Lesso 6 57 Joseph s Brothers Sell Him Ito Slavery Geesis 37:12-36 First- ad secod-graders are just begiig to lear that they ca choose right from wrog o their ow. Util ow, doig right meat obeyig parets, teachers, or baby sitters. As childre become less depedet o adult guidace, however, playmates may ifluece them to try ew thigs thigs that God does t approve of. Use this lesso to help childre wat to do what God says. LESSON WHAT CHILDREN DO SUPPLIES EASY PREP 1 Gettig Started 2 Bible Exploratio O the Level (about 10 mi.) Compare beig truthful to usig a carpeter s level. A Hurtful Choice (about 10 mi.) Re-eact how Joseph s brothers decided to throw him i a well. Ito the Well (about 5 mi.) Throw Joseph ito a well. After the Well (about 15 mi.) Cotiue actig out how Joseph s brothers threw him i a well. Bible, carpeter s level Bible maskig tape My Bible Fu, scissors, crayos Teacher Pack: Actios ad Truth poster Make a maskigtape circle o the floor to represet the well. Tear out the Lesso 6 pages from each My Bible Fu studet book. Cut the Actios ad Truth poster ito its four sectios. Bible Poit God wats us to do what s right. Key Verse Dear childre, let us ot love with words or togue but with actios ad i truth (1 Joh 3:18). Weavig Faith Ito Life Kids will strive to do what s right at home, i school, ad with their frieds. Bold text withi the lesso is spoke text. Lesso 6
58 LESSON WHAT CHILDREN DO SUPPLIES EASY PREP 3 Weavig Faith Ito Life 4 Lastig Impressios Actios ad Truth (about 10 mi.) Pass special messages aroud a circle, ad lear the Key Verse. Do-Right Hads (about 10 mi.) Make a remider to use hads to do right. 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. Bible costructio paper, several pairs of scissors, glue, crayos My Bible Fu Bold text withi the lesso is spoke text. Lesso 6
59 Joseph s Brothers Sell Him Ito Slavery Geesis 37:12-36 BIBLe BACKGROUND FOR LEADERS A ote about this lesso: You may be surprised you ve bee asked to teach this Bible passage to childre this age. Rest assured that for this age level, we ve chose to focus o why it s importat for kids to do what s right. The material of this lesso may seem fairly heavy, but the focus ad the poit is to keep God s priorities first i our lives. Joseph s Brothers Have Had Eough All of the evets described i last week s lesso Joseph s bad report to his father about his brothers, Jacob s favoritism toward Joseph, ad the dreams Joseph described i which his family bowed dow to him set the stage for the evets described i this week s passage. The Brothers Put Joseph Ito a Cister Reube, the oldest brother, was the first to show cocer for Joseph s life. As the oldest brother ad leader of the family, Reube would likely be the oe to brig the deceitful report of his brother s demise to their agig father. His pla to put Joseph i a cister (probably a dry well) i the desert ad rescue him later may have bee suspected by some of the other brothers. Scripture does t say that the brothers ethusiastically supported his pla; they just did what the eldest brother suggested, as youger brothers would be expected to do. The Brothers Sell Joseph to Traders Joseph eve more severely by makig a slave of him. The decisio was made, ad Joseph was goe before Reube retured. Whe he foud that Joseph was goe, Reube was grief-stricke, aguishig over what to do ext ad, o doubt, what to tell his father. The Brothers Lie to Jacob About What Happeed to Joseph Whe the brothers retured to their father, they were careful ot to lie. They simply showed Jacob the bloody coat ad asked if it was Joseph s. Perhaps they felt their deceit would be less evil if they allowed Jacob to assume that Joseph had bee ripped apart by a aimal. Whatever their motives, both Reube ad Judah tried to save Joseph s life, ad God used their efforts to brig about his pla. What the other brothers iteded for evil, God ultimately used for eormous good by usig Joseph to save Jacob s family ad much of the regio from starvatio. The Jesus Coectio God wats us to do what s right o matter what seems justified to us. Humas allowed si to eter our hearts, but God still chose to save us with the most radical sacrifice that s ever bee made. We ca look at God s extravagat example of forgiveess ad remember to ask him to help us do what s right i ay situatio. What s oe way you ca trust God to help you do what s right? You ca write your prayer i the space below. Whe the traders came alog, Geesis 37:29 idicates that Reube was ot preset. Judah suddely suggested that they spare Joseph s life. We do t kow if this suggestio was prompted by pags of guilt, the appeal of moey, or a desire to puish Lesso 6
