Abraham Is Tested

12/10/2024

After years of waiting, Isaac, the child of promise had finally arrived! Abraham and Sarah must have been so happy! But God decided to test Abraham. He test him to see if he would be willing to give up his son if God asked him to do so.

While Abraham had a few missteps in the past, he had walked with God long enough that he knew he could trust God. He made the journey, built the altar and was about to sacrifice his son when God proved to Abraham, once again, that He can be trusted. In that act of obedience, Abraham taught us what "living by faith, not by sight" truly means.

Key Themes:
1. Faith is being sure of what we hope for, but do not see.
2. God's plan for a savior began with Abraham's family.
3. God wants us to have faith.

Memory Verse

Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you. -Exodus 20:12

Songs

Books of the Old Testament
Be Careful Little Eyes
Rock-a my Soul
Abraham's Journey
Father Abraham
I'm Calling You, Abraham
My God is So Big
Read Your Bible & Pray Every Day
Three Wandering Jews

Story

Begin Class with Songs, Games, Table Activity, or Sharing Time

Open Class in Prayer

Introducing the Story Ideas
1. Build an Altar: Use blocks or boxes to build an altar with the kids. Discuss altars and what they were used for in Bible times.

2. Trust Taste Test: Ask for volunteers to be blindfolded. Tell them to open their mouth because you are going to give them something to eat. “Do you trust me? What if I am giving you a yucky worm or a rotten apple to eat?” Continue in this train of thought for a little while and then put something VERY tasty in their mouth (lolly-pop, biscuit, etc.) Discuss what it felt like to trust someone when you did not know what they were going to do. “Abraham trusted God even when he did not understand what God was going to do.” Idea from Mission Bible Class

3. Blindfold Obstacle Course: Have one child blindfolded while another child leads them through a small obstacle course made of chairs, tables, cones, etc. Discuss how hard it is walk when you cannot see. How much trust did you have to place in your friend? Is it always easy to trust what you cannot see?

Story: We have been talking about how God tried to redeem the world from sin. God promised Abraham that the redeemer would come from one of his descendants. The only problem was that Abraham didn't have descendants. Abraham and Sarah waited and waited. Finally, Baby Isaac was born! God tested Abraham by making him wait for the promised child and he decided to test Abraham again.

SHOW the power point Abraham and Isaac or read Genesis 21:1-7; 22: 1-19.
EMPHASIZE that: