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1 FALL 2015 SUNDAY SCHOOL GRADES 3&4 TEACHER GUIDE Get your FREE, customizable DIGITAL COPY of this teacher guide. It s as EASY as Visit group.com/digital to set up a free olie accout for your church. 2 Eter the Activatio Code below to add this teacher guide to your accout. 3 Dowload PDF or Word files to your computer ad edit, prit, or them to your teachers. ONE-TIME ACTIVATION CODE:

2 group.com/suday-school We kow you care about kids We do, too! That s why we attempt to esure that all crafts, toys, ad gizmos meet or exceed atioal safety stadards ad are produced by maufacturers that do t use child labor or abuse their labor force. You ca order Group resources kowig that i additio to carig for your kids, you re also carig for childre elsewhere. Let s keep kids safe! We strive to provide products that are mechaically reliable ad hold together durig ormal, iteded usage. Items are also checked for flammability, ad both pait ad surface coatigs are checked for heavy metals icludig lead. You ca help your childre stay safe by seeig that toys ad gizmos are used as desiged, for the purposes desiged, ad that ay broke pieces are disposed of promptly ad properly. We value your feedback. If you become aware of a problem affectig the safety of ay of our products, please iform us immediately. FaithWeaver NOW Bible Curriculum, Grades 3 & 4, Fall 2015 Copyright 2000 ad 2015 Group Publishig, Ic editio All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced i ay maer whatsoever without prior writte permissio from the publisher, except where oted i the text ad i the case of brief quotatios embodied i critical articles ad reviews. For iformatio, visit group.com/permissios.! OK TO COPY Whe you see the OK TO COPY ico, this meas permissio to photocopy the page from FaithWeaver NOW Bible Curriculum for Grades 3 & 4, Fall, is grated for local church use. Copyright Group Publishig, Ic. group.com Credits Cotributig Authors: Debbie Gowesmith, Michelle R. Hicks, Ja Kersher, Pamela Malloy Editors: Erica L. Feucht, Scott Firestoe IV, Jeifer Hooks, Stephaie Marti, Owe Shattuck, Jessica Sausto, Ali Thompso, Christie Yout Joes Copy Editors: Lydsay Gerwig, Becky Helzer, Adrea Zimmerma Chief Creative Officer: Joai Schultz Cover Desig ad Art Directio: Jeff Specer Iterior Desig Team: Jared Bigham, Jeff Bruacci, Kate Elvi, Suzi Jese, Rady Kady, Rebecca Swai Cover Photography: istockphoto.com/rich Vitage Photography All Scripture quotatios, uless otherwise idicated, are take from the Holy Bible, New Iteratioal Versio, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Ic. Used by permissio of Zoderva. All rights reserved worldwide. ISBN Prited i the Uited States of America.

3 3 Cotets Itroductio...4 The Lessos Lesso 1: The Israelites Cross the Red Sea Exodus 13:17 14:31 Week of August 30, Lesso 2: God Seds Quail ad Maa Exodus 16:1-26 Week of September 6, Lesso 3: God Provides Water Exodus 17:1-7 Week of September 13, Lesso 4: God Gives the Te Commadmets (Part 1) Exodus 19:16 20:21 Week of September 20, Lesso 5: God Gives the Te Commadmets (Part 2) Exodus 19:16 20:21 Week of September 27, Lesso 6: The Israelites Worship a Golde Calf Exodus 32:1-25 Week of October 4, Lesso 7: The Israelites Build the Taberacle Exodus 35:4 36:38 Week of October 11, Lesso 8: Moses Seds Spies Ito the Promised Lad Numbers 13:1 14:23 Week of October 18, Lesso 9: Balaam s Dokey Talks Numbers 22:1-38 Week of October 25, Lesso 10: Joshua Becomes Leader of Israel Joshua 1:1-11 Week of November 1, Lesso 11: Joshua Seds Spies to Jericho Joshua 2:1-24 Week of November 8, Lesso 12: The Israelites Cross the Jorda River Joshua 3:1 4:24 Week of November 15, Lesso 13: God Gives Victory Over Jericho Joshua 6:1-27 Week of November 22, Grades 3 & 4 Table of Cotets

4 4 The future of Suday school + family miistry is NOW. No doubt about it, the world is chagig. Families used to go to church every week. Kids used to have loger attetio spas. Teachers used to have more time to prepare. Ad did t our budgets used to be bigger? Eve the Suday school Bible curriculum you used just a couple of years ago is already out of date. But there s oe thig that s ever chaged: the eed to grow families closer to Jesus. That s why we created FaithWeaver NOW, ad it s differet from aythig you ve ever see before! It combies Suday school with family miistry. Sure, you ve see Suday school aimed at families. But FaithWeaver NOW actually hits the target by havig everyoe i the family learig about the same Scripture each week. It s simpler ad easier. Sometimes chage is a woderful thig. Goe are the days whe you eeded to sped hours preparig your lessos ad hutig for supplies. FaithWeaver NOW will have you ad your team ready to go i a sap. It s made for NOW. Life is complicated ad full of distractios. FaithWeaver NOW keeps faith o track through eve the most frezied lifestyles. What makes FaithWeaver NOW the perfect curriculum for TODAY s church? Families lear the same Bible passage i age-appropriate ways. Kids do t just hear the Word. They experiece it. Simple ad easy lessos fit eve the busiest lives. Kids see God i their everyday world. The Scope & Sequece goes through the Bible every three years. You ca customize it however you like, with both prit ad digital versios. Plus, FaithWeaver NOW stays up to date. New cotet, ew tools, ew mobile apps, ad more every year all to keep the Bible fresh, relevat, ad effective. Create a vibrat family miistry that s ew that s wow that s NOW. FaithWeaver NOW gives you a fresh strategy for beig more successful tha ever i brigig families closer to Jesus. Thom ad Joai Schultz Chairma ad Chief Creative Officer Group Publishig, Ic. Itroductio Grades 3 & 4

5 Lesso 1 5 The Israelites Cross the Red Sea Exodus 13:17 14:31 Third- ad fourth-graders are begiig to worry about may differet thigs, such as ot doig well i school, beig hurt by others, or eve losig a paret. Kids may feel aloe ad ot kow what to do whe they re afraid. Fear ofte comes from a belief that somethig stroger tha us will overcome us somehow. The reality could t be further from that, though, sice God is with you ad each of the kids i your group all the time. Use this lesso to help kids uderstad that they are t aloe, eve whe they re afraid. LESSON WHAT CHILDREN DO SUPPLIES EASY PREP 1 Gettig Started 2 Bible Exploratio What Are You Afraid Of? (about 10 mi.) Work i pairs to discuss scary thigs, ad the patomime them. From Fear to Victory (about 20 mi.) Discover what the Israelites must have feared, ad participate i ruig through the parted Red Sea. Bibles, Bible Truth Sleuth, CD player, maskig tape, idex cards, marker, 16 iflated balloos, copies of the lyrics page (at the ed of this lesso) Teacher Pack: CD, Bible Timelie Tear out the Lesso 1 pages from each Bible Truth Sleuth studet book. Place maskig tape o the floor to create a straight path leadig from Egypt i oe corer to the Promised Lad i aother corer. Write each letter of the word righteousess o a separate idex card. Place the letter R at the Egypt corer. Hide most of the letters aroud the room, but keep the remaiig letters with you. Bible Poit God helps us whe we re afraid. Key Verse I will fear o evil, for you are with me; your rod ad your staff, they comfort me. (Psalm 23:4). Weavig Faith Ito Life Kids will tur to God whe they re afraid. God Is With Me (about 10 mi.) Read the Key Verse, ad create staffs to remid them to trust God. Bibles, CD player, 12x18-ich sheets of costructio paper, markers, tape Teacher Pack: CD Bold text withi the lesso is spoke text. Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 1

