‘Gods Hope v My Dreams’ Childrens Lesson on Joseph

BIG IDEA: GODS HOPE IS BIGGER AND BETTER THAN MY DREAMS!

AIM: The aim of the ‘Gods Hope v My Dreams’ Childrens Lesson on Joseph is to help children to understand and see that God gives us dreams that will bless others and not just ourselves.

SONG IDEAS:

1. ‘Dreams Will Come True’ by Yancy
2. ‘Dream Again’  a great song to put in the background whilst the children do some of the activities or to allow children to listen to as the Holy Spirit moves.
3. ‘Dream Small’  by Josh Wilson (our dreams don’t always have to be big and scary – sometimes they can be small and special!)

GAME IDEAS:

1. Is Yours the Longest Light Sword? (regular/widescreen) Children are given a pack of glow sticks with attachments. They must snap and connect as many of the glow sticks together as they can to make the longest light sword. The team with the longest light sword is the winning team. After the game you can break the glow sticks up and hand them to the team to keep.
2. Dream Relay. (regular/widescreen) Have some extra large PJs for each team and a duvet and pillow. Children must race to put the PJs on over their clothes, then get under the duvet and place their head on the pillow. Then they should take off the PJs and run to tag the next player to do the same. The team that completes the relay first is the winner.
3. Star Catcher. (regular/widescreen) Split your group into teams. The teams each choose one player to throw the ‘star’ (a ball with a star printable taped to it). Each team line up on the opposite side of the room in a parallel line facing their player. The player throws the star and the first player must catch it and throw it back. They get one point for this. If dropped, they do not get a point. The ball is thrown back and they get a point for the player catching it also. The teams each relay their players to catch the ‘star’. Each time the star is caught the team gains a point. The team with the most points at the end of the delegated time is the winning team.

BIG VERSE: May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13.

(regular/widescreen)

[mepr-s3-link src=”teaching-series-god-of-hope/God of Hope Bible Cards-min.pdf”]God of Hope Bible Cards[/mepr-s3-link]

ICEBREAKER: What is the craziest dream you have ever had?

DRAMA: Access the fun ‘Gods Hope v My Dreams’ drama here.

 

SET the Scene:

If you are working with the Star Wars theme you could use all or part of the clip about Anakin’s dream. It’s a great opportunity to remind the children that God gives us good dreams – or dreams that are ultimately for our good.

Read Genesis 37:5-11. Remind the children that Joseph was given a coat made by his father. His eleven brothers did not receive a coat at all. They hated Joseph. Yet Joseph was Jacob’s favorite son.

VIDEO IDEAS:

1. ‘Joseph’s Dreams’ a live performance from the musical film.
2. ‘Josephs’ Dreams – a Faith Kids Video’ by Faith Kids Video
3. ‘Joseph’s Dreams’ – another live performance from the musical.
4. ‘Joseph’s Dreams – Joseph’s Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat’

REVIEW QUESTIONS:

1. What did Joseph have that made him hated more by his brothers? (Dream)
2. What appeared in his first dream? (bundles of grain – sheaves)
3. What did the bundles of grain do? (gather around and bow down to Joseph’s)
4. What appeared in Joseph’s second dream? (the sun, moon and stars)
5. What did they do? (bow down)
6. Who did they bow down to? (Joseph)
7. Was Jacob happy or annoyed when he heard about Joseph’s dreams? (annoyed)
8. What did Jacob say? (Do you expect to rule over us?)
9. Why were Joseph’s brothers jealous? (because of his dreams)

 

SPOT the Simple Meaning:

1) GOD GIVES DREAMS

1. Share one of your own dreams that God has given you, especially where you had your own ideas in mind, but God’s dream was better.
2. Play the ‘I’ve Got a Dream’ scene from the Disney ‘Tangled’ movie. Alternatively, you could show the ‘Million Dreams’ clip from the Greatest Showman.

Say: Have you ever had a dream and then woken up and been upset that it wasn’t real? [Get feedback] You know, God can give us great dreams! He gave Joseph some incredible dreams!

There are different kinds of dreams. God can give us dreams in our sleep, but He can also give us dreams in our hearts – things that we want to do. God gives us dreams, but not all our dreams are from God. Sometimes our dreams may be just something that we have decided we would like for our lives… they could just be a good idea. When we go to sleep at night, not all our dreams are from god – often we just have nice dreams. So how do we know if a dream is from God? We need to test them by asking God if they are from Him; praying and reading the Bible to see if it sounds like something God would say.

When we are sleeping and we have a bad dream – a nightmare – we can know straight away that that isn’t from God. He doesn’t want to scare us or make us afraid. God wants us to have peace. The Bible says that He is a God of peace and not confusion. (1 Corinthians 14:33) 

When God gives us a dream in our heart, it may not be something that will happen straight away. Joseph was given his dream by God… but it would be a very long time before his dream would become real.

2) GOD’S HOPE IS NOT JUST FOR US BUT FOR OTHERS

Watch the video about children’s dream jobs. Explain that the children all have an idea and dream about what they would like to do when they are older …well, most of them! 

Say: Do you have a dream? Who would your dream help?

