Page 3 - TeenText Genesis 4-Week Study Sample

Genesis 4- Week Study: Week 1
Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7 (NRSV)
2:15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, ‘You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.’
3:1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, ‘Did God say, “You shall not eat from any tree in the garden”?’ 2 The woman said to the serpent, ‘We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden; 3 but God said, “You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall die.” ’ 4 But the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not die; 5 for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God,* knowing good and evil.’ 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves.
Suggested discussion questions/activities: The most effective questions/activities—the ones that help participants connect their story with God’s story each week—are often those that are based on your personal knowledge of the participants and where they are. Listen carefully to their responses, ask follow-up questions that help them reflect on the text and their lives, right now, right where they are.
Suggested Supplies: Apples, paper, colors/markers, pens/pencils for the activities in What’s happening here? and How is this happening in your life today?
What’s happening here? (Setting? Actors? Action? Theme?)
• Who are the participants in the text?
• What’s going on in the text?
• What event/which individuals/groups jumped out at you? Why?
• Ask participants to be “Adams” and “Eves” gathered in a circle. Set a plate of whole or sliced apples in the middle of the circle. Ask them to sit for a short while simply staring at the apples. Then ask them each to take an apple (or slice) and pair off. As Adam and Eve ask them to create a conversation they might have had as the apples sat in front of them. Then ask them to eat the apple/take a bite of the apple and create a conversation they might have had after eating the apple. Come back as a group, share the conversations and discuss.
• What do you imagine God felt might be the cost and the promise to command Adam to not eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil?
• Give participants paper, pens/pencils and ask them to write the text as they feel people of the day might have understood the story. Share and discuss.
• Give participants paper, colors/markers. On one side of the paper ask them to create an image(s) of how Eve and Adam and God might have felt before they ate the fruit. On the other side of the paper ask them to create an image(s) of how Adam and Eve and God might have felt after they ate the fruit. Share the images/feelings and discuss.
• What do you suppose they felt could be the cost and the promise to not eat the fruit? To eat the fruit?
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TeenText Genesis 4-week study