LEADERS HUB
Year 1, Term 2, Week 8: Ideas for Senior Group
Week 9: Obeying God - No matter what His plan is!
Lesson Objective:
Some of the things God asked Joshua to do seemed a bit strange. Joshua trusted and followed God and God helped him enter Jericho!
Bible Passage:
Joshua 6: 1-16, 20, 27
Memory Verse:
Joshua 1:9- I have commanded you to be strong and brave. Don’t ever be afraid or discouraged! I am the Lord your God and I will be there to help you wherever you go!
Story Idea: Musical Chairs & Watch It!
- Set up a line or circle of chairs (one less than the number of players)
- Have the kids march around the perimeter of the chairs to music
- When the music stops, everyone tries to sit in a chair
- The person without a chair is out and sits to one side
- The last player remaining wins
Ask the kids if they can think of a Bible story where God's people marched around the edge of something...
Quiz Questions:
1. Where was Joshua helping take God's people? The promised land
2. Which city were they going to move into in the promised land? Jericho
3. Why couldn't they get in? The city was shut and had high walls, there were people living there
4. How many days did the people need to march around Jericho? Seven days
5. What did the people do on their seventh lap on the seventh day? Blow the trumpets and shout
6. Do you think this seems like a strange way to invade a city? Yes
7. Might it have been easier for Joshua to ignore God's plan and invade the city his own way with swords and fighting? Yes
8. Did Joshua trust God's plan? Yes
9. What happened when they all shouted and blew the trumpets? The walls fell
10. What special home has God promised for us in the future? Heaven
11. Can we trust God's plan too? Yes
12. How do we know we can trust God's plan? He created us, He knows what's best, He knows everything, He has shown us over and over again in the Bible that we can trust Him
13. What could you do if you were having trouble trusting God's plan? Pray, read the Bible and see all the stories of how God has helped His people and kept His promises, ask other people for stories of how God has been with them etc.
Game Idea: The walls are falling!
- Have the kids form a circle and place a sheet or blanket (Jericho) in the middle
- Explain the commands:
MARCH = march around the circle
WALLS = Everyone hold hands to form a wall
FALL = Everyone falls to the ground
JERICHO = Everyone stands on the rug
- Play some music and have the kids begin marching, as time goes on call out other commands
- The last kid to do the correct command is out and sits to one side
- As the circle gets smaller, fold the sheet to make Jericho smaller so that everyone can hold hands around it
- The last person remaining wins!
Activity Idea: Memory Verse Hunt
- Before the lesson, print the Joshua 1:9 verse grid on sheets of coloured paper (one colour per team)
- Cut out the memory verse sections and hide the pieces around the room
- Split the kids into teams and give each team a colour and a Bible
- Teams should race to find all of the pieces of the verse in their colour and arrange them to make the memory verse (using the Bible to look at the verse if needed)
- The first team to arrange the verse correctly wins!
