Lesso 2 17 A Agel Appears to Joseph Isaiah 7:13-14; Matthew 1:18-25 T hird- ad fourth-graders are t as trustig as youger childre. As they grow older, kids fid that adults ca sometimes disappoit them. Maybe kids did t get to go someplace they had bee excited about because a emergecy came up. Or maybe someoe simply forgot about a trip to the park because of a busy schedule. You ca use this lesso to help kids uderstad that sometimes others let us dow but God will ever let us dow. God has great plas, ad we ca completely trust him to follow through with those plas. LESSON WHAT CHILDREN DO SUPPLIES EASY PREP 1 Gettig Started Whom Ca You Trust? (about 10 mi.) Discuss which people i their lives they might trust i various situatios. idex cards, pes, 2 baskets Bible Poit Trust God s plas. Key Verse For I kow the plas I have for you, declares the Lord, plas to prosper you ad ot to harm you, plas to give you hope ad a future (Jeremiah 29:11). 2 Bible Exploratio Uexpected Messeger, Uexplaiable Message (about 20 mi.) Discuss hearig ews of God s plas from uique sources, ad the compare the experieces with Joseph s ecouter with the agel. Bibles, Bible Truth Sleuth, paper, pes Tear out the Lesso 2 pages from each Bible Truth Sleuth studet book. Weavig Faith Ito Life Childre will trust God s perfect plas for them, eve whe they seem strage. Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 2 Witer Quarter
18 LESSON WHAT CHILDREN DO SUPPLIES EASY PREP 3 Weavig Faith Ito Life 4 Lastig Impressios He s Got Plas (about 15 mi.) Lear how to follow a leader eve whe it seems strage. Trustig God s Plas for My Life (about 15 mi.) Idetify areas i their lives i which they eed to trust God, ad tur these areas over to him. Daily Challeges (about 5 mi.) Choose a Daily Challege to apply God s Word. Weavig Faith at Home (about 2 mi.) Talk about how to share what they leared with their families. Bibles, CD player, copies of the lyrics page (at the ed of this lesso) Teacher Pack: CD CD player, costructio paper, pes, maskig tape, scissors Teacher Pack: CD, Trustig Cross poster Bible Truth Sleuth Witer Quarter Lesso 2 Grades 3 & 4
19 A Agel Appears to Joseph Isaiah 7:13-14; Matthew 1:18-25 BIBLe BACKGROUND FOR LEADERS Aciet Egagemet A Jewish pledge of marriage was a much more serious commitmet tha a egagemet is today. It actually ivolved vows before witesses, much as a weddig ceremoy does today. Whe the bride ad groom pledged themselves to be married, they were cosidered husbad ad wife. The differece betwee a moder marriage ad a aciet Hebrew oe is that i the latter a period of time elapsed betwee the betrothal ceremoy ad the wife s trasitio ito her husbad s home. It was durig this iterval betwee the exchage of vows ad their cosummatio that Mary became pregat. Sice there had bee o sexual relatioship betwee Mary ad Joseph, he kew that the child she carried was ot his. Joseph s Dilemma Joseph faced a dilemma. No doubt he had looked forward to life with Mary. But because he was a righteous Jew, it was uthikable for him to complete a marriage to someoe who had bee ufaithful to him. He demostrated his deep love for Mary by his itetio to ed the marriage quietly. He could have charged her with adultery, makig a public example of her ad allowig the law to deal with her. Jewish law would have required that she be stoed to death (see Deuteroomy 22:23-24). God Itervees Joseph chose the most compassioate route for edig the marriage, but before he could take actio, God set a messeger to him. The agel addressed Joseph as so of David (Matthew 1:20), a remider that the Messiah was to come through David, just as Matthew poited out i his geealogy. The agel s aoucemet harmoizes with the oe give to Mary i Luke 1:35: The child would be special ideed! The ame Jesus is a form of Joshua ad meas the Lord saves. A Pla Fulfilled Matthew poits out that the maer of Jesus coceptio took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet (Matthew 1:22). Matthew s Gospel, writte primarily to Jews, was iteded to show that Jesus was ideed the Messiah promised by the prophets. No doubt Matthew felt that describig the miraculous virgi birth could help to covice skeptics that Jesus was the Messiah promised i Isaiah 7:14. Matthew also demostrated that Joseph was iteded to be Jesus