Basic Schedule by Grade Level
X:30X:40
XX:00 XX:05
XX:00 XX:05
XX:05 XX:20
XX:20 XX:35
XX:35 XXX:00
XXX:00XXX:05
XXX:05XXX:10
K-1 Volunteers Early Arriver
Clean up
Time @
room 251
Large Group
Activity
Room 251
Story Time
@
room 251
Worship
Time
@
Room 251
Small
Groups
@
Room 251
Review
Time
@
Room 251
Prayer
Time/Dismiss
Room 251
2-3 Volunteers Early Arriver
Clean up
Time @
room 251
Large Group
Activity
Room 251
Story Time
@
room 251
Worship
Time
@
Room 251
Small
Groups
@
Room 251
Review
Time
@
Room 251
Prayer
Time/Dismiss
Room 255
Clean up
Time @
room 257
Large Group
Game
Room 251
Worship
Time @
room 257
Story Time
@
room 257
Rally @
room 254
Rally @
room 254
X:40XX:00
@
room 251
@
room 251
4-5 Volunteers Early Arriver
Rally @
room 254
@
room 257
Small Groups
@
Room 257
Prayer
Time/Dismiss
Room 257
Unhappy Days
Bible Story: Unhappy Days (Joseph in Jail) • Genesis 40 (Supporting: Genesis 39)
Bottom Line: When life doesn’t make sense, you can trust God is with you.
Memory Verse: “Trust in the LORD with all your heart. Do not depend on your own
understanding.” Proverbs 3:5, NIrV
Life App: Trust—putting your confidence in someone you can depend on.
Basic Truth: I can trust God no matter what.
WEEK 2
Early Arriver Activities
Welcome Kids as they arrive and interact with them as they engage in free play. After clean up time, guide the
students to have a large group game, welcome, rules discussion & story time.
Welcome & Large Group Game
Who’s the Tallest
What You Need:
 15-20 Paper plates, tape
What You Do:
 Use the tape to mark a start and finish line about 5 feet apart.




Encourage the kids to line up behind the starting line.
Let each child take a turn walking from the start to the finish with one plate on his/her head.
If they make it, they go on the next round and add another plate. If the plates fall, they’re out.
Continue adding one plate each round, eliminating kids who lose their plates, until someone is
declared the “Tallest Man/Woman!”
Adaptation: If you don’t have enough space in your room for all groups to do this activity at the same time,
consider finding a place in the hall or an unused room for a couple groups to go and do the game. Or utilize the
entire room’s space by moving supplies and personal items to the sides of the room and making the start/finish
lines a little closer together.
What You Say:
“That was a super silly circus game.” Lead your group to the Large Group area.
Reviewing the Class Rules & Praying for the Offerings
-Be respectful
-Be obedient
-Have FuN!
Offering – Teaching children that every good and perfect gift comes from God and we can
share our gifts with others. Our money is one example of the gifts that God provides for us.
When we share with others, God’s Kingdom is strengthened and people see Christ in us.
For the next month, our offering will go to SECOR. You can help by bringing your offering each week
when you come to church and putting it in our offering Jar. Lead children in praying for offering.
Story Time:
Setting up the story
CG: Trust Slide
Trust simply means putting your confidence in someone you can depend on. Last week we started a
story about a young man named Joseph, and we left with a bit of a cliffhanger! Let me see if I can
give you the highlights so far.
Open the Bible to Genesis 40, and affect a dramatic, movie trailer announcer voice, deep and over-enunciated.
“Last week, in the Book of Genesis, Jacob was the proud father of a dozen sons.
Switch voice to a more normal sound, but use different pitches for the different sons.
“Hi, Dad! Hey, Pop! Cheerio, Father!
“But one son was the favorite. His name … was JOSEPH. (Prompt the kids to “ooh.”)
“Joseph was no ordinary boy! He was the favorite! He got a colorful coat as a gift! He had dreams,
yes, dreams, of bundles of grain bowing to his bundle, suns, moons, and stars all bowing down low to
him. It was as if he was destined for great things! (Prompt the kids to “ahh.”)
“But his brothers—who hated Joseph—had other plans. They grabbed him! Threw him in a well!
Found some traders! Sold him for silver! Lied to their father! And now, poor Joseph was all alone in a
foreign land, Egypt, a slave to a man named Potiphar.” (Prompt the kids to “ooh.”)
“Even though Joseph was alone, God was with him. It is here that our story continues.”
