God Saves (Genesis 18-19) Lesson #32 in What is God Like?
AGE GROUP: elementary (ages 6-11)
TIME REQUIRED: 45 minutes
This is lesson 32 of 42 in our study on the Attributes of God called “Can you tell me what God is like?” Visit the series index to view all the lessons and get more ideas for using this curriculum in your children’s ministry.
LESSON 32: GOD IS THE ROCK
- Key Verse: “Our God is a God who saves; from the sovereign Lord comes escape from death.” Psalm 68:20
- Teaching Passage: Genesis 18:22-33 & 19:1-3, 12-29
- Supporting Texts: 1 Samuel 10:19, Psalm 6:4, Psalm 7:1, Psalm 7:10, Psalm 37:40, Psalm 56:16, Matthew 1:21 and Acts 2:21
- Genesis 19:1-5 & 15-29
SUPPLIES NEEDED:
Bibles, previous attribute of God posters, a large piece of paper with the words GOD SAVES written on it, key verse (Psalm 68:20) printed on a piece of paper, blank paper and markers or colored pencils for each child in the group.
LESSON OUTLINE:
REVIEW PREVIOUS LESSONS:
Ask one of the kids in the group to remind you what you’re learning this year. Remind them that each week we’ll be looking into the Bible to answer the question… “Can you tell me what God is like?” and will be learning one of the many truths about God that we see in His Word.
Take a few minutes to review the attributes you’ve previously learned. Have kids stand in a line. Whisper an attribute of God in the first person’s ear. They should say the attribute outloud. The next person should do the motion and the 3rd person should define or explain the attribute. Those 3 people should then move to the back of the line so you can start all over again. If someone doesn’t know the motion or definition, they can pass or someone can give them a clue. Play for 5 minutes or so.
- God is Almighty= He has absolute power or is all powerful
- God is the Alpha and Omega= He is the beginning and the end, the first and the last
- God is Awesome = He inspires awe and amazement
- God is Compassionate = He shows a deep concern for His people & a desire to meet their needs
- God is the Deliverer = He is the rescuer or savior
- God is Exalted = He is noble, elevated and lifted up
- God is Faithful = He is reliable, trustworthy, true to His Word & keeps His promises
- God Forgives = He grants pardon and cancels the debt of sin
- God is Glorious = He is full of glory (praise, honor & distinction)
- God is Good = morally excellent, virtuous or righteous
- God is Gracious = merciful, benevolent, kind & compassionate
- God Guides His People= He leads, accompanies, assists and gives direction/ guidance
- God Heals = make healthy & whole & free from ailments
- God is Holy = He is sinless, perfect and set apart
- God is our Hope = He is the One in whom our expectations are centered
- Jesus is Immanuel = God with Us
- God is Judge = He is the One who rules over and passes judgement on others
- God is Just = He is the One who is fair and does what is right
- God is King of kings & Lord of lords = He is The One who rules the rulers
- Jesus is the Lamb without blemish = He is the perfect sacrifice for sin
- God is Love = God has tender and caring affection for His people
- God is Majestic = God is stately, kingly, grand & raised up
- God is Merciful = God is full of compassion, pity, and undeserved grace & love for another
- God is Omnipotent = He is almighty or infinite in power
- God is Omnipresent = He is everywhere all the time
- God is Omniscient = He knows everything
- God is One = the Only God
- God Protects His People = He defends, guards, covers & shields His people
- God is Righteous = He is always right & He always does what is right
- God is the Rock = solid, strong and offering protection
- God provides the PERFECT SACRIFICE for sin = Jesus is the gift or payment that paid for our sin
TEACH- SAVES:
Ask kids to share stories of times that they have needed to be saved or rescued. Let a couple of kids share their stories, then tell them that the Bible is very clear that we all need to be rescued or saved and we all need to be saved from the same thing and there is only one person who can save us. Tell them that you know that they know who you’re talking about, but to please put that truth in the back of their minds for a few minutes and hear the background of the story first.
Introduce the story from Genesis 18 & 19 (There are some sensitive details in this story. Please skip over them for the sake of this lesson).
Ask someone to tell you who Lot is. (He is Abraham’s nephew). Remind them that back in Genesis 12, when God called Abraham to leave his land and go to the land that God would show him, that Lot went with Abraham. Then, in chapter 13, they realize that they had too many animals to stay together so they separated and each went their separate ways.
When we get to Genesis 18, the Lord (& 2 angels) appears to Abraham to tell him that God’s promise to make him into a great nation and to bless the world through Him would still happen~ in fact, they tell Abraham that they would return in a year and Sarah would have had a son. At the end of this conversation, when they get up to leave Abraham they looked down toward the cities of Sodom & Gomorrah. Lot and his family lived in Sodom. The Lord told Abraham that because these two cities were full of wickedness, He would destroy them.
