Following the flood, God commanded Noah in Genesis 9:1 to “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.” This command echoes the one given to Adam and Eve in Genesis 1:28. God intended the paradise of the garden to spread into the whole world, but sinful people had other desires.
Genesis 10 accounts for the nations that spread out in the land after the flood. (Gen. 10:32) The people moved east and settled in a valley. This story continues the cycle of distrust and disobedience to God. In Genesis 11:2, Scripture indicates that instead of filling the earth as God commanded, the people devised a plan to settle in one place and build a city and a large tower into the sky.
Read Genesis 11:4. The people’s motive was clear: “Let us make a name for ourselves.” The people didn’t want to be scattered. They didn’t believe God would give them what was good if they obeyed Him. They sought to obtain for themselves what they believed was good.
The people tried to build a monument with its top in the sky, but they succeeded only in separating themselves from God and from each other. God confused their language and scattered them over the earth. They were unable to finish building the city, so the city was called Babel— which sounds like the Hebrew word for “confused”—because there the Lord confused the people’s language.
This week you have the opportunity to tell the kids you teach about God’s better plan: His plan not for people to reach up to Him, but His plan to reach down to people by sending His Son, Jesus, to live the perfect life we couldn’t live and die the death we don’t want to die. Through Jesus, God brings together people of every tongue, tribe, and nation; we are all one in Christ. That is the gospel. Pray that the kids you teach would have open hearts to receive it.
#JesusJams for today!
Our Kids have been asked to do a special music in "Big Church" on Easter Sunday! If you'd like to practice, here's the song we'll be doing!
---> And here's this week's story!!
Christ Connection: People chose to give glory to themselves instead of God. They ignored God’s plan, so God confused their language and scattered the people all over the earth. One day, Jesus will gather together all of God’s people—people from every tribe and people who speak all kinds of languages—and they will worship Him together. (Revelation 7:9-10)
If you have a bible at your house, grab it! We'll be reading Genesis 11:1-9 today! Only 9 verses! If you don't have a Bible, that's okay! CLICK HERE to read it!
OPTION 1: Construction Challenge Before the session, cut drinking straws into 2- or 3-inch lengths. Form groups of three or four kids. Give each group a lump of play dough and a bundle of straws. Challenge them to work together to construct a tower. Kids can form small balls of play dough and use them to connect the straws. After several minutes, compare towers to see which is the tallest or which can hold the most weight.
SAY •The tallest buildings in the world today are more than 2,000 feet tall. Today’s Bible story is about people who wanted to build a tower with its top in the sky. We aren’t sure exactly how tall this tower was, but their construction project did not end how they imagined. Let’s find out what happened.
OPTION 2: Opposites Challenge
Form two teams. Invite a player from each team to stand at the front of the room. Position a bell or buzzer between the players. Explain that you will announce a word, and the player who can name its opposite must hit the bell.
Call on the first player who hits the bell to give an answer. If she answers correctly, award her team one point. If incorrect, allow the other player to answer and earn a point for his team. Invite two new players to compete in each additional round. Begin with simple opposites and then increase the challenge in subsequent rounds. Use the pairs suggested or provide your own.
SAY • Have you ever done the opposite of what a parent or teacher told you to do? Did you face any consequences? In today’s Bible story, God told the people on earth to spread out, but they decided to stay put. We will find out what happened to them.
OPTION 3: Trueway Kids Printables I LOVE LOVE LOVE these printables from Trueway Kids.
To visit their "Tower of Babel" page CLICK HERE
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CLICK HERE to download their PDF printable of the Bible story!
Our 'BIG PICTURE' Question:
Our unit 1 Bible verse:
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