ELEMENTARY
KIDS & FAMILIES
18 SEPT 2011
date
1.2
We are naturally
drawn to do the things
that we are made for.
Inspire (for parents)
When my daughter was three years old, she
asked my husband and me if she could come
to “big church” with us instead of going to
her Sunday school class. I assumed she just
didn’t want to leave us. But when I asked her
why she wanted to come with us, she said,
“Because, Mom, you guys sing songs to Jesus
in there. I want to do that.” (At the time, our
church didn’t include worship songs in its
children’s services).
sense to her was to worship Him. Her heart
knew what it was created for.
The heartfelt worship of my daughter
reminded me that God simply created us to
do certain things. We are naturally drawn to do
the things that we are made for. He has made
us a people who need Him. He loves us and
has been so good to us. Something in each
of us just knows that the One who created us
deserves our worship, love, and praise. God
created us to worship Him!
About this same time, she started asking
me to put on “Jesus music” every time we got
by Ann Lund
in the car … a request I was certainly happy
to grant her. Each time I put a worship CD
on, my precious little girl lifted
her hands high in the air and
sang as loudly as she could to
Jesus. We had never told her
wer of Babel
is 11—12 (The To
that she needed to do this, and
Scripture: Genes
shipping)
I’m honestly not sure how often
and Abraham Wor
orship Him
she had seen people raise their
Created Us to W
Main Point: God
ur family to
hands in worship. Yet something
ned to allow yo
resource is desig
is
Th
ur
yo children
in her little heart instinctively
d’s Word before
have time in Go
for parents to
is
n
wanted to worship God. She
use God’s pla
ca
Be
.
ch
ur
ch
attend
their children’s
knew who God was; she knew
iritual nurturers of
sp
y
ar
im
pr
e
th
be
spiritually, your
that as you grow
He loved her and had saved her
faith, we know
spiritually as well.
… and the response that made
children will grow
Getting Started
Equip (for parents)
REM
People are wired with a natural desire to
EMB
“Be
worship, but what or who we worship is what
kind
ER v
ers
and
to o
defines us. In Genesis 11, we read about
E
ne a
com
how people sought to build “a tower that
noth
pas
each
sio
e
reach[ed] to the heavens, so that [they
God other, ju r, forgiv nate
could] make a name for [them]selves
ing
st a
Eph forga
and not be scattered over the face of
s
esia
v
i
n
e yo
Chr
ns 4
the whole earth” (11:4). A building “with
u.”
:32
ist
its head in the heavens” refers to a
ziggurat. A ziggurat was a structure similar in shape
to a pyramid, but completely different in
function. Ziggurats were built in hopes that
the gods would descend from a staircase or
ramp to earth and bless the people. Ancient
ziggurats were dedicated to particular
deities—especially the patron god or goddess
of each city.
Genesis 11:5 reads, “The Lord came down
to see the city and the tower that the men
were building.” Ironically, this is just what these
ancient builders were hoping—that a deity
would come down to them. However, they
were probably not expecting the one true
God to show up (angry with their efforts) and
confuse their languages and scatter them all
over the earth.
So it makes sense that God would call
Abraham to leave his city and his family (and
their false gods). God would want Abraham to
cut his connections to the gods he may have
worshipped his whole life. God would fill this
void with Himself. By promising Abraham to
make him a great nation and bless him, God
singled him and his family out so that He might
have a people for Himself.
After completing, sign and bring this back...
your child will receive a reward!
Support
(for parents & kids)
Sometime this week, read through the
biblical account of God’s promise to Abraham
in Genesis 12:1–8. At the end of the passage,
think of a question that reflects on what you
just read, such as, “What did God tell Abraham
to do?,” or “What promises did God make to
Abraham?”
After you have read this passage, explain
to your children God wanted Abraham and
his family to worship God and God alone.
He is the one true God, and He wanted the
worship of His people. Spend a few moments
worshipping God together as a family. Some
ways to worship together might be putting on
a worship CD and singing along. Then read
Psalm 103:1–11 together, and spend time
praying and thanking God for who He is. Invite
family members to call out different names
of God they know, or anything else they can
think of. God simply wants to be worshipped
… however we do it!
When you are finished, share with your
children that what they just heard is a part
of The Big God Story in the Bible, and they
will hear more in church. Close your time by
praying and expressing to God your desire to
love and worship Him.
© 2011 David C. Cook. TruResources are developed in partnership with ROCKHARBOR Church
and a national network of family and children’s ministry leaders. All right reserved.