august 18, 2019 god is our defender joshua 10:1 15

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August 18, 2019 God Is Our Defender

God Makes the Sun Stand Still Joshua 10:1-15

DATE PONDER POINT

THE BIG GOD STORY

Welcome and Worship (15 minutes)

Begins class creating an inviting atmosphere for kids to feel welcome and engage kids in worship through singing and communion.

The Big God Story (18 minutes)

Creates space for children to hear God’s word and prepare respond to the Holy Spirit in small groups

Small Groups (20 minutes)

Kids will build relationships with each other and their leaders, and respond to what they learned in the Big God Story as well as how to apply it to their lives

Dismiss (4 minutes)

Send kids out with a sense of peace so they can be a blessing to others.

• The large group room will be divided into three sections. Please help kids find which section they should sit in according to their grade: 1st-2nd, 3rd-4th & 5th-6th.

• Toward the end of small group time, A/V Tech will play the 2 minute warning sound followed by a song. During or immediately following the song please regroup in the large group meeting space (not before).

• 5th & 6th graders can go directly to Snack Shack after small group time, rather than regrouping in the large group space.

Host Administrative To Do’s: • Make sure no group is too large • Make sure each group has enough supplies • Close curtains and divider wall for small groups

at 9:00 and 10:15 (and re-open after 9:00) • Cue the tech when to play the 2 minute warning

with song. • Call names for dismissal after blessing

SCHEDULE Large Group

Small Group

2 Min Warn.

Regroup/Dismiss 5th-6th

1st Service (9:00) 9:00 9:33 9:53 10:00

2nd Service (10:15) 10:15 10:48 11:08 11:15

3rd Service (11:30) 11:30 12:03 12:23 12:30

Digging Into the Heart of God. Copyright © Group Publishing, Inc. Permission to reproduce granted for local church use.

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GOAL: Worship & welcome is all about engaging kids and helping them enter into worship, letting

them know that class has begun preparing their minds for what they are going to hear.

WELCOME (Host):

Stage Lights On VIDEO LOOPS: Welcome Loop, 5 Min Countdown, Welcome Image

We are so glad you are here today. Welcome the kids in your own words then say the following

to the kids: Let’s all stand and sing our praise to Him…

OPENING WORSHIP SONG (Worship Leader):

Turn out main overhead lights

WORSHIP VIDEO 1: Our God

WORSHIP VIDEO 2: Chasing Me

(Direct kids to get with their groups and circle up with their small group leader before sitting down)

SMALL GROUP CONNECT IMAGE

CONNECT QUESTIONS (Host): 4 MINUTE COUNTDOWN VIDEO

• If you had extra time in the day to do whatever you wanted, what would you do?

• What is something that scares or worries you?

• What makes you feel safe and protected?

TIMELINE VIDEO– Joshua

(Storyteller)

The Big God Story: Point out that what kids are about to hear is true and is recorded in the Bi-

ble. Open your Bible to the passage and leave it open and visible throughout The Big God Sto-

ry. Invite kids to open their Bibles and follow along as you storytell. Children respond to what the

Holy Spirit is teaching them as they reflect on the day’s portion of The Big God Story.

The Prayer of Release: This allows children and leaders to pause, be still, and ask God to quiet

their hearts and minds. Before you pray, you might ask the kids to hold out their hands, palms

up, in a spirit of releasing their worries and distractions in order to better receive what the Holy

Spirit might have for them today. Then encourage the kids to quiet their voices, take a seat, and

pray with you.


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The Big God Story:

• Battle Figures

• Marbles

• White ball pit balls

• Flashlight

Storyteller Script We have to hurry. I just heard some scary news: Five kings and their armies are on their way to attack the Gibeonites! That might not mean much to you, but it meant something to the Israel-ites. You see, the Israelites were God’s chosen people. They’d made a promise to help the Gibe-onites, so they had to go defend them! Because God is our defender, we defend others. I’m going to need a couple of volunteers to help prepare for battle! (Ask 2 kids to volunteer) Have kids line up the figures on the floor, with all the Israelite soldiers facing one way and all the enemy soldiers so they’re facing toward the Israelites. Uh-oh…five kings got all their armies together! That’s a lot of people. And the Israelites? Well, they were former slaves who’d just started to settle into a land after wandering without a home-land for 40 years. They didn’t exactly seem like mighty warriors. Five trained armies against two inexperienced armies! It doesn’t seem likely that the Israelites and Gibeonites can win. Sometimes when a bully threatens us or everyone seems like they’re out to get us, it can feel as if we’re the tiny group of Israelites up against five big armies. But God is our defender. The Bible has a lot of battles in it. Let’s see what happened in this one and how God defended his people. Before the battle started, God made a promise. Read Joshua 10:8.

The Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid of them. I have handed them over to you. Not one of them will be able to fight against you and win.”

