The next day the Professor, Shane and Shelly met to go shopping. They had to buy all the materials that they needed to build the pinewood derby cars and the racetrack.
Shane told the Professor, “My friend showed me a website where we can order kits to build the pinewood derby cars, and also we can print a plan that shows how to build the track.” The Professor bought the plan for the track and printed it. When he saw how much wood they were going to need he said, “Ooops!” The Professor then looked at the price of the car kits and again he said, “Ooops!” The Professor then said, “We do not need to buy all those car kits, we can just buy a lot of wheels and buy wood at the store, it will be cheaper this way!”
So, the Professor, Shane, and Shelly got ready to go to the lumber store, but there was a problem! How were they going to all that wood from the store to the Church? The Professor did not have a car, and they could not carry all that wood while they rode their bikes! The Professor said, “Ooops!” After awhile they decided that they would have to walk and carry all that wood from the store to the Church.
They went to the home improvement store and went right to the lumber section. They had a list of all the wood that they needed to build the track, and they found that wood with no problem. They still had to find the wood for the race cars, and the Professor was still trying to find a way to save some money! The Professor stopped by one shelf and said, “Look, here is some spruce wood that is on sale, and it is cheap! The pieces are the right width and height for a pinewood derby car, and the pieces are eight feet long! We can cut a lot of pinewood derby cars out of a piece of wood that long! Let’s get four of these long pieces of spruce!”
Shelly did not think they should get the spruce wood. She said, “I think we should get pine wood, there must be a reason that pine is used to build the cars. Also, this spruce wood is rough, it has not been smoothed.” The Professor answered, “The pine wood is more expensive than the spruce wood. The spruce wood is probably on sale because it is rough, but we will be cutting the wood and then sanding it to make it smooth. I do not think that there will be a problem using the spruce wood, a spruce is a lot like a pine, they are both evergreen trees!”
So, they bought the spruce wood to make the pinewood derby cars, and they bought all the wood to make the track. They stacked all the wood into a long pile. The Professor picked up one end of the pile of wood, and Shane picked up the other end. Shelly was in the middle, and she held onto the wood to keep it from shifting from side to side. They took the wood out of the store and started walking to the Church, but then they had a big surprise!
It had gotten very windy while they were in the store! Now there was a strong wind with even stronger gusts of wind! The wind kept blowing them from side to side! All three of them desperately held onto the wood, but they could not do it! Shane lost his grip, then Shelly lost her grip, then the wood flew out of the Professor’s hands! The Professor said, “Ooops!” They had to stop, gather up all the wood, stack it, and try again! Fourteen times Shane and Shelly lost their grip on the wood, and the wood went flying! Each time the Professor said, “Ooops!”
Finally, they got the wood to the Church! Shane and Shelly did were tired, and they had slivers in their hands from that rough spruce wood! The Professor was happy! He said that their adventure with the wood had given him an idea about a Bible lesson he could teach to the children. Shane and Shelly were curious, but the Professor would not tell them about the Bible lesson until the next meeting time with the children.
Professor Ooops Lesson from the Bible:
That week when the kids group met at the Church, the Professor was so excited to have the chance to teach the kids a little more about God! He told the kids about the adventure he had with Shane and Shelly going shopping for the supplies they needed for the pinewood derby. The Professor took the kids to the room where they had stored all the wood they had bought. The Professor promptly tripped over a piece of wood and landed on top of the pile of wood! The Professor said, “Ooops!”
The Professor then told the kids how he, Shane and Shelly had to plan very carefully for their trip to the store; they had to make a list of all the pieces of wood they would need to build the track, and the cars. When they got to the store, they had to find the wood that was the right size that they needed, and they had to also find the wood that was the right price, so that they could afford it. Then they had to carry all the wood to the Church and stack it neatly in the storeroom. The next step is to gather all the tools they will need to build the racetrack and the cars.
God is different from us! When He wants to make something, He does not need to make a list and go to a store!
The first book in the Bible is called Genesis. This book tells how God made the whole universe, including the earth and everything that lives on the earth! The amazing thing is that God did not have to go to a store to get materials! All He had to do is speak, and it happened!
Genesis 1:3 Then God said, “Let there be light”, and there was light.
Genesis 1:6-8 Then God said, “Let there be a space between the waters, to separate the water of heaven from the waters of the earth.” And that is what happened. God made this space to separate the waters of the earth from the waters of the heavens. God called the space “sky”.
Genesis 1:9 Then God said, “Let the waters beneath the sky flow together into one place, so dry ground may appear.” And that is what happened.
Genesis 1:11 Then God said, “Let the land sprout with vegetation – every sort of seed-bearing fruit…” And that is what happened.
Genesis 1:14 Then God said, “Let lights appear in the sky to separate the day from the night.”
Genesis 1:20 Then God said, “Let the waters swarm with fish and other life. Let the skies be filled with birds of every kind.”
Genesis 1:24 Then God said, “Let the earth produce every sort of animal.”
God is so awesome! He does not need to go shopping; He just speaks and the thing He wants to create appears! God made the whole universe out of nothing, except for one thing!
God made humans differently!
Genesis 2:7 Then the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into the man’s nostrils, and the man became a living person.
Genesis2:21-22 So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. While the man slept, the Lord God took out one of the man’s ribs and closed up the opening. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib, and He brought her to the man.
God made humans in a special way! Humans are the most special part of creation! God loves us that much!