CASKET EMPTYThemes for Children’s Story Time

C – CREATION

Genesis 1 – God is God. God is Holy. He alone is the Creator of everything. God made the World and everything in it. God made man and woman (Adam and Eve) in His image and wanted a

relationship with them. Adam and Eve had a great life in the Garden – they were in charge of the

creation, they were able to start family, and they spent time with God Himself UNTIL

Adam and Eve chose to disobey God, and sin entered the world. Their relationship with God was broken forever. BUT God promised that some day He will provide a way for the

relationship to be fixed.

Key story – Creation, God’s desire to have a relationship with Adam/Eve, their disobedience, God’s promise to restore the relationship.

God Promises to fix our relationship with Him.

A – ABRAHAM

Genesis 12 – God choses Abraham, and in faith Abraham follows God. God gave Abraham a very special gift.

Abraham and his wife Sarah were very old. God told Abraham to move to a far away country where God would bless

him – give him the gift of God’s grace. God promised Abraham that he would have all the land he could see,

that he would have more descendants than he could ever count, and that the whole world would someday be blessed through Abraham’s family.

BUT Abraham was old and has no children. Sarah laughed when an angel of God told them they will have a baby. Abraham believed God, and God gave them a son, Isaac. Abraham believed all of God’s promises, even though the only part he

ever saw was the birth of one son. God’s promises to Abraham, God’s gift of grace, were passed down to his

son Isaac, to his son Jacob, and to his twelve sons, who were the heads of the 12 tribes of Israel.

Key story – God chose an elderly man (and his elderly wife) to be the father of His people, promising land, a nation of people and a blessing for the whole world.

God promises to send a gift to the whole world through Abraham’s family.

S – SINAI

Exodus – God chose Moses to lead the people of Israel from slavery in Egypt to new life in the Promised Land. God promised that He would be their God if they follow Him and obey His Laws.

The descendants of Abraham were a huge nation of people. But they were also slaves in Egypt. God chose Moses to stand up to Pharoah and lead the people out of Egypt. God promised to be their God and that He would take care of them if they

would obey His commandments – gave them the 10 Commandments. The people of Israel instead made an idol and worshipped that instead of

God. Even though they disobeyed Him and broke His laws, God still loved

them and showed grace to them. He chose to live with them in His Tabernacle. He allowed them to make sacrifices to make up for their sins.

Eventually the children of Israel entered the Promised Land, defeated their enemies, and took the land that God first promised to Abraham.

Key story – Moses led the people out of Egypt and toward the Promised Land, God gave 10 Commandments to teach them how to follow Him, Israelites disobeyed and worshiped the golden calf, God forgave and still lived among them in the Tabernacle and led them to the Promised Land.

God promises to provide a way to live with Him.

K – KINGS

I Samuel – Although God wanted to lead the children of Israel, they wanted a king like other countries. So God gave them a king.

The first king was Saul. But he didn’t love and follow God. Then God made David king. David loved God very much, even though

sometimes David made big mistakes. God promised David that through him, there would be an everlasting

throne and that the kingdom would last forever. David’s son, King Solomon, built a beautiful Temple for God for the

people to worship God and make their sacrifices. BUT not all the kings after Solomon were loved God, and many were very

evil kings. The children of Israel soon forgot all the things that God had done for them.

Key Story – David relied on God even as a young man (story of David/Goliath), God chose David to be king and to lead his people, God promised that through David’s descendants, the kingdom of God would last forever.

God promises an eternal throne and an everlasting king.

E-EXILE

Ezekial – Because the children of Israel disobeyed God over and over, God eventually had to punish them for their disobedience. God put them in “time out,” where they had to leave their homes and go live in foreign countries.

For generations, God was gracious and slow to anger, forgiving the children of Israel for forgetting Him and breaking His commandments.

But the kings and the children of Israel disobeyed God over and over and eventually forgot God.

God’s presence left the Temple that King Solomon built, and it was destroyed.

Foreign countries conquered Israel through war, and the children of Israel had to leave their homes and live in foreign countries. . . . a “time out”

But God did not forget them. He promised that someday He would bring them back home and rebuild the Temple.

Even when they were in “time out” living in the foreign lands, God was still with them.

One example: story of Daniel and the Lion’s Den

Key Story – Exile, leave their homes and move to foreign lands, Daniel and the lion’s den

Even when we disobey, God promises not to forget us.

T- TEMPLE

Haggai and Zechariah – God brings the children of Israel home, rebuilds the Temple, and gives clues that the Lord Himself is coming soon.

Foreign leaders let the children of Israel return to their homeland and begin to rebuild the Temple.

God’s prophets tell the people that the king, riding on a donkey, is coming to save them.

God’s prophets also tell the people that the Lord is coming but He has been delayed because of their sin.

Even though they still sin, the children of Israel start obeying God and praying to God again, waiting for the Lord to come.

Key Story – Wrap up whole OT

God keeps His promises but in His time.