6 6 LESSON WHAT CHILDREN DO SUPPLIES EASY PREP 3 Weavig Faith Ito Life 4 Lastig Impressios Kow Fear or No Fear? (about 15 mi.) Compare beig afraid with God helpig them to ot be afraid. Daily Challeges (about 5 mi.) Choose a Daily Challege to apply God s Word. Weavig Faith at Home (about 2 mi.) Talk about how to share what they leared with their families. Bold text withi the lesso is spoke text. Bible Truth Sleuth, pes Bible Truth Sleuth Bible Truth Sleuth Tear out the letter to parets from each Bible Truth Sleuth studet book. Lesso 1 Grades 3 & 4

7 7 The Israelites Cross the Red Sea Exodus 13:17 14:31 BIBLe BACKGROUND FOR LEADERS God Cares for His People As the mass of more tha 2 millio Hebrews left Egypt, God kew that facig the warlike Philisties immediately would likely have made the Hebrews lose hope ad tur back to Egypt. The pillar of cloud by day ad pillar of fire by ight must have bee awesome ad comfortig. God s Uusual Strategy God istructed the Israelites to tur back somewhat toward Egypt ad camp at a spot betwee Migdol ad the Red Sea. God had a bigger pla tha ayoe else could kow. Pharaoh would ve bee cofidet that he could easily defeat the Israelites. The Israelites were slaves of the Egyptias oly days prior to this evet. They d bee beate by the whips of the slave drivers ad were familiar with the weapos the Egyptias carried. They must ve realized that their fightig talets were othig compared with the Egyptias. Ad they were backed agaist the sea, with moutais o two sides ad the Egyptias bearig dow o them. The situatio must ve seemed hopeless. kow that mighty Egypt had bee devastated by its ow lowly slaves. The Jesus Coectio We live i troubled times whe it s easy for people to lose heart ad feel hopeless ad lost. But a relatioship with Jesus ca give us peace ad joy. Jesus is our light i dark times. Whe have you felt out of sorts ad desperate to fid some cotrol over your situatio? Perhaps the Israelites felt these thigs after they escaped from Egypt. Although they may ot have recogized it at the time, evetually they were able to look back ad see how God used that time to protect them ad brig glory to himself. What part of your life might God have his had i ow? What ca you do to coect with God durig times of fear ad desperatio? Take a few miutes to reflect o God s had i your life. Write your reflectio here. God Shows His Power We ca realize that God had all this plaed. He kew that the people would be frighteed. He kew that they would doubt him. But he also kew that his power would be remembered forever. God kew that he would prevail, that the Hebrews would be saved from Pharaoh, ad that the result would be a people growig greatly i their faith i him. It may seem odd that o record of this evet has bee foud i Egyptia history. However, it s likely that all records were wiped from the books because it would ve bee a embarrassmet for the world to Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 1

8 8 GETTING STARTED What Are You Afraid Of? What You ll Do Welcome kids warmly as they arrive, ad ask them how their week wet. Have kids stad o oe side of the room. Form pairs. Say: People are afraid of lots of differet thigs. Some people are afraid of heights, flyig i airplaes, skydivig, spiders, sakes, ad a variety of other thigs. Talk with your parter about somethig you both agree is scary. Allow time. Say: Take a miute to decide how you ll both act out the thig you both agreed is scary for the rest of the group. Do t use ay words. Everyoe else will try to guess what you re actig out. Give pairs a miute to pla out their short skits, ad the allow pairs to take turs actig them out for the group to guess. Cotiue util each pair has had the opportuity to share its fear. From Fear to Victory Supplies Bibles Bible Truth Sleuth CD player maskig tape idex cards marker 16 iflated balloos copies of the lyrics page (at the ed of this lesso) Teacher Pack CD: Horses ad Chariots (track 2) Bible Timelie! BALLOON WARNING To avoid chokig hazards for youger classes meetig later, be sure to pick up pieces of ay broke balloos promptly. Balloos may cotai latex. Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. Why do some people thik the thigs you ve acted out today are scary? What do you thik might help you be less afraid i scary situatios? Say: Today we ll look at a situatio the Israelites were i that was very scary for them. We ll see how God helped them ad lear that GOD HELPS US WHEN WE RE AFRAID, too. No matter what situatio you face, God is always with you ad he helps you all the time. 2 BIBLE EXPLORATION From Fear to Victory What You ll Do Poit out the Israelites crossig the Red Sea o the Bible Timelie. Distribute the Bible Truth Sleuth pages. Lesso 1 Grades 3 & 4

9 9 Say: God s people, the Israelites, had waited a log time, ad they were fially leavig Egypt! But they did t take the shortest route possible to the Promised Lad. Poit to the maskig- tape lie, ad explai that it s the shortest route out of Egypt. Istead, God led them aroud the desert to the Red Sea. Make sure kids have Bibles, ad ivite a willig child to read aloud Exodus 13: Say: Hidde aroud this room are letters o idex cards. The letters will spell righteousess. Your job is to fid the letters i the correct order. To see how to spell righteousess, look at the left side of your Bible Truth Sleuth page beside the Kow Fear colum. Stick together as a group the way the Israelites did. If you fid a letter that comes later i the word, you ca put it back ad keep lookig. As kids go through this process, preted to be Pharaoh ad slowly cout dow from 20, esurig you cout quickly eough that kids feel just a bit of pressure. This will help them uderstad the urgecy of the Israelites departure. Whe they fially fid all the letters that you ve hidde, let them look a little loger ad the say: It looks like you re stuck. You ca t seem to fid the ext letter. The timer is ruig out, ad you ca t get to the ed. Allow kids to feel a little frustratio, ad the ivite them to sit dow. Say: God did t have the Israelites waderig i circles for othig! God had a pla. He wated to show Pharaoh ad the Egyptias that he was the oe true God! Have a willig child read aloud Exodus 14:1-4 ad Exodus 14: Say: The Israelites were trapped at the edge of the Red Sea. Let s try to imagie what it must have souded like as the Israelites stood at the Red Sea. Have kids form two groups. Oe group will be the Israelites, ad the other group will be the Egyptias. Play the Horses ad Chariots segmet (track 2 o the CD), ad have the Israelites stad ext to a wall desigated as the Red Sea. Have the Egyptias move i toward the Israelites to trap them. The kids will follow alog with the CD ad act out the thigs their groups do. From Fear to Victory Easy Prep Tear out the Lesso 1 pages from each Bible Truth Sleuth studet book. Place maskig tape o the floor to create a straight path leadig from Egypt i oe corer to the Promised Lad i aother corer. Write each letter of the word righteousess o a separate idex card. Place the letter R at the Egypt corer. Hide most of the letters aroud the room, but keep the remaiig letters with you. Say: The Egyptias had caught up with the Israelites, ad the Israelites were trapped. They thought they were goig to die. But God had a pla to help them. Our Bible Poit tells us that GOD HELPS US WHEN WE RE AFRAID. Let s fid out how God helped the Israelites! Read aloud Exodus 14: Say: Let s look at what God did for the Israelites i this scary situatio. Have kids switch roles from the previous activity. The Israelites will ow become the Egyptias, ad the Egyptias will ow become the Israelites. Say: God was with his people i the cloud ad i the fire, but God did t stop there. He wet o to help the Israelites eve more. The Red Sea was still a obstacle that kept the Israelites from cotiuig o their jourey. Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 1

