3PK

July 13-14, 2014

Genesis 25-28

Jacob and Esau

God loved Jacob, even though he messed up

First 10 minutes of the service hour: Engage kids in cooperative play activities to help them connect to other kids Next 5 minutes: Connect Time Next 25 minutes: Large Group Last 25 minutes: Snack and Small Group Finish early? Repeat the activity! Kids this age learn through repetition. Or, check out the end of the activities section to find an idea for this week.

Be sure to check for Allergy Alert stickers before passing out snacks. Also, give kids only 1 snack option and change it up each week. Really, they will be OK if they don't get to choose exactly what they want. This will cut down on the distribution time. You can use snack time as an opportunity to review the Bible story, too.

Explain to parents that we learned about Jacob and Esau and how Jacob messed up, but God still loved him. Make sure they get a parent page, too.

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.

                                                                                                               

GOAL: Connect time is all about engaging kids in a short, interactive game to prepare them for Large Group.

o Clean up! (10 minutes after the service start time, when you get the 5-minute warning from the presenter)

o Line Up o While in line, tell kids we’re going to hear about a guy named Jacob. He

got to be part of God’s family, even though he messed up and did some not-nice things. That’s because God loves ALL the time. Then practice making different emotion faces (just make whatever expression comes to mind and kids will follow your lead; feel free to add hand motions!):

§ God loves us when we’re: • Confused • Frustrated • Sad • Joyful • Scared • Disgusted • Cautious • Lonely • Hopeful • Bored • Shy • Tired • Always!

If the music hasn’t started yet, remind kids that when their listening ears are on, their mouths should be closed tight. Then practice that together! For fun, hop into Large Group like HOPS.

   

Goal: Kids will (1) retell the story by looking at pictures and (2) remember the main point of today’s story through fun repetition. Why? This is a complicated story, but we want kids to remember how much Jacob was loved by God! Tip: Make today really fun. This story is pretty heavy, but the fact that God chooses imperfect people to be part of his family is great news!

1

REVIEW THE STORY *This is a complicated story. Review it by looking at pictures.

1. (Show picture of Jacob and Esau.) Who were the two guys in today’s story? (Jacob and Esau)

2. One day, when Esau was really hungry, what did he ask Jacob for? (a bowl of soup) 3. (Show picture of soup and money.) How did Esau get Jacob’s soup? (he gave him

his birthright or money) 4. (Show Jacob at Isaac’s bedside.) Later, when Isaac was really old, why did Jacob

pretend he was Esau by wearing Esau’s stinky clothes and putting hair on his arms? (he wanted to get Isaac’s blessing)

5. (Show angry Esau.) How did Esau feel when he learned Jacob tricked their father? (he was angry)

6. (Show Jacob getting blessing.) Did Jacob get to say sorry and follow God? (YES!) SAY: Even if you have messed up like Jacob, God still loves you! ACTIVITY TO CELEBRATE GOD’S LOVE *We want kids to have fun and remember the highlights of today’s story.

• Play musical parachute: play a Kids’ Club CD. While it is playing, kids can make waves. When the music stops, everyone quickly gets under the parachute or sits down on the ground.

• Place a beach ball on top of the parachute and have kids work together to keep it on the chute. As they bounce the ball, come up with phrases of praise to shout together. Here are some ideas:

(Continue on the following page)

                                                                                                               

 

 

2

o God loved Jacob! God loves me! o I love Jesus! o God loves _______ (say each kid by name)!

• Have kids hold the chute and walk in a circle while making waves. *Pray with the kids, thanking God that he loves us even though we mess up.

Extra time? Play Duck, Duck Goose as a group. Or put on a crazy parade: Walk around the room in a variety of ways--on your heels, on your toes, forward, backward, quickly, slowly, left, right, standing tall, bent over, arms in front, arms behind, hands on head, hands on toes, with a partner, alone in a line, in a curved line, etc.! You can lead or choose kids to be leaders. And to mix things up, add music. Keep kids engaged until parents arrive.

                                                                                                               

Focus on the main point of the story: Jacob was a special part of God’s family, even though he messed up! (There are other truths in this story too, but this is an important and accessible one for kids.)

Find ways to keep kids engaged by having them repeat a word or phrase, act something out, make a face or a motion... every couple minutes give them a way to engage verbally or kinesthetically. Double bonus - It will actually help them remember what you're saying too!

1

Presenter: Hi Friends! Welcome to Kid’s Club. I'm _______________ and I'm really glad you're here today. Before we get started, I want you to meet my friend HOPS. She’s going to remind us of the kind of choices we can make today Kids’ Club. Video: HOPS 3 Put On Your Listening Ears (about 1 minute) REVIEW Presenter: (Hold up the Bible for kids to see.) This is God’s story. Out of all the stories in the world, this story is the most important. It’s God’s Rescue plan. Remember how God made the whole world and everything was good? The world was perfect! Give me a smile and a thumbs up! (Let kids respond.) Then change your tone: But THEN, something bad happened. Adam and Eve disobeyed God, and sadness and death came into the world… Show me your sad face. (Let kids respond.) This was really sad. But even though Adam and Eve disobeyed God…God loved them anyway! And he planned a great rescue so that Adam and Eve—and you and me—can be close to God again! God started a family for the rescuer, Jesus. God chose to start his family with a man named Abraham and his wife Sarah. He promised them 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. Well, later, Isaac had two sons of his own! And today, we’re going to hear their story. JACOB AND ESAU WERE DIFFERENT (Click to show image of Jacob and Esau.) As you can see from this picture, these guys were very, very different. Jacob had smooth skin. Rub your arms (model and let kids respond). Esau

                                                                                                               

2

had hairy skin. Touch your hair (model and let kids respond). His hair was everywhere! Jacob liked to cook. Pretend to stir (model and let kids respond). Esau liked to hunt. Pretend to look for animals (model and let kids respond). And guess what? They were SO different, that 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… THE STORY OF JACOB AND ESAU Well, these two guys fought a lot. And one day, Jacob played a pretty awful trick on Esau. We’re going to watch a video about these brothers. 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! Wow, let’s pray together and thank God that he loves us, no matter what! (Pray, breaking it into small, repeatable phrases.) Pray: Hi God! Thank you for loving Jacob, even when he messed up. Thank you for loving me too. I love you back! In Jesus’ name, Aaaaa-MEN. WORSHIP Time to tell God we love him through singing! Stand up and let’s praise him and thank him for making everything and loving us! Song: Thank You Lord Song: Whole Wide World

                                                                                                               

THIS PAGE LEFT BLANK INTENTIONALLY

                                                                                                               

THIS  PAGE  LEFT  BLANK  INTENTIONALLY  

                                                                                                               

                                                   

1

Emotions game – no supplies needed

21

Per kid Coloring sheets: Soup

2

Per room 5 images printed in color on cardstock (template of images in curriculum folder) 1 parachute beach ball (any size) 1 CD player with any Kids’ Club CD

1. Video: HOPS 3 Put On Your Listening Ears 2. Image: Jacob and Esau 3. Video: God’s Story: Jacob and Esau 4. Song: Thank You Lord 5. Song: Whole Wide World (with kids singing on screen)

1

Tell me about Jacob and Esau. How did God feel about Jacob and Esau?

2

1

Bible

2