earthly father by begiig his accout with a careful delieatio of Jesus lieage. Kowig that this was God s pla, Joseph s dilemma was goe. He could complete his marriage to Mary, ad he did t hesitate to do so. Ad whe Mary s so was bor, they amed him Jesus, for he would save us from our sis. The Jesus Coectio Jesus ecouraged his followers to trust God because he kew God would take care of them just as God took care of Joseph, Mary, ad Jesus. Jesus life ca be a ecouragemet for us to trust God. God s purposes for us are beautiful. Maybe somethig i his plas does t make sese to you right ow. Ask for help, ad God will show you i time just how perfect his plas for you are. Do t be afraid; he will ever let you dow. You ca always cout o God. You ca write a prayer about God s pla here. Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 2 Witer Quarter
20 GETTING STARTED Whom Ca You Trust? Supplies idex cards pes 2 baskets Whom Ca You Trust? What You ll Do Welcome kids warmly as they arrive, ad ask them how their week wet. Give each child two idex cards ad a pe. O oe of their idex cards, have kids each write the title of a perso they trust. For example, they might write mom, teacher, or firefighter. Ask kids ot to write specific ames, oly positios. O the other idex card, have kids each write a situatio i which they might eed to trust someoe; for example, to drive me home from the game, to help me with my homework, or to rescue me from a burig buildig. While kids work, write some idex cards of your ow ad add them to the mix. For example, you might wat to write pastor, police officer, ad presidet to iclude i the people basket ad a few situatios such as to provide eough food for me to eat, to keep me safe from harm, ad to fix my computer. Also, write God o oe idex card ad to make plas for my life o aother idex card, ad set them aside. Whe childre have fiished, collect their idex cards. Put the people cards i oe basket ad the situatio cards i the other basket. Have kids form pairs. Have each pair draw oe card from the people basket ad oe card from the situatio basket, ad ask pairs to read their cards together. The have them aswer the followig questios about their people ad situatios. (Some of them may be uusual, such as Gradmother ad to teach me how to play soccer. ) Have a willig child from each pair share the pair s aswer to each questio. Would you trust this perso i this situatio? Why or why ot? What perso might you trust more i the situatio? Explai. What helps you to trust people? After pairs have fiished aswerig the questios, say: I d like you to cosider oe other sceario. Hold up the God ad To make plas for my life cards you wrote, ad ask a willig child to read them aloud to the whole group. Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. Witer Quarter Lesso 2 Grades 3 & 4
21 Why would you trust God i this situatio? What do you thik it meas to TRUST GOD S PLANS? Say: Today we re goig to look at how Joseph had to choose to TRUST GOD S PLANS. What he leared had great impact o all of us. We ll also look at ways of discoverig God s plas for our lives. 2 BIBLE EXPLORATION Uexpected Messeger, Uexplaiable Message What You ll Do Say: There are may ways to discover ews of what s happeig i the world. We have mobile devices, laptops, televisio, radio, ewspapers, ad magazies. Yet most of us do t discover ews of God s plas for our lives that way. Imagie for a momet what it might be like to receive ews of God s plas for your life i the same way you receive ews of the world. Have kids tur to the Uexpected Messeger, Uexplaiable Message activity o their Bible Truth Sleuth page. Give each child a pe. Say: I d like you to choose oe of the messegers show here, ad imagie receivig a message about God s plas for your life from that messeger. Write what you d wat your message to say i the space provided o your Bible Truth Sleuth page. Give kids a miute to thik ad write. The have them form pairs. Have parters share what they wrote o their papers with each other ad why they wrote what they did. Have willig childre share aswers with the whole group. Uexpected Messeger, Uexplaiable Message Supplies Bibles Bible Truth Sleuth paper pes Uexpected Messeger, Uexplaiable Message Easy Prep Tear out the Lesso 2 pages from each Bible Truth Sleuth studet book. Say: It would be truly amazig to receive a persoal message from God i oe of these ways. But what if a agel visited you with a message from God? Let s fid out more about oe ma who experieced this very thig. To do this, we re goig to look at our Scripture i four parts. Form groups of four ad give each group a Bible ad a sheet of paper. Ask a willig child i each group to serve as recorder. Have the groups look at their portio of the Scripture ad the prepare a short versio of the message usig oe of the ways to sed a message from their Bible Truth Sleuth page (ewspaper, televisio ews, email, text message, or face-to-face). Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 2 Witer Quarter
22 Group 1: Matthew 1:18-19 Group 2: Matthew 1:20-21 Group 3: Matthew 1:22-23 Group 4: Matthew 1:24-25 Give groups a few miutes to prepare their message. Have groups share their messages with the whole group, with Group 1 goig first, the Group 2, ad so o. Thak all groups for their messages. Say: Joseph was probably quite surprised ad cofused. It was probably hard for Joseph to uderstad why God would choose to make him such a importat part of his plas. Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. What were some uexpected messages i our Bible passage? What are the ways God delivers messages? Why could Joseph trust God s plas? Why ca we trust God s plas? Say: Joseph was i a really tough spot. The oly way through it was to TRUST GOD S PLANS. It s ever easy to completely trust God s plas, but is always rewardig whe we do. Let s look at ways that we ca have the faith of Joseph to trust God. 3 WEAVING FAITH INTO LIFE He s Got Plas Supplies Bibles CD player copies of the lyrics page (at the ed of this lesso) Teacher Pack CD: The Plas I Have for You (Jeremiah 29:11) (track 3) He s Got Plas What You ll Do Say: I today s Bible passage, Joseph really had to trust God s plas for him. Our Key Verse today explais why we ca TRUST GOD S PLANS, too. Let s read it together. Have kids ope their Bibles to Jeremiah 29:11, ad together read the verse aloud: For I kow the plas I have for you, declares the Lord, plas to prosper you ad ot to harm you, plas to give you hope ad a future (Jeremiah 29:11). Say: Let s take a trust trip aroud our room today. I ll lead you, ad you ll follow me ad do what I do, eve if it seems strage. Witer Quarter Lesso 2 Grades 3 & 4
23 Have kids lie up behid you, ad the lead them aroud your room. Durig your trip, walk i a zigzag, hop o oe foot, crawl o your hads ad kees (if you re adveturous), ad clap while you walk. At the ed of your trip, have kids sit dow. Say: You all did a great job of followig me! Let s sig a sog, which is our Key Verse for today, to help us uderstad why we ca TRUST GOD S PLANS. Pass out copies of the lyrics, ad play The Plas I Have for You (Jeremiah 29:11) (track 3 o the CD). After they liste oce, have kids sig alog ad do the motios. (Chorus) For I kow the plas I have for you, (poit to self) Declares the Lord. (poit to heave) I kow the plas I have for you, (poit to self) Declares the Lord. (poit to heave) (Repeat.) They are plas to prosper you (od head yes) Ad ot to harm you, (shake head o) Plas to give you hope ad a future. (od head yes) They are plas for good ad ot disaster. (shake head o) Why? Because he tells us so. (poit to heave) (Repeat from the begiig; the repeat chorus.) The Plas I Have for You (Jeremiah 29:11) by Be Glover. 2005 Group Publishig, Ic. All rights reserved. Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. What thigs seemed strage to you durig our trip aroud the room? What could you do if God asked you to do somethig that seemed strage? What does it mea that God wats us to prosper ad ot be harmed? Say: We ca TRUST GOD S PLANS because his plas are perfect, eve if they seem strage ad scary at first like they did to Joseph. God s plas will make our lives the best, ad they ll help us make his world a better place. Now let s look at some specific thigs i your life that you ca trust God with. Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 2 Witer Quarter
