Week 6 · about 45 minutes
Jacob’s Ladder
Genesis 28 · Memory verse Genesis 28:15
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Queues the lesson plan, this story’s coloring page (Jacob’s Ladder), the related word search and answer key (Abraham Counts the Stars), the memory-verse tracer, and a parent slip.
Five-minute object lesson
Prop: a small pillow and a picture of stairs
Hold up a small pillow and a picture of stairs. In about five minutes, tell the class this: Jacob runs away, sleeps on a stone, and dreams that heaven is nearer than he thought. Show the prop and ask, “What does this have to do with Jacob’s Ladder?” Let two children answer. Then read Genesis 28:15 together: “Behold, I am with you, and will keep you, wherever you go, and will bring you again into this land. For I will not leave you, until I have done that which I have spoken of to you.”” Close by asking one child to say the lesson back in their own words, using the prop.
Story script
Jacob had tricked his brother and had to leave home. The road was lonely. When the sun went down, he had no guest room, so he lay on the ground with a stone for a pillow. Stones are hard pillows. Jacob was tired enough to sleep anyway.
In a dream he saw a stairway reaching from the earth all the way to heaven. Angels were going up and down on it. Above it stood the Lord. God did not say, “I will find you when you become a better man.” He said, “I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back.”
Jacob woke up startled. “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” He set the stone upright as a reminder and called the place Bethel, the house of God. The runaway had discovered that God had gone with him.
You might feel far from home, or far from being the kid you want to be. God is not only in church buildings. He can meet you on an ordinary night and promise, “I am with you.” Your bed can be a Bethel too.
Group game
Children lie down for three seconds, then stand and climb imaginary stairs, saying God is here each step. Trade places and repeat.
Craft
Draw a stone pillow, a ladder, and angels. Add the sentence God is in this place.
Memory verse
Genesis 28:15
“Behold, I am with you, and will keep you, wherever you go, and will bring you again into this land. For I will not leave you, until I have done that which I have spoken of to you.””
Take-home prayer
Lord, even if I feel far away, you are in this place. Watch over me wherever I go, and bring me rest tonight. Amen.