10 10 Ask for two willig kids from each of the two groups to be the Red Sea. Have two kids stad facig the other two kids. Give each perso i the Red Sea two balloos to hold i each had so each Red Sea child has four balloos. Help kids hold o to the tied-off eds so they ca easily hold two balloos i each had. Have the Red Sea kids hold the balloos out i frot of themselves ad touch the balloos of the other side of the Red Sea. Have the Israelites stad at oe ed of the Red Sea. Say: God told Moses to raise his staff over the water ad the water would part. So Moses raised his staff over the water, ad it parted! The the Israelites crossed over o dry lad! Have the Red Sea pull the balloos apart so the Israelites ca pass through. The have the Israelite group ru through to the other side. Say: The Egyptias were gettig ready to follow the Israelites! So God told Moses to hold up his staff agai, ad whe Moses did, the water came crashig dow o the Egyptias! Have the Egyptia group start to ru through, but have the Red Sea push the balloos back together agai so that they ca t get through. Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. What was this experiece like for you? How does your experiece relate to what the Israelites wet through? What do you usually do whe you re afraid? How do you thik you ca trust God to help you eve whe it seems impossible? Say: There are all kids of times we ca rely o God to help us. We kow that GOD HELPS US WHEN WE RE AFRAID, ad we ca rely o him at all other times, too. The Israelites leared from a really icredible experiece that God was always with them, ad he helped them i a difficult ad scary time. God Is With Me Supplies Bibles CD player 12x18-ich sheets of costructio paper markers tape Teacher Pack CD: Psalm 23 (track 4) God Is With Me What You ll Do Make sure each child has a Bible. Say: Our Key Verse today is Psalm 23:4. Have kids fid the verse i their Bibles, ad ask a willig child to read the verse aloud: I will fear o evil, for you are with me; your rod ad your staff, they comfort me (Psalm 23:4). Say: Fid a parter, ad tell each other the three mai words that stad out to you i this verse. Allow time. Lesso 1 Grades 3 & 4

11 11 Say: Today we saw how God helped the Israelites whe they were i a difficult situatio ad were very scared. God had Moses use his staff to part the Red Sea. Our Key Verse tells us that whe we re afraid, God s staff comforts us. That meas God s with us ad he s strog eough to help us i ay situatio. Let s make our ow staffs as a remider of how God helps us wheever we re afraid. Give each child oe sheet of costructio paper, ad have kids roll the sheets ito tubes legthwise ad faste with tape. Play Psalm 23 (track 4 o the CD) while the kids work. Say: Use markers to write our Key Verse o your staffs, ad decorate them i a way you thik will remid you that God helps you whe you re afraid. Show the importace of the words you told your parter earlier. Whe kids fiish decoratig their staffs, have them each bed the top part of the tube to form a crook to resemble a shepherd s staff. Say: Hag your staff up someplace where you ll see it at home to help you remember that you ca place your trust i God wheever you re afraid. Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. How do you thik this staff will help you remember to tur to God whe you re worried or afraid? What s oe way you ca let your trust i God take the place of fear i your life? Say: The staffs you made ca be a good remider of our Key Verse, which tells us that GOD HELPS US WHEN WE RE AFRAID. Whe we give our fear to God, he ca give us courage ad help us i those scary times. God did miracles to show the Israelites that he would always be with them. That same amazig God wats to be part of your everyday life. 3 WEAVING FAITH INTO LIFE Kow Fear or No Fear? What You ll Do Have kids form pairs. Say: We all kow what it s like to be afraid. Earlier we talked about thigs that are scary to us. But we ca tur to God whe we re afraid. Kow Fear or No Fear? Supplies Bible Truth Sleuth pes Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 1

12 12 Have kids take a miute to tell parters about a way they were comforted the last time they were afraid. Say: Oe way God helps us whe we re afraid is with his words ad promises i the Bible. Whe we read the Bible, we see may verses that promise God s help whe we re afraid. Let s look at some of those verses today ad at how they ca help us with some of our fears. Make sure everyoe has a pe, ad have kids tur to the Kow Fear/No Fear activity o their Bible Truth Sleuth pages ad complete it. Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. How ca readig Bible verses help you whe you re afraid? What s easy or difficult about trustig God whe you re afraid? What ca you ask God to replace your fear with? Say: These verses help us see how God has a lot to say about fear, ad we eed a lot of remiders to trust God istead of beig afraid. GOD HELPS US WHEN WE RE AFRAID, ad there s o better help tha that! The Israelites faced a truly impossible situatio, but God was with them ad brought them through it. 4 LASTING IMPRESSIONS Daily Challeges Supplies Bible Truth Sleuth Daily Challeges What You ll Do Say: Cosider this week how GOD HELPS US WHEN WE RE AFRAID. Have kids fid this week s Daily Challeges o their Bible Truth Sleuth pages ad choose oe to do this week. They ca choose oe or more of these three optios: Pay attetio this week to areas of your life i which you feel afraid. Pray ad ask God to help you lear to trust him istead of beig afraid. Look up fear i the dictioary. Write dow the defiitio. The look up atoyms of fear. Write those dow, ad pray that God will help you become more filled with trust ad hope i God. Put these defiitios i your joural or Bible to remid you to ask God for help whe you re afraid. Use yar to make yourself a bracelet. As you make the bracelet, pray that God will help you whe you re afraid. Aytime you feel afraid, let the bracelet remid you to trust God istead. Lesso 1 Grades 3 & 4

13 13 Make sure you choose a Daily Challege as well, ad tell the kids what you chose. Kids will be more iclied to follow through o their commitmets whe they see you doig the same. Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. What s a practical way you re goig to do your Daily Challege? Iclude a time, a place, ad other ideas. Say: Let s follow through o our Daily Challeges ad remember that GOD HELPS US WHEN WE RE AFRAID. Weavig Faith at Home Sed the letter to parets home with your kids or give it to parets whe they pick up their childre. This is a great way to show families they re importat to your church ad to support their role as spiritual leaders to their childre. Ecourage kids to talk with their parets about the Daily Challeges they chose ad what they leared about trustig God istead of beig afraid. Kids ca also do the activities i the HomeCoect sectio of their Bible Truth Sleuth pages with their families. Talk to your Director about ig the FREE FamilyCoect to all your church s families. Available at group.com/digital. Have kids form groups of three or four ad pray for the perso o their right. Remid kids to pray for God to help them trust him whe they re afraid. Weavig Faith at Home Supplies Bible Truth Sleuth Weavig Faith at Home Easy Prep Tear out the letter to parets from each Bible Truth Sleuth studet book. Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 1

