Lesson 8 God Redeems Based on: Genesis 37; 39 41 Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. Philippians 1:6 TruStory CRE: 3rd 4th Grade Lesson Prepared by Bill Stahler Tru Sun, Wedgwood Baptist Chuch
2 Leader Preparation Each week you'll find a list of resources along with encouraging articles that help you prepare your heart to present the lesson. Further Resources A Small Group Enhancement is available for this lesson. Download the following resources to help you plan and lead TruStory lessons: Customizable copy of Lesson 8 2016 17 Scope and Sequence TruStory How It Works document HomeFront Weekly: Lesson 8 is provided for this lesson. The weekly for the next lesson to be sent home for preteaching by parents is found in BLESS. If you have questions about Tru curriculum or are looking for great training, blogs, and other support resources, visit truministry.com. (!) Allergy Alert When you see a (!) listed next to a resource or activity, note that potential allergens are suggested that may affect children with particular sensitivities. Please check with parents before their children participate. Inspire Shares personal stories from fellow ministry leaders about how God has worked in their lives In junior high, I had an amazing youth group leader named Alex. At the time, I was doubting my faith, and Alex took my questions seriously and provided thoughtful answers.
3 When I was in college I saw Alex less frequently. When we did talk, he shared feelings of discouragement, frustration, and loneliness. He had stopped working with youth and was doubting God's calling. Then, one day, he suffered an aneurism that left him in critical condition. For six months, Alex lay unconscious in the hospital. At first the doctors gave him hours to live. They were amazed when he continued to live for days, then weeks, until he finally woke up. In their words, his recovery was miraculous. Today, when I talk with Alex, his voice is full of joy and thankfulness. The effects of the aneurism left him unable to play basketball and reliant on daily medication, but Alex is more optimistic and joyful than ever. Through a devastating experience that left his body broken, God restored his spiritual life. Praise be to God, the One who redeems. Asriel Medina ROCKHARBOR Church Equip Offers perspective and context to the lesson's Bible passage God redeems. In the life of Joseph, we see this man being captured by his brothers, sold into slavery, framed by the wife of Potiphar, forgotten in jail and yet God redeemed him out of every one of these situations, no matter what role Joseph played in each one. First, Joseph wore the coat of many colors given to him by his father, Jacob. Jacob loved Joseph more than he loved Joseph's brothers because Joseph was the firstborn son of Jacob's beloved wife, Rachel. The first garment change occurred when Joseph's brothers took the coat from him, tore it into pieces, and soaked it in goat's blood to convince Jacob that Joseph was dead. But we see in Scripture that "the Lord was with Joseph and gave him success" (Genesis 39:23). Because of this, Joseph was appointed to be an attendant instead of a slave in the house of Potiphar. His clothing changed from that of a slave to that of an overseer. This garment was taken from Joseph when Potiphar's wife tried to seduce him. He left his garment in her hand when he fled from her advances. Next, Joseph wore the garments of a prisoner. Later, after he interpreted Pharaoh's dream, Joseph was rewarded and put "in charge of the whole land of Egypt" and "dressed in robes of
4 fine linen" (Genesis 41:41 42). God not only redeemed Joseph from his imprisonment, but also dressed him in fine robes and gave him a position of responsibility. What a change from the days of wearing the garb of a slave! As God's children we're clothed in Jesus' righteousness (Isaiah 61:10). God sees us as redeemed, although we sometimes can't see ourselves that way. No matter what we may think or feel, Scripture says "we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all" (Hebrews 10:10). God sees us as holy like Christ. The redemption we have received from Christ is extravagant; it is redemption we do not deserve and did not earn. Support Provides reflection and assessment through encouragement, prayer, and time in God's Word When we choose to be in leadership, our stories cease to be ours alone. Instead, God uses our stories for the sake of the people, or the children, whom we lead. Because we've answered God's call to be in leadership, we're now living to bring the lost to Jesus. We're living with our whole lives personal and public, internal and external to share the message that God redeems. God redeems souls from destruction and gives them eternal life. God redeems hearts from suffering and gives them joy. God redeems situations from hopeless to full of hope. How has God redeemed you your soul, the pain in your heart, the difficulty of a situation in your life? How is God redeeming you right at this moment? What stories could you share this week with your kids about how God is a God who redeems? Share these stories with the faith that God will use them to transform the hearts of the kids you lead.
