LESSON 1

God Created Everything

HEART PREPARATION

Everything had a beginning—except God, who has neither beginning nor end. God acted in space and time to create the world, establishing it ex nihilo—from nothing—by the power of his word. God simply spoke and the stuff of creation came into existence by his command.

Genesis 1 repeats “God said” and “it was so.” God made day and night, gathered the waters, and created the dry land. God created flourishing plants and trees; sun, moon, and stars in the sky; sea creatures, birds, and animals. God took pleasure in his creative handiwork and pronounced it good.

God crowned his creation with the creatures that bear his own image: man and woman. He made them to love and serve him, to rule over the world in his name, and to glorify their Creator. All he had made was profoundly wonderful and perfectly designed. God declared it very good.

As you teach the children about their wonderful Creator, emphasize that God made them and all things for his own glory, for his praise. God’s glory points to how great, wonderful, and good God is. The children will gradually learn what it means for them

to glorify God—what is entailed in loving God and doing what he commands.

Bible Truth

God created the heavens and the earth when there was nothing. God called all things into being with the power of his word.

Scripture

Genesis 1

Lesson Focus

Know that God created all things and praise him for what he has made.

Goals for the Children

Tell who made them and all things.
Tell why God made them and all things.
Thank God for creating something they enjoy.
Sing the

Remember to emphasize throughout the quarter:

God created all things by his word when there was nothing, and there was an order in which he did
Sin did not catch God by
God had a
God promised Adam and Eve a Savior who would come to atone (pay for) for the sins of God’s children.
Jesus is the promised

Bible Verse

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis 1:1

Fall Year 1 • LESSON ONE • 17

LESSON ONE AT A GLANCE

Welcome
- 5–10 minutes

Do a Make a Picture activity.

Construction paper Markers, crayons

Bible Time
- 10–15 minutes

Listen to the account of creation.

TAs 1a–g Days 1–7* Clothesline, clothespins Bible, quilt, bag

Talk Time
- 5–10 minutes

Discuss lesson
Talk about God’s wonderful

TA 1g Day 7*

Sing, Make, & Do
- 15–20 minutes

Sing the Doxology (p. 98).
Color and wear a big badge.
Recite Genesis 1:1.
Do an action
Do Let’s Do 1

Rhythm instruments

SA 1a Genesis 1:1 big badge** SA 1b Creation stickers** Let’s Do 1**

Crayons, glue sticks

Final Focus
- 5 minutes

Say and repeat a prayer.

TOTAL TIME: 40–60 MINUTES

Each Teaching Aid has

PRACTICAL PREP

*Teaching Aids Pack **Student Activities Pack

the lesson number in the upper-right corner.

TA 1a

Fastener Options

Double-stick tape on the badge back
A mini-spring clothespin (find in the craft section) to attach to a collar or neckline
Masking tape to tape a safety pin to the badge back
Yarn threaded through a punched hole as a necklace

18 • LESSON ONE • Fall Year 1

Read Genesis 1 and Heart Reflect on God’s creativity and love. Pray for your students and their families.
String a clothesline or yarn across your Attach the Creation visuals, Teaching Aids 1a through 1g, in order, on the line. Keep it posted throughout the quarter.
Have a story quilt or blanket for Bible Time or set chairs in a A story bag for the Teaching Aids is handy as well.
In Welcome, you will need construction paper and crayons or markers. For dramatic effect, you could gather black construction paper and use bright gel ink pens, chalk, or glitter glue.
For Let’s Sing, gather rhythm instruments, practice singing, or prepare to play a recording of the The words are on p. 98. Visit www.gcp.org for music options.
For Let’s Make, gather enough SA 1a Genesis 1:1 big badges for each child. You will need some kind of fastener so each child can wear it on the way out of class (see sidebar for options).
For Let’s Do, have glue sticks and enough SA 1b Creation stickers for each child, as well as Let’s Do 1

1 WELCOME

5–10 minutes

Optional Activities

Let the children use playdough to make the shape of something God created that

Have ready—but out of sight—construction paper, markers,

crayons, bright gel ink pens, colored chalk, and glitter glue. Have children sit at the worktable.

Discuss that they need things to make a picture. What thing that God made would you like to draw and color? Give the children a chance to think and express themselves.

