YouthEducational

Adventures

Name:

Lessons for Sabbath School and HomeUnit 2 “The Creation”

Book OneJuniorsDAILY DEVOTIONALS

YE3E

LLLLLessonessonessonessonesson 5 - God W 5 - God W 5 - God W 5 - God W 5 - God Was Sorryas Sorryas Sorryas Sorryas SorrySunday - Genesis 4:8-11Monday - Genesis 6:5-7Tuesday - 2 Timothy 3:1-5Wednesday - Psalm 7:9-11Thursday - Proverbs 3:1-4Friday - Ephesians 4:30-32Saturday - Psalm 90:8-12

LessonLessonLessonLessonLesson 6 - Noah’s Ark 6 - Noah’s Ark 6 - Noah’s Ark 6 - Noah’s Ark 6 - Noah’s ArkSunday - Genesis 6:8-11Monday - Genesis 6:12-16Tuesday - Genesis 6:17-22Wednesday - Genesis 7:1-6Thursday - Matthew 24:37-39Friday - Hebrews 11:7Saturday - Luke 17:26-27

LLLLLessonessonessonessonesson 7 - W 7 - W 7 - W 7 - W 7 - Wateraterateraterater, W, W, W, W, Water Everywhereater Everywhereater Everywhereater Everywhereater EverywhereSunday - Genesis 7:11-14Monday - Genesis 7:17-22Tuesday - 1 Corinthians 10:13Wednesday - Psalm 5:8-12Thursday - Psalm 9:8-10Friday - Psalm 31:5-8Saturday - Psalm 37:5-9

LLLLLessonessonessonessonesson 8 - Rainbows & P 8 - Rainbows & P 8 - Rainbows & P 8 - Rainbows & P 8 - Rainbows & PromisesromisesromisesromisesromisesSunday - Genesis 8:18-22Monday - Genesis 9:11-16Tuesday - Psalm 77:5-11Wednesday - 2 Peter 1:2-4Thursday - 2 Corinthians 6:17, 7:1Friday - Psalm 111:2-6Saturday - 2 Peter 3:4-9

Lesson 9 - A Mighty ConstructionLesson 9 - A Mighty ConstructionLesson 9 - A Mighty ConstructionLesson 9 - A Mighty ConstructionLesson 9 - A Mighty ConstructionPPPPProjectrojectrojectrojectroject

Sunday - Genesis 11:4-9Monday - 2 Timothy 3:1-4Tuesday - Proverbs 3:5-6Wednesday - Romans 12:1-3Thursday - Ephesians 2:8-10Friday - 1 Corinthians 3:9-16Saturday - Luke 14:28-30

LLLLLessonessonessonessonesson 10 - A F 10 - A F 10 - A F 10 - A F 10 - A Friend of Godriend of Godriend of Godriend of Godriend of GodSunday - Genesis 12:1-4Monday - 2 Chronicles 20:6-7Tuesday - Isaiah 41:8-9Wednesday - John 15:12-15Thursday - Hebrews 11:8-10Friday - Hebrews 11:13-16Saturday - James 2:23

BIBLE

BIBLEBIBLEBIBLEBIBLEBIBLE

Index Of Lessons

Lesson 1I’ll Make a World ................. 4

Lesson 2I’m Lonely Still ..................... 7

Lesson 3I’m Ready to Rest............... 10

Lesson 4In The Garden ................... 13

Lesson 5God Was Sorry................... 16

Lesson 6Noah’s Ark ........................ 19

Lesson 7Water, Water Everywhere .. 22

Lesson 8Rainbows & Promises ......... 25

Lesson 9A Mighty Construction Project .............................28

Lesson 10A Friend of God ................. 31

DAILDAILDAILDAILDAILY DEVOTIONALSY DEVOTIONALSY DEVOTIONALSY DEVOTIONALSY DEVOTIONALS

This world we live in is awesome! We’re curious creatures and want to knowhow we got here. How did this world and everything on it come to be? Whydid God put us on the earth? What is your purpose in life? Learning about howeverything started is fun! You’ll discover the wonderful messages and promisesGod has for you as you read your devotionals each day. You will meet peopleand learn why their lives were good or bad. You can benefit from the lessonsthey learned when they were on this earth. Ask your Mom and Dad to read theBible with you every day. You can do this in the morning or before you go tobed. Each day there are a few verses below for you to read. Each verse has aday by it so that you will know which one to read. Reading these verses willmake next Sabbath’s lesson even more interesting. As you read the Bible,remember that God is talking to you. After you read the verses, kneel and talkwith God in prayer. Ask Him to protect you and to help you love Him more.

LLLLLesson 1 - esson 1 - esson 1 - esson 1 - esson 1 - I’ll Make a WI’ll Make a WI’ll Make a WI’ll Make a WI’ll Make a WorldorldorldorldorldSunday - Psalm 148:1-13Monday - Isaiah 40:21-26Tuesday - Isaiah 42:11-13Wednesday - John 1:1-5Thursday - Genesis 1:1-10Friday - Isaiah 45:5-12Saturday - Psalm 95:1-6

Lesson 2 - Lesson 2 - Lesson 2 - Lesson 2 - Lesson 2 - I’m Lonely StillI’m Lonely StillI’m Lonely StillI’m Lonely StillI’m Lonely StillSunday - Genesis 1:26-28Monday - Psalm 8:1-6Tuesday - Colossians 1:12-16Wednesday - Psalm 139:13-17Thursday - Genesis 2:4-7Friday - Genesis 5:1-2Saturday - 2 Corinthians 3:18

LLLLLessonessonessonessonesson 3 - I’m R 3 - I’m R 3 - I’m R 3 - I’m R 3 - I’m Ready to Ready to Ready to Ready to Ready to RestestestestestSunday - Genesis 2:1-3Monday - Exodus 20:8-11Tuesday - Matthew 11:27-30Wednesday - Exodus 16:28-30Thursday - Leviticus 31:13-17Friday - Hebrews 4:3-5Saturday - Exodus 34:1-3

Lesson Lesson Lesson Lesson Lesson 4 - In The Garden4 - In The Garden4 - In The Garden4 - In The Garden4 - In The GardenSunday - Genesis 2:16-17Monday - Genesis 3:1-7Tuesday - Genesis 3:8-13Wednesday - Genesis 3:14-19Thursday - Genesis 3:21-24Friday - Revelation 22:1-2Saturday - 1 Timothy 2:13-15

Youth Educational Adventures

The Creation SeriesThe Creation SeriesThe Creation SeriesThe Creation SeriesThe Creation SeriesBook Book Book Book Book OneOneOneOneOneJuniorsJuniorsJuniorsJuniorsJuniors

The purpose of this series of lessons is tointroduce each child to God as Creator. We hopeto instill an awe and a respect for God’s creation,and to give each child an alternative to theevolutionary assumptions so much a part of today’seducation. We also want to develop in the childrena love for learning about God which will bringthem again and again to church and to SabbathSchool. We hope to encourage daily contact with Godthrough prayer and devotional Bible readings. Inthe process, we hope to create in each child anexpectation of fully participating as a baptizedmember in God’s church. We also pray that thelessons in this book will translate into knowledgeand behavior becoming of a child of God.

RRRRRonald Dart - Ponald Dart - Ponald Dart - Ponald Dart - Ponald Dart - Publications Editorublications Editorublications Editorublications Editorublications EditorAllie Dart - Managing EditorAllie Dart - Managing EditorAllie Dart - Managing EditorAllie Dart - Managing EditorAllie Dart - Managing Editor

Cynthia Saladin - Contributing WCynthia Saladin - Contributing WCynthia Saladin - Contributing WCynthia Saladin - Contributing WCynthia Saladin - Contributing WriterriterriterriterriterMickie RanaldoMickie RanaldoMickie RanaldoMickie RanaldoMickie Ranaldo - Layout and Design - Layout and Design - Layout and Design - Layout and Design - Layout and Design

CEM and YEA are very grateful to Cynthia Saladinfor writing the lessons in this book. She is a fourth-grade teacher with more that six years of teachingexperience. Having grown up in the church, shehas a special affinity for preteens and theproblems they face with their religious beliefs.Her dedication and passion for youth to knowGod and live by His Word are greatly appreciated.

