Lesson: God’s beauty seen in creation Main burden Creation reveals God's characteristic of beauty. God made all things and designed them to express His beauty. [Sub-points in terms of what the children will be able to do after the lesson] By the end of this activity, children should be able to: • identify beauty in God’s creation • explain that creation shows God’s beauty Age group: Level 2 (Years 4-6) Songs:

1. God’s design 2. The wonderful works of your hands

Verse: Matthew 6:28-29 Consider well the lilies of the field…not even Solomon in all his glory was clothed like one of these. Background information [what we need to know to be able to teach this lesson – and a summary of how we will do this] In creating the Earth, God did not just make a simple place for people to live. He didn’t make the Earth all flat and plain, but He made the Earth with mountains, valleys, caves, forests, meadows, deserts, islands, and polar regions. He created oceans, streams, waterfalls, rivers, and lakes. The Earth has different seasons, climates, and weather. We have national parks because we recognise the particular beauty in certain areas of God’s creation. If we take a look at all that God created, we can see the great beauty in God’s creation. If we consider the beauty, wonder, richness of life, and vastness of the Earth with the land and the water, it is truly awe-inspiring to realise that God created all these things. Our planet is the most beautiful of all the planets. In this activity, children contrast the beauty of creation with man-made scenes. As they do this they are encouraged to consider the beauty in God’s creation. They also consider why this is so. The Creator makes that which is pleasing to Himself. In doing so He is expressed in His creation. The beauty of creation reflects the nature of the Creator. Hence God’s beauty can be seen in creation. There are 16 cards. The cards that depict God’s creation show cats, frangipani flowers, Lake Matheson, Bee eater bird, horse in the surf, sunset, tropical fish and planet Earth as seen from space, The cards depicting man-made scenes show a city, a street with rubbish, rubbish in a harbour (the water is God-made – man often ruin’s His beauty), traffic jam, speed boat, playground, a large house and a stream in the process of eutrophication (because of excessive use of fertiliser).

Resources • Song sheets x2 • Whiteboard/markers • 1 lily • One set of the16 cards [attached] per group of 2-3 children • 2 Paintings - one by a preschool child and an expertly painted scene What to do 1. Sing the songs. Talk about what design means.

2. Have the verse visible to all children (e.g. in large letters on a whiteboard).

Read the verse together.

3. Have a lily or picture of one. Ask children to describe it. Look at the richness of the colours, the shape, the fine detail. Ask ‘who was Solomon?’ Lead children to understand that he was a grand king who had many riches and was very famous. The Bible says Solomon’s clothing was not as fine, rich and detailed as this lily – made by God.

4. Divide the children into groups. Give each group a set of cards. Ask children

to sort cards into 2 groups – God-made items/scenery and man-made items/scenes [Allow 1-2 minutes]. They should discuss their choices as they work (i.e. explain to each other why they are choosing this particular card for a specific pile)

5. Get children to spread out the cards so everyone can see them. Are there any

differences between the groups of children? Discuss why that might be so. Were there any tricky ones? Talk about them.

6. Record responses on the whiteboard in 2 columns (God’s creation and man-

made things). Differences should include aspects of beauty with God’s creation such as beautiful colours, many bright, vibrant colours, form, full of life, vastness, sense of awe, majestic, detail, etc. Talk about how this beauty corresponds with what we like and appreciate (because we are made in the image of God). In contrast the man-made items are often dull, can lead to pollution, none of it is living, etc. Talk about the man-made items being made from things from God’s creation (wood from trees, fibreglass from sand and limestone and other minerals, plastic from oil etc).

7. Show the child’s painting. Ask the children to tell us something about the

painter (e.g., it was done by someone who is young/immature/not good at painting) Ask children how they know. Show the professional painting. Ask children to tell us something about the painter (Mature/expert at painting/loves colour/careful/fine/detailed etc.). Lead children to realise that you can learn something about a person by looking at what he/she creates. People express something of themselves when they create something. Ask what God’s creation tells us about God. Creation shows us the kind of person God is; it expresses the nature of God. Look at the lily and the God-made items on the cards again. What do these tell us about God? Make a list on the whiteboard of some of the characteristics of God.

8. Direct the children to the verse again. Read together. Ask children to tell us

about the verse in light of the lesson (the beauty of the lily – its colour, fineness, form, etc., is an expression of the beauty of God).

9. Sing one of the songs again – if time allows.

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