‘Hope When Life is the Pits’ Childrens Lesson on Genesis 37:12-36

BIG IDEA: I CAN HAVE HOPE IN TOUGH TIMES

AIM: The aim of the ‘Hope When Life is the Pits’ Childrens Lesson on Genesis 37: is to show children that they can have hope even in the toughest times, because they have Jesus and the Holy Spirit to help them!

ICE BREAKER: If you could have any hero to save you, which one would you choose?

SONG IDEAS:

1. ‘I Have a Hope’ by Uncle Charlie
2. ‘Cornerstone with the Solid Rock’ by Brentwood Benson Kids

GAME IDEAS:

1. Sad and Solemn Occasion. (regular/widescreen) The aim of the game is to make the other players laugh and to not laugh yourself. Players sit in a circle on their ‘high knees’. Someone begins by saying to someone in the circle ‘ (Name of person) It is a sad and solemn occasion’. They respond ‘It is indeed a sad and solemn occasion’. Everyone responds with ‘It is indeed a sad and solemn occasion’ as they bow down to the ground. If anyone laughs, they are eliminated and the leader says ‘Turn your back to the circle’.
2. Escape Artist. (regular/widescreen)  Wrap a scarf around the head/eyes of each contestant, then wrap a scarf around their hands. Wrap a third scarf around their legs. The first player to escape from the trap is the winner. If you only have three scarves to hand, have the players take turns to play.
3. Battle It Out. (regular/widescreen) Children are given a pool noodle each and a baseball hat. Players must try and knock their opponent’s hat off by using the pool noodle alone. (Health and safety note: Watch they don’t poke each other in the eye!)

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)

God of Hope Bible Cards.

DRAMA: Access the fun ‘When Life is the Pits’ drama here.

 

SET the Scene:

Read Genesis 37:12-36.

Use the Star Wars clip from the movie where Rey moves the rocks to release her friends from being stuck and unable to escape. The YouTube clip doesn’t give you the beginning of the clip, so you may want to buy the movie and select the whole scene, showing her friends stuck behind the rocks.

 

VIDEO IDEAS:

1. ‘Poor, Poor Joseph’ from the ‘Joseph and His Technicolor Dreamcoat’ 1999 film
2. ‘Joseph is Sold by His Brothers’ by Faith Kids Videos
3. ‘Joseph Thrown in the Pit’ by Superbook
4. ‘Joseph From the Pit to the Palace’ – a Lego version

 

REVIEW QUESTIONS:

1. What were Joseph’s brothers doing in Shechem? (grazing flocks)
2. Who sent Joseph to Shechem? (his father – Israel/Jacob)
3. Where had his brothers gone? (Dothan)
4. What did his brothers do when they saw Joseph coming? (plan to kill him)
5. How did they plan to get rid of Joseph? (kill him and throw him in a cistern/well/pit)
6. Who tried to rescue Joseph? (Reuben)
7. What did Reuben suggest? (not to kill him, but throw him in the well/pit/cistern)
8. Who suggested selling Joseph? (Judah)
9. How much did they sell Joseph for? (twenty shekels of silver)
10. Who did they sell Joseph to? (a caravan of Ishmaelites)
11. Where were the Ishmaelites going? (Egypt)
12. What did Reuben do when he found that Joseph was gone? (ripped his clothes)
13. What did the brothers do with Joseph’s coat? (dipped it in goat’s blood)
14. How did Jacob react to the news his favorite son was dead? (ripped his clothes and said he would mourn until he died)
15. Meanwhile what happened to Joseph? (He was sold to Potiphar, one of Pharoah’s officials, the captain of the guard)

 

SPOT the Simple Meaning:

1) Sometimes Life is Tough

Find some newspapers and have children cut out some of the bad things that have happened recently. [You may want to check for anything too adult or distressing and take it out of the paper first]. Encourage the children to stick the items to a large piece of paper.

Leave the newspaper cuttings so the children can see them. In the next section you will take some time to pray with the children for the people involved.

Say: God never told us that horrid things would not happen – to us or to those we know. Did you know that even as a Christian, some tough things can happen to us? Joseph’s brothers did a terrible thing. They threw him in a pit and sold him as a slave! Do you have a brother or sister? [Get feedback] Have you ever wanted to do something terrible to them? [Get feedback]

Joseph’s brothers hatred him so much that they wanted to kill him. They decided not to kill him, but instead to make some money and sell him. That way they could take his coat and tell their father, Jacob, that he had been killed anyway.

