Lot and Abraham

Teaching Goal: Teach the story of Abraham and Lot. Choosing friends with good behavior.

Scriptures: Genesis 13:9 Is not the whole land before you? Let’s part company. If you go to the left, I’ll go the right; if you go to the right, I’ll go to the left. Lot looked up and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan was well watered, like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, toward Zoar. (This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) So Lot chose for himself the whole plain of the Jordan and set out toward the east…Now the men of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against the Lord.

Genesis 13:18 So Abram moved his tents and went to live near the great trees of Mamre at Hebron, where he built an altar to the Lord.

Materials:

• Large paper and markers Paper towel cut into strips
• 2 short, clear cups with water food coloring (2 colors)
• Maps of the Middle East

1. Play theme song
2. Pray
3. Review Last Lesson
4. Lesson and Discussion

Words written in bold are when the leader is speaking. Feel free to use your own words.

A. ACTIVITY #1: Do a computer search for a map of Abraham’s journey. Use the maps provided with this activity to mark and trace Abraham’s journey. Abraham was born in Ur. He moved to Haran. The Lord told Abraham, his wife Sarah and his nephew Lot to move to Canaan. They arrived in Canaan, but a drought caused them to go to Egypt for a while. Then they moved back to Canaan.

B. When they arrived in Canaan the second time, Lot and his men started quarreling with Abraham and his men. Draw a picture of a hill with Abraham and Lot standing on top. Abraham said that it is not good to be Eighting. He tells Lot to choose whatever land he wants and he can have it. Abraham will go in the other direction with his family. Invite a volunteer to read Genesis 13:9 and Genesis 13:18.

To one side of the hill, draw the image of a city. Lot chooses to go and live in the land where cities have been built. Sodom and Gomorrah are names of two of the cities. The people in this land have bad behavior. They are sinning in lots of ways. Abraham then chooses to go the other way, to the open land, and builds an altar to honor God. On the other side of the hill draw the image of a stone memorial to God.

C. ACTIVITY #2: If you choose to be around people who sin and make bad choices, you will likely start to sin and make bad choices too. If you choose to be around people who are trying not to sin and who make good choices then you will start to make good choices too. Put one inch of water in each of the two cups. Add 15 drops of one food color to one cup and 15 drops of the other food color to the second cup. Choose one cup and color to represent Lot and people making bad choices. Choose the other cup and color to represent Abraham and people making good choices. Cut one-inch width strips of absorbent paper towel and give two strips to each person. Have each person write his or her name on the paper towel strips. For each cup, fold a strip in half and place one end in the color liquid leaving the other end hanging outside the cup. Watch how the colored liquid starts to wick up the strip of towel.

What is happening to the paper towel strips that are touching the liquid? They are soaking up the color.

The paper towel strip represents you and me. The water represents other people who we are around. The color represents the choices others make and we make. When we spend lots of time around people who make bad choices, we may start making bad choices. When we spend lots of time around people making good choices, we may start making more good choices.

Notice that the longer the paper towel touches the colored liquid, the more color is soaked into the towel. The more time we spend with people with bad or good behavior, the more our lives will reflect that bad or good behavior. If you leave the paper towel in the color water for a long time it will start wicking the colored liquid out of the cup.

V. Close in Prayer
VI. Pass It On: Make an extra copy of this lesson and pass it on to another family.