Elementary Level, Block 1—Adam to Noah
Week 8
Noah—Making the Ark Exactly How God Instructed Him
Point to Emphasize: We can follow instructions exactly the way they are given to us.
Reference Reading: Genesis 6—9
Memory Verse: Listen to counsel, and receive instruction… (Proverbs 19:20a)
Story Sample
We heard last week that Noah was a righteous man. God was very happy with Noah. Oh, the story of Noah is so precious! Today we will continue hearing what happened to Noah. Because God was happy with Noah, God was able to tell Noah many things that were about to happen. God told Noah a secret. Do you want to know the secret? Listen, quietly. God told Noah that it was going to rain. It was not just going to rain for a day or two. It was going to rain continuously for days and days, and all the water was going to cover the whole earth. What was God doing? Well, God wanted to clean up the earth from the bad things and the bad people. God wanted to have a fresh start with Noah, Noah’s family and some animals. So, God told Noah to build an ark. An ark is a large boat.
God gave very specific instructions to Noah as to how to build that ark. The ark was going to be big; it was going to be huge. God gave Noah the measurements; the length, the height. The ark needed three stories, it needed a side door and it needed just one window opened towards the sky. God also told him the right materials to use, because the ark needed to be waterproof!
Now, imagine this… Let’s say Noah agreed to build the ark, but then decided to build it the way he wanted. Who knows what would have happened! Maybe it would have been too small and not have enough room for everybody. Or maybe he would have made it too tall, or too heavy and not able to float. Or maybe Noah would have put a lot of windows and then the wind and the water would have started coming in. Maybe, he would have not used the right materials, and the water would have come in and the ark would have sunk. Oh, it would have been terrible! But I am happy to tell you that Noah made the ark exactly how God told him and everything went well. The ark was perfect, just how God planned it! It was so important for Noah to follow God’s instructions step by step, using the right materials and the right measurements.
I know that you all enjoy making crafts at children’s meetings. But if you don’t follow the exact instructions and decide to put glue before coloring, or you cut where you were not supposed to, your craft might not turn out to be a good one. One day I saw this awesome paper airplane model. I wanted to make it, and I wanted my airplane to be just like the one in the picture. So, quickly, I printed the instructions and gathered all the materials it asked for. I followed all the instructions step by step, folding where I was supposed to and cutting where I was supposed to. And guess what? My airplane was as awesome as the one in the picture. [Storyteller, insert your own story of following the exact instructions to finish a craft or a project and finishing it perfectly because you followed the instructions exactly as they were provided.]
I hope that every time a craft or a small project is given to you, you would say, “I want to be just like Noah. I want to follow the instructions exactly as they are given to me!”