High Wire

September 4th 2016 .:. .:. Room 301

Pathways Kids Weekend Small Groups

[]

This curriculum is for the 4th, 5th and 6th graders.

This Weeks Scope

Family Unties
Bible Story: Family Unties (Joseph Sold by His Brothers) Genesis 37, 39:1-2
Bottom Line: When you think youre alone, 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: Trustputting your confidence in someone you can depend on.
Basic Truth: I can trust God no matter what.

Welcome Time
Welcome kids and spend time engaging in conversation and catching up. Get ready to experience
todays story.
Before kids arrive, pray for each regular attendee by name. Pray for those who might visit your group
for the first time. Pray specifically for the kids you know are struggling with friendships or walking
through tough situations at home. Ask God to make His presence known to these kids and that they
would trust that He is always with them.
The Bible Story:
Joseph, a young man of seventeen, was tending the flocks with his brothers, Now Israel loved Joseph
more than any of his other sons, because he had been born to him in his old age; and he made an
ornate robe for him. When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they
hated him and could not speak a kind word to him. Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his
brothers, they hated him all the more. He said to them, Listen to this dream I had: We were binding
sheaves of grain out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves
gathered around mine and bowed down to it. His brothers said to him, Do you intend to reign over us?
Will you actually rule us? And they hated him all the more because of his dream and what he had said.
Then he had another dream, and he 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. When he told his father as well
as his brothers, his father rebuked him and said, What is this dream you had? Will your mother and I
and your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before you? His brothers were jealous of
him, but his father kept the matter in mind. Now his brothers had gone to graze their fathers flocks near
Shechem, and Israel said to Joseph, As you know, your brothers are grazing the flocks near

Shechem. Come, I am going to send you to them. Very well, he replied. So he said to him, Go and
see if all is well with your brothers and with the flocks, and bring word back to me. Then he sent him off
from the Valley of Hebron. When Joseph arrived at Shechem, So Joseph went after his brothers and
found them near Dothan. 18 But they saw him in the distance, and before he reached them, they plotted
to kill him. Here comes that dreamer! they said to each other. Come now, lets kill him and throw him
into one of these cisterns and say that a ferocious animal devoured him. Then well see what comes of
his dreams. When Reuben heard this, he tried to rescue him from their hands. Lets not take his life,
he said. Dont shed any blood. Throw him into this cistern here in the wilderness, but dont lay a hand
on him. Reuben said this to rescue him from them and take him back to his father. So when Joseph
came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robethe ornate robe he was wearing and they took
him and threw him into the cistern. The cistern was empty; there was no water in it. Judah said to his
brothers, What will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? Come, lets sell him to the
Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him; after all, he is our brother, our own flesh and blood. His
brothers agreed. So when the Midianite merchants came by, his brothers pulled Joseph up out of the
cistern and sold him for twenty shekels[b] of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt. When
Reuben returned to the cistern and saw that Joseph was not there, he tore his clothes. He went back to
his brothers and said, The boy isnt there! Where can I turn now? Then they got Josephs
robe, slaughtered a goat and dipped the robe in the blood. They took the ornate robe back to their
father and said, We found this. Examine it to see whether it is your sons robe. He recognized it and
said, It is my sons robe! Some ferocious animal had devoured him. Joseph has surely been torn to
pieces. Then Jacob tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and mourned for his son many days. All his sons
and daughters came to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. No, he said, I will continue to
mourn until I join my son in the grave. So his father wept for him. Meanwhile, the Midianites sold
Joseph in Egypt to Potiphar, one of Pharaohs officials, the captain of the guard.
Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt. Potiphar, an Egyptian who was one of Pharaohs officials,
the captain of the guard, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him there. The LORD was with
Joseph so that he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master.
Remind kids of this story this week. For next week, large group will be first and then small group for the
fall.

Activity #1
Discussion Question Time
What You Need: Bible, Paper, Markers
If you lead mostly older kids, consider asking these discussion questions:
Has there been a time when youve felt alone and needed the reminder that God is with you?
(Note: This could lead to some sensitive situations. Please handle with care and encourage kids
to respect each other. Of course, if there are dangerous situations referenced, involve families
and leadership as appropriate.)
Do you believe and feel that God is always with you? Why or why not? What can we do to build
our trust in God? (Read the Bible and spend time with God so we invite His presence into our
hearts regularly, talk to older people we trust who believe in God and have a spiritual
connection to Him.)
Read Psalm 139:8-12. Ask kids to think of a place where they really need to trust that God is
with them: at home, at school, on the field or court, in the dance or music studio, at the doctors
office. If you have the materials, let them draw a picture of this place and caption it with verse
10: Your hand would always be there to guide me.
What would you say to a friend whos having difficulty trusting God in one of these places? What
would be different about that friends situation if he could trust and believe that God is with him?

Activity #2
What You Need: Bibles; paper towels; markers
What You Do:
Gather the kids and look up the verse, using the guidelines below if needed. Read it aloud a few
times.
Then, let kids write each word or phrase of the verse on a tissue.
See if they can hide the tissues up their sleeve and pull them out in order.
Finding verses with 4th, 5th and 6th graders: Our verse is from Proverbs. Ask kids to tell you whether thats in the
Old Testament or the New Testament. (Old) Proverbs is in the middle of the Bible, right after Psalms. When they find
Proverbs, explain that the big numbers on the page are the chapter numbers. Tell them to find chapter 3. Explain that
the small numbers are verse numbers. Tell them to them find verse 5 in chapter 3.

What You Say:

When a clown at the circus does this trick, he hides a whole string of handkerchiefs up his sleeve and
pulls them out one at a time. When youre little, you think its magic; you never can be sure that what
hes doing is really what it seems. Your eyes trick you into thinking the handkerchiefs just appeared.
And its not just magic thats like that. Were all human, with human understanding. But God is GOD!
Thats why its important to not only trust our own eyes, but to trust in God like our verse says.
Sometimes it feels and looks like no one is with you. Thats when you need to remember that [Bottom
Line] when you think youre alone, you can trust God is with you.

Prayer
Opposites

Time

What You Need: No supplies needed

What You Do:
Gather the kids and guide them to say this phrase as part of a responsive prayer: I trust that
You are with me.
What You Say:
Dear God, thank You for promising to be with us even when we feel alone. This week, when I feel
alone because I am facing a big problem (I trust that You are with me). When I feel alone because
my family or friends misunderstand me (I trust that You are with me). When I feel alone at school or
at home or during practice or in my neighborhood (I trust that You are with me.) No matter how alone
I feel, I will remember Your promise and (I trust that You are with me). Amen.
Dont forget this week that [Bottom Line] when you think youre alone, you can trust God is
with you.
Lead your kids to large group.