Sodom and Gomorrah

Passage:

Familiarize yourself with this passage:

Genesis 19:1-30
After God left Abraham, he sent two angels to Sodom and Gomorrah. When the angels arrived, they found Lot sitting at the gate of the city. When Lot saw the angels, he rushed to greet them and urged them to stay at his house, even though they wanted to stay in the center of the city. After the angels entered Lot’s house, the men of the city started pounding on the door, demanding that Lot send the visitors out so they could do evil things with them. After striking the men of the city with blindness, the angels took Lot, his wife, and his two daughters and fled the city. As they were leaving the city, the angels commanding Lot’s family not to look back. God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah by raining fire and brimstone down on the cities. Lot’s wife could not help herself and looked back. As she looked back she turned into a pillar of salt. Lot and his daughters escaped to the safety of the caves in the hills. Thus, God saved Abraham’s nephew from destruction.

Object Lesson:

Supplies needed:
• 50 of any small object (beads, pennies, marbles, etc…)
Directions:
When you start your story, spread your 50 items out on the floor in front of the kids. (Remind them not to touch, just watch.) Explain to them that last week we saw how Abraham asked God if he would destroy Sodom and Gomorrah for 50 people, all the way down to 10 people. God was willing to save Sodom and Gomorrah if he found only 10 good people there. Separate 10 items from the pile of 50. When God’s angels showed up in Sodom and Gomorrah, they found Lot, Lot’s wife, and Lot’s two daughters. That is only 4 people! Separate 4 items from the pile. Explain how four is a lot less than 10, so God destroyed the cities.

Memory Verse:

John 10:28
I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand.

Jesus Connection:

All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). Just like the men of Sodom and Gomorrah, we are all full of sin. Fortunately for us, Jesus has reach down into our lives and is leading us, by the hand, out of that lifestyle of sin. And we should not look back! He wants us to keep our eyes fixed on him, the author and perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12:2).

Songs:

Amazing Grace

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.

I Will Sing of the Mercies of the Lord
I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever
I will sing, I will sing.
I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever.
I will sing of the mercies of the Lord.

Games and Activities:

Erase the Verse (This game is best suited for confident readers)

Supplies needed:
• Dry erase board or chalk board
• Dry erase marker or chalk
• Paper towel or other eraser
Directions:
1. Write the memory verse on the board.
2. Reading it off the board, have the kids recite their memory verse together.
3. After you have read the verse through completely, erase on word. Repeat the verse, remembering to say the missing word.
4. Each time you complete the verse, erase another word and say the verse again. Do this until you have erased the entire verse and the kids have it memorized!

Follow the Leader

Directions:
1. Have the kids stand in one line. The person at the front of the line is the leader.
2. As the children walk around the room, following the leader, the leader can make motions/actions (clapping hands, hopping on one foot, waving hands in the air….). Whatever actions the leader makes, the other children in the line must also make.
3. After a short time, rotate the leader to give each child a chance to be the leader.

Crafts:

A Pillar of Salt

Supplies Needed:
• Toilet paper tubes
• Glue
• Cotton swabs
• Salt
• Googly eyes (the sticker ones will work best here!)
• Black, brown, red, and yellow pipe cleaners
• Push pins
Directions:
1. Poke holes in the top of toilet paper roll with push pins. (You may want to have this part pre done for younger kids.
2. Allow the kids to choose a color pipe cleaner. Push some pipe cleaners through the holes and twirl them to make curls for hair.
3. Add googly eyes.
4. Smear glue all over the toilet paper roll using a cotton swab.
5. Holing the toilet paper roll over a piece of paper, pour salt all over the glue.

Coloring Page:

Abram and Lot

Passage:

Familiarize yourself with this passage:

Genesis 13:1-18
Abram left home, just like God told him to. He took his wife with him, and all of his personal belongings. Lot, his nephew, also went with him. They all traveled from place to place and along the way Abram became wealthy. Lot also gained a great deal of wealth.  After some time, there was not enough land for all of Abram’s and Lot’s herds to eat together. Lot’s herdsmen started arguing and fighting with Abram’s herdsmen. Abram proposed Lot a deal. Lot could choose which way he wanted to move next. If Lot chose one way, Abram would take the other. Lot chose a way that looked greener and nicer, toward Sodom and Gomorrah. After Lot left, God renewed his promise to Abram of many descendants and added that all the land that he saw before him would belong to his descendants forever.