Our vision is to create Christian educational opportunities for all our children so that they will

build a lasting relationship with God andexperience the joys of salvation and the rewards

of God’s Kingdom.

Christian Educational MinistriesP. O. Box 560

Whitehouse, Texas 75791phone: 1.888.BIBLE.44

fax: 903.839.9311website: www.borntowin.net

Copyright Christian Educational Ministries. All Rights Reserved.

Index Of Lessons

Dear Juniors,

Being a good friend means keeping in touchwith others. Write the names and phone numbers of

your friends on the lines below.

Name Phone #

Are you a good friend?

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Congratulations and welcome! You are now ready to start your second yearof Junior books. This year we’re going to start at the beginning—at least asfar as Genesis tells us. You will be exploring some pretty exciting ideas. At thesame time, you’ll be visiting some of your most favorite stories of the OldTestament.

We’ll start with Creation. Twinkling stars! Blooming roses! Yipping puppies!Croaking frogs! The awesome God of the universe created all the livingthings around you! Not only did God create the stars and the planets, and theplants and the animals, He also created men and women. Imagine the powerand imagination that did all that!

In lesson three, you’re going to learn why we keep the Sabbath. Here’s ahint: God did.

Next you will learn about the wickedness of men and women. You’ll findout that it didn’t take very long for men and women to become so bad thatGod was ready to destroy all living things from the earth. But He found oneman and his family that He wanted to save.

Because of that, you will get to go on the ark with Noah, his family, and allof the animals. You’ll learn things you never knew about traveling on the ark.And you will talk about rainbows and God’s promises.

In lesson nine, you will learn about the Tower of Babel. This is where youwill learn why there are so many different languages spoken in the world.

We’ll finish this book talking about God’s friend, Abraham. Wouldn’t youlike to be known to everyone as God’s friend? Why did God call AbrahamHis friend?

As you work through each lesson, you will learn about the people and thethings that happened way back then. But you are also going to find out whyit is important to you today. That is why you should read each lesson and dothe activity before you go to Sabbath class. It means a lot to YOU!

It really is going to be an important and exciting voyage! We’re really gladyou are going to be going with us! Are you ready to start?

Cynthia Saladin

LLLLLesson 1esson 1esson 1esson 1esson 1

arry Potter gets a lot of attention. Theorphan wizard rides around on a broomstick andhas a magic wand. These kids’ books have beenon the top ten adult list! Yep, the author saysHarry Potter did some incredible things. But HarryPotter is fiction. Let’s look at something fargreater and more exciting.

Imagine a world where there is nothing. Noland. No oceans or streams. No life. And no light.Genesis 1:2 tells us: “The earth didn’t have ashape. And it was empty. Darkness was over thesurface of the ocean. At that time, the oceancovered the earth. The Spirit of God was hoveringover the waters” (NIrV Kids Devotional Bible).Then one day, the great God of the universedecided to create a world for you and me. Hesaid, “Let there be light.” At God’s commandthere was light. He separated light from darkness.Light was day and darkness was night. And thiswas the very first day! That was a lot of work forjust one day.

Day Two of creation was also very busy. Godcreated sky by separating it from the water.

Before the sky was created, there was no atmo-sphere, no oxygen to breathe. There were noclouds. The earth was like a huge fog.

Have you ever created your own town in asandbox, complete with running water from thehose? Imagine digging the channels for the riversand streams, scooping out sand for the lakes andoceans, piling up mounds of sand for mountainsand hills and plateaus. What fun! That’s whatGod did on Day Three. He created land, separat-ing the waters so that continents and islandswould appear. This is landscaping in a huge way!But that’s not the only thing God did on DayThree. He also created all the seed-bearing treesand plants.

Whoa! All of them? Yes, that’s right! Thefruit trees and pines trees, the maples and sweetgums, tomatoes, spinach, carrots, peppers, celery,and mustard plants and. . . This was not an easylandscaping project. It was awesome! Just thinkabout all the different seeds there are. Acorns aremuch different than pumpkin seeds, which arevery different than pine cones.

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Words to KnowSUPERNOSUPERNOSUPERNOSUPERNOSUPERNOVVVVVAAAAA - an exploding star amillion times larger than our sunBIOLBIOLBIOLBIOLBIOLOGISTOGISTOGISTOGISTOGIST - a scientist who studieslife and all living matterANTIDOTEANTIDOTEANTIDOTEANTIDOTEANTIDOTE - a cure

Memory Verse“Let them praise the name of the Lord, forHe commanded and they were created”(Psalm 148:5 NIV).

ScripturesGenesis 1:1-25; Psalm 148:1-12

I’ll Make a World

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Activity

PrayerDear Heavenly Father,

I want to be your friend. Please work in my life so that I long for your ways and yourcommands, and not the things of this world. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

On the lines in the arrows below, write the kinds of actions you expect from yourfriends. Remember: to have friends, you must be a friend. So whatever it is that you

want from your friends, you must be willing to do for them too!

So God created all the plants and their seedsand all the things that each plant does. For in-stance, did you know that oftentimes where youfind poison ivy growing naturally, you’ll also findjewel weed nearby? It’s a natural antidote to thepoison ivy oil. Have you seen how jewel weedexplodes away from the plant? You can probablythink of many examples of the neat things plantsdo. God not only created the ones you knowabout, but many more. In fact, biologists are stilldiscovering new plants in the tropical rain forestsaround the world! WOW! Yes, Day Three was avery busy day.

If you were God, what would you havecreated next? He created something every plantneeds. What do you think that is? Plants musthave sunlight to live. So God created the sun, themoon, and all the stars! Think about black holes,billions of galaxies, and exploding nebula. Scien-tists think that some supernovas actually ex-ploded thousands of years ago and, that becausethey are so far away, we’re just now getting thelight from the explosion. When you think of allthat space and all the stars God created in thatspace, that was a lot to do on Day Four.

On Day Five, God created the birds and all thecreatures in the sea. Dolphins and penguins, seaotters and falcons, chickens and octopuses,cardinals and sharks. How long do you think itwould take to list all the different kinds of birdsand sea creatures? Imagine creating each oneunique, different from every other creature insome way. Think about designing an eagle’s eyesor a whale’s blow hole, a pelican’s bill or a mantaray’s shape, or an emu’s feathers or a turtle’sshell. How amazing all of the flying and seacreatures are!

On Day Six, God created all the land animals!Chimpanzees and duckbill platypuses, horses anddogs, pandas and lizards, elephants and giraffes,hippos and mountain lions, tigers and bears. . .Again, you can spend all day thinking about thedifferent animals, but God spent all day makingeach one unique and wonderful in its own way.

Think about designing an elephant’s trunk or akangaroo’s pouch, a cow’s digestive system or acat’s claws, a polar bear’s insulating hair or aporcupine’s quills. Amazing! Each one of God’screations makes sense. The creatures were giveninstincts and senses and abilities to help themsurvive and reproduce.

The plants were created to balance the ani-mals so they exist in a web, each dependent onthe other. And God created physical laws to makeit all work. One of His laws is gravity. Can youimagine trying to walk to school if there was nogravity holding you down? God’s creation wasdone right! It wasn’t thrown together like aninvention of man which needs improvementsalmost immediately!

The Creation shows that God is wise andintelligent beyond words. It also shows God’ssense of humor. Look at the way a duckbill platy-pus is put together! When it was first discovered,people thought it was a fake. Think about foalsplaying, or a kitten batting a ball of yarn. Godcreated them to do that!

Harry Potter may have captured the imagina-tions of many adults and children around theworld, but God’s wonderful creation shouldcapture your imagination even more. Spend timeexploring our world. And give God thanks andglory for the wonderful things He has done!

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Abraham didn’t know where he was going. Hehad to leave his family and all the places heknew! And then, when he got to the place Godshowed to him, he lived in a tent! A tent—for therest of his life! That was another hundred years!

