Introduce It!

Optional:  and one sheet of green copy paper
Bible
River guide/jungle costume for teacher
Mounting putty or tape for posters
M&M’s, 2 per child
Optional: snack baggies or pill-sized zippered baggies, 1 per child
Optional: canoe or blow-up raft

 Take Off on Your Journey
Prep: Prepare your set backdrop and decide what you are doing for your “boat.” If making your own backdrop, copy, cut out, and mount the on to it somewhere. (See p.10 in the for more information.) Prepare your costumes. Bookmark the Scripture passages in your Bible for the whole lesson. Optional: Put two M&M’s in a baggie per child to make them faster to pass out.
Welcome to our jungle cruise! Come on in and get in the “boat!” . My name is ___. I’ll be your river guide today as we ride through time.
Each day, we’ll make a stop at a port named after one of the Seven C’s of History. These are big events that begin with the letter C and are explained in the history book of the universe—the Bible.  
As we begin our cruise, let’s take two important travel medicines—our malaria pill to protect us from bad bug bites , and our motion sickness pill .
Our first stop is Creation, the first C of history. The color green reminds us of creation. There’s a green word hidden around here. Who sees it? 
Why does green remind us of creation?  God’s beautiful creation is filled with green plants and trees. And speaking of creation, we’re going to hear two different ideas about how everything began! There are two main ideas about what happened in the beginning. One comes from people. The other was given to us by God. Only one can be right. Let’s listen to both ideas and then talk more.

One medium balloon
Lots of alphabet beads
Funnel
Safety pin

 Teach It!Part 1—The Story of Dot
Prep: Put the funnel in the end of the balloon and pour in the alphabet beads. Inflate the balloon, tie off, and set aside. Note: Those allergic to latex can use a latex-free medical glove in place of the balloon.
 Our story begins with a tiny speck. Since it’s so small, I’ve blown it up so you can see it better. 
This account of the past is an idea people came up with. Some say the universe started billions of years ago with a teeny, tiny, non-living speck. They don’t know how the speck got there; it just existed somehow. We’ll call this speck Dot.
Dot was tiny, but not lightweight. You see, Dot had all the ingredients for the entire universe squished inside of it. That’s a lot of stuff! 
Dot was very uncomfortable with all that stuff in there, and one day, Dot just expanded with a big bang! 
When Dot exploded, all the stuff in the universe, called matter, energy, and space, flew everywhere. It was a mess.
Now I don’t know about you, but anytime I think of an explosion, I think of chaos. But the writers of Dot’s story say this explosion was different. They say the stuff that exploded started to organize and arrange itself—without the help of any intelligent person.
Look at this mess on the floor.  It may be possible, although highly unlikely, to find a word or two in there. It’s even more unlikely to find a meaningful sentence. 
Now suppose we just sit and watch these letters. Do you think this mess could end up arranging itself into a book? Of course not; that’s impossible! But in the story of Dot, as billions of years went by, all the stuff became complex galaxies along with our sun, moon, and earth.
Keep in mind that none of the stuff that came from Dot was alive. But somehow, after millions more years, it turned into living things, then finally changed into all the perfectly formed plants and animals we know of today. It even turned into you and me! The writers of this story call this “evolution—molecules to man evolution.”
Part 2—The Bible Account of Creation

, 1 per person
Clipboards or hard surfaces such as magazines, 1 per person
Pencil or marker, 1 per person
Dry erase board and marker

