Lesson Objective:
The children will learn that God always keeps his promises, even when we don’t see how it is possible (the second part of a three-part lesson)
Scripture:
Genesis 12-20
Arrival:
As the children arrive, sing with them. Sing “My God Is so Big!” and “Nothing Is Impossible.”
Prayer Time:
Thank the Lord that He knows what is best for His children and His timing is always perfect.
Lesson:
(Review with the children the story of Abraham with the following questions)
Why did Abraham leave his home country? (Because God told him to)
What was the promise God gave Abraham? (He would have many children)
How many children, grand children, and so forth would Abraham have? (As many as the stars in the sky)
After God gave Abraham this promise, many years went by. As Abraham and Sarah, his wife, started getting older, they began to doubt. After all, old ladies don’t usually have babies, do they? One day Sarah told Abraham to marry her servant girl in order to have a son that Sarah could adopt. Instead of trusting God, they took matters into their own hands. The servant girl’s name was Hagar, and she had a son whom they named Ishmael. Abraham thought he had “helped” God with keeping His promise.
However, when Abraham was 99 years old, God sent three angels to him. They told him that one year later, Sarah, who was 90 years old, would have a son. Can you imagine? Having a son at 90 years old. Do any of you have a grandma or great-grandma who is 90? Can you imagine her having a little baby? Sarah couldn’t imagine it either, so she laughed when she heard what the men said. The men told her not to doubt God. God could do whatever He wanted to do!
You know what? One year later, Sarah had a baby. They named him Isaac, which means “he laughs.” God kept His promise, even when it seemed impossible. God always keeps His promises, but He does it in His own time, not ours.
Have you ever had a time in your life when you wanted God to do something, but He didn’t seem to be doing it? Remember, God promises to give us all that we need, but sometimes we need to wait. Sometimes the item is not right for us. We need to learn to trust that God knows what is best!
Memory Verse:
Continue working on Psalm 36:5. Have a small reward (small toy or treat) for any children that can quote the verse from last week.
Game Time:
Make lots of cutouts of stars and scatter the on the floor of the classroom. This game reinforces the “as many as the stars in the sky” concept. Give the kids 30 seconds to scramble around the room and try to step on all of the stars. Then cut the time to 20 seconds and 10 seconds. There is no winner to this game. It is simply a chance to let them get their wiggles out.
Dismissal:
Remind the children that they can trust God no matter what happens in the coming week.