The fact that Abraham lived the rest of his lifein a tent is really important to us. Abraham wasvery wealthy. He could have built a beautifulhouse. But he didn’t. Abraham knew that his lifewould last only a short while. Thatmeans he knew his life was temporary.Abraham was waiting for God to givehim a permanent place to live. He-brews 11:10 says, “Abraham waslooking forward to thecity that has foundations.He was waiting for thecity that God planned andbuilt” (NIrV Kid’s Devo-tional Bible). Abrahamlonged for a better country—a heavenly one. As helived his life, he anxiouslywaited for God to set up His Kingdomon this earth. And he was willing to live ina tent until that time came.

Leviticus 23:42 says that all Israelites were tolive in tents during the Feast of Tabernacles. Doyou remember why they were to do this? It’sbecause one thing the Feast of Tabernacles showsus is that life on this earth doesn’t last forever.We may live to be 90 years old, but from God’s

point of view, that’s not a very long time. Ourlives are temporary. Our bodies will last formaybe 70, 80, or even 90 years. But we won’tlive forever as physical human beings.

God has something better planned for us atChrist’s return. Abraham knew that God hadsomething better planned for him too. Christwent to heaven to prepare a place for those whoare not ashamed to love Him and keep His com-

mandments. What a place that willbe! No more pain or sorrow. Nomore tears! No more crime! Aplace where everyone followsGod’s ways! That’s the heavenlycountry that Abraham longedfor! So, do you long for God’s

Kingdom?

You’ve learned alot in the past ninelessons about howbad the worldaround you is.You’ve learned howimportant it is for

you to live your life as Godwants you to. You’ve learned that you must trustGod to direct your life, and you must choose tofollow His ways in your life. Did you know thatwhen you choose God’s way, you are choosingGod to be your Friend? Do you remember thatJesus said: “You are my friends if you do what Icommand” (John 15:14). Are you God’s friend?

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Activity

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Find as many words having to do with the Creation as you can in the letters below.Go from left to right. The first one is done for you.

G O D D AY S E E D E N S E A S O N S F O W L A I R B E A S T

1. _________________________

2. _________________________

3. _________________________

4. _________________________

5. _________________________

6. _________________________

7. _________________________

8. _________________________

9. _________________________

10. ________________________

11. _______________________

12. ________________________

13. ________________________

14. ________________________

15. ________________________

Super Word Finder!

16. ________________________

17. ________________________

18. ________________________

19. ________________________

PrayerDear Heavenly Father,

Thank you so much for creating our world the way you have. Help us to see you inyour Creation and to remember to praise you for the awesome things that we see.

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

Memory Verse“My command is this: Love each other as I haveloved you. Greater love has no one than this, thathe lay down his life for his friends. You are myfriends if you do what I command” (John 15:12-14 NIV).

LLLLLesson 10esson 10esson 10esson 10esson 10

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A Friend of God

Words to KnowTEMPORARTEMPORARTEMPORARTEMPORARTEMPORARY Y Y Y Y ----- something that doesn’t last longPERMANENTPERMANENTPERMANENTPERMANENTPERMANENT - something that lasts foreverINHERITINHERITINHERITINHERITINHERITANCEANCEANCEANCEANCE - something you get from yourparents, usually money, when they die

ScripturesGenesis 12:1-8; 2 Chronicles 20:7; Isaiah 41:8-9;James 4:4, 2:23; John 15:12-14; Hebrews 11:8-10, 13-16

ammie could hardly wait to call her bestfriend Jessica! Her parents had finally given herpermission to travel with Jessica’s family on acamping trip. The long hours in the car would flyby! They’d talk. They’d play games. They’dgiggle. Most importantly they’d be together thewhole trip—without their older brothers!

Jack and Dave were also excited about theirtravel plans. Jack could definitely see that it wasgood having his little sister, Sammie, and Dave’slittle sister, Jessica, in the same car. They wouldbe far away from them! That was the deal! Thegirls would ride with Jessica’s family. The boyswould ride with Jack’s family. What fun it wouldbe to spend some time with his best friend with-out having his little sister tagging along!

Your best friend! The person you trust. Theperson you want to be around. The person whoknows all your secrets. A true friend is veryspecial!

There’s a very special friendship in the Bible.It was the friendship of Abraham and God! Thekings of Israel knew of God’s friendship withAbraham. Isaiah referred to Abraham as God’sfriend. Even James, in the New Testament, calledAbraham the friend of God. What does it meanto be God’s friend? In John 15:14 Jesus said,“You are my friends if you do what I command.”So, what did Abraham do?

God told Abraham to leave his country, hispeople, and his father’s house. God told Abrahamto go to a place that He would show to him. AndAbraham went! Hebrews 11:8 tells us: “Abrahamhad faith. So he obeyed God. God called him togo to a place he would later receive as his own.So he went. He did it even though he didn’t knowwhere he was going. Because of his faith he madehis home in the land God had promised him. Hewas an outsider in a strange country. He livedthere in tents. . .” (NIrV Kid’s Devotional Bible).Wow! Talk about doing what God tells you to do!

G O D

od created the universe. He created light,the sky, the sun, the moon, the stars, and all theplants and animals. But He wasn’t quite finishedwith His creation. Something was still missing onthe sixth day that was very much a part of whatHe wanted to do. He said, “Let us make a man—someone like ourselves, to be the master of alllife upon the earth and in the skies and in theseas. So God made man like his Maker” (Genesis1:26-27 NIrV Kids Devotional Bible). God formeda man whom He called Adam, from the very dustof the ground. Then He breathed the breath oflife into him. Adam became a living human being.

God brought all of the animals and birds toAdam for him to give them a name. But amongall these animals there was not a suitable helperfor Adam. God didn’t consider a dog to be asuitable helper, even though we call a dog “man’s

best friend”! God said it wasn’t good for man tobe alone and He would make him a helper.

God caused Adam to fall into a deep sleep.While he was sleeping, God took out one ofAdam’s ribs and closed his side back up. Godthen formed a woman from Adam’s rib. Shewasn’t made from the dust of the ground asAdam was. Adam now had a wife—“she wascalled ‘woman’ because she was taken out of aman. That’s why a man will leave his father andmother and be joined to his wife. The two ofthem will become one” (Genesis 2:24 NIrV Kid’sDevotional Bible).

God put Adam in the beautiful Garden ofEden to live there and take care of it. It was fullof trees that God had planted. Adam could eatthe fruit from all of those trees except one. God

LLLLLesson 2esson 2esson 2esson 2esson 2

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I’m Lonely Still

Words to KnowMAN MAN MAN MAN MAN - the human race, men and womenREPRODUCEREPRODUCEREPRODUCEREPRODUCEREPRODUCE - when animals have babies or plantsmake seedsEXTINCTEXTINCTEXTINCTEXTINCTEXTINCT - no longer living; no animal or plant ofthat kind is still alive anywhereORIGINALLORIGINALLORIGINALLORIGINALLORIGINALLYYYYY - at first

ScripturesGenesis 1:26-28, 2:5-25; Psalm 8:1-9

Memory Verse“When I consider your heavens, the work ofyour fingers, the moon and the stars, which youhave set in place, what is man that you aremindful of him, the son of man that you carefor him? You made him a little lower than theheavenly beings and crowned him with gloryand honor” Psalm 8:3-5 NIV).

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Activity

PrayerDear Heavenly Father,

Please teach me how not to conform to the ways of this world. Work in me so that I willalways follow you, and choose actions pleasing to you. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

In the blocks below, write the kinds of actions that God expects from His children.(Hint: check 1 Corinthians 13:4-8, Galatians 5:22-23, and Exodus 20:1-17 if you get stuck.)

gave Him a command. He said, “You can eat thefruit of any tree that is in the garden. But youmust not eat the fruit from the tree of the knowl-edge of good and evil, for when you eat of it youwill surely die” (Genesis 2:16-17).

God created many incredible plants andanimals, but there was something special aboutman. Genesis 1:26 says, “Let us make man in ourimage, in our likeness.” Hey! God didn’t say thatabout any of the rest of His creation. What doesthat mean to be made in the image of God? Itmeans that, from the very beginning, man wasmeant to be part of the family of God. After all,the animals and plants all reproduced after theirkind. God was making man after Himself. Whatdoes that mean? How are we like God? We havethe ability to think and reason—and that’s some-thing animals can’t do in the same way that wecan. Another part of being made in the image ofGod is the ability to create. Oh, we can’t creategreat things or give life, but we invent cars andcomputers and telephones.