As Christians we believe that Jesus came to earth many years later and something terrible happened to him. What was it? [Get feedback] Exactly! He was killed on a cross. It was a terrible thing – a really tough thing to go through – the worst! We believe that Jesus is God’s Son! So if something tough like that happened to him, we know that tough times can happen to anyone. We can all go through tough times because life is sometimes tough.

2) I Don’t Need to Be Afraid!

Pray for the people involved in the newspaper situations. Encourage the children to pray aloud or to write or draw their prayers.

Say: Okay, so terrible things happen… but I don’t need to be afraid! Why? Because God is on my side! We don’t know how Joseph felt about being thrown into the pit or being sold into slavery. The Bible doesn’t tell us, it only tells us about what his brothers did. Yet we can know that he probably didn’t feel very good. How would you feel if you were thrown into a pit? [Get feedback] How would you feel if you were sold by your family? [Get feedback]

The thing is, God never left Joseph. He was always there. Just like God the Father was with Jesus when he was on the cross. God sees us when we go through hard times.

3) I Can Have Hope in Tough Times

You will need two balloons, some tape and a pin or needle. Learn how to do the pin through the balloon science experiment using this video by Champak. Make sure you practice this before you show it to the children! It will be much more effective if you don’t pop the balloon! 

Say: Imagine that this balloon is a person. [Show everyone the inflated ballon]. Some people look like they are doing fine and everything around them is going well… but when tough times come… [Get out a needle/pin and show it to the children]… they have no hope! [Pop the balloon]

[Pull out a second deflated balloon] Other people spend time with God and allow Him to breathe His life into them. [Start blowing up the balloon] They listen to Him and obey Him, they trust in His Word and are filled with His hope. Remember, hope is an expectation that God will do what He has promised. We can have hope even in tough times. Why? Because Jesus is our hope – He is the hope of the World! Jesus is God; He is our Rock and firm foundation, He never changes and He brings life and life to the full! We can put our hope in Jesus.

When tough times come for these people – those who love and obey Jesus [Hold up the pin/needle and slowly push it through the darker part of the balloon – not popping it because you have practiced!] They don’t lose hope! They don’t lose hope because they know that God is with them; that they have the Holy Spirit [God’s Spirit – remind them- Father, Son and Holy Spirit!] to help them and God on their side!

Do you have your hope in Jesus? Will you survive tough times? Jesus did and next time we will find out if Joseph did also!

 

SEARCH the Scriptures:

Mud Walk. (regular/widescreen) You will need a big tray of mud. Children will wade through the mud with their fingers (or toes!) to find the hidden Bible verses about tough times. You will want a tray (or bucket!) for each team. the first team to find all the bible verses is the winning team.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

1. Have you ever been through a tough time? What was it like?
2. How has God helped you and your family in a tough time?
3. How does it feel once you have ‘come through’ a tough time?
4. What can you do for those that are having a tough time?

 

SENSE How You Feel:

Encourage the children to think about the question as they do one of more of the activities below.

1. Create a ‘Joseph in the Pit’ cup craft using the Two Joseph and Pit opening Templates and the Cup wrap template. Simply cut out all the items, take a paper cup, wrap the cup wrap around it and stick it down. Stick the Joseph down inside the bottom of the cup. Take the whole circle from the pit opening and stick it to the bottom of the cup, face up. Stick the circle with the hole to the rim of the cup.
2. Color/Fill in the ‘Hope When Life is the Pits’ activity booklets for 5-7s and 8-11s.
3. Color and decorate an Anchor Printable to go with the verse; ‘We have this hope as an anchor for the soul; safe and secure’ (Hebrews 6:9). Download the anchor printables here.
4. Mould out of playdough or make a pit/well out of lego for Joseph.
5. Make a pit using Lego or building blocks.
6. Re-enact the bible story and film it to show parents and guardians (if you have permission to film).

 

SEEK God:

1. Pray for friends and families that are having a tough time. Write or draw your prayers on a heart or on the back of an Anchor Printable.
2. Pray for the children that are having a tough time at the moment (Is anyone struggling with bullying? Family problems? Friendship break ups? An ill relative or friend?)