Overwhelming Blessings (OBJ LESSON)

Time

15 minutes

Description

This object lesson uses a tower of cups and a waterfall of liquid to demonstrate how God blessed everyone around Joseph because of Joseph’s faithfulness to God.

Scriptures

• Genesis 37:12-36; 39:1-6, 20-23; 41:53-57
• 2 Corinthians 9:8 – The Voice translation: “God is ready to overwhelm you with more blessings than you could ever imagine so that you’ll always be taken care of in every way and you’ll have more than enough to share.”

Materials

• Notecard (1)
• Cup Tower
  • Clear, plastic cups (41)
  • Transparent tape (“Scotch” tape or another brand) (1 roll)
  • Double-sided foam tape (1 roll)
  • Pitcher
  • Water
  • Large spoon (for stirring)
  • Tray or clear basin (to catch any water that overflows the cups)
  • Food coloring (I recommend a darker color such as green, red or blue.)
• Bible

Preparation

• Write 2 Corinthians 9:8 from The Voice translation on a notecard.
• Create a cup tower.
  • Stack the cups in five layers.
  • The bottom layer will have 18 cups.
  • The next layer will have 12 cups.
  • The next layer will have seven cups.
  • The next layer will have three cups.
  • The top layer will just have one cup.
  • It may be helpful to assemble each layer separately first and to tape the cups together at the rims with transparent tape.
  • Then, place a piece of double-sided foam tape wherever three cups will be supporting an upper layer cup.
  • Finally, place your layers on top of each other one-by-one, and press gently to get the double-sided tape to stick.
  • You don’t need your cup tower to last forever, but you don’t want it to fall apart during your lesson as you add the weight of the water to the upper layers.
  • See the photos below to help you assemble the cup tower.

• Place your cup tower into or onto the clear basin or tray.
• Test your cup tower, but pouring water into the top cup, and ensuring that water cascades into the lower levels of cups.
• Fill the pitcher with water, add food coloring, and stir.
• Bookmark Genesis 39:20-23 in your Bible so that you can find it quickly when you need someone to read it out loud.
• Practice the script.

 

Procedure

Use the following script (or modify to suit your needs):

• Joseph was sold by his brothers and had to go to serve as a slave in Egypt.
• He was sold to a man named Potiphar, who held a very high position in Pharaoh’s court.
• Pharaoh was the king of Egypt, and Potiphar was the captain of his security team.
• Potiphar was probably very wealthy and had a large household.
• He put Joseph to work, and he was soon very pleased with how hard-working and responsible Joseph was.
• The bible says that Joseph “succeeded in everything he did as he served in the home of his Egyptian master.” (Gen 39:2)
• Potiphar was so happy that he made Joseph his personal attendant and put him in charge of his entire household.
• Then, an amazing thing happened!
• The bible says, “the Lord began to bless Potiphar’s household for Joseph’s sake. All his household affairs ran smoothly, and his crops and livestock flourished.” (Gen 39:5)
• In other words, Potiphar’s life got better BECAUSE Joseph was there!
• Potiphar wasn’t even a follower of God, but God blessed him, because he had Joseph living in his house.
• Here’s what’s really cool!
• This doesn’t just happen with Joseph; it happens with you, too!
• When you are following God and doing what He says to do in your bible, God is so pleased with you that He blesses you.
• But God loves to bless you with much more than you need. (Have volunteer read 2 Corinthians 9:8 from The Voice translation: “God is ready to overwhelm you with more blessings than you could ever imagine so that you’ll always be taken care of in every way and you’ll have more than enough to share.”)
• That’s such a great Scripture!
• Let me show you what that looks like. (Ask for a volunteer to come help you, and bring out your cup tower and your pitcher of colored water.)
• In this stack of cups, you are this top cup, and the other cups are the people around you.
• When you are pleasing God by doing what He wants you to do, He blesses you.
• Let’s pretend that this liquid is God’s blessing in your life. (Show pitcher of colored liquid, and help your volunteer pour it into the top cup in the stack. Keep pouring after the cup is full, and the liquid will start to spill over into the other cups, which will then spill over into the other cups. Continue pouring until all the cups are full.)
• God overwhelms you with his blessings!
• It’s more than you could ever imagine!
• You are taken care of in every way!
• And you have more than enough to share!
• See how all the people around you get blessed, because you are doing what God wants you to do!
• You take God’s blessing with you everywhere you go. (Thank and dismiss your volunteer.)
• So Joseph is in Potiphar’s house, and Potiphar is being blessed.
• But through some unfair events, Joseph was thrown into prison.
• You might think Joseph would have been angry with God for allowing this to happen, but he continued to trust God even in prison.
• And you know what God did? He blessed the prison because of Joseph. (Have a volunteer read Genesis 39:20-23.)
• God overwhelmed Joseph with blessings, and they poured out onto the people in the prison. (Gesture toward the cup tower.)
• You know what happened next?
• Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, had some dreams that troubled him.
• He heard that Joseph knew how to interpret dreams, so he released Joseph from prison and had him interpret his dreams for him.
• When he heard how wise Joseph was, he promoted him to the second highest position in the entire country.
• He put Joseph in charge of all the food in Egypt, and Joseph managed it so well when there was plenty of food that there was enough for all the people during a terrible famine that lasted for seven years.
• In fact, Joseph had saved so much food during the good times that there was enough to feed the people of other countries when they ran out of food.
• The people of these nations bought food from Egypt and made Pharaoh very rich.
• Again, God overwhelmed Joseph with blessings, and those blessings poured out onto the people of Egypt and the nations around Egypt.
• God can do the same thing through you!
• If you do what God wants you to do, God will bless you and everyone around you!
• (You may want to have the kids say the following Rhyme Time a few times to reinforce the main teaching point.)

 

Rhyme Time

When we do what God wants us to do

God blesses us and those around us, too!