from" First UMC, Ann Arbor, MI

Copyright First United Methodist Church, Ann Arbor, MI.
Permission to copy materials granted for non-commercial use provided credit is given and all cited references remain with this material
If you use this material, even in a modified form, please include the following reference:
Teener, Carol and Carol Hulbert. "God’s Covenant with Abraham and Sarah: Cooking Workshop ." Oct. 2007. Place URL where lesson found inside angle brackets<>.

A representative of Rotation.org reformatted this post to improve readability.

God’s Covenant With Abraham And Sarah Giant Game Workshop

Summary of Lesson Activities:

Students will play a room-sized board game to explore the story after hearing it, and also to practice some Bible skills.

Note: This workshop was written for younger elementary grades. If you have older kids visit this workshop then just add on to the “tougher” questions.

Scripture Reference:

Genesis 12:1-9; 15:1-6, 17:1–8, 15–17; 18:1–15; 21: 1-3, and 22: 1-18

Leader Preparation:

• Read the scripture for this lesson.
• Read and reflect on the overview material provided for this lesson.
• Gather the materials
• Cover the game wheel so it won’t distract the students.
• Write the key Bible verse on the whiteboard.
• Make sure the answers to the suggested game questions are in the story Bible adaptation you are reading. Make adjustments to the story or questions as needed.

Supplies List:

• Whiteboard with appropriate marker
• Story Bible; we used The Praise Bible
• Life-sized game board – canvas tarp with painted spaces (4 colors) - We made our game board out of two sheets of painters' drop cloth – the canvas type. They were painted with acrylic paint to look like a Candyland type of a board. For a pictures of game boards, see here.
• Game wheel or spinner with corresponding 4 colors (If you don't have a spinner, have kids pull pieces of paper that are one of the four colors out of a bag)
• Game wheel cover to convert it to a four color spinner

LESSON

Opening:
Greet your students warmly, welcoming them to the Games Workshop. Introduce yourself and any other adults.

Say: Let’s start with prayer.
Ask for any prayer requests. Ask if anyone would like to lead the group in prayer. Use the Lord’s Prayer as the ending. A suggestion: “Dear God, Thank you for your involvement in our lives. As we journey on our path to understanding you, help us to listen for your call, remember your promises, and follow you in trust and obedience. (End with everyone joining in on the Lord’s Prayer) Amen.”

Dig:
Say: We are going to be playing a game today that will see how well we know our Bible story. Let’s review our story before we play our game.

Ask: Where in the Bible did we find the story of Noah, that we learned about last month? (in first book of the Old Testament, Genesis)
Say: Our story from this month comes from the same place, the book of Genesis. Our story today is about two people, Abraham and Sarah. Before we read our lesson, let’s go out to the Bible timeline and look for our story in pictures.

Head out to the time line:
Take the copy of The Praise Bible. Remind students not to touch the art work.

Have them point out Noah, and Abraham and Sarah.
Have everyone sit down. Remind the students to listen carefully as you read them the story so that they will be able to answer the game questions.

On the first week of the Rotation, read them the story on pages 36-42 and 44, showing the pictures as you read. Be sure to include the words written in pen. (Note: by lesson-poster: I had added some words to one of the pages about Sarah laughing.)
Subsequent weeks, ask the students if they can tell you the story. Fill in any missing details.

Ask: Why do you suppose Sarah laughed at the news that she would have a baby?
(accept a couple of answers)
Say: Sarah was almost 90 years old when she heard this news. That is pretty old to be having a baby! As we go back to the classroom I want each of you to take a look at Sarah in the painting – see if you think that she is laughing as Abraham shows her the stars in the sky.
(NOTE: if you don't have a wonderful mural like 1st UMC, you can share a fine art depiction of Abraham and Sarah, or just look at the pictures in your picture Bible.)

Back in the classroom - Play the Game:
Ask: Did you think that Sarah was laughing in the painting?
Why was Abraham showing Sarah the stars in the sky? (if necessary show them the picture on page 40-41 in The Praise Bible)

Optional, with older students:
Distribute purple Adventure Bibles.
Say: These are the type of Bible that you received in church. I want to point out a neat feature of these Bibles.
Have the students find Genesis 12. Tell them that our story starts here. Have the students look at the “People in Bible Times” note at the top of page 15.
Say: Your Bibles have these wonderful study notes and resources to help you understand what you are reading. Sarah laughed because she thought that she was too old to have children.

For all students:
Explain that students will work in teams to move across the game board – squeezing onto spaces as needed. The object of the game is not to be first to reach the end, but for all teams to reach the end, or to get as far as time permits, and to have fun doing it.