 Prep: Print the and put on clipboards or a hard surface for each child. Practice drawing the illustrations ahead of time on the board.
The second idea is actually an account found in the first chapter of the first book of the Bible, Genesis. God gave us the Bible, and he is truthful, so we can trust what it says. We’ll illustrate it together as we go. 
According to God, the universe began not billions of years ago, but just thousands of years ago. Listen to how God says it happened.  
First, Genesis 1:1–5 tells how God created light, day, and night just by speaking.  Notice that light was shining on the earth, making day and night, but it was not the sun. 
Verses 6–8 describe how God separated the waters on the earth and above the earth. God made the atmosphere that we need to breathe. He was creating a beautiful place for us to live!
The next verses, 9–13, tell us that God made the dry land appear.   God created plants and trees to provide food for the animals and humans who would soon be living here.
In Genesis 1:14–19, God made the lights in the heavens—the things in outer space. God made these for us to know signs, seasons, days, and years. 
Verses 20–23 say that on the next day, God made swarms of sea creatures and flying creatures.  Don’t forget, God created creatures such as plesiosaurs, pteranodons, and pterodactyls on this day too.
On day six, in verses 24–25, God created land animals, including dinosaurs. 
Finally, in Genesis 1:26–27, we’re told that God made a man and a woman, named Adam and Eve.  
God made a beautiful garden for Adam and Eve to take care of and enjoy. Notice that God made people in his image, not from apelike creatures. We’re special and set apart from the animals, which is why we should treat each other with respect and care.
Genesis 1:29–2:3 tell us a couple more interesting facts. First is that all the animals and humans ate only plants. That means tyrannosaurs would have been munching on melons or berries, not on other animals! 
Second, our seven-day week comes from this first week of creation. On the sixth day, the heavens and earth were completed. God rested the seventh day—not because he was tired—God never gets tired or sleeps. But he was setting an example for us to work hard and take time to rest. 
So, on the one hand, you have a story of a non-living speck exploding and eventually turning into everything we see. On the other hand, you have the all-powerful and good God creating everything. They’re pretty different. Can they both be true? 

 There are many scientific findings that confirm what the Bible teaches. For instance, you may hear it takes many hundreds of thousands of years for stalactites and stalagmites to form in a cave. But this bottle has been covered with minerals in just a short while. Did it take millions of years for minerals to form on this bottle? No! 
Think about this: Jesus said that God’s Word, the Bible is truth.  So if God’s Word reveals to us that he created the universe and everything in it, then that settles it. When you’re outside playing this week, or walking in the woods, or going to the zoo, take time to thank God for at least one animal or plant that you see or hear. God is our Creator, let’s remember to give him praise!
Daily Review
. Let’s take a look at our animal pal poster to remember what we talked about today. Our animal pal is a parrot that is what color?  What does green remind us of?  The parrot is named Eden. What does that name have to do with creation?  
Practice the verse a few times using the  as a reference, then try the following challenge. Say the theme verse together several times and try the challenge again.
 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis 1:1 
 Practice saying this super slow like a sloth, then super fast like a speeding basilisk lizard.
To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. 1 Timothy 1:17

Purchase the 7 C’s Maps from AnswersVBS.com 

Pass out the 7 C’s Maps, if available, and have the kids add today’s sticker. Don’t put names on them until the last day, when they can take them home. It goes faster passing them out without names.
Introduce It!

Optional:  Bible 
Jungle costumes for teachers
Mounting putty or tape

 Tree Trivia
Prep: Bookmark the Bible passages that will be used today. If making your own backdrop, copy on to dark and blue paper, cut out, and mount the to it.
Welcome the kids back and have them sit in the “boat.” Have kids point to the word Creation and review briefly. Refer to the . 
The next stop on our river cruise is a dark place. There are lots of dark areas in the rainforest because of the canopy of trees overhead. The strangler fig tree grows up a host tree, strangling it to reach sunlight. The rubber tree is known for its white sap, called latex, which is used to make rubber. The bright colors of the rainbow eucalyptus tree are revealed when it sheds its bark. Cocoa trees can grow in the shade of taller rainforest trees. Each tree produces seeds that are used to make chocolate. Yum! The kapok tree can grow to be over 200 feet tall. That’s as high as a 20-story building! When lots of kapok trees grow together, they create a thick canopy which blocks out much of the sun and makes the forest floor dark.
Talking about dark colors reminds me of our next C of history. Can you find a dark word hidden somewhere?  Let’s say that word together.   
Teach It!