Those things are all pretty complicated. Butjust consider being able to do a little of what Godhas done! Think about the wisdom and love Godshowed in creating the universe. God intendedthat man would someday have that kind of wis-dom and love too. That’s another part of whatbeing created in His image means.

In verse 26, it says, “Let us. . .”! “Us” meansmore than one, right? Who is the “us”? Wasn’t itjust God who created the universe? It was God—the God family. God the Father created our worldthrough the One who would become His Son,Jesus Christ, and They created us to be made inTheir image. This is very important for you tounderstand. Jesus Christ, the One who came anddied for our sins, was our Creator too.

One more thing God said when They createdman: “Let them rule over the fish of the sea andthe birds of the air, over the livestock, over all theearth, and over all the creatures that move alongthe ground.” Psalm 8:6-8: “You made him rulerover the works of your hands; you put everythingunder his feet: all flocks and herds, and thebeasts of the field, the birds of the air, and thefish of the sea, all that swim the paths of thesea.” God intended for man to be in control ofour world. That’s exciting! But it’s pretty serioustoo. Think about how we’ve taken care of it.Look around in the cities and the country. Toooften we’ve made so much of God’s beautifulcreation ugly. We’ve hurt some animals andcaused others to become extinct. We’ve putpavement and concrete over so much land thatwe’re affecting water, weather, plants, animals,and ourselves. Now we’ve started rocketing ourtrash into space to get rid of it. If you went for ashort trip in a space shuttle, you might run intogarbage. This is not the way God intended thatwe take care of the beautiful world He created.

God intended that all the plants and animalsmultiply. He told man and woman to “be fruitfuland multiply” and have children. The neatest partabout that is knowing that God wants us all to beHis children! When you think about all of cre-ation and what God has made for us, it makes usvery thankful to God for what He has done! “Ithink about the heavens. I think about what yourfingers have created. I think about the moon andstars that you have set in place. What is a humanbeing that you think about him? What is a son ofman that you take care of him? You have madehim a little lower than the heavenly beings. Youplaced on him a crown of glory and honor”(Psalm 8:3-5 NIrV Kid’s Devotional Bible). Whatan awesome God and Creator!

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city and the tower that the men were building.The LORD said, ‘They are one people, And all ofthem speak the same language. That is why theycan do this. Now they will be able to do anythingthey plan to. Come, let us go down and mix uptheir language. Then they will not understandeach other” (Genesis 11:5-7 NIrV Kid’s Devo-tional Bible). God scattered them all over theearth. This put an end to building this city. Thiscity was called Babel because God mixed up thelanguages.

Why did God mix up the languages andscatter the people over the earth? What waswrong with building a city and a tall skyscraper?It had to do with what is wrong with humanbeings in general. Genesis 8:21 said that humanbeings’ hearts are always directed toward what isevil from childhood.

The Tower of Babel was not going to be forgood. The people wanted to show how awesomethey were instead of how awesome God is. Goddidn’t want the people to become so evil that Hewould have to destroy the earth again. So, God’ssolution was to make all the people speak differ-ent languages. Think about how frustrating itwould be if you were working on a project and allof a sudden you couldn’t understand what theperson next to you was saying. Your supervisorwouldn’t be able to give you instructions any-more because you wouldn’t understand what hewas saying. How confusing!

What can we learn from this? Obviously,building the Tower of Babel was not what Godwanted the people to do. They had not askedGod if they should build that tower and city. Thefirst thing we should always do is to go to God inprayer and ask Him to show us what we should

do. God knows what is best for us if we’ll just askHim. Do you remember your memory verse fromLesson 7? It said “Trust in the LORD with all yourheart and lean not on your own understanding; inall your ways acknowledge him, and he will makeyour paths straight” (Proverbs 3:5-6).

Another thing God wants us to learn is thatwe’re not to live the way the world lives. Whenwe think like God thinks, we will be able to testwhat God wants for us (Romans 12:2). Whatdoes it mean not to live the way the world lives?You can’t love what the world loves: R-ratedmovies, football games on the Sabbath, Hallow-een parties, getting drunk, doing drugs. In 2Timothy 3:2-4 we have a list the awful deeds thatpeople in the world do. “People will love them-selves. They will love money. They will tear othersdown. They will not obey their parents. Theywon’t be thankful or holy. They won’t forgiveothers. They will tell lies about people. They willbe out of control. They will be wild. They willhate what is good” (NIrV Kid’s Devotional Bible).Wow! What an awful list! You can’t be like that!You can’t do these things!

When you accept Jesus Christ as your Savior,the Holy Spirit begins to work in your life, chang-ing you into a new person. You are a new cre-ation. The old has gone, the new has come! (2Corinthians 5:17). That new person doesn’t evenwant to do those awful things listed in 2 Timothy3! But it takes time for the Holy Spirit to work.You won’t be perfect all at once. As you growmore like Christ, you’ll learn to recognize whatGod wants you to do.

The Tower of Babel was A Mighty Construc-tion Project! But, the construction of a newperson in Christ is even more amazing!

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9

ActivityWhat did God say when He created man?

To find out, write the letters in the matching puzzle pieces.

“Letusm

akem

an

inin

ou

rim

age, ourlik eness.”

Genesis2:16-17

PrayerDear Heavenly Father,

Thank you for creating mankind in your image, giving him the earth andanimals to rule over, and hope of being your children. Help us to wisely livein this earth and care for it as you intended. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

Memory Verse“Don’t live any longer the way this world lives.Let your way of thinking be completely changed.Then you will be able to test and approve whatGod wants for you. And you will agree that whathe wants is right. His plan is good and pleasingand perfect” (Romans 12:2 NIrV).

ScripturesGenesis 11:1-9; 8:21; Proverbs 3:5-6;2 Timothy 3:2-4; Romans 12:2

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28

A Mighty

Construction Project

Words to KnowBONJOURBONJOURBONJOURBONJOURBONJOUR - (French) good dayRRRRRÉÉÉÉÉPPPPPÉÉÉÉÉTETETETETERRRRR - (French) repeatS’IL S’IL S’IL S’IL S’IL VVVVVOUS PLAITOUS PLAITOUS PLAITOUS PLAITOUS PLAIT - (French) pleaseLA PORLA PORLA PORLA PORLA PORTE EST VERTE EST VERTE EST VERTE EST VERTE EST VERTETETETETE - (French) the door is greenMORMORMORMORMORTTTTTARARARARAR - cement for holding bricks togetherCONFUSECONFUSECONFUSECONFUSECONFUSEDDDDD - to be unable to think clearlySUPERSUPERSUPERSUPERSUPERVISORVISORVISORVISORVISOR - the person in charge of a projectCONFORM CONFORM CONFORM CONFORM CONFORM - to act like the people in the worldaround you

onjour, classe.” “Bonjour, Madame.” Benwas tired of repeating the French phrases overand over again. “Répéter, s’il vous plait: La porteest verte.” “No,” thought Ben, “the door isn’tgreen. It’s brown!” As Ben lost interest in theFrench words for different colors, his mind beganto wander. After all, it’s pretty easy to repeatwords without really thinking about what you’resaying. First Ben thought about the soccer gameafter school. Then he imagined telling his friends,“La porte est verte.” They’d just laugh at him.But, what if he could only speak French. What ifhe didn’t speak any English? They wouldn’t laughthen. They probably wouldn’t even be his friends.What a horrible thought! Why did there have tobe different languages anyway?

Long ago, after the Great Flood, the sons ofNoah had many children and grandchildren.

Soon, there were many people spreading outacross the countryside. Everyone spoke thesame language. They moved to a plain anddecided to build a city.

These people decided to build a tower thatwould reach to the heavens. They wanted todo this to make a name for themselves, andnot be scattered all over the earth. Thatdoesn’t sound like a bad thing to do, does it?

They used brick instead of stone to buildtheir city. Tar was used for mortar. The brickswere baked for a long time to make themreally strong. They were going to make thefirst skyscraper! That’s A Mighty ConstructionProject!

