Isaac Children's Sunday School Lessons

Hello, hello! If you're on this page, you must find Isaac (the patriarch who gets the least attention) as interesting as I do.

These two lessons are about the time Abraham sent his servant to get a wife for Isaac, and about the time his neighbors fought with Isaac over his wells. The first deals with how God answers our prayers and the second about living in peace with others. You'll find original games and crafts to reinforce the lessons.

Of course, Abraham is the perfect starting point for a series on the series patriarchs, so if you haven't already done so, I suggest going back to Father Abraham before you talk about his son, Isaac.

Recommended Extras

Besides my own ideas, here are a few resources that I've used to help round out the lessons.

Paid Resources

The Animated Kid's Bible – If you've seen my other lessons on Genesis, you know what a fan I am of this series. It's great video series illustrating the stories of the Book of Genesis.

Superbook: Isaac and Rebekah – Told in the charming style of the revamped Superbook video series! Kids won't only learn the story, but will enjoy the Superbook characters as well. With Christian video games, children's Bible devotions , and apps that they can enjoy outside of class, it's well worth getting them into this series.

I recommend using both of these videos as either an introduction or recap to your lessons. Takin a couple of weeks to teach on Isaac and then a week showing one of these videos and doing some review will help cement your students' learning.

Extreme Adventures with God (Discover 4 Yourself Series) – This is a resource I was just made aware of and I can say that I am definitely impressed. It's not something you're going to want to use in class, but would make a great Bible study book for your child or the basis for family devotions. Told with the help of fictional characters Max, Molly, and Sam the dog, Kay Arthur goes deep in this Bible study workbook. It's "Extreme Adventures" for extreme learning.

Free Resources

This crossword puzzle from Sermons 4 Kids will remind kids of the Isaac and Rebekah Bible story.

Free Sunday School Curriculum's coloring and activity pages for both Isaac and Rebekah and Isaac Does Not Fight are top-notch.

Send these activity pages home with students and give them a prize when they bring them back the next week. It will motivate them to spend a little more time thinking about the lessons!

Isaac Gets a Wife! Children's Sunday School Lesson

Purpose: Use this Isaac and Rebekah children's Sunday School lesson to teach kids about God's responses to our prayers.

Needed: Various objects for the game (see below), a snack, drawing paper, crayons or colored pencils

Intro Game: No! – Have the students line up single file behind a line in your play area. Between them and you is an area where they will play tag. You will stand or sit at the other side of the play area with a variety of objects in front of you. One of the objects could be a sample of a snack you're going to give the kids at the end of the game. Choose one of the objects to be the key object for each round. One leader or volunteer student will be "It" in the middle of the play area.

The first student will run up to you and ask you for one of the objects in front of you. If it's the key object you chose, they win the game. If it isn't, say "No!" That student then remains in the center play area. They then have to run from It. If they get tagged, they go to the back of the line.

The next student runs up to you as soon as the previous one receives their answer.

Let the snack be the last correct answer. When a student asks for it, end the game and pass out the snacks.

As the students are eating, start the lesson.

Lesson: (Note: Always allow students enough time to think about and to give their answers to the questions before clarifying the teaching.)

Ask students, Have you ever prayed for something? What did you pray for?

Did God answer your prayer? Did He give you what you wanted?

(Tell a story about a time when God answered your prayer.)

Does God always give us what we ask for?

(Tell a story about a time when God didn't answer your prayer.)

In our game, sometimes you asked for something and I had to say no. God does that too. He tells us no sometimes. He also tells us yes sometimes. But whether He tells us yes or no, God always knows what's best, and He always gives us the right answer.

We've been learning about Abram. You remember that God told Abram to leave his country and his friends and his family and go live in the country of Canaan. God promised that He would give the whole country to Abram's children and grandchildren forever. But Abram didn't have the son God wanted him to have until he was very old. Does anyone remember what that son's name was? (Isaac)

Today we're going to learn about what happened when that son, Isaac, was all grown up.

Summarize Genesis 24 with the following Bible story, asking the included questions as you read.

Sarah, Abraham's wife, died when she was 127 years old. Abraham was getting very old, too, and their son, Isaac, was all grown up and ready to be married. So, Abraham called his chief servant and said to him, "My chief servant, I want you to go back to my old country, the place where I lived before God told me to come to Canaan, and find a wife for my son, Isaac, there. Go find her and bring her back here to Canaan."