 Part 1: The Fall of All
Yesterday we talked about God’s perfect creation. But at this stop, things changed. We learn from Genesis 3 that a serpent entered the scene. 
The Bible says the serpent was more tricky than any other animal . We can’t be certain it was a snake. It could have been some extinct animal we don’t know about. But who do you think that serpent was? Yes, it was Satan (the devil) taking the form of a serpent. Satan used the serpent to ask Eve a question. God had told Adam he could eat from any tree except one. Then the serpent told Eve she wouldn’t die but would have her eyes opened and be like God. This idea sounded good to Eve, so she took the fruit from the tree and ate it. 
We don’t know what kind of fruit it was—not one we have today. But that doesn’t matter. What  matter is the trouble caused by eating that fruit because Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s command.
Their disobedience broke the perfect, good creation. Sin, which is disobeying God, was now part of the world. Instead of everything being all good, bad and sad things started happening, like animals attacking each other, and bushes having thorns, and people getting sick. That’s what corruption means—changing from good to bad.
The results of that sin didn’t just affect Adam and Eve. Because we all come from Adam and Eve, the Bible teaches that each person is born a sinner. Every day, we do and think things we shouldn’t. What kinds of things are part of our world because of the corruption of sin?  I wonder how long it was before Adam and Eve felt sick for the first time? Bad weather and natural disasters weren’t part of the world before corruption entered. Romans 8:22 tells us the earth groans with the troubles of a cursed world. 
Just imagine, you could have pett a bear or a tyrannosaur before the corruption! Animals that are dangerous now wouldn’t have been harmful before sin. And think about this: nobody would have died if Adam hadn’t sinned. Everyone would have lived with God in a perfect paradise forever. But now the world is cursed and not perfect anymore. At this point, the world would have seemed like a dark and sad place. Let’s say our first two stops and their colors. 
Part 2: Water, Water Everywhere

Play microphone or something silly to use as a microphone
Scientist wig or jacket
Optional: game show music and device to play it

 Prep: Cut theapart and put them in order. Print and cut apart the  Gather costume pieces, music, and an object for a microphone.Let’s continue to our next stop. Look for the hidden color word “Catastrophe.”  A catastrophe is a terrible, destructive event.
At our next stop, the corruption we just talked about had gotten so bad, God sent a catastrophe, a global flood, as judgment on the whole world. Only a man named Noah, his family, and some animals were saved in the ark that Noah built. 
Some people think of the flood and the ark as sort of a mystery. Let’s solve the mystery by answering some questions. We’ll pretend that you’re guests on my question and answer show. Hello, and welcome to the “Ask Me Anything Show.” Today’s topic is Noah’s ark and the flood. Who has the first question for me? 
 
It was a big ship!The Bible says it was 510 feet long. That’s almost two football fields long! It was 50 feet tall—as tall as a five-story building—and 85 feet wide.  Next question? 
Noah was a smart guy (people weren’t dumb back then), and he probably would have used cranes, pulleys, and other machines to build the ark. The cool thing is it had the ideal dimensions for a ship, which are the same dimensions shipbuilders still use today!

Noah didn’t have to run around the earth saying, “Here, ducky, ducky!” The Bible indicates that God directed the animals to come to the ark on their own. 
 
You may be imagining every  of animal getting on board, rather than every .For example, Noah didn’t need two dalmatians, two beagles, two wolves, and two coyotes. He just needed two of the dog kind—a male and a female. Also, the ark didn’t have to carry every type of animal—just birds and air-breathing land animals. Animals living in water didn’t come along. There were likely fewer than 7,000 animals on the ark. 

God most likely brought young adults rather than full-grown dinosaurs. Plus, we know most full-grown dinosaurs were about the size of a sheep or a bison. They weren’t all huge like . 
Why would God tell Noah to build a huge ark if it was just going to be a small, local flood? Noah knew for years that the flood was coming; he could have left the area. Also, the Bible says the water rose 25 feet above the mountains. How could it rise that high and leave the rest of the area untouched? 

God put a rainbow in the sky as a sign of his promise that he would never send another global flood. When you see a rainbow, remember that God is a promise keeper. 
 
Yes, lots! For instance, the flood caused huge amounts of water and mud to flow all over the earth, so we find many layers of sediment—different types of rocks—all over the world. And there’s evidence in the plant and animal fossils—billions of dead things buried in rock layers all over the earth. 
Nope. If you have the right conditions, fossils can form quickly. Do you think this fossilized hat and teddy bear are millions of years old? They turned into fossils quickly because they had the right conditions. The flood also provided the right conditions for many fossils to form.

The dinosaurs that came off the ark had families and roamed the earth like the other animals. Eventually they began to die off for the same reasons many animals become extinct today: perhaps because of changes in climate, not enough food, disease, or people hunting too many of them. 
So you see, the flood and the ark aren’t such a mystery after all. You just need to start with the Bible to make sense of the world we live in! 