Well, that sounds good! God is our defender, and they knew before the battle even started that God would defend them. So Joshua, who led the Israelite army, led them to the enemies and took them by surprise. They marched through the night and sneaked up on the enemies. Let’s act that out with our fig-ures. Have kid volunteers make the Israelite figures quietly sneak up and surprise the Enemies. It worked! God threw the enemies into a panic, and the Israelites killed a lot of them. Have kid volunteers roll marbles from at least 5 feet away to try to knock down all the Enemy fig-ures. Tell kids they’ll have one minute to knock down all the figures. Just shy of a minute, warn kids that time is almost up. If they protest, tell them you’ll give them extra time. If they don’t protest, ask if they’d like extra time. It will be pretty hard for kids to knock down all the figures, but if they do, stand a few back up as kids keep rolling. After another minute, have kids stop rolling marbles. Give volunteer kids the white ball pit balls and have them hold on to them until you cue them. The Israelites fought really well, but God fought, too! Listen to what he used as a weapon. Read Joshua 10:11.

The Amorites tried to escape as Israel marched toward them. They ran down the road


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from Beth Horon to Azekah. Then the Lord threw large hailstones down on them. The hailstones killed more of them than the swords of the Israelites did.

Have kids turn the remaining Enemy figures around to make them look like they’re retreating. Have kids throw the white ball pit balls until all the enemy figures are knocked down. Earlier I said you had only one minute to knock down all the figures, but then I gave you extra time. And then the “hail” helped finish the job. In the Bible, Joshua needed more time for the battle, too. So he asked God for something very specific. Check it out. Read Joshua 10:12-13.

12 So the Lord gave the Amorites over to Israel. On that day Joshua spoke to

the Lord while the Israelites were listening. He said, “Sun, stand still over Gibeon. And you, moon, stand still over the Valley of Aijalon.” 13

So the sun stood still. The moon stopped. They didn’t move again until the nation won the battle over its enemies. You can read about it in the Book of Jashar. The sun stopped in the middle of the sky. It didn’t go down for about a full day.

God defended the Israelites by causing their enemies to panic, by sending hail to defeat more people than the Israelites could, and by making the sun stay out longer so the Israelites could finish the battle. Wow! God definitely won that battle. God defended the Israelites so they could defend the Gibeonites. God is our defender, so we defend others. Thank volunteers and have them sit with their group. Today we learned that God’s friends needed God’s help, and God protected them. God protects and defends us, too. Sometimes there are things that scare or worry us, but we can always re-member that God is our defender. He protects us from danger. When I’m worried or scared about… Share one or two examples of things that feel like danger to you, and then say: …God is my defender. Earlier this morning you shared in your groups things that scare or worry you. Those things are a part of our lives and they can be scary. They can even feel dangerous sometimes. The Israelites felt scared, too, but God is bigger than our worries and our fears. Pick up the flash-light and move it in a half-circle motion to mimic the sun moving across the sky during daytime as you say: God is our defender when… Mention some fears you hear kids mention. Let’s talk to God about our worries. Lead children in a short prayer, asking God to defend the chil-dren when they face danger. Repeat moving the flashlight in a half-circle motion as you say: We can always trust God to protect us, even when it feels like our worries won’t stop. Immediately move the flashlight to “noon” position and hold it there. God stopped the sun in the sky to protect his friends, and God can do amazing things to defend and protect us, too. Let’s thank God that he’s our defender. We can trust him to protect us. Leave the flashlight at noon position, and lead children in a short prayer, thanking God for defending the children when they face danger. Hold the Flashlight We know that God is our defender, so we can defend others, too We don’t need to worry about danger as we can practice defending others. We can protect friends when someone says some-thing mean to them by saying something kind to them instead. We can also defend others by telling an adult if someone is being hurt. Let’s ask God to help us defend others. pray: God, you made the sun stop in the sky to help the Israelites. You defended them, and you defend us. Help


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us defend our friends, too. In Jesus’ name, amen. With God on our side, we can defend others. We know God will defend us, too. This week whenever you feel afraid, remember that God is our defender and he will protect you. I hope you’ll come back next week so we can all learn together once again. Tell the kids we are going to close the Big God Story by worshipping him. Ask the kids to wait until they are asked to come forward to take communion. WORSHIP VIDEO 3: Great Are You Lord After a time of worshipping have kids come and take communion if they have been baptized, and bring their offering. Fade out song slowly at Worship Leader’s prompting. (As the song comes to a close Worship Leader tells groups to head to their small group space. Say something like, “Let’s continue responding to what God is teaching us as we dismiss to our small groups. Please follow your small group leader at this time.”) IMAGE: It’s time for small groups Turn main overhead lights on Dismiss for small groups—refer to map for small group locations ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- At the end of small groups… Tech cue: 2 minute warning with exit song, using ceiling speakers, at the host’s prompting Turn speakers back to wall speakers for blessing, closing song and dismissal.