Then say You have named wonderful things to draw and color. Let’s make a picture of something God made that we enjoy. Perhaps a picture of a tree, or a puppy, or the sun. OK, let’s start making your pictures. Give children time to respond to the fact that there is nothing on the table for them to use to make their pictures—no paper, no pencils, no crayons, nothing.

Say Of course, how silly of me! You cannot make your pictures out of nothing! You need things to use to make your pictures. What do you need? Encourage the children to name things they might need to make a picture.

Then produce the materials you set aside. As children work on their pictures, talk together about what their pictures show of God’s big world.

Label the child’s name on the picture. You can display them on a bulletin board or send them home at the end of the lesson.

Say I am glad that we had things to use to make our pictures.

We could not have made our pictures if we did not have paper and something to draw and color with.

Today we are going to learn that God created the heavens and the earth when there was nothing at all. God did not need things to start making the world. God just said it, and it happened!

they enjoy. For example, an apple or peach, a flower or fall leaf, a pet salamander or fish.

Set up a book and picture center that emphasizes God as Creator and You may want to have on hand illustrated children’s Bibles. Set out picture books about flowers, trees, animals, bugs, birds, fish, etc. Talk to your preschoolers about what God made and how we enjoy it.

Preschoolers and Time Children are not able to understand the significance of time concepts until they begin to learn how to tell time, usually in the third grade. Therefore, chronology is not emphasized in the Preschool curriculum. Teach

your concrete thinkers the truths they are able to grasp—what God made on each day of creation.

Story Quilt and Story Bag Just before Bible Time, spread a quilt or blanket on the floor and invite the children to sit on it.

Have a bag handy with your Bible

inside. When children see the

2 BIBLE TIME

10–15 minutes

quilt and bag appear, this weekly ritual will signal an important time of preparation: Children will begin to learn that it is time to

Before the lesson, attach Teaching Aids 1a through 1g on a long clothesline or string of yarn. Or mount the seven Creation pictures, in order, on a bulletin board or wall. Keep them on display to for the next several lessons.

When the children are settled in the story circle, remove your Bible from the bag and open it to Genesis 1.

be quiet and attentive; now is the time to listen to God’s Word.

Transition to Bible Time

Fall Year 1 • LESSON ONE • 19

God the Creator

There was no preexisting material; God created from nothing, by fiat. He decided that things should exist and called them into being with His word (“Let there be…”). God gave the creation an existence dependent on His own existence yet distinct

The Bible story you are about to hear comes from God’s Word and is true.

In the beginning there were no trees or flowers or birds or animals. There were no stars, or even the sun or moon. There were no people. There wasn’t even a world.

But God himself was there. He was there before anything was made, and he had a plan to make the world in a most wonderful

from it. In the work of creation, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit acted together (Gen 1:2; Ps. 33:6, 9; 148:5;

John 1:1–3; Col. 1:1–16; Heb. 1:2; 11:3).

The Reformation Study Bible,

and powerful way.

All God did was speak. He said, “Let there be light,” and from noth- ing, light appeared. God divided the light from the darkness. Show TA 1a Day 1.

Then God spoke again, and the

TA 1a

TA 1b

TA 1c

TA 1d

TA 1e

TA 1f

TA 1g

20 • LESSON ONE • Fall Year 1

sky and waters separated. They went right where God said they should go. Show TA 1b Day 2. God said, “Let the dry land appear,” and it was so. God called the dry land earth, and the waters he called seas.

God made all types of trees and plants and flowers to grow on the land. Show TA 1c Day 3. He put the sun in the sky to shine brightly by day. He made the moon and stars to shine gently through the night. Show TA 1d Day 4.

Now that God’s wonderful earth had sunshine and flowers, trees and fruit, air and water, he was ready to create living creatures. God filled the streams, lakes, rivers, and oceans with all kinds of fish. He made large and small, plain and colorful water creatures. God created birds to fly in the air above the earth. He made every bird there is—the tiny hummingbird, the lovely red cardinal, and the powerful eagle. Show TA 1e Day 5.

Then God created animals of every kind. He made the cow and the goat, the zebra and the fox, the snowshoe rabbit and the armadillo. He created tame animals, wild animals, and crawling animals that could get the food and water they needed from God’s wonderful world. Point out the animals on TA 1f Day 6.

