Leader Guide

Video Leader Guide

Welcome (1 minute)

Welcome, everyone! Today, we have a new Superbook story, “The Test!” Does anyone here like to take really hard tests? 

I don’t think too many of us do. In our Superbook story today, God gives someone a test—one of the hardest tests a person could ever take! Let’s watch our first video and see what Chris, Joy and Gizmo are doing.

Play Video 2: Chris and Joy’s Dilemma (5 minutes)

Chris and Joy's Dilemma

Chris is thrilled with his birthday gift, a new gaming system. It is so popular there aren’t enough for all the children who want one—like the sick boy at the hospital.

SuperTruth and Discussion (2 minutes)

Why didn’t Chris seem as happy with his gaming system after he heard about the sick boy’s wish? 

What do you think you might do in a similar situation? 

Today’s SuperTruth says, “I will obey God and trust His promises.” God is faithful to His Word. If He says something, He means it—and it will come to pass! When we believe in Jesus, God provides a helper, the Holy Spirit, to live inside us. The Holy Spirit helps us hear God’s voice and obey Him. Now let’s watch the rest of today’s Superbook story.

Play Video 3: Bible Story and Resolution* (17 minutes)

*Note: Be sure to preview the video. Should you feel that some scenes in Video 3: Bible Story and Resolution Video are too intense for the younger children in your class, you may show Video 4: Condensed Bible Story, and Video 8: Chris and Joy’s Resolution together instead.

Bible Story and Resolution

Superbook takes Chris, Joy and Gizmo to meet Abraham and his beloved son, Isaac. When Abraham puts God first and is willing to sacrifice his only son, God provides a ram instead. Chris gives his gift to the sick boy because he knows it’s what God is asking him to do.

Video 4: Condensed Bible Story (7 minutes)

Condensed Bible Story

Video 8: Chris and Joy's Resolution (1 minute)

Chris and Joy's Resolution

Play Video 10A: SuperVerse Graphic 1

The graphic loops 2.5 minutes without audio; turn off or freeze video after children repeat the verse.

SuperVerse Graphic 1

SuperVerse Discussion (1 minute)

Let’s say our SuperVerse together. “If you obey Me and always do right, I will keep My solemn promise to you and give you more descendants than can be counted.” Genesis 17:1b–2 cev

God made a promise of blessings to Abraham if he remained faithful to Him. When we obey God’s Word, God will bless our lives, too!

Children will have more time to learn the SuperVerse in Small Group.

Prayer and Send-Off (1 minute)

Dear God, thank You for all the promises in Your Word. Please give us Your strength and faith to obey Your Word and trust You above anyone or anything. Amen.

Now it’s time for Small Group, where we have some exciting games and activities planned for you. Have fun!

Teachers take children to Small Group classes for Grades 1–3 and 4–6. If the combined group is small, all children may stay together for Small Group time.

Game

Do you remember what Isaac used to count the stars in the video? An abacus.

What did the stars represent to Isaac? God’s promise to bless Abraham with descendants that would outnumber the stars.

Today, we are going to use an abacus to play a fun game! Find someone you don’t know very well to be your partner. 

If you have an uneven number of children, ask an assistant or sixth grade helper to pair up with a child so everyone has a partner. Hand out an abacus pattern and ten “counters” — small pebbles, dried corn, beans, coins, etc. to each child. Have the children place them on tables where they can easily use them during the game.

Demonstrate how to use the abacus to count. As an example, count to 12 out loud, slowly while showing the children how to move the first counter across each of the nine spots in the the Ones row, then place it in the first spot in the Tens row to indicate 10. Then take a second counter and move it into the second spot in the Ones row to indicate 2. The counters in the two rows together then total 12. For older children, you may wish to test their understanding of the abacus by asking them to use it to show the number 321—a counter in the third spot of the Hundreds row, a counter in the second spot of the Tens row, and a counter in the first spot of the Ones row.

Explain that as you announce each task, one child in each pair will do the activity for one minute while the partner keeps track of the number of repetitions by moving one or more counters across the abacus. Then they will switch, so all the children have an opportunity to perform every task and also to count for their partners. Announce each task and briefly demonstrate how to do it, then start the timer for the first child in each pair to do the activity as many times as possible in one minute. At the end of one minute, stop the timer and have the children shout their scores. Restart the timer for the other child to do the task for one minute while the partner counts. Feel free to eliminate any activity and/or substitute your own! For large classes, optional balloons and stacking items may be shared. Have half the class do the balloon activities while the other half does the stacking activities, then switch.