Lay out the game board(s). Have everyone take off his/her shoes. Ask the assistant teacher to help you divide the class into teams of 2 or 3 players each. [Preferably in 2s but 3 is ok if needed]. Have the team with the person whose birthday is closest to today’s date go first.

One member of the team spins the wheel. While the wheel is spinning, ask the next question of the team. All the people on a team should confer/work on an answer. Checking Bibles is OK (for readers)! Remind the children that only the team in play should be talking. Take time for Discussion! If the team answers correctly they get to move to the color that was spun.
Note: it is OK to start groups of kids from different ends of the game board.

Reflection:
Say: For each Bible story we study as Sunday’s Cool Disciples, we try to learn a Bible verse. Let’s say our verse together. [Refer to the displayed Bible verse.]

Say the verse together once or twice.
“I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore.” Genesis 22:17a (NIV)

Choose a student to remove one of the cards from the display. See if students can repeat the verse with the card missing. Continue doing this until all of the cards are gone.

Game Questions:

• Where in the Bible is this story found? (Genesis)
• Is this story in the Old Testament or the New Testament? (Old)
• What is a covenant? (a promise or an agreement)
• What was Abraham’s name at the start of our story? (Abram)
• What was Sarai’s name changed to? (Sarah)
• What does God promise to Abram? (He will have more descendants than the number of stars; to leave this land and follow God; he will be blessed with a child and will be given land, which he will then give to his descendants). [Ask this question a number of times, looking for all possible answers.]
• How does Abram respond to God telling him to move to a new land? (He follows God, he goes)
• What was odd about Abraham and Sarah when God promised them that they would have so many children? (they were really old)
• God said that he would bless Abram. To bless means to give something. What blessings did God provide? (a child, Abram also was wealthy, had lots of sheep, animals)
• How has God blessed you?
• What did God promise Abraham that his children would be as many as? (the stars in the sky, the grains of sand on the seashore)
• Did Abraham and Sarah have any children? (Yes, eventually)
• What was the name of their child? (Isaac)
• What are ways that you can listen for God to call you? (prayer, reading the Bible, talking to people)
• If God called you to move away from home, how do you suppose you would react?
• What other stories do you know in the Bible that tell about a journey? (Mary and Joseph traveling to Bethlehem, Israelites traveling in the desert for 40 years)
• Who is it that is traveling with you on your journey of faith? (parents, friends, siblings, etc.)
• Did it seem to you to be totally impossible for God to keep his promises to Abraham (I mean Abraham and Sarah were old!)?
• Why did God have Abram look up and try to count the stars? (refer to key verse)
• Who were the three men who came to visit Abraham and Sarah? (three angels sent by God)
• Sarah laughed when she heard about her having a baby. What are some ways that God has brought laugher to your life?
• If you had been Sarah (almost 90 years old and without any children), how do you suppose that you would have reacted to the news from the three visitors?
• Why was Isaac given a name that means “laughter”? (his name was Isaac meaning laughter because Sarah laughed when she heard she’d have a baby. Genesis 18:10-15)
• Did God keep his promises to Abraham and Sarah? (yes)
• Do you suppose that God will keep his promises to you?
• God seems to talk with Abram/Abraham frequently. What are ways you can listen for God to talk to you? (prayer, listening in worship service, listening in Sunday school, reading the Bible, talking to people)
• Abram and Sarai had their names changed. A change in name signifies a change in relationship with God. What would you like your name to change to? How would it signify a different relationship with God?
• Our story included the words “Nothing is too hard for God.” What does this mean to you?

A few tougher questions for the older students

• Find Genesis 12 in the Bible.
• How long did Abraham and Sarah have to wait for God’s promise of a son to come true? (about 25 years. Genesis 21:5 says Abraham was 100 when Isaac was born; Genesis 12:4 says he was 75 when God spoke to him about making him a great nation.)
• Does Abraham ever get mentioned in the New Testament? (Yes, Romans 4:16-25 and Hebrews 11:8-12). Show the kids how to look up “Abraham” in the Dictionary-Concordance in the purple Bibles.

Resources:

Serendipity Bible for Groups. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1998. (some game questions adapted from this source)
This workshop was originally written in 2001 by Carol Hulbert, who at the time didn’t keep good notes on where she’d gotten materials from. Surely some of this comes from other postings at rotation.org. Unfortunately I don’t know which ones... Updated in October 2007.

Scripture quoted is taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

Why are we sending kids out to look at our timeline? Well, we are mighty proud of our time line! It is a work of art! For pictures view the artist's web site.

