Sunday School Lesson: Noah and the Big Flood

Noah and the Big Flood: Sunday School Lesson Intro

Bottom line: No matter what other people think, we need to be obedient to God.

Objective: Kids will learn that it’s important that we don’t let other people’s opinions sway us from obeying God.

Key passage: Genesis 6:5-22. God tells Noah to build an ark.

When you were a baby, your mom and dad probably went to great lengths to make a cute nursery room for you. Baby nurseries are usually filled with soft, pastel colors and cute, cuddly things like teddy bears, baby blocks, and rainbows.

One of the most popular themes for baby nurseries is Noah’s Ark. Who doesn’t love the image of a little boat filled with animals and a rainbow on top? It’s so cute, isn’t it? It’s also a little silly, because the real story of Noah’s Ark is anything but kids’ stuff!

Before that rainbow appeared in the sky, there was a real flood, where real people died. And those cute and cuddly animals we see on kiddie wallpaper probably weren’t very happy. The ark was really noisy, really uncomfortable, and really smelly! Noah lived in a dark time, a time when people had turned away from God. People were worshipping false gods and doing their own thing.

It all made God very sad. So God decided he needed to hit the reset button. He made a plan to clean up the Earth, and he chose Noah to help him.

Noah and the Big Flood: Main point

Chances are you have heard the story of Noah’s Ark before. Even as small children, we are taught about Noah and the flood.

But let me try and take you back and put you in Noah’s shoes. In Noah’s time it did not rain. Ever! No one tuned in to the nightly news to see if they needed an umbrella the next day. For one thing, there was no TV. There was also no such thing as an umbrella because, up until that point, there was no rain!

God wasn’t just promising this new, never-before-seen thing called rain; he was promising a flood. The whole Earth would be covered with water, and all life on Earth would die - except for the few people and animals on the ark! Once again, no one had ever seen a flood, so no one could imagine such a thing happening. Yet Noah didn’t hesitate when God told him to build an ark. Noah went to work. He recruited his sons, and they started chopping wood. For more than a century – that’s a hundred years! - Noah and his sons worked on the ark.

People lived much longer back then. I can only imagine the kind of teasing and joking Noah’s neighbors must have done while they watched this crazy man and his boys build a giant boat in the middle of nowhere. But as you and I know, God wasn’t joking about the rain and the flood. The bad weather came, and Noah’s family was ready. It took a great deal of faith for Noah to build that ark, but because Noah had faith, he ignored the laughter and mocking of his neighbors, and he finished what he started.

Drive it home

It’s not always easy to do the right thing. We live in a world a lot like Noah’s world, where people believe they have a right to do as they please. The world no longer believes in God like we do, and when we tell them we need to obey God, they might laugh at us. There’s only one way to counter the criticism of the world, and that’s faith.

Faith is believing in things we cannot see with our eyes. We can’t see oxygen, but when we breathe in, we have faith that it’s there because it’s always been there. Noah had faith in God because he had a relationship with God. He had never seen God’s face, but he knew God through his voice and through his creation. Noah knew God well enough to trust him when God said there would be a flood. For Noah it was the same as breathing in. God had always been there for him, and he knew God would not let him down.

God gives us stories like Noah’s so that we will have the same faith. When we accept Jesus into our hearts, we receive God’s Holy Spirit. We can talk directly to God, and when we pray, we can hear God’s calling. The more we listen to God, the more we’ll see God at work in our lives, and the more we see God work, the greater our faith will be. And the greater our faith, the greater things God can do through our lives! Noah was a man of faith. He ignored the ridicule of others, and he did what God asked.

Noah and the Big Flood: Sunday School Lesson Conclusion

God may never ask you to do something as grand as building an ark, but my prayer for you today is that when God calls you to do something, you’ll have the faith to obey him. God didn’t let Noah down, and he won’t let any of us down either!

Prayer

Dear God,

Thank you for the story of Noah. I pray that Noah’s faith will inspire our own. Help us to obey you, just like Noah and his family did.

In Jesus’ name,
Amen

Photo credit: Pixabay/sferrario1968

Children’s Ministry Deals offers fun & creative ideas for children’s Sunday School lessons. With 100+ Bible-based curriculum packages to keep your kids engaged, you’ll find the perfect children’s ministry resources for your Sunday School and kids ministry classes.