Gospel Opportunity

 The flood is a good reminder for us to obey God and trust that he’s in control of everything. The color blue reminds us of water and the flood, God’s judgment on sin. I know I’m sinful and need to be saved. How about you? Do you realize you’ve disobeyed God’s commands and sinned? Do you need to trust the good and kind God to save you like Noah did? We’ll talk more about this in the days ahead! But now, let’s check out our memory verse.
Daily Review
. Today, our animal pal is a poison dart frog. What two colors is he, and what do those colors remind you of?  His name is Tox. What does that name have to do with what we talked about today?  
Practice this verse a couple times using the , then try the following challenge.
 They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one. Psalm 14:3
 Tree frogs can jump 150 times their body length. Try big leapfrog jumps as you say each word of your verse. How far can you get?
Pass out the maps and have the kids add today’s sticker.

Introduce It!

Optional:  and one sheet of gray copy paper
Bible
Jungle costumes for teachers
Mounting putty or tape

 Build the Tower 
Prep: Bookmark all Bible passages used in today’s lesson. If making your own backdrop, copy on to gray paper, cut out, and mount the to it somewhere. Cut apart the .
Welcome the kids back and have them sit in the “boat.” Refer to the first three and review briefly
At today’s cruise stop, we’re going to talk about a tower. There are towers all over the world, like the Amazon Tall Tower Observatory.  It’s located in the middle of the Amazon rainforest and is run by scientists from Germany and Brazil. It’s over 1,000 feet (323 m) tall, which is a little taller than the Eiffel Tower. It takes about an hour to climb to the top—that’s a long way up! All kinds of rainforest research is done there, including tracking the weather and studying soil.
That’s a useful tower, and of course, there’s nothing wrong with building a tower— it’s going to cause rebellion against God. The tower we’ll hear about today shouldn’t have been built, and the people’s disobedience led to confusion. What color can represent something that’s confusing?  
Teach It!

10 or more tower building supplies in a baggie per person
Plates, 1 per person

 

10 or more tower building supplies per person in a baggie (see Prep in Part 1 and Part 2)
1 plate per person

Part 1: Babel Bible AccountPrep: Gather tower building supplies, at least 10 per child in a baggie. Use blocks, Jenga blocks, dominoes, or a small, stackable food like Honeycomb cereal pieces. Check for allergies if using food. Each person also needs a plate. 
This stop is called Confusion. The history book of the universe, the Bible, describes this event when people built very tall walls, and things got chaotic. 
As I read the account from Genesis 11, you’re going to build a tower out of ___ on your plate. You’ll put one piece down before we start and then one piece after each verse. We’ll see if we can finish reading before your towers fall over. 
Pass out the supplies. Read one verse at a time from Genesis 11:1–9. After each verse, pause while the kids add the next tower piece. When finished reading, have the kids set aside their building pieces or let them eat food pieces as you continue.
The confusion we’ve been talking about happened over 4,000 years ago. Did you know there was a time on earth when everybody spoke the same language? The people also lived in the same place. The trouble was that they started thinking up bad ideas.
What bad idea did they come up with?  They wanted to build a city and a really tall tower. How many of you love to go up high?  Why was the tower a bad idea?  It’s bad because God told them to spread out, but they stayed together and disobeyed God. Who remembers why they went against God and built the tower?  
They wanted to make a name for themselves. That means they wanted everyone to think they were great for building a cool tower.  the people wanted to stay right where they were. They didn’t want to be scattered all over the earth, even though that’s exactly what God told them to do. So when the people didn’t obey, God changed the way they talked so they couldn’t understand each other anymore.
What do you think it would be like if we suddenly each spoke a different language?  
It’d be crazy! Can you imagine talking to someone one minute and then the next minute you can’t understand them? Everyone would be so mixed up and confused. The people couldn’t work or live together anymore, so many moved away to other places around the world. 
We have all the different language families today because of what happened at the tower of Babel. But you know what else is interesting? Even though people all over the world speak different languages, we’re all related to each other. We may look a little different or speak different languages, but according to the Bible, we all came from Adam and Eve. They’re our very great grandparents. Think about it: we are all related to all the people in the world—in Africa, China, India, everywhere!