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15 Lesso 2 15 God Seds Quail ad Maa Exodus 16:1-26 Third- ad fourth-graders care about other kids their age. They ca be very sesitive to the eeds of their frieds. As they develop empathy, it s importat for them to kow that other kids are beig cared for, too. Your kids are becomig cocered about thigs that exted beyod their immediate sphere of ifluece. This meas they ll be able to empathize with the eeds the Israelites faced ad also may wat to kow how God s care exteds to the problems of people all aroud the world. Use this lesso to show them that God does provide for the eeds of his people. LESSON WHAT CHILDREN DO SUPPLIES EASY PREP 1 Gettig Started What I Need (about 10 mi.) Act out eeds, ad fid ways to meet them. Bibles, 2 small paper bags, paper, crayos Teacher Pack: I Need cards Separate the I Need cards, ad place 1 set i each of the 2 paper bags. Bible Poit God gives us what we eed. Key Verse You prepare a table before me i the presece of my eemies. You aoit my head with oil; my cup overflows (Psalm 23:5). 2 Bible Exploratio Measurig Maa (about 10 mi.) Lear about God s gift of maa, ad cout out maa cady. Catch the Quail (about 15 mi.) Play a game to see what the Israelites camp might ve bee like whe God provided quail. Bibles, idividually wrapped cadies Bibles, CD player Teacher Pack: CD Weavig Faith Ito Life Kids will thak God for providig for their eeds. Ejoyig God s Gifts (about 10 mi.) Thak God by readig the Key Verse, ad the ejoy a sack. Bibles, cady from the Measurig Maa activity, CD player, copies of the lyrics page (at the ed of this lesso) Teacher Pack: CD Bold text withi the lesso is spoke text. Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 2

16 16 LESSON WHAT CHILDREN DO SUPPLIES EASY PREP 3 Weavig Faith Ito Life Thaks, God (about 10 mi.) Draw thak-you cards to God to thak God for providig for them. Bible Truth Sleuth, markers Tear out the Lesso 2 pages from each Bible Truth Sleuth studet book. 4 Daily Challeges (about 5 mi.) Choose a Daily Challege to apply God s Word. Bible Truth Sleuth Lastig Impressios Weavig Faith at Home (about 2 mi.) Talk about how to share what they leared with their families. CD player, copies of the lyrics page (at the ed of this lesso) Teacher Pack: CD Bold text withi the lesso is spoke text. Lesso 2 Grades 3 & 4

17 17 God Seds Quail ad Maa Exodus 16:1-26 BIBLe BACKGROUND FOR LEADERS The People Become Hugry i the Wilderess Approximately 30 days had passed sice the Hebrew people left Egypt. Apparetly the food they had brought with them had ru out, ad they bega complaiig. How quickly they had forgotte the oppressio of the Egyptias! The people were just startig to get to kow God, ad they had very little framework to realize God would provide for them. This evet marks a learig poit for the Israelites. God s Glory Show to the People We do t kow exactly what the glory of the Lord was that the Israelites saw i the morig, but it was a visible sig to them (perhaps like the cloud by day ad the pillar of fire by ight metioed i Exodus 13). God wated Israel to kow that he was still there, that he was aware of their eed, ad that he was goig to provide for them. from the morig before the Sabbath, it would stay good through the Sabbath. The Jesus Coectio God is our provider. Everythig we have is from God, ad he has provided a way for us to have a relatioship with him through Jesus. What do you fid yourself watig more tha aythig? How ofte do you view this desire as a eed? It s importat to recogize the differece. God allowed the Hebrews to live as slaves for may years. Whe God decided they eeded to leave Egypt, he provided the miraculous opportuity to do so. Our greatest eed is to hoor ad glorify God. Regardless of our wats, we re fulfilled whe livig i God s will. Write a prayer here to glorify God for givig you what you eed. God Provides for the People Whe the maa appeared the first morig, the Hebrews questio What is it? apparetly caught o as its ame because maa meas What is it? Though some have suggested various possibilities for what maa was, othig we kow of today is a good match for the descriptio give i Exodus 16:31: It was white like coriader seed ad tasted like wafers made with hoey. The miraculous ature of maa is further exhibited i what happeed to it over the course of a Sabbath as opposed to a weekday. The Israelites were ot to work o the Sabbath but to keep it as a day for worship. Gatherig maa o the Sabbath would have bee work, so God simply did t make it appear. If ayoe tried to keep maa from oe weekday to the ext, it would spoil. However, if ayoe kept it Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 2

18 18 GETTING STARTED What I Need Supplies Bibles 2 small paper bags paper crayos Teacher Pack I Need cards What I Need Easy Prep Separate the I Need cards, ad place 1 set i each of the 2 paper bags. What I Need What You ll Do Welcome kids warmly as they arrive, ad ask them how their week wet. Have kids stad o oe side of the room ad form two groups. Say: Today we re goig to lear about how God provides for us. Have the groups sit as far away from each other as they ca. Give each group a piece of paper, crayos, ad a bag cotaiig a set of I Need cards. Say: You re goig to race to complete a game of Charades i which either the Actor or the guessers may speak util the aswer has bee guessed. Each group will choose a perso to be the first Actor. The Actor will draw a card from the bag ad act out what the card says. Have the Actors stad i frot of their groups. Say: Each Actor s group will try to determie what the Actor eeds ad the fid a way to provide for the Actor s eed. Explai that the group ca draw a picture of what s eeded or give the Actor somethig they brought with them or foud i the room that would meet the eed. Whe the group has give the Actor somethig that meets his or her eed, the kids ca all shout, God provides! That group will the choose a ew Actor ad move o to the ext card. If oe group gets through their bag of I Need cards before the other group, they will go joi the group that s still goig ad take part i guessig. Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. How did you decide what the Actor eeded i our game? What are some of the thigs you eed? How do you kow that God is providig for your eeds? Say: God provides for us i so may ways! Today we ll lear about how God provided for the Israelites after they left Egypt. He gave them bread i the desert, but that was t all he gave them. No matter what, we ca remember that GOD GIVES US WHAT WE NEED. Lesso 2 Grades 3 & 4

19 19 2 BIBLE EXPLORATION Measurig Maa What You ll Do Say: The Israelites, God s special people, were slaves i Egypt for a log time. But after God performed may miracles, they were set free! Although they were free, they were waderig i the desert. Have kids stad up, form a circle, ad walk clockwise as you read aloud Exodus 16:1. Measurig Maa Supplies Bibles idividually wrapped cadies! ALLERGY ALERT Ask kids to discuss the followig questio as they walk. What do you imagie it would be like to wader the desert for a whole moth? Distribute Bibles, ad have kids sit dow i a circle to read Exodus 16:2-3. Ivite kids to talk to someoe ext to them about a time they complaied like the Israelites are complaiig. Allow a couple of miutes for willig kids to share what they heard. Ask a willig child to read aloud Exodus 16:4-5. Say: The Bible tells us that i the morig, dew covered the Israelites camp. As the dew dried, thi flakes like frost appeared o the desert floor. The Israelites did t kow what the flakes were, but we call it maa. Moses told the Israelites that this maa was food from God. The Israelites took as much as they eeded to eat each day, ad every morig God provided eough maa for everyoe. Let s see if God has provided eough maa for us. Have kids get ito groups of various sizes. Each group should have a differet umber of kids i it. Have each group read Exodus 16: As they read, scatter pieces of idividually wrapped cady aroud the room. There should be exactly eough for each perso to have two. Whe groups have fiished readig, say: Scramble aroud the room collectig eough cady so that everyoe has exactly the same amout. Do t tell them how much the right amout is. Whe all the cady has bee picked up, check to see that everyoe got eough ad o oe got too much. Have kids eve out their collectios so that everyoe gets two pieces of cady. Tell the kids ot to eat the cady yet. Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 2

20 20 How is your cady like or ulike the maa God set? What do you thik about how God gave the Israelites maa every day? Whe has God provided for you as he provided for the Israelites? Say: Every time we eat, we ca thak God for givig us the gift of food, just as he gave the Israelites food. GOD GIVES US WHAT WE NEED! Let s lear more about how God provides for us. Catch the Quail Supplies Bibles CD player Teacher Pack CD: Quail Souds (track 5) Catch the Quail What You ll Do Say: The Israelites did t just wat bread. They eeded meat, too. God did some amazig thigs to make sure they had exactly what they eeded. That eveig, a whole buch of birds called quail covered the Israelites camp. Quail is very good to eat. Let s play a game to act out what the camp might have bee like that eveig. Form two groups. I each group, have kids read Exodus 16:11-13 together. Have oe group be the Quail ad the other group the Israelites. Have the Israelites form pairs. Parters will hold hads to form a circle so their arms form a et. Say: The Quail must squat ad walk like birds as they try to avoid the Israelites. Each pair of Israelites must keep holdig hads, walk to a Quail, ad catch the Quail by puttig their arms aroud the Quail. Whe a pair of Israelites catches a Quail, the Quail becomes oe of the Israelites ad helps form the et. Play Quail Souds (track 5 o the CD). Start the game. Whe the Israelites have caught all the Quail, have the groups switch roles ad play agai. Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. What did you like about catchig the Quail? I what ways ca you be excited about how God provides for you today? How ca we show that we trust God to provide? Say: GOD GIVES US WHAT WE NEED. We had fu playig a game, ad we ca celebrate how God takes care of us. God loves us ad cares for us, so he gives good gifts to us. God brought the Israelites out of Egypt, ad we ca trust him to take care of us, too. Lesso 2 Grades 3 & 4

21 21 Ejoyig God s Gifts What You ll Do Make sure each child has a Bible. Say: Our Key Verse today is Psalm 23:5. Have kids fid the verse i their Bibles, ad ask a willig child to read the Key Verse aloud: You prepare a table before me i the presece of my eemies. You aoit my head with oil; my cup overflows. Say: The psalmist was thakful that God loved him ad gave him what he eeded. Let s all joi hads ad say Psalm 23:5 together as a prayer to God before we eat the food God has provided for us. Lead the kids i sayig the Scripture as a prayer: You prepare a table before me i the presece of my eemies. You aoit my head with oil; my cup overflows (Psalm 23:5). Distribute cady evely to the kids, ad the let the kids ejoy their cady. After kids eat, distribute copies of the lyrics page. Say: Psalms were ofte writte as prayers to God. You ca use this to pray ad ask God to thak God for the ways he takes care of you. Play Psalm 23 (track 4 o the CD). Lead kids i sigig alog with the CD. Ejoyig God s Gifts Supplies Bibles cady from the Measurig Maa activity CD player copies of the lyrics page (at the ed of this lesso) Teacher Pack CD: Psalm 23 (track 4)! ALLERGY ALERT The Lord is my shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd; I shall ot be i wat. He makes me lie dow i gree pastures. He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul. He restores my soul. He guides me i paths of righteousess For his ame s sake. Eve though I walk through the valley Of the shadow of death, I will fear o evil, for you are with me; Your rod ad your staff, they comfort me! You prepare a table before me I the presece of my eemies. You aoit my head with oil; My cup overflows. My cup overflows. Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 2

22 22 Surely goodess ad love will follow me All the days of my life, Ad I will dwell i the house of the Lord Forever, forever! The Lord is my shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd. Psalm 23 by Jay Stocker Group Publishig, Ic. All rights reserved. Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. Why would you wat to pray before a meal or after God s give you somethig? What are some ways that your cup overflows? Say: God provided for the Israelites, ad we kow GOD GIVES US WHAT WE NEED i all situatios ad at all times. The cady you ate ca remid you of how sweet it is to trust God to provide for you. 3 WEAVING FAITH INTO LIFE Thaks, God Supplies Bible Truth Sleuth markers Thaks, God Easy Prep Tear out the Lesso 2 pages from each Bible Truth Sleuth studet book. Thaks, God What You ll Do Say: Just as the psalmist gave thaks for God s good gifts, we re goig to thak God ow. Distribute this week s Bible Truth Sleuth pages, ad have kids tur to the Thak-You Card activity. Have studets form pairs, ad set out markers for everyoe to use. Say: I your pairs, talk about the may thigs God provides for you. Whe you ve talked for a little while, draw o your card three thigs that God has give you. The write a prayer thakig God for those thigs. After about five miutes, ask for willig kids to share their thak-you cards with the rest of the group. Applaud kids creativity ad thakful hearts. Lesso 2 Grades 3 & 4

23 23 Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. What are you thakful to God for? Tell about a time someoe showed they were thakful to you. How do you wat to respod to the thigs God gives you? Say: GOD GIVES US WHAT WE NEED. He does t have to, but he does it because he loves us ad cares about us. We ca choose the way we react to God s gifts. We ca thak God for his care ad live with thakful hearts. We kow he cares for us just as well as he cared for the Israelites. 4 LASTING IMPRESSIONS Daily Challeges What You ll Do Say: Cosider this week how GOD GIVES US WHAT WE NEED. Daily Challeges Supplies Bible Truth Sleuth Have kids fid this week s Daily Challeges o their Bible Truth Sleuth pages ad choose oe to do this week. They ca choose oe or more of these three optios: Write a letter to yourself about the kid of thakfuless you wat to have for the thigs God gives you, ad seal it i a evelope. Sped your week thakig God for all he gives you. At the ed of the week, ope the letter ad read it. Give oe thig that God gave you to someoe else. God wats us to share what he gives us with others! Read a psalm of thaks such as Psalm 95, Psalm 118, or Psalm 138. Thik about the psalm you read ad be aware of thigs you see that God gave to you. Make sure you choose a Daily Challege as well, ad tell the kids what you chose. Kids will be more iclied to follow through o their commitmets whe they see you doig the same. Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 2

