Bible Point: We can always trust God.
Key Verse: "We obey God rather than man." Acts 5:29
Bible Exploration: Genesis 12:1-8
“Sell everything you can’t carry with you, leave all your friends and extended family, get your wife and belongings in the car, and start driving. You’ll probably never come back here again, but don’t worry about that—I’ll show you where to go.” If God were speaking to Abram today, that might be what he’d say. What trust in God it took for Abram to leave his home, his country, and everything familiar and comfortable and set out for an unknown destination, having only God’s
command to go on!
Get a piece of paper. Draw a horizontal line in the center of the page with one dot at the left end labeled “Birth” and one on the right end labeled “Death.” Place another dot on the line to serve as a marker for the beginning of your faith. Take a look at your life. What promises has God made to you? What might he be calling you to do? When you’ve thought about that, place at least two additional dots on your line with dates and write a short explanation of what you believe God has indicated in the past and what he wants you to do today.
Ask God to help you try something new that you’d be afraid to try on your own—something where you’d have to trust God in order to do it.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
People Build a Tower at Babel
Bible Point: We all need God
Key Verse: "We obey God rather than man." Acts 5:29
Bible Exploration: Genesis 11:1-9
Just a few generations and only 150 to 200 years after the miraculous saving of Noah’s family
in the ark, the descendants of those ark-dwellers turned away from God. The people’s intent in building a tower was not to reach heaven, as some have suggested. They wanted to build something showy that would bring them recognition. People from all around would see the tall tower that seemed to reach into the heavens. Others would marvel at what they had done, and they would be proud. These people weren’t interested in serving God; rather they wanted to elevate their own standing before others. In essence, they tried to make themselves look
more important than God.
In the past century the human race has made dramatic technological advancements. Many people believe that as we share information and build upon what we have learned, our progresswill eventually allow the human race to solve all of its problems. The belief that the human race is self-sufficient isn’t new.
To think about and discuss:
1. Do you feel the advances we have made are positive and helpful to
mankind? Why or why not?
2. Are there areas where science and technology can go too far?
3. How do you think God feels about the advances we’ve made in the
last century?
4. If you were asked “Why do we need God?” what would your answer
be?
Family Worship Challenge:
• Teach your family to speak pig Latin. (Begin each word with its first vowel, move the initial consonant to the end of the word, and follow with an “ay” sound. For example, “cat” becomes “atcay” and “dog” becomes “ogday.”) Have everyone come up with a few sentences in pig Latin while others try to decipher them. Then talk about the story in Genesis 11 and what it would be like to wake up one morning and speak a completely different language than
your friends and neighbors!
• Play the popular Jenga table game with your family. As each person removes a piece from the “tower,” ask them to state an area of their life where people might say they do not need God. For example, “I do not need God to give me air; the trees make it.” When the tower finally falls down, talk about how foolish it is to not give God his rightful place in our lives.
Key Verse: "We obey God rather than man." Acts 5:29
Bible Exploration: Genesis 11:1-9
Just a few generations and only 150 to 200 years after the miraculous saving of Noah’s family
in the ark, the descendants of those ark-dwellers turned away from God. The people’s intent in building a tower was not to reach heaven, as some have suggested. They wanted to build something showy that would bring them recognition. People from all around would see the tall tower that seemed to reach into the heavens. Others would marvel at what they had done, and they would be proud. These people weren’t interested in serving God; rather they wanted to elevate their own standing before others. In essence, they tried to make themselves look
more important than God.
In the past century the human race has made dramatic technological advancements. Many people believe that as we share information and build upon what we have learned, our progresswill eventually allow the human race to solve all of its problems. The belief that the human race is self-sufficient isn’t new.
To think about and discuss:
1. Do you feel the advances we have made are positive and helpful to
mankind? Why or why not?
2. Are there areas where science and technology can go too far?
3. How do you think God feels about the advances we’ve made in the
last century?
4. If you were asked “Why do we need God?” what would your answer
be?
Family Worship Challenge:
• Teach your family to speak pig Latin. (Begin each word with its first vowel, move the initial consonant to the end of the word, and follow with an “ay” sound. For example, “cat” becomes “atcay” and “dog” becomes “ogday.”) Have everyone come up with a few sentences in pig Latin while others try to decipher them. Then talk about the story in Genesis 11 and what it would be like to wake up one morning and speak a completely different language than
your friends and neighbors!
• Play the popular Jenga table game with your family. As each person removes a piece from the “tower,” ask them to state an area of their life where people might say they do not need God. For example, “I do not need God to give me air; the trees make it.” When the tower finally falls down, talk about how foolish it is to not give God his rightful place in our lives.
Monday, October 6, 2008
God Floods the Earth
Bible Point: God's promises are always reliable.
Key Verse: "We must obey God rather than men." Acts 5:29
Bible Exploration: Genesis 7:1-8:22, 9:8-16
Adults struggle to keep commitments and promises. Campaign promises, marriage vows, and even simple promises to remember a phone call or lunch date. As we juggle commitments to family, job, spouse, and friends, we often find these commitments in conflict. And to add to the challenge, we live in a world where faithfulness is not highly valued. How many times have you said, "I'll call you," and never followed up? What we say, what we are intending to do, and what we are expected to do are often different things.
1. How do you feel about promises?
2. Can you keep a promise?
3. Can you trust a friend who makes a promise to you?
When God makes a promise, its worth is priceless and its strength unmatched. As we strive to be like Him, we should also take our word and our commitments seriously. As we model faithfulness and promise-keeping to our families and friends, we are painting a picture of a faithful God to our children.
Family Worship Challenge:
Key Verse: "We must obey God rather than men." Acts 5:29
Bible Exploration: Genesis 7:1-8:22, 9:8-16
Adults struggle to keep commitments and promises. Campaign promises, marriage vows, and even simple promises to remember a phone call or lunch date. As we juggle commitments to family, job, spouse, and friends, we often find these commitments in conflict. And to add to the challenge, we live in a world where faithfulness is not highly valued. How many times have you said, "I'll call you," and never followed up? What we say, what we are intending to do, and what we are expected to do are often different things.
1. How do you feel about promises?
2. Can you keep a promise?
3. Can you trust a friend who makes a promise to you?
When God makes a promise, its worth is priceless and its strength unmatched. As we strive to be like Him, we should also take our word and our commitments seriously. As we model faithfulness and promise-keeping to our families and friends, we are painting a picture of a faithful God to our children.
Family Worship Challenge:
- To illustrate how difficult it is when you can’t trust what others say, ask family members to participate in the following activity. Choose a meal when the whole family is together.
Instruct everyone that they are to intentionally say the opposite of what they mean. For example, if someone wants the potatoes they might say, “Don’t pass me any potatoes.”
Ask family members to share how they felt about saying the opposite of what they meant.
Memory Verse Update
On order to streamline Sabbath Schools and Kid's church and help our kids learn their memory verses, we have decided to focus on one memory verse each month.
For the month of October: "We must obey God rather than men." Acts 5:29
This verse goes along with all of our stories/themes for October. Practice with your kids each night, or at least weekly, to help them learn the memory verse for the month!
For the month of October: "We must obey God rather than men." Acts 5:29
This verse goes along with all of our stories/themes for October. Practice with your kids each night, or at least weekly, to help them learn the memory verse for the month!
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