Gospel Opportunity

 So you see, from the Bible we learn where all the languages came from and why people live in different places around the world. It’s because of what God did back at the tower of Babel. Those people learned their lesson the hard way. But just like Adam and Eve and the people during Noah’s time, these people at Babel didn’t obey God, and God scattered them. God wants us to obey him because we love and trust him to always know what’s best for us. He’s a good Father who’s always right. God wants us to turn from our sin, trust in Jesus, and learn to walk in obedience to God and his Word.
Part 2: Confusion Concentration

, select ones as noted
, 2 sheets for each pair
Paper clips

 Prep: Print two sheets of per pair of kids, cut apart, and place in sets with a paper clip. 
Pass out a set of to each pair of kids. Before playing, share the teaching. Have students look at each card while you share the information. 
Let’s take a closer look at each of these cards and find out what they have to do with the tower of Babel. 
 This may be the basic shape of the tower of Babel. It’s called a ziggurat. If you travel around the world, you can still find old ziggurats today, which remind us of what happened at Babel. Because the people didn’t obey God, he scattered them all over the world. Now people live all over the place, and that started from Babel.  After the people separated from Babel, they eventually ended up in groups with different skin shades. Everyone is a shade of brown because of something in our skin called melanin. Some people are light brown, some are medium, and some are dark brown. But we aren’t different races; we’re all one race—the human race. We’re a family, and we should treat each other with love and kindness. God confused the language and scattered the people so they had to stop building. They didn’t trust God and obey him. We need to trust God and do as he says. When God scattered the people all over the world, some people ended up in cold places, some in hot places, and some in wet places, where they learned different ways of doing things.  Everyone had one language at the tower of Babel. But because they didn’t obey God, he confused their language. Now we have many different languages.
Now let’s play a concentration game with the cards. You’ll take turns turning over two cards to see if they match. If they do, keep that pair if you can tell your partner something about it. If you can’t remember anything about it, or if they don’t match, flip them back over. Either way, play goes to the next player. The one with the most matches wins. Daily Review. What kind of animal is today’s animal pal?  What color is he and what does that color remind you of?  His name is Scatter. Why do you think he’s named Scatter?  
Practice the verse several times using the , then try the following challenge.
 Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the  confused the language of all the earth. And from there the  dispersed them over the face of all the earth. Genesis 11:9
 Find blocks or something to build with, and say the verse as you build a tower, one block for each word. Can you say the whole thing before the tower topples?
Pass out the maps and add today’s stickers.

Introduce It!