A lesson written by Carol Hulbert from: First UMC, Ann Arbor, MI
Copyright First United Methodist Church, Ann Arbor, MI.
Permission to copy materials granted for non-commercial use provided credit is given and all cited references remain with this material
If you use this material, even in a modified form, please include the following reference:
Hulbert, Carol. "God’s Covenant with Abraham and Sarah: Games Workshop ." Oct. 2007. Place URL where lesson found inside angle brackets<>.

A representative of Rotation.org reformatted this post to improve readability.

God’s Covenant With Abraham And Sarah Puppet Workshop

Summary of Lesson Activities:

Students will use handle-bag puppets to enact the story of Abraham and Sarah.

Note: This workshop was visited by 4-6th grades.

Scripture Reference:

Genesis 12:1-9; 15:1-6, 17:1–8, 15–17; 18:1–15; 21: 1-3, and 22: 1-18

Leader Preparation:

• Read the scripture for this lesson.
• Read and reflect on the overview material provided for this lesson.
• Gather the materials
• Make the signs to be used in the puppet show. One that says “Abram” on one side and “Abraham” on the other; One that says Sarai on one side and “Sarah” on the other; One that says “Another Place” and has an arrow pointing; One that says “One Place.”
• Label 14 Popsicle sticks: Abraham, Sarah, “Abraham” Sign, “Sarah” Sign, Narrator, God, Servant, Sheep (write 2 sticks for this one), “Another Place” sign, “One Place” sign, Tent, Altar, Stranger
• Write the key Bible verse on the whiteboard.

Supplies List:

• Easel with appropriate markers
• Adventure Bibles
• Handle-bag puppets (other Bible times or people puppets could also be used)
• The puppet stage
• Puppet Script – follow link to free (but copyrighted) script
• Scene clapper
• Read With Me Bible
• Signs that are held up during the play (see the script)
• Popsicle sticks (one per child)
• Pen
• Index cards with story events (for extra sequencing task)

Lesson Plan

Opening:
Greet your students warmly, welcoming them to the Puppets Workshop. Introduce yourself and any other adults.

Tell the kids that they will be learning about another covenant today – remind them that they learned about the covenant God made with Noah last month.

Say: In this workshop we act out Bible stories using puppets that are very easy to use. We are learning (continuing to learn) about the story of Abraham and Sarah.

Ask for any prayer requests. Ask if anyone would like to lead the group in prayer. Use the Lord’s Prayer as the ending. A suggestion: “Dear God, Help us to always remember that you will keep your promises to us. We thank you for the blessings you always give us. (End with everyone joining in on the Lord’s Prayer) Amen.”

Dig:
Ask: Where in the Bible would we find the story of Noah, the lesson from last month? (The first book of the Old Testament, Genesis)

Say: The story for this month comes from the same place, the book of Genesis. This is the story of Abraham and Sarah.  Let's find chapter 12 in Genesis in our Bibles.

Continue: This is a BIG story – many chapters of Genesis are devoted to Abraham and Sarah. (Using the purple Adventure Bible) Let’s start with chapter 12, and read the notes on pp. 14 and 15 about the main characters in our puppet show, Abraham and Sarah.

Ask: Based on the notes we just read, what was the promise God made to Abraham and Sarah? (they would have many descendants; Sarah would have a son)
Continue: Now let’s flip through the Abraham story – just read the titles at the chapters 12, 15, 18, 21.

(NOTE: We have left off reading the heading at chapter 17 because in these Bibles that heading is “The Covenant of Circumcision.” We are skirting this subject! If someone sees this word and asks about it a good response is to have the kids look up the word in the dictionary at the back of these Bibles. (Good practice in dictionary use.) Have them read the definition and then you can say: Today circumcision is done for hygienic and for social reasons; in those days it was a sign of being God’s people.)

Have the kids read the titles aloud – point out the sequence of events.
(In the later part of the rotation, you can start off by asking the kids if they can tell you the story. Have them fill in any details by looking up passages in their Bibles.)

Say: The puppet show will tell us part of Abraham and Sarah’ story – we are not going to read the complete story now. But we will read our key Bible verse, Genesis 22:17, because it helps us understand God’s promise to all of us. (show picture on pp.42-43 of Read With Me Bible while reading the key Bible verse).

Say: Let’s act out the story using puppets. We can do the puppet show more than once, so that some can be the audience while others are acting out the story; then we’ll switch.

Explain how to use the puppets:
Show the students one of the handle-bag puppets.
Say: We can have lots of fun with these puppets but we need to treat them gently. Like all church property, we will be respectful and careful in our use of the puppets.

Show the kids how the “bag” or body, slips off the rod or handle. Show them how you hold the rod with one hand. Now slip the handle through the top of the bag. Show them how one hand is on the handle and the other hand is in the far corner of the bag – it becomes the “hand” of the puppet. Demonstrate how the puppet can wave, cover their puppet mouth to cough, and pick up something.