And last of all, God made a man and a woman to take care of everything he had created. Point to the man and the woman on TA 1f Day 6. God made them to know God, love him, and serve him. God made them and he made all things for his own glory.

When we talk about God’s glory, we are talking about how great, wonderful, and good God is. God made everything to praise him.

When God was finished with all that he created, he looked at everything he had made and saw that it was very good. God was pleased with the work he had done, and on the seventh day of creation, God rested. Show TA 1g Day 7.

Return all Creation pictures, in order, to the classroom clothes- line, focus wall, or bulletin board.

3 TALK TIME

5–10 minutes

First Catechism

Several First Catechism questions that relate to this quarter’s theme will be introduced over the next 13 weeks. As they are

Use these questions from First Catechism to discuss the lesson

truths. Say the question and let children respond. If they don’t know it, say the answer, then repeat the question and have children say the answer with you.

Q/A 1: Who made you? God.

Q/A 2: What else did God make? God made all things.

Did God use anything to make the world? (no)
Then how did he make everything? (by speaking everything into being here)
God made the wonderful world and God made

Show TA 1g Day 7.

Q/A 3: Why did God make you and all things? For his own glory.

Say Remember that when we talk about God’s glory, we are talking about how great, wonderful, and good God is. (You will explore with the children what it means to glorify God in future lessons.)

When God looked at everything he made, he saw that it was very good. It was very good because God, our great and good Creator, made it. Ask What did God do on the seventh day of creation? (rested)

Talk about God’s wonderful creation. Then lead the children in sentence prayers thanking God for creating all things. Use their pictures from Welcome as prompts: Dear God, thank you for making puppies.

4 SING, MAKE, &15–D20 mOinutes

presented, include them as often as possible in the flow of the lesson. Make them part of the basic Bible truths you are teaching and reinforcing. Many

of your children may be learning these questions already, so for them this will be an occasion for review. For others, it will be an opportunity to understand and learn key elements of the Bible in a systematic, clear manner.

First Catechism is available from GCP at 800-695-3387 or

www.gcp.org.

TA 1g

Music & Preschoolers Even if you are not a confident singer, preschoolers will enjoy you leading them in movement

and song, and it’s an effective way to reinforce Bible truths. They won’t judge your skills! You can also rhythmically say the words together. Visit www.gcp.org to explore music options.

This step provides a variety of active options to make the lesson truths part of their lives.

Let’s Sing

Sing the Doxology (p. 98). Say each phrase and have children repeat it; then move on to the next phrase. Repeat both phrases, then move to third one. Then have children sing it after you several times, phrase by phrase. You may want to use rhythm instruments to engage little hands while they sing.

The Doxology

The Doxology (p. 98 and also Trinity Hymnal, 731) is a simple but profound stanza written by Thomas Ken (1637–1711), an English minister. The Doxology is an excellent way to teach our children about the Trinity. You may want to explain that “Holy

Ghost” is the same as “Holy Spirit.”

Fall Year 1 • LESSON ONE • 21

Each Student Activity has the lesson number in the upper-right corner.

SA 1b

Let’s Make

Have children say Genesis 1:1 after you several times. Then pass out SA 1a Genesis 1:1 big badge with crayons or markers and fasteners. Color the badge and punch it out. Children can wear their badges home. (See Practical Prep for suggestions.)

Note: There are eight verses in this quarter. Have the children say the verses in class and repeat them. Some will memorize them, but the goal is emphasizing the lesson truths through the Bible verses.

Let’s Rhyme

Say this rhyme and have the children imitate you. Repeat together several times.

God made the shining sun, (touch fingertips and make a circle overhead)

God made the busy bee. (buzz like a bee)

God made all the animals— (arms wide)

And God made you and me! (point to a friend, point to self)

Let’s Do

Hand out Let’s Do 1 and SA 1b Creation stickers. Have glue sticks available. In God Created Everything, they will separate the stickers and stick them in place. Trace the numbers with a crayon.

5 FINAL FOCUS

5 minutes

Things to send home

SA 1a Genesis 1:1 big badge

Let’s Do 1

More Options?

Need extra activities for class time or beyond? Use the Optional Activities in the sidebar beside Welcome, the projects on the back of Let’s Do, or the variety

of games, sensory experiences, and more in Preschool Plus. Visit www.gcp.org for more ideas.

22 • LESSON ONE • Fall Year 1