Waitlisted: Week 4

Welcome to our final week of Waitlisted, where we've been talking about waiting . . . and waiting . . . and waiting.

OBJECT LESSON | Christmas Countdown

INSTRUCTIONS: Before your teaching time, do some math. Calculate how many days until Christmas morning! On a large white board, chalk board, or pad of paper, write that number. You'll also want to prepare some Christmas props and sound effects. When you reveal what your countdown is for, you might put on a reindeer headband, set up a Christmas tree, play a Christmas sound effect, or have a volunteer appear in a Santa costume.

207

Can anyone guess what I'm waiting for?

 I'm counting down to Christmas morning!

ACTIVITY | Christmas Yam Jams

Since it's going to be a while before Christmas finally arrives, let's practice patience together. I need a few volunteers who think they're patient, want to win some Christmas treats, and might also want to brag about the strength of their arms.

INSTRUCTIONS: Before your teaching time, pick up a few fairly heavy ingredients you might use to cook Christmas dinner, like large cans or bags of yams.

Choose a few students to come forward and see how long they can hold the yams with their arms stretched out to either side.

Last one to keep their yams up high wins!

Reward them with a Christmas-themed prize. If you'd like this activity to stand alone, have the crowd encourage them to not quit as they continue and play fun Christmas jams while you wait for them to drop the yams. If the game is going on too long, have them perform small arm circles or add more yams. Great job, everyone! Some of us have exercised our arm muscles, but we've all exercised our waiting muscles.

QUESTION | When do you start counting down to Christmas?

Okay, maybe it's weird to start counting down to Christmas this early, so tell me: when do you start counting down to Christmas?

INSTRUCTIONS: Give a few students a chance to respond. Follow up with questions like . . .

When do you start listening to Christmas music?

POLL | How much do you enjoy decorating for Christmas with your family?

The Christmas decorating process is a big part of anticipating and waiting for Christmas to arrive!

From choosing a tree, to decorating the tree, to hanging the Christmas lights, to baking Christmas cookies, decorating for Christmas is supposed to be a fun family memory, but let's be honest — sometimes it's torture.

INSTRUCTIONS: Have students participate in the following poll by raising their hand, texting their answers using a polling software like polleverywhere.com, or running to different parts of the room to signal which answer they've chosen. How much do you enjoy decorating for Christmas with your family?

SO WHAT? Why does it matter to God and to us?

STORY | Talk about a time you wanted to give up.

For the last few weeks, we've been talking a lot about waiting — and not just waiting for Christmas day. We've talked about waiting during really difficult periods. We said . . .

God has a plan, but you might have to wait for it. While you're waiting, God is faithful. While you're waiting, God is listening. But let's be honest. Sometimes when we've been waiting, and waiting, and waiting, we just get tired. Sometimes it feels like everyone is against us — like we're trying so hard to hold some really heavy things and no one is offering to help. Sometimes we want to give up. INSTRUCTIONS: Share a story from your own life (or ask a volunteer or student to share a story) about a time when you were waiting for God's help and wanted to give up or really did give up. Since you'll be talking about the story of Joseph, who was sold by his family into slavery, try to choose a time when you felt alone, abandoned, rejected, or betrayed by others. How your story ended isn't important. What matters is helping students see that sometimes we all struggle to keep going. There are so many reasons why we might want to give up hope. Maybe . . .

You've been trying so hard but nothing seems to change. You've tried to make wise choices but the people around you don't seem to support you. Your family is a mess and doesn't seem to be getting better. Especially when we feel alone, unsupported, or even abandoned by others, it's not always easy to believe that we can keep going when we've already spent so much time waiting.

DISCUSSION

INSTRUCTIONS: Break for discussion. If you have more than ten students, split into groups so everyone can share. The starred questions are designed for high schoolers, so you may want to skip them if you're working only with middle schoolers.

