We live and act by the Lord’s power, not our own! Includes a teaching guide, game, and craft.
Needed: drawing paper, pencils or crayons
Intro Game: Power Up Freeze Tag
Divide the students into two teams. One team is It and tries to tag the members of the other team. When a student is tagged, they freeze in place. Every minute or so, a designated Power Up leader runs through the play area. If someone on the team being chased tags the Power Up leader, the leader shouts, “Power Up!” and the frozen students are back in the game. The roles also reverse, so that now they are It and the other team is running from them.
Lesson
We’ve been learning about Abram. Does anyone remember what God told Abram to do? (God told Abram to leave his country and his friends and his family and go to a new country.)
So Abram went to the country of Canaan, but then he had to move to Egypt because of a drought. And he did something wrong in Egypt. Does anyone remember what it was? (Abram was afraid that someone would kill him and take his wife, Sarai, away from him since she was so beautiful, so he lied and said that Sarai was his sister. Then Pharaoh did take her to be his wife, but God made Pharaoh and everyone in his palace sick and made Pharaoh give Sarai back to Abram.)
After that, Abram moved back to Canaan, but he and Lot’s shepherds kept arguing about whose flocks would get the best grass. Does anyone remember the good thing Abram did to make it so he and Lot didn’t have to fight about it? (He was generous and let Lot take the best land for himself and then moved away from him.)
Now, we’re going to learn about what happened next to Abram and Lot.
Summarize Genesis 14 using the following Bible story and asking the included questions as you read.
Kedorlaomer…
Everyone, say Kedorlaomer
Kedorlaomer was King of Elam. He came with his army and attacked the country of Canaan.
Everyone, pretend you’re in Kedorlaomer’s army and you’re winning a battle.
The army of Canaan tried to fight against him, but King Kedorlaomer’s army was too strong.
Everyone, pretend you’re in the army of Canaan and you’re losing the battle.
Kedorlaomer’s army won every battle and conquered every city that they came to. When Kedorlaomer’s army got to the city of Sodom, they stole everything they could find and even kidnapped the people living there so that they could make them into slaves. And since Lot had chosen to go live near Sodom, he was one of the people that Kedorlaomer kidnapped.
Everyone, pretend that you’re Lot and you’re being carried away by Kedorlaomer’s army.
What do you think Kedorlaomer is going to do to Lot? (He’s going to make him into a slave that has to work for his army.)
But one of the men from Sodom escaped and came and told Abram what had happened. When Abram heard that Lot had been kidnapped, he called all his friends and all his servants and they chased Kedorlaomer’s army until nightfall.
Everyone, pretend you’re Abram running to catch up with Kedorlaomer’s army.
What do you think Abram’s going to do when he catches up to Kedorlaomer’s army?
In the middle of the night, Abram led his friends and his servants and attacked Kedorlaomer’s army. And even though Kedorlaomer’s army was so big and strong, Abram and the men with him defeated them.
Everyone, pretend you’re Abram and you’re winning the battle against Kedorlaomer’s army.
Abram rescued Lot and all the people Kedorlaomer and his army had kidnapped and he took back all the things Kedorlaomer’s army had stolen.
Everyone, cheer that Abram won and rescued Lot.
How do you think Abram was able to beat Kedorlaomer’s army? (God helped him.)
Abram and his friends couldn’t have defeated that big army on their own. But God helped them. And God can help us do things too. Remember; we might think we can’t do something, but if we have God helping us, we can do anything.
(Tell a story about a time God helped you to do something you thought you couldn’t do. It might be recovering from an illness or meeting a personal challenge.)
After the battle, Abram gave God one out of every ten things that he had taken back from Kedorlaomer’s army.
Why do you think Abram gave God one out of every ten things he took back?
That was Abram’s way of thanking God for helping him win against Kedorlaomer’s army.
We should also give God some of everything we get. If you get an allowance or if someone gives you money for doing a job or as a present, think about what you can give to thank God for everything He does for you.
Craft: Catch the Vision
Have students draw a picture of God helping them do something difficult.
Game: Power Up Freeze Tag
Play the intro game again and explain that we can rely on God’s power to help us in life.
Closing Prayer
Father, we thank You that You are always with us and that Your power can help us do anything. Help us to remember Your power this week. Amen.
This lesson is included in my book, Father Abraham: Children Sunday School Lessons on Genesis 12-50.