Jacob and Esau Sunday School Lesson
Jacob and Esau Sunday School Lesson For Kids:
BOTTOM LINE:
God is always willing to give second chances.
OBJECTIVE:
Kids will learn that God can set them back on track if they admit their mistakes.
KEY PASSAGE:
Genesis 27:1-41. Jacob Gets Isaac's Blessing
MEMORY VERSE:
“I will proclaim the name of the Lord. Oh, praise the greatness of our God.” - Deuteronomy 32:3 (NIV)
SUMMARY:
Sometimes we make mistakes. Huge mistakes. But with God, it's never too late to move in a new direction.
SIMPLE PRAYER:
Dear God,
Help us to get back on track when we take a wrong turn. Forgive our mistakes and make us new.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen
MEMORY VERSE
“I will proclaim the name of the Lord. Oh, praise the greatness of our God.” - Deuteronomy 32:3 (NIV)
“I will make known the name of the Lord. Praise God! How great he is!” - Deuteronomy 32:3 (NIrV)
LARGE GROUP:
Have the kids read the verse together. Read it normally, then in a whisper, then really, really loud!
SMALL GROUP:
Give all the kids a Bible. Then after you read the verse, give them the reference and see who can find it first in their Bible.
SKIT
DIARY OF A GODLY KID: ANGRY BROTHER
ITEMS NEEDED:
A magazine, an envelope
CHARACTER BREAKDOWN:
3M
CHARACTERS:
Greg- A wimp
Rod- Greg’s brother
Mel- A TV Producer
Greg enters.
GREG: So the other day, I got into some trouble. I mean real, big trouble. You may think you’ve been in trouble, but believe me, I am in far worse trouble than you. It all started when my brother read about this contest.
Rod enters with a magazine.
ROD: I don’t believe it! I’m going to be on TV!
GREG: What?
ROD: There’s a contest to pick someone to be on TV at the World Skateboard Championships! First prize is a chance to be a guest announcer and a check for ten thousand dollars!
GREG: How do you enter?
ROD: All I have to do is write an essay on how I am the biggest skateboarding fan. It’s so easy!
Rod runs off.
GREG: Easy? What do you mean easy? You can’t even write! (to the audience) Okay, so he can write. A little. But he’s not very good. I thought about offering to help, but I didn’t want to get in his way. I forgot all about the contest after a couple of days. But then, one day, a man showed up at the door.
Mel enters with an envelope.
MEL: Excuse me, I’m looking for Rod Godly. Are you Rod Godly?
GREG: Who wants to know?
MEL: I’m Mel Reiner, producer of the WSC.
GREG: What’s WSC?
MEL: The World Skateboard Championship! We had a contest, and Rod Godly wrote the winning entry. He gets to be on TV, and he wins ten thousand bucks!
GREG: Ten thousand bucks? TV?
MEL: Do you know where Rod Godly is?
GREG: I’M ROD GODLY!!!!
Greg looks at the audience.
GREG: Oooooh.
MEL: Congratulations, pal! Let’s get down to the arena to get you ready!
Mel exits.
GREG: I don’t know why I said that. I didn’t mean to steal Rod’s prize. But it’s TV. And it’s ten thousand bucks! Rod won’t be mad, will he? Will he?
Listen for a reply from the kids.
GREG: He’s gonna kill me, isn't he? (looks up) God, I hope you’re listening. I’m in real trouble. I sure hope you can do something to help me out.
OBJECT LESSON
ITEMS NEEDED:
Hot Wheels cars
Pick a few kids from the group who love Hot Wheels. Let them pick cars, and then race them. See who can get his car to go the fastest and the farthest. Then ask him to do a trick.
I want to know if any of you Hot Wheels experts can do a trick. Who can make his car drive down a bit and do a U-turn? Can anyone get his car to turn when it’s not in his control?
You can’t do it, can you? Sure, if you had a track, you could do it, but without something to turn that car around, there’s no turning back once it leaves your hand.
Some people feel that way about their life and the choices they make. They think they are stuck going one way and can never turn around. Thankfully, we have help. God can step in. He can forgive us our sins and get us on the right track.
Hot Wheels can make turns when we help them, whether we guide them by hand or lay out the track for them. Let’s thank Jesus that he has a hand in our lives and the power to get us back on the right path when we go astray.
LARGE GROUP GAME
U-TURN RELAY
ITEMS NEEDED:
Four orange cones, two trays, eight Solo cups
INSTRUCTIONS:
Choose two teams of four. Each team will be given a tray with four cups on it. This is a relay race. Players will race from one cone to the next and then back, making a U-turn as they round the farthest cone from the start. If they drop any cups, they must stop and put them back on the tray before continuing. First team to complete the race wins.
VARIATION:
To make it extra difficult on the older kids, have them round the second cone and return to the first cone and their team backwards.
WHAT’S THE POINT?
God can help us make a U-turn when we make a wrong decision.
LARGE GROUP LESSON
BOTTOM LINE:
God is always willing to give second chances.
OBJECTIVE:
Kids will learn that God can set them back on track if they admit their mistakes.
KEY PASSAGE:
Genesis 27:1-41. Jacob Gets Isaac's Blessing
INTRO
What are you thankful for this year? Are you thankful for a good school year? For good friends? Are you thankful for your family? Are you thankful you have a four-day weekend coming very soon in which you can really be thankful?