5 10 minutes CONNECT Children develop relationships with their leaders and one another through simple activities and conversation starters. Highs, Lows, and Buffaloes Supplies -Small ball Kids will gather to connect by sharing their highs, lows, and buffaloes (random or silly things) from the previous week. Relate CONNECT QUESTION: Welcome and greet children. Open your time by asking this question: What's your favorite part of the day? We all have favorite parts of the day and parts we don't like as much. We go through both good and difficult things in our lives. We call these highs and lows. Highs, or good things, can make us really excited and happy, while lows, or more difficult things, can make us feel sad and disappointed. In The Big God Story, Joseph experienced highs and lows in his life too. He had clear moments of excitement and definite moments of disappointment. Invite your children to sit in a circle and give the ball to one of them. Then invite the child holding the ball to share a high, low, or buffalo from the past week. (Let kids know that buffaloes refer to random or silly things.) After the child with the ball shares, she'll pass or roll the ball to another child in the circle, who will share a high, low, or buffalo, and so on. Make sure each child gets the opportunity to share. Be sure you take a turn too! Note: If things get too silly with an overabundance of buffaloes, you might have the kids stick to
6 sharing just highs and lows. Developmentally Speaking Third and fourth graders love to be social and even silly with their peers. This might make it difficult for some children to focus while other kids share about the past week. Remind the kids that only the person holding the ball can speak, and encourage those who aren't speaking to practice their listening skills.
7 30 minutes GATHER Children experience and learn more about God through memorizing Scripture, storytelling from The Big God Story, prayer, and discussion. Remember Verse Supplies -Lessons 6 9 Remember Verse Image: Phil 1:6 TruStory Year 1 Fall Each week children will spend time memorizing a portion of Scripture together. The Remember Verse focuses on a character trait of God that's highlighted in today's portion of The Big God Story. Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. Philippians 1:6 Game: Colorful Verse Supplies -Index cards (26) -Tape -Markers (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple) Prepare Ahead Write each word of the Remember Verse and the verse reference on an index card. Use alternating colors of markers to space out the colors among the words of the verse. Tape the index cards to the wall, keeping the words of the verse in order.
8 Relate Encourage your children to learn the Remember Verse by using color elimination. To begin, invite kids to read through the verse a few times together. Then remove all of the words written in one color, such as red. Next, have kids take turns trying to say the verse. After that, remove another color and allow students to see if they can still say the verse. Continue until each word from the verse has been removed. Storytelling Supplies -Bibles -Construction paper (1 sheet of each: yellow, blue) -Scissors -Tape -Colorful coat or robe -Props: apron, crown (plastic or made from paper), fancy ring -Lesson 8 Investigate TruStory 1st 6th CRE Year 1 Fall Bible Passage: Genesis 37; 39 41 Storytelling Technique: Acting with Props God Redeems Prepare Ahead Use the yellow construction paper to create a sheaf of grain by forming it into a cylinder, taping it together near the bottom, and cutting vertical strips down to the tape. Cut a star out of the blue construction paper. Relate Just like we talked about earlier, everyone goes through good times and difficult times highs and lows. Do any of you remember Jacob? What were some of his highs and lows? Pause for responses. Good thoughts. God was with Jacob through the hard times, redeeming them for good. God also knew He had made a promise to Jacob's grandfather, Abraham. God had promised Abraham that he would have a
9 son, and through that son, Abraham would have a big family. God also told Abraham that the whole world would be blessed through his family. Well, God started to fulfill this promise by giving Abraham's grandson, Jacob, 12 sons. What would be the best thing about having 11 brothers or sisters? Your least favorite thing? Pause. Let's pray and ask the Holy Spirit to speak to us today. Lead children in a Prayer of Release to allow children and leaders to pause, be still, and ask the Holy Spirit to quiet their hears and minds. In The Big God Story today, we'll hear about some sad things that God redeems. Does anyone know what redeem means? Pause for responses. To redeem something is to buy it back. Many times when bad things happen to