God’s Covenant With Abraham And Sarah Video Workshop

Summary of Lesson Activities:

Watch the video “Covenant Discovery” from the Great Bible Discovery series. The primary purpose of this workshop is to learn the story sequence and to discuss how illogical God’s promises seemed.

Note: This workshop was visited by 4-6th grades.

Scripture Reference:

Genesis 12:1-9; 15:1-6, 17:1–8, 15–17; 18:1–15; 21: 1-3, and 22: 1-18

Leader Preparation:

• Read the scripture for this lesson.
• Read and reflect on the overview material provided for this lesson.
• Preview the video and have it cued to the correct starting place.
• Gather the materials
• On the easel or white board, write the key Bible verse including the reference. In a different colored marker write: “Impossible?” in large letters.
• In one Bible that you will use, put sticky notes at Genesis 12 and Genesis 21.
• Make sure you know how to use the TV/DVD, especially how to move by chapters and scanning forward and backward within a chapter. If using YouTube, see these technology tips.
• Start the DVD. Choose “Covenant Discovery.” It will seem to be running through what looks like the introduction again, but be patient, it will start. Now use the CONTROLS option to SCAN FORWARD until the narrator says: “Terah’s oldest son was named Abram.” (At 3:48). This is the point to start watching the video.
  OR use the video available on YouTube. Start it at the 3:30 point.
  
• NOTE that the video start and stop points for YouTube may be slightly different times that those given for the DVD; be sure to preview the video and note correct start and stop times for your equipment.

Supplies List:

• Bibles
• Video listed above or YouTube version
• TV with DVD player or internet connection
• Snack items: goldfish crackers, paper cups, napkins, water pitcher
• Easel or white board with appropriate markers in two different colors
• Sticky notes- 2 are needed

LESSON

Opening:
Greet your students warmly, welcoming them to the video workshop. Introduce yourself and any other adults.

Say: Let’s begin with prayer. Ask for any prayer requests. Ask if anyone would like to lead the group in prayer. Be prepared to say a prayer yourself, working in prayer requests. Use the Lord’s Prayer as the ending. A suggestion: “Dear God: Thank you for your involvement in our lives. Help us to listen for your call, remember your promises, and follow you in trust and obedience. (End with the Lord’s Prayer) Amen.”

Dig:
Ask:

• How many of you have made a promise to someone recently?
• Was the promise you made something that you could keep?
• Or was it impossible to keep? [Refer to the word “impossible” on the easel.]
• Do God’s promises seem impossible for him to keep? (accept all answers)
• What is another word for a promise that God makes? (a covenant)

Say: Last month we learned about a promise or a covenant that God made with Noah. This month we will learn about a covenant that God made with Abram, whose name was later changed to Abraham.

Hold a Bible.
Ask: Where in the Bible would we read about Abraham? (in the Old Testament) [The 1st week of the Rotation you may need to give the kids a hint: it’s a story that Jesus learned when he was their age.]
Say: The Bible is divided into two testaments – the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Old Testament is stories that Jesus learned as a child. The New Testament tells us the story of Jesus’ life.

Ask: In what book of the Bible would we find this story?
Say: Our story is found in the Old Testament, in the first book in the Bible, Genesis.

Distribute Bibles if needed.
Have the students find the story in Genesis, chapter 12, verse 1.
Say: This is the start of our story; it starts off with God calling Abram.

Have the students follow along as you read to them verses 1-4a. [Leave off: “and Lot went with him.”]

Ask: Where does God say that Abram is going? (it doesn’t say)
Say: God told Abram to go and he didn’t say where. Amazingly enough, Abram went!
Ask: Why do you suppose Abram was willing to just pick up and go, off to the unknown?
Maybe it had something to do with God’s promises?
What were God’s promises? (Genesis 12:2 – many descendants, he also promised land)

Say: It’s important to note how many children Abram has at this point in our story.
Ask: Does anyone know how many children he had? (zero)
Say: So God is promising Abram to be the father of many but Abram is 75 and doesn’t have any children yet!
Ask: Do you think that that promise seems pretty impossible? [Refer to the word “impossible” on the easel.]

Say: Let’s learn more by watching our video. Leave your Bibles open.

Show the Video:
(Have the assistant teacher distribute the snack.)

