Esau had been born a few minutes ahead of Jacob. Their father wanted Esau to be in charge of the family. One day Jacob saw Esau go hunting.
When Esau came back, he learned that Jacob had tricked their dad. Now Jacob was in charge. Esau was angry, and Jacob ran far away.
Years later, Jacob had his own family. But he wanted to see his brother again. He said to a servant, “Take these animals as gifts to Esau.”
Jacob hoped Esau would not be angry. He wasn’t. The twin brothers hugged each other. They chose to get along.

Act it out: Act out the story of Jacob’s return with your child. You may want to use towels and bathrobes for simple costumes. Stand on opposite sides of the room. You can play Esau. You might want to cross your arms and pretend to be solemn. Your child can be Jacob and come to you bringing a favorite stuffed animal, pet, or toy as a gift. When you see your child coming, run and giver her a big hug as you say, “I want to get along. Let’s not fight anymore.”

Discussion: Since we are human, we don’t get along together all the time-not matter how hard we try. Discuss this with your child and plan how to settle disagreements that arise between siblings in your family or between neighborhood children and your child. To lighten moments of disagreement with a smile, use this rhyme for the next difficult time.
We get mad and sometimes fight.
We might even pout or frown.
God would rather see us smile,
So get the frowns turned upside down!

Sing: If your Happy and you Know it
and Down in my Heart

Luke 10:[1] After these things the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before his face into every city and place, whither he himself would come.
[2] Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest.
[3] Go your ways: behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves.
Luke 10:[17] And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name.
[18] And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.
[19] Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
[20] Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.

Memory Selection: “He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.” Psalms 126:6

INTRODUCTION
Are you happy today? If not, why are you not happy/ If you are, why are you? As you greet friends and family at church are you glad that you could come to church? Happiness and joy come from doing things with people we like and with whom we enjoy spending time.
Do you enjoy doing chores your parents ask you to do? Do you put forth your best effort in doing those chores? When we do things we are asked to do to the best of our ability, we can take satisfaction in a job well done. You are asked to help both because your help is needed and to teach you responsibility. Learning this responsibility helps prepare you for adult life.
SERVING GOD
God is our creator. God not only made us, but He also made everything around us. God knows all things so He knows what is best for us. Just as our parents ask us to do things for them, God has things that He wants us to do in His service. If we do as God expects of us, He will bless us and let us know that He is pleased with our actions and service.
The first and most important thing that God expects from us is to seek Him for salvation when He calls us into account for our sins. When a soul meets the conditions of repentance and faith in Jesus it gives the Lord great joy to save that soul. Luke 15:10 says, “Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.” Likewise when the Lord saves a soul, the person feels peace and joy. In Romans 15:13 we read, “Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.”
After being saved, God’s spirit will be there to lead and guide us if we will let Him (John 16:7-14.) Seeking and following God’s leadership and guidance enables us to serve Him with joy. 1 Peter 1:8 teaches, “Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, through now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.”
JOY IN LABOR AND SERVICE
The lesson text tells about Jesus sending out seventy disciples to spread the good news (gospel) of His coming and His saving grace. As He sent them out Jesus emphasized to them that there was a great harvest of souls but few labors to help bring in that harvest. He also warned them that He was sending them as lambs among wolves. Jesus did not send them out without instruction or without power from Him. The passage of Luke 10 between the lesson text verses records the instructions Jesus gave to the ones sent. He instructed them on where to go, how to conduct themselves and what to do. He gave them power to heal the sick and to preach His gospel.
The seventy returned to Jesus in great joy. They were joyful because of God’s power they had witnessed and experienced. They told Jesus, “Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name.” No doubt Jesus rejoiced with them but the lesson tells that He warned and taught them not to rejoice in the wrong things. He told them that He would give them power to walk on poisonous snakes and scorpions and power to overcome the powers of Satan, whom He had seen cast out of heaven. But Jesus warned them not to rejoice in these powers, but to rejoice because their names were written in heaven – because they had been saved.
CONCLUSION
The instruction Jesus gave to the returning seventy is true for us. If we are saved we need to rejoice and praise God for it. We should look for ways to use the talents and abilities with which He has blessed us to serve Him with joy. We should never rejoice in any of those talents or abilities but in the fact that our name is written in the Lamb’s book of life in heaven.
Study references: Nehemiah 4:6; Nehemiah 12:43; Psalm 40:8; Psalm 100:2, John 4:36; Acts 11:22-23.

[1] Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee:
[2] And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
[3] And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
[4] So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.
[5] And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came.

