A Brand New Start

This story is about when the flood finished.

The child will learn that:-

  • God gave Noah and his family a clean, new world to live in.
  • God can make our lives clean and new if we ask Him to forgive us.

Bible Story Reference: Genesis 8: 1-19

Memory Verse: 

2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV) 

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come. The old has gone, the new is here!

Opening Activity

  • Tell the child that Noah and his family had to spend a long time in the Ark.
  • Allow the child to imagine what it would have been like in the Ark – What would you have done all day? How do you think you would have felt?

Bible Story

  • After 40 long days the rain finally stopped. But the floods still hid the mountains from sight. (Genesis 8: 1-4)
  • One day, Noah sent a raven from the Ark, to see if the water had gone down but the raven never came back. Later, Noah sent out a dove which soon returned. A week later he sent it out again and everyone was really pleased when it returned with an olive leaf in its beak. Explain that this meant that the tops of the trees were now above the water. (Genesis 8: 6-11)
  • Seven days later, Noah sent out the dove again. This time it did not return. Noah knew that the water had gone down further, and the dove had found a new home. At last, the Ark came to rest on a high mountain called Mount Ararat. (Genesis 8: 4)
  • When the ground was dry again, God told Noah to come out of the Ark along with the animals. What great news this was for everyone! They had been shut up in the Ark for a very long time! How do you think Noah and his family felt when they got to leave the Ark? Explore with the child what the new world would have looked like. (Genesis 8: 15-19)
  • Explain that we are no different today than the people in Noah’s day. God can take away the bad things in our lives too and give us clean new hearts. We have to ask God for forgiveness and trust in the Lord Jesus who died on the cross to take away our sin.

Questions

  1. Which bird did Noah send out of the Ark first?
  2. What did the dove bring back in its mouth the second time?
  3. Where did the Ark come to rest?
  4. Who told Noah to come out of the Ark? Who was saved from the
    flood?
  5. Who was punished for our sins?
  6. What do we have to do to have a clean heart?
  7. Fill in the missing word: “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new ————.”

Prayer

Dear Jesus, thank you for forgiving me when I make mistakes.

Songs

Crafts

Dove

This little dove is made using just three shapes: a circle, a square, and a triangle. This is to remind us of the bird Noah sent out of the ark after the flood.

What You Need

  • White Paper
  • Something circular e.g. CD, plate,cup
  • Yellow Paper
  • Scissors
  • Pencil
  • Black Crayon or Marker

Steps 

  1. Trace a circle onto the white paper and cut it out.
  2. Cut a rectangle out of white paper. (Cutting a piece of A4 paper into quarters is a good size.)
  3. Fold the circle in half.
  4. Accordion fold the rectangle.
  5. Cut a small triangle out of the yellow paper.
  6. Make a small slit in the middle of the circle near the top (folded edge).
  7. Slide the accordion folded paper through the slit to make the wings.
  8. Glue the yellow triangle to one end of the circle, near the folded edge, for the beak.
  9. Draw an eye on both sides of the dove.
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