INTRODUCTION

AN ANGEL APPEARS TO JOSEPH

BIBLE POINT - Trust God’s plans.

KEY VERSE - “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future’” (Jeremiah 29:11).

BIG PICTURE - Children will trust God’s perfect plans for them, even when they seem strange.

An Angel Appears to Joseph

Isaiah 7:13–14 | Matthew 1:18–25

As you get older, you might start asking more questions and even challenging ideas more than you used to. You might notice that not everyone always does what they say they will do. Sometimes, even adults can disappoint us.

This week, we learned that while people may let us down, God never will. God always keeps promises and has amazing plans for our lives. We can trust God completely to follow through with those plans, every single time.

GROWING IN TRUTH

PLANTING THE SEED

Can you imagine how Joseph must have felt when he found out Mary was going to have a baby? Joseph loved Mary and didn’t want to embarrass her, so he planned to quietly break the engagement. Then he could get on with his life. But while he slept, an angel appeared to him and explained what was really happening with Mary. The baby was from the Holy Spirit, and it was a boy. They were to name the baby boy Jesus, and he would be the Savior that Isaiah prophesied about. Joseph married Mary, and they named the baby Jesus, just as Joseph had been told to do.

BIBLE POINT

Trust God’s plans.

KEY VERSE

“‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future’” (Jeremiah 29:11).

HOPE FOR THE FUTURE

As a family, create a “Hope for the Future Book” that shows what each family member hopes for their future. You can either purchase a scrapbook album or make one yourself. To make one, use construction paper for the inside pages and create a cover from some poster board. Punch holes in all pages (including the cover), and use ribbon to tie them together.

Have family members each talk about the things they hope for. These could be things like going on a trip, which college to go to, or someday living in a different city or town. Then, in the pages of the book, paste pictures from magazines, draw, or write about each family member’s hope for the future. When you’ve finished, pray together as a family to trust whatever God’s plans are for these hopes.

Discuss these questions:

• When have you had to trust God?

• What helped you trust God during that time?

• What’s the most difficult thing to trust God with right now?

READY, SET, GROW!

Today, children committed to one of the following Daily Challenges. Help your child grow in faith this week and follow through on their challenge!

• ASK a trusted adult about a time they trusted God’s plan even though it didn’t seem to make sense. What happened?

• EACH night this week, before going to bed, ask God to help you trust God with your problems.

• WRITE a letter to God explaining why it’s hard to trust God sometimes and asking God to help you during those times.