60 GETTING STARTED O the Level Bible carpeter s level O the Level Welcome kids warmly as they arrive, ad ask them how their week wet. Gather everyoe together, ad put kids i groups of three. The show the carpeter s level. Say: Talk i your groups about what you thik this is ad how it s used. Allow time. The let groups report back to everyoe. Say: A carpeter s level, like this oe, is used to tell carpeters ad builders if the thigs they re buildig are straight ad eve. Set the level o a table. Poit to the air bubble. Be sure every child has a chace to view the bubble. Say: If the air bubble is sittig betwee these two lies, we kow the table is level. Let childre determie if the table is level or ot. The give each child the opportuity to check to see if somethig else i the room is level. If you have more tha 10 childre, have kids work i their groups of three to check objects i the room. The gather childre together agai. Say: Carpeters ad cabietmakers kow how importat it is to build straight homes ad furiture. They rely o their levels to help them. We have a level, too. Our level helps us kow what s right. Show your Bible. Say: God s Word, the Bible, is our level. If we wat to kow what s right, we ca look i the Bible for the aswers. If we wat to kow what s true, we check the Bible. Lead childre i this discussio. Ask: What differece does it make if somethig is level? What differece does it make if we kow right from wrog? Whe are some times you could use your Bible this week? Say: Just as it s importat that thigs like tables are level, it s importat that we kow right from wrog so that we ca live better lives. Today we ll hear about some brothers who eeded to compare their actios to what God s Word says is right. As we hear about some of their mistakes, we ll begi to uderstad why GOD WANTS US TO DO WHAT S RIGHT. Lesso 6
61 2 BIBLE EXPLORATION A Hurtful Choice Have kids retur to their groups of three. Say: Today we ll hear about a ma amed Joseph ad his brothers. As we hear what happeed, follow me I ll lead you i actig out what happeed. A Hurtful Choice Bible Ope your Bible to Geesis 37:12-36, ad show kids the passage. Say: Joseph s brothers were really agry with him because he was their dad s favorite so. Their dad, Jacob, gave Joseph a beautiful ew robe to wear, ad the brothers were so jealous that they wated to kill him! That s out-of-cotrol agry. Tell the people i your group about a time you were really agry. Allow time. Say: Eve whe we re agry, GOD WANTS US TO DO WHAT S RIGHT. I your group, tell some good choices you ca make whe you re agry. Allow time. Say: As I said, Joseph was Jacob s favorite so. Joseph ofte stayed home while his brothers cared for sheep far from home. Oe day, Jacob told Joseph to go check o his brothers ad report back home. Lead groups twice aroud the room, callig, Brothers, where are you? Say: Joseph wet to fid his brothers i a place called Shechem (SHEK-uhm). But he could t fid them there. A ma from the area saw Joseph ad told him that his brothers had moved o, ad he poited i the directio of Dotha (DOH-thuh). Poit with a outstretched arm. Have the kids place their hads above their eyes as if lookig ito the distace. Say: Joseph left to search for his brothers agai. Lead childre aroud the room agai. Say: Joseph s brothers saw him comig. They saw his ew robe ad were agry. Have the childre show their agriest faces. Say: Joseph s brothers whispered amog themselves. They were so agry that they wated to kill Joseph. Lead kids i whisperig behid their hads. Say: But Joseph s oldest brother, Reube, kew that killig Joseph would be wrog. He said, Do t kill him. Lead kids i shakig their heads ad forefigers o. We ll just throw Joseph i a well istead. Lesso 6
62 Lead childre i this discussio. Ask: What s surprisig about how the brothers were actig? Whe you get really agry, how ca you tell whether the way you re actig is right or wrog? What kids of thigs happe whe you choose to do somethig you kow is t right? Say: Joseph s brothers were so out-of-cotrol agry that they wated to kill their brother. Sometimes we get agry or jealous of our family members, too, but we kow that GOD WANTS US TO DO WHAT S RIGHT. Just as we could cotrol our actios i this activity, we have a choice to cotrol what we do whe we re agry. Ito the Well maskig tape Ito the Well Easy Prep Make a maskig-tape circle o the floor to represet the well. Ito the Well Gather kids aroud the tape circle o the floor. Choose a child to be Joseph. Let the remaiig childre be the brothers. Say: Let s say this tape circle is the well. If you re oe of Joseph s brothers, you