But look at what God thought about theproject! “But the LORD came down to see the

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10

I’m Ready to Rest

Words to KnowHOLHOLHOLHOLHOLYYYYY - set apartLABORLABORLABORLABORLABOR - workMEMORIALMEMORIALMEMORIALMEMORIALMEMORIAL - something to help you remember aperson or eventARRAARRAARRAARRAARRAYYYYY - impressive arrangementREJUVENAREJUVENAREJUVENAREJUVENAREJUVENATETETETETE - to put energy back into againBENEFIT BENEFIT BENEFIT BENEFIT BENEFIT ----- to help

ScripturesGenesis 2:1-3; Exodus 20:8-11; Matthew 11:28-29

Memory Verse“Come to me, all you who are weary and bur-dened, and I will give you rest. Take my yokeupon you and learn from me, for I am gentle andhumble in heart, and you will find rest for yoursouls. For my yoke is easy and my burden islight” (Matthew 11:28-29 NIV).

hat are you planning for your next birth-day? Will your mom make you a homemadecake? Will you have a big party or a few friendsfor a sleepover? Or will your family quietly wishyou a happy birthday in the morning? Whetheryou have a big party, a small family dinner, pre-sents or no presents, or just a birthday card fromyour grandmother, you will have a birthday sometime in the next year. Why do you keep track ofit? Why is it important? Everyone wants to knowhow old he is, until he gets to be an adult. Yourbirthday is a memorial of the day you were born.It is an important event in your life that you wantto remember every year.

The Seventh Day of creation week is the dayGod wants us to remember. Why? The Bible says:“So the heavens and the earth and everything inthem were completed. By the seventh day God

had finished the work he had been doing. So onthe seventh day he rested from all of his work.God blessed the seventh day and made it holy. Herested on it. After he had created everything, herested from all of the work he had done” (Gen-esis 2:1-3 NIrV Kid’s Devotional Bible).

God rested on the seventh day, blessed it, andmade it holy. But that was just the seventh day ofcreation week, right? No. This is where the me-morial or anniversary comes in. You should recog-nize the Fourth Commandment given to Moses byGod: “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping itholy. Six days you shall labor and do all yourwork, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to theLord your God. On it you shall not do any work,neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor yourmanservant or maid servant, nor your animals,nor the alien within your gates. For in six days

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Activity

PrayerDear Heavenly Father,

Help me to understand what it means to walk with you and to have a specialrelationship with you. Thank you for your promises to me. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

Look up the following verses. Read them, pick out your favorite,and write it on the lines of the rainbow.

(Hint: This is a great activity to do with Mom and Dad sometime before Sabbath School.)

Here are some verses to choose from:Romans 8:28, Romans 8:37-39, Isaiah 41:9-10, James 1:2-3, Philippians 4:4-7,

Philippians 4:13, 1 John 3:1, John 16:33, Psalm 27:1, Isaiah 40:30-31, Proverbs 3:5-6.

the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea,and all that is in them, but he rested on the sev-enth day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbathday and made it holy” (Exodus 20: 8-11).

Your birthday is important to you, and to yourmom, but most of the world really isn’t interestedin what day you were born. But when God fin-ished His work of creation, He rested on that dayto make it holy.

Because God made it holy, He commanded allpeople everywhere to rest on the anniversary ofthe day He completed creation. He is God. He isthe Creator of everyone. He commands everyoneto take one day a week to recognize and remem-ber that fact. It’s the same day every week. It’snot good enough to decide for yourself what dayto rest on; God’s already decided that He wantsyou to rest on the Sabbath.

Some people will say that God is God anddidn’t really need to rest because He couldn’t gettired. But, the King James version of the Biblesays that God rested and was refreshed (Exodus31:17). In any case, whether He would get tiredor not, what we’re told is that He rested. Restingmeans not working. Genesis 2:1 says, “the heav-ens and the earth were completed in all their vastarray.” What God had been creating was fin-ished. So He stopped His work. God knew thatpeople not only need to rest, but they also needto sleep and get rejuvenated. It seems almost sillyto mention this. Of course, we need to sleep. Ofcourse, we need to rest. But sometimes peopleseem to forget that.

The miners of the 18th and 19th centuries in

the United States often used mules to cart slagand minerals out of the mine. Those mulesworked hard, seven days a week. They didn’t livevery long. Once the miners discovered thatallowing the mules to rest one day of the weekmade them live longer, the mules were rotated inthe work cycle. Whether animal or human, thephysical body needs to rest—otherwise it can’tkeep going. Our wise God set aside a day once aweek and commanded us to rest. It was for ourbenefit. God said He made the Sabbath for man.

God went a step further. Not only does Hewant us to rest on the Sabbath every week, Healso made it holy. He set it apart and commandedus to keep it holy. How do we keep the Sabbathholy? We don’t work. We also worship God,usually with others who are worshiping God, andusually in church. Why do we do that? We wor-ship God and go to church because there’s an-other kind of rest that we need to learn about.We need to learn to rest in Him. That means welearn to take all our worries and concerns, prob-lems and troubles to God. If we didn’t have oneday a week when we are reminded to rest, wemight never learn to go to God in prayer andlearn to rest in Him. How do we know this rest isthe kind of rest God meant? Jesus said, “Come tome, all you who are weary and burdened, and Iwill give you rest. Take my yoke upon you andlearn from me, for I am gentle and humble inheart, and you will find rest for your souls. Formy yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Mat-thew 11:28-29).

Next Sabbath, remember that God rested onthis day and made it holy especially for you.Enjoy the Sabbath and learn to rest in Him.

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winter, day and night” (Genesis 8:21-22 NIrVKid’s Devotional Bible).

What a fantastic promise! God knows that weall sin! But still He promised never to destroy allliving creatures with a flood. God called Hispromise a covenant with Noah, all of Noah’sdescendants, and all of the creatures who werewith Noah in the ark. God said, “I establish mycovenant with you: Never again will all life be cutoff by the water of a flood; never again will therebe a flood to destroy the earth” (Genesis 9:11).God told Noah that He would put a rainbow inthe clouds to be the sign between Himself andthe earth. God said, “Whenever the rainbowappears in the clouds, I will see it and rememberthe everlasting covenant between God and allliving creatures of every kind on the earth”(Genesis 9:16).

Now, do you see why we should all feel goodwhen we see a rainbow in the clouds? It’s areminder to us, to the animals, and to God of Hispromise. God doesn’t take His promises lightly.

The Bible tells us that a long time ago Godmade the world. People forget things like thisbecause they want to. Then God destroyed theearth with the flood and He promised not to dothat again. But does that mean that God won’tdestroy the earth again? Does that mean thatpeople won’t be killed in what we call naturaldisasters? No. Someday God will judge the earthand everything in it. Ungodly people will bedestroyed. God will keep His promise and Hewon’t destroy the earth with a flood again. Hewill destroy the earth with fire! Why do you think

He will do this? He will destroy the earth with firebecause people are wicked and evil just like theywere before the Great Flood.

Does this scare you? It doesn’t have to. Re-member the story of Noah. He walked with Godand God saved Noah because he had a specialrelationship with Him.

What about you? When the time comes forGod to destroy the earth with fire, will you havea special relationship with Him? When God looksdown from heaven, will He see that you believeand obey Him as Noah did? Will you walk withGod? Will you live by His commandments andaccept Jesus Christ as your Savior? Look at thepromise in your memory verse—if you know thatHe is your God. It’s your choice.

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12

ActivityUse this calculator to find out what Genesis 2:3 says about the Sabbath.

“ ____ ____ ____ 7 OFF –

____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ + x 4 5 5 4 –

____ ____ ____ 1 3 4

____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ 5 4 = 4 % 1 3

____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ – 0 6 0 % –

____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ 8 0 – 4 on 1

____ ____ ____ ____. 3 OFF x 6

____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____.” 3 4 9 4 5 1 4 – OFF % on 1

GGGGG

G M R O I

E S Y L N

T J H

B

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VCA

%

PrayerDear Heavenly Father,

Thank you for giving me a day to rest, and to remember that you made allof creation. You made the Sabbath to remind me to go to you with all of

my cares and concerns. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

Memory Verse“I said, You are my servant; I have chosen youand have not rejected you. So do not fear, for Iam with you; do not be dismayed, for I am yourGod. I will strengthen you and help you; I willuphold you with my righteous right hand” (Isaiah41:9-10 NIV).