24 24 Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. What s a practical way you re goig to do your Daily Challege? Iclude a time, a place, ad other ideas. Say: Let s be thakful for how GOD GIVES US WHAT WE NEED as we follow through o our Daily Challeges. Weavig Faith at Home Supplies CD player copies of the lyrics page (at the ed of this lesso) Teacher Pack CD: Psalm 23 (track 4) Weavig Faith at Home Ecourage kids to talk with their parets about the Daily Challeges they chose ad what they leared about God s care of eedy people. Kids ca also do the activities i the HomeCoect sectio of their Bible Truth Sleuth pages with their families. Talk to your Director about ig the FREE FamilyCoect to all your church s families. Available at group.com/digital. Say: Now with a group prayer, let s thak God for providig for us. We ll form a circle ad each take a tur thakig God for somethig he has provided for us. The we ll close the prayer by sigig Psalm 23 to God. Have kids form a circle, ad begi the prayer by thakig God for somethig he has provided for you. After each studet who wats to has had a chace to thak God, make sure kids have copies of the lyrics ad play Psalm 23 (track 4 o the CD). Lead kids i sigig the sog. Lesso 2 Grades 3 & 4

25 25 Lyrics Psalm 23 The Lord is my shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd; I shall ot be i wat. He makes me lie dow i gree pastures. He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul. He restores my soul. He guides me i paths of righteousess For his ame s sake. Eve though I walk through the valley Of the shadow of death, I will fear o evil, for you are with me; Your rod ad your staff, they comfort me! You prepare a table before me I the presece of my eemies. You aoit my head with oil; My cup overflows. My cup overflows. Surely goodess ad love will follow me All the days of my life, Ad I will dwell i the house of the Lord Forever, forever! The Lord is my shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd. Psalm 23 by Jay Stocker Group Publishig, Ic. All rights reserved.! OK TO COPY Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 2

26

27 Lesso 3 27 God Provides Water Exodus 17:1-7 Third- ad fourth-graders ofte complai if they do t get thigs their way. They have specific likes ad dislikes, ad oe of those dislikes is to feel deprived of somethig. Use this lesso to help kids see they do t eed to complai whe thigs do t go their way or whe they do t get somethig they wat. Help them focus o trustig God i every circumstace istead of complaiig. LESSON WHAT CHILDREN DO SUPPLIES EASY PREP 1 Gettig Started 2 Bible Exploratio Souds of Complaiig (about 10 mi.) Hear complaiig souds, ad discuss caregivers resposes to those souds. Complaiig Natio (about 25 mi.) Discuss the Bible passage to lear how the Israelites complaied istead of trustig God. The U-Gift (about 10 mi.) Draw pictures, ad uderstad what it feels like whe someoe is ugrateful for a gift. Bold text withi the lesso is spoke text. Bibles, CD player Teacher Pack: CD Bibles, salties, foam cups, brow costructio paper, glue sticks, pitcher of water paper, markers Bible Poit God is patiet with us. Key Verse The Lord is my shepherd, I shall ot be i wat. He makes me lie dow i gree pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters (Psalm 23:1-2). Weavig Faith Ito Life Kids will trust God istead of complaiig. Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 3

28 28 LESSON WHAT CHILDREN DO SUPPLIES EASY PREP 3 Weavig Faith Ito Life Complaiig or Trustig (about 15 mi.) Lear the Key Verse, ad draw pictures comparig complaiig ad trustig. Bible Truth Sleuth, pecils, markers, CD player, copies of the lyrics page (at the ed of this lesso) Teacher Pack: CD Tear out the Lesso 3 pages from each Bible Truth Sleuth studet book. 4 Lastig Impressios Daily Challeges (about 5 mi.) Choose a Daily Challege to apply God s Word. Weavig Faith at Home (about 2 mi.) Talk about how to share what they leared with their families. Bold text withi the lesso is spoke text. Bible Truth Sleuth Bible Truth Sleuth Lesso 3 Grades 3 & 4

29 29 God Provides Water Exodus 17:1-7 BIBLe BACKGROUND FOR LEADERS Food ad Whie Be Ecouraged As we begi today s lesso, we fid the Israelites cotiuig their jourey toward the Promised Lad. They re still gettig maa every morig ad quail every eveig, but they ca t fid water at their latest campsite. It s importat to take a momet to recall that the Israelites were just begiig to kow God. This is the first time God had iteracted with the Israelite commuity as a whole. Though this does t excuse their actios, it might give some cotext for us to see ourselves i more clearly. Agai, istead of callig i faith upo the God who had secured their freedom, tured bitter water sweet, ad provided maa ad quail, the people complaied to Moses. Agai, istead of trustig God, they lameted that they were goig to die i the desert for lack of water. As you ca see from Exodus 17:4, Moses was exasperated. God, however, proves his patiece ad love i this passage, givig the Hebrews the water they eeded i spite of their complaiig ad their lack of faith. The ames Moses gave to the place where all this happeed mea temptatio ad murmurig. No doubt Moses itet was to make this place a remider of the people s ubelief but also a ecouragemet toward faith i the God who had provided for them. The Jesus Coectio Thik of someoe who has frustrated you recetly. What eeds to happe to resolve the situatio? A relatioship with Jesus brigs us forgiveess, ot perfectio. Pray for clarity ad the opportuity to recogize whe you eed to exted the same type of grace ad uderstadig that Jesus has give you. O the lies below, write a prayer for the perso who has recetly frustrated you. Actig o Faith God had a pla. His istructios to Moses must have seemed ludicrous! Moses was to take with him the leaders of the people likely represetatives from each tribe so that they could see firsthad what God was goig to do. I frot of these leaders, Moses was to hit with his staff a rock that God would poit out to him. Ad eough water would come out of the rock to take care of the eeds of 2 millio people. As ulikely as God s pla seemed, Moses did t questio God. He did what God told him to do, ad God did what he said he would do. Moses ad God gave a covicig demostratio of what actig o faith i God ca do. Ad God was glorified whe the leaders brought back their report. Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 3

30 30 GETTING STARTED Souds of Complaiig Supplies Bibles CD player Teacher Pack CD: Dog Whiig (track 6) Baby Cryig (track 7) Sheep Bleatig (track 8) Souds of Complaiig What You ll Do Welcome kids warmly as they arrive, ad ask them how their week wet. Have kids stad o oe side of the room. What does it mea to complai? What s somethig you ve complaied about recetly? How did that tur out for you? How do others respod to your complaiig? Say: Let s liste to some souds that will help us thik more about complaiig. Play Dog Whiig (track 6 o the CD). Have kids idetify the soud. What s your reactio to this soud? Explai. Play Baby Cryig (track 7 o the CD). Have kids idetify the soud. Do you thik this souds the same as whe you complai? Why or why ot? Say: This ext soud is kid of like today s Key Verse, which compares God with a shepherd. Imagie that you re a shepherd watchig over your sheep o a hillside. Play Sheep Bleatig (track 8 o the CD). Have kids idetify the soud. Say: Let s see how our Key Verse compares God with a shepherd. Make sure kids all have a Bible, ad have kids tur to Psalm 23:1-2. Ask a willig child to read aloud the Key Verse: The Lord is my shepherd, I shall ot be i wat. He makes me lie dow i gree pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters. Have kids repeat the verse with you several times. Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. How are a dog s whie, a baby s cry, a sheep s bleat, ad a perso s complaits similar or differet? Whe you thik about God as a shepherd ad yourself as a sheep, what does this verse say about how God treats you? Keepig the Key Verse i mid, how is God patiet with you? Lesso 3 Grades 3 & 4