"What if I find a wife for Isaac," the chief servant asked, "but she doesn't want to come back with me to Canaan? Should I take Isaac to her and let Isaac live in your old country with her?"

What do you think? Should Isaac go live in Abraham's old country? Why or why not?

"No," Abraham answered. "Isaac must not go back to my old country. God told me that He would give this country, Canaan, to my children and grandchildren forever. So, do not take Isaac back to my old country. But don't worry about whether the woman will come back with you or not. God will send His angel ahead of you to help you find a wife for Isaac."

So the chief servant left on his journey and after many days, finally made it Abraham's old country and even the same town where Abraham used to live. The chief servant and his camels were thirsty, so he walked to the well in the middle of the town. A lot of women were coming to the well to get water, too, and the chief servant had an idea. "God," he prayed, "I will say to one of these girls, 'Let me have a drink of water please.' If the girl answers, 'I'll give you a drink and give your camels some water, too,' then I'll know that she is the right girl you want Isaac to marry."

Do you think one of the girls will give the chief servant a drink and give his camels some water, too?

While the chief servant was still praying, a young woman named Rebekah came to the well. "Please give me a drink of water," the chief servant said. So Rebekah gave him a drink. When the chief servant was finished drinking, Rebekah said, "Now, I will give your camels some water, too."

Did God answer the chief servant's prayer? (Yes.)

God answered the chief servant's prayer exactly. Sometimes, God does not give us exactly what we want. Other times, He does. In this story, God gave the chief exactly what he wanted.

After Rebekah had given some water to the camels, the chief servant gave Rebekah a gold nose ring and two gold bracelets. "Who are you?" he asked. When she told him that she was one of Abraham's relatives, the chief servant was very happy and went to spend the night in her family's house.

Rebekah's family was cooking dinner when Rebekah and the chief servant arrived and they invited the chief servant to eat with them. But he said, "I will not eat until I tell you why I came." Then, he told them about how he was Abraham's chief servant and how Abraham had sent him to get a wife for his son, Isaac. He told them about how he had prayed and how Rebekah had said and done exactly what the chief servant had prayed she would. Then he said, "I know God has led me here to take Rebekah to be Isaac's wife. Now, tell me. Will you let her go with me or not?"

Do you think Rebekah's family will let her go with the chief servant and marry Isaac?

"All this is from God," Rebekah's family answered. "We have to let her go." Then, they asked Rebekah if she was willing to go marry Isaac, and Rebekah said that she was willing to go.

A few nights later, Isaac was praying in the field when he saw the chief servant coming back with Rebekah. Then, Isaac married Rebekah and he loved her.

Craft: Answered Prayers – Students have three options with this craft. They can draw what happened when God answered one of their prayers. They can draw what would happen if God answered one of their current prayers. They can make a list of things they've prayed for and how God either said yes or no to their prayers. Point out that sometimes, God doesn't answer right away. He might say yes to one of our prayers, but we have to wait.

Prayer Exercise: Ask students to silently pray for something they want God to do for them. With their eyes still closed, ask them to tell God what they would say if God decided to say no to their prayer.

Closing Prayer: Father, you helped Abraham's chief servant find a wife for Isaac when he asked you to. And you help us with things when we ask you to. But sometimes, you don't answer our prayers. Help us to remember that you still love us when you say no, and that you know what's best for us. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.

Isaac's Wells Children's Sunday School Lesson

Purpose: Use this children's Sunday School lesson about Isaac to teach kids how to be generous peacemakers.

Needed: Soft play balls or paper wads

Intro Game: Monkeys in the Middle – Form students into three groups. Two groups stand on either side of your play area. The third group stands in the middle. The two groups on the end throw or rolls the balls (or paper wads) back and forth to each other. The third group tries to intercept them.

When someone from the group in the middle gets one of the balls, it's out of play. Set it to the side. Play continues until the middle group intercepts all the balls. Then, switch which group is in the middle. Play until all groups have been in the middle at least once.

Lesson: Ask students, What would you do if someone else had something that you wanted?

Would you try to steal that thing from them?

Would you be mad at them because they had that thing?

Would you be mean to them?

What would you do if you had something that someone else wanted and they tried to take it from you?

What would you do if they were being mean to you because you had that thing?

