The Grudge List
Game ·
Upper elementary ·
10 min
|
Bear Valley Community Church
POWERED BY KIDOLOGY
|
|
GAME · Ages 9–11 · 15-22 MIN · Genesis 45:1-15; Genesis 50:15-21
The Grudge List
|
BIG IDEA
|
Joseph remembered exactly what his brothers did to him and was kind to them anyway — forgiving isn't forgetting, it's trusting God enough to be good to the person who hurt you.
|
SUPPLIES · 1 ITEM
|
1
1-2 min |
Poor Barnaby
| SAY |
I want you to meet someone. His name is Barnaby, and he has had the worst week of his life. Nothing has gone right for the guy. |
| DO |
Keep a straight face — the more seriously you say this, the funnier it lands. |
| SAY |
Our job today is to keep track of every single thing that went wrong for Barnaby. Every last one. |
| DO |
Do not mention forgiveness yet. Let it stay a mystery — they'll find out why later. |
|
|
|
2
3-5 min |
Build the list
| DO |
Split the group into two teams of about ten. Sit each team in its own loose circle or line on opposite sides of the room — nobody needs to move around once seated. |
| SAY |
Here's how it works. The first person in your team says one thing that went wrong for Barnaby — make it up, and give whoever did it a made-up name. Nobody real, understood? |
| DO |
Wait for nods, then model it once so they hear the pattern. |
| SAY |
Like this: Kevin ate Barnaby's sandwich. The next person repeats that and adds one more thing. Kevin ate Barnaby's sandwich, AND Nadia dropped his ice cream cone. Keep going around your circle — see how long a list your team can remember before somebody gets stuck. |
| DO |
Start both teams at once. Float between them — you don't need to referee closely, the kids will call out mistakes themselves. When a team's chain collapses, that team just restarts from the top and tries to beat their own record. Let them run several rounds. The sillier the offences, the better this works. |
|
|
|
3
1-2 min |
Who was the best at this?
| DO |
Call both teams back together. |
| SAY |
So — what do you think this game was actually training you to do? |
| DO |
Take two or three guesses without correcting any of them. Most groups guess something like "forget the bad stuff" or "let it go." |
| SAY |
Here's the twist. The winner of this game is whoever remembers the whole list perfectly — every wrong thing, in order, without missing one. And there's a guy in the Bible who could have beaten every single one of you at this game. |
|
|
|
4
3-5 min |
Joseph remembered every item
| SAY |
Joseph's own brothers threw him in a pit and sold him as a slave. He ended up in prison in Egypt for years, for something he didn't even do. Then, out of nowhere, Pharaoh puts him in charge of the whole country. Years later, a famine hits, and Joseph's brothers show up in Egypt begging for food — and they have no idea the powerful man in front of them is the brother they got rid of. |
| DO |
Open a Bible to Genesis 45:2 and read it aloud. |
| SAY |
"He wept aloud. The Egyptians heard, and the house of Pharaoh heard." — Genesis 45:2 (WEB) |
| DO |
Turn to Genesis 50:20 and read it aloud. |
| SAY |
"As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save many people alive." — Genesis 50:20 (WEB) |
| SAY |
Notice what Joseph does not say. He does not say it never happened. He does not say it was no big deal. He says it out loud — you meant evil against me — and then he takes care of them anyway. |
| DO |
Be honest about what the text doesn't tell us. |
| SAY |
The Bible doesn't say Joseph felt nothing when he saw them again — we just read that he wept loudly enough for the whole palace to hear. And it doesn't say the brothers deserved to be forgiven. They didn't earn it. Joseph gave them something they hadn't earned — kindness instead of payback — which is exactly the kind of forgiveness God gives us. |
|
|
|
5
1-2 min |
One name, one thing, before Wednesday
| SAY |
I'm not going to ask anyone to say this out loud. Just think, quietly, of one real person who did one real thing to you. Something that actually happened. |
| DO |
Give them a few seconds of silence. Don't call on anyone. |
| SAY |
Now think of one specific, kind thing you could do for that person before Wednesday. Sit by them at lunch. Save them a seat. Say good morning first. Hand them the ball instead of someone else. |
| SAY |
You're not saying it didn't happen, and you're not saying it was fine. You're being good to them anyway — the way Joseph was good to his brothers. |
|
|
|
THE PASSAGE · Genesis 45:1-15; Genesis 50:15-21
Joseph's brothers sold him into slavery years earlier. Now they stand in front of him in Egypt, starving, not knowing the powerful man in front of them is their brother — until he tells them. He weeps loudly enough that the whole house hears. Later, after their father dies, the brothers are terrified Joseph will finally pay them back. Instead he tells them plainly: they meant evil against him, but God used it to save many lives. He does not pretend nothing happened. He forgives them anyway.
|
TALK ABOUT IT · PICK ONE OR TWO
YOUNGER
When Barnaby's list kept growing, did it get easier or harder to keep track of everything?
OLDER
Joseph was the most powerful man in Egypt when his brothers showed up. He could have done anything to them. What do you think stopped him?
Is there a difference between forgiving someone and pretending they never did anything wrong?
|
|
BEFORE YOU TEACH IT
Please review and adapt all generated content before use.
|
Bear Valley Community Church · GAME · The Grudge List
KIDOLOGY.ORG
Back to everything
