Tracing God’s Promises
During the month of March, we will be continuing our study of the center section of Genesis and God’s covenant promises to Abraham, particularly as they work out in the lives of his children/grandchildren.
We will explore the wonderful truths of God’s faithfulness through the ups and downs of the stories of Isaac, Ishmael, Jacob, Esau, Rachel, Leah, and more! It will be an exciting month.
For Teachers
Thank you for your dedicated service to our children! You are making an invaluable investment in the kingdom of God.
The Gospel Project training videos for the upcoming lessons can be found here:
- Unit 2, Session 1 (God’s promise to Abraham)
- Unit 2, Session 2 (Abraham and Isaac)
- Unit 2, Session 3 (Isaac and Rebekah)
- Unit 2, Session 4 (God’s promise to Isaac)
- Unit 3, Session 1 (Jacob and Esau)
- Unit 3, Session 2 (Jacob and Rachel)
Be sure to check out the Gospel Project app by LifeWay. If you need any materials for your classroom, please let Joel or Jenn know.
For Parents
We want to encourage you to follow along with what your children are learning. In future months, we will spend more time equipping you with ideas for how to do family worship in your own homes.
For this month, we’ll provide some suggested readings that follow along with the SS/ROCK lessons as well as questions you can ask to stimulate discussion. Feel free to go at your own pace: you can ask one question per night, read the passage(s) multiple times, etc.
March 3-9
- Read Genesis 22 and Hebrews 11:17-19
- Why did God ask Abraham to offer Isaac? What would this have done to the promise God made to him in Genesis 15?
- How would you have responded to God?
- What does the lamb provided by God symbolize?
- Why does the author of Hebrews say that Abraham believed God would raise Isaac from the dead if necessary?
- What does this tell us about God? About faith?
March 10-16
March 17-23
- Read Genesis 25-26
- What is the point of a genealogy in the Bible? Where do you struggle with them? What encouragement do they give us that these stories are about real people whom God loved in the past?
- How does the birth of Jacob and Esau reveal things about their personalities later?
- Why does Esau do what he does when he’s hungry? What does it tell us about his faith (or lack of)?
- What do you think was so important about the birthright? (Hint: remember the promises to Abraham and Isaac in prior chapters…and in chapter 26)
- What causes Isaac to lie to Abimelech? Where do you struggle with telling the truth?
March 24-30
- Read Genesis 27-28
- Where are you tempted to bend the rules or even lie to make things go your way? How does that show lack of faith in Christ?
- What surprises you about how this story unfolds? Who is the good guy and bad guy? Or is there even a good guy?
- Read Romans 9:6-12. Why did God choose Jacob instead of Esau? What does this tell you about God and salvation?
March 31-April 6
- Read Genesis 29-31
- What parts of the story are unusual compared to how we live today? Does God appear to like the fact that Laban tricks Jacob into marrying two people? (Read Matt 19:4-6 to find out what Jesus says about marriage between only one man and woman)
- What does Jacob’s continued attempts at trickery tell you about his heart and relationship to God?
- What does the conflict between Leah and Rachel tell you about competing against one another in life? Where does that show unbelief?
- How does the birth of sons to both Leah and Rachel reveal God’s trustworthiness to his promises, even to sinful people?
Also, for parents of children in SS for grades 3-5, pay special attention to the take-home journal pages, which offer excellent family discussion-starters:
