Leader Guide

Video Leader Guide

Welcome (1 minute)

Welcome to everyone! Do any of you have twins in your family or know some twins?

Today, we have a new Superbook story about twin brothers named Jacob and Esau. But first, let’s go to our video and see what Chris, Joy and Gizmo are up to.

Play Video 2: Chris and Joy’s Dilemma (3 minutes)

Chris and Joy's Dilemma

Gizmo malfunctions when Joy accidentally gets him wet, and Chris angrily says he will never forgive her.

SuperTruth and Discussion (2 minutes)

Why was Chris so upset with Joy?

Do you think Chris is right to blame Joy?

What do you think would be the right thing for Chris to do?

Today’s SuperTruth says, “I am a child of God, and I share in all of His blessings.” Jesus is God’s Son and receives God’s blessing. When we believe in Jesus, He shares all of God’s blessings with us!

Now, let’s watch the rest of today’s Superbook video and see what Chris decides to do.

Play Video 3: Bible Story and Resolution (19 minutes)

Bible Story and Resolution

Superbook takes Chris, Joy and Gizmo to meet Jacob and Esau, twins who compete over many things. When Esau gives up his birthright and Jacob tricks him out of a blessing, they become estranged. Esau finally forgives Jacob and the brothers are reconciled. Chris forgives Joy, then they work together to fix Gizmo.

Play Video 10A: SuperVerse Graphic 1

Graphic loops 2.5 minutes without audio; turn off or freeze video after children repeat verse.

SuperVerse Graphic 1

SuperVerse Discussion (1 minute)

Let’s say our SuperVerse together. Esau pleaded, “But do you have only one blessing? Oh my father, bless me, too!” Then Esau broke down and wept. Genesis 27:38 

Esau had carelessly traded his precious birthright for a bowl of stew. Then Jacob tricked his father, Isaac, into giving him Esau’s blessing! Can you imagine how sad Esau felt? But we never need to feel that way—because when we believe in Jesus, He gives us all of our Heavenly Father’s blessings. 

Children will have more time to learn the SuperVerse in Small Group.

Prayer and Send-Off (1 minute)

Let’s pray. Dear God, thank You for giving us Your abundant blessings when we believe in Your Son, Jesus! Please help us to never take Your love and blessings for granted! In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Teachers take children to Small Group classes for Grades 1–3 and 4–6. If the combined group is small, all children may stay together for Small Group time.

Game

Do you think Chris was right to be angry with Joy?

Do you think what Joy accidentally did to Gizmo was so bad that she shouldn’t be forgiven?

What caused Chris to have a change of heart and forgive Joy?

For our game today we don’t have a stew like Jacob made, but we do have a bucket of beans—pebbles, rice, corn. Let’s see which team can fill up their empty bucket first!

Divide the class into two teams. Have teams make two lines at one end of the room. Place an empty bucket for each team about 10–15 feet from the lines. Each child will take a turn using the cup to transfer beans from one bucket to the other in a relay. Whichever team transfers all of the beans first wins. Give each team a measuring cup and start the game. If children notice the difference in cup size, simply shrug and say that’s the way this game is played. If they don’t notice, don’t point it out until the end. If time permits, have teams exchange cups for another round of play. 

How did it feel to lose the game because it was unfair? 

I think we have all experienced times when we were treated unfairly. Let’s talk about this in the next part of our lesson!

Teaching

Esau was the firstborn son, so he was supposed to get the birthright—meaning he would have special privileges and become head of the family when his father died. But Esau did not appreciate this, and he thoughtlessly sold his birthright for a bowl of stew.

Later, Esau was supposed to receive a special blessing from his father—but what happened? Jacob got it by tricking Isaac.

Esau hadn’t cared much about his birthright, but he really wanted that blessing. If you were Esau, what would you do?

Read Genesis 27:34:

When Esau heard his father’s words, he let out a loud and bitter cry. “Oh my father, what about me? Bless me, too!” he begged.

What was Isaac’s answer? He had nothing left to give Esau.

That was sad for Esau—but I have good news for us. As God’s children, we cannot be tricked or deceived out of our blessings from God!

God the Father gave His blessing to His only begotten Son. Who is that? Jesus Christ.

Yes, as God’s Son, Jesus received all of God’s blessings!

Pick up the Inheritance Documents and ask a volunteer or adult helper to stand with you. Let’s say that I represent God and these are all my blessings. This person represents Jesus. Hand the person all the Inheritance Documents as you say with great emphasis, “I give You all of My blessings.” Turn to the class and ask, What do you think Jesus does with all of these blessings—keep them for Himself? No!

Jesus died on the cross so that our sins can be forgiven and we can be adopted as God’s children. This means that anyone who believes in Jesus as Savior is given the right to share in God’s rich inheritance!

Have the person playing Jesus give an “Inheritance Document” to each child, then have the children write their names on their documents. We inherit all of God’s blessings because we are connected to Jesus and trust Him as our Lord! Isn’t that wonderful? Let’s read what our Inheritance Document says. Read the wording on the document with the children:

My Inheritance: God′s Promises and Blessings.

Read Ephesians 1:3:

All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ.

When we believe and trust in Christ as our Savior, we are joined to Him and receive His blessing! Praise God! When we have been unfairly treated or harmed by others, we can forgive them because Jesus has forgiven us and shared all of His blessings with us. We have a rich inheritance from our Heavenly Father. No one can deceive or take away His blessings from us!

Read 2 Corinthians 1:20 (nkjv): 

For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.

This means that all God’s blessings and promises have been fulfilled in Christ. When we are joined with Christ, He says “yes” to sharing all of God’s promises with us! It is guaranteed, Amen! We are His blessed children. When others see His blessings and favor in our lives, it brings glory to Him!

Let’s say our SuperTruth together: “I am a child of God, and I share in all of His blessings.”

Discipleship Challenge/Practical Application

During these three lessons about Jacob and Esau, I want you to think and pray about people you need to forgive or ask for forgiveness from. You don’t need to share any names or specific details of the situation with anyone, unless you want to share it with a parent or a trusted adult.

Let’s take a moment to pray now. Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for sending Jesus to die on the cross to forgive our sins and for sharing Your blessings with us. Please show us if there’s anyone we need to forgive—or anyone we should ask to forgive us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Our challenge is to continue to pray and get into the habit of recognizing the need to forgive or ask for forgiveness as soon as the need arises. To remind us of this challenge, we are each making a Gizmo face that can be folded to show different expressions! 

Display and demonstrate the completed craft to the children. Have the children follow the instructions on the pattern to complete the craft. Assist as necessary.

When there is an offense between people, they may show anger, sadness, or even fear. Have children show those emotions on their Gizmo craft. After Jacob and Esau forgave each other, they were full of joy! Have children show this expression on their craft.

Take this craft home as a reminder of our challenge for these three lessons. Because Jesus freely forgives us, we need to show that same love and kindness to others. Next time, I’ll ask if you remembered to pray about this.

SuperVerse

Our SuperVerse is Genesis 27:38:

Esau pleaded, “But do you have only one blessing? Oh my father, bless me, too!” Then Esau broke down and wept.

Esau did not appreciate his birthright as the firstborn son. Who remembers what he did with it? Sold it to Jacob for a bowl of stew.

Later, Jacob deceived Isaac and received the blessing that Esau should have gotten. Esau pleaded with his father for a blessing, but Isaac told him he couldn’t change what he had done. No wonder Esau wept!

Boys, I want you to say our SuperVerse as dramatically as you can. Boys say the verse.

Now let’s see if the girls can say it even more dramatically! Girls say the verse.

We do not have to weep as Esau did. As long as we choose to stay connected to Jesus and make Him Lord of our lives, all the blessings and promises of God are ours, and they can never be taken away! Let’s say our SuperTruth. “I am a child of God, and I share in all of His blessings.”

Remember, all God’s promises are YES to everyone who believes in Him!

Note: If younger children are not able to memorize the entire SuperVerse, simply have them repeat it several times and be sure they understand its meaning.

Prayer

Have the children sit in a circle. Our SuperTruth gives us some exciting news! “I am a child of God, and I share in all of His blessings!” There isn’t just a blessing for one child in God’s family—all of God’s blessings are for us to share as His children!

Let’s take time in prayer to praise God for making us His children and for providing all blessings through His Son, Jesus. Let’s close our eyes and think about the blessings God has provided in our lives. Then we will go around the circle and give each of you an opportunity to say one of those blessings and praise God for it. If you don’t know what to say, you can just say, “Praise God!”

You may offer sentence starters such as, “I am so grateful that ...”; “Thank You for helping me to ...”; “Thank You for providing me with …”; “Thank You for giving us Jesus because ...”.

Close in prayer when all the children have had an opportunity to pray. 

Dear Jesus, thank You for dying on the cross so our sins can be forgiven and we can become God’s children. We praise You for the many blessings You give us on Earth, and for the blessings we will share with You in heaven for all eternity! In Your name we pray, Amen.

