Check out our FREE Joseph Sunday School Lesson. Sometimes pride can get us into trouble. We let our ego run wild, and we can end up in a bad spot. The good news is, God can work out bad things for good - even our own mistakes. Pride can get us into trouble, just as it did Joseph, but when we trust God and ask forgiveness, he will work things out for our good. If you’ve made a goof this week, take it to the Lord. Admit your sins to God, and God will take those mistakes and turn them into something good. In this lesson, kids will learn that God gives us second chances and works things out for our good.This lesson is great for every Children's Ministry, Kids Church, and Sunday School! And, if you like this lesson we have over 100 more free Sunday School Lessons for Kids! Also, be sure to check outBible Crafts 6-Week Children's Ministry Curriculum.
BOTTOM LINE:
God gives us second chances and works things out for our good.
OBJECTIVE:
Kids will ask God to give them a second chance.
KEY PASSAGE:
Genesis 37:1-11, 37:19-20, 37:26-27, 45:4-8, The Story of Joseph
MEMORY VERSE:
“Our help comes from the Lord. He is the Maker of heaven and earth.” Psalm 124:8 (NIrV)
SUMMARY:
Sometimes pride can get us into trouble. We let our ego run wild, and we can end up in a bad spot. The good news is, God can work out bad things for good - even our own mistakes.
SIMPLE PRAYER:
Dear God,
Thank you for giving us second chances.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen
MEMORY VERSE
“Our help is in the name of the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.” Psalm 124:8 (NIV)
“Our help comes from the Lord. He is the Maker of heaven and earth.” Psalm 124:8 (NIrV)
LARGE GROUP:
Have the kids read the verse together. Read it normally, then in a whisper, then really, really loud!
SMALL GROUP:
Give all the kids a Bible. Then after you read the verse, give them the reference and see who can find it first in their Bible.
SKIT
ART SCHOOL: THE DOG
ITEMS NEEDED:
A table
A piece of paper
Modeling clay
CHARACTER BREAKDOWN:
1M, 1F
CHARACTERS:
Professor Ted - An art teacher
Kristen - An art student
Kristen is working on clay at a table. Ted enters.
TED: Hello, Kristen.
KRISTEN: Hello, professor.
TED: How’s the clay project going?
KRISTEN: Great! Perfect! It’s going just perfect.
TED: Let’s see, what project did you choose to do?
Kristen hands Ted the paper.
KRISTEN: Here you go.
TED: Ah, yes, the puppy dog. How to make a puppy dog out of modeling clay in ten easy steps.
KRISTEN: Easy? Ha! Yeah, right.
TED: Looks pretty simple to me. Step one, make a body. Step two, the legs. Then the neck, the head, the ears, the tail…
KRISTEN: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know. Real simple.
TED: So let’s see it. Where’s the dog?
KRISTEN: Right here.
Kristen holds up a snake made of clay.
TED: Where?
KRISTEN: Right here in my hands!
TED: That’s a dog?
KRISTEN: Yeah! What do you think?
TED: Kristen, did you follow the directions?
KRISTEN: Okay, you got me! I didn’t follow all the directions.
TED: Did you follow any directions?
KRISTEN: No. Not even step one. I didn’t even read it.
TED: Ah, I see. You thought you knew better, and so you decided to do it yourself.
KRISTEN: I messed up, didn’t I?
TED: Sounds to me like you let pride get the best of you.
KRISTEN: Are you going to give me an F?
TED: Well, I can’t give you an A for making a dog. But this… this doesn’t look half bad.
KRISTEN: It doesn’t?
TED: Well look what you did. You made a few mistakes early on, but you recovered and turned that dog into a lovely…
KRISTEN: Snake.
TED: Exactly.
KRISTEN: You really like it?
TED: Kristen, I love it. You made a mistake, but you still turned it into art. It reminds me how God takes my mistakes and turns them into something good.
KRISTEN: Really? You got all that from a snake?
TED: Not just a snake. A truly lovely snake.