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GOAL: Kids build relationships with each other & their leader as they respond to what they heard in the Big God Story.

Being Bullied SUPPLIES: • Bibles • What Do I Do handout (one per child) • Battle: Enemy figures & Israelite figures (this is made out of cardstock rolled into a tube shape) God is our defender, so we defend others. Let’s defend others with prayer. Tell kids to each think of a battle someone they know is facing. (Someone with cancer, or needing a job, parents get-ting a divorce for example.) Have the kids tear some paper and write on the piece of paper the bat-tle or enemy someone they know is facing. Then have them put that paper in the Enemy figure. Have kids tear paper again, this time have them write a prayer or prayer request and place it in the Israelite figure. Pray this prayer with the kids. God, thank you that you are our defender. We lift up all the battles in our Enemy figures to you. Fight them! In Jesus’ name, amen. God is our defender, so we defend others. It’s kind of like the five kings were bullies. The Israelites saw the Gibeonites being bullied, and they stepped in to help. Is that what we’re supposed to do, too? What do we do if we see someone being bullied? Let’s dig in to that. Give each child a “What Do I Do About a Bully?” handout, and set out Bibles so kids can follow along. We’re going to look at four parts of the Bible that help us know how to handle a bully-ing situation. For each tip, you’ll get a chance to try it out with me being the bully. Look up and read Matthew 5:43-44. If you see someone being bullied and you want to defend that person, the first thing you can do is pray for the bully. You might be the first one ever to pray for that person! In our Bible story, Joshua asked for God’s help, and God defended the Israelites. Look up and read Matthew 18: 15-16 - These verses talk about how to handle a conflict with another person in the church. But a lot of Jesus’ words can work for a problem we might have with a bully. These verses say to talk directly to the person first and then get help from adults as needed. If you are being bullied You could say things like this: You’re not being very nice. Please stop! You might not know this, but when you do that it seems like you’re being a bully. That’s my friend—be nice! If a bully won’t stop even when you say something or is threatening to hurt you, bring an adult into the situation. Look up and read Romans 12:17-21. When you defend someone from a bully, it’s important to try to do it in a way that makes peace rather than making the situation worse. God wants us to do everything we can to live at peace with everyone. What are some things we could say or do to make the situation worse? What are some things we could do to make peace?

Look up and read Luke 10:25-37. What can you learn from this story about helping a bullying victim? In this example, the Sa-maritan wasn’t around when the victim was being bullied. But he still showed kindness later by making sure the victim was okay and taking care of his needs. If you can’t help people while they’re being bullied, you can help after. What are some things people might need af-ter they’ve been bullied?


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GOAL: Bless kids to send them out with a sense of peace so they can be a blessing to others.

CLOSING REMARKS/ANNOUNCEMENTS (Host):

Wall Speakers On

TRANSITION ACTIVITIES (HOST):

The videos listed below are 12-13 minutes long. Please play as listed below and feel free to stop the video whenever it’s time to start the next service.

After 9:00 service play - Transition Compilation 3

After 10:15 service play - Transition Compilation 4

DISMISSAL (STORYTELLER):

Call names of kids as parent come to pick up and welcome kids who are being dropped off. En-

courage parents to enter the room and encourage kids and parents to exit out the middle door

(103)


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Teachers Dig In

Dig In to the Bible

Read: Joshua 10:1-15

In This Passage: Joshua leads a small, weak army of Israelites into battle against five

unified armies. The Israelites are fighting to defend another population, the Gibeon-

ites. In turn, God defends the Israelites, sending their enemies into a panic and

causing the sun to stand still so they have time to defeat their enemies. God is our

defender, too.

Bible Point: God is our defender…

Application: …so we defend others.

Summary Verse: “The Lord is compassionate and merciful, slow to get angry and filled

with unfailing love” (Psalm 103:8).

Dig Deeper

You’ll Be Teaching: God is our defender. Kids will easily relate to the bullying aspect of

this story. They’ve likely been picked on by a bully and certainly have seen other

kids fall victim to bullies. Help kids see that even when others are mean to them,

God is their defender. And when they see others who aren’t being treated well, they

can step in and show kindness.

Think About: Recall a time in your life when you needed someone to defend you. Did

anyone defend you? What did that experience show you about God?

Dig In to Prayer

Pray that your kids will find ways to peacefully defend others.

Quick Tip

You can set the tone for defending others right in your Sunday school classroom! Kids

may learn as much about God from a positive relationship as from a good Sunday

school lesson. On the other hand, a negative or socially unsafe environment can

keep a child out of church for many years—even forever. Make sure your class envi-

ronment is socially safe. Institute a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to teasing or

put-downs. Avoid putting kids on the spot. And most important, set an example your-

self by reflecting the love of Jesus to all the kids in your Sunday school class.


august 18, 2019 god is our defender joshua 10:1 15

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