Last time, we started learning about Abraham's son, Isaac. You remember that when Isaac grew up, he married a young woman named Rebekah. Today, we're going to learn about a time when someone did something wrong to Isaac and what Isaac did about it.

Summarize Genesis 26 with the following Bible story, asking the included questions as you read.

Isaac planted his farm and when his crops grew, God gave him a hundred times what he planted! God blessed Isaac and gave him so many crops and animals and servants, that Isaac became very rich. His neighbors saw how rich Isaac was and they became jealous of him. They wished that they were as rich as he was.

So, Isaac's neighbors were angry with him and came and filled in all of Isaac's wells. All the places where Isaac had dug holes to get water out of the earth, his neighbors filled back in with dirt so that he couldn't get water anymore.

What do you think Isaac should do about his neighbors filling in his wells?

Isaac didn't want to fight with his neighbors, so he moved away from them and dug different wells to get his water. But then, his new neighbors fought with him and said that the wells he dug were theirs.

What do you think Isaac should do about his neighbors saying that his wells were theirs?

Isaac didn't want to fight with his neighbors, so he let his neighbors have those wells, and he went and dug different ones. But his neighbors said that those wells were theirs too.

So, because Isaac didn't want to fight with them, he moved away and dug still different wells.

What do you think will happen with the wells this time?

No one fought with Isaac about these wells, so Isaac thanked God for giving him peace from his neighbors. Then God said, "Isaac, I am with you. I will bless you and give you many children and grandchildren."

Do you think Isaac did the right thing by not fighting with his neighbors?

Isaac did do the right thing. Instead of fighting about things, he moved on and God blessed him for it. God gave him a well that no one fought about and said that He would give Isaac lots of children and grandchildren.

God wants us to not fight with other people. If we don't fight with people, then God will be happy with us and will reward us.

Game: Alex and Alicia – Use the following fictitious stories to help students apply the lesson to their lives.

Story #1: What to Do? – Alex and Alicia are cousins. One Sunday after church, Alex went to Alicia's house to eat lunch and play while their parents talked.

What do you want to do?" Alicia asked Alex.

"I don't know," Alex answered. "What do you want to do?"

"I don't know," Alicia answered.

While they were thinking about it, Alex pulled out his pocket video game system and started playing.

"Hey, is that a new video game?" Alicia asked.

"Yep, sure is," Alex answered, not looking up from his game. He was getting into it now.

"I want to play it," Alicia said. "Can I?"

Alex didn't really want to let Alicia play right now. He was having fun.

What should Alex do in this situation?

(Alex should let Alicia play the game. Otherwise, she might get angry and they might get into a fight. God will be happy with Alex if he avoids fighting with his cousin.)

Story #2: The Last Cookie! – After Alicia played Alex's game for a while, she suggested that they go outside.

"Okay," Alex agreed.

While they were walking to the door, they passed by the kitchen. On the counter, Alex saw a homemade chocolate chip cookie. "Oooh, cookies!" Alex exclaimed as he reached for it.

Alicia saw him reaching for the cookie and wanted to tell him to stop. That was the last cookie and her mom had told her that she could have it.

What should Alicia do in this situation?

(She should let Alex have the cookie. If she tries to keep it for herself, Alex might get upset and they might get into a fight about it. God will be happy with Alicia if she avoids fighting with her cousin.)

Game: Monkeys in the Middle (with a Twist) – This time, tell the students that their goal is to rotate as quickly as possible. The groups on the end want to throw their balls to the group in the middle and then rotate as quickly as possible. The group in the middle goes to side A. The group on side A goes to side B. And the group on side B goes to the middle. Time each round to see if they can get faster and faster.

Closing Prayer: Lord, we thank You for the example of Isaac, who was generous and didn't fight with other people. We pray that You'll help us to be like him. Help us to know when we can give other people what they want so that we can avoid fighting with them. Amen.

Get easy printer versions of these Isaac children's Sunday School lessons on Patreon! They're also part of my Kindle and bound books, Father Abraham: Children Sunday School Lessons on Genesis 12-50 .

See how you can teach about Isaac during your worship service on our Genesis children's sermons page.

And, of course, coming next to the children's ministry resource page is Jacob and Esau!

I hope you've been blessed during your time with the peaceful middle patriarch. Until next time, thank you for your time disciplining children. May God's Spirit continue to be with your spirit! - Steve