Lesson 14: God Keeps His Promises
Aims
* To learn that Abraham was a man who really trusted God
* To learn that God always keeps his promises
Materials
The Beginner’s Bible
Visual aids: pictures from the story
Worksheet – God’s promise to Abraham
Material for worksheets – star stickers, black paper, glue scissors, white pencils
Materials for stargazing tube – cardboard tube, construction paper, aluminium foil, stars or glitter
Key names: Abraham, Sarah, Lot, Isaac
Memory verse – “Count the stars. That’s how many descendants you will have!” Genesis 15:5
Lesson Outline
1. Introduction
2. Tell the story
3. Discussion
4. Activities – action game, retell the story, memory game, add stars to picture, stargazing tube
5. Review the aims
6. Prayer
1) Introduction
* How would your feel if your family had to leave your home and live in a new place? Would you like to leave? Would you miss your friends and all the people you know.
* Today’s story is about a man called Abraham and what happened when God told him to leave his home.
2) Tell the story
Abraham loved God. So did his wife Sarah. One day, God told Abraham to move to a new land. So along with their helpers, Abraham and Sarah packed up and went. Abraham’s nephew was called Lot. Lot and all his helpers went with them too. The helpers began to fight. There was not enough grass for all the animals. So Abraham said to Lot, “You pick your own land to live on.” Lot chose the best land. It had the most green grass and the most water for his animals. Lot moved to his new home. Then God gave Abraham a blessing. God said, “All the land you see here will be yours forever. Also, you and Sarah will be blessed with as many children, grandchildren and great grandchildren as there are stars in the sky.” God led Abraham and Sarah to a place called Hebron. It was beautiful
One hot day Abraham was resting near his tent. He heard footsteps. Three men were standing nearby. Abraham went out to greet them. “ Would you like to rest in the shade? We have plenty of cool water to drink. Can I get you something to eat?” Abraham told Sarah about the visitors. He asked her to make a tasty meal. While they were eating the three visitors shared some exciting news. They said, “You’re wife is going to have a son.” Sarah heard what they said. She laughed, thinking, I am too old. God asked Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh? Anything is possible with the Lord.” Sure enough,the next year, Sarah had a baby boy. They named him Isaac.
3) Discussion
* What did God ask Abraham to do? – Leave his home
* Did Abraham do what God said? – Yes
* Who went with Abraham? – Sarah, Lot, their helpers
* Why did the Abraham’s and Lot’s helpers fight? – There wasn’t enough grass for their animals
* What did God promise Abraham?
* What did the three visitors promise Abraham and Sarah? – a baby son
*Why didn’t Sarah believe them? – She was old
*What was the name of the baby? – Isaac
*Did God keep His promises?
Yes.
although it doesn’t say so in the story, God gave them a land called Canaan they did have as many descendants as there are stars and Sarah did have a baby boy
* Did Abraham trust God and do as He said?
Yes.
Even though Abraham didn’t know where to go when he left his home, he trusted God. Because of this, God blessed him in many ways
* What can we learn from the story?
We can trust God, because he will always keep His promises. This is true today as at the time of Abraham. For children this also means trusting our parents and doing as they say even if we don’t understand why. When we do that God will bless us and help us in many ways.
4) Activities
*Action Game – Abraham Goes to the promised land
*Retell the story – Put picture cards in the correct order and retell the story in your own words
*Memory game – using the picture cards
*Picture – add stars to the night sky
*Abraham Stargazing tube
5) Review the lesson aims
*To learn that Abraham was a man who really trusted God
*To learn that God always keeps his promises
6) Prayer
* Say a prayer to thank God for Abraham who trusted God. Because of that, God blessed him in many ways. Let us learn from Abraham the importance of trusting God in our own family. Thank God that He wants the best for us and He always keeps His promises.