JOSEPH IN POTIPHAR’S HOME
“Potiphar lived in Egypt and was captain of Pharaoh’s guard. He became Joseph’s master. ‘Joseph! I
don’t know what kind of man you are, but I’m only giving you small responsibilities first! Go and clean
up after my horses!’ ‘Yes, sir!’ said Joseph. ‘I’ll make those stalls so clean you could eat off the floor!’
‘That’s disgusting. Just clean it.’
“Joseph worked really hard at whatever jobs Potiphar gave him. And, remember how I told you God
was with Joseph, even though Joseph was all alone? God was with Joseph the whole time and
helped him do well! ‘Joseph! You cleaned up after my horses so well that I could eat off this floor!’
“Soon, Potiphar was so impressed with Joseph and his work that he gave Joseph bigger and better
things to do. ‘Joseph! Take my robes to the cleaners! ‘Yes sir, Potiphar sir! I’ll make sure your robes
are so clean you can put them on the floor in the horse’s stall and eat off it! ‘I believe you this time.
And after that, take my chariot for a test drive! ‘No way! The one with the gold wheels?’ ‘Of course! I
trust you to take care of it!’
“And that’s the way it went for a while. Joseph worked so hard and God helped him do so well, that
soon Joseph was in charge of everything Potiphar owned—the house, the land, the staff, the food,
the money, everything! Potiphar didn’t have a care in the world—all because Joseph was taking care
of everything. All was right in the world, until …”
JOSEPH PUT IN CHARGE
“Joseph worked hard at the jail just like he had at Potiphar’s house. God was with him and gave him
success in all he did. Soon, Joseph was in charge of all of the prisoners, the schedule, and everything
in the prison! One day, however, the guards dragged in two new prisoners. And, since Joseph was in
charge of the prison now, it was up to him to sort them out, get them checked in, and make sure they
were taken care of.
“After some time in the prison, Joseph went to check on the two men. He found them really upset
about something, and stopped to ask what was wrong. ‘I’m the cupbearer to the king. I taste his drink
first to make sure it’s not poisoned!’ And I’m a baker. I prepare the tastiest breads and pastries for the
King himself!’ ‘Well, that doesn’t sound too bad. Why are you both upset?’ ‘WE’VE HAD BAD
DREAMS! WE HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THEY MEAN!’
“Joseph saw that the men were pretty freaked out. He told them that only God knows what dreams
mean, and he asked them to tell him what their dreams were. ‘My dream was weird. I saw a vine with
three branches that grew really ripe grapes. Then I squeezed the grapes into Pharaoh’s cup and I
gave it to Pharaoh. What does that mean?’ Joseph smiled. God had given him the meaning of that
dream—and it was good! He told the cupbearer that in three days, Pharaoh—the king—was going to
give him his job back and release him from prison!
“The cupbearer was really happy with the news! ‘And, if you don’t mind,’ said Joseph, ‘when you get
out of here, tell Pharaoh about me. I’m here and I didn’t do anything wrong. I’d love to get out of
prison too.’
“Now it was the baker’s turn to tell. ‘Okay, here goes. I had three baskets full of bread, all prepared
for Pharaoh, but these birds from high overhead kept swooping down and pecking away at my bread!
They stole it and ate it all! So, what do you say? It’s it good news like the cupbearer’s?’
“It wasn’t good news for the baker. God gave Joseph the meaning of this dream, and it was that in
three days, Pharaoh was going to put the baker to death for his crime. And you know what? In exactly
three days, Pharaoh called for the two men, and everything happened exactly as Joseph said it
would.
“Remember how Joseph asked the cupbearer to talk to Pharaoh for him to get him out of jail? Well,
the cupbearer forgot all about him. For years, Joseph was stuck in jail for something he didn’t do.
Even though Joseph couldn’t see how anything that had happened made sense, he still knew God
was with him. He still trusted that somehow all the pieces would fit together in the end.”
WRAPPING UP THE STORY
“Wow, that’s tough. Joseph was in trouble for something he didn’t do. Has that ever happened to
anyone before? Has anyone ever gotten in trouble for something you didn’t do? It stinks, right? It
totally doesn’t make sense, which brings us to today’s Bottom Line.
CG: Bottom Line Slide
“When life doesn’t make sense, you can trust God is with you. Can you say that with me?”
“That’s right, and although I don’t think any of you have ever been thrown in jail, there are times when
life just doesn’t make sense and we get confused at what God is doing in our lives. I bet that’s
something that Joseph must have felt. His life just didn’t make any sense at all! But there’s something
we say a lot around here: I can trust God no matter what.