Enact the story using puppets:
Start off by picking characters by drawing sticks (add additional Popsicle sticks to the written supply so that you have a number equal to the number of students).
[If you have fewer than 14 students take out Popsicle sticks for: “Abraham” Sign or “Sarah” Sign – ask the student with the puppet for Abraham and for Sarah to also do the sign. Next if needed, take out “One Place” sign – ask a student to do both the “place” signs. Or take out one of the Sheep.]

Take the Popsicle sticks in your hand with the written part hidden in your palm. Have students each draw a stick. This is the part that they should play for the entire “production.” Switch parts only if you do the play a second time.

Characters: (*means non-speaking roles)
Abram/Abraham puppet
Sarai/Sarah puppet
Sign with Abram/Abraham*
Sign with Sarai/Sarah*
Narrator (not a puppet)
God (not a puppet – just a voice)
Servants (we used pictures on a sign; held by a student)*
Sheep puppets (2)*
“Another Place” sign*
“One Place” sign*
Tent (we used a picture pasted on a sign; held by a student)*
Altar (picture on a sign; held by a student)*
Three strangers (picture on a sign; held by a student)*
Isaac (puppet held by Sarah puppet)*

Pass out copies of the script.
Have them pay attention to the words in italic letters. Whatever is in italic letters, they can act out. For example: when it says, “Abram builds an altar.” Abram would go through the motions of building an altar.

Run through the script.

Discussion
After the first puppet show, use these questions to help guide discussion:

• Remember at the beginning of class we said this was about a covenant. How would you define a covenant? (a promise or an agreement) What was the covenant God made with Abraham? (if he obeyed God and left his home for a new land, God would bless him with many children) How did God honor the covenant? (He blessed Abraham and Sarah with Isaac)
• How does God keep that covenant with us today – how are we blessed by God? (answers vary – families, homes, food to eat, pets, etc.)
• Tell about how your faith journey is similar to Abraham and Sarah’s – can you think of times when you trusted God?
• Describe how illogical God’s promises to Abraham and Sarah seemed – think about what Sarah was promised.
• What do you think this means, “With God, all things are possible.” How does it relate to the Abraham and Sarah story? Does that statement relate to your life today?

Repeat the script with different puppeteers if time permits.

If there is time, you can do this activity with the kids:
Say: Using the supplied index cards, put the major events of the story in order. (Make 2 sets of index cards; leave the numbers off, and be sure to mix them up before handing them out!)

Story event sequencing cards:
1. God calls Abram and Sarai to leave their home to travel to a distant land.
2. God promises Abram that he would have many children and grandchildren.
3. Abram and Sarai’s names are changed to Abraham and Sarah.
4. God promises that Abraham and Sarah will have a son.
5. The three strangers come to visit.
6. Isaac, the promised son, is born.

Reflection:
Say: For each Bible story we study as Sunday  school Disciples, we try to learn a Bible verse. Let’s say our verse together.

Say the verse together once.

Resources:

• Hunter, Kurt. Puppets, Kids, and Christian Education. Augsburg Fortress, 2001.
• ---. “Abraham and Sarah.” 1998. http://www.huntermarionettes.com/rotation-model/ (Script for use with Handle Bag puppets. It is not included here because it is copyright material. We made some changes to this script - for example instead of having the narrator have so many words to read we changed it so that the characters spoke some of the material.)
  
  Scripture quoted is taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

A lesson written by Debbie Houghton and Beth Pascoe from: First UMC, Ann Arbor, MI

Copyright First United Methodist Church, Ann Arbor, MI.
Permission to copy materials granted for non-commercial use provided credit is given and all cited references remain with this material.
If you use this material, even in a modified form, please include the following reference:
Houghton, Debbie and Beth Pascoe. "God’s Covenant with Abraham and Sarah: Puppet Workshop ." Oct. 2007. Place URL where lesson found inside angle brackets<>.

A representative of Rotation.org reformatted this post to improve readability.

God’s Covenant With Abraham And Sarah: Near-sacrifice of Isaac Newsroom Workshop

Summary of Lesson Activities:

The focus of this workshop is on the test of Abraham’s faith. Students will experience the scripture by participating in a “News Show” to hear the characters of the story describe the almost-sacrifice of Isaac.

Note: This workshop was visited by 4-6th grades.

Scripture Reference:

Genesis 12:1-9; 15:1-6, 17:1–8, 15–17; 18:1–15; 21: 1-3, and 22: 1-18

Leader Preparation:

• Read the scripture for this lesson.
• Read and reflect on the overview material provided for this lesson.
• Gather the materials
• Tips for setting up a newsroom workshop
• Test your recording and playback setup to make sure it will all work!

