Episcopal Church of the Resurrection

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” These are the

first words of the Bible and all the rest of the narrative follows from this

statement. The word genesis means beginning or start and for us the

beginning of our relationship with God. The book of Genesis makes two

main points: (1) that God is the sole Creator of the world and (2) that the

pride of mankind was in conflict with God. The other books of the Bible

continue the story of this relationship and its conflicts.

God created man and woman in His image to live in harmony with their

creator and all other parts of creation. When confronted with the

temptation of becoming their own god, men and women were unable to

resist and so they fell into a sinful state. This was the beginning of the

story of salvation: our need to restore us to a right relationship with God.

Throughout the first chapter of Genesis, we hear of the goodness of

creation. Each thing that God made, he pronounced to be good. This was

the world that God made and into which he put the first man and woman. In

the second and third chapters we learn about the story of Adam and Eve’s

fall from grace and relate that to our own freedom to obey /disobey and

that sin is the misuse of these choices. Finally, in the fourth chapter, we

will learn about the first family, Adam and Eve’s family.

1. Plant seeds and care for them as they grow.

2. Take a nature walk. Tell how each sense can be used to appreciate the

world that God created.

3. Write a prayer of confession or use one from the Prayer book.

4. Paint a picture of your family.

5. Read Prayer for Families, Prayer Book p. 828.

6. Ask an elderly family member to talk about different generations of

your family.

The myth of a great flood which wiped out most of the population of the

world is part of the tradition of almost all ancient civilizations and

geological evidence. The difference in the biblical account is the part that

God takes in it. The all-pervasiveness of evil and perversion was such that

God’s judgement had to take the form of the complete destruction of

humankind except for Noah and his family who were righteous. God was not

allowing this devastation for His own amusement, but rather to make clear

His standards for human life.

The villain in this story is humankind itself, not God. Humans rejected

God’s love and thus opened themselves to the consequences of turning away

from God. Only one man, Noah, continued to follow God and to hear His

word. This was the reason that God saved him and his family from death in

the flood.

After the flood, God made a covenant (promise) with Noah and his family.

The rainbow in the sky was to be a sign that never again would God destroy

all that was living on the earth. The pairs of animals that Noah had carried

in the ark were taken out and allowed to multiply and the earth was full of

life again. It is important to see this as more than just a story about a

boat full of animals. This lesson gives the students an opportunity to talk

more about covenants and promises.

1. Draw a picture of Noah building the Ark.

2. Talk about what a covenant (promise) is and what covenants you have

with other people.

3. Pretend that you are Noah writing in his diary during the building of the

Ark. What would you write about?

4. Tell the story of Noah’s Ark and what this story means to us.

The Tower of Babel makes clear God’s promise that humans shall not be

greater than God. By giving people different languages, God made

communication more difficult and so the people of Babel dispersed. People

learned again that God promises good things if we will not try to be God.

In this lesson we hear the tradition-myth which explains the existence of

many languages. The diversity of tongues has made communication and

understanding between peoples less than perfect throughout history. In

this story we see the tendency of people to do that which is contrary to

the will of God.

The builders of the Tower of Babel thought that by building a tower that

reached heavenward they would have security and fame. All in their city

worked toward this goal, but they misunderstood the real basis for

security: trust and faith in God. Their work was only to lead to trouble for

them as God brought down His judgement and made the tower crumble into

ruins.

A ziggurat was a Babylonian tower. These were originally built to represent

mountains, which were often considered holy places.

The important idea in this lesson is that all we do should be done in the

sight of God and for His ends, not for our own ultimately. Again we see how

humans turn away from their covenant with God and are in need of salvation

from themselves.

1. Find Babylon in a bible atlas or on-line. Look up the definition of the

word “ziggurat”.

2. Learn some words of a foreign language and teach them to someone.

3. Go for a walk in the city and look for tall buildings.

4. Try to communicate with someone without using any words.

In this lesson we are making the transition from the stories about the very

beginning of the world to those of the patriarchs. We begin in this lesson

to see how God speaks to certain individuals and calls them to follow Him.

In return for their faith God promises to bless them. With the story of

Abraham (1/3 of the book of Genesis), we begin the story of the People of

God. These people do not really come together until Moses leads them, but

their origin can be traced to Abraham and his descendants.

Abraham was a man of great faith. When God called him to leave his home

and go to an unknown place, Abraham was already an old man. He took his

wife Sarah and went where God commanded him to go. In return God

promised that from him would come a great nation that would be a blessing

to others. Abraham left his comfortable life in Ur and became a nomad

with his wife and nephew Lot.

Abraham is called Abram until chapter 17. Abraham means father of a

multitude. In giving him this name God promised him a son. When God gave

a new name to someone, it represented a change in His relationship with

them. We hope that students will think about how we can be like Abraham

in our relationship with God.

1. Draw a map of Abraham’s journey. Mark the route of the trip.

2. Teach someone the song “Father Abraham had seven sons”.

3. Make a tent from a large sheet. Sit under and imagine what it must

have like to live there. Eat a snack of grapes, pita bread, dates and raisins

(typical Middle Eastern food).

4. Abraham trusted God. Make a list of the top ten reasons that we should

also trust God.