Ready? One partner uses the abacus to count while the other partner does this activity:

1. One-hand toss: Child tosses the ball—or balloon—in the air and catches it with the same hand; partner uses abacus to keep count. Younger children or those with special needs may throw and catch with both hands. To make it harder for older children: count how many times the ball can be caught without being dropped.
2. Over head and behind back clap: Child raises arms over head and claps once, then reaches arms behind back to clap once; partner uses abacus to count each set of claps as one.
3. One-hand flick and catch: Child balances the ball on the back of one hand, then flicks it upward and catches it in the palm of that same hand; partner uses abacus to count how many times this can be done. To make it harder for older children: partner counts how many times the ball is caught in succession, without being dropped.
4. Stand on one foot: Child stands on one foot while partner uses the abacus and counts the seconds by saying “One second, Two seconds, Three seconds,” etc.
5. Ball balance on back of wrist: Child balances ball on back of wrist while partner uses the abacus and counts the seconds by saying “One second, Two seconds, Three seconds,” etc.
6. Hold your breath: Child holds breath while partner uses the abacus and counts the seconds by saying “One second, Two seconds, Three seconds,” etc.
7. Optional - Balloon punch: Child makes a fist and continually punches a balloon into the air while the partner uses the abacus to keep count. To make it harder: partner counts how many times the balloon is punched without being dropped.
8. Optional — Stack objects: One child makes the tallest tower possible while the partner counts how many objects are used before the tower falls.

You were very good at doing the tasks! Did you like doing the tasks or using the abacus the most? 

Did anyone run out of counters and need to get more? 

You can be sure Isaac would have run out of counters trying to count the stars! That is why God used sand and stars to describe His blessings to His children—they are beyond number! Now, let’s learn more about Isaac and Abraham’s test!

Teaching

Tests are not just for school—we have them in our lives, too! What test did Chris face in our Superbook adventure today? Whether or not to do something unselfish and put God first.

How many of you have been asked to do something, and you complained, argued, or put off obeying? 

Yes, we all do—even small things! Of course, some tests are bigger than others. Let’s take a deeper look into Abraham’s very difficult test, and see how he was able to put God first!

God promised Abraham that He would bless him abundantly and give him countless descendants. What are descendants? Children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, etc.

God kept His promise to Abraham and gave him a son named Isaac. Isaac means laughter. The reason Abraham and Sarah named him that is because they had both laughed at the thought of having a baby when they were so old. Sarah was 90 and Abraham was nearly 100! But he trusted God, and God performed a miracle by giving them a baby.

Now God gave Abraham a seemingly impossible test. He asked Abraham to sacrifice the very son who should grow up to have children, grandchildren, and future generations. Abraham must have wondered, if Isaac died, who would give him the countless descendants God promised?

Abraham had to be sad. Perhaps he spent the night praying. But he didn’t delay! 

Read Genesis 22:3:

The next morning Abraham got up early. He saddled his donkey and took two of his servants with him, along with his son, Isaac.

Abraham took Isaac up the mountain and placed Isaac on the altar. How was Abraham able to obey such a hard command? Allow children to respond with their thoughts.

Read Hebrews 11:17–19a:

It was by faith that Abraham offered Isaac as a sacrifice when God was testing him. Abraham, who had received God’s promises, was ready to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, even though God had told him, “Isaac is the son through whom your descendants will be counted.” Abraham reasoned that if Isaac died, God was able to bring him back to life again.

The answer is that Abraham was fully persuaded—he was completely convinced and absolutely sure—that if he obeyed the Lord, God would bring Isaac back to life again and fulfill His promise. Abraham was a man full of faith and total trust. Listen to what he told his servants. 

Read Genesis 22:5:

“Stay here with the donkey,” Abraham told the servants. “The boy and I will travel a little farther. We will worship there, and then we will come right back.”

Who did he say would come back? “We.”

Abraham told his servants, “We”—not “I”—will return afterward, showing that he trusted God to save Isaac or bring him back to life.

Let me demonstrate what it means to be fully persuaded or convinced. Hold up a coin and then close your hand around it. Keep that hand in front of you so the children will know you aren’t tricking them. How many of you believe that I have a coin in my hand, and I could open my hand to show it to you? Raise your hand if you are convinced I can do that! Children respond.

Why are you convinced; how can you be sure? 

Yes, because you saw me place it in my hand. Open your hand to reveal the coin. You are right!