* What are some examples of difficult situations people sometimes face that might seem to go on forever? *

GAME | Joseph

There's someone in Scripture who understands this. His name is Joseph, and he's a pretty important figure in the Old Testament of the Bible.

SCRIPTURE | Genesis 37:2-11

Joseph's story begins when he's seventeen years old. Joseph was his dad's favorite son, and it was pretty obvious.

Jacob loved Joseph so much that he gave him a special coat (and special treatment) over all his brothers.

God began speaking to Joseph in his dreams, letting Joseph know he would one day rule the nation — and rule over his brothers.

Instead of keeping this information to himself, Joseph shared it with his brothers . . . which made things awkward. Instead of taking the hint that his brother's didn't appreciate being told Joseph would one day be their boss, Joseph continued telling his brothers about these visions from God. Of course, things got even more tense.

SCRIPTURE | Genesis 37:18-22

Genesis 37:18–22 CSB

18 They saw him in the distance, and before he had reached them, they plotted to kill him. 19 They said to one another, “Oh, look, here comes that dream expert! 20 So now, come on, let’s kill him and throw him into one of the pits. We can say that a vicious animal ate him. Then we’ll see what becomes of his dreams!” 21 When Reuben heard this, he tried to save him from them. He said, “Let’s not take his life.” 22 Reuben also said to them, “Don’t shed blood. Throw him into this pit in the wilderness, but don’t lay a hand on him”—intending to rescue him from them and return him to his father.

When Joseph's brothers finally had enough of hearing Joseph, they decided to kill him.

One of the brothers convinced the others to spare his life and sell him into slavery instead. Where he ends up in Egypt.

Once in Egypt, the Lord blesses Joseph, and soon the young man is trusted to manage Potiphar’s entire household. Everything goes terribly wrong when Potiphar’s wife tries to seduce him.

Joseph refuses her, to the point he tries to get away from her one day and leaves her holding his cloak.

Trying to do the right thing, Jospeh gets thrown into prison after Potiphar’s wife lies. She said he tried to force himself on her.

Can you imagine what Joseph must have been experiencing ?

When he was abandoned by the people he thought would never turn on him, his family? When he realized he was going to be thrown in jail unjustly? Once again, that's enough to make most people give up hope.

POLL | If you were Joseph, what would you do?

1. Give up.

2. Punch someone.

3. Trust God.

4. I have no idea.

SCRIPTURE | Genesis 39:20b-23

Joseph continued to live in that prison for years, forgotten by the Pharaoh and his own family.

Even though everything seemed to be going wrong, and Joseph wasn't sure if he'd ever make it out of prison, Joseph knew God was still with him. While he was waiting . . .

God had a plan. God was faithful. God was listening.

In all that time, God never gave up on Joseph, so Joseph never gave up on God.

And if you’re waiting on God right now, don’t give up, because God’s not giving up on you either.

What does God want from us?

HOW NOT TO GIVE UP

How do I not give up?

How do I find hope when things feel hopeless?

How do I hang on when I feel like I'm all alone?"

Here are five ideas . . .

TALK TO GOD — AND DON'T STOP. 

And don't stop talking to God. Like we talked about last week, tell God how you feel and what you're experiencing. Then ask for help to hold on.

TALK TO OTHER PEOPLE. 

Joseph may have been abandoned and alone, but you're not — even if you feel that way sometimes.

If you're overwhelmed or feeling hopeless,...

We're here to walk through it with you.

REMEMBER GOD IS STRONGER THAN YOU THINK. 

When Joseph was in that well, he never could have guessed the opportunities God would give him in Egypt.

When he was in prison, he had no idea what God had in store for his future.

When he was betrayed by his brothers, he couldn't have anticipated the way God would one day restore their relationship.

God did all of those things and more —

Read Galatians 6:9.

How do you think we can stay encouraged when we want to give up?

Galatians 6:9 CSB

9 Let us not get tired of doing good, for we will reap at the proper time if we don’t give up.