It’s that time of year when we all take stock of our lives and count our blessings, and for the next few weeks, we’re going to look at some things to be thankful for. Specifically, we’re going to look at the things godly kids are thankful for.
God has truly blessed us. He gave us the world we live in, and every good thing we enjoy in this world. But there are some very special things we want to thank God for as Thanksgiving approaches.
We start today with one of the more unusual stories in the Bible. It’s the story of two brothers, fraternal twins. Dad loved the older twin. Mom loved the younger. And God had told their mother that the younger one would be very, very special. Sounds kind of like a soap opera, doesn’t it?
This dysfunctional family was headed for a breakdown, and today, we’re going to read about that breakdown. But beneath this story of a family torn apart is good news for all of us.
READ GENESIS 27:1-41
MAIN POINT
I told you this was a dysfunctional family! Isaac loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob. Rebekah knew that Jacob, not Esau, was the one God wanted to use to raise a mighty nation, but rather than let God work things out on his own, Rebekah decided to deceive her husband and get Jacob to go along with it.
Rebekah made a bad choice.
Jacob could have refused his mother’s plan, but he went right along with it. He pretended to be Esau, he lied to his dad, and he stole the blessing that was meant for his big brother.
Jacob made a bad choice.
Esau was so angry with his mother and his brother, he vowed to kill Jacob. Rebekah and Jacob’s bad choices had split their family in two. But without spoiling the story, I’m going to let you in on the good news. In spite of all the bad choices this family made, everything turned out okay. It didn’t happen because of the bad choices. It happened because down the road in this story, Jacob got right with God. He let God set him back on track, and he let God make things right!
DRIVE IT HOME
The story of Jacob is really a summary of the whole Bible. The Bible tells us that mankind made a bad choice by rebelling against God. Adam and Eve sinned, and they put all of us on the wrong path, just as Jacob did when he deceived his father.
But rather than leave us to stay on the wrong road, God took action. He used men like Jacob to bring about his plan of salvation. Hundreds of years later, Jesus was born to one of Jacob’s descendants. Jesus was God’s Son, and he died for our sins. Because he died, he is able to forgive our sins, all the bad choices we make. What’s more, Jesus can set us on the right path. He can help us make a U-turn so that we can lead a life that honors and pleases him.
We’ve all made bad choices, haven’t we? When we make fun of someone, that’s a bad choice. When we ignore or disobey our parents, that’s a bad choice. When we lie, when we cheat, when we act selfishly, those are bad choices.
God loves us, in spite of our bad decisions. And even though we continue to make bad choices, he can use us to share his love with others. When we give our lives to Jesus, we are telling him, “I’m sorry. Please help me make this right.” It’s the first step in the right direction, the first step down the path God wants us to follow.
Many people get so down on themselves for their bad choices. They begin to think they are truly bad people, and they don’t think anyone can forgive them. Jesus can! He forgave a liar like Jacob. He forgave other sinners in the Bible too. There’s nothing you can do that Jesus can’t forgive and make right.
That’s something to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. As godly kids, we can be thankful that Jesus loved us enough to die for us. We can be thankful that he can forgive all our sins. And we can be thankful that no matter what we’ve done, Jesus can make things right again!
CLOSE WITH A SIMPLE PRAYER
Dear God,
Help us to get back on track when we take a wrong turn. Forgive our mistakes and make us new.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen
SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION (K-2ND)
ICEBREAKER
What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving?
MEMORY VERSE ACTIVITY
Deuteronomy 32:3
Give all the kids a Bible. Then after you read the verse, give them the reference and see who can find it first in their Bible.
SMALL GROUP GAME/ACTIVITY
Read the story for the kids, and have them act out the parts in the story.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Read Genesis 27:1-41
Who was Jacob?
What did Rebekah want Jacob to do?
How did Esau respond to Jacob’s trickery?
Who made bad choices in this story?
How can we make things right when we make bad choices and sin?
SIMPLE PRAYER
Dear God,
Forgive us our sins, and forgive us for the bad choices we’ve made. Set us on the right path so that we will live a life that honors you.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen
SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION (3RD-5TH)
ICEBREAKER
What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving?
MEMORY VERSE ACTIVITY
Deuteronomy 32:3
Give all the kids a Bible. Then after you read the verse, give them the reference and see who can find it first in their Bible.
SMALL GROUP GAME/ACTIVITY
Have the kids create a skit based on today’s story.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Read Genesis 27:1-41
What did Jacob and Rebekah do to trick Isaac?
How did Esau respond to Jacob’s trickery?
Why do people make bad choices like the ones Jacob and Rebekah did?
Who can help us make a U-turn when we make bad choices?
How is Jesus able to forgive us and help us make things right?
SIMPLE PRAYER
Dear God,
Forgive us our sins, and forgive us for the bad choices we’ve made. Set us on the right path so that we will live a life that honors you.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen
For your convenience, you can also download the entire PDF version of this Jacob and Esau Children's Ministry Lesson (just click the link).
Here's a video from Crossroads Kids Club that you might find helpful to go along with your Sunday School Lesson on Jacob and Esau.
Take a look at the links below for other ideas for teaching a Jacob and Esau Sunday School Lesson:
Jacob and Esau Worksheets - DLTK-Bible
Jacob and Esau Coloring Pages
Jacob and Esau coloring page | Free Printable Coloring Pages