Christmas in may

“For a child will be born for us, a son will be given to us, and the government will be on his shoulders. He will be named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6


  • Read Isaiah 9 and Luke 2 to your family. 


For the entire semester, we have learned about the many ways that God works in His people’s lives. God worked through the family of Abraham to bring Jesus into the world. In Isaiah 9, we read a prophecy of Jesus’ birth. A prophecy is a prediction of what is going to happen, it’s kind of like seeing into the future. Hundreds of years before Jesus was born, a prophet named Isaiah knew that Jesus would be born. Then in Luke 2, this prophecy was fulfilled, and Jesus was born! 


  • God sent Jesus to the Earth, in order to save us from our sin. What does that mean? 


We know that sin is when we disobey God. God wants us to live in obedience to him for our own good. Sin entered the world after Adam and Eve were created. Eve was tricked by the serpent and ate the fruit from the tree that God commanded them not to eat from. Then, Adam ate the same fruit from the forbidden tree. God then promised that He would send someone from Adam and Eve’s family to save us from the sin that separates us from God. It almost seemed like this savior would never come. But, we know that God is faithful, so when He made the promise, He kept it. Even though He did not immediately send a Savior, He kept his promise, and his timing was perfect. Jesus was born, at the timing of God’s perfect will, so that there could be peace between sinners and God. Without Jesus, we would be separated from God. Jesus is who saves us from the death that we deserve for our sins. Jesus was sent to save you and me from our awful sin. 


Imagine waiting a long time for a promise to become true. There would be times when you feel like the promise won’t ever be fulfilled, and it feels like you might as well give up. In all the passages we have read so far, there have been many times when the situation seemed hopeless: Abraham and Sarah couldn’t have kids, Jacob stole his brother’s blessing, Joseph’s brothers wanted to kill him. But we know that God is faithful, and that He always does what He says He will. God will always do what He promised, even if to us it looks impossible. This is because, referring back to our big picture question, God can do all things according to His character. 


  • Lead your family in a prayer that thanks Jesus for coming to the Earth and saving us from our sin. 


Help your children memorize the Big Picture question and Passage from Super Sunday: 


Is there anything God cannot do? God can do all things according to His character. 


“I have been the Lord your God ever since the land of Egypt; you know no God but Me, and no Savior exists besides Me.” Hosea 13:4


Kindness

“You planned evil against me; God planned it for good to bring about the present result- the survival of many people.” Genesis 50:20


  • Summarize Genesis 42-46 and 50 to your children. Be sure to emphasize that Joseph was highly ranked in the time of the famine, and when his brothers came to buy food, they did not recognize Joseph. Joseph however, recognized them and had the power to kill them or deny them food, and instead he chose to show kindness to his brothers.


When we read the Bible, we learn a lot of different things. One important thing we learn is God’s character. Throughout scripture, we learn how God treats his people and creation. In today’s passage we learn that God is kind. 


  • What does it mean for someone to be kind? 


To be kind means “having or showing a friendly, generous, and considerate nature.” This means that a kind person helps people in need and puts other people above themselves. Kindness could look like holding the door for a friend or talking to a peer at school who sits by themselves. It could also be sharing your snack with someone who doesn’t have one or even playing toys with your little sister. 


  • How did Joseph show kindness to his brothers? 


When his brothers, who sold him into slavery, came to get food during the famine, Joseph could have easily told them no. Joseph was in charge of passing out the food, so he could have made sure they did not get anything to eat. Joseph could have even gone so far as to put his brothers in jail or even have them killed. But Joseph didn’t do these things; instead he extended kindness to them and provided for their needs. 


  • How does God show us kindness? 


God shows kindness to us by showing us love, mercy, compassion, and forgiveness. God does not have to forgive us of our sins, but he chooses to because he loves us. God’s love is patient and kind. God is so kind that he chose to create us, so that we could have a relationship with him. He’s so patient because he’s always willing to forgive us when we disobey him.


God showed Joseph kindness by protecting him when his brothers wanted to kill him, when he was a slave, and then when he was imprisoned. Joseph knew how to be kind to his brothers, because he was shown kindness by God. Since God has been kind to us, we should show his kindness to the people around us.


  • Lead your family in a prayer that thanks God for his kindness, and asks Him to show us to be kind. 


Help your children memorize the Big Picture question and passage from Super Sunday: 


Is there anything God cannot do? God can do all things according to His character. 


“I have been the Lord your God ever since the land of Egypt; and you know no God but Me, and no savior exists besides Me.” Hosea 13:4


God can do anything!

