Read Together: Abraham and Sarah were very sad that they had no children. God had promised Abraham that he would be the father of many nations, and that his descendants would be as numerous as the sand on the seashore. Yet Abraham and Sarah were old—too old to have children. Even so, Abraham and Sarah believed God would keep His promises, and He did. When Sarah was 90 years old and Abraham was 100, Sarah gave birth to a little baby boy! They named him Isaac as God instructed. After waiting 25 years, their promised son had finally arrived. You can imagine how happy they were to meet their new baby!
Richard Gunther (www.lambsongs.con.nz) | FreeBibleImages.org
Read Together: Genesis 17-21 (Read selections as desired)
Discuss:
Ask your child if it is easy to wait on something that you want badly. Can they think of anything they really want but haven’t received as yet? Help them to imagine how Abraham and Sarah might have felt waiting for a child to be born.
Help your child to understand that God does things when it is the right time to do them. We have to learn to be patient and wait for God to fulfill His promises just as Abraham and Sarah waited.
Ask your child what they think Isaac was like since his name meant laughter.
Explain to your child that Abraham had other children, but only Isaac was the son that God promised. Though the other children received different gifts and blessings, God told Abraham that He would pass on His covenant through Isaac.
Review Memorization:
Genesis 22:18 “In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”
https://www.lcgeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/012-rg-abraham-sarah.jpg360480Jonathan McNairhttps://www.lcgeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/logo_basic-website-300x94.pngJonathan McNair2019-05-09 17:35:552019-10-07 15:20:54Children’s Bible Program – Level 1: Lesson 27 “Abraham and Sarah Have a Son”
Read Together: In Judges 4, we read that God chose a woman, Deborah, to judge Israel for a period of time. She was well prepared when God called her to be a prophetess and a judge because she knew God’s laws and was wise in their execution. God told Deborah to send for Barak and tell him to fight against their oppressors – Jabin, king of Canaan and Sisera, the commander of his army. Barak responded that he would only go if Deborah went with him. Though Deborah knew women did not normally fight in war she agreed to go, but Barak would have to sacrifice the glory of the victory to a woman. God gave them the battle plan which they executed with precision. Barak along with ten thousand troops from Napthali and Zebulun soon had Sisera and his troops on the run. They killed them all, but Sisera escaped from the battle to the tent of Jael, a woman whom he thought was an ally. While Sisera slept, she drove a tent peg through his head, and Jael became the heroine of the battle instead of Barak just as Deborah had said. This marked the end of Jabin’s oppression, and Israel had peace for forty years. Yet after all this, Israel again turned to her evil ways.
John Paul Stanley/ YoMinistry.com | FreeBibleImages.org
Read Together: Judges 4:1 – 6:1
Discuss:
Discuss with your child the role of a prophet(ess) and the role of a judge. What is the role of women in the Church government structure? (See Ephesians 4:11.)
Speculate with your child why God might have called a woman to judge Israel at that time. Perhaps she was the best qualified. Remember, God is not a respecter of persons (Romans 2:11).
Point out to your child that Deborah is not the only prophetess referred to in the scriptures(See Exodus 15:20; 2 Kings 22:14; Isaiah 8:3; Luke 2:36).
Ask your child why they feel Barak wanted Deborah to go with him to war. Was Barak’s bravery in question? Remember, Barak is listed in the faith chapter of Hebrews 11
Explain to your child that those born into the family of God are neither male nor female (Galatians 3:28). Everyone will have equal opportunity to serve in the Kingdom of God and and be rewarded based on your works (Matthew 16:27).
Review Memorization:
Judges 21:25 “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”
Read Together: Esau despised Jacob for tricking him, and Rebekah, their mother, discovered his plot to kill him. Rebekah advised Jacob to go to her brother Laban’s home and stay there until Esau had calmed down. Now Isaac and Rebekah were not pleased that Esau had taken Hittite women as wives, so Isaac told Jacob to take a wife from his uncle’s daughters in Padan Aram. Jacob set out from Canaan to the land of Haran with nothing but his staff. On his way, Jacob stopped for the night, and he had a very strange dream while sleeping under the stars. He dreamed there was a ladder that reached from heaven to the earth with angels going up and down. God spoke to him in the dream and gave Jacob the same promises that He had made to Abraham and Isaac. God promised to give him the land of Canaan and to multiply his descendants. God promised to be with him and to bring him back safely to the land. Jacob was filled with awe! He anointed the stone where he slept and called the place Bethel, which means house of God. For his part of the covenant, Jacob promised to obey God and to tithe to Him. Jacob completed his journey, arriving at his uncle Laban’s home in Padan Aram.
Read Together: Genesis 27:41-46; 28:1-22; 29:1-13
Discuss:
Esau was very angry with Jacob and thought to kill him. Discuss with your child how thoughts become actions, and we must learn to control our thoughts. One strategy is to replace bad thoughts with good ones; we can also pray for anyone we may have bad thoughts about. How could Esau apply this?