Object Lesson:

Supplies Needed:
• Adult helpers
• Lots of balloons
Directions:
1. Before starting the story, divide your class into two groups. Name one group Abraham’s camp. Name the other group Lot’s camp.
2. 2.  As you are telling the story, have your adult helpers blow up as many balloons as fast as they can. When the balloons are blown up, hand them to the children and tell them to hold the balloons.
3. After a while, there are lots of balloons on each side. (Just like Abraham and Lot both had lots of animals.) Show the kids how quickly the balloons grew and how much more space each camp now takes up than it did before.
4. Ask the kids in Lot’s camp where they could go to find more space for all their balloons; have them move to that location.
5. Tell the kids in Abraham’s group that the rest of the space in the room is for them, just like God promised all the land to Abraham.

Memory verse:

Genesis 13:14b-15
“Lift up your eyes from where you are and look north and south, east and west. All the lad that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever.”

Jesus Connection:

In Joshua 1:5, God reminds his people Israel that he will never leave them or forsake them. Jesus reminds us, his children, of the same thing in Matthew 28:18-20 when he says “Go and make disciples of all nations….and surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” If we obey Jesus when he tells us to go, he will be there with us the entire way. He will not let us travel by ourselves or to a place where he is not. He is always with us!

Songs

“Father Abraham”

Father Abraham had many sons
Many sons had Father Abraham
I am one of them and so are you
So let’s all praise the Lord
Right arm!
….Left arm!
….Right foot!
….Left foot!
….Chin up!
….Turn around!
….Sit down!

“God is so Good”

God is so good.
God is so good.
God is so good,
He’s so good to me.

He answers prayer.
He answers prayer.
He answers prayer,
He’s so good to me

He loves us so.
He loves us so.
He loves us so,
He’s so good to me.

Games and Activities:

Let Lot Choose

Supplies needed:
• Candy (enough for each child to have one)
• Small random items-rubber band bracelets, erasers, marbles, small toys (enough for each child to have one)
Directions:
1. Divide the kids evenly into two groups. Label one group “Abram” and the other group “Lot”. Have each group stand in a straight line.
2. Have the first Abram and the first Lot from each line comes forward. Show them that there are two options to choose from, candy or other items (whatever you brought). Instruct Abram to say to Lot, “You choose first. Whatever you choose, I will have the other.”
3. Let Lot choose between the two options. If Lot chooses candy, then he can have a piece of candy. If he chooses the other pile, he can have one item from the other pile. Abram gets one item from whichever pile Lot does not choose.
4. After everyone has gone, ask the Lots how they felt getting to choose which prize they wanted. Ask the Abrams how they felt letting the Lots choose first.
5. If you have time after all the children have had a chance to collect one item, line them back up and switch roles!

Crafts:

Passports:

Supplies Needed:
• Light colored construction paper
• Crayons or markers
• Scissors
• Staplers
• Stickers or stamps and stamp pads
Directions:
1. Explain to the children that today you will be making passports. Abram traveled a long way, through many countries. Today when we travel between countries, we have to have a passport.
2. Give each child a light colored piece of construction paper. Fold it in half the long way and cut along the fold.
3. Fold each of the halves in half again, this time the short way. Put the two pieces of paper together so one piece is inside the other.
4. Staple the pages together at the fold, making the binding for the passport. (Help younger children with this part!)
5. On the front cover, write the word “Passport” (Again, you may have to help younger children with this task. You can also write the word on the board for the children to copy in their own writing.)
6. On the first inside page have the children write their name and draw a picture of themselves.
7. Finally, let the children put stamps and/or stickers on the other pages in their book. Interact with the children and ask them what places their stamps represent. (If you make a sample passport in advance, you can share with the kids some of the places that you have been that are represented by your stamps!)

Coloring Page