us, God buys back what happened and changes it into something good. This happened in the life of one of Jacob's sons: Joseph. Invite the kids to open their Bibles to Genesis 37. Let the kids know you'll need their help to act out today's portion of Scripture, and invite a child to come to the front of the room to portray Joseph. Joseph was Jacob's favorite son. Does anyone know what gift Jacob gave to Joseph? Invite the kids to respond. Ask a volunteer to read Genesis 37:3 aloud. That's right he gave him a beautiful, colorful coat! Help the child portraying Joseph put on the coat or robe. While Joseph enjoyed his coat, Joseph's brothers didn't get anything. They felt jealous and angry. Then Joseph began to have dreams. He dreamed that he and his brothers tied up stalks of grain into big bunches called sheaves. Invite a volunteer to come up and stand next to Joseph. Give him the sheaf of grain. In the dream, all of Joseph's brothers' sheaves bowed down to his. Joseph also dreamed that the sun, moon, and 11 stars bowed down to him. Invite another volunteer to come up and hold up the star. All of this made his brothers very angry so angry that they wanted to kill him! But the oldest brother Reuben said they could not kill their own brother, so they took his colorful coat and threw him into a well. Have the student portraying Joseph take off the colorful coat and sit down. Have the other students sit down as well. Later, a group passed by, and the brothers sold Joseph to the group. He would become a slave in Egypt! Things looked very dark for Joseph. But God never left Joseph, and He had plans to redeem Joseph's life. Invite another volunteer to come stand near you. God knew He would use Joseph for great things so the whole world could know God. Joseph was sold to a man named Potiphar. Ask the student portraying Joseph to put on the apron Joseph was a good worker and quickly
10 became the head servant in Potiphar's house. But one day Potiphar's wife became very angry with Joseph. She told lies about him and made sure he went to jail, even though he'd done nothing wrong. Have the student take off the apron, and invite a new volunteer to come up and stand next to Joseph in a position like a soldier or guard. But God knew the plans He had to redeem Joseph, and He stayed with Joseph even in jail. Invite a volunteer to read Genesis 39:21 aloud while kids follow along. Joseph was soon put in charge of the other prisoners, and God gave him a special gift he could interpret people's dreams. That means he could tell people what their dreams meant. One day Pharaoh the king of Egypt had a dream that upset him. He was confused and didn't know what his dream meant. Pharaoh dreamed that seven skinny cows ate seven fat cows. One of Pharaoh's servants brought in Joseph to interpret the dream, and Joseph told them that he couldn't tell them what the dream meant but God could! Joseph told Pharaoh that the dream meant there would be seven years of plenty of food in Egypt and seven years of famine, meaning a time with hardly any food. Pharaoh was shocked! Invite a couple of volunteers to read Genesis 41:39 40 aloud. Pharaoh was amazed by what God did through Joseph! Then Pharaoh took Joseph out of jail and put him in charge of his kingdom. Ask another volunteer to come up. Put the crown on his head and the fancy ring on his finger. Pharaoh gave Joseph nice clothes and put him in charge of storing up food so the people would have enough to eat during the famine. God took Joseph's bad situation and turned it into something good. He redeemed it. Jesus paid the price for our sin so we could have eternal life. That means Jesus redeemed us. God also redeemed Joseph's difficult situations. He was sold into slavery and then thrown into jail terrible things! But God used these things to make Joseph a leader in Egypt so he could save up lots of food to save many lives! Something even bigger happened through Joseph. Through Joseph's family line, Jesus came to earth. Jesus was one of the descendants of Abraham, his son Isaac, and Jacob and his sons. God knew the famine was coming, so He made sure Joseph was in Egypt at just the right time to save his family. God worked through The Big God Story to make sure that Jesus would be born so that we could know God. And
11 Jesus is the true Redeemer. When we choose to trust and obey Him, we're forgiven from our sins and brought into relationship with God. Joseph faced some tough situations, but God redeemed those situations and through them made the way for us to know Him. God still redeems today. Share a personal story about a time God redeemed you or a situation in your life. Discussion Questions -How did Joseph's brothers feel about him? Why? Genesis 37:4, 8 -What happened to Joseph after he was sold into slavery in Egypt? Genesis 39:1 -Why did good things happen to Joseph while he was in Potiphar's house? Genesis 39:2 5 -How did God care for Joseph when he was in prison? Genesis 39:21 22 -What does redeem mean? -How did God redeem all of the hard things that happened to Joseph? Genesis 41:39 40, 54