Explain to your child that most dreams do not have any meaning; they are just dreams. Jacob’s dream was special and God caused him to understand that.
Discuss with your child what a tithe is.
Remind your child that Haran is the place where Abraham and Sarah lived before their sojourn in Canaan; it is near modern day Syria. Laban was Rebekah’s brother, but he was also the son of Abraham’s nephew Bethuel.
Point out to your child that Bethel is an important place in biblical history and that we will hear more of it in future Bible studies.
Review Memorization:
Genesis 27:29 “Let peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you. Be master over your brethren and let your mother’s sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you, and blessed be those who bless you.”
Read Together: God had promised to make Abram a great nation and that all the nations of the earth would be blessed through him. God showed Abram all the land of Canaan and promised it to his descendants. Abram had wandered throughout the land for 24 years, and now he was 99 years old. God had promised that his descendants would be as numerous as the dust on the earth, but Abram still did not have any children. It was at this time that God appeared to Abram and made even greater promises. He told Abram that he was going to make him a father of many nations and that some of his descendants would be kings. Even though they had no children, he and his wife had faith that God would keep His promise.
Read Together: Genesis 12:1-3; 17:1-16
Discuss:
Explain to your child what a descendant is. Give an example by tracing your lineage and showing that it extends to your child. Help them to understand that many people today are Abraham’s descendants.
Explain to your child that Abraham means father of a multitude or father of nations, and that Sarah means mother of nations. God names things what they are and the new names reflected that God’s promises are true.
Talk with your child about how Abraham was still hopeful even though many years had passed since God made the promises. Be sure to emphasize that God cannot lie and His word is true, and that Abraham understood this.
Review Memorization:
Genesis 22:18 “In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”
Some of the most creative people I know don’t think they’re creative at all, and this has always baffled me. “How can you think you’re not creative?” I say. “You just drew a gorgeous beach scene on this white pair of shoes.” As Mr. McNair brought out in his assembly this week, we as human beings, having been made in God’s image, are naturally creative. Creating is literally the first thing we read about God doing, right there in Genesis 1.
There are different levels and types of creativity, sure, but to call any human being – including yourself – “uncreative” is to utter a total falsehood, because if you’re made in God’s image, you’re creative. As far as I can see, the main reason why some people consider themselves “uncreative” is that they confuse creativity with originality, and these are two hugely different things.
“God is a God of Creativity … He used man, and built man, to have within us the passion and the desire to create, just like God.”
Mistaking originality for creativity, my friend who drew the beach scene on the pair of shoes can think she’s uncreative because, “Well, beaches weren’t my idea. Shoes weren’t my idea. I just took a thing that existed and put it on another thing that existed.” I’m affected by this, too, and I’m sure an immense number of creative people are. Every time I sit down to write creatively, I’m almost paralyzed by the selfish desire to write something totally new, something like nothing anyone has ever read. It’s crazy, isn’t it?
Even King Solomon, who wrote something like one bazillion songs and sayings, also wrote, “what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9). No one could ever accuse Solomon of being uncreative, but even he admitted that originality was out of his reach. That didn’t stop him from writing those songs and sayings though. He didn’t let the elusiveness of originality keep him from pursuing a passion to create, a passion that, as Mr. McNair said, comes directly from God, the Master Creator.
“If you’re willing to put out the effort to learn the rules, to learn the principles, to gain the experience, you’ll be able to exercise creativity in your life.”
The problem with wanting to be “original” is that, as Solomon said, it’s practically impossible, and this fact discourages us from pursuing our creative passions to the extent that we could. If we can, we should forget all that, and just create. Don’t worry about being original, because as Mr. McNair concluded, the best way to be creative is to use previously established patterns to achieve success. We should start small and allow ourselves to be empowered and inspired by others, whether they are on our team, or are those that came before us.
Creativity can be exercised in any area in which we may have skillsets—music, writing, artwork, scientific inquiry, structural design, culinary arts, interior design, clothing design—you name it. Whatever our roles, whatever we like doing, chances are, we can use the opportunities we are given to fuel our imaginations and get creative. We might not create something totally unlike anything that’s been created before, but lest we forget, the creation in Genesis was actually a recreation. It had already been done, and God did it again with a new spin. And He saw that it was good.
Thomas White was one of the onsite Living Education students for the 2018-2019 semesters. He also has a Bachelor’s Degree in English. Thomas currently works as an Editorial Assistant for the Living Church of God. According to his wife, he eats pizza in entirely the wrong way.
https://www.lcgeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/alice-achterhof-85968-unsplash.jpg10001500Jonathan McNairhttps://www.lcgeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/logo_basic-website-300x94.pngJonathan McNair2019-05-02 16:30:502021-09-03 13:06:21Second Thoughts: Be Creative, Not Original
