VBS 2020 - Week 1 - Joseph
Our Lighthouse
Our Lighthouse
Our VBS theme: Our Lighthouse is a reminder to all of us that in these uncertain times and in times where we feel tossed about by the waves in our lives, that God is there for us to show the way through the darkness. Our theme was inspired by the song My Lighthouse by Rend Collective. We would encourage you to play this song to start each day throughout our summer VBS! Talk with you child(ren) about the song and what it has to do with our theme for the week (and don't worry, or theme for next year: Shipwrecked means we will be hearing plenty of this song next summer too!) We have embedded the lyric video below, but if you scroll all the way to the bottom, you will see the official music video as well.
This Week''s Lesson includes an introductory video, Bible reading(s), a lesson video, 2 crafts (forgiveness necklace and Jacob's sons stick puppets), online games, a song of the day, a family devotion and a closing prayer. Scroll down to find each part of the lesson.
Our first story is about Joseph and how in all the dark moments in his life, he kept his faith in God and eventually was able to see God's greater plan for him and forgave his brothers.
Lesson Intro Video
The Story of Joseph
The story of Joseph comes from Genesis 37, and Genesis 39-46. Note however, that there are parts of the story you may not want to read together as a family. Potiphar's wife attempting to seduce Joseph (Genesis 39) might be too "mature" for our VBS audience, but is handled well for younger children in the video below ("he was blamed for something he didn't do").
Our recommendations for readings:
For younger children: Genesis 37, Genesis 41-45.
For older children: you can read the same as above, but you may consider adding Genesis 40 (which ends with pharaoh killing the chief baker)
We encourage you to read over the story and decide which verses to "skip" and let the videos cover and which verses to focus on. This is a long story, so you may want to divide it up and read a little over multiple days of the week.
Forgiveness Necklace Craft
Printed template of Forgiveness Necklace (see below) - if you have cardstock, it would work best and be more durable
Yarn or string
Crayons/colored pencils/markers
Hole punch
1. Have your child(ren) color the necklace pieces. There are two blank pieces that allow them to draw their own picture.
2. Cut out all of the squares and hole punch the top right and left corners of each piece.
3. String the yarn through the squares and tie the ends together to form a necklace (note: check before you tie it that the yarn will be able to fit over your child's head)
Modifications if you don't have a printer: Draw even sized squares on a sheet of paper and have your child draw pictures that make them think of forgiveness. Then follow the steps above.
Talk with your child about how important forgiveness is and how hard it must have been for Joseph to forgive his brothers.
Source: www.daniellesplace.com
Online Games
Note: all games use text from the Hands on Bible we use in our Sunday School program, but you can search online for the NLT translation and get the same Bible text.
Update: If you played this game earlier in the week, you may be wondering why a correct answer said that Joseph received a brand new car from his father! That's because we forgot to select a correct answer for that question and the default is to mark correct the first choice we type. We have now selected the (actual) correct answer. Sorry! You may need to refresh if it still is showing an incorrect answer for you.
Craft Stick/Pencil Puppet Craft
Craft Sticks or Pencils (or something else to tape/glue Jacob's sons to)
Jacob's sons pattern printed on paper (see below)
Glue/tape
Crayons/colored pencils/markers
1. Have your child(ren) color the pictures.
2. Cut them out (make sure to leave the names on them)
3. Glue/tape them to the craft stick/pencil
4. Act out the story of Joseph with them!
You may also want to have some additional characters in the story! Children can draw Jacob and pharaoh to act out those parts of the story as well.
Song of the Day
"It always goes to those who don't deserve"
"When the pain they caused is just too real"
And yet, as we'll talk about this week, couldn't God say those same things about all of us? Each Sunday in worship (online or in person) we say the Lord's Prayer and we say the words "forgive us our trespasses; as we forgive those who trespass against us". The song says "Help me now to give what You gave me".
As our introductory video said today, how heavy can anger and bitterness feel? The song says that forgiveness is "anger's own worst enemy".
At the bottom of this lesson (below the "about us" section) we have included a video entitled "Story Behind the Song -Forgiveness". We are putting it there mostly for our Jr./Sr. High participants and for the adults who are reading this. The reason is because the song is inspired by something that might be a little too "heavy" for younger children. It is about a woman who forgave the man who killed her daughter in a drunk driving accident. We would encourage you to watch it. It stands as a challenge to us in our lives for the grudges and bitterness we hold toward others.
Family Devotions/Activities
Go to families.sharefaith.com
Type in the code: i3m4f7
Closing Prayer
Schedule note
If you would like to pick up some of the materials for this and future lessons, see this link:
Registration
https://faithpenfield.org/resources/vbs-2020
This year's VBS is open to anyone regardless of which city, state or even country they are from! You do not need to live in the Rochester area to participate.
Steve and Carrie Ford
Email: flcchildren@gmail.com
Website: https://faithpenfield.org/ministries/childrens-family
Location: 2576 Browncroft Boulevard, Rochester, NY, USA
Phone: (585) 381-3970
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FLCPenfield
Twitter: @flcchildren