12 15 minutes RESPOND Children reflect on what the Holy Spirit is teaching them and respond through games and creative activities. Tying Together Redemption Supplies -Wooden stake (about 18" 24") -Strips of fabric (1 strip per child, each about 12" x 2", various colors) -Scissors -Fabric markers (1 per child) -Optional: "Remain," TruWorship Sincerely Yours Kids collaborate on a worship response piece, attaching colorful strips of fabric to a plain stake as a way of thanking God for the things in their life that He's redeemed. Set Up Prop up the stake against a wall or place it at the front of the room. Relate Joseph went through several hard experiences in his life. What were some of those hard things? Pause for responses Yes. He was sold into slavery by his brothers and then thrown into jail for a crime he didn't commit! The Bible says that even in the worst of times, God was with Joseph, and God redeemed every hard thing that happened to Joseph. What does redeem mean? Allow responses Redeem means to buy back. God took the broken and painful things in Joseph's life and bought them back He changed them into good things. Through Joseph's life, God sent Jesus the Redeemer to save
13 us from our sins. When Jesus died on the cross, He redeemed us. We were sinners separated from God, but Jesus died and rose again, giving us the opportunity to know Him and have new life in Him! Invite the children to take a few minutes to think about some of the ways God has redeemed them and some of the hard experiences they've faced. Then invite kids to ask God about things in their lives they still desire to have Him redeem. Maybe they're going through something discouraging and need a reminder to have hope that God will redeem it. As kids ponder these questions, invite them to collaborate as they make a plain stake come to life by attaching colorful strips of fabric to it. Pass out a strip of colorful fabric and a fabric marker to each child, and on it have the students write a word or prayer thanking God for something in their life He's redeemed. Or the kids can write down a word or prayer representing something they're asking God to redeem. When the kids finish writing, show them how to tie their strips of fabric around the stake. Consider playing "Remain." When your group finishes this response, you'll have a colorful artistic piece representing God's redemption in your lives. If possible, place it in an outdoor area or garden at your church. (Optional) Find the Color Joseph's father gave him a beautiful, colorful robe to wear. Today, invite your kids to play a game during which they must race to find different colors. Relate Today we're going to play a game of finding colors. I'm going to divide you into two even teams. You can sit with your teams on opposite sides of the room. Stand in the middle of the room, between the two teams I'm going to call out a color. Each team will work together to find that color among your teammates. For example, I might say, "Red," and you'll need to find something red among your group. Once your team has found the color, the person wearing it must run up to me. The first team to make it to me wins a point. Leaders can make the game more challenging by asking for specific things such as a red shoe or a yellow hair clip, or they can ask for someone who might be wearing two colors. The team that
14 earns the most points wins.
15 5 minutes BLESS Supplies -Bible -Sticky notes (1 note per child, various colors) -Pencils or pens -Lessons 6 9 Remember Verse Cards: Phil 1:6 TruStory Year 1 Fall -Lesson 9 HomeFront Weekly TruStory Year 1 Fall Children receive a blessing from their leaders and sometimes one another. A blessing may be a prayer of commission, a portion of Scripture, or words to encourage and guide. Relate Gather the children into a circle and have them sit down as you read the blessing from Luke 1:68: Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come to his people and redeemed them. Now give a colorful sticky note to each child. On the sticky note, have her write "God Redeems." Then encourage each child to turn to the child on her right, give him the sticky note or place it on his shirt, and say, "(Child's name), may you know that God has redeemed you." Make sure each child is blessed by another child. Then bless the group with the following words: May you know that the God of Israel redeemed you. May you trust in God your Redeemer. Send home Remember Verse cards and the HomeFront Weekly with your kids.
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