KRISTEN: I never thought of snakes as being lovely. But thank you.
TED: Kristen, it’s important to stay humble, and not let pride get in the way. But when pride does get the best of us, it’s good to remember that God can still work things out for the best.
KRISTEN: I’m glad you think so. Remember that when you see the truck I made.
TED: You made a truck?
Kristen holds up another clay snake.
KRISTEN: Well… not exactly!
OBJECT LESSON
ITEMS NEEDED:
Chocolate chip cookies
Did you know that chocolate chip cookies were never supposed to happen? They were first made completely by mistake! A woman named Ruth Wakefield was preparing to make a batch of chocolate cookies when she realized she was out of baker’s chocolate, a key ingredient in her recipe. Instead of waiting until she could get some baker’s chocolate, she broke a sweetened chocolate into little bits and mixed it into the dough. Ruth thought that as the chocolate got hot, it would melt and make the whole cookies chocolate, but instead, the little bits stuck together. Ruth Wakefield goofed, and she invented the most popular cookie in the world!
We all make mistakes. We all let pride get the best of us. We all have times when we think we know better, and we do things our way instead of the right way. There are consequences any time we make a bad decision, but the Bible tells us that God works all things out for good - even our biggest mistakes.
When pride gets the best of you, confess your sins to God. Then trust God to work things out for good.
LARGE GROUP GAME
64 PICK UP
ITEMS NEEDED:
A box of 64 crayons
INSTRUCTIONS:
Choose one player for this game. Spread the 64 crayons from the box on a table. The player will have 60 seconds to try and put all the crayons back inside and close the box. If they can complete the task before time runs out, they win a prize.
VARIATION:
Make this a race between two players to see who can refill a box of 24 to 64 crayons the fastest.
WHAT’S THE POINT?
God can make something good out of our mistakes, just as he did for the boy with the coat of many colors.
LARGE GROUP LESSON
BOTTOM LINE:
God gives us second chances and works things out for our good.
OBJECTIVE:
Kids will ask God to give them a second chance.
KEY PASSAGE:
Genesis 37:1-11, 37:19-20, 37:26-27, 45:4-8, The Story of Joseph
INTRO:
How many fans of arts and crafts do we have here today? How many of you guys are really, really good at coloring, or drawing, or doing some sort of art? How many of you can’t even make the simplest thing out of modeling clay? Come on adult leaders, let’s see your hands too. Who can’t make a simple animal out of clay to save their life?
Making crafts is a fun activity no matter what your age. It’s as popular with adults as it is with kids. It’s fun to create a drawing or a painting or a sculpture or a quilt or anything you can imagine out of thin air. Arts and crafts allow us to use our imaginations, and in the end, we create something unique and special. We have a piece of art we can put on display proudly and say, “I made that!”
If you’re a beginner, or you just need some guidance as to where to start, there are plenty of kits and instruction books out there to help you make something creative. A pre-packaged craft with all the materials needed and detailed instructions can be very helpful, especially if you’re just learning a craft. But sometimes all of us get tempted to do things on our own. Pride causes us to think, “I don’t need to follow directions, I can do this.” But when we stray from the instructions, we often find that we’ve skipped something important. We have to backtrack. We have to undo a mistake. Or we have to come up with some creative way to cover the mistake we’ve made. Sometimes it turns out bad, but many times, we find the mistakes we make can lead to something even better.
Today in our Bible story, we’re going to meet a young man who let his pride get the best of him. His name was Joseph, and he was the second youngest of twelve brothers. Joseph was their father’s favorite, and his father once gave him a coat of many colors that made his brothers jealous. Joseph didn’t make things better when he started bragging about these dreams he had.
