Abraham is widely known as the Father of Faith, a title that he earned through a lifetime of extraordinary trust in God.  Early in Abram’s story, we hear God promising that his descendants would make up a great nation and that everyone who will ever live will find blessing in them.  Awesome, right?  The catch is that, at this point, Abram and his wife were both very old – well past child-bearing age – and they didn’t have even a single child!  It would have been very easy to second guess the original message, but instead, Abraham chose to persist in faith.  God had other tests for Abraham along the way, but the message of it all was, “Abraham, do you love me?  Do you trust me?  Am I first in your life?”  And these questions lead to our activity which is considering what kind of things are first in our lives, taking the place that God should rightly hold.

An altar is a significant image in the story of Abraham, so to prepare for this activity, cut apart the little altar cards in the lesson.  As you go through the focused questions on page 5 of the lesson, have anyone in 2nd grade and older start a list of sins to bring with next time you all go to confession.  Younger kids can also participate in this activity – it’s never too early to help them develop a sense of right and wrong.  Even if they can’t write, making a red mark inside the altar card is a simple way to indicate a way they’ve fallen short.

And then a perfect way to close this lesson is with the prayer inside the card.

Dear Heavenly Father,

I want You to be first in my life.  Please forgive me for the times that I have put things or people in the place that only You should have in my heart.  Fill me with Your Holy Spirit, and give me a faith like Abraham’s, so that I can trust and obey You in all things.

Amen.