God loves us (even when we mess up)

 Kindergarten-2nd
July 13-14, 2013
Jacob and Esau
Genesis 25 and 27
God loves us (even when we mess up).
Hang out with kids (10 minutes): Ask
kids about their week. Get kids into
groups and play games together.
Large Group (30 minutes): Model what
it looks like to be engaged in large group.
And don’t be afraid to redirect kids who
aren’t!
Keep in mind, kids might not be perfectly
engaged during small group. Do your
best to engage every kid, but don’t let
redirecting take the place of reviewing
the story. You may be surprised at what
they pick up…even if they appear to be
disengaged!
Small Group (20-30 minutes): Keep
kids in small groups until parents arrive.
If you all have extra time at the end, you
can review the video and songs together.
As kids leave, remind them to use the
pictures they got in small group to retell
the story at home!
The story of Jacob and Esau reminds us
that God’s love isn’t fair, and he gives
blessing to those who don’t deserve it.
As frustrating as that is sometimes, it’s
actually great news for us! Today, try to
help kids understand that God loves
them.
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Goal: to review the story and then
emphasize what this story reveals about
God
Why? This story is tough because it
doesn’t seem fair that Jacob gets the
blessing. And it isn’t fair. But neither is the
fact that God loves us!
Tip: As kids retell the story, stop and help
kids RELATE. Ask them if they’ve ever
tricked a brother or sister or lied to their
parents. Ask them if a family member has
been really mad at them…and if they’ve
ever felt bad about a bad choice and wanted
to follow God instead.
CONNECT
1. Share your name and one word to describe the best part of your week (if you’ve
already
connected before large group, move directly to question #2).
2. Share your favorite part of today’s story—or one part that surprised you.
REVIEW
Give each kid a paper with a storyboard. Then choose ONE of the small group options:
• Assign each kid a frame (or 2-3, depending on the number of kids in your group) Go
around the table and retell the story as a group.
• Put the kids in pairs. Let them retell the story to each other.
*If kids get stuck, have them help each other or help them look up parts of the story in
Genesis 25 and 27.
DIG DEEPER
Discuss the following questions. Let kids speculate and try to get them to come up with
answers on their own:
3. Why do you think Esau was willing to sell his birthright (blessing, money, etc) for
soup? (he didn’t care about his birthright or take it seriously)
4. Why did God bless Jacob, even though he tricked his dad? (God shows his love to
us even when we mess up)
5. How do you think Jacob felt when he got God’s blessing?
6. Read today’s verse again: I John 3:1: How great is the love the Father has given
us so freely! Now we can be called children of God. And that’s what we really
are! Why do you think God wants people who mess up to be part of his family?
(Continued on the next page)
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*Pray with the kids and thank God that he wants us to be part of his family, even
when we mess up!
Extra time? Have kids turn their papers over. Talk about how God wants us to treat our
families when we’re following him. Ask kids to draw a picture of themselves treating a family
member well: giving their mom a picture, hugging a sibling, sharing toys with somebody, or
saying thank you are some ideas to get you started.
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Today’s script incorporates a game that
asks kids to walk back and forth to two
different sides of the room. If you think
that might not work well with your group,
tweak it! Have kids point to a side or
stand and sit—whatever works best for
you!
In this story, kids will see Jacob making
some pretty bad choices. Explain the
tricks he pulled on his family, but really
emphasize how even though Jacob was
imperfect, he still got to be part of God’s
family.
Hi everybody! Welcome to Kids’ Club. It’s great to see you here today. Today, we’re going to
hear a story about two brothers. They were part of God’s family.
INTRO: REVIEW OF GOD’S FAMILY
But first, let’s review the very beginning of God’s Story. (Show timeline; point to the image of
creation.) Remember how God created the world and everything was good? (Point just below
it.) But then, Adam and Eve stopped trusting that God loved them and chose to disobey him.
So all the wrong things in the world began.
But even though Adam and Eve disobeyed, God loved them anyway! He planned a Great
Rescue.
And God would send the Rescuer, Jesus, through a family. (Point to Abraham.) God chose to
start his family with a man named Abraham. He promised Abraham and his wife Sarah that
they would have a son. They had to wait…and wait…and wait… for years. But finally they had
a son named Isaac! Because God always does what he says he’ll do.
