17 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty[p]; walk before me faithfully and be blameless. 2 Then I will make my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers.”
3 Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, 4 “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. 5 No longer will you be called Abram[q]; your name will be Abraham,[r] for I have made you a father of many nations. 6 I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. 7 I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. 8 The whole land of Canaan, where you now reside as a foreigner, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God.”
9 Then God said to Abraham, “As for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come. 10 This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised. 11 You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you. 12 For the generations to come every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised, including those born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner—those who are not your offspring. 13 Whether born in your household or bought with your money, they must be circumcised. My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant. 14 Any uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised in the flesh, will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”
15 God also said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. 16 I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.”
17 Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, “Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?” 18 And Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael might live under your blessing!”
19 Then God said, “Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac.[s] I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. 20 And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation. 21 But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year.” 22 When he had finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him.
23 On that very day Abraham took his son Ishmael and all those born in his household or bought with his money, every male in his household, and circumcised them, as God told him. 24 Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised, 25 and his son Ishmael was thirteen; 26 Abraham and his son Ishmael were both circumcised on that very day. 27 And every male in Abraham’s household, including those born in his household or bought from a foreigner, was circumcised with him.
18:9 “Where is your wife Sarah?” they asked him.
“There, in the tent,” he said.
10 Then one of them said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son.”
Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him. 11 Abraham and Sarah were already very old, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing. 12 So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, “After I am worn out and my lord is old, will I now have this pleasure?”
13 Then the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’ 14 Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will return to you at the appointed time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”
15 Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, “I did not laugh.”
But he said, “Yes, you did laugh.”
The Physical World vrs. The Spiritual World
Sometimes when reading the bible or sitting in church does your mind automatically reject what is being said. Not to say that you don’t believe in God or His Word but the physical world seems so much more real than the spiritual. There are so many things about the physical world that are vying for our attention.
As a young mother I would try to wake up before my kids so I could have a quiet time with God. I would lay in bed with one eye open and immediately someone would start to cry or knock on my door. Mommy? MOMMY?? MMMMOOOOMMMMYYYYYYY??? How do we have time for the spiritual when the physical’s needs are so immediate.
I think the laughter of Abraham and Sarah came from the awareness of the physical world. Both Abraham and Sarah had tried everything to have a child. Abraham probably was feeling some shame about sleeping with his wife’s slave and Sarah was definitely aware that her body was not able to conceive at her age.
When the spiritual connects with you no matter how silly it seems, remember that anything is possible with God. God can create the world in 7 days. He can make all things new. Take time in the middle of your physical demands and listen to God. James 1:22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.
Worship
Judges 5:3
Hear this, you kings! Listen, you rulers! I, even I, will sing to the Lord; I will praise the Lord, the God of Israel, in song.
Supplies:
- TV or a music account and a speaker
- worship scarves
- instruments
Everyone needs to be up, standing on their feet, including teachers and helpers. Children naturally look to the adults in the room and mimic their behavior. Place the bucket of instruments and scarves in the middle of the room and have the children and adults pick an instrument. Start the music and encourage the children to worship the Lord with dance, instruments and song.
NOTE: Sometimes the pink scarves can cause trouble with the girls in your class. Lots of tears 😦 trying to keep a worship filled environment is difficult at this point. Either hide the offensive pink scarf or buy enough pick scarfs for each little girl.
Here are songs that your children will enjoy!
He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands
Crafts
God’s Promise to Abraham
Supplies:
- washable markers, color pencils, or crayons
- blue construction paper cut in half
- God’s Promise to Abraham worksheet, you can find it here
- scissors
- glue
Directions:
- Print out the worksheet, one for each child, here
- Cut out Abraham, Sarah and the baby.
- Have children color them.
- Glue baby to Abraham’s arms and then glue them to a half a piece of construction paper. Or to a popsicle stick to make a puppet.
Number the Stars
Supplies:
- washable markers, color pencils, or crayons
- God’s Number the Stars worksheet, you can find it Here
- Green and Black construction paper.
- Star Stickers
- scissors
- glue
Directions:
- Print out the Numbers the Stars worksheet and give one to each child, here
- Have children color Abraham
- Cut out the Abraham
- Cut black construction paper in half.
- Cut green construction paper in half and then in 1/4’s on a diagonal.
- Glue the green construction paper to the bottom of the black paper.
- Glue Abraham onto the green construction paper.
- Place star stickers on the black construction paper.
- Glue paper with God makes a promise to Abram onto the bottom of the project. (Type up and print 1 for each student.)
Little Steps 
