Today I begin a new study with a new group of kids — elementary age.  For the past 2 year I have been teaching the group just older than these.  I had a great time teaching them.  We studied the last half of the Old Testament and the entire New Testament together.  They are now ready to move on to class with the older kids and new teachers.

My new class has 6 students.  The class is intended for kids from the 1st-3rd grade.  Since we have a younger student that does not have any kids her age, she gets to join us as well.  She is 4.  I’ve been teaching older kids for the past few years so I’ve never had the chance to teach her.  This should be fun.  I also have the children of 2 new converts in my class.  I consider it a great privilege to teach them.  It may be the first time they’ve heard the entire Bible story.  If they’ll stick with me and attend classes on both Sunday AM and Wednesday PM, they’ll learn that the Bible is not a collection of disconnected stories but each event leads to the next event.  Another new thing for me this quarter is that I am only teaching on Sunday mornings.  In the past, I have asked to teach both Sunday and Wednesday classes.  I like to do this so that I can teach the entire Bible story and not leap frog from one event to the next.  The downside of teaching 100% of the time is that I don’t get a break, I don’t get to sit in an adult class and I don’t get the benefit of working with another teacher.  This quarter I am teaching with Sherry Lindsey.  I look forward to learning from her and also getting to sit in an adult class Wednesday evening.

This quarter we will be studying the book of Genesis.  Today’s lesson is Creation.  We actually started our quarter last Sunday and discussed who God is.  Since Wednesday evening was our monthly singing I really don’t expect the kids to have absorbed or remembered everything we talked about so I’ll be combining both lessons this morning.  I usually have my class do considerable amount of memory work.  Since these kids are new to me and I’m new to them, I may have bit off more than they can choose.  I am going to ask them to memorize 4 things:

• Days of Creation
• Genesis 9:12-16
• 12 Sons of Jacob
• Genesis 12:1-3

We are beginning the quarter with the first 2 — Days of Creation and Genesis 9:12-16

Our study for the quarter will go something like this:

• In The Beginning God — Gen 1:1
• Creation — Gen 1:1-2:3
• Home/Family — Gen 2:4-25
• Beginning of Sin — Gen 2:15-16; 3:1-24
• Cain and Abel — Gen 4-5
• Noah and the Flood — Gen 6-9
• Tower of Babel — Gen 10-11
• Abraham — Gen 12
• Abraham and Lot — Gen 13-14; 18:1-8,16-33; 19:30-38
• Abraham and Lot — Gen 15:18:15
• Isaac, Son of Promise — Gen 18:1-15; Gen 21-22
• Isaac and Rachel — Gen 24-25:18; Gen 26
• Jacob and Esau — Gen 25:19-34; Gen 26:34-27:47
• Jacob and Rachel — Gen 27:46; Gen 28-30
• Jacob Returns Home — Gen 31-35
• Joseph and His Brothers — Gen 37-38
• Joseph and Potiphar — Gen 39
• Joseph in Prison — Gen 40
• Joseph and Pharaoh — Gen 41
• Joseph Reveals Himself — Gen 42-45
• Joseph and Jacob — Gen 46-47
• Jacob’s Blessings — Gen 48-50