Lesson Objective:
The children will learn that God works everything out for good, even when we mess up.
Scripture:
Genesis 37-40
Arrival:
As the children arrive, greet them and sing with them. Sing a few favorite songs, and close with “God Is so Good.”
Prayer:
Ask the Lord to give you wisdom and thank Him for having a perfect plan for each person’s life.
Lesson:
Have a large version of the color sheet on the board, with a box of markers handy. Give each child a color sheet and some crayons. This is going to be an interactive lesson.
Review the story of Jacob with the children. Remind them that he had two wives (Rachel and Leah). He loved Rachel more than Leah, and this created problems for his family. Tell them the following story:
Because Jacob favored Rachel over Leah, God allowed Leah to have many children, but kept Rachel from having any. After several years and several sons, Rachel cried out to the Lord to give her a son. She had one, and his name was Joseph. Later, she had another son, Benjamin. She died while giving birth to Benjamin.
Between Jacob’s two wives and their servants, who were given to him as wives as well, he had 12 sons. However, because Joseph and Benjamin were Rachel’s sons, he played favorites. He gave them special gifts and privileges in the family. remember how his mom, Rebekah, had favored him over his brother Esau? Well, now he is doing the same thing.
One day, Jacob gave Joseph a special coat. The Bible calls it a “coat of many colors.” This showed his favor for Joseph, because colorful cloth was quite expensive at this time. When his brothers saw it, there were green with envy, or jealousy (color a part of the coat with a green marker. Instruct the children to color their pictures too).
Soon, Joseph started having dreams. In one dream, he and his brothers were out in the field harvesting grain. Suddenly, his grain stood up and all of the others bowed down to his. In another dream, Joseph dreamed that eleven stars as well as the sun and moon paid reverence to him (color part of the coat yellow). These dreams showed that his brothers and even his parents would one day bow down to him. When he told his brothers his dreams, they became angry (color part of the coat black).
One day, Jacob sent his sons to the field to watch the sheep. He wanted to see how they were doing, so he sent Joseph to check up on his brothers. As he approached with his beautiful coat, the brothers started to grumble. They talked about how unfair it was that Joseph was favored. When he arrived, they grabbed him, pulled off the special coat, and threw him into a pit. When some traders passed by on their way to Egypt, the brothers pulled Joseph out of the pit and sold him to the traders to be a slave.
Of course, they needed a story to tell their father. They took a goat, killed it, and spread the red blood all over the coat (color part of it red). Then they tore the coat and took it to their father, telling him they found it that way. Jacob assumed his favorite son had been killed. This made him feel sad (color part of the coat blue).
It may seem that this story is sad. A family is broken apart, a man is sold into slavery, and a father thinks his son is dead. When we talk next week, we will learn how in spite of all of these problems, God has a perfect plan for Joseph and his family.
Game/Craft:
Let the children finish coloring the picture. Then, let them create their own coat of many colors. Let them act out the story of Joseph if there is more time.
Memory Verse:
Romans 8:28 – Practice the verse out loud, and offer an incentive to any child who can say the verse when they come the following week.
Dismissal:
Remind the children that they need to return the next week to find out the rest of the story!