ELEMENTARY KIDS & FAMILIES date
1.9 God takes the pain and brokenness that comes with abandonment and restores it to a story brimming with redemption. Inspire (for parents) Earlier this year my husband and I decided to begin an adoption process—a journey that will no doubt be one of the most exciting, difficult, and rewarding experiences of our life. When I say “we decided to begin an adoption process,” I don’t really mean that we decided. I mean that we were completely blindsided and captured by the idea of adoption. Our son had recently turned two when we began thinking of having a second child. God pierced our hearts with compassion for “the orphan” of Scripture and made it very clear that our second child would be born on a different continent. This idea still takes my breath away! To be adopted is to live in the complex place between abandonment and restoration. As Christians, we’ve been adopted by the Father. God takes the pain and brokenness that comes with abandonment and restores it to a story brimming with redemption. Adoption is one of the truest examples of redemption and, as adoptive parents, we have the honor of watching and
participating in this redemptive act. As we watch God take a child’s brokenness and heal it, we’re reminded of His ability to heal all our brokenness—to make all things new. The places in our lives that are broken will not stay that way if we let God get a-hold of them. He is forever in the business of redeeming His adopted children and creating beauty out of ashes. Our God saves!
Getting Started
by Sarah Carter
oseph, Part II) is 42—47; 50 (J es en G : re tu rip Sc od Saves Main Point: G your family to designed to allow This resource is your children d’s Word before for parents have time in Go n use God’s pla is ca Be . ch ur ch attend children’s faith, l nurturers of their ua irit sp e th be to lly, your children you grow spiritua we know that as lly as well. will grow spiritua
Equip (for parents) Joseph was amazed God saved his life, the lives of the people in his family, and the people who came to receive grain from his storehouses in Egypt. Joseph said in Genesis 50:20 that though his brothers had “intended to harm [him] … God intended it for good to accomplish … the saving of many lives.” There is no doubt this was miraculous. But we know today God meant to save many more lives than just these—and in a much deeper, personal, and more miraculous way. Paul says in Colossians 1:13–14, God “rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” God meant to save all lives and all souls through the gift of His Son, Jesus Christ. Therefore, the story of Joseph’s life was one of the many miraculous and wonderful pieces of The Big God Story that led up to the birth of Jesus Christ. And it is a story we choose to see in light of The Big God Story—the story in which Jesus and the salvation He offered to us is the center.
RE
MEM “For BER he c ver hos sE befo e re th us in the e cr him wor e l d to ation o blam f be h eles oly a Eph s in esia n his ns 1 sigh d :4 t.”
Support
(for parents & kids) Sometime this week read through the biblical account of Joseph in Genesis 42:1–20 and 45:1–15. At the end of each section, think of a question that reviews what you just read such as, “Why did Joseph’s brothers go to Egypt?” or “How did Joseph’s brothers react when he told them who he was?” Just for fun, tell your children a personal story of redemption that has played out in your own life. After you have shared this story with your children, read the story of Joseph to them and explain to them this is another story of a time when God used something hard and painful for His good. After you have read the story, ask your children if there are any discouraging situations in their own lives right now they want God to work through. When you are finished, let your kids know what they just heard is a part of The Big God Story in the Bible and that they will hear it in church. Ask your children if they have any questions. Close your time by praying for the situations in your kids’ lives that they need God to work in. Pray for Him to move and for Him to give each of you patience and trust to wait on Him to work in each of your lives.
© 2010 David C Cook. TruResources are developed in partnership with ROCKHARBOR Church and a national network of family and children’s ministry leaders. All rights reserved.