DAY ONE

The Light in Creation

Symbol: a globe or picture of the Earth

Memory Verse: "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." GENESIS 1:1

Hymns to Sing:

"He's Got the Whole World in His Hands"

"All Things Bright and Beautiful"

"How Great Thou Art"

"This Is My Father's World"

THE LIGHT IN CREATION

(CHILDREN)

Scriptures: Genesis 1:1 and John 1:1-4

Devotion: Did you see something wonderful today? (Name some things.) The big round world that we live on is wonderful. (Show symbol) Do you know who made that world and everything around us? (God) Let's look in our Bible and see. (Read Genesis 1:1)

Before that beginning there was no round world. In fact, the world was once as dark as night, and you couldn't see anything. But God was there. He has always been, and when God said, "Let there be light," there was light!

Did you know that Jesus was there with God when the world was made? Let's look again in our Bible. (John 1:1-4) Jesus is our Light. There was light in the world so we could know Him and love Him and praise Him!

After He made the beautiful earth, God made a man named Adam and a woman named Eve. They lived in a beautiful garden with all the animals. When God looked at all He had created, He thought everything was very good!

Questions:

"What did the world look like in the beginning?" (no animals, seas, darkness, etc.)

"Was God there in the darkness?"

"Who made the world, Adam and Eve, and everything?"

"Who is our Light?"

Prayer: Father in Heaven, we belong to Thee because You made us and our world. We thank You for creating such a beautiful place for us to live.

Most of all we thank You for Jesus, who was born a little baby to be our Light of the World so we could know and love You. Amen. (Would you like to thank Him for some things He has made for you?)

THE LIGHT IN CREATION

(ADULTS)

Scriptures: Genesis 1 and 2; John 1:1-4, 17:5, 24; Colossians 1:16, 17; Psalm 150

Devotion: In Genesis One, we have the first teaching of the Trinity with God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit all being a part of the Creation. This is made more evident to us as the scriptures above reveal. We can also apply the creation story to our lives spiritually. Outside of God, life has no purpose. We are in darkness. The Light comes when we give ourselves to Christ. Our lives now become meaningful because we have found our purpose--to glorify Him!

Prayer: Thank You God for Your beautiful world. Thank You for each person You have created in Your image. Most of all we thank You for Jesus, our Light and Life. Help us to rejoice in Your creation. May we never take advantage of the resources You have given us. Help us to be wise caretakers of Your world, eager to show Your Light through our lives with all people. Amen.

DAY TWO

The First Sin

Symbol: an apple and a snake wrapped around it

Memory Verse: "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way." ISAIAH 53:6

Hymns to Sing:

"Jesus Loves Me"

"Love Divine, All Loves Excelling"

"Just as I Am"

THE FIRST SIN

(CHILDREN)

Scriptures: Genesis 3:1-10, 23; Isaiah 53:6

Devotion: When God first made the world He saw that everything was good, but now there are bad things in the world. Can you think of some bad things? (killing, being ugly, talking bad, etc.) Do you know how these bad things got into God's beautiful world? It was because of sin. Sin is not doing what God wants you to do, and the Bible says that Satan came into the world to make us turn away from God.

Do you know who Satan is? One of his names is the Devil, and he hates God and wants everyone else to hate God too. In the beginning Satan saw that the most wonderful of all God's works were Adam and Eve. He set out to make them disobey God. Do you know how he did it?

(Show symbol) He went into the beautiful garden where they were living and dressed up like a snake. There was one tree of fruit God had told Adam and Eve not to eat, and if they did, He had told them they would die. Satan came to Eve and lied to her. He told her she would not die, but instead she would be just like God. Eve listened to the lies of Satan. In fact, she and Adam both ate of the forbidden fruit!

Adam and Eve did what Satan wanted them to do. They disobeyed God and became sinners. Did they die? Their bodies did not die, but they would die in another way. They could not talk or walk with God. They were not able to live with Him in the garden. He sent them out to work and when they got old, their bodies then died.

The only way to get back to God was to take sin away. When all seemed hopeless, God found a Way for us to come back to Him. That very day God promised a Savior, Jesus, who would come and take sin away and bring us back to God. God loves us very much!

Questions:

"What is sin?" (Not doing what God tells us to do)

"Who is Satan?"

"How did Adam and Eve sin?"

"Are we sinners?" (Isaiah 53:6)

"How do we know God still loves us?" (He sent us Jesus)

Prayer: Dear God, we are so sorry we do wrong things. Just as Adam and Eve sinned, we are sinning every day. Help us to do what is right. Thank You for sending Jesus to us so our sins could be forgiven. Because of Your Love, we can now live close to You. Amen.

THE FIRST SIN

(ADULTS)

Scriptures: Genesis 3; 1 John 1:8-10; Isaiah 59:2; 53:6

Devotion: Recorded in Genesis is the beginning of sin, but also we see the first chapters in the history of God's redemptive plan. This is the substance of the whole...