Life Outside the Garden – Old Testament Lessons

I’ll be posting updates as the classes progress.  Next week we’ll be studying the flood.  We will have a Bible reading, a craft, and a game.  Bring your children and let’s have fun!

We started by making the book on the days of creation and it turned out beautiful! It took us four weeks to complete the book.

The complete book is in the hallway near the vestry, if you’d like to take a look.

After finishing the book we studied Adam and Eve and made a craft box that represents the body (which is a temple of God), soul, and spirit. We put a heart and a white bird inside a box as reminder that people were created with the soul and received the gift of the Holy Spirit.

We spent this class on the Lenten Treasure Chest, the small interruption from the main study of Genesis.

Today we returned to the main study of Genesis.  This class was dedicated to Cain and Abel. We talked about how we should always give God our best, as Abel did.

The idea was emphasized by showing children healthy looking oranges and a spotted banana. We talked about which fruit a good hostess would offer to make her guests happy. They all agreed on the oranges. That’s how we should give our offering to God — best fruit from the heart — and that’s what Abel did.  Cain did not give his best and his gift was not as pleasing to God.

We illustrated the difference between Cain’s and Abel’s spirits using two glasses of water.  Both Cain’s glass and Abel’s glass were filled with pure water.  In Cain’s glass we added some vinegar which represented the bitter and sour choices that he made, while the water in Abel’s glass was left pure and unstained.  Then we used baking soda to “test” each spirit (glass of water).  When we put the baking soda in Able’s glass (the clear water) nothing changed, it was peaceful.  This reminds us that when we have a clear conscience we have God’s peace and we are not easily provoked or disturbed.  Then we put the baking soda in Cain’s glass and it began to boil and bubble.  This reminds us that when we have negative feelings like anger, envy, jealousy, etc. our conscience is boiling with bitterness and wrath.

Cain was so angry and unhappy that he killed his brother.  God put a mark on Cain. We discussed what mark it might have been.  Our faces reflect what is in our hearts.  Thus we should cultivate goodness within ourselves to be pleasing to God and to make other people feel happy and comfortable around us.

At the end of the class we made a bookmark with smiley faces and hearts to remind ourselves that we should love one another because Christ said: “by this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:35)