“‘You will be over my house, and all my people will obey your commands. Only I, as king, will be greater than you.’” Genesis 41:40


  • Summarize Genesis 39-41 to your children. Highlight how Joseph became a slave, continued to trust God and then became a highly ranked servant. Then explain that although he trusted God and did what was right, he was still sent to prison.


Joseph was only 17 years old when his brothers sold him into slavery. A short time after he was working for Potiphar, he was thrown into prison even though he was innocent. Joseph had a lot of bad things happen to him while he was just a teenager!  Joseph’s situation seems a little bit hopeless. It seemed as if nothing would ever go right for poor Joseph even though he constantly did what was right.


That however, was not the end of the story! God shows up, like he always does because he is a faithful God. While Joseph was in prison, God gave him the power to understand and interpret dreams. Joseph interpreted two fellow prisoner’s dreams, and then he told Pharaoh what his dream meant. Pharaoh was the king at this time, so after Joseph explained his dream, Pharaoh was amazed and made Joseph the second highest ranked man in Egypt. 


  • Have you ever been in a situation when things seemed like they would never get better? 


Sometimes life is really hard. It was, at least for Joseph. Joseph probably felt hopeless and like nothing good could ever come of his situation. But then God steps in and takes care of Joseph; he doesn’t leave him in prison to die. God does the same thing for you and me. Even when it looks really bad, maybe your family is having some problems, or you can’t seem to make any friends, God is there with you. God can do ALL things according to His character. 


  • What does “God can do all things according to His character” mean? 


This means that since God is perfect, and that he is only looking out for His glory, and our good, that there is absolutely nothing he cannot do to help us. So, when we face tough situations and hard times, we have to remember that God can do miracles. Joseph’s life seemed like it was over once he was sent to prison, but God saved him. God made Joseph the second highest-ranked man in all the land, meaning he was a pretty powerful person! God can turn bad situations into huge blessings. There is nothing that our God cannot do!


  • Lead your family in a prayer that thanks God for doing all things according to His character. 


Help your children memorize the Big Picture question and passage from Super Sunday: 


Is there anything God cannot do? God can do all things according to His character. 


“I have been the Lord your God ever since the land of Egypt; and you know no God but Me, and no Savior exists besides Me.” Hosea 13:4


being thankful

“Then he had another dream, and told it to his brothers. ‘Listen,’ he said, ‘I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.’” Genesis 37:9


  • Read Genesis 37 to your children. 


In kid’s choir, we learned that the 10th commandment states, “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor,” Exodus 20:17. We learned that to covet something means that a person becomes so jealous of what someone else has, that they cannot appreciate what they have for themselves. In Genesis 37, Joseph’s brothers coveted the plan God had for Joseph’s life. 


  • Who is Joseph and what is the plan for his life? 


Joseph is the son of Jacob. Joseph had ten older brothers and one younger brother. One night in a dream, God showed Joseph that one day all of his brothers would bow down to him. Then a few nights later, God told Joseph through another dream, that Joseph would one day rule over his entire family, even his parents. 


Joseph’s brothers did not like this. The older sons were supposed to get the birthright and have the biggest blessings, yet little Joseph was just told that he would rule over his whole family. The brothers were already jealous of Jacob’s love for Joseph, and now they were coveting the plan God had revealed to Joseph. The brothers decided that they were done with Joseph, so they planned to kill their own little brother! However, God did not let them kill Joseph. God instead, protected Joseph from his brothers’ anger. 


  • What happens when we covet something? 


As we see with Joseph’s brothers, when we become so obsessed with what others have, we can’t remember what we are blessed with. God had a plan for every single one of Jacob’s sons, but they could not see that because they were too busy coveting the plan for Joseph’s life. They became so jealous that they forgot God blessed them too. 


This happens to us all the time. Maybe our sister gets a new toy and we want it so badly, that we forget about the other fun toys we have. Maybe our friend gets a new pair of shoes and we get so jealous, that we forget we got a pair of cool shoes last week. It is so easy to be distracted by what everyone else is doing or getting. But, we have to remember that God has blessed us too. God does not have favorites in the family; we are all equally loved by him. 


  • Lead your family in a prayer that thanks God for all his blessings.  


Help your children memorize the Big Picture question and passage from Super Sunday: 

Is there anything God cannot do? God can do all things according to His character. 


“I have been the Lord your God ever since the land of Egypt; you know no God but Me, and no Savior exists besides Me.” Hosea 13:4