City Kids Parent Take-Home
Genesis 37 + 50
Big truth: God works all things according to his perfect plan.
Christ connection: Jesus was harmed and then exalted to rescue those who wronged him (us!)
Response: Children who forgive those who hurt them, just as Christ has forgiven them.
Memory verse: Ephesians 2:8-9 song
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Dinner-table questions
- What are some of the hard and bad things that happened to Joseph? How did God use those things for good? What does this teach us about God?
God used Joseph’s life to save his family from famine, (the family Jesus would come from!). God is sovereign: He rules over and is in control of all things. - Like Joseph, Jesus was treated very badly, though he was completely innocent. How did God use Jesus’ death for good?
God used Joseph to save some people. God used Jesus to save many people. - When forgiveness is hard, what can we remember about Jesus?
Like Joseph, Jesus forgives and does good to those who sinned against him – that’s us! We can ask God to help us forgive.
Family Discipleship activity: God plans good
Gather the ingredients to make something sweet together (like cookies). Shh! Don’t tell your children what you’ll be baking!
Let the children taste some of the individual ingredients, like baking powder, salt, flour, butter.
Do these things taste good? No!
Just as these ingredients don’t taste good, in our broken world there are some things that happen to us that are not good.
What are some of the bad things that can happen to us? (Discuss!)
Follow the recipe to make your treat. Your children might have started to guess what you’re making!
We can trust that God uses bad things for our good – after all, even Jesus’ terrible death was planned for good!
Sometimes we have to wait a long time to see how God uses bad things for good, just like you weren’t sure what we were baking with the ingredients. Sometimes we won’t understand why until Jesus returns and restores everything. But we know that even in bad situations, God is still always good! And He is working in us to make us more beautiful like Jesus.
Link love
This week’s podcast episode: Spotify / Apple
This week’s Bible story video:
You’ll find a longer Joseph movie on Right Now Media.