PRAYER / WORSHIP ACTIVITY
OPTION 1
5 mins
You will need: circles cut from plain paper and felt-tip pens (enough for one per person). As people come in, give them each a paper circle and a pen. Ask them to draw a simple facial expression on their circle to represent how they are feeling today. During the opening song, pass round a bag or dish for everyone to place their face in as a sign of giving themselves to God, no matter their circumstances or feelings.
OPTION 2
5 mins
Lead a time of prayer from the front. If it is usual in your tradition for people to pray out loud, encourage them to add in their own words as you lead. If not, this can be done silently.
Father God, we thank you for all the amazing things you are. We thank you that you are… (Leave space for people to add in their describing words about God.)
Father God, we are sorry for the times when we let you down and don’t live in ways that honour you. (Leave a moment of silence for people to make their own confession.)
Father God, we thank you for the good things you give us. This week we thank you for… (Leave space for people to add the things they are thankful for.)
Father God, we need your help in so many ways. Today we ask you to… (Leave space for people to add in situations or people they want to pray for.) Amen
STORY
10 mins
You will need: a multi-coloured coat or cloak (a gathered curtain would be suitable), a children’s pop-up tunnel, rubber gloves, an empty frame with pieces of card glued across to look like a barred window, an Egyptian headdress and an ostentatious ring.
You are going to give an overview of the story of Joseph using props, a volunteer and the knowledge of the congregation. The story is found in Genesis 37–46 and it’s worth having a good read of it beforehand to make sure you know the story. Ask for a volunteer to be Joseph. They won’t have to do anything except wear and / or hold the props. (They need to be small enough to fit through the tunnel.)
Give some background to the story. Jacob effectively had four wives and 13 children: 12 sons and a daughter. His favourite son was a boy called Joseph. Joseph was his favourite because he was the first son of Jacob’s favourite wife, Rachel. Jacob decided to show the world how much he loved Joseph by giving him a very special coat to wear.
Jacob’s brothers were not that impressed. They were even less impressed when Joseph decided to tell them about some dreams he’d been having, which further cemented his position at the top of the pile. (Ask the congregation if anyone can recount their dreams to everyone. The dreams are found in Genesis 37.)
One day, Joseph’s brothers were tending the flocks some way from home and Jacob sent Joseph to check up on them. As they saw him approaching, they decided this was their perfect opportunity to get rid of him once and for all. They made a plan to kill him and throw him into a pit. Reuben, the eldest brother, felt this was going too far and persuaded the rest to simply throw him into a pit instead. (Take the coat away. Pop open the play tunnel and place it over your volunteer so that they are in a pit.) Not long afterwards some slave traders came past and so the brothers decided to make some quick cash and sell Joseph to them. Joseph was taken to Egypt and sold on as a slave. (Take the tunnel away and put the rubber gloves on your volunteer.) The brothers went home and told Jacob that Joseph was dead.
In Egypt, Joseph worked hard and soon came to the attention of his boss… and his boss’s wife. She took a fancy to him but when Joseph wouldn’t join in, she got mad and told lies about him to her husband, Potiphar. Potiphar threw Joseph into jail. (Take the rubber gloves away and give Joseph the barred window to hold in front of his face.) In jail, again Joseph worked hard and was given special responsibilities. One day, two of Pharaoh’s servants were thrown into prison and had dreams that they couldn’t understand. Joseph interpreted the dreams for them. (Ask the congregation to tell you who the servants were, what the dreams were and what they meant. You can find this in Genesis 40.) Joseph asked the men to remember him when they were released but they forgot pretty quickly!
However, it wasn’t long before Pharaoh himself was disturbed by a couple of dreams that no one could understand. Finally his cup-bearer, who was one of the men in prison with Joseph, remembered him and Joseph was called out of jail. (Ask the congregation to tell you about Pharaoh’s dreams and their interpretation. Find these in chapter 41. Alternatively use the Pharaoh’s Dream song from Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat. Encourage the congregation to join in if they know the words!) Joseph was promoted to be in charge of all the food in Egypt. (Give ‘Joseph’ an Egyptian headdress and ring.)
In time, Joseph’s brothers came to Egypt looking for food. They didn’t recognise Joseph and, after checking them out for character change, he revealed his true identity to them and they all moved to Egypt. (If you feel there is time, you could see if someone in the congregation could tell everyone how Joseph checked his brothers out, from Genesis 42–45.)
REFLECTIVE RESPONSE TO THE STORY
OPTION 1
10 mins
You will need: strips of paper and pens.
Give each family, couple or individual a strip of paper and a pen. Ask them to spend a few minutes talking or thinking about a timeline of their lives. For groups / couples this will be a timeline of their life together. Ask them to plot key events: high on the strip for good times and lower down for difficult ones. They should then join the dots together to create a kind of graph. In those same groups, pray and thank God that he’s in the good times as well as the challenging ones. If you want to demo this to everyone beforehand, use the life of Joseph as just told to plot his timeline on a flip chart or PowerPoint presentation.
OPTION 2
10 mins
You will need: a presentation of ‘Footprints’ (audio, video or slide show).
Show / play the poem. Let people reflect on the words and think about their own stories. How has God been with them? If you want something creative to take away, print the poem onto small cards and let people decorate them with fingerprint footprints. Do this by doing a thumb print directly above a little fingerprint (for the heel) and drawing five toe prints above.
GROUP DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
15 mins
Divide into small, all-age groups and explore the following questions:
• What are the low points of Joseph’s story?
• Where are the high points of Joseph’s story?
• Is there anything in Joseph’s story where he might have done something differently to change what happened next? Would this have resulted in better or worse outcomes?
• How do you think Joseph managed to keep going when things looked so bad? Is there a secret to this? Might other parts of scripture have something to say to us on this subject?
• If you had to tie your current situation to an event in Joseph’s story, where would you put it?
• Can you think of times in your life where things looked pretty dire but actually God turned it round in a big way to do something you never dreamed of?