Bible
Jungle costumes for teachers
Mounting putty or tape

 Guess the Jungle Baby Animals 
Cut apart the and mount them on the wall. Bookmark all the Bible passages used in today’s lesson. If making your own backdrop, copy, cut out, and mount the  on to it somewhere.Welcome back, travelers! Come get in the “boat.” We’re moving on to more stops today, but first, let’s take a look at some jungle baby animals God has created. I’ll give you some clues, and you have to guess the animal from these posters.
Read each clue, then have students look at theguess which one fits the clue. 
This little guy hangs on to its mama’s belly for the first six months of life, as Mama moves slowly, slowly, slowly through the trees. This stubby little cutie grows up to have a shape like a barrel on legs. When full grown, it’s the largest rodent in the world. 
This baby cub sticks with his mom until about age 2 when he goes off to hunt on his own. His name means “he who kills with one leap.” 
This babe squeaks for attention, but barks and whines when older. He lives near a riverbank and spends a lot of his life swimming. 
This cub is born blind. He’s the smallest and rarest one of his species and loves honey. 
This baby can stand within an hour of birth and swim by week 3. He’s shy and has a flexible nose that’s like a snorkel, helping him breathe better. There are so many cute jungle baby animals God has made! But today, we’re going to talk about a baby , not an animal. People are made in God’s image and are God’s most special creation. But the baby person we’re talking about today is not like any other person ever. Let’s pass out some supplies, and then we’ll hear more about this one-of-a-kind baby.Teach It!
Color CrossPrint and cut out the  Put each on a clipboard or hard surface. Buy or bundle the crayons or markers. If making your own backdrop, copy on to white and red, cut out, and mount the to it somewhere.
Give each student a  a color bundle, and optional hard surface. Before reminding We’re going to play an I spy game. We’ve journeyed through time, learning about the
7 C’s of History. As we review, think about each C word and its color. Then without getting up, look for any object with that color in the room and point to it. 
Stop 1: Creation—GreenWe’ll start with the first C of history. Quietly point to that color. Yes, we started at green. 
What was our first C and why was it green?  Green reminds us of God’s beautiful Creation.  What letter is missing from the word in square one of your cross? Write the letter C for CREATION, then color the square green around the inside edges like this.  
We heard two accounts of how everything came to be. One was the story of Dot and a big bang. One was the creation account from the Bible. Which one is true?  
God can only tell the truth, and his Word says that  is the Creator—not a random big bang. So we know God made the heavens and the earth, and everything was perfect and good. 
Stop 2: Corruption—DarkNext we cruised to the second C. Find that color and point to it.  What is our next C, and what does it have to do with a dark color?  
Dark colors remind us of sin and our second C, Corruption. Write the missing letter C in the word CORRUPTION in square two of your cross, then color it with your dark color around the edges. 
We learned that Adam and Eve made a really bad choice—the worst! What did they eat? They were told not to eat it, but they did, and sin (disobeying God) entered the world. They veered off God’s good path as our Bible verse says.  
That’s when bad and sad stuff started happening. The world became corrupted, full of both good and bad.Stop 3: Catastrophe—Blue
Now find the color of the third C. What is our next C and what does it have to do with blue?  
Blue reminds us that water covered the whole earth during a worldwide Catastrophe. Complete the word CATASTROPHE in square three of your cross, and then color it blue around the edges. 
By this time, mankind had become so wicked that God had to judge the world. He sent a global flood and destroyed all the land animals and people except for one man who followed after God. What was his name? Noah was saved with his family and some animals. Many fossils are evidence from this one-of-a-kind event.
Stop 4: Confusion—Gray
Point to the color of our next stop, the fourth C.  What is our next C, and what does it have to do with gray?  
Gray reminds us of the Confusion at the tower of Babel.  Add the C for CONFUSION in square four of your cross, and then color it gray around the edges. We learned that not long after the flood the earth filled with people again, and they turned away from God. Are you noticing the pattern? Time and time again, people rebel against God! This time the people disobeyed God by staying together and building what?  
God confused their one language and gave them different languages, causing them to scatter all over the earth. Let’s say Genesis 11:9 together.  
The family groups moved apart and eventually developed distinct physical characteristics, like lighter or darker brown skin shades, hair color, and eye shape. But all people are actually related. We all go back to the first people, Adam and Eve.
Stop 5: Christ—WhiteNow, find a color that stands for pure, clean, and no sin. White is the color of the next C. Find the hidden color word that shows who is pure with no sin.  It’s Jesus Christ!
Christ is not his last name, but is a word showing his special mission. It means “Messiah.” He was the chosen one coming to save people from the punishment of sin.  Write the letter C for CHRIST in square five, and don’t color that one. Just leave it white.  
Let’s hear a little about Jesus’ coming. You can shout out the answers when I motion to you.
Jesus is God’s ___?  Right, Son. He’s also God.
Before he came to earth, Jesus lived in ___?  Yes, heaven. He lived there for all eternity past. He never had a beginning but has always been. That’s a mind-blowing thought!
Jesus was involved in creating the world. God the Father, God the Son (Jesus), and God the Holy Spirit were all at creation, making the perfect world.
Adam and Eve sinned and the world became sinful and cursed. God promised a Savior would cometo rescue people from living forever without God, not in heaven but in ___?  Yes, hell. 
God sent his Son, Jesus, to earth. He was born as a little ___?  Correct—baby. We celebrate this at what holiday?  Yep, Christmas. Now God lived with us and would be our Savior from sin and eternal death. 
Jesus grew up and lived a perfect, sinless life on earth. He did miracles and had power over everything because he had made it all. He has power over nature, sickness, and death. He even has power to forgive sins. And that leads us to the next C.
Stop 6: Cross—Red
For this C, point to something red.  Can you find the hidden color word? Red reminds us of Jesus’ blood that was shed for us at the next C—the Cross. Fill in the C for CROSS in square six and color it red around the edges. The punishment for sin is death. Can you imagine if someone you love was put to death because of even though  hadn’t done anything wrong? Well, that’s what happened. Jesus was put to death on a cross because of  sin, even though  had never sinned. 
But after Jesus died, he rose again. That’s the best news ever! And it’s super important. Remember, you and I are sinners, just like Adam and Eve, and the people who wouldn’t get on the ark, and those at the tower of Babel. Everybody disobeys God’s commands sometimes. When you lie or are unkind to your brother or sister or throw a fit, that’s called sin. 
 I’ll give you another example. Let’s pretend your dad tells you not to eat any of the cookies. But as soon as he leaves the room, guess what you do? You sneak over and eat one, even though he said not to. Would it be a sin? Why? It would be disobeying, right?
Pretend that your dad walks in and catches you eating the cookie. What would happen? Would you get in trouble? Yeah, you would probably be punished. Now let’s imagine, that your brother comes in and says, “Dad, stop! Don’t punish punish instead.” Wait! He didn’t eat any cookies, but he wanted to take  punishment? That would be an incredible act of love for you, wouldn’t it? 
That’s kind of like what Jesus did for you when he died on the cross and came back to life. You deserve to be punished for sinning (disobeying God), but Jesus took your punishment so you wouldn’t have to be punished. 