31 31 Say: We ofte complai whe we re afraid or feel as if we do t have cotrol. Ad eve though souds like a dog s whiig, a baby s cryig, or a sheep s bleatig may be a form of complait, those who care still respod. Today we ll lear how God respoded to a group of people who forgot to trust i his care ad istead complaied. The Bible Poit tells us that GOD IS PATIENT WITH US. 2 BIBLE EXPLORATION Complaiig Natio What You ll Do Say: The Israelites had bee slaves i Egypt for a log, log time. God had performed may miracles so the Egyptia Pharaoh would set them free, ad it worked! After the Israelites were set free, they wadered i the desert for may years. Today s Bible passage takes place while the Israelites wadered i the desert. Distribute a few crackers to each child, ad have kids form groups of four. Allow kids to eat their crackers as they ope their Bibles to Exodus 17. Have groups read aloud Exodus 17:1-3. After kids have eate the crackers ad read the verses, have them compare their thirst after eatig the crackers to the Israelites thirst as they wadered i the desert. Ask kids to act out the feelig of extreme thirst. Complaiig Natio Supplies Bibles salties foam cups brow costructio paper glue sticks pitcher of water! ALLERGY ALERT Say: The Israelites were afraid about ot havig water to drik. Because of their fear, they complaied istead of talkig to God. Now let s see how God respoded to the Israelites complaits. Have kids fid Exodus 17:4-7 i their Bibles, ad have groups read the passage aloud. Distribute a foam cup to each child, ad give brow costructio paper ad glue sticks to each group of four. Show kids how to rub a glue stick over the sides of a cup, leavig the top lip clea. The show kids how to tear costructio paper ad glue pieces of paper to the outside of the cup to make it look like a rock. Whe everyoe has fiished, pour water ito the cups ad allow kids to drik water from their rocks. Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. How did your parets react the last time you complaied? What do you thik of God s respose to the complaiig of the Israelites? What ca you kow about God because of his reactio to the Israelites? Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 3

32 32 Say: GOD IS PATIENT WITH US because he loves us. The Israelites wated to kow if God was goig to take care of them. They let their fear tur cocer ito complaiig, but God wated them to kow that he was there with them. He did somethig miraculous to care for them. Whe we mess up, GOD IS PATIENT WITH US. The U-Gift The U-Gift Supplies paper markers What You ll Do Have kids form pairs, ad have pairs sit i a circle. Distribute paper ad markers to each pair. Say: I your pairs, draw a picture for the pair to your right. Allow about two miutes. Have kids come see you as a group, oe child from each pair, as you sit i a far corer of your room away from the other kids. Say: You re about to receive a picture from aother pair. Whe you get it, complai about receivig it. Say thigs like I did t wat a drawig; I wated a pet uicor, or But I wated a millio dollars. Your parter does t have to complai with you, but your job is to fid ways to complai about receivig this gift. You wo t make commets about the picture, but you will say thigs you wish you had istead. Make sure childre uderstad that they re preted complaiig, ad remid them ot to say hurtful thigs about oe aother or ayoe s artwork. Have pairs give their picture to the pair o their right. Allow time for the pairs to complai ad those who gave them the picture to react. The have kids draw aother picture o the back of the oe they ve just received. Allow about two miutes. Ask the kids who you spoke with earlier to come talk to you agai. Say: You ll switch pictures agai. This time, show how thakful you are to receive the picture from your frieds. Say thigs like I am so thakful you gave me such a special gift, or Thak you for makig this for me. Have pairs give their picture to the pair o their left. Allow time for the pairs to thak each other ad those who gave them the picture to react. Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. What was differet about thakfuless ad complaiig i our activity? What thigs do you expect others to say or do whe you re helpig them? How do you thik that s like or ulike God s reactio to helpig us? Say: GOD IS PATIENT WITH US. He was patiet with the Israelites, too. They wated water, ad they complaied about their situatio. God listeed ad patietly cared for them. We ca be thakful istead of complaiig. Lesso 3 Grades 3 & 4

33 33 3 WEAVING FAITH INTO LIFE Complaiig or Trustig What You ll Do Set out pecils ad markers. Have kids form trios, ad distribute this week s Bible Truth Sleuth pages. Have kids tur to the Complaiig or Trustig activity. Have trios discuss what the Israelites might have said whe they complaied ad write those words i the top left speech bubble. Play Psalm 23 (track 4 o the CD) while kids follow the ext set of istructios. Restart the sog if you eed to. Say: I your trios, discuss what the Israelites might have said if they d remembered to trust God, ad write those words i the top right speech bubble. After a few miutes, have several willig kids share with the group what they wrote. Say: With your trio, discuss what kids of thigs you all complai about. I the bottom left square, each perso ca draw a picture to represet a complait. Say: Fially, discuss how you ca remember to trust God. The each of you ca draw a picture i the bottom right square to show how you ca remember to trust God. After a few miutes, have willig kids share with the etire group what they drew. Distribute copies of the lyrics page, ad play Psalm 23 (track 4 o the CD). This time, lead kids i sigig alog with the CD. Complaiig or Trustig Supplies Bible Truth Sleuth pecils markers CD player copies of the lyrics page (at the ed of this lesso) Teacher Pack CD: Psalm 23 (track 4) Complaiig or Trustig Easy Prep Tear out the Lesso 3 pages from each Bible Truth Sleuth studet book. The Lord is my shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd; I shall ot be i wat. He makes me lie dow i gree pastures. He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul. He restores my soul. He guides me i paths of righteousess For his ame s sake. Eve though I walk through the valley Of the shadow of death, I will fear o evil, for you are with me; Your rod ad your staff, they comfort me! Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 3

34 34 You prepare a table before me I the presece of my eemies. You aoit my head with oil; My cup overflows. My cup overflows. Surely goodess ad love will follow me All the days of my life, Ad I will dwell i the house of the Lord Forever, forever! The Lord is my shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd. Psalm 23 by Jay Stocker Group Publishig, Ic. All rights reserved. Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. What s the differece betwee whe you re complaiig ad whe you re trustig God? What might it be like to trust God whe you re havig a hard time i life? What do you thik of the way God treats us regardless of if we complai or thak him? Say: GOD IS PATIENT WITH US. We are t always easy for him to deal with. Sometimes we complai ad forget how good he is. We ca ask God to help us remember to have a attitude of trust ad thakfuless toward God. Ad we ca thak him for beig so patiet with us. 4 LASTING IMPRESSIONS Daily Challeges Supplies Bible Truth Sleuth Daily Challeges What You ll Do Say: I d like you to cosider how you ca remember this week that GOD IS PATIENT WITH US. Lesso 3 Grades 3 & 4