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25

Rainbows & Promises

Words to KnowCONTEND CONTEND CONTEND CONTEND CONTEND - to struggle withSACRIFICESACRIFICESACRIFICESACRIFICESACRIFICE - making an offering to GodFRANTICFRANTICFRANTICFRANTICFRANTIC - highly excited with strong emotionCURSECURSECURSECURSECURSE - statement of evil or misfortune to comeupon someone or somethingCREACREACREACREACREATURES TURES TURES TURES TURES - animalsDISASTERDISASTERDISASTERDISASTERDISASTER - something that causes widespreaddestruction and distress

ScripturesGenesis 8:15 - 9:17; Isaiah 41:9-10;Romans 8:28; 2 Peter 3:5-7

od placed a rainbow in the sky as His prom-ise that He would never again destroy the earthwith a flood. Won’t that promise make you feelreally good every time you see a rainbow? Doyou remember from the last two lessons how thepeople of the earth were very wicked? They liedand stole from one another. People hurt andkilled each other. Even the thoughts of theirhearts were evil all the time.

God was tired of putting up with mean andharmful acts. He decided to destroy everythingthat lived on the land with the Great Flood. Noahdidn’t join in with the bad guys. He trusted andobeyed God. Because Noah did obey Him, Godsaved Noah and his family, along with the landanimals and birds.

Do you remember how long Noah was on theark? Almost a year! After all that time on the ark,

how do you think Noah felt when God gave therainbow as a promise? Had it not been for thepromise God gave with the rainbow, Noah andhis family might have gotten a little frantic thenext time it started raining.

God told Noah that all the people and animalscould come off the ark. Noah took some of everyclean bird and clean animal. He sacrificed them toGod on the altar he made. When God smelled theoffering, God said, “I will never put a curse onthe ground again because of human beings. I willnot do it even though their hearts are alwaysdirected toward what is evil. Their thoughts areevil from the time they are children. I will neverdestroy all living things again, as I have justdone. As long as the earth lasts, there will alwaysbe a time to plant and a time to gather the crops.As long as the earth lasts, there will always becold and heat. There will always be summer and

It started torain on the 17th

day of the2nd month

It flooded for150 days

It rained for40 days and

40 nights

The ark stoppedon Mt. Ararat -

17th day, 7th month

A raven was sentout 40 days

later

A dove was sent out,but found

no land

A dove was sent out 7days later, anddid notreturn

Noah removedthe coveringfrom the ark -1st day, 1st

month

The earth was dryand God said theycould come out -

27th day, 2nd monthA dove was sentout 7 days later,and came back

with an olive leaf

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13

In The Garden

Words to KnowBANISHEDBANISHEDBANISHEDBANISHEDBANISHED - - - - - not allowed to come back into aplaceCHERUBIMCHERUBIMCHERUBIMCHERUBIMCHERUBIM - types of angelsCONSEQUENCECONSEQUENCECONSEQUENCECONSEQUENCECONSEQUENCE - the natural result of an action orthoughtJUVENILE DETENTIONJUVENILE DETENTIONJUVENILE DETENTIONJUVENILE DETENTIONJUVENILE DETENTION - jail for kidsSINNINGSINNINGSINNINGSINNINGSINNING - disobeying God’s command

Memory Verse“I’m offering you the choice of life or death. Youcan choose either blessings or curses”(Deuteronomy 30:19b NIrV).

ScripturesGenesis 2:16-17, 3:1-24; Revelation 22:1-2

very day you make hundreds, perhapsthousands, of choices. Many choices you makeare a matter of habit; they are the same choicesyou’ve been making every day for weeks. But onemorning, you may choose to get up early andmake breakfast for your parents and serve it tothem in bed. Then you have all kinds of choicesto make. What should you make? Should youactually serve it to them in bed or just call themwhen it’s ready?

Other choices that you make are much moreserious. You may choose to tell the truth whenyou might be tempted to tell a lie to get yourselfout of trouble. Or you may choose to shopliftwith your friend because you want him to stillbe your friend. You may choose to obey yourparents without complaining when they tell youto take out the trash. Or you may choose to playwith your parents’ handgun when they’re nothome.

Each choice you make has a consequence.Making breakfast for your parents has a goodconsequence: they are in a much better mood—

unless you made a horrible mess of the kitchen.Telling the truth makes people trust you. That’sgood. Shoplifting can get you into all sorts oftrouble. A grocery store in St. Louis has a signposted that advertises a free ride in a police car. .. if you’re caught shoplifting. That’s bad. Obey-ing your parents can earn you privileges becauseyou’re acting responsibly. That’s good! Playingwith a handgun can cause someone to be injuredor killed accidentally. That’s bad. In each case,the consequence can’t be undone.

You can’t undo a death or a ride in a policecar to juvenile detention. You can’t undo trust orextra privileges either, not unless you make achoice that causes negative consequences.

From the very beginning, people have beenmaking choices. God told Adam and Eve, “Youare free to eat from any tree in the garden; butyou must not eat from the tree of the knowledgeof good and evil, for when you eat of it you willsurely die” (Genesis 2:16-17). That’s prettystraightforward. There are lots of trees in thegarden. Just don’t eat the fruit from one tree.

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Activity

PrayerDear Heavenly Father,

Please help me to learn to wait on you and to trust you. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

Follow this maze to find out how long Noah and the animals were in the ark. Start in thecenter of the maze, and notice how long it took Noah to reach each stopping point.

How long was Noah in the ark? _____year(s) and _____day(s)

But the serpent told Eve that what God saidwasn’t true. “You will not surely die,” the serpentsaid to the woman. “For God knows that whenyou eat of it your eyes will be opened, and youwill be like God, knowing good and evil.” NowEve had to make a choice. Was God telling thetruth? Should she eat of the tree when God toldthem not to? Would it be nice to be like God,knowing good and evil? She made the choice toeat of the tree when she was told not to. Genesis3:6 says, “When the woman saw that the fruit ofthe tree was good for food and pleasing to theeye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, shetook some and ate it.” Then she made anotherchoice. She chose to give some to Adam. Then hemade a choice. Adam chose to eat the fruit thathe knew he shouldn’t eat.

Of course, it wasn’t long before God foundout what they had done. Then Adam made an-other choice. God asked him if he had eaten fromthe tree that he’d been commanded not to eatfrom. Adam chose to blame Eve for it. He couldhave chosen to say, “Yes, I ate from the tree. Iwas wrong.” He didn’t do that. He chose toblame Eve, or maybe even God because Godmade Eve for him in the first place. And Eve madethe same choice. When she was asked, sheblamed the serpent.

These choices had consequences. God cursedthe serpent. The serpent would crawl on its bellyand eat dust. He would also become the enemyof the woman and her children down throughtime. The woman would now find childbirth verypainful and would be ruled by her husband. Theground would be cursed. And the man wouldhave to work very hard to grow enough food to

live. Those consequences have come down to us,today, from Adam and Eve.

God also banished Adam and Eve from thebeautiful Garden. He never wanted human beingsto go back, so He placed cherubim, and a flamingsword flashing back and forth, to guard the way.

Why did He do that? “The LORD God said,‘The man has now become like one of us, know-ing good and evil. He must not be allowed toreach out his hand and take also from the tree oflife and eat, and live forever’” (Genesis 3:22,24). If Adam and Eve had been allowed to stay inthe Garden, they could have eaten from the Treeof Life. Then they could have lived forever. But,because they disobeyed God, there were conse-quences. Now the only way to eternal life wouldbe through Jesus Christ coming to save the world.

Someday, you and I will see the Tree of Life. Ifwe choose to follow Him today, if we choose theways of God in our lives everyday, then somedaywe’ll get to see what God kept from Adam andEve. Someday, if we choose Jesus Christ as ourSavior, the consequence will be eternal life. That’sgood!

The Bible says, “Then the angel showed methe river of the water of life, as clear as crystal,flowing from the throne of God and of the Lambdown the middle of the great street of the city.On each side of the river stood the tree of life,bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruitevery month. And the leaves of the tree are forthe healing of the nations.” This is a great tree! Iwant to see that tree! Don’t you? What choicewill you make today?

