What is a promise? It is a formal agreement between two people. A commitment to do, or not to do, something both now and in the future.
The Bible is full of promises! Some have counted as many as 7,000 to 8,000 different promises in the pages of scripture. Some of the most important is God’s promises to us. The good news for us is the fact that God always keeps His promises.
One of the earliest promises in the Bible is God’s promise to Noah and his family that He will never destroy the earth again by the way of a flood. As a reminder of God’s promise, He decides to send a sign to all of creation in the form of a rainbow.
Make your lesson about God’s promises come to life by adding a multisensory approach to your teaching.
Here are two great hands-on things you can do next time you teach about Noah, the flood, and God’s promises.
What you will need:
Start with your Skittles goodie bags and your rainbow glasses safely secured in your treasure box. Place it in the front of the room where everyone can see it. Make sure to make a big deal of it saying things like “Wow! I wonder what is in the treasure box?” People will go nuts and do just about anything to find out.
After you build enough suspense tell the group that you will give them each a prize from the treasure box now and one more later if they promise to listen and participate during the rest of the lesson. Make sure to emphasize the idea that they are making a promise to you. Dangle the carrot and watch them take the bait!
First, give them each a Skittles goodie bag with the message inside. Talk to them about how God always keeps His promises. Ask them if they have any ideas why you gave them candy that has every color of the rainbow. After they eat the Skittles ask them if they tasted good. Remind them that all of God’s promises are good too!
Now that you have piqued their interest and commitment to engaging in the lesson dive into your lesson.
After completing your lesson about Noah, the flood, and God’s promise (Genesis 8-9) remind your group that you have one more prize for them. Again work on building the suspense as you thank them for keeping their promise to pay attention and engage in the lesson.
Then pass out a pair of rainbow glasses to each person in your group. Instruct them to put on their pair and to look up at the lights in the room. Their field of vision should be filled with rainbows. This will get a nice reaction.
Tell your group that they can keep these glasses as a gift from you on one condition. They must promise that each time they see a rainbow, either with the glasses or without, they will smile and be reminded of the fact that God always keeps His promises.
For more ways to drive engagement with your group check out this free Ability Ministry resource: Fun Time Fillers. We also have put together a free training video outlining some fun activities to try in your ministry.