Gospel Opportunity

 You might ask, so what’s the big deal if I sin? Well, here’s the big deal: because we’re sinners, we aren’t allowed to live in heaven with Jesus when we die. But Jesus loves you so much that he was willing to die for you. The Bible explains it like this: That’s the most amazing gift ever! 
So, can anyone tell me how we can pay for this gift to live forever with Jesus in heaven? That was a trick question. The Bible says you can’t pay for it. It’s a free gift that God offers you. But you don’t get it automatically. You have to ask God for it. To receive the free gift, first of all, you have to believe you’ve sinned. 
Can you think of a time you’ve sinned? . If you know you’ve sinned, and you’re sorry for your sin and believe Jesus died to take your punishment, you can tell God you want to be his child. You’ll still be your parents’ child. But this means you’ll also have God as your heavenly Father. 
 Admit you’ve sinned and turn away from it, believe in Jesus, and forever receive him. That reminds me of our Bible verse. Let’s say it together.  If you want to be a child of God, make sure you talk to me or to your leader or parents after class. 
Tomorrow, we’ll talk more about our last stop in our 7 C’s. It’s called Consummation, and it’s about how everything will turn out in the end! But for now, let’s just add the letter C for CONSUMMATION in the last square, then color it yellow around the edges. Let’s fold our crosses up so all the squares fit under one square.  
Daily Review
. Today’s animal pal is a river dolphin. What color is she and what does that color remind you of?  Her name is Rose. Why do you think her name is Rose?  What does her name have to do with Jesus? Practice the verse several times using the as a reference, then try the following challenge.But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. John 1:12
Many dolphins can jump over 25 feet in the air! Try jumping as you say each word of your verse. How high can you jump? 
Pass out the maps and have the kids add today’s stickers.
Introduce It!

Bible
Jungle costumes for teachers
Mounting putty or tape

 Man-made Creations in the Rainforest 
Prep: Bookmark all Bible passages used in today’s lesson. If making your own backdrop, copy on to yellow paper, cut out, and mount the to it somewhere. Well, here we are, travelers, at our last stop on the 7 C’s river cruise! Come and get in the “boat” so we can head to our last stop. Let’s see if you can remember the first six stops in order.  
 Before we talk about our last C, let’s look at some amazing man-made creations in the rainforest. How many of you would like to visit a rainforest some day and stay in a man-made tree house way up in the canopy? Who would like to walk across hanging bridges?  How about stepping out on a high viewing platform?  What about zipping across the rainforest on a zip line? 
People built these creations so we can get right into the heart of the rainforest. But as cool and magnificent as they are, they’re nothing like what God has prepared for believers—God’s people. There’s a special place where all believers will live forever with God—the new heaven and new earth.Teach It!
 Part 1: No More Sad or Bad
Optional:  and one sheet bright yellow copy paper
Dry erase board 
Dry erase markers and eraser