[6] And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land.
[7] And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him.
[8] And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he builded an altar unto the LORD, and called upon the name of the LORD.
[9] And Abram journeyed, going on still toward the south.
[10] And there was a famine in the land: and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine was grievous in the land.
[11] And it came to pass, when he was come near to enter into Egypt, that he said unto Sarai his wife, Behold now, I know that thou art a fair woman to look upon:
[12] Therefore it shall come to pass, when the Egyptians shall see thee, that they shall say, This is his wife: and they will kill me, but they will save thee alive.
[13] Say, I pray thee, thou art my sister: that it may be well with me for thy sake; and my soul shall live because of thee.
[14] And it came to pass, that, when Abram was come into Egypt, the Egyptians beheld the woman that she was very fair.
[15] The princes also of Pharaoh saw her, and commended her before Pharaoh: and the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house.
[16] And he entreated Abram well for her sake: and he had sheep, and oxen, and he asses, and menservants, and maidservants, and she asses, and camels.
[17] And the LORD plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai Abram’s wife.
[18] And Pharaoh called Abram, and said, What is this that thou hast done unto me? why didst thou not tell me that she was thy wife?
[19] Why saidst thou, She is my sister? so I might have taken her to me to wife: now therefore behold thy wife, take her, and go thy way.
[20] And Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him: and they sent him away, and his wife, and all that he had.
Gen.13

[1] And Abram went up out of Egypt, he, and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the south.
[2] And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold.
[3] And he went on his journeys from the south even to Bethel, unto the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Hai;
[4] Unto the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first: and there Abram called on the name of the LORD.
[5] And Lot also, which went with Abram, had flocks, and herds, and tents.
[6] And the land was not able to bear them, that they might dwell together: for their substance was great, so that they could not dwell together.
[7] And there was a strife between the herdmen of Abram’s cattle and the herdmen of Lot’s cattle: and the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelled then in the land.
[8] And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we be brethren.
[9] Is not the whole land before thee? separate thyself, I pray thee, from me: if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left.
[10] And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar.
[11] Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed east: and they separated themselves the one from the other.
[12] Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom.
[13] But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly.
[14] And the LORD said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward:
[15] For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever.
[16] And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered.
[17] Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee.
[18] Then Abram removed his tent, and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there an altar unto the LORD.
Abraham, Sarah, and Lot packed to travel with all their belongings. God told Abraham the land of Canaan would be his and his children’s’. Abraham went to Canaan. Food would not grow in Canaan , so Abraham moved to Egypt. There was lots of food in Egypt. However, God wanted Abraham to live in Canaan. Abraham went back to Canaan. Abraham believed God’s promises. He built an altar and worshiped God. God would keep all of his promises.

Boys and girls today we are going to learn about Hannah , Samuel, and Eli. In the Bible, God’s word, it tells the true story of when Hannah gave God a special promise. You see, Hannah did not have any kids and she wanted a child very much. She prayed to God and made him a promise.

Stage:
Hannah: (Praying) Dear God, please send me a son. I promise I will give him to you Lord to do work for you. Please just give me a son.
(Dismiss from stage)

Narrator: God gave Hannah a son.
Samuel: (arrives on stage)

Narrator: She named him Samuel. There’s Samuel Hello Samuel.
Samuel: Hello boys and girls.
Narrator: Samuel is bigger now and Hannah remembered her promise to God, so she gave Samuel to a priest named Eli , so he could help and work in the temple for God.
Samuel: That’s right and I help and work in the temple for God. Just like my mom promised I would.
Eli: (arrives on stage)
Samuel : Hello Eli.
Eli: Hello Samuel. It’s been a long day. We should go to bed.
Samuel: (yawns) Yes , I am tired and we have a lot of work to do for God tomorrow. Good Night.
Samuel and Eli: (Lays down to sleep)

Narrator: (Trying to be quiet) It was on this night Samuel was Laying in his bed and God called his name.

Samuel: (Getting up from bed) Eli, is that you calling me?
Eli: No, I did not call you. Go back to bed.
Samuel: (laying back down)

Narrator: God called Samuel again.

Samuel (Getting up from bed) Eli, did you call my name?
Eli: No, It was not me calling you. Go back to bed.

Narrator: And guess what boys and girls, God called Samuel again.

Samuel (Getting up from bed) Umm, Eli, I am sorry to bother you again, but did you call my name this time? I really hear someone call my name.
Eli: No, but if the voice calls you again, answer it by saying “Speak Lord for I am your servant and I hear you”

Narrator: That’s exactly what Samuel said to the Lord and God gave him a very important message to give to Eli.

Eli: (Leaves stage)
Samuel: (standing) I am glad my mother kept her promise to give me to God. I know how important it is to worship and serve God through my mother’s example and working with Eli in the temple. I followed Eli’s instructions and answered God’s call. I even always put God first and served him.
Narrator: Yes Eli, you obeyed like a good boy and said your prayers too.

Samuel: Boys and girls, did you know God heard my prayers for others. That’s right God saved the lives of an entire nation.

Narrator: Thank you for praying Eli. God hears everyones prayers. We should all answer God’s call by praying and we could be saved too. God promises us heaven when we are saved.
Bye Samuel. Thanks for the lesson.

Samuel: Bye boys and girls, Remember: God keeps his promises. Just pray and talk to God when he calls you.