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Has anyone ever told you that Noah and hisfamily were on the ark 40 days and 40 nights?This could be one of those trick questions. ReadGenesis 7:24 carefully. Did you notice what itsays? It rained for 40 days and 40 nights. Noahand his family were on the ark much longer than40 days and nights. Keep reading. “The watersflooded the earth for a hundred and fifty days.”What? That’s five months! Imagine floating onthe water for five months. Noah and his familycared for all of those animals for five months—inthe ark! Do you think that was an easy job?

Thankfully, God sent a wind to dry up thewater. Exactly five months after the rain started,the ark came to rest on the top of Mount Ararat.But there was still too much water for anyone toleave the ark. Noah, his family, and the animalshad to stay put for a while. Three months later,the tops of the mountains could be seen! Fortydays later Noah sent out a raven and a dove tosee if the water had gone down enough foreveryone to leave the ark. The dove couldn’t findany place to rest, so she returned to the ark.Seven days later, Noah sent her out again. Shebrought back an olive leaf! Can you imagine howNoah and his family must have felt when theysaw it? Even though the dove brought back aleaf, Noah waited seven more days. Then he sentout the dove again, and she didn’t come back.

Five months after the ark had come to rest onthe top of Mount Ararat, Noah took the coveringoff the ark. He looked out and saw dry land! ButNoah still waited. He was waiting for God. Godhad just saved them from being destroyed withthe rest of people. Don’t you think it made good

sense for them to wait for God to tell them theycould leave the ark? Almost two months later,God told Noah that everyone could leave the ark.Noah, his family, and the animals had been in theark for almost a year!

What if Noah hadn’t waited for God or if hehad left the ark too soon? There would not havebeen any dry ground for them. They could havebeen in mud up to their knees! What did it meanfor the dove to bring back an olive leaf? It meantthat plants were again growing. The earth neededtime to grow plants for the animals to eat. Hadthey left the ark too soon, they would havestarved. But most important, Genesis 7:16 saysthat God shut Noah, his family, and the animalsin the ark. They needed to trust that God wouldlet them out again when He was ready. Noah sawthat the ground was dry a month and a halfbefore God said they could come out. They hadto have the faith that God was in control andwould take care of them. They just had to wait.

You will never experience a flood like Noahdid, but you may go through some pretty scaryand dangerous things in your life. What will youdo? Will you walk with God as Noah did andtrust Him to protect you from disaster? Or willyou decide that you are ready to do whateveryou want to do? Will you wait on God even whenit looks as if you could do something else? Mostimportant, when something awful happens toyou, will you trust God to take care of you? Goodthings don’t always happen to Christians. Some-times we have to go through some pretty badthings. Will you always trust God? It’s importantthat you do. It could save your life.

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15

Activity

PrayerDear Heavenly Father,

Thank you for allowing me to make my own choices. Help me to always choose youand your ways in my life. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

In the four squares provided, create a cartoon strip showing the choices Adam andEve made in the Garden. For instance, the first square could be God commanding

them not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The secondsquare could be the serpent deceiving Eve into eating from the tree. The third

square could be Eve offering the fruit to Adam, and the fourth couldbe Adam blaming Eve and Eve blaming the serpent.Memory Verse

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and leannot on your own understanding; in all your waysacknowledge him, and he will make your pathsstraight” (Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV)

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22

Water, Water Everywhere

Words to KnowEXASPERAEXASPERAEXASPERAEXASPERAEXASPERATION TION TION TION TION - a feeling of frustrationINCLINAINCLINAINCLINAINCLINAINCLINATIONTIONTIONTIONTION - leaning toward a thought oraction; favor for one thing more than another

ScripturesGenesis 7:6; 8:16; Proverbs 3:5-6

arrie sighed as she glanced at the rain hittingher bedroom window. It had been raining for awhole week! She was tired of reading books andplaying Monopoly with her little brother. Evenhelping Mom bake cookies had gotten a little old.“How long is it going to rain?” she asked herself.She wanted to roller blade with her best friend,Theresa. She would enjoy taking the dog for awalk. Anything! She just wanted to get out of thehouse. Suddenly, Carrie thought of the GreatFlood when God destroyed the entire earth.

Maybe she should not be so impatient for therain to stop. After all, it could be a lot worse.

Why did God flood the entire earth withwater? Why did He completely wipe out all lifeon land—except for those on the ark? “The Lordsaw how bad the sins of all people had becomeon the earth. All the thoughts in their hearts werealways directed only toward what was evil. TheLORD was very sad that he had made humanbeings on the earth. His heart was filled withpain. So the LORD said, ‘I created human beings

on the earth. But I will wipe them out. I willdestroy people and animals. . .’” (Genesis 6:5NIrV Kids Devotional Bible). Imagine a societywhere every thought was only evil all the time!

People must have been pretty bad for God tobe sorry that He created them. In Lesson 6 welearned that Noah walked with God, and Hedecided to use Noah to save the land animals,Noah’s family, and Noah himself.

Noah built an ark to hold the animals thatGod sent to him. When Noah, his wife, his threesons and their wives, and all of the animals wereon the ark, God shut them in. Then it began torain. Not only did it rain, but all the springs at thebottom of the ocean burst open. God also openedthe windows in the skies. You’ve never seen arain like this one! Think about it raining for 40days. This was a very heavy rain. Think abouthow tall Mt. McKinley and Mt. Everest are. Therewas enough water to cover even them to a depthof more than 20 feet! (Genesis 7:20). Of course,everything that lived on the land died.

enna ran into the kitchen, waving her armsand calling to her mom, “Hey, Mom, guess what!Tracie’s going to let me have one of her puppies!I’ve got it all picked out! I want the one with themask across his face.” Mrs. Williams sighed andthought about last evening’s conversation withJenna’s dad. They had decided to let her haveone of Tracie’s puppies even though Mrs. Will-iams wasn’t sure it was best. “Tracie’s going tobring it over this afternoon! I’ve already got aname picked out: Pirate, because of the mask,you know!” Jenna called over her shoulder as sheexcitedly headed down the hallway. She wasalready thinking of where to put Pirate’s bed.

Several weeks later, Jenna knew she wasgoing to have to talk with her parents. She reallydreaded it. Pirate was not a small puppy any-more; he was rapidly growing into his name. He’dtorn up several of her shirts, even her favorite red

Memory Verse“The LORD saw how bad the sins of all the peoplehad become on the earth. All of the thoughts intheir hearts were always directed only towardwhat was evil. The LORD was very sad that hemade human beings on the earth. His heart wasfilled with pain” (Genesis 6:5-6 NIrV Kid’sDevotional Bible).

ScripturesGenesis 4-6:8; 2 Timothy 3:1-4

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God Was Sorry

Words to KnowVICIOUS VICIOUS VICIOUS VICIOUS VICIOUS ----- savage, dangerous, violent, intenseGENERAGENERAGENERAGENERAGENERATION TION TION TION TION - all of the offspring who live at thesame time from a common ancestorANCESTOR ANCESTOR ANCESTOR ANCESTOR ANCESTOR - someone in your family who livedbefore youDECREED DECREED DECREED DECREED DECREED - stated, passed a lawFOREFFOREFFOREFFOREFFOREFAAAAATHERS THERS THERS THERS THERS ----- people in your family who livedbefore youCENTURYCENTURYCENTURYCENTURYCENTURY - 100 years

one. He’d started chewing on her dad’s motor-cycle seat, but Jenna had stopped him before hedid too much damage. Still, her dad hadn’t beenvery happy about all those teeth marks. Lastweek, Pirate chewed up her brother’s sneakers.Jeremy wasn’t back from summer camp yet, soshe hadn’t told her parents about that crime. Butthe worst of Pirate’s behavior was the biting.She’d convinced her friends, Tracie, Sarah, andKayla, not to tell about times when Pirate hadbitten each of them.

She didn’t know how much longer she’d beable to keep him from attacking the mail carrier,the delivery men, and other visitors. He justturned so mean with people outside the family.She worried about what Pirate was going to do toher brother, Jeremy. Jenna knew, deep in herheart, that she wasn’t going to be able to keepPirate. And that made her very sad.