 That brings us to our final C—Consummation. Can you find that hidden color word? Point to it if you see it.  Consummation means how things will be completed, or how they will end. We’re going to assign the color yellow to this event to remind us of a bright, hopeful, and beautiful time. 
We know all things started out good, then bad and sad came along. That’s the time period we’re in now—good, bad, and sad all together. Let’s chart this on the board. Think about this last week. What good things have happened?  What about bad things?  And did anything sad happen to anyone? 
As you all know, our lives here on earth can be pretty crazy sometimes. We never know what each day will bring. Sometimes sad or bad things happen, like ____ . Even simple things that frustrate us can seem bad. But isn’t God kind to also allow good things to happen, like ____ ? 
Here’s the great news! Someday, at the Consummation, anyone who has admitted he sins and believed and trusted in Jesus will live in a brand-new place—the new heaven and new earth! The Bible says thatGod is going to make all things new someday, and we won’t live on this earth anymore, but on the new one. 
It’s going to be amazing! There won’t be any more bad or sad stuff.  Only good stuff again, like back in the beginning Adam and Eve sinned. It’s going to be forever wonderful and full of love and fun and joy. Make sure you’re part of God’s family so you can live there someday, and tell others about it too!

, 1 set per team
Rope or yarn for zip line
Small clothespins
Game buzzer or bell
Optional: tape or mounting putty
Small desk or tall stool

 Part 2: Zip Line Game 
Prep: Print and cut apart the . Shuffle the cards they are in random order. Clip the cards randomly along a piece of rope or yarn for the zip line so the point totals don’t show. Or for a simpler set up, draw a long curved line from the top left corner of a dry erase board to the top right to represent a zip line. Tape the zip line cards face down in random order onto the board just under the line as if they’re hanging from it. Set a tall stool or desk in front of the board and place the game buzzer or bell on it. 
 Break into two teams—girls and boys. Choose a scorekeeper to keep track of the points. To start the game, each team will send one representative to the buzzer or bell. Have them put their hands behind their back. Explain that you will ask a question, and the first person to ring or buzz will answer. Whoever gets the correct answer will choose one zip line card and show it to their team. The representative may choose up to three cards, but if they get a Zip card, the team loses all the points  If they get a Zap card, they lose all their points from the beginning of the game. Representatives can ask teammates if they should keep taking cards off the zip line or if they should stop. Once representatives have returned to their seats, award 100 bonus points to each team that is quiet while you share the comments regarding that question (if there are any). 
If you don’t have time to do all the questions, do the ones you want to cover the most first. Questions can be done in any order. Make sure to share the comments that go with each answer.
The new heaven and earth is usually what we call heaven. It’s going to be more amazing and wonderful than you can ever imagine. Let’s play a game to hear even more about it. 
The world was originally very good. Now it’s good (because of God) and bad (because of man’s sin). 
The earth will always have good and bad. 
Heaven is a real place. 
A book of the Bible that talks a lot about heaven is Revelation. 
Everyone gets to go to heaven when they die. 
When believers (God’s children) go to heaven, they’ll turn into angels. 
Believers will receive new bodies. 
Believers will float on clouds and play harps all day. 
The sun will shine brighter in heaven than it does on earth. 
There will be no more crying, or pain, or suffering. 
We’ll eat food. 
We won’t recognize each other. 
We most likely will have jobs. 
There’ll be mansions, amazing music, lots of incredible food, and crystal-clear water. 
If there are animals in heaven, they will be fighting and killing each other.  
There  be talking creatures.
We can’t even imagine how amazing heaven will be. 
We’ll do creative things in heaven. 

 Revelation tells us God has a book called the Book of People that has all believers names’ written in it.  
Our pets  go to heaven. We’ll be with God forever, worshipping him. Daily Review
. Today’s animal pal is a bird-wing butterfly. What color is his body and what does that color remind you of?  His name is Bliss. What does bliss mean?  What does his name have to do with the new heaven and new earth?  Practice the verse several times, using the , then try the following challenge.
 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. Revelation 21:4
Make up actions that go with each section of today’s verse. Do them while saying the whole verse.
Pass out the maps and have the kids add today’s sticker. They can take them home today. Pass out the  or  if available.