God Calls Abram

God chose one man, Abram, to be the beginning of a new nation called God’s People. He told Abram to leave his home and relatives and set out travelling. Abram, his wife, Sarai, and nephew, Lot, left home. He began to travel and live in tents. The Lord also told Abram that his name would be great and the whole world would be blessed through this new nation. Abram believed in God and had living faith—the kind of faith that proves it is real by doing actions.

Bible verses used in this episode:

Genesis 12:1-9

Genesis 11:27-32

Hebrews 11:1

Hebrews 11:8

James 2:17

Outline:

1. God tells Abram to go (Genesis 12:1-3)
2. Abram goes (Genesis 12:4-9)

Tips for teaching children:

• When talking about Abram’s movements from place to place, move to different locations in the room.  
  • Ur 
  • Haran
  • Shechem
  • Bethel
• Sing the Father Abraham Song

Tips for teaching adults:

• Plan on a day when the class can take a trip together; choose one person in the class to decide where the class will go. Only that person will know the destination.  Everyone can take a picnic if it is a longer day. If it is a drive, car-pooling is suggested.  If it is a walk, make sure all can walk to the destination.  Enjoy spending time together on this journey.  Ask the class what were they thinking and feeling not knowing where they were going.  What was going through their minds?
• Here are some good conversation starters: 
  • “Imagine you are journeying with Abram.  What kind of questions would you ask him?  How long would you stay with him?” 
  • Where else in Genesis do we read of “blessing” and the promise of “descendants?” (Don’t forget Genesis 1:28 & 9:1 as part of the conversation). 
  • What were some of these blessings the peoples of the earth would receive through Abraham and his descendants?
• Link to free Bible Maps: https://open.bible/maps/   Check out the PDF map of “The World of the Patriarchs”.  Be sure to note this at the top of the website about use of the maps:  “The maps on this page are each included in the Biblica Open Bible Maps collection, copyright 2023 Biblica, Inc, and licensed under a CC-BY-SA license (see below for license terms and limitations).” 

Full teaching instructions free from Mission Bible Class:

Bible Lesson:  God Calls Abram

Scriptures quoted from the International Children’s Bible®, copyright ©1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Tommy Nelson. Used by permission.

Excerpts from Mission Bible Class used by permission.

For questions or comments email: mary@missionbibleclass.org