Supplies List:

• Easel with appropriate marker
• Bibles; One Adventure Bible with tabs (Law, History, etc.)
• Bible tab writing kit: tabs, fine-line Sharpie pen
• Interview script - 7 copies (see end of lesson attachments for a Word doc if you want to make any changes)
• Table with 2 chairs (set up as the news desk)
• Video camera/cellphone, tripod, extension cord, TV, cords to connect TV & camera; setup tips here
• Props: Microphones, Scene clapper, binoculars, and sign: “WFUMC”
• Map showing Abram’s journeys
• Backdrop (optional) – showing a mountain in the distance

Before Start of Class:

• Hang the backdrop.
• Place the props including the “WFUMC” sign, on the news desk.
• Set up video equipment.
• Write the names of the first five books of the Bible on a sheet of easel paper. Turn to a new sheet and write the key Bible verse.

LESSON

Opening:
Greet your students warmly, welcoming them to the WFUMC Newsroom. Introduce yourself and any other adults.

Say: We are learning (continuing to learn) about Abraham and Sarah. This is the newsroom of WFUMC, so we’ll be reporting news from the Bible. Before we get started, let’s begin with prayer.

Ask for any prayer requests. Ask if anyone would like to lead the group in prayer. Use the Lord’s Prayer as the ending. A suggestion: “Dear God, we thank you for this time together to share your word. Help us to understand your call to us. As we each travel on our journey of faith, help us to follow you always. (End with the Lord’s Prayer) Amen.”

Say: Today we’ll be videotaping a news broadcast on a portion of our story.
Ask: What story is it that we are covering?
What would you say is one of the key points of this story? (accept all answers - The students at the beginning of the Rotation might not know but ask anyway. It helps you to know what the students already know about this story.)

Say: We want to get to the bottom of the story – just what is it that Abraham almost did to his son Isaac. We want to find out what’s going on, because it’s our job to report the news.
Like all newscasts, ours will need reporters and people being interviewed. If you really don’t want to be on camera, we have other jobs – everyone is important in our news broadcast. We’ll get it all ready, practice, and videotape it, and hopefully we’ll have time to watch our news show. First let’s review our story.

Dig:
Distribute Bibles.
Ask: Where in the Bible would we find a story that Jesus studied when he was your age?
In which book of the Bible is our story located? (Genesis)
Who can tell me why there are two testaments in the Bible?

Say: The Bible is divided into two testaments – the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Old Testament is stories that Jesus learned as a child. The New Testament tells us the story of Jesus’ life. Besides being divided into two testaments, the 66 books in the Bible are further divided into collections. We say that the book of Genesis is part of a collection of Bible books called “Law.” Law books include the first five books of the Bible.

Ask: Who can name the first five books of the Old Testament?

Turn to the sheet of easel paper with the books listed. Have everyone say the books.

Say: Let’s find the book of Genesis in the Bible. If you brought your Bible to class and you need a tab for the books of “Law” you may receive a tab today. [Have the Shepherd use the Bible tab writing kit and the purple Adventure Bible with tabs (to use as an example) to give any students a “Law” tab.]

Have students find Genesis 12.
Say: This is a long story. It covers 11 chapters in Genesis. Let’s review our story by looking at the headings. (Note: The Bibles in this workshop are NRSV.)

Have everyone read the heading at Genesis 12: “The call of Abram.”
Have someone read Genesis 12:1. [After the first week, ask how the story starts.]
Cover:

• God calling Abram to leave his home and go on a journey.
• God promises him he will have many descendants.
• Abram is 75 years old [Genesis 12:4b] when he packs up his wife Sarai & leaves home.
• They make it to the “Promised Land” – to Canaan.

Point out the route Abram traveled on the map.

Ask: At this point in our story how many children does Abram and his wife Sarai have? (0)
What has God promised Abram? (many offspring)

Have everyone turn to Genesis 15 and read the heading: “God’s covenant with Abram.”

Say: Time passes. God appears to Abram in a vision. Abram is complaining to God about how he doesn’t have any children, so how is it that he will have these many descendants?
Ask: What does God say to Abram? (read Genesis 15:5 – comparing stars to number of offspring)
Say: The promise that God made to Abraham is in our key Bible Verse.

Refer to the easel and have kids say the verse together.

Say: These promises were God’s covenant with Abram.
Ask: What is a covenant? (a promise or agreement)
What was God’s covenant with Noah? (to never again destroy earth with a flood)
Say: In God’s covenant with Noah, God promised protection. Now God is promising that Abram would be the father of a people – a special group of people – God’s people. God is promising that those people will be blessed. God still promises to bless us.

