Memory Verse

Reference	Verse	Motions
Isaiah 46:9	“I am God and there is no other; I am God and there is none like me.”	Both hands raised to the sky when they say, “I am God”, shake their heads and fingers when they say, “there is no other” and “none like me”.

Day 1-Creation

• Pray.
• Go over memory verse. Say it to them and have them repeat you several times. Add the motions. If they are older, you could also have them write it down and illustrate the verse.
• Say, “For the rest of this month, we are going to be reading about God’s power.”
• Ask, “What does our verse say about God?”
• Read Genesis 1:1.
• Say, “In the very first verse of the Bible, we see how God is like no other. What did He do?”
• Read or summarize the rest of the days of creation, found in Genesis 1:1-2:3. Focus on what was created each day and that all God had to do to create them was to say the words.
• Ask, “How did God show His power?”
• Ask, “If I gave you a ball of clay, could you create a tree? Could you create a ball? Could you create an animal?”
• Ask, “Well, what if I didn’t give you anything but asked you to make those things. Could you do it?”
• Discuss how God can make something out of nothing! All He had to do was say it, and it was! We can make things, but not out of nothing. Isn’t it great that God proves that He is like no other right from the beginning!
• Activity Ideas: make play dough creations or look up ideas on Pinterest for “Days of Creation activities”.

Day 2-The Flood and the Promise

• Pray.
• Review the memory verse.
• Ask, “Do you remember how God showed His power from what we read yesterday?”
• Say, “Let’s think about promises. What promise have you made lately? Are all promises easy to keep? What if something happens that you can’t control (you may have to give examples) and changes things so that you can’t follow through on your promise? We will see today that God is like no other, just like our Bible verse says. He will always keep His promises because He is always the One in complete control.”
• Summarize Genesis 6-9. Be sure to read aloud Genesis 6:5-8, 6:17-20, 8:1-3, and 9:11-17. For younger kids, you may want to summarize the whole story and just pick out one or two verses to read. *There are so many more wonderful lessons that we could pull out from this story, but let’s focus on God’s power and His promises for today!
• Ask, “How does God show His power through the story of Noah?”
• Ask, “What promise (AKA covenant) does God make with Noah and the rest of us?”
• Say, “God even gave us a sign that He will always remember His promise. What is it? When we see a rainbow, we can remember that what God says He will do, He will do!”
• Ask your children to pray, thanking God that He is always in control and that He always keeps His promises.

Day 3-God’s Power in Egypt,

Part 1

• Pray.
• Review the memory verse.
• Review what happened between Noah and Moses-it’s a lot, and don’t worry-we will definitely be going back to hit each of the patriarchs in the future. Try challenging your older kids to see if they can list the genealogy from Abraham to Joseph.
• To review, say, “After the flood, Noah’s family grew and grew. Many years later, God chose Abraham to be the father of His chosen people, the Israelites. God would eventually send the Messiah, the Savior, to Abraham’s family. When Abraham was very old God gave Him a son named Isaac. Isaac had twin boys named Jacob and Esau. Jacob had 12 sons! When Jacob was an old man, he and all of his family moved to Egypt where one of his sons, Joseph, was the second in command. And Egypt is where we find the Israelites in the story we will read today.
• Say, “The Israelites were treated very badly by the Egyptians. They were forced to do very hard work in a very hot place with very little time off. This had been going on for many, many years. The Israelites cried out to God and asked Him to help them. God heard their prayers and saw them suffering. He sent Moses to rescue them from slavery in Egypt.”
• Read what God told Moses was going to happen when he got to Egypt in Exodus 3:18-20.
• Say, “So, Moses was to go talk to the king of Egypt and ask him to let the Israelites go into the wilderness so that they could offer sacrifices to the Lord.”
• Ask, “How did God say the king of Egypt would respond?”
• Say, “Since Pharaoh wasn’t going to listen to Moses, God said that He would ‘strike Egypt with all His miracles’. Do you know what miracles are? Miracles are things that only God can do. Let’s look at the 10 miracles God showed the Israelites and Egyptians; you’ve probably also heard these called plagues.”
• We are covering SO much in just one day. I would suggest to just highlight each plague in your Bible so you can find them easily and then quickly summarize each one. The plagues are found in Exodus 7:14-12:32. The plagues are: water turned to blood, frogs, gnats, flies, death of livestock, boils, hail, locusts, darkness, and death of the firstborn.
• Ask, “What do you think about all of those plagues? Which one sounds the worst?”
• Say, “Even though these are not pleasant, do they still point people to God? That’s what miracles do. They show us God’s power and help us recognize that He is in control.”

Day 4- God’s Power in Egypt,

Part 2

• Pray.
• Review memory verse.
• Summarize Exodus 14. Say, “After the last of the ten plagues, Pharaoh finally let the Israelites leave Egypt. But not too long after they left, he changed his mind. He realized that with all the Israelites gone, they would not be able to get their work done. So he gathered up his army and over 600 chariots and went out to chase down Moses and the Israelites. Can you imagine how the Israelites may have felt to see a huge army coming after them? They were very afraid!”
• Read Exodus 14:13-14.
• Say, “Moses turned their attention away from their fear and onto the Lord. Remember-what had He just done in Egypt to show His power? When you are afraid, what helps you to calm down? When we focus our minds on Who God is and on the great things He has done, we have peace and comfort because we know God loves us and that He is in control.” If time allows, have older kids look up 1 John 4:18.
• Read or summarize Exodus 14:19-29. While you read, have your children picture in their heads what is going on in the story.
• Ask, “What do you think it would have been like to walk through the walls of water? How do you think the Israelites felt after it was all over? This was definitely something that only God could do!”
• Activity: Get all your “Little People” toys, a tub of water, and go outside. Have your kids tell you the story using those items. For extra motivation, video them telling it to you and call it a movie!

Day 5-The Walls Came Down

• Pray.
• Review the memory verse.
• Ask, “Do you know who led the Israelites after Moses died?”
• Say, “Joshua had been around to experience the plagues in Egypt, he had walked across the dry land after God split the Red Sea, and he had seen God do many other amazing things. So when he was given the job as leader of the Israelites, he knew that he could trust in God’s power to get him through anything he might face.”
• Say, “The Israelites were heading to the Promised Land, but the city of Jericho was in the way. Jericho was a city that was unlike any we see today. For protection, there were HUGE, thick walls built around it. God told Joshua that they would conquer Jericho, but in sort of an unusual way. (The following is a summary of Joshua 6:6-11.) The men who were able to fight and some priests who were going to blow their trumpets were told to line up and march around the city. They would do this once a day for six days. Then on the seventh day, they were supposed to march around the city seven times. The whole time they were marching they had to be very quiet and not say a word! The only sounds were their feet marching and the trumpets blowing.”
• A great way for kids to gain comprehension is to involve some movement. Call out, “Day One!”, and have your kids march around the table once. Then have them come back to the table and “rest”. Call out, “Day Two!” and do the same thing. Continue marching once around the table for all six days.
• Have them listen carefully as you read Joshua 6:15-16. They can march around the table seven times, and on the seventh time around yell, “Shout! For the Lord has given you the city!” (Exodus 6:16)
• After they come back to their seats, read Exodus 6:20.
• Ask, “How did God show his power that day? Older kids: Do you think the outcome would have been the same if the Israelites would have said, “No, God. This is too weird. We’ll find another way to get into the city.”?
• Say, “We can always trust that God’s plan is the best plan. He has the power to get us through whatever we face.”
• Activity: Build the walls of Jericho with blocks or pillows, march around them, shout, and knock them down!