ll try to get him to step ito this well. You may ot touch Joseph i ay way. Istead, you ll have to work together to fid aother way to get him to step i the well. Joseph ca t touch you or ay of the walls i the room. He ca t stad still either. He has to keep movig, tryig to stay away from the well. Play the game three or four times, choosig a differet child to play Joseph each time. The gather childre i a circle. Lead childre i this discussio. Ask: What was it like to be oe of Joseph s brothers? What was it like to be Joseph? Tell about a time someoe did somethig really hurtful to you. Why do you thik everyoe feels bad whe someoe does the wrog thig? Say: Joseph s brothers trapped him i a well. As we read i the Bible, we ll fid that at least oe of them felt really bad about it. God kows how it hurts us whether we re doig somethig wrog or someoe else is doig somethig wrog to us. GOD WANTS US TO DO WHAT S RIGHT because it s always what s best for us. Let s go back to the Bible to see what happeed after Joseph s brothers put him i the well. Lesso 6
63 After the Well Say: After the brothers threw Joseph i the well, Reube left for awhile. Reube actually plaed to come back later to rescue Joseph from the well, but while Reube was goe, Joseph s brothers sold Joseph to the slave traders to get rid of him oce ad for all. Lead childre i pretedig to cout moey ad the i wavig goodbye to a imagiary Joseph. Say: Whe Reube came back ad leared what his brothers had doe, he was sad. Shake head slowly. As the brothers walked home, they worried about what their dad would say. Lead groups i walkig slowly aroud the room i the opposite directio from before. Stroke your chi ad look worried as you walk. Say: Whe the brothers got home, they made aother bad decisio they decided ot to tell Jacob what they had doe. To keep their dad from fidig out what they had doe to Joseph, the brothers let their father thik that a wild aimal had eate Joseph. Make clawig, wild-aimal gestures with your hads. Say: Because Joseph was Jacob s favorite so, Jacob was very, very sad. I fact, he said he would be sad util the day he died. Preted to wipe tears from your eyes. After the Well My Bible Fu scissors crayos Teacher Pack Actios ad Truth poster After the Well Easy Prep Tear out the Lesso 6 pages from each My Bible Fu studet book. Cut the Actios ad Truth poster ito its four sectios. Say: Doig what s right icludes tellig the truth the whole truth. Ad doig what s right also meas doig the right thig, ot just sayig the right thig. I ll show you what I mea. Have kids form four groups. Give oe sectio of the Actios ad Truth poster to each group. Say: The childre i your pictures are usig words i lovig ways. Everythig they re sayig is good. But showig love for others is importat, too. We ca t just say we love someoe our actios have to show we re tellig the truth. Distribute this week s My Bible Fu pages ad crayos, ad poit out the Actios Speak Louder Tha Words sectio. Say: I your group, look at the poster picture I gave you, ad thik of ways the childre pictured there ca show love istead of talkig about it. Allow time. The say: Now, i the space o your My Bible Fu page, draw a picture of a youg perso showig love i that situatio. Help kids thik of ideas. For example, the girl who s tellig her mother she loves her could had her some flowers or give her a hug. Ivite each group to share its ideas about each sectio of the poster, ad have kids draw pictures for the remaiig sectios o their My Bible Fu pages. Lesso 6
64 Lead childre i this discussio. Ask: How easy or hard was it to thik of ways to do right rather tha just talk about it? How easy or hard is it to do the right thig whe you re faced with a decisio? How ca you get help from God whe you have a decisio like that to make? Say: GOD WANTS US TO DO WHAT S RIGHT. Joseph s brothers made a poor choice whe they threw their brother i the well. Reube made a poor choice, too. Though he tried to save Joseph by throwig him i a well istead of killig him, he did t tell his brothers he was plaig to save Joseph later. Reube did t tell the whole truth. He could ve tried to get them to stop by beig hoest. We ca be differet from Joseph s brothers, ad whe we have a choice to make, we ca do what we kow is right rather tha just talk about it. 3 WEAVING FAITH INTO LIFE Actios ad Truth Bible Actios ad Truth Say: Today we re learig that GOD WANTS US TO DO WHAT S RIGHT ad that meas our actios are right, ot just the thigs we say. Let s lear our Key Verse, which helps us kow how to do right. Ope your Bible to 1 Joh 3:18, ad show kids the verse. Say: It says, Dear childre, let