Abraham: Get With the Plan!

Here is my lesson for this coming Monday, October 29, 2012. The session focuses on Abraham!

BIG IDEA: God is setting things right and we need to “get with the plan.” Abraham shows us how.

Preliminaries (15 mins)

  • welcome and introductions
  • kids write their prayer intentions
  • opening procession to set up prayer center
  • opening prayer

Engage (10 mins)

  • Bring in a “home plate” (from baseball…I have a rubber one) to show the young people and ask them to identify what it is.
  • Ask what the goal is in baseball: to get “home.”
  • Talk about why baseball chose to use the image of a home to represent its ultimate goal: home is where we want to be; where we belong; where we are safe; where we are with those we love, etc.
  • Explain that in baseball, getting home is not easy…sometimes we get called out/picked off because we made a bad decision or weren’t paying attention.
  • Ask the young people what we learned from Genesis about our true home: paradise, the garden of Eden, walking with God.
  • Like poor baserunners, we humans took our eyes off of home and allowed sin to enter the world.
  • God has a plan to bring us home…we need to get with the plan!
  • Abraham shows us how its done (he puts on a “clinic!”).

Explore (30 mins)

  • Arrange young people in pairs, provide them with Bibles, and assign them one of the following stories (using this worksheet) to read and report on:
    • Gn 12:1-8 (God’s call and migration)
    • Gn 13:1-18 (God’s promise of land/a home)
    • Gn 15:1-18 (God makes a covenant with Abram)
    • Gn 17:1-9, 15-22 (God changes Abram’s and Sarai’s names)
    • Gn 18:1-15 (3 visitors and the promise of a son)
    • Gn 22: 1-18 (God tests Abraham’s faith)
  • Here’s the answer key to the above worksheet.
  • Invite volunteers to try telling the “whole” story of Abraham! (they can use notes) “Once upon a time…”
  • If time permits, have young people complete part 2 of the above worksheet which identifies qualities that Abraham exemplifies in these stories and invites them to identify how he practiced these and how they can practice them in their lives.
    • Listening
    • Courage
    • Obedience
    • Letting Go
    • Trust
    • Commitment

Reflect (15 mins)

  • Tell the young people that we have a very special person who helps us to “get with the plan” – Jesus’ mother Mary, and that we honor her this month during the month of the Holy Rosary.
  • Invite young people to move to their “sacred space” with their Rosaries and invite them to pray the second part of each Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be.
  • Pray as many decades as time allows.

Respond (5 mins)

  • Send young people forth with the challenge to “get with God’s plan” by “making things right” with someone in imitation of how God is making things right with us.
About Joe Paprocki 2742 Articles
Joe Paprocki, DMin, is National Consultant for Faith Formation at Loyola Press, where, in addition to his traveling/speaking responsibilities, he works on the development team for faith formation curriculum resources including Finding God: Our Response to God’s Gifts and God’s Gift: Reconciliation and Eucharist. Joe has more than 35 years of experience in ministry and has presented keynotes, presentations, and workshops in more than 100 dioceses in North America. Joe is a frequent presenter at national conferences including the Los Angeles Religious Education Congress, the Mid-Atlantic Congress, and the National Conference for Catechetical Leadership. He is the author of numerous books, including the best seller The Catechist’s Toolbox, A Church on the Move, Under the Influence of Jesus, and Called to Be Catholic—a bilingual, foundational supplemental program that helps young people know their faith and grow in their relationship with God. Joe is also the series editor for the Effective Catechetical Leader and blogs about his experiences in faith formation at www.catechistsjourney.com.

2 Comments

  1. Hi Joe,
    As I am preparing my lesson plan, your infor gives me ideas for my classes. Thanks! I really like you bringing something in to provide the kids with something visual and helps make the connection of Abraham’s story to something the kids can relate to. Can you double check on the answer key to the link above? It looks like it’s the same as the first link, which is the list of bible stories for the kids to find. Thx!

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