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Outlines of Bible Stories for Creation God made everything and it was good Scripture - GN 1:1-3, 31aVisual Aid - Nothing ("What do you see in my [empty] hand?")Before creation there was nothing God created everything
Creation was perfect Last thing God created was man/woman
God breathed life into them.
There was no sin in the world.
Remember that outlines, lists, and logical arguments are difficult for people to remember. You will have to be creative to communicate the days of Creation, the Ten Commandments, and the Plagues of Egypt without using lists.
Man sinned -- turned away from God Transition - God created everything in the world - It was good. God created man special; He breathed life into man. He told humans to be fruitful and multiply and to eat of any fruit except one. He wanted them to obey Him.Scripture -GN 3:1-3Visual Aid - fruit, dirt, thorns, fur, big leaves. Note: A leaf can illustrate not only the clothes that they made, but also to clarify, "surely you will die." They DID die, just as surely as a leaf dies when it is picked, even though it maintains the appearance of life.Man and woman had good lives in Eden They had no real work, no hunger, no thirst, no pain, didn’t need clothes. They were to rule over creation and give animals names. They were not ashamed.
God told them not to eat of the one tree.
Serpent called her, tempted her.
Eve ate fruit; then took it to Adam, and tempted him; he ate. They discovered they were naked. They were ashamed. Made clothes from leaves.
God cast them out of the garden.
God was merciful. He made clothes for them from skins of animal. He covered the results of their sin through the death of an animal.
Adam and Eve had children and all of them were sinners.
Adam and Eve's offspring were like their parents, sinners Transition - God made earth a nice place for man, but man was tempted by Satan, and sinned. Because of this, Adam and Eve had to leave the wonderful place God prepared for them. They had to work and suffer. Children were like their parents: sinners. God could have destroyed them, but he had mercy on them.Scripture - GN 4: 1,2-7Visual Aid - StoneAdam and Eve’s first born was Cain. He became a farmer. Their second born, Abel, became a shepherd. (Describe roles) They practiced a type of religion with sacrifices.
God accepted Abel’s sacrifice. God didn’t accept Cain’s sacrifice.
Cain became very angry.
Later, Cain was still angry. He lured Abel into farm, killing him.
God punished Cain for his sin, made him a wanderer. God showed his mercy. He put a mark on Cain so no one would kill him.
God punishes sin, keeps his promises, and provides a savior Transition - Main points of previous stories. Clarify who were the first sinners? Were their offspring sinners?Scripture - GN 6:5-8Visual Aid - Tar, boat model.The children of Adam and Eve continued to commit worse and worse sins.
One man was righteous - Noah. God told him to build a boat, that he was going to destroy mankind with a flood.
The people laughed at Noah and mocked God.
Rained for 40 days and nights. Water came up out of the ground. Everyone drowned except Noah and his family.
God opened the door and the animals and people came out. Noah offered a sacrifice to thank God for sparing him and his family. God put a rainbow in the sky as a as a promise that He wouldn’t destroy the world again with water.
God hates and punishes sin Transition - Main points of stories 1-4 + tell that much time passed. People increased in number and spread out into the world. All were sinners. Some places they sinned very badly and God hates sin.Scripture - GN 19:1, 12, 13Visual Aid - SaltThere were two cities - Sodom and Gomorrah, that were very sinful. In Sodom lived a righteous man named Lot, his wife and two daughters.
God decided to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah.
God sent angels to warn Lot to leave the city, for it would be destroyed in the AM.
That night, Lot, his wife, and daughters fled the city. Angels told them to trust God and follow God’s plan: not to look back. As they ran away, Lot’s wife looked back. She turned into a pillar of salt.
God punished the wicked people in the cities.
God has a plan Transition - Emphasize sin and its effects as brought out in the stories to this point. We should flee sin because God will destroy sinners.Scripture - GN 22:1-2Visual Aid - knife, rope
There was a righteous man whose name was Abram. God chose him because he was a man of faith. He trusted God.
God asked Abram to migrate from where he lived to a place he didn’t know.
Because Abram had faith, God made some promises to him:
Abram believed God, but became an old man without his wife having a child. Sarai was far beyond child-bearing years. About the time of Sodom and Gomorrah destruction, angels came to Abram and told him in a year he would have a son.
God told Abram to take Isaac, wood, and go to a place where Abram would slaughter Isaac as a sacrifice.
They got to the place. Abram made the altar, put the wood on it, tied Isaac up, and prepared to kill him. Angel stopped him. “Don’t hurt the boy.” Abram saw a ram that God provided. God told Abram that He was pleased with him, because he had faith.
God reminded Abraham of his promises (land, children, bless the world)
God keeps his promises and blesses those who have faith in him. Transition - Review previous stories with emphasis on God’s mercy and promises. Tell that many years passed, Isaac grew, had children and died. One of Abraham’s grandchildren and his family migrated to Egypt and his descendents lived there for more than 400 years. This outline is short. You can add explanations, the series of plagues, more in-depth material, etc, as you are able.Scripture - EX 1:7Visual Aid - Mud brickDescendents of Abraham moved to Egypt to escape a famine.
God blessed them and they grew big in number and wealth. Egypt got a new King who said “Abraham's family is too big. Perhaps they will conquer us.”
Still, because of God’s blessing, they grew in number.
Then, king started killing male children. Times were very hard. There was crying and wailing, etc. God heard the cries of the offspring of Abraham. He knew their suffering.
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The Fall
Cain and Abel
Noah
Sodom and
Gomorrah
Abraham and
Isaac
Egypt