Say: This is an animated video that has a narrator whom we see on occasion. This narrator calls us “the discovery team.” As you will see sometimes this narrator can act pretty silly.
PLAY the video (starting where the narrator says: “Terah’s oldest son was named Abram.”)

PAUSE after the narrator says, “Abram built an altar to the Lord who had brought him safely to that place.” [at 6:29 – watching 2 minutes 41 seconds or 2:41]

Say: We’re going to skip parts of this video.
SCAN FORWARD to 7:52 (7:15 on YouTube), just after the narrator appears with the psychedelic background.
Press PLAY.

PAUSE after the narrator (in person) says: “we should discover that this promise will be kept.” [at 9:56 – watching 2:03]

SCAN FORWARD to 12:00, just after the narrator appears for the second time as a used
car salesman.
Press PLAY.

PAUSE after the narrator (in person) says: “Could you wait longer than that?” [at 17:16 – watching 5:16]

Ask: Could you wait that long to see the results of a promise? (accept any answers)
Does God’s promise seem impossible? [Refer to the word “impossible” on the easel.]
PRESS PLAY.

PAUSE after the narrator (in person) says: “Pay close attention discovery team and see if God keeps the promise to send a new baby.” [at 18:31 – watching 1:15]

Say: Let’s read in the Bible about whether God fulfills this promise.

Have the students turn to Genesis 21:1.
Have the students follow along as you read to them verses 1-3.

Ask: How many of you know the ages of your grandparents?
Say: Sarah was 90 and Abraham was 100 years old, pretty old for becoming parents! So God’s promise wasn’t impossible. Remember, God had asked Abraham: “Is anything too hard for the Lord?”

Ask: What things in your life seem impossible to you? (pause, accept all answers)
What does this story tell us about God? (he keeps promises)

Say: Now we are going to skip ahead to the last chapter of our story, chapter 22. This
tells of a time when Isaac is now older. There is a concept we need to understand – about
how they used to worship God in Bible times – with sacrifices.
Ask: Who knows what a sacrifice was for?
Say: They would sacrifice an animal as a way of worshipping God. To give the life of
the animal was a way of asking for forgiveness.
Ask: Why is it that today we don’t need to sacrifice animals?
Say: Jesus took the place of sacrifices; Jesus’ death on the cross pays for our sins. One other thing you need to know is that God never approved of sacrificing people.

Turn the sound off. ADVANCE to chapter 11, then SCAN FORWARD to 24:45, when Isaac is shown sitting on a sheep. Turn the sound back up.

PRESS PLAY.

STOP when the logo appears for the Great Bible Discovery Series. [at 31:32 – watching 6:47]

Discussion:
Ask:

• How would you have reacted if you’d been Abraham?
• What about Isaac, what do you suppose he learned from this?
• Where do you sense that God is testing your faith today?

Reflection:
Say: The promise that God made to Abraham is in our key Bible Verse.

Refer to the easel/white board and have kids say the verse together.

“I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore.” (NIV) Genesis 22:17a

Say: In making this covenant with Abraham God was saying: I love you. I want you to be my people. I will be your God. If you obey me, I will see that you receive the blessings that I intend for you. Take all of your concerns to God. Nothing is impossible for God.

In case you have extra time:
Continue playing the video – it has several simple multiple-choice quiz questions.

Resources:

• Crane, Amy. “Abraham and Sarah: Drama Lesson.” 2001.
• MacQueen, Neil. "A Manual for the Video - A/V Workshop. https://www.rotation.org/topic...-video--a-v-workshop
• Osborne, Rick, et al. Kidcordance: Big Ideas from the Bible and Where to Find Them. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1999.
• Scripture quoted is taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.
• DVD Reference: The Great Bible Discovery series, volume 1. Vision Video, 2007.
  Total viewing time: a little over 18 minutes

A lesson written by Carol Hulbert from: First UMC, Ann Arbor, MI

Copyright 2007 First United Methodist Church, Ann Arbor, MI.
Permission to copy materials granted for non-commercial use provided credit is given and all cited references remain with this material
If you use this material, even in a modified form, please include the following reference:
Hulbert, Carol. " God’s Covenant with Abraham and Sarah: Video Workshop." Oct. 2007. Place URL where lesson found inside angle brackets<>.

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