Abraham saw how God did a miracle when his wife gave birth to Isaac at age 90! Abraham was fully persuaded and convinced that God, who miraculously gave them their son in the first place, could also miraculously bring that same child back to life again!

Read Romans 4:20–22:

Abraham never wavered in believing God’s promise. In fact, his faith grew stronger, and in this he brought glory to God. He was fully convinced that God is able to do whatever He promises. And because of Abraham’s faith, God counted him as righteous.

The Lord stopped Abraham from sacrificing Isaac by providing a ram. Abraham passed God’s test with an “A plus”! Abraham brought glory to God by his faith. When we put our faith in God and obey His commands, we will live a blessed life!

Discipleship Challenge/Practical Application

One way we can hear God’s voice is by reading His Word. To help us get to know the Bible better, let’s memorize all the books of the Old Testament during these three lessons!

Pass out scissors, pencils, and the Small Superbook Device Craft with Historical Books Pattern to the children. Display the sample craft you made as you give these instructions: 

1. Cut the two pieces apart along the solid line in the middle of the page. One side is the Superbook device, and the other side is a list of the historical books in the Old Testament. 
2. Fold each piece in half along the vertical dotted lines. Be very careful to fold them exactly on the dotted lines.
3. Carefully fold the “books” section in half again, along the other dotted line.
4. Carefully cut along the solid lines of each piece, including the rectangular slots.
5. Open both pieces, then “pinch-fold” the “books” section and gently slide it through the slot in the Superbook device.
6. Use the pencil to write your name on the back of your craft.

Be prepared to help younger children and those with special needs. Explain that you will collect the crafts today and give them out again in Lessons 2 and 3 for the children to add two other groups of books from the Old Testament before they take them home. Optional: you may wish to punch a small hole in the top of each craft, then use string or yarn to hang it up.

Let’s all work on memorizing the first 17 books of the Old Testament before our next lesson. These books—from Genesis through Esther—are sometimes called the historical books of the Old Testament because they record much of the history of the Jewish people. Have the children look at their crafts and say the names of the books aloud. Next time, I’ll ask if anyone can say them without looking!

Optional: To help children learn the names of the books, you may use the “Old Testament Books Song,” sung to the tune of “Jesus Loves Me.” The link to the sheet music and audio file for this song are available in the “Get Ready” section of this activity.

SuperVerse

Our SuperVerse is Genesis 17:1b–2 (cev):

“If you obey Me and always do right, I will keep My solemn promise to you and give you more descendants than can be counted.”

Read Genesis 17:1–2 (cev):

Abram was ninety-nine years old when the Lord appeared to him again and said, “I am God All-Powerful. If you obey Me and always do right, I will keep My solemn promise to you and give you more descendants than can be counted.”

We are not going to memorize the first part of verse 1, but I wanted you to see something interesting. How old was Abraham? He was 99.

Even though Abraham was very old, God still had important things for him to do! And even though you are very young, God has important things for you to do!

What did Abraham have to do in order to receive God’s promise? Obey and do right.

When we obey God and live according to His Word, we will see His promises come to pass in our lives! What was God’s promise to Abraham? He would give him more descendants than he could count!

Even though Abraham was 99 years old and didn’t have a son yet, God wanted Abraham to know—without question—that His promise would come to pass!

Boys, say our SuperVerse together as if God is talking to Abraham. You will have to use your most serious, deep voices here! Boys say the SuperVerse. Now girls, say the SuperTruth in your loudest voices: Girls say the SuperTruth, “I will obey God and trust His promises.”

Switch roles and repeat as time allows.

Note: Younger children may not be able to memorize the SuperVerse. They may simply repeat it several times, while older children may memorize part or all of it. Be sure all children understand its meaning.

Prayer

God told Abraham that His promises to him were tied to obedience. God hasn’t changed. He still desires all who love Him to obey His Word, too, no matter how young or old they are! 

Read John 14:15–17 (cev):

Jesus said to His disciples: “If you love Me, you will do as I command. Then I will ask the Father to send you the Holy Spirit who will help you and always be with you. The Spirit will show you what is true. The people of this world cannot accept the Spirit, because they don’t see or know Him. But you know the Spirit, who is with you and will keep on living in you.”

Jesus told His disciples that love and obedience go hand in hand. Fold your hands together as if to pray. Jesus told them they would not be alone because He was sending the Holy Spirit to help them obey His word! This Helper would live inside of them and always be with them. He would show them God’s truth and give them His power to obey! When we love Jesus, we, too, have His Holy Spirit living inside us to show us the truth and give us His power to obey!

