Lesson Objective:
The children will learn that God protects those who follow Him in spite of wickedness all around them.
Scripture:
Genesis 6-9
Arrival:
As the children arrive, take them to the singing area of the classroom. Have some singing time, and end with “Rise and Shine.”
Prayer Time:
Take prayer requests and write them on the blackboard. Pray for each one. Remember to ask the children if they have had any answers to prayer.
Lesson:
Review what happened in the Garden of Eden (Adam and Eve disobeyed God and were sent out from the Garden). Tell the children that over many years, Adam and Eve had children, and their children had children, and soon there were many people in the world. These people lived much longer than we do today. Some lived over 900 years! However, after some time the people forgot about God. Even though they new the stories of the Garden of Eden and creation, they did not choose to obey God and follow His will. They became wicked and selfish.
God looked down at the world He had created and was not pleased. He saw the selfish, wicked actions of His people and it made Him so sad. However, He saw one family, Noah’s family, who was still doing what was right.
One day God told Noah to build a big boat, called an ark. He gave Noah the exact size and shape for the boat. He told Noah that it was going to rain and there would be a huge flood, enough water to cover the entire world.
This might not sound strange to the children, but mention that it had NEVER rained before! God watered the plants before the flood with dew from the earth, not rain, so this was a new concept.
Even though he did not understand, Noah obeyed. Now, while he was building the ark, which took around 100 years to complete, he preached to the people that they should repent of their wickedness and turn to God. Imagine how the people must have made fun of Noah. After all, there had been no need for a boat before, so why was Noah making one now?
When the time came for the flood, God caused two of every kind of animal to enter the ark. He also sent seven of each kind of animal that could be used for a sacrifice. Seven of each bird also flew onto the ark. Then, Noah and his family entered, and God closed and sealed the door. God sent rain to cover the earth, and it rained for forty days and forty nights. Everything was destroyed, except the people and animals on the ark. It was very sad for Noah and his family. Noah was 600 years old when the flood started.
After the rain stopped, the waters stayed on the earth for 150 days. Suddenly, the ark stopped. Noah new the flood was ending, but he was not sure if it was safe to go out. He sent out a raven first, but the raven returned to the ark because he found nowhere to go. Then Noah sent a dove. The first time the dove returned with an olive branch in his beak. Ask the children what that meant (plants were growing again). The second time Noah sent the dove, it did not return. It had found a place to live. Noah and his family could now leave the ark.
When they did, they saw a beautiful thing in the sky – a rainbow! This was the first rainbow ever. It was God’s promise that he would never flood the earth again. Today, we have floods, but never big enough to cover the entire earth, because God promised that a world-wide flood would never happen again.
End the story by talking about the way God protected Noah because Noah was righteous, even though no one else was. Remind the children that they need to do right, even if no one else is.
Memory Verse:
Genesis 6:8 “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.” Write the verse on the board and have the children read it. Then erase one word at a time, repeating it after each time you erase a word. Soon all of the words will be gone and the children will know the verse.
Craft/Game Time:
Give the children a black and white drawing of a rainbow and torn pieces of tissue paper in red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple. Let them glue the tissue on the rainbow to create a rainbow.
Dismissal:
As the children leave, ask them again why God saved Noah (because Noah was obedient). Tell the children that God promises to reward obedience, so they need to be obedient this week.