A way to help us discover if our dream is just our own good idea or if it is God is to think about why we want this dream to come true. Is it to make us famous? To make us popular? So that we have lots of money? God’s hope is never just to give us a better life – but it is to bless and help others!

Do you think Joseph should have told his brothers about his dreams? [Get feedback] What would you do if you got those kinds of dreams? Would you tell everyone?

Joseph was given his dreams at 17 years old. He thought he was ready to do them right now. He told everyone about them. Yet he didn’t understand that the dreams were to help a whole nation – not just to make him more powerful than his brothers! So Joseph wasn’t ready for this dream to become real just yet. He needed to learn that this dream was to help others – not just to help himself. Joseph needed time to become a good man – a man that loved God.

3) GOD’S HOPE IS BIGGER AND BETTER THAN MY DREAMS!

Skit: Harry is holding a big Star Wars toy (or other toy of your choice) behind his back so that Junior cannot see it. Junior is holding a much smaller toy such as a McDonalds toy.

Harry: Hey Junior, can you give me that toy?

Junior: You want my toy?

Harry: Yeah

Junior: I don’t know, dad….

Harry: Well, I have something even better for you!

Junior: Really? I don’t know… do you think I should? (asks the children)

Harry: You should only give it me if you really trust me.

Junior: I don’t know… I love this toy! (Junior plays with his little toy)

Harry: I understand.

Junior: Okay then… I guess I could give you mine… (begins to pass the toy to Harry then takes it away) But are you sure you have something better for me?

Harry: Well, have I ever lied to you before?

Junior: No, I suppose not… (passes over the toy)

Harry: (waits a few moments whilst Junior gets nervous then presents the bigger and better toy) Here you go!

Junior: It is better!

Harry: I told you!

(Both Harry and Junior walk off stage)

Application:

Say: Do you have a big scary dream for your life? [Get feedback] Whether you do or don’t, God’s hope for our lives is always bigger than anything we could dream up for ourselves. He always has something better in mind!

In the skit Junior didn’t realize that his dad wanted the best for him and had something better planned for him. All he knew was that he loved his toy! He didn’t realize that his dad had a way better toy for him! That’s just like God! We may think we know what we want in life – we might even do our own thing – live our own way. Yet God knows what we want and what we need – He knows exactly what is best for us. God gave His Only Son Jesus to the world so that we might come to know Father God and love Him. He gave His all for us; because He wanted the best for us.

The best thing we can do in life is to give our life to God; to follow Jesus and to trust that God’s hope is much bigger and better than any dream we can ever have. So when we get a dream, we can give it back to God. We can tell Him that His hope is more important to us. That His plans are the best. All we need to remember is that God’s hope is bigger than our dreams!

 

SEARCH the Scriptures:

What’s In The Box? (regular/widescreen) Label 10 boxes with numbers 1-10. In four of the boxes place names of those that were given dreams in the Bible. In the rest put silly things that children would not like to keep such as a toilet roll or another cardboard box. Explain to the children that if they pick a name they can win a prize (it could be a sweet or something bigger) but whatever they find in the box, they can keep.

Choose 10 different children to pick, or let children take turns if you have a small group. Let them have a laugh together when they win a silly prize! When they pick a name explain how that person dreamed and what God showed them.

Abimelek: God told Abimelek that he had taken someone else’s wife and would be in trouble if he carried on doing what he was doing.

Daniel: God gave Daniel dreams that he told to the kings of his day.

Joseph: Joseph had dreams and also interpreted the dreams of Pharoah

Joseph (New Testament): Joseph dreamed that an angel came to him and told him about Mary’s baby being born of God. He also dreamed that he must leave for Egypt once Jesus was born.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

1. What is the best dream you have ever had?
2. Do you have a dream for your life?
3. How do you think you will see that dream come true?
4. Do you think Joseph was wise to tell his brothers about his dreams? Why/why not?
5. What would you do if someone in your family told you they had a dream like Joseph’s? How would it make you feel?

 

SENSE How You Feel:

1. Build one of the dream scenes from lego or building blocks. 
2. Sensory table: Place yarn (wool) not the table for children to create bundles of wheat. You could also have cereal on the table for the children to touch, feel or even taste. If you have any star shapes or paper stars, these could also be placed on the table for children to touch and feel.
3. Use cola flavored candy laces to make wheat for the wheat dream scene. They should cut them into the correct length and wrap a bit of lace around each bundle. Then let the kids eat them afterwards! Yummy!
4. Create a mobile with the Joseph Mobile Print Out Simply cut out all the pieces and attach them together with hanging ribbon.
5. Color and fill in the ‘Gods Hope v My Dreams’ 5-7s and 8-11s

SEEK God:

PRAYER ACTIVITY: 

1. Encourage the children to write or draw their dream in the dream bubble on the ‘Dear God’ Printable. Then pray that God would give them patience to wait to see it come to pass or to be humble to let it go if it is not from God.
2. Invite any child that doesn’t yet know Jesus to invite Him into their lives and to follow Him. Remind them that God’s hope for us is that we would know Him and spend eternity with Him, yet we can only do this when we decide to follow Jesus!