Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Creation (Genesis 1)

People have an attention span of about 30 seconds before their minds start to wander. Kids have even less time. I've taught first grade, I can barely get them to sit still for five minutes, let alone pay attention for very long. So, in my opinion, keep to the basics for the younger ones.

Lesson: Creation, Genesis 1

In the beginning, God made the heavens and the earth. All was dark and empty. So God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. (Do you know what He called the light? And the darkness?) He called the light day and the darkness night. That was the first day.

Then God said, "Let there be bodies of water and a sky above them." And it was so. That was the second day. (What do we call the bodies of water? [Seas, oceans, lakes, rivers, etc])

On the third day, God said, "Let dry ground appear." (Do you know what he called the ground?) He called the dry ground land. And God saw it was good. He said, "Let plants and trees grow up all over the land. Give them seeds to make more plants and trees." And it was so. (What are some types of plants/tree that God made?)

On the fourth day, God made two great lights: the larger one to rule the day and the smaller one to rule the night. He also made the stars. He set them all in the sky to give light to the earth both day and night. (What do you think the two big lights are? [Sun and moon] Which rules the day? The night?)

Then God said, "Let the waters be filled with sea creatures and let there be birds with wings to fly above the earth." And that was the fifth day. (What are some sea creatures that you can think of? Kinds of birds?)

On the sixth day, God made animals to live on the land. He made sheep and cattle. He made creatures that move along the ground. (Can you name some animals that move along the ground? [Snakes, frogs, etc]) He made wild animals of every size and shape. (Can you name some wild animals? [Elephants, wolves, lions, etc]) And then He said, "Let Us make people in Our likeness and let them rule over the fish and the birds and all other living creatures." So He made man. He called the man Adam.

God saw all that He had made, and it was very good. On the seventh day, He rested. (Do you know what that seventh day is called? [The Sabbath] What day of the week is it for us? [Sunday])

Review Questions:

1. Can you name some of the things God made?
2. Do you remember what He made first?
3. Do you remember what He made last?
4. What are two of the lights He made called? Which one is brighter and rules the day?
5. What did He do on the seventh day?

Word of the Day:

Sabbath: noun: first day of the week, Sunday, the day God rested after creating everything

Prayer:

Lord, grant us the grace to respect and care for Your creation.
Bless all of your creatures as a sign of Your wondrous love.
Help us to bring healing to all of Your creation.
Help us to use our inventiveness to sustain Your gift of nature.
Amen.