Saturday, January 23, 2010

Sunday School Revisited - Noah (Genesis 6:1-9:17)

[This is just a HTML-ification of the notes and handouts for the first lesson in the "Sunday School Revisited" series.]

There are a lot of stories from Sunday School that were just stories, and never really seemed to connect to other parts of the Bible. Maybe they don't get connected until later. Maybe you never really went to Sunday School, so when some of these names get mentioned in church or a Bible study or ABF, you feel lost. This series revisits some of the “classics” from Sunday School, tries to flesh them out, and put them into some context.

[Opening large-group]
  1. How many people attended Sunday School very regularly as children? Irregularly or not often? Never?
  2. Read the story of Noah from a kid's Bible. Ask how complete the story is.
  3. To flesh out the story, let's first split into groups of 3-4 couples.
  4. Each group will have a different aspect of the story to look at and teach the rest of the class. Each group also gets to assemble some sort of craft project to illustrate something about what they are teaching. At the end, we'll get back together and you can teach the other groups what you learned and share your craft project.




[Small Group 1]

Your group gets... Covenants!


The account of Noah's life is in Genesis 6:1 through Genesis 9:29
Your group's task is to teach the rest of the class about covenants in the story of Noah and the flood. You should construct a craft project to illustrate something about covenants, and use that craft project when teaching the rest of the class.
The questions below are to get you thinking and talking. You don't have to answer or even discuss all of the questions. They are there for inspiration. But please do try to answer the last question as you share with the rest of the class.
  • What is a covenant?
  • How many covenants had God made with humanity prior to Noah?
  • Would God make other covenants with humanity after Noah?
  • The word “covenant” appears in Genesis 6:18, then again frequently in Genesis 9:1-17. Was God making one covenant, or two? What was the nature of the covenant(s)?
  • What was God agreeing to under the covenant(s) he made with Noah? What was humanity agreeing to?
    • Who got the better end of the deal? Why?
  • How can you apply this knowledge to your life today?



[Small Group 2]

Your aspect is... Salvation!


The account of Noah's life is in Genesis 6:1 through Genesis 9:29
Your group's task is to teach the rest of the class about salvation in the story of Noah and the flood. You should construct a craft project to illustrate something about humanity being saved, and use that craft project when teaching the rest of the class.
The questions below are to get you thinking and talking. You don't have to answer or even discuss all of the questions. They are there for inspiration. But please do try to answer the last question as you share with the rest of the class.

  • How many people were there in the world at the time of the flood?
  • How many were saved?
  • Genesis 6:9 says that Noah was “blameless”. What does that mean? How does that compare to “sinless”?
  • What connections do you see between Noah and Jesus?
  • What differences do you see in the salvation Noah offered and the salvation Jesus offered?
    • What was the salvation that came through Noah?
    • What was the salvation that came through Jesus?
  • Do you think that what God did through Noah was a foreshadowing of what God would do through Jesus? Why or why not?
  • How can you apply this knowledge to your life today?



[Small Group 3]

Your group gets... Justice and Mercy!


The account of Noah's life is in Genesis 6:1 through Genesis 9:29
(God's patience and giving second chances, combined with righteousness and justice)
Your group's task is to teach the rest of the class about God's justice and God's mercy in the story of Noah and the flood. You should construct a craft project to illustrate something about justice and mercy, and use that craft project when teaching the rest of the class.
The questions below are to get you thinking and talking. You don't have to answer or even discuss all of the questions. They are there for inspiration. But please do try to answer the last question as you share with the rest of the class.
  • Why did God send the flood?
  • Did God want to send the flood?
  • How much sin can God tolerate?
  • How much sin did God tolerate? (see Genesis 6:5-7)
  • Was the world more or less wicked in those days than today? Why do you think so?
  • What examples of mercy can you find in the story?
  • Do you think God displayed more justice or more mercy in the account of the flood?
    • Here's a specific example to get you thinking: what kind of warning did people outside of Noah's family have about the flood? Was this more just, or more merciful?
  • When discussing Noah and the flood, is justice or mercy usually the focus?
    • In versions of the story for young children (e.g. in kid's Bibles), is justice or mercy usually the focus?
    • Is this a good thing or not?
  • Should the other aspect get more focus in versions for children?
  • If there weren't animals in this story, do you think this story would be a Sunday School staple?
  • After the flood, had humanity run out of second chances from God?
  • How can you apply this knowledge to your life today?




[Small Group 4]

Your aspect is... Content Community in Confined Quarters!


The account of Noah's life is in Genesis 6:1 through Genesis 9:29
Your group's task is to teach the rest of the class about “Content Community in Confined Quarters”—that is, getting along with others in cramped living spaces—using the story of Noah and the flood. You should construct a craft project to illustrate something about keeping a confined community content, and use that craft project when teaching the rest of the class.
The questions below are to get you thinking and talking. You don't have to answer or even discuss all of the questions. They are there for inspiration. But please do try to answer the last question as you share with the rest of the class.
  • What's it like to be cooped up with a few other people for a long time?
  • How many people were in the ark?
  • How big was the ark? How much space do you think was reserved for people?
  • Approximately how long were they in the ark?
  • Approximately how smelly were they in the ark?
  • How well would you have dealt with this situation?
  • What conflicts do you think might have arisen between you and your spouse if you had been on the ark?
  • How would you counsel someone else to deal with a needing to live in tight quarters with a similar group of family members for a long time?
  • How can you apply this knowledge to your life or marriage today?

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