Ask: How has God blessed you? (accept all answers)

Say: Now more time passes. Abram is now 99 years old. God talks to Abram again, saying one more time that Abram would be the ancestor of a nation of people. Then God renames Abram as “Abraham.” Sarai gets a new name as well, “Sarah.” These new names denote a new relationship with God.

Have everyone turn to Genesis 18. Read the heading: “A son promised…”
Say: In this chapter God appears to Abraham in the form of a mysterious visitor, actually one of three visitors who says that Sarah will have a son.

Ask: Does God keep his promise of a son? (turn to Genesis 21)
Say: God gives Abraham and Sarah a baby even though they are both well beyond child bearing years. They name this child Isaac.

Have everyone turn to Genesis 22. Read the heading: “The command to sacrifice Isaac.”

Say: This is the part of the story that we are going to be filming in our news show. So let’s read through our script.

Distribute the script copies. [Have kids share as needed]. Have the Shepherd help you to assign parts. (There are 7 speaking parts.) Run through the script while still seated on the chairs.

Discussion:
Say: It took much courage for Abraham to follow God’s strange command. Remember that Abraham had waited many years to have a child. Isaac was a very special child, for he was the one God had promised to send.
Ask:

• How do you suppose Abraham felt when God asked him to give up this special son?
• Do you suppose that Sarah knew what was going on with her husband and son?
• If you had been Isaac, what would you have done when your father began tying you up?
• Would it have been easy for you to obey? Why or why not?

Say: Back at the beginning of our story, Abraham was called by God to begin a journey. Abraham has been on more than just a walking journey. He’s been on a faith journey – a journey where his faith grew.
Ask:

• Would you say that you are on a faith journey?
• What parts of your faith journey are similar to Abraham’s? (hint: when have you had to trust God?)

Video the News/View the News:
Decide if there are any parts of the script that the students want to change/add/delete.

Move to the “stage” area of the room to perform and record the skit.
When complete, enjoy watching the recording, and offer some summary comments and observations.

Reflection:
Say: This week I want you to think about the promises that God makes to you…the blessings that God gives to you…and be thankful for the chance to journey with God.

Resources:
Klusmeyer, Steve and Brenda. “Covenant, Blessed to Bless – Abraham.” 2001. (skit for news report)

Some materials comes from other video lessons posted at Rotation.org over the years (some still here), which the author didn't take note of at the time. If you recognize some of your material, please let me know.

A lesson written by Carol Hulbert from: First UMC, Ann Arbor, MI

A representative of Rotation.org reformatted this post to improve readability.

God’s Covenant With Abraham And Sarah Video Workshop

Summary of Lesson Activities:

Watch the video “Covenant Discovery” from the Great Bible Discovery series. The primary purpose of this workshop is to learn the story sequence and to discuss how illogical God’s promises seemed.

Note: This workshop was visited by 4-6th grades.

Scripture Reference:

Genesis 12:1-9; 15:1-6, 17:1–8, 15–17; 18:1–15; 21: 1-3, and 22: 1-18

Leader Preparation:

• Read the scripture for this lesson.
• Read and reflect on the overview material provided for this lesson.
• Preview the video and have it cued to the correct starting place.
• Gather the materials
• On the easel or white board, write the key Bible verse including the reference. In a different colored marker write: “Impossible?” in large letters.
• In one Bible that you will use, put sticky notes at Genesis 12 and Genesis 21.
• Make sure you know how to use the TV/DVD, especially how to move by chapters and scanning forward and backward within a chapter. If using YouTube, see these technology tips.
• Start the DVD. Choose “Covenant Discovery.” It will seem to be running through what looks like the introduction again, but be patient, it will start. Now use the CONTROLS option to SCAN FORWARD until the narrator says: “Terah’s oldest son was named Abram.” (At 3:48). This is the point to start watching the video.
  OR use the video available on YouTube. Start it at the 3:30 point.
  
• NOTE that the video start and stop points for YouTube may be slightly different times that those given for the DVD; be sure to preview the video and note correct start and stop times for your equipment.

Supplies List:

• Bibles
• Video listed above or YouTube version
• TV with DVD player or internet connection
• Snack items: goldfish crackers, paper cups, napkins, water pitcher
• Easel or white board with appropriate markers in two different colors
• Sticky notes- 2 are needed

LESSON

Opening:
Greet your students warmly, welcoming them to the video workshop. Introduce yourself and any other adults.

Say: Let’s begin with prayer. Ask for any prayer requests. Ask if anyone would like to lead the group in prayer. Be prepared to say a prayer yourself, working in prayer requests. Use the Lord’s Prayer as the ending. A suggestion: “Dear God: Thank you for your involvement in our lives. Help us to listen for your call, remember your promises, and follow you in trust and obedience. (End with the Lord’s Prayer) Amen.”