Let’s hold out our right hands. Hold out your right hand. This hand will represent love. Now, let’s hold out our left hands. Hold out your left hand. This hand will represent obedience. Now let’s put them together to pray. Interlock fingers and place palms together. I would like each of you to take a moment to tell God how much you love Him and trust in His Word. Give children a moment to do this. Now, let’s thank God for sending His Holy Spirit to give us the power we need to obey His Word. Give children time to do this.

Pray: Heavenly Father, thank You for Your Word that contains promises for all who love You! Help us remember that You have placed Your precious Holy Spirit inside us to help us know Your will and follow Your ways. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Class Project

Pass out parts of the patterns to the children to cut out and assemble as a class project. Show them how to fold each piece to cut out the center, then attach it to the Superbook Device as shown. Be sure the books of the Old Testament are put in order under the Superbook device. Display it in the classroom for the next two lessons to help the children learn the books of the Old Testament.

As the children work, you may wish to sing the "Old Testament Books Song" to help them learn the names of the books. The sheet music is available in the "Get Ready" section of this activity.

If your group does not have time to finish this class project today, you may have them continue to work on it in the next two lessons. You may do this in the same way that the children make their Small Superbook Device crafts: adding the books of Wisdom and Major Prophets in Lesson 2 and the books of the Minor Prophets in Lesson 3.

Balloon Game

Our SuperTruth says, “I will obey God and trust His promises.” Our Superbook challenge is to memorize the Old Testament books. Let’s work on the first 17 books of the Bible—from Genesis to Esther—then you can continue memorizing them at home!

Pair children together and give each pair a balloon. Have each pair stand at least 6 feet apart. Each pair will volley the balloon between them as they each say the 17 books in order. Players may look at the poster as needed. The first player says “Genesis” and bats the balloon to the partner, who says “Exodus” and bats the balloon back, and so on. The pairs continue this until each book through Esther is called out in order. Pairs can play several times and challenge themselves to see how far down the list they can go without looking at the poster. If the balloon hits the ground, the pair must start over again.

This activity is not designed to be a race, but rather to familiarize children with the books as they appear in their Bible, to help them feel confident navigating it. Consider allowing them to say, “First and Second Samuel,” “First and Second Kings,” and “First and Second Chronicles” to aid in memorization and to speed up the activity.

Singing Activity

Help the class memorize the books of the Old Testament in order by singing them to the tune of “Jesus Loves Me.” You may use the sheet music and/or play the “Old Testament Books” song audio and have the class sing along. The sheet music shows how the list of books fits with the tune. You may print enough copies of the sheet music for each child to have one; or, you may print just one copy for yourself and have children follow along with the words using the Genesis to Esther Poster or the Large Superbook Device craft. 

In this lesson, you may decide to teach just the first verse of the song, featuring the historical books—Genesis through Esther. In the next two lessons, you may teach the second verse of the song with the wisdom books, major prophets, and minor prophets—Job through Malachi.

Object Lesson

Have the children look up Genesis 22:15–18. Choose five volunteers to each read one sentence of the verses aloud.

• Then the angel of the Lord called again to Abraham from heaven.
• “This is what the Lord says: Because you have obeyed Me and have not withheld even your son, your only son, I swear by My own name that I will certainly bless you.
• I will multiply your descendants beyond number, like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore.
• Your descendants will conquer the cities of their enemies.
• And through your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed—all because you have obeyed Me.”

That was a very difficult test that Abraham took! How did he do it? Abraham was absolutely persuaded that God would keep His promise; and that through his son, Isaac, he would be blessed with countless descendants. God rewarded his faith and obedience with a very big blessing! How big? Hold up the bag of sand.

God said Abraham’s descendants would number like the sand at the seashore. Look at this sand; you can hardly tell one grain from another! It would take a very long time to count every grain of sand in this bag. Now imagine how much sand is on just one beach! Then think of how much sand is on all the seashores of the world! Now think of how much sand is in the Sahara Desert—and all the deserts of the world! We can’t even imagine how many grains of sand that would be. Now here’s something amazing—astronomers tell us there are more stars in the sky than grains of sand on planet Earth!

On a clear night, you might be able to see 2,000 to 3,000 stars—if you didn’t fall asleep first! There are hundreds of billions of stars just in our galaxy—and there may be billions of galaxies in the universe! That’s a lot of stars! Isn’t God amazing?

Hold up the star you held back. There are some missing stars around the room, like this one, and I need some help locating them. Do you think you can help me find all of them? 

