Genesis 4

Lesson Aim

To thank God properly

Hook 1: Garden produce

What grows in your garden?  Bring some plants or vegetables from your garden.  Talk about how God has given us all the things we eat and that we need to be thankful to God because he caused these things to grow.

But there is someone in the Bible who didn’t thank God properly for all of God’s gifts.

Hook 2: Pictures

Get a model or picture of a lamb and some vegetables.  Make these labels: Cain, Abel, right (a tick), wrong (a cross).  Children stick these onto a second  board as the story progresses.

Hook 3: Sums

Have a page of sums with them all wrong.  Read them out to the children – they will tell you what the correct answers are and mark them in front of the children.  Talk about what it is like when you get something wrong.  How does it make you feel?  What do you do with those feelings? Then link this to Cain’s anger.

Hook 4: Questions

Have you ever felt really angry with someone? Have you ever felt like hurting someone?

Today’s story is about a man who was so, so jealous of his brother that he wanted to hurt him.

 Story Tips

It is important that children should understand that Cain got it wrong and Abel got it right.  Abel offered a lamb as his gift, this is what God wanted because it represented a sacrificial lamb that would come later – Jesus.

Explain that Cain killed Abel because he was jealous of him and his sacrifice.

Application

Although we need to thank God for the food we eat, it is also vital that we remember to thank God for sending Jesus to die for us.  Cain was wrong because he did not thank God in the correct way, the way that God expected.  Do we thank God in the correct way? Do we say sorry to God for breaking his laws and commands?