Dig:
Ask:

• How many of you have made a promise to someone recently?
• Was the promise you made something that you could keep?
• Or was it impossible to keep? [Refer to the word “impossible” on the easel.]
• Do God’s promises seem impossible for him to keep? (accept all answers)
• What is another word for a promise that God makes? (a covenant)

Say: Last month we learned about a promise or a covenant that God made with Noah. This month we will learn about a covenant that God made with Abram, whose name was later changed to Abraham.

Hold a Bible.
Ask: Where in the Bible would we read about Abraham? (in the Old Testament) [The 1st week of the Rotation you may need to give the kids a hint: it’s a story that Jesus learned when he was their age.]
Say: The Bible is divided into two testaments – the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Old Testament is stories that Jesus learned as a child. The New Testament tells us the story of Jesus’ life.

Ask: In what book of the Bible would we find this story?
Say: Our story is found in the Old Testament, in the first book in the Bible, Genesis.

Distribute Bibles if needed.
Have the students find the story in Genesis, chapter 12, verse 1.
Say: This is the start of our story; it starts off with God calling Abram.

Have the students follow along as you read to them verses 1-4a. [Leave off: “and Lot went with him.”]

Ask: Where does God say that Abram is going? (it doesn’t say)
Say: God told Abram to go and he didn’t say where. Amazingly enough, Abram went!
Ask: Why do you suppose Abram was willing to just pick up and go, off to the unknown?
Maybe it had something to do with God’s promises?
What were God’s promises? (Genesis 12:2 – many descendants, he also promised land)

Say: It’s important to note how many children Abram has at this point in our story.
Ask: Does anyone know how many children he had? (zero)
Say: So God is promising Abram to be the father of many but Abram is 75 and doesn’t have any children yet!
Ask: Do you think that that promise seems pretty impossible? [Refer to the word “impossible” on the easel.]

Say: Let’s learn more by watching our video. Leave your Bibles open.

Show the Video:
(Have the assistant teacher distribute the snack.)

Say: This is an animated video that has a narrator whom we see on occasion. This narrator calls us “the discovery team.” As you will see sometimes this narrator can act pretty silly.
PLAY the video (starting where the narrator says: “Terah’s oldest son was named Abram.”)

PAUSE after the narrator says, “Abram built an altar to the Lord who had brought him safely to that place.” [at 6:29 – watching 2 minutes 41 seconds or 2:41]

Say: We’re going to skip parts of this video.
SCAN FORWARD to 7:52 (7:15 on YouTube), just after the narrator appears with the psychedelic background.
Press PLAY.

PAUSE after the narrator (in person) says: “we should discover that this promise will be kept.” [at 9:56 – watching 2:03]

SCAN FORWARD to 12:00, just after the narrator appears for the second time as a used
car salesman.
Press PLAY.

PAUSE after the narrator (in person) says: “Could you wait longer than that?” [at 17:16 – watching 5:16]

Ask: Could you wait that long to see the results of a promise? (accept any answers)
Does God’s promise seem impossible? [Refer to the word “impossible” on the easel.]
PRESS PLAY.

PAUSE after the narrator (in person) says: “Pay close attention discovery team and see if God keeps the promise to send a new baby.” [at 18:31 – watching 1:15]

Say: Let’s read in the Bible about whether God fulfills this promise.

Have the students turn to Genesis 21:1.
Have the students follow along as you read to them verses 1-3.

Ask: How many of you know the ages of your grandparents?
Say: Sarah was 90 and Abraham was 100 years old, pretty old for becoming parents! So God’s promise wasn’t impossible. Remember, God had asked Abraham: “Is anything too hard for the Lord?”

Ask: What things in your life seem impossible to you? (pause, accept all answers)
What does this story tell us about God? (he keeps promises)

Say: Now we are going to skip ahead to the last chapter of our story, chapter 22. This
tells of a time when Isaac is now older. There is a concept we need to understand – about
how they used to worship God in Bible times – with sacrifices.
Ask: Who knows what a sacrifice was for?
Say: They would sacrifice an animal as a way of worshipping God. To give the life of
the animal was a way of asking for forgiveness.
Ask: Why is it that today we don’t need to sacrifice animals?
Say: Jesus took the place of sacrifices; Jesus’ death on the cross pays for our sins. One other thing you need to know is that God never approved of sacrificing people.

Turn the sound off. ADVANCE to chapter 11, then SCAN FORWARD to 24:45, when Isaac is shown sitting on a sheep. Turn the sound back up.

