Sarah laughs when she is told she will have a baby. She is old, too old to have any children and she just can’t quite believe the message of the three visitors (who we know are messengers from God) and so she laughs. This is where our story begins.
It ends with the birth of Isaac whose name means ‘laughter’. God kept his promise to Abraham and Sarah; God always keeps his promises.
Read the story for yourself from Genesis 18:1-16 and Genesis 21:1-7.
Sarah laughs! story idea
Are you ready to hello to Sarah? she was a real person who lived a long time ago. Let’s get ready to meet her! Say ‘hello Sarah!’
Sarah was married to a man called Abraham. They had lots of things – lots of people working for them, lots of sheep, lots of goats, lots of money. But there was something they really wished that they had. They really wanted to have children. Now God had promised that they would have a huge family but they were getting really old and still no family of their own. It was difficult for them to believe God and to wait patiently.
Days and days went by. Months and months. Years and years. Then one day Abraham was sitting outside his home. (He lived in a tent!). It was a warm, sunny day. Abraham wasn’t really doing anything in particular when he saw three men walking along. He got up and started running. He wasn’t running away he was running to them. ‘ Please come to our home and have something to eat’, Abraham said. ‘Yes’, they said.
Abraham hurried back to his tent and asked Sarah to make some bread. He went to his servant and asked them to make some hot food. The visitors sat outside and ate the lovely food.Now, they weren’t just people like us – these men were sent from God with a special message. ‘Where is Sarah? they asked. She’s in the tent, Abraham replied. ‘This time next year she will have a baby son’, the LORD said.
Now Sarah heard what was said. She thought, ‘I’m too old to have a baby!’ and she laughed.
But nothing is too difficult for God and a year later Abraham and Sarah welcomed a new baby son. They called him Isaac which means ‘laughter’! God always keeps his promises.
Sarah laughs bible story props
Have dolls or puppets representing Sarah, Abraham and baby Isaac. Make a tent by draping a blanket over a clothes horse.
Craft idea
Make a tent – this is a fun ‘lift the flap’ craft. All you need to make this lovely craft is
- A4 paper for the background
- Different coloured paper for the tent. Fold this as shown in the picture
- Abraham, Sarah and Isaac printed out. (downloads at the end of this post)
- Crayons/felt tips to decorate
- Tissue paper to decorate the tent
- Flower stickers to use around the tent
