Faith Lessons: Cain and Abel
Lesson for Life: We must rule our anger or it will destroy: Genesis
4:7 – You will be accepted if you do what is right. But if you
refuse to do what is right, then watch out! Sin is crouching at the door, eager
to control you. But you must subdue it and be its master.
Faith Lesson: Faith
is treating the invisible/unexperienced
as seen. Hebrews 11:1 – Faith is the confidence that what we
hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot
see.
Whole Group Opening Activity - Ginger
Ale & Candle (10 mins):
Supplies:
Ginger Ale, 2 cups, 2 straws, 2 candles with wax guards and 1 lighter per
table.
Intro:
Cain was jealous of Abel, so Cain took his anger out on Abel. Have you ever
been going along doing the right thing but someone keeps coming along and
tripping you up? It’s hard to get anything done that way, isn’t it? God wants
us to encourage each other to do what is right, not keep people from doing what
is right. This game is all about choices.
Rules:
·
Choose two people from your table to
compete and a monitor to be the judge.
·
Competitors will sit very closely (knee to
knee) in chairs facing each other. The goal is to see who can drink a full cup
of Ginger Ale first. The cup of ginger ale will be in your right hand.
·
Competitors will also each have a small
candle which they can never let go of in their left hand resting on their left
knee. If they move the candle off their left knee, they lose!
·
The Ginger Ale may only be drunk when the
candle is lit!! Competitors must stop drinking the instant the Judge calls out
that a candle has been blown out. The
Judge will have a lighter ready to re-light a candle if it goes out.
·
Competitors may blow out the other person's
candle, but they CANNOT touch any of the other person's supplies. If a person's candle, cup or straw is touched,
the other person loses!
·
The winner is the person who can finish
their Ginger Ale first while their candle is lit.
Debrief
Questions:
·
Did
you chose to blow out the other person’s candle or did you choose to let him do
the right thing and drink his ginger ale while you drank yours?
·
Which way was faster, when you helped each
other or interfered with each other?
Scripture Intro (5 mins): God
set up a system from the very beginning. He said they could come to Him if they
first sacrificed a lamb. Why did God want them to sacrifice (kill) a lamb?
Everything
in the Bible points us to Jesus, even when Jesus was born people sacrificed
lambs to God. God required the sacrifice of a lamb because it pointed to the
future sacrifice of Jesus for our sins - the only way for us to come to God.
What sacrifice did God require? (A lamb) No one sacrifices a lamb anymore
because Jesus’ sacrifice was for all people for all time. Now we come to God
through Jesus only and HIs perfect sacrifice.
(You may choose to read Genesis
4:1-5 as a whole group or have the tables read the scripture as a small group)
Game Time (20
minutes): The following activity is based on
Genesis 4:1-5. Groups can be broken up
into families with children in the home and those without. Tables may then work on the corresponding activities
below. Click here for the Flow Free printout for children
and here for teen version. Click here for the discussion sheet.
Kids in the
house
Each table will play the Flow Free
game provided. Different scripture
verses will be read to support answers.
These will take them thru Cain and Abel’s story. Families with kids under 1st
grade we will provide age appropriate activity.
|
No kids in the
house
Each table will go thru a discussion
sheet aimed to guide them through Cain and Abel’s story and how it applies to
their life.
|
Whole Group - God’s Sacrifice vs
Our Sacrifice (10 minutes):
Supplies:
Each table needs a cotton ball and a piece of bread for each
person. In the center of the table will
be a clear bowl with pink finger nail polish remover and red pens.
Leader Script: In our story today Cain was a farmer. He
worked hard in his fields to grow grain.
The bread at our table represents Cain’s bread. Now it’s not that God was displeased with
Cain’s bread, but why did He help Cain’s crops grow? What are we to do with the bread and things
we grow in our gardens?
We also saw that Abel took care of
the sheep and animals of the family.
What were some of the things the family used the sheep for?
We all sin, just as Cain and Abel
did. Let’s write “SIN” on the top of our
right hand. What happens when I try to
rub the ink off my hand with the bread?
What happens when I try to rub the ink off with the cotton ball?
You see each of these items that God
gave Cain and Abel had their purpose, but in order to take away our sins, God
required the sacrifice of a Lamb so that the blood would take away our
sin. Let’s try dipping our cotton in the
pink “blood” in the middle of our tables.
What happens when I try to wipe away my sin with that?
*Cain wanted to do things his own
way. It made sense to him that offering his best, his grain, would please
God. He didn’t have faith that God’s way
was the best. Then when God became angry
with him, he took it out on Abel and ignored God’s warning.
Remember God’s words: If you do what is right, will you not be
accepted?” All we have to do is believe
in God and have faith in him.
Bulletin Insert: Each
lesson has an accompanying bulletin insert to use. Click here to view this week’s insert.