(Point to the image of two twins.) Well, later, Isaac had two sons of his own! And today, we’re
going to hear their story.
JACOB AND ESAU INTRO GAME
(Show picture of Jacob and Esau.) So the two brothers were named Jacob and Esau. Can
you guys say Esau? (Let kids say: Esau!). Great job! And they were twins, but they didn’t
look…or act…the same!
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We’re going to play a little game to get to know the brothers. Everybody stand up! (Let kids
stand up.) I’m going to tell you about one of them. I want you to look at the two and decide if
you think I’m describing Jacob or Esau. If you think I’m describing Jacob (point to Jacob on the
screen), walk to this side of the room (point to the same side of the room). If you think I’m
describing Esau (point to Esau on screen), walk to this side of the room (point to the same side
of the room). Any questions? (Let kids ask questions.) Great! Let’s go:
(Read through the following descriptions, one at a time):
• Was born covered in hair (Esau)
• Was born with smooth skin (Jacob)
• Liked to cook indoors (Jacob)
• Liked to hunt outside (Esau)
• Was his dad’s favorite kid (Esau)
• Was his mom’s favorite kid (Jacob)
• Was the oldest (Esau)
Wow, you guys are good! Go ahead and sit back down. (Let kids sit.) As you’ve probably
figured out, these guys were very, very different. And they really didn’t get along! Raise your
hand if you’ve ever had a fight with a brother, sister, cousin, or some person in your family. (Let
kids raise their hands—raise your hand, too). Yeah, unfortunately me too… (Act sad; show that
it’s a bad choice.)
THE STORY OF JACOB AND ESAU
Well, these guys fought a lot. And one day, Jacob played a pretty awful trick on Esau. We’re
going to watch a video about these twins. As you watch, I want you to see if Jacob still got to be
a part of God’s family, even though he was mean to his brother.
Video: God’s Story / Jacob and Esau
(Re-summarize Jacob’s trickery.) Wow, I can’t believe it. Esau was supposed to get the
blessing and money because he was the oldest son. But Jacob tricked Esau into trading all that
for a bowl of soup! Then Rebekah helped Jacob trick his dad into thinking he was really Esau.
So Jacob DID get Isaac’s blessings!
JACOB WAS A PART OF GOD’S STORY (AND WE CAN BE, TOO)
After all those bad choices, did Jacob get to be part of God’s family? (Let kids say: yes!) Yes,
he sure did! Jacob started following God! And he had kids…who had kids…who had kids...who
had kids—and on and on and on until one day, Jesus, the Rescuer was born into his family!
That’s great news for us because we’ve ALL made bad choices. Yet does God want US to be a
part of his family? (Let kids say: YES!) He sure does! No matter what, we can start following
Jesus! A guy named John wrote this in the Bible:
SLIDE: I John 3:1: How great is the love the Father has given us so freely! Now we can
be called children of God. And that’s what we really are!
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WORSHIP
Wow, I’m so glad God loves ALL of us and wants us to be in his family. Let’s sing a couple
songs to thank him. The first song reminds us that no matter who we are, God loves us and
wants us to be in his family. The second song reminds us that every time we make a bad
choice, God can help us start following him again!
Music Video: Who I Am
Song: I Get Down
PRAY
Ask somebody to come thank God that he lets people who mess up be a part of his family.
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Coloring pages: Soup
1 per kid: God’s Story- Jacob & Esau (pdf in
curriculum folder: please print in color on white
paper)
Markers
Bible
1. Image: timeline (jpeg in curriculum
folder)
2. Image: Jacob and Esau (jpeg in
curriculum folder)
3. Video: God’s Story: Jacob and Esau
4. SLIDE: I John 3:1: How great is the
love the Father has given us so freely!
Now we can be called children of God.
And that’s what we really are!
None
Tell me about Jacob and Esau.
Why did Jacob get God’s blessing?
Jacob and Esau were brothers who didn’t get
along. In fact, Jacob deceived his brother and
father to get the blessing that Esau deserved as
the firstborn. The cool thing is, he still got to be
part of God’s Story! That’s good news for us,
because we mess up, too. You can read this
story together in Genesis 25 and 27 in the Bible
or watch a video about it on
CrossroadsKidsClub.net.
5. Music Video: Who I Am
6. Music Video: I Get Down