Great, let’s get started! Send about five children to search at one time. Have each child find one star and bring it back to you. Continue sending out different children until all are found. Give hints as necessary to speed the search. Have the children sit down when all are found.

What great searchers you are; thank you! You found all the stars that you could see! But, the problem is that there are some more you didn’t see! Begin walking around and pulling out stars that you hid as you talk—saying things like, “Oh, here is one we missed,” or “Here is another one way over here.” That is how God’s blessings are—you can’t possibly see and count all of them! God told Abraham He would multiply his descendants BEYOND NUMBER! That means you can’t possibly count them all! Just like these stars, you counted all you could see, but there were many more you could not see!

Guessing Activity

Choose children to pull one item out of the bag and guess what that item represents in the Bible story. Use the list below for a reference.

Note: for larger classes, choose one child to pull out the item and then ask children to raise their hands to answer. Allow two or three children to share for each item.

Ready?

• Star: God’s promise of countless descendants.
• Sand: God’s promise of countless descendants.
• Game controller: Game system Chris received.
• Thermometer: Boy in hospital.
• Baby doll  God’s promise of a baby son—Isaac.
• Test God’s test given to Abraham.
• Stone Altar on which Isaac was to be offered.
• Stick or bark Wood for the burnt offering.
• Toy sheep or lamb Sacrifice that God provided.
• Toy puppy Gizmo’s barking units that corralled the sheep.
• Map Abraham’s journey to the mountain, God’s instructions.
• Bible Origin of today’s story in Genesis.

Abraham passed God’s test! It wasn’t an easy test. In fact, it was one of the hardest tests Abraham or anyone could ever be given! By doing this, he received the promise of countless blessings from God. God wants us to trust and obey Him even when it is hard and we don’t understand. When we do this, we unlock God’s promises and blessings in our lives.

Let’s say our SuperVerse together. Genesis 17:1b–2(cev):

“If you obey Me and always do right, I will keep My solemn promise to you and give you more descendants than can be counted.”

Bible Study

In our Bible story today, Abraham was asked to obey God. If Abraham obeyed God, he would be greatly blessed with countless descendants. When we trust and obey God, our lives will be abundantly blessed. Let’s dig into some more verses where God promises He will act if we trust and obey. 

Have children look up and read the verses aloud. Lead a discussion using the questions below. Feel free to add any questions that you think will facilitate deeper discussion with your particular group.

Matthew 7:7:

“Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.”

Ask:

• What are the three things Jesus asks us to do? Ask, seek, knock.
• What three things does Jesus promise will happen when we do? Receive what we ask for, find what we look for, and the door opens to us.
• What do you think would happen if you didn’t do these things? Not receive what is promised here. You would not receive, find, or have the door open.
• What does this verse tell us about how we need to go about prayer, seeking, and pursuing things we need? Be persistent and diligent, do not give up.
• Does this verse tell us that God will give us anything we selfishly ask for? No, we need to pray and seek things that line up with God’s will for our life and things that agree with His Word.

Psalm 37:3–5:

³Trust in the Lord and do good. Then you will live safely in the land and prosper. ⁴ Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you your heart’s desires. ⁵ Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust Him, and He will help you.

Ask:

• In verse 3, what are we asked to do? Trust in the Lord and do good.
• What is the blessing tied to our obedience when we do this? Live safely and prosper.
• In verse 4, what do you think it means to take delight in the Lord? Love to be in His presence and want what He wants for you. Desire all He has for you that is perfect and good.
• What happens when we do this? When we want what God wants for us—He will give us all we desire and hope for.
• What does it mean to commit everything to God? Include God in everything; place it upon Him like a burden that He might carry it with us. Ask Him to accompany you. Rely on Him.
• What will God do when we commit to Him and trust? He will help us and bring it to pass—we will have success.

Proverbs 3:5–6

⁵Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. ⁶Seek His will in all you do, and He will show you which path to take.

Ask:

• In these two verses, what three things do we need to do to be obedient? Trust God, depend on Him and not ourselves, seek His will.
• What is His promise to us if we are obedient to do these things? He will give us direction, He will lead us on the right path, and He will show us the way to go that pleases Him.
• Can we trust in the Lord a little and depend on ourselves at the same time? No, trust in God completely, with our whole hearts, you cannot do both! You must let go.
• Why is it important to seek God’s will in everything? So we don’t waste time and effort going down the wrong path; stay out of danger or things that aren’t beneficial to our walk with Him; don’t miss opportunities He has set before us.