READ GENESIS 37:1-11
How many of you know where this is going? How many of you can guess? Let’s see what happened to Joseph because of his pride
READ GENESIS 37:19-20, 37:26-27
MAIN POINT:
God had a plan for Joseph. He would not have had these dreams if it were not so. But Joseph’s pride got him in trouble. He was sold as a slave, and later, he was thrown in jail. He spent many years away from home, alone, in a dungeon. Joseph made a big mistake, but in spite of this mistake, God was still with him. One day, God made him second in command of all Egypt, and when a terrible famine struck the land, Joseph’s dream came true. His brothers needed food, and they bowed before him, not knowing who he was.
GENESIS 45:4-8, The Story of Joseph
Joseph made a mistake, but God used that mistake for good. He used Joseph to save his family from starvation. It’s a great reminder that when we make mistakes, God is faithful to forgive us, and he will work things out for our good.
DRIVE IT HOME:
The Bible tells us that God is faithful to forgive us when we confess our mistakes. God sent Jesus to die for our sins, and when we admit we are sinners and ask for forgiveness, God wipes our slate clean. That doesn’t mean we won’t have consequences for our mistakes, but he will forgive us.
God also works out everything for our good. Just as he did with Joseph, he can use our mistakes to help us grow, to teach us, and to prepare us for new challenges down the road.
If we want God to work things out for the good, we need to first confess our sins. We need to tell God we are sorry, and we need to tell anyone we have wronged we are sorry as well. Once we’ve admitted our mistake, we need to also forgive ourselves. We need to remember that none of us are perfect, and we need to give ourselves a break as well.
When we ask forgiveness and forgive ourselves, it is then that God can work things out. Like an artist who had made a big mistake on a masterwork painting, God can show us the brushstrokes to make something beautiful out of our errors. God will use our mistakes to grow our faith and to show others he is faithful to forgive.
Pride can get us into trouble, just as it did Joseph, but when we trust God and ask forgiveness, he will work things out for our good. If you’ve made a goof this week, take it to the Lord. Admit your sins to God, and God will take those mistakes and turn them into something good.
CLOSE WITH A SIMPLE PRAYER:
Dear God,
Thank you for giving us second chances.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen
SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION (K-2ND)
ICEBREAKER:
What is your favorite color?
MEMORY VERSE ACTIVITY:
Psalm 124:8
Give all the kids a Bible. Then after you read the verse, give them the reference and see who can find it first in their Bible.
SMALL GROUP GAME/ACTIVITY:
Go around the group in a circle. Have each person name a color, and see how long you can keep the game going. Colors cannot be repeated. Anyone who repeats a color or gets stumped has to sit down. Who is the last person standing, and how many colors can you name?
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
Read Genesis 37:1-11, 37:19-20, 37:26-27, 45:4-8
What was Joseph so proud of?
What did Joseph’s brothers do to him?
How did God help Joseph save his family?
Can God make good things out of our mistakes?
Do you have a mistake you need to confess to God and ask him to make things turn out for good?
SIMPLE PRAYER:
Dear God,
Forgive our sins, and work things out for our good.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen
SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION (3RD-5TH)
ICEBREAKER:
What is your favorite color?
MEMORY VERSE ACTIVITY:
Psalm 124:8
Give all the kids a Bible. Then after you read the verse, give them the reference and see who can find it first in their Bible.
SMALL GROUP GAME/ACTIVITY:
Go around the group in a circle. Have each person name a color, and see how long you can keep the game going. Colors cannot be repeated. Anyone who repeats a color or gets stumped has to sit down. Who is the last person standing, and how many colors can you name?
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
Read Genesis 37:1-11, 37:19-20, 37:26-27, 45:4-8
Why was Joseph so full of pride?
Why did Joseph’s brothers sell him as a slave?
How did God turn Joseph’s situation around and do something good?
Do you believe God can turn your mistakes into something positive?
Can you think of something you need to give to God so he can work it out for good?
SIMPLE PRAYER:
Dear God,
Forgive our sins, and work things out for our good.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen
For your convenience, you can also download the entire PDF version of thisJoseph Children's Ministry Lesson(just click the link).
Here's a video from Saddleback kids that you might find helpful to go along with your Sunday School Lesson on Joseph.