PRESS PLAY.

STOP when the logo appears for the Great Bible Discovery Series. [at 31:32 – watching 6:47]

Discussion:
Ask:

• How would you have reacted if you’d been Abraham?
• What about Isaac, what do you suppose he learned from this?
• Where do you sense that God is testing your faith today?

Reflection:
Say: The promise that God made to Abraham is in our key Bible Verse.

Refer to the easel/white board and have kids say the verse together.

“I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore.” (NIV) Genesis 22:17a

Say: In making this covenant with Abraham God was saying: I love you. I want you to be my people. I will be your God. If you obey me, I will see that you receive the blessings that I intend for you. Take all of your concerns to God. Nothing is impossible for God.

In case you have extra time:
Continue playing the video – it has several simple multiple-choice quiz questions.

Resources:

• Crane, Amy. “Abraham and Sarah: Drama Lesson.” 2001.
• MacQueen, Neil. "A Manual for the Video - A/V Workshop. https://www.rotation.org/topic...-video--a-v-workshop
• Osborne, Rick, et al. Kidcordance: Big Ideas from the Bible and Where to Find Them. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1999.
• Scripture quoted is taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.
• DVD Reference: The Great Bible Discovery series, volume 1. Vision Video, 2007.
  Total viewing time: a little over 18 minutes

A lesson written by Carol Hulbert from: First UMC, Ann Arbor, MI

Copyright 2007 First United Methodist Church, Ann Arbor, MI.
Permission to copy materials granted for non-commercial use provided credit is given and all cited references remain with this material
If you use this material, even in a modified form, please include the following reference:
Hulbert, Carol. " God’s Covenant with Abraham and Sarah: Video Workshop." Oct. 2007. Place URL where lesson found inside angle brackets<>.

A representative of Rotation.org reformatted this post to improve readability.

Family Discipleship Communications

We have instituted a new means of emailing all of our parents. (Our church uses churchpost.com ). Part of the intention of these emails is to give families something to talk about. (Because everyone can use a little help in how to talk about faith issues with their kids.) Here is some of the content that went out in our emails.

Week 1:
Activities to do with your family:
Read Genesis 12:1-8

• Discuss what it means to be blessed: to bring happiness! How has God blessed your family? Count the ways.
• Look at a map of Bible times that shows Abram’s travels. (His name was Abram before it was later changed to Abraham.) Find all the locations mentioned - Haran, Shechem, and Bethel. A suggested map: #20 at StudyLIght.org's BIble Maps Archive. See if you can figure out how far Abram travelled.

Week 2:
Just as Abram and Sarai set out on a long journey after being called by God... We can see ourselves on a journey...”called” by God on a faith journey. And sometimes on our journey we come across questions and doubting. And that’s ok, because that’s what happened to Abraham and Sarah.

More activities to do with your family to learn at home about our Bible story:

• Go out and try to count the stars!
  • What promises do you look forward to?
• Read Genesis 15: 1-6. Ask these questions:
  • Doesn’t it seem as though Abram is a little impatient with God – wondering when will God fulfill his promise? When have you been impatient while waiting?
  • Do you suppose Abram adopted a servant as his heir to try to fix the “problem” for God?
  • Can you think of any instances where you are getting in God’s way?
  • How is God your shield?

Week 3:
Name changes are the “name of the game” in our story.  God gives Abram the new name of Abraham; Sarai gets a new name too - Sarah.  Names in Bible times signified a person’s character. Names also expressed hope for the future. Abraham’s new name meant “father of many.” Ha! Imagine getting a name like “father of many” at the age of 99 and you are childless!  What faith Abraham had! Can we trust God that much?

More activities to do with your family to learn at home about our Bible story:
Read Genesis 17:1–8,  and 17:15–17.  Talk about it...

• Have fun with this one: What new name would you like – something that signifies your future character – something that you can aspire to? (How about room-picker-upper or one-who-prays-daily or ...?) Call everyone by their new name for a day. See how it feels. Does it make you feel different about yourself?
• List all of your family members – aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents...did you name God? Pay close attention to verse 7...we are part of God’s family!
• Look at verse 17 – Abraham is laughing at God! Talk about things that make you laugh.
  (Note that God isn’t mad at Abraham’s laughter. How does God use Abraham’s laughter and make it part of his promise?)

If you have found these workshops useful it would make my day if you let me know about it. (Email me.) Thanks!

Hi Carol!  Thanks so much for your great work!  I'm going to be using your Family Communication ideas in November.  And I always appreciate your background material.  Thank you and blessings on your day! ~ Beth

You are very welcome Beth! Glad it is useful to you and your church.
Blessings,
-- Carol