24 Trustig God s Plas for My Life Trustig God s Plas for My Life Supplies CD player costructio paper pes maskig tape scissors Teacher Pack CD: The Plas I Have for You (Jeremiah 29:11) (track 3) Trustig Cross poster What You ll Do Hag the Trustig Cross poster o a wall where kids ca easily reach it. Set a roll of maskig tape ear the cross. Say: We ca TRUST GOD S PLANS for our lives because God s plas are perfect ad we ca trust him. Now I d like you to thik about a area of your life i which you may be fidig it hard to trust God s plas. For example, maybe your best fried is movig away ad you kow you re goig to miss him or her, or maybe you re worried because your grades are t as good as your parets wat them to be. We re goig to create hadprits to symbolize hadig those situatios over to God. To create hadprits, have kids trace their hads oto costructio paper ad the cut them out. Say: Write the situatio you just thought of o your hadprit. Allow time. Say: Now I m goig to play our Key Verse sog agai. While the sog plays, you ca come forward ad tape your hadprit to this cross. By doig this, you re turig this area of your life over to God ad showig him that you trust his plas for your life. Play The Plas I Have for You (Jeremiah 29:11) (track 3 o the CD), ad allow time for kids to tape their hadprits to the poster. Do t force kids to tape their hadprits to the cross let this be a time of geuie commitmet as kids choose to come forward. Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. What was it like to commit to trustig God with your worry? What are thigs that ca get i the way of trustig God s plas for us? What will chage about your attitude this week as you TRUST GOD S PLANS about your worries? Say: We ca TRUST GOD S PLANS for us because God has good thigs plaed for each of us! Let s thak God for his good plas. I the same we tured over our hadprit to the cross poster, Joseph had to tur over his plas ad dreams to God. The good ews is that God gave Joseph icredible ew plas that chaged the world through Jesus. God ca also give you ew plas whe you tur over your life to him. Witer Quarter Lesso 2 Grades 3 & 4
25 4 LASTING IMPRESSIONS Daily Challeges What You ll Do Say: Let s thik about how we ca trust God this week. Daily Challeges Supplies Bible Truth Sleuth Have kids fid this week s Daily Challeges o their Bible Truth Sleuth page ad choose oe to do this week. They ca choose oe or more of these three optios: Ask a trusted adult about a time he or she trusted God s pla eve though it did t seem to make sese. What happeed? Each ight this week, before goig to bed, ask God to help you trust him with your problems. Write a letter to God explaiig why it s hard to trust him sometimes ad askig him to help you durig those times. Make sure you choose a Daily Challege as well, ad tell the kids what you chose. Kids will be more iclied to follow through o their commitmets whe they see you doig the same. Talk With Kids What s a practical way you re goig to do your Daily Challege? Share a time, a place, or other ideas. Allow time. Say: We ve leared a lot today about how Joseph had to trust God all the way with the plas made for him. We, too, ca show that we TRUST GOD S PLANS by followig through with our Daily Challege. Weavig Faith at Home Ecourage kids to talk with their parets about the Daily Challeges they chose ad what they leared about trustig God s plas. Kids ca also do the activities i the HomeCoect sectio of their Bible Truth Sleuth page with their families. Talk to your Director about emailig the FREE FamilyCoect to all your church s families. Available at group.com/digital. Take a couple of miutes to pray with your kids, thakig God for havig a pla for each of our lives ad for kowig us so well. Pray: God, help us to be like Joseph ad trust i your plas, ad to seek your guidace i followig those plas. I Jesus ame, ame. Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 2 Witer Quarter
26 Lyrics The Plas I Have for You (Jeremiah 29:11) (Chorus) For I kow the plas I have for you, Declares the Lord. I kow the plas I have for you, Declares the Lord. (Repeat.) They are plas to prosper you Ad ot to harm you, Plas to give you hope ad a future. They are plas for good ad ot disaster. Why? Because he tells us so. (Repeat from the begiig; the repeat chorus.) The Plas I Have for You (Jeremiah 29:11) by Be Glover. 2005 Group Publishig, Ic. All rights reserved.! OK TO COPY FaithWeaver NOW group.com Witer Quarter Lesso 2 Grades 3 & 4