Note to the Teacher

The key phrase in this scripture (for this lesson) is “Walk Before Me.” The ice breaker is high energy and gets students moving and excited, whether they are meeting online or in person. The discussion teaches students a bit about Abraham and encourages them to explore the meaning of God’s covenant with him. The activity demonstrates that God’s character is one of faithfulness as God keeps the promises he makes. Times are based on a fifty-minute lesson period but can be adjusted.

1. Ice Breaker (10 minutes)

If meeting in-person:

Play “Heads Up” – This game may be downloaded from the App Store or from Google Play. Allow each student a chance to be the person who is guessing the words that appear on the screen.

If meeting online:

Item Scavenger Hunt – Have a list of ten random items that can easily be found in a house. Tell students that they have to go as quickly as possible to retrieve the items and bring them back to the camera. The first student to bring a designated item to show you on the camera on Zoom wins and gets a point. Do ten rounds of this game. Whoever gets the most points wins. Be sure to identify the winner of each round by name.

You can also take the game in a different direction by giving the students an emotion word or color and asking them to find something that matches the emotion or color.

2. Read Scripture (5 minutes)

Our Scripture reading today is about a covenant, or a promise, made between God and Abraham. This is the third time we are reading about this covenant, and Abraham has been waiting for many years to see its promise fulfilled.

Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16

3. Discussion (15 minutes)

God has visited Abraham (Actually Abram in this scripture, but we’ll stick with the name we are more familiar with) and made a promise to him before. Today’s scripture is the third time God has spoken to Abraham about this covenant.

Why do you think God spoke with Abraham three times about this covenant?
How do you think Abraham felt knowing that God has made this promise, but Abraham has yet to see it come true?
What do you think God meant when he said to Abraham “Walk before me faithfully and be blameless?”
How long are you willing to wait for something that someone promises you? A few hours? A week? Several months?

Read Genesis 12:1-4. This is the first time God covenants with Abraham.

What does God promise Abraham through their shared covenant?
How old was Abraham when God first spoke to him in Genesis 12:1-4? How old was Abraham when God visited him a third time in Genesis 17:1? Is that too long for Abraham to wait? Why or why not?
What does this scripture from Genesis 12 and Genesis 17 teach us about God’s promises?

God’s promises are true, and God is faithful to fulfill them. Why is this important to remember during the season of Lent?

4. Activity and Discussion (20 minutes)

(Can be done both in person and online)

We are going to play Time Spy. In this game, one person is a “Time Spy” from the future trying to get our whole group transported into the future before the Time Spy is discovered. There is also a “Detective” trying to discover the spy and an “Inventor” with a shield device that can protect one person from being transported to the future.

At the beginning of each game, students will be assigned one of the special roles (time spy, detective, inventor) or will be a standard “team member.” Prepare the roles ahead of time by writing them down on pieces of paper. You will act as the narrator telling the story of Time Spy as it plays out. Mix up the pieces of paper in a bowl and have students draw out one. Tell them not to reveal their roles to anyone.

If this activity is done online, instead of having students pick out pieces of paper, you can randomly assign the roles to the students and send the roles to them in private messages in chat.

Once everyone has their roles have them close their eyes and then tell the Inventor to look at you and point to the person who they will use their shield device on to protect that round. After the inventor is finished (and closes their eyes) the Time Spy should point to the person they will attempt to transport. After the Time Spy has completed their work, the Detective can open their eyes and point to someone they think is the Time Spy. The narrator (you) nods yes or no. Once that is all over, the group opens their eyes, and you tell a story that talks about how a Time Spy tried to transport one of your team members into the future and succeeded or failed (based on whether that was the same person the Inventor was trying to save.)

Now it’s time to have a discussion to discover the identity of the Time Spy. It is important to remind the special characters (including the Detective) that they are not allowed to reveal their identity. After some discussion, students can nominate any team member to be given “truth serum.” Once there is a nomination, it must be supported by another person and then the team member nominated must reveal whether or not they are the Time Spy. If they are not, everyone closes their eyes, and you play another round. You can continue to play until the Time Spy is identified, or until you determine enough time has passed.

To explain the purpose of the game, say something like:

“Time Spy can teach us something about God. You may not know everything that is going to happen in the round of Time Spy that you are playing, but you can count on the different characters to act consistently in each round. The Inventor will always try to save someone; the Detective will always try to discover the spy; and the Time Spy will always try to transport someone to the future. With God, we may not know everything our future holds or everything God is going to do, but we can always count on God to be faithful to God’s promises and covenants, even if those promises are not fulfilled right away or in the way that we expect. God will never forget promises; God is always faithful. Our response, like Abraham’s, is to “walk along with” God and experience fulfillment through the way in which we live.

Total time: 50 minutes