Week Five

With creation behind us, now we are going to set the stage for Christ's coming at Christmastime. It is my goal to establish that we are sinners and are in need of a Savior. Between now and Christmas, we'll learn about The Fall of Man, God's promise of a savior, why we need Him, and others who have followed Him.

This week's topic, sin, can be a tricky one. But, the fact of the matter is that we all sin. (Romans 3:23) The definition of sin, in kid terms, is anything that separates us from God. (Here's the link to a great article regarding sin for kids.) All of us have seen behaviors and attitudes in our children that are not holy and perfect. As a parent this can be incredibly hard to grasp because our kids are perfect in our eyes. Instead of calling sin by its Biblically-defined name, we want to re-define things and excuse them away to protect our precious children from such horrible accusations. Some believe that there is an age-of-accountability before which kids will not be held responsible in God's eyes by their sin. But, regardless of your beliefs, the Bible lays it out clearly - even if it cuts to the core of our hearts. Our children are sinners, just as we are. The amazing news is that God did not settle for the fact that we are sinners and are therefore forever set apart from Him. He sent a Savior to bridge that gap. (Mark 2:17) In order for our kids (and us!) to understand our need for salvation, we have to understand that we make choices that set us apart from our holy and perfect Creator. You can approach this topic all on your own, skip it altogether, or use some of the ideas I'll provide. So, for the purpose of such a wide age-range, wide belief-system, and just merely the fact that this is a personal topic that lesson plans can't fully contain, I've focused the majority of this week on listening to God and obeying Him, something Eve chose not to do. And we all know how that worked out.

Stay tuned for a separate post with an idea for a visual to help with introducing sin to our kids.

Begin this week's lessons by reading the story of Adam and Eve from Genesis. The key points are that God created Adam from dust and Eve from one of Adam's ribs. He gave them a beautiful garden filled with amazing things to use as their home. He gave one specific instruction - that they were not to eat the fruit from a specific tree. A serpent came to talk to Eve tempting her to go ahead and taste the fruit - that God just didn't want her to be able to be all-knowing like Himself setting up His command as a selfish move. Eve decided to go ahead and take a bite to see what happened. Adam followed suit. God was very sad because He is perfect. They chose not to obey him, so this set them apart from God. They were ashamed of what they did, and so they hid from God when he came to talk with them. Their bad choices resulted in consequences. Their actions created sin, and sin lives in everyone's hearts since then.

Supplies Needed

A poster and crayons/markers/paints for House Rules

A CD/Internet search/cassette tape of different sounds to identify

A variety of music of different moods

Cookie-baking supplies

2 empty soup cans, cleaned

1 5-ft rope

Something to use as a drum (bowl, oatmeal canister, etc.)

A handful of ordinary household items to use as instruments

Here is the permanent link to Week 5's lesson plans. Happy teaching! And, please feel free to contact me with any questions, advice for implementing this lesson, or feedback!