God’s Promises to Abraham

This page takes you through the various activities we had at Messy Church on 9th September 2017. Have a look and try a few!

Abram’s tent

Fold the tent and stick the flaps together with double sided tape

Add Abram, Sarah and Lot his nephew

Abram travelled with his family a long way, to the place God asked him to go. They lived in tents.

Have you stayed in a tent? What would it be like to live in a tent all the time and move from place to place?

Sand picture

Put glue on one part of the picture. Then sprinkle the colour of sand you want and press it down.

Then do the same with the next part of the picture and so on.

Abram travelled through sandy places on his journey

Do you like walking in sand? What does it feel like?

Passport

Draw a picture of Abram, fill in his details and stamp his entry and departure visas to show he has travelled

Abram and his family moved across many countries. In today’s countries , they started from Ur, in south Iraq and travelled through Syria to southern Turkey. Many years later they travelled on through Syria and Lebanon to Israel.

Have you travelled to other countries? Where have you been? Where would you like to go?

Make a Compass

Float a small circle of foam on the water

Brush a needle along the magnet in one direction. You need to do it 30 or 40 times in the same direction

Place the needle on the card and watch it turn

Check it’s direction with the compass

Abram and his family walked a long way.

–From Ur to Haran was about 600 miles

–From Haran to Bethel was about 400 miles

They walked by a big river to help them find the way

If you go somewhere new how do you find the way?

Star tea light

Stick stars on the jar then brush glue over it. Roll it in glitter. Then peel the stars off. When you put a tea light in, the light will shine through the stars

God promised Abram that he would have as many descendants as there are stars in the sky

When you are in a dark place and look at the sky you can see a lot of stars? How would you count them?

Star headband

Make a headband the right size for your head

Stick on a star that says ‘I am a friend of God’

Stick on more stars to decorate your headband

Abram trusted God and God was pleased with him

What is it like to have friends? What is it like to be God’s friend?

Star painting

Hold a star against the paper then dab paint around it with a sponge. When you take the paint away a star shape will be left

God promised Abram that he would have as many descendants as there are stars in the sky

How many stars can you see on the picture?

Count grains

How many grains of rice can you count on a teaspoon?

How many stars are in the jar?

God told Abram that no-one will be able to count all his family. It would be as easy to count all the sand on the seashore.

Abram knew the Arabian desert. Its 2,300,300 sq km big, the second largest desert on earth. So when God said he would have as many descendant as grains of sand he knew that would be a big number.

What is the biggest number you can think of?

Decorate plate

Write on the plate ‘God always keeps his promises’

Decorate it with stars

Abraham had to wait a long time but he trusted God and God did keep his promises

Have you ever had to wait for something you had been promised? Did you wait patiently?

Door plaque

Paint your name on a door plaque and decorate it with jewels or punched shapes

Stick double sided tabs on the corners on the back so that you can stick it up when you get it home

God changed Abram’s and Sarai’s name

•Abram changed to Abraham which means ‘Father of many’

•Sarai changed to Sarah meaning ‘princess ’

Do you know what your name means?

Baby cupcake

Wrap a jelly baby in some icing, like a cloth for it

Cut a hole out in the centre of the cupcake and place the baby in the hole, like a cot for the baby

Abraham and Sarah were very old when they had a baby. So old that they didn’t think they could have one.

Who is the oldest person you know? Who is the youngest?

Family tree

Make the pipe cleaners into a tree. Write the names of your family on leaves and hang them on the tree. You can include aunts, uncles, cousins, as many of your family as you can think of

God promised Abraham that he would have a very big family, grand children, great grand children, great great grand children and so on, til they became a nation

How many people can you think of in your family?

Promise envelope

Fold the envelope, and stick the sides together

Write something you promise to do on the card and put it in the envelope

God promised Abraham that he would live in a new place, that he would have many descendants and that he would be famous

You can keep the envelope or give it to someone if you have promised something for them

Will you keep your promise?

Promise Bag

Make a backpack by sticking the straps, and fasteners onto the bag

Choose some promises of God to put in your bag

You can also draw other things you would like to have in your bag

Abraham and his family moved country several times

If you moved country what would be the most important things you would put in your bag?

Adult Colouring

Colour in one of these pictures or draw your own.

God promised Abraham and Sarah that they would have many children, as many as the stars in the sky. He even changed their names to show it. But they had to wait until they were very old, and they could no longer see how it would happen to actually have a baby.

Are you hoping for something? Maybe you have waited a long time. Talk to God about your hopes.

Prayer Cross

Take a piece of paper and write on it or draw a picture of anything you would like us to pray for you.

The prayers in here will be passed on to a team of people who pray every month for Messy Church

Roll your paper up and put it in one of the tubes in the cross