God Calls People into Covenant


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Begin: Guide reads the background, scripture & prays for the class

Learn by Doing

Unwrap-Opening Activity 10:00-10:10 AM

Dismiss

Investigate: Tell & Wonder about the Story 10:10-10:25 AM

Review the Cornerstone & Closing Prayer

10:30-10:45 AM 10:55 AM

Examine the covenant God establishes with Noah.

Almighty God, you have placed in the skies the sign of your covenant with all living things: Grant that we, who are saved through water and the Spirit, may worthily offer to you our sacrifice of thanksgiving; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them, “Be

life. Whoever sheds the

fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth. The fear and

blood of a human, by a

dread of you shall rest on every animal of the earth, and

human shall that person’s blood be shed; for in his own

on every bird of the air, on everything that creeps on

image God made

the ground, and on all the fish of the sea; into your hand

humankind. And you, be

they are delivered. Every moving thing that lives shall be

fruitful and multiply,

food for you; and just as I gave you the green plants, I

abound on the earth and

give you everything. Only, you shall not eat flesh with its

multiply in it.”

life, that is, its blood. For your own lifeblood I will surely require a reckoning: from every animal I will require it and from human beings, each one for the blood of another, I will require a reckoning for human

The Book of Genesis introduces us to the theme of covenant. God make promises, and the people respond with a promise to be obedient and faithful. The Noah story presents us with the first example of covenant. In the story for this session, Noah and his family enter a new world. They have high expectations and look forward to a new beginning. The family and the animals begin to find new homes. The birds make nests, the animals find their lairs, and the people build new homes and plant gardens. In this setting, God makes a covenant with Noah that “never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth” (Genesis 9:11C). In the recurring theme of covenant, the ultimate promise of God is make through the coming of Jesus. We remember this at every baptism as we renew our own covenant to be obedient and faithful to God. Young children understand promises in self-centered terms (“I promise” and “you promise”). The rainbow in Noah’s story is a concrete symbol that God made a promise that would always be kept. It is a story that will help children understand God’s promises in a larger sense.

Gather contraction paper from the Resource Room, M202 – rainbow colors. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. Ask the students to write words and/or phrases (or draw pictures if they would prefer) that represents each color or some aspect of nature. Blue – ocean waves, rain Orange – fire Yellow – sun, fur of a lion - Violet – maybe Noah wore a purple robe onto the ark

The phrases could also be part of the Noah story we will be discussing today, Genesis 9:1-17. Have the Bibles out on the table so they can reference the story. As they finish their pictures, make a rainbow out of their pictures on one on the walls of your classroom. All the

The sign of this covenant, a rainbow in the clouds, comes from the ancient bow of battles. In ancient times, Gods were often depicted with a bow and arrow. The bow was associated with strength and power and to “hang up” one’s bow was to cease from battle. In our faith tradition, the bow in the sky can be seen as the bow that has been hung up—or put away. The bow in the clouds is the sign of God’s promise that whatever else God does to seek our restoration, destruction is in the past.

Our fourth and fifth graders are ready to dig a little deeper into this story. The flood is in fact the means of re-creation. God doesn’t destroy all that was created. All creation is given a new beginning, a new opportunity to live in harmony with God. God knows that the flood didn’t cleanse the human heart from sin. Even knowing that, God enters into a covenant

phrases on red paper make the first arch, yellow pieces of paper make the second arch. Use blue painter’s tape (which is in your Sunday School cabinet) to post the construction paper on the wall. The picture represents the idea we are aiming for!

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A fun way to introduce Noah’s perspective is to show this clip of Steve Carrell and Morgan Freeman from the movie “Evan Almighty.”



Noah’s story is a symbol that God made a promise that would always be kept. It is a story that will help children understand God’s promises in a larger sense.

The week before you teach, ask the Children's ministry staff for a projector and screen or a laptop that Discuss the meaning of a biblical covenant, as an connects to the projector in your room. If you are agreement in which God and people make promises planning to use technology, we may want to downto each other. Then ask the learners to write a definiload the video clips ahead of time. tion in their own words (either individually or as a group) of what their definition of covenant is. https://youtu.be/80x9FmKsyg4 The flood itself: https://youtu.be/PnUvSn9pVaA In the discussion make these points: 





 

The Book of Genesis introduces us to the theme of covenant. God makes promises, and the people respond with a promise to be obedient and faithful. The Noah story presents us with the first example of covenant. In the story for this session, Noah and his family enter a new world. They have high expectations and look forward to a new beginning. The family and the animals begin to find new homes. In this setting, God makes a covenant with Noah that “never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth” (Genesis 9:11c). The sign of the covenant was a rainbow in the clouds. In the recurring theme of covenant, the ultimate promise of God is made through the coming of Jesus. We remember this at every baptism as we renew our own covenant to be obedient and faithful to God.

Noah entered into a covenant with God. Discuss with the learners about promises (covenants).     

Ask: What are some promises you have made? What have other people promised you? Have you been able to keep your promises? Why is it important that promises be kept? How does it feel when someone fails to keep a promise?

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Here are some ideas for the children to apply the lesson through a variety of methods, some suggestions are below. Making Covenants—Divide the group into smaller groups. Have each group make their own covenant. Maybe the can write a covenant for the Sunday School Class. They are now in charge of the rules for the classroom. What do they think is important to include? What would they like to see not included? After a few minutes, have each group Present their covenant. See what they like or dislike about each group’s covenant. Making a Matrix As a group– Create a matrix with words radiating from the word covenant. Write the word “COVENANT” in the center of a chalk board or piece of newsprint. See how many words relating to covenant the group can place in a matrix.

Reading the Prayers of the People is an important role in the Discovery Eucharist. If anyone in the class is interested, we would love to sign them up to lead these prayers.

Using recent newspapers– Ask students to find stories or pictures that suggest solemn promises (covenants) that have been kept or broken. Look for disagreements among nations, political parties, or individuals in places of trust. Other examples may involve families or local neighborhoods in which promises were made. What is the evidence that the covenants have been respected? disregarded? Talk to the students about the universal nature of covenantmaking and covenant disobedience. Ask: What kind of promises do we make to each other? How seriously do we take them?

Say: Today we learned how God calls people into covenant. Call: The Lord be with you. Response: And Also with you. Let us pray: All praise and thanks to you, most merciful Father, for adopting us as your own children, for incorporating us into your holy Church, and for making us worthy to share in the inheritance of the saints in light; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. Almighty God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from

whom every family in heaven and earth is named, grant you to be strengthened with might by his Holy Spirit, that, Christ dwelling in your hearts by faith, you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Amen.

These two prayers are used in the baptism service, BCP Page 311 4

Continued from page 1

tablished between me and all flesh that is on

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the earth.”

Then God said to Noah and to his sons with

him, “As for me, I am establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you, and with every living creature that is with you, the

birds, the domestic animals, and every animal of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark. I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.” God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future genera-

tions: I have set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have es-

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