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For the Children G od ’ s P rom ise for t h e S easons G enesis 8:20-22; 9:12-16 MEMORY VERSE: “While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and win ter, and day and night shall not cease.” (Gen. 8:22). AIM: To show God’s faithfulness even when those whom He has cre ated sin and disobey Him. APPROACH: Many years after God had created the heavens and the earth, the people whom He had made to live in His beautiful world became so wicked that He had to send a flood to punish them. Only one man, Noah, and his family had obeyed God. As a reward for their doing what God had told them to do, they lived in a large boat all during the flood and were not harmed in any way (Gen. 6 - 8 ) . LESSON STORY: After the waters of the flood had left the earth, those whom God had saved built an altar and burned upon it many birds and animals to show God how grateful they were for His goodness to them. As these eight people stood or knelt around the altar and jyorshiped their Heavenly Father, He was pleased and promised them that never again would He destroy all living things with a flood. As long as the world remains, God has promised that seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, and day and night shall never stop. Sometimes people break their promise to one another, but God has kept His promise for many hundred years. Have you ever given a gift to someone to whom you have made a promise to prove that you meant to keep your word? That is exactly what God did when He made His promise to Noah and his family. Because this promise was made to all people every where, God wanted to do something to' remind each one of what He had said: If you have seen a rainbow in the sky, you have seen the proof that God Will keep His word. He told those who were at the altar that each time that He saw the rainbow He would remember His promise to never again destroy all living things with a flood. Although the world has again become very wicked, God’s promise is still true. Let us obey God as Noah and his family did even if other boys and girls laugh at us. We will be safe and happy if we do what His Word tells us to do. How true are the words of the hymn: “Trust and obey, for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.”
LESSON FOR JULY 15 God’s Purpose For Abraham
him; there was nothing to which to return should the venture prove to be a mistake! Furthermore, his obedience was full: “into the land of Canaan they came.” He did not stop short of the limit God required, but fulfilled to the letter the word given by the Lord. Such obedience is needed today among God’s people—obedience that draws others along, that stakes every thing upon God, and that goes the entire way with God. III. T he B lessing for A bram (12:7-9) When at last Abram arrived at the place God indicated, “the Lord ap peared unto” him. This was the first happy result of Abram’s obedience, and obedience in every age will have the same consequence. Many desire the Lord to appear unto them but hold back from entire response to His call. Thus they wait in vain for God to meet them. God gave to Abram the land of Palestine in fee-simple forever. That land, from time to time, has passed under different rulers, is today under alien powers, but it has never passed out of ownership of Abram’s people. They own it and one day God will see to it that it is returned in its fulness to those to whom it belongs. All other property upon earth is held merely by “squatters’ title,” but the title of this land actually has passed from the original owner, God the Creator, to Abram and to his seed forever. Then Abram built “an altar unto the Lord, and called upon the name of the Lord.” This was his confes sion to all peoples that he belonged to the Lord, that he was the Lord’s man, and that he meant to honor the Lord in all things.
LESSON MATERIAL: Genesis 12:1-9. GOLDEN TEXT: "In thee shall all fami lies of the earth shall be blessed." Outline and Exposition I. T h e C a l l to A bram ( G e n . 12:1-3) W HEN Abram still dwelt in (Acts 7:3). His faith is revealed in that he “went out, not knowing whither he went” (Heb. 11:8). Abram’s faith was not only in the God of cre ation, who controls all the earth and gives it to whom He will, but he also possessed a saving faith in Him as the living God, the,God of the resur rection, Who brings life from the dead (Gen. 18:9-15; 22:1-14; Heb. 11:17-19; Eph. 2:1-10). With the call came also the prom ise that Abram should become a great nation, through w h i c h world-wide blessing should extend (v. 2). God’s plan of blessing the world reached beyond the borders of any particular tribe or nation. In His sovereignty, Abram was chosen to be the channel through which this purpose should be realized. Moreover, there was promise of either blessing or curse to all peoples in the measure in which they blessed or cursed Abram and his posterity (v. 3). Whatever nations, as such, may do as touching Israel, individ uals in those nations need not do. They may secure the blessing prom ised upon all who bless, rather than curse, Abram’s people. IL T h e R esponse of A bram (12:4-6) Abram’s response was simply an act of obedience. If he had been con trolled by mere outward appearances, he certainly would have investigated whither he was going and what his chances for success might be. In stead, he did “as the Lord had spo ken,” and he did it in faith (Heb. 11 : 8 ) . Such obedience influenced others, for his nephew Lot went with him. Lot was a self-seeker, as his later history fully reveals, but such was the impact of Abram’s faith and obedience upon his life that he chose to cast his lot with Abram. That kind of simple obedience to God’s orders today would do more to win souls than much of the, preaching that is heard. Abram’s obedience was man ifested because he “took Sarai... and all their substance” with him. Obedience burnt all bridges behind
Ur of the Chaldees, he re ceived the call to go out to the place which God would show him
TWELVE PRECIOUS P'S IN EPHESIANS 1 1. Peace ___ ................. 2 2. Places ............................ 3 3. Predestinated ....... 5 4. Pleasure .......,....... ...... 5 5. Praise ...... 6 6. Prudence...................... 8 7. Purpose ..... 11 8. Promise ........... ,.... 13 9. Possession ...................... 14 10. Prayers............ 16 11. Power ......... ;................ 19 12. Principality ..... 21 —J.M .
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