us ot love with words or togue but with actios ad i truth (1 Joh 3:18). Lead kids i repeatig the Key Verse with you several times. Say: Let s play a game ow that will help us remember what this verse meas. Have kids sit i a circle. Say: I ll whisper somethig i someoe s ear. The that perso will whisper the same thig i the ext perso s ear, ad so o. The last perso to hear the ews will say it aloud to the rest of us. Whisper Jesus loves you, ad so do I! to the perso sittig ext to you. Whe everyoe has had a chace to hear the message ad the last perso has said it aloud, cotiue. Say: Now I m goig to pass a message aroud the circle i a differet way. After you receive the message, pass it alog to the perso sittig ext to you. Let s try it agai! Lesso 6
65 Give the child ext to you a big hug or a high five, ad say, I m so glad you re here today! Have kids pass this message to oe aother util everyoe i the circle has received a hug or high five. Lead childre i this discussio. Ask: What was differet about our two messages? What do you thik is the differece betwee sayig somethig ad doig it? Tell about a time you did the right thig rather tha just talked about it. What are some thigs you ca do this week to show you wat to do the right thig? Say: Ulike Joseph s brothers, we kow GOD WANTS US TO DO WHAT S RIGHT. We kow that the Bible is always right, so we ca always rely o the Bible to tell us the right thig to do! Ad like i our game, we do t just wat to talk about the right thig we wat to do it. Let s say our Key Verse together agai. Lead kids i sayig the Key Verse aloud together agai: Dear childre, let us ot love with words or togue but with actios ad i truth (1 Joh 3:18). Do-Right Hads Give each child a sheet of brightly colored costructio paper. Help childre trace aroud the outlies of both of their hads. Let childre cut out their had shapes. Say: Whe Reube tried to help Joseph, he told his brothers ot to lay a had o Joseph. Reube did t wat his brothers to use their hads to do somethig wrog. He wated them to do what was right. Our Bible Poit tells us that GOD WANTS US TO DO WHAT S RIGHT. Do-Right Hads costructio paper several pairs of scissors glue crayos Thik about how you ca do what s right whe you have a choice. Allow time, ad the have kids share their ideas. O the hads, have the kids draw pictures or write words that ca help them make right choices. Help each child glue his or her had shapes to a lighter color of costructio paper, arragig the had shapes side by side, thumbs poitig toward each other. Help childre prit My Do-Right Hads at the top of the page. Say: Eve if we ca uderstad why Joseph s brothers were agry, we kow what they chose to do was wrog. GOD WANTS US TO DO WHAT S RIGHT. Ad he ll help us whe we look to him ad whe we read his Word. Lesso 6
66 4 LASTING IMPRESSIONS Daily Challeges My Bible Fu Daily Challeges Say: Let s thik about how GOD WANTS US TO DO WHAT S RIGHT. Have kids fid this week s Daily Challeges o their My Bible Fu pages ad choose oe to do this week. They ca choose oe or more of these three optios: Help your mom ad dad clea the house, ad tell them that God wats us to do what s right. Be ice to your sibligs without beig asked ad tell them that God wats us to do what s right. Tell the truth eve whe it s hard, ad remember that it makes God happy whe you do what s right. Make sure you choose a Daily Challege as well, ad tell kids what you chose. Kids will be more iclied to follow through o their commitmets whe they see you doig the same. Lead kids i this discussio. Ask: What s a practical way you re goig to do your Daily Challege? Iclude a time, a place, ad other ideas. Say: Like Joseph s brothers, we always have a choice to do what s right. This week, let s remember that GOD WANTS US TO DO WHAT S RIGHT as we follow through o our Daily Challeges. Weavig Faith at Home Ecourage kids to talk with their parets about the Daily Challeges they chose ad how they leared that God wats us to do what s right. Kids ca also do the activities i the HomeCoect sectio of their My Bible Fu pages 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 givig us the Bible so we ca kow what s right. Give each child a chace to ask God for help with doig the right thig this week. Ecourage kids to be specific. For example, a child may say, God, please help me be ice to my brother eve whe he s mea to me. The close the Lesso 6
67 prayer. Pray: God, you wat us to do what s right because it s always what s best for us. We kow that it hurts others ad it hurts us whe we make choices we kow are wrog. Help us make good choices this week. I Jesus ame, ame. Lesso 6