Abraham was concerned about Lot and his family and began to plead to the Lord to save them. Abraham asked if He would save the city if there were 50 righteous people in it. Then he asked what if there are only 45 righteous people, or 40 righteous people, or 30 righteous people, or 20 righteous people…and each time the Lord said that if he found that many righteous people in the town it would be spared. Then Abraham asked, what if there were only 10 righteous people in the city and the Lord said that He would spare the city for only 10.
So, the two angels who had visited Abraham with the Lord made their way down to Sodom and Gomorrah. They met Lot just outside the city and stayed with him. From Lot’s home, they could see that the town was as wicked as they believed it to be and there were not even 10 righteous people in the city. The angels warned Lot and his family of the coming destruction and told them to get out of town.
Read Genesis 19:12-29 and/ or tell the story in your own words highlighting the following points:
- The angels warned Lot that they were there to destroy the city because of it’s wickedness and told him to get everyone in his family and get out of town.
- Lot went to warn his son-in-laws but they didn’t believe him and thought he was joking.
- Early in the morning the angels told them to leave and flee for their lives and to not look back because they were going to destroy the city. The angels told them to flee to the mountains so they would not be swept away. Lot said the mountains were too far and asked if they could flee to a closer city. The angels agreed and told them to run and not look back.
- As Lot and his family were getting close to the city of Zoar where they were running too, the Lord rained sulfur down on Sodom and Gomorrah and destroyed everything in those cities…all people, all animals, all vegetation.
- Lots‘ wife looked back and she was turned into a pillar of salt.
- Lot and his daughters obeyed the Lord and trusted Him and the Lord saved them
DEFINE AND REMEMBER:
To help the kids remember this truth about God, take a few minutes to define the attribute.
This week we’re talking about the truth that God saves. We’ve all needed to be saved at some point in our lives. Maybe we climbed too high in a tree or maybe we went too deep in the pool. Someone was there to save us and bring us to safety. The Bible tells us that we’re all in greater danger than deep water or a tall tree and we all need to be saved.
SAVE = RESCUE FROM DANGER
Since motions & actions help kids remember, choose an action for SAVE. A good motion might be to reach out and down with 1 hand like you’re grabbing the hand of someone who is falling or someone in water.
MEMORY VERSE:
SAY: “This morning we’re talking about the truth that God is the rock. Our key verse for the week is Psalm 68:20. This verse reminds us that God saves. Let’s say the verse together a couple of times and then we’ll talk about what God saves His people from and how God saves His people.”
Read the memory verse (Psalm 68:20) a few times together and do the motion for saves.
CROSS CONNECTION:
Tell the kids that although they’ve heard the words “God saves” thousands of times that you want them to really think about what it means that God saves, how he saves and what he saves his people from. Think back to the story and how Abraham asked the Lord to save the city if there were 10 righteous people in it and God agreed. Ask what it means to be righteous (to be in right standing before God- sinless- perfect- holy). Then ask, can anyone be righteous on their own? Remind the kids that the Bible is really clear on this truth that all of us are sinners and no one is righteous (Romans 3:10-12 & 23). In the story, Lot was a good man, but on His own (apart from God) he wasn’t righteous. He wasn’t saved because he is good, he was saved because he trusted God and obeyed Him. Help the kids to see that the same is true for each and every one of us. All of us are like Lot. We’re living ok lives and we’re completely unaware that we’re about to be destroyed. The Bible tells us that because of our sin we deserve to be completely destroyed forever and nothing we can do will take away the destruction that we deserve. But, Romans 5:8 tells us that ‘while we were still sinners, Christ died.‘ The angels came and warned Lot of the coming judgement and told him to follow God and they would be saved. We all need to listen to the warning that Lot heard and do what Lot did….turn our backs on sin and turn toward God. The only way we can be saved is to look to Jesus (John 3:14-15) and not look back.
REVIEW:
Give each child a blank piece of paper provide markers or colored pencils. Encourage them to write the word saves somewhere on the paper and then write or draw something to help them remember this attribute of God. They could write the definition for saves or the memory verse or they could illustrate the the story. After a few minutes, bring the group back together and give kids time to share what they have drawn or written.
PRAYER:
Pray that the kids in the group would come to know God more and more each week through this study and that they would remember that all of us are sinners who need to be saved and that they would turn to this good God for salvation. Pray that children in the class would run to God as the rock of their salvation and find their refuge in Him alone instead of the things of the world.