Bible Discussion

Every day, each of us will face different situations, receive good or bad news, and experience different reactions to events in our lives. In today’s Bible story, Jacob, Esau, and their family expressed different reactions to events in their lives, too. The important thing for us to understand is that no matter what comes into our lives—good or bad, fair or unfair—if we know Jesus, we are blessed children of God and nothing can change that! Let’s say our SuperTruth together: “I am a child of God, and I share in all His blessings.”

As I ask different questions about our story, choose an expression for Gizmo’s face that reflects your reaction—such as joy, anger, sadness, peace, surprise, contentment, or fear. Remember, this is your personal feeling; not everyone will have the same reaction, so you can’t be wrong! For each question, have the children change the expression on their Gizmo Faces, then have one or two explain their choices.

1. Normally in Bible times, younger sons served the older sons. When Rebekah was expecting twins, how do you think she felt to hear God say her older son would serve the younger? See Genesis 25:23.
2. How do you think Jacob felt, knowing that Esau was Isaac’s favorite son?
3. How did Esau feel, knowing his mother favored Jacob?
4. How did Esau feel when he begged Jacob for some stew?
5. How do you think Jacob felt when Esau agreed to sell his birthright for a bowl of stew?
6. How do you think Esau felt after he sold his birthright and was done eating? This question could get very different answers.
7. What do you think Jacob thought about his mother’s plan for him to pretend to be Esau?
8. How did Isaac feel when he realized he had blessed Jacob instead of Esau?
9. What was Esau’s reaction when he learned he had lost his blessing?
10. How did Rebekah feel when she found out Esau wanted to take revenge and kill Jacob?
11. How do you think Jacob felt as he left his elderly father to hide from Esau’s anger?
12. How did Jacob feel about having to face Esau for the first time after many years?
13. How did Esau feel when Jacob sent him all those gifts and then humbly bowed before him?
14. How did Jacob feel when Esau made peace with him?
15. How did Jacob’s family react when they saw the brothers make peace and embrace each other?

You may add current scenarios your children may face to extend the activity and make a practical application. Let’s shout our SuperTruth and create a face on Gizmo to express what it means to you! “I am a child of God, and I share in all His blessings.”

Have children share their Gizmo expressions.

Class Activity

Write these headings across the board or the length of the butcher paper: Daughter, Son, Sister, Brother, Youngest, Oldest, Middle Child, Only Child, and Child of God. Write your own name under all the columns that apply specifically to you.

Have the children write their names—first names only if you have a large class—under all headings that apply to them. Then, ask the children whether they have certain responsibilities because of certain roles, such as babysitting younger siblings, sweeping the floor, taking out trash, etc.

Finish the discussion by pointing at the “Child of God” column. I am so glad to see so many of your names here. God wants each of us to be His children. 

Read John 1:12:

But to all who believed Him and accepted Him, He gave the right to become children of God. 

Just think of that—all we have to do is receive Him and believe in Him, and we become God’s children! What responsibilities do you think go with being a child of God? Love, worship, honor, follow, and obey Him; pray; read His Word; tell others about Jesus, etc.

If you didn’t put your name under the child of God heading, you can still add it today! I would love to talk to you after class and explain how you can become a child of God. It is important that we understand the importance of our different roles in life as a brother, sister, son, or daughter, etc. Esau did not respect the position and role he had as the firstborn son. He took it for granted and sold his birthright! Yes, it is a privilege and blessing to be part of a family! But, the most important right we have is to be called a child of God!

Optional: Hold up the New Name Tag and write your name on the front. Then slide the front panel over, revealing the panel that says “Child of God.” If you made enough for the class, hand them out to the children to write their own names on the front panels.

Observation Game

Some twins are identical and look alike. Other twins are fraternal and look different. Some twins act alike and others don’t. Jacob and Esau were twins, but they looked different from each other and they acted differently, too! Can you remember some of the differences? Esau was an outdoorsman, a hunter; Jacob was quiet and liked being home. Esau was Isaac’s favorite; Jacob was Rebekah’s favorite. Esau was rugged and hairy; Jacob was not.

We are going to do an activity where we will see that we all are alike in some ways and different in others. 

Have the children line up in the middle of the room. Explain that you will give them a series of choices, and each child must decide which choice best describes him or her, then quickly move to that side of the room. If neither description is appropriate, the child stays in the middle. Use the following list as suggestions:

Ready?

Feel free to add other things to the list.

