Intermediate Level, Block 2—Babel and Good Land
Week 18
Abraham—the Friend of God
Point to Emphasize: We can talk to God as our friend.
Reference Reading: Genesis 18
Memory Verse: And Abraham…was called the friend of God. (James 2:23)
Story Sample
One day, Abraham was sitting in the door of his tent during the heat of the day, and he saw three men approaching. They were just normal men, so at first, Abraham did not realize that one of them was actually God Himself, or that the other two were angels. He just saw three guests approaching his tent, so he ran out to greet them. He was such a good host. He offered them water and food and a chance to wash their feet and take a little rest. The men accepted Abraham’s offer, so he, Sarah, and their servants prepared some meat, milk, and cakes for them. Abraham brought the food out to the men, and they ate it and talked with him.
As they talked, Abraham began to realize that these men were very special, that one of them was God. Abraham was sitting outside of his home, eating and talking with God! He wasn’t scared or shy, because God had appeared as a normal man. If God were to appear to you as the Mighty All-powerful God, wouldn’t you be a little scared? I would be! If He came with all His power and glory, I would feel really uncomfortable and shy. God knows we might feel like that, but since He really wanted to sit and talk with Abraham, He appeared as a normal man. Because of that, Abraham could sit and talk to God the same way he would have talked to a friend. In the Bible, Abraham is even called the friend of God!
We can be the friends of God, too. We may know that we can pray to the Lord when we are in trouble or sad, but that isn’t all. We can tell Him when we are happy, mad, scared, or excited. We can tell Him about our day, about how we are feeling, or about anything else. Don’t you like to talk to your friends? And don’t you like it when your friends talk to you? We can talk to God just like that too! We can talk to Him while we are doing our homework or riding in the car. We can talk to Him during the school day or when we’re out running errands with our parents. [Storyteller, insert your own story about talking to God. Then write on the board “I can talk to God when I’m _______” and have the kids give examples to fill in the blank (happy, mad, etc.).]
We can talk to God any time, any place, and we can tell Him anything. He wants to hear! He is our friend! The more you talk to someone, the better friends you become. It is the same with our God, the more we talk to Him, the closer friends we become.