September Week 1

Creation
Week of September 7th

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

Ask: What is something creative that you like to do?
Example Answers: drawing, coloring, painting, sculpting, play doh/clay, building with blocks, Legos, magnetic tiles, etc., woodworking, metalworking, decorating, cooking/baking, etc.
Ask: What materials do you need to do your activity?
Example Answers: markers/colored pencils, clay, ingredients, blocks, etc.
Read: Genesis 1:1 – “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”
Say: Let’s look at the first part of this verse. “In the beginning, God”. Who created God? The
answer is...no one! God is eternal – this means that God has always been there and always will
be there.
When you create things, you start with some kind of material (paper, paint, wood, etc.), right?
One of the amazing things about God is that He created the whole world and everything in
it...out of nothing! All He did was speak, and there were mountains and sunsets and flamingos
and ladybugs. God is the only one Who can make something out of nothing.
When God first created the world, it was perfect. Then God made the most special part of all
of His creation – people! We’ll talk more about the creation of the first people – Adam and Eve
– next week. When God created Adam and Eve, they were perfect too! There was no death or
disease or pain or suffering.
The world isn’t like that now. So what happened? God gave Adam and Eve one rule, and they
broke it. They disobeyed God. When we disobey God, it is called sin. When Adam and Eve
sinned, every part of creation got...well...messed up. It is because of sin that we have
earthquakes and volcanoes and itchy mosquito bites. It is because of sin that our bodies get
sick and hurt. It is because of sin that living things – including people – die.
That’s the bad news. The good news is that God loves us so much that He sent Jesus to take
the consequences of our sin for us. We’ll talk more about that in the weeks to come too. The
Bible tells us that one day, Jesus will come back, and when He does, everything will be made
new and perfect again! Everyone who trusts in and follows Jesus will get to be with Him
forever in a perfect place.

Until that day, even though our world is damaged by sin, it is still a good and beautiful place.
The Bible says that creation show us the power and majesty of God! So the next time you go
outside, look around and thank God for all of the wonderful things He created. He is so good
to us.
Ask: What is your favorite thing that God made? What do you love about it?
This could be very specific, like “roses”, or more general, like “flowers”, or even more general, like “plants”.
Say: One way that we worship God is by thanking him and telling Him how amazing He is.
Let’s all take a moment to pray and thank God for the thing you like best about His creation.
Go around in a circle, inviting each person to say a simple prayer of thanks to God for what his/her favorite part of creation is. A sample prayer might be, “God, thank you for making rainbows. I love all the pretty colors.” or “Thank you, God, for creating dogs. My dog is one of my best friends.” Try to encourage kids to add one “why” to their prayer to make it more personal (“I love all the pretty colors”; “My dog is one of my best friends”).

Below are some OPTIONAL readings and activities for families who wish to spread the devotional over multiple days.

Go Deeper: Read Genesis 1:1-2:3. See if you can name what God created on each day. The
Bible says that on the seventh day, God rested. God never needs rest or sleep (Psalm 121:3-4).
He “rested” to set a pattern for us to follow. It is important for us to set aside one day per
week to rest and worship.
• Family Challenge Question: What day of the week do we set aside to really rest our
bodies and focus our hearts and minds on God? What ways are we already doing these
things? As a family, what are some ways we can make our “day of rest” more restful
and/or how can we more intentionally focus on worshipping God?
Activity Ideas
1. Go on a family walk. As you walk, take time to point out all the different things God
created. Look at the big things (the sky, trees, hills) and the little things (bugs, a leaf, a
blade of grass). Spend some time thanking God for the things you see!
2. Make a creation timeline. Using either a big posterboard or just regular sheets of paper,
write down in order the things God created on each day of the week. Have the kids
draw pictures to go with each day. If you wish, you could hang the timeline somewhere
in your home to remind your family to thank God for His beautiful creation.