We are all alike and different, too! God created us in His image but also made each of us unique. Those things that we named really aren’t important compared to the most important thing that each of us should be—a follower of Jesus! When we accept Jesus into our hearts, we are children of God and share in His blessings! It doesn’t matter how we differ; if we love Jesus, we are in the same family, we are all God’s children, and we receive His blessings!

So here is one last instruction: Stand on the right if you are a child of God! All children should move to the right. If any don’t, talk to them privately after class about how they can become His children.

Let’s say the SuperTruth together! “I am a child of God, and I share in all of His blessings.”

Parable Skit

Let’s act out a parable that Jesus told. He was answering a question that Peter had just asked Him. 

Read Matthew 19:27:

Then Peter said to Him, “We’ve given up everything to follow You. What will we get?”

Jesus said they would be seated with Him in heaven and would receive back 100 times what they had given up to follow Him. Then He said something amazing.

Read verse 30:

“But many who are the greatest now will be least important then, and those who seem least important now will be the greatest then.”

Choose ten children to be workers in the parable, and have them line up in the front of the classroom side by side, about arm’s length apart. If your class is small, you can do the parable with only five children.

In Jesus’ parable, a landowner went out to find some workers for his vineyard at about 6:00 a.m., when the workday started. He found some workers who agreed to be paid a denarius for a full day’s work. Hold up one of the coins. Let’s say this coin represents a denarius.

Go to the first two workers and shake their hands. Have the children act as if they are working in the vineyard picking grapes. Then, three hours later, at 9:00 a.m., the landowner went to the marketplace to hire more workers. He offered to pay them a fair wage for their work. Go to the second pair of workers, shake their hands, and have them begin to work picking grapes. The landowner did this again at 12:00 noon. Shake the third pair of workers’ hands and have them begin to work. He did this again at 3:00 p.m. Go to the fourth pair of workers, shake hands, and put them to work. Now, it was 5:00 p.m., and there was just about one hour left in the workday. The landowner found still more workers and told them to go work in his vineyard. Shake hands with the last pair of workers and have them begin to pick grapes. At 6:00 p.m. the landowner told his foreman to pay the workers their wages. Now, if you were a worker who had worked a full day of twelve hours, don’t you think you would be paid first? 

Instead, the foreman first paid the last workers—the ones who had only worked one hour. And he paid them each one denarius—a full day’s wage! Give one coin each to the last two workers.

If you were one of the earlier workers, what would you be thinking to yourself? That isn’t fair—we should be paid first. If they get a full day’s wage, we will surely get more!

The first workers watched as each group of workers got paid the same amount. Hand a coin to each of the other workers except the first pair. When it was time for the first workers to be paid, they were given the same amount to their surprise. Hand one coin to each of the first workers. They were paid the same amount for twelve hours of work that the last workers got paid for one hour of work! Now, how do you think the first workers felt? Unfairly treated, taken advantage of, unappreciated.

Let’s read the actual parable in the Bible and see how some of the workers reacted. Have children look up Matthew 20:8–15. Divide up the verses and choose volunteers to read the parable aloud. 

⁸ “That evening he told the foreman to call the workers in and pay them, beginning with the last workers first.” ⁹ “When those hired at five o’clock were paid, each received a full day’s wage.”¹⁰ “When those hired first came to get their pay, they assumed they would receive more. But they, too, were paid a day’s wage.” ¹¹ “When they received their pay, they protested to the owner,” ¹² “‘Those people worked only one hour, and yet you’ve paid them just as much as you paid us who worked all day in the scorching heat.’” ¹³“He answered one of them, ‘Friend, I haven’t been unfair? Didn’t you agree to work all day for the ususal wage?’” ¹⁴  “‘Take your money and go. I wanted to pay this last worker the same as you.’” ¹⁵“‘Is it against the law for me to do what I want with my money? Should you be jealous because I am kind to others?’”

Then ask the following questions and have the class discuss:

1. After reading the parable, do you think the workers hired first were treated unfairly or not?

2. What does this tell you about God’s blessings received by His children?

3. Do you sometimes feel jealous or envious when someone is rewarded with something you would like to have? Children answer.

4. Is it right for us to be jealous or bitter when someone has many possessions and they are not followers of Jesus?

5. What is the right thing for us to do? Get in God’s presence and know that you are blessed in Christ and have a rich inheritance. Understand that earthly possessions are temporary—they don’t last.  

Read Colossians 3:23–24:

Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ.

Let’s say our SuperTruth together. “I am a child of God and I share in all of His blessings.”