“It’s true! You can trust that God is going to work everything out. God will help you, cheer you on, and
work things out. It may feel like things are all going wrong, but have faith. God can turn things around.
Let’s pray.”
PRAY
“Dear Lord, we’ve all felt like Joseph—getting into trouble for something we didn’t do—and
sometimes things in life just don’t make sense. I thank You that You see all things and that You
promise that You’re working for good in everything. I pray that Your voice is the loudest thing we hear
in this noisy world, and that it helps us see how You’re helping us every day. We love You and we
ask these things in Jesus’ name, amen.”
CG: Bottom Line Slide
“When life doesn’t make sense, you can trust God is with you. Can you say that with me?”
Worship Time
Help kids enter into the presence of God by engaging in worship. Leaders should make every effort to
learn the worship moves and sing with the kids setting the example of what corporate worship looks
like.
Small Group Time
1. Scenario Bingo (application activity)
What You Need:
 “Bingo Cards;” 1 for each kid, “Bingo Scenarios” Activity Page, markers, prizes, 1 for each kid
What You Do:
 Give each kid a bingo card and a marker.
 Hold the “Bingo Scenarios” in your hand like they’re playing cards. Hold them out to one kid
and have her choose a card.
 Ask her to read what’s on the card.
 Tell kids to find the picture on their bingo cards that matches the scenario and cross it off.
 Ask kids how they would feel if that scenario really happened. How might that affect them and
their family? How would they react? How would God want them to react?
 Continue playing until all scenarios have been discussed or you run out of time.
 When kids get “bingo,” give them a prize, but tell them to keep playing.
 After the game, if any kids are left without a prize, give them one also.
What You Say:
“Those are all some pretty tough situations. Life would certainly not make much sense if any of those
things happened to you. And it would be perfectly normal to be angry. But God doesn’t want us to
stay there in our anger and confusion. He wants us to trust in Him and remember that He’s always
with us. Even good things can happen in the middle of bad situations, just like when you won a prize
in the middle of a game about bad situations! God has a big, big plan that we can’t see, and we need
to remember that He is in control and is there for us. When life doesn’t make sense, you can trust
God is with you.”
2. Lean on Me (memory verse activity)
What You Need:
 Bibles
What You Do:
 Look up Proverbs 3:5 with the kids and read it aloud several times.
 Pair the kids up. Make sure the kids in each pair are of a similar size. If you have an odd
number of kids, some will have to take turns.
 Tell pairs to sit back to back.
 Challenge them to stand up without using their hands, by pressing against each other’s backs
while they push up. As they do so, they should say the verse together.
 Do this several times, letting kids switch partners, if there is interest.
What You Say:
“Just like you had to lean on someone else and trust them to keep pushing on you so you wouldn’t fall
down and could complete this activity, you also need to lean on God and trust Him to hold you up
when things don’t make sense. When life doesn’t make sense, you can trust God is with you,
kind of like you trusted your friend was with you in this activity.”
3. Target Practice (memory verse activity)
What You Need:
 Bibles, about 8 paper plates, scissors, prepared paper towel roll/cardstock “peg”
What You Do:
 Help the kids look up Proverbs 3:5 and read it together.
 Ask the kids to help you cut the center circle out of the paper plates. (Note: Some kids may still
be nervous about using scissors, let them know that you’re there to help if they need it.)
 On the outside of each paper plate ring, write the words of the verse; two words per plate. (If
your kids can write, let them help you.)
 Mark a starting line on the floor with tape. Place the paper towel stand about two feet away.
 Line up kids behind the starting line. Let them take turns throwing the paper plate rings around
the paper towel stand.
 Once all the rings have been thrown, help kids work together to put them in verse order and
read it together.
 If time allows, repeat, moving the paper towel stand a few inches further away and start again.
Adaptation: If space is an issue, set up as many areas as possible and place a paper towel stand in each.
After groups have created their verse rings out of paper plates, lead them over to the paper towel stands.
Divide kids according to the number of stands you have. If possible, let two groups share each stand and
compete against each other.
What You Say:
“Way to go on that ring toss! And we learned our memory verse too. I’m so glad that we don’t have to
‘depend on our own understanding’ because in life, there will always be things that don’t make sense.
But we can always depend on and trust in God. When life doesn’t make sense, you can trust God
is with you.”
Pray and Dismiss
Guide then in prayer: “God, we know that You are good and powerful. You know everything that
happens to us, and You know how things will work out in the future even when we don’t. Help us to
trust You during those hard times when life doesn’t make sense. Help us to remember that You are
always with us. In Jesus’ name, amen!”