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Activity

PrayerDear Heavenly Father,

Thank you that you are in control of my life, that you love me and arewilling to save me. Help me to trust you always. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

On the lines below, list as many different kinds of animals as you can.(Grizzly bears and polar bears are the same kind of animal, so only list bears.)

Bring the list to Sabbath School and compare your list with the rest of the class.

This story makes us think about today’smemory verse: “The LORD saw how bad the sinsof all people had become on the earth. All of thethoughts in their hearts were always directed onlytoward what was evil. The LORD was very sadthat he had made human beings on the earth. Hisheart was filled with pain.”

What made God feel like this? Genesis 4 tellsus the story of Cain and Abel, Adam and Eve’sfirst two children. When it came time to give anoffering to God, Cain brought some of his fieldproduce and Abel brought the fattest firstbornlambs from his flock of sheep. God appreciatedAbel’s gift. But God didn’t like Cain’s gift. Andwe know Cain really didn’t have a very goodattitude in giving the gift to God.

Attitude is very important when offering a giftto God. Cain started with a bad attitude and itgot even worse when he saw that God didn’t likehis offering. In fact, Cain got so angry that hekilled Abel! And then he buried Abel so that noone would know! When God asked about Abel,Cain lied! But God knew what happened.

Five generations later Cain’s great-great-greatgrandson killed a man just for injuring him! Heseemed to be proud of the fact! Yes, humanbeings got really evil very quickly.

Genesis 5:23-24 tells us, “Altogether, Enochlived 365 years. Enoch walked with God; then hewas no more, because God took him away.” Wedon’t know what that means, but it seems to tellus that there weren’t many people who walkedwith God. Most people didn’t think it was impor-tant to love and obey God.

God noticed that Enoch loved and obeyedHim. This was so unusual God told us about it inthe Bible. We know Enoch was special. Peoplewere really rotten. They were so bad that Goddidn’t want to let human beings live anymore. Hewas tired of putting up with their actions.

God was sorry that He had made humanbeings because they had done such awful things.God was ready to completely wipe out everythingHe had made—human beings, animals, creaturesthat moved along the ground, and birds. And Heset the date. God gave mankind 120 years to turnthemselves around. After that, it would be toolate. How does that make you feel?

People weren’t evil only in the days of Adamand Eve. They’ve been bad ever since. People’ssins get worse as time goes on. The Bible tells usthat many people are going to get really evilagain, right before Christ returns. “There will beterrible times in the last days. People will lovemoney. They will brag and be proud. They willtear others down. They will not obey their par-ents. They won’t be thankful or holy. They won’tlove others. They won’t forgive others. They willtell lies about people. . .” (2 Timothy 3:1-3a NIrVKids Devotional Bible). Yes, many people will bedoing really bad things again. In fact, manyalready are.

What about you? Are you like Enoch, whowalked with God? Is loving and obeying God themost important thing in your life? Does it makeyou kind of sick to see how evil some people are?It’s worth thinking about. Our lives depend on it.

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was 45 feet high. That would be about like afour-story building! This was a big boat!

God told Noah to build rooms, make threelevels in the ark, and put a roof on it. When hewas finished, Noah was to coat the inside and theoutside with pitch to waterproof it so that itwouldn’t leak and sink. Why did Noah need abig, three-level boat with rooms? Noah and hisfamily certainly wouldn’t need that much space!

God was going to save Noah and his family,and God was also going to save the animals.Noah needed room to take two pairs of everykind of unclean animal, seven pairs of every kindof clean animal, and seven pairs of every kind ofbird on the ark. God also told Noah to take everykind of food and store it on the ark, for both hisfamily and for the animals. Think of all that food!

Noah was certainly going to have his handsfull. First, building this huge ark and getting itready for the Flood. Then he had to gather all thefood the animals and his family would need.

Thankfully, Noah didn’t have to go find theanimals. They came to him. Can you imagine allthe animals arriving to come onto the ark justbefore the flood? What a sight it must have been!

As Noah worked, it seems certain that hisneighbors and all the people around him musthave made fun of him, and wondered why Noahwas building such a big boat. But Noah knew thateverything and everyone who wasn’t in the arkwhen it started to rain would drown. God couldno longer put up with how evil everyone hadbecome. Everyone would drown in the comingflood except Noah and his family. Then Godwould repopulate the earth with that one family.

It’s really something to think about. Ourloving Heavenly Father gives us time to learn towalk with Him and to do His will. The people whodo His will, please Him, and believe that He istheir God, are special to Him. They are the onesGod will be good to when He is angry towardseveryone else. God saved Noah from the floodthat killed all the other people who were alive atthat time. This doesn’t mean that everything willbe perfect for Christians. It wasn’t much funfeeding and cleaning up after all the animals inthat ark. It was a lot of hard work.

But Noah and his family knew this was whatGod wanted them to do. It’s the same for you. Ifyou love and obey God, nothing will happen toyou that He doesn’t allow, because He loves you.So if something bad does happen (maybe notexactly like a huge flood), you should ask Godwhat lesson He wants you to learn. What do youthink Noah and his family learned while theywere building the ark? Do you think it was hardwhen people laughed at them for obeying Godand building the ark? When the rains started, youcan bet they were very glad God was in controlof their lives and that they had listened to Him.

Can you praise God for being in control ofyour life no matter what happens? Why do youthink God allows people to laugh at us and causeus to be uncomfortable? Our loving HeavenlyFather wants us to live with Him for eternity. Heknows exactly what it will take for us to do that.He knew these people had to go through a greatflood to do it. Whatever you go through, remem-ber this promise, “And we know that in all thingsGod works for the good of those who love him,who have been called according to his purpose.”

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Activity

PrayerDear Heavenly Father,

Thank you for creating us and for being so patient with us despite how bad somepeople are. Please draw me closer to you and your Son, Jesus. You are my life and

my salvation. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

In this Word Search, find the words listed in the box below.The words will go up, diagonally, or backwards!

VICIOUS GENERATION ANCESTOR

DECREED CENTURY FOREFATHERS

hen you write a story for school and it’sjust not going very well, you might ask your dadto help you pick out the one sentence that isreally good. You write it on a fresh sheet ofpaper, then crumple up the first sheet of paperand throw it away. It’s a mess and no good toyou anymore. But now you have a new piece ofpaper in front of you. You know what you’regoing to write about, and you start over again.

When God created this world, people becameevil very quickly! Do you remember last week’slesson? God decided to destroy all human beingsand then start over. This was kind of like yourstory for school. God told Noah, “I am going toput an end to all people, for the earth is filledwith violence because of them. I am surely goingto destroy both them and the earth.” How wasGod going to destroy the people? He was goingto send a great flood that would cover the entireearth. Everything would drown.

Memory Verse“And we know that in all things God worksfor the good of those who love him, who havebeen called according to his purpose” (Romans8:28 NIV).

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Noah’s Ark

Words to KnowCALAMITY CALAMITY CALAMITY CALAMITY CALAMITY - terrible thing that happensRIGHTEOUSRIGHTEOUSRIGHTEOUSRIGHTEOUSRIGHTEOUS - without guilt or sinACKNOWLEDGEACKNOWLEDGEACKNOWLEDGEACKNOWLEDGEACKNOWLEDGE - to admit that something is;i.e., that God lives and is in control

ScripturesGenesis 6:9 - 7:24; Romans 8:28

But why did God tell Noah this? Because Noahhad a special relationship with God. The Biblesays that Noah found grace in the eyes of God.“Noah was a righteous man, blameless amongthe people of his time, and he walked with God”(Genesis 6:9).That doesn’t mean Noah was per-fect or that he never sinned. It does mean that,like Enoch, Noah had a good relationship withGod. He asked for forgiveness for his sins. Helistened to God. He did what God told him to do.

It’s a good thing that Noah did what God toldhim to do because it saved his life! Remember,God was going to destroy the whole earth, every-thing that lived on dry land. But, God decided tosave Noah. God told Noah to build a big boatcalled an ark. The ark would be 450 feet long, 75feet wide, and 45 feet high. So how big is that?Imagine a boat as long as one football field plusone fourth of another! It was 75 feet wide. That’s25 yards—you know, like a 25 yard dash. And it

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