35 35 Have kids fid this week s Daily Challeges o their Bible Truth Sleuth pages ad choose oe to do this week. They ca choose oe or more of these three optios: Pray about somethig you eed or wat from God. Practice patiece this week by waitig for a aswer from God. Help someoe who s youger tha you as he or she lears to do somethig ew. Be patiet, ad remember how God is patiet with you. Thik of somethig you re tryig to accomplish whether you re learig to play the piao or tryig to get better grades i math ad pray for patiece as you try to lear to do that thig. Remember how God is patiet. Make sure you choose a Daily Challege as well, ad tell the kids what you chose. Kids will be more iclied to follow through o their commitmets whe they see you doig the same. Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. What s a practical way you re goig to do your Daily Challege? Iclude a time, a place, ad other ideas. Say: Let s remember that GOD IS PATIENT WITH US as we follow through o our Daily Challeges. Weavig Faith at Home Ecourage kids to talk with their parets about the Daily Challeges they chose ad what they leared about how God is patiet with us. Kids ca also do the activities i the HomeCoect sectio of their Bible Truth Sleuth pages with their families. Weavig Faith at Home Supplies Bible Truth Sleuth Talk to your Director about ig the FREE FamilyCoect to all your church s families. Available at group.com/digital. Have kids stad i a circle ad place their Bible Truth Sleuth pages o the floor by their feet. Ecourage kids to pray about ways they ca remember God s patiece. Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 3

36 36 Lyrics Psalm 23 The Lord is my shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd; I shall ot be i wat. He makes me lie dow i gree pastures. He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul. He restores my soul. He guides me i paths of righteousess For his ame s sake. Eve though I walk through the valley Of the shadow of death, I will fear o evil, for you are with me; Your rod ad your staff, they comfort me! You prepare a table before me I the presece of my eemies. You aoit my head with oil; My cup overflows. My cup overflows. Surely goodess ad love will follow me All the days of my life, Ad I will dwell i the house of the Lord Forever, forever! The Lord is my shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd. Psalm 23 by Jay Stocker Group Publishig, Ic. All rights reserved.! OK TO COPY Lesso 3 Grades 3 & 4

37 LESSON WHAT CHILDREN DO SUPPLIES EASY PREP 1 Gettig Started 2 Bible Exploratio God Gives the Te Commadmets (Part 1) What Rules? (about 10 mi.) Form 2 groups, ad make up somethig for the other group members to do with mixed-up directios. God s Commadmets (about 25 mi.) Liste to the CD, ad examie each of the first 4 commadmets. idex cards, pecils Bibles, CD player, Bible Truth Sleuth, pes, paper, markers, tape, copies of the lyrics page (at the ed of this lesso) Teacher Pack: CD, Bible Timelie Exodus 19:16 20:21 Most third- ad fourth-graders recogize the differece betwee right ad wrog. They ca make deliberate choices about their actios. This meas kids this age should be able to uderstad right ways to hoor God. They also kow certai actios ad attitudes do ot hoor God. Use this lesso to help your kids uderstad that hoorig God is a choice they ca make each day. Tear out the Lesso 4 pages from each Bible Truth Sleuth studet book. Lesso 4 Bible Poit Hoor God by obeyig him. 37 Key Verse Love the Lord your God with all your heart ad with all your soul ad with all your stregth (Deuteroomy 6:5). Weavig Faith Ito Life Kids will hoor God by obeyig his commads. Bold text withi the lesso is spoke text. Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 4

38 38 LESSON WHAT CHILDREN DO SUPPLIES EASY PREP 3 Weavig Faith Ito Life 4 Lastig Impressios Hoorig God (about 15 mi.) Lear the Key Verse through a active game. Upo My Heart (about 10 mi.) Create hearts, ad write o them a persoal coectio to each of the four commadmets they ve leared. Daily Challeges (about 5 mi.) Choose a Daily Challege to apply God s Word. Weavig Faith at Home (about 2 mi.) Talk about how to share what they leared with their families. Bibles red costructio paper, markers, scissors (several pairs), Bible Truth Sleuth Bible Truth Sleuth Bold text withi the lesso is spoke text. Lesso 4 Grades 3 & 4

39 39 God Gives the Te Commadmets (Part 1) Exodus 19:16 20:21 BIBLe BACKGROUND FOR LEADERS This week s Bible Backgroud cocetrates o the evets surroudig the givig of the Te Commadmets, while ext week s cocetrates o the commadmets themselves. You may wat to read both Bible Backgrouds before begiig this lesso. The Israelites Battle the Amalekites The Amalekites attacked the Israelites where they were camped. God had prepared the Israelites faith for this test through his provisio for them i so may ways. So the Israelites put together a army uder the leadership of Joshua ad wet o the attack. Moses held high i the air the staff that had struck the rock to get water the staff of God. As log as Moses held the staff i the air, the Israelites cotiued to wi so Aaro ad Hur helped hold Moses hads up, ad the Israelites defeated the Amalekites (Exodus 17:8-16). Jethro Advises Moses to Focus o God Moses father-i-law, Jethro, came to visit after the battle with the Amalekites. Seeig Moses burdeed with judgig disagreemets amog the 2 millio Israelites, Jethro gave Moses some good advice. He suggested that Moses appoit judges to serve the people so that Moses could cocetrate o what was most importat beig the people s represetative before God. Moses took the advice ad the led the Israelites o to Mout Siai, where Moses had previously met God i the burig bush. They arrived at Mout Siai three moths to the day from whe they left Egypt (Exodus 18:5 19:2). him that Israel would be his treasured possessio, his holy people if they would obey him. After Moses told the people what God had said, they respoded gratefully: We will do everythig the Lord has said. God respoded by tellig Moses that God himself would come dow ad speak with the Israelites from a cloud. The law God gave spelled out how the Israelites were to hoor him through their obediece. I the thousads of years that have passed sice this evet, oe thig has t chaged: The best way we ca hoor God is by obeyig him. The Jesus Coectio Followig Jesus is ot about obeyig rules; it s about kowig him. However, our obediece i hoorig ad glorifyig God i our everyday lives allows our relatioship with Jesus to grow. I the space below, write a prayer that the miistry you are ivolved i today helps your group experiece God s blessig. May you see the fruit of God s work through your obediece. Moses Receives the Commadmets From God A sigificat evet is recorded i the ext few verses (Exodus 19:3-9): God spoke to Moses ad promised Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 4

40 40 GETTING STARTED What Rules? Supplies idex cards pecils What Rules? What You ll Do Welcome kids warmly as they arrive, ad ask them how their week wet. Have kids form two groups. Distribute pecils ad idex cards to each group. Say: Each group will thik of somethig for the other group to do ad specific ways for the group to do that thig. As a group, write out the goal for the other group as well as the procedures for the task. Make the task as complicated as you wat. Write each step o a separate idex card; the shuffle the cards before you give them to the other group. For example, oe group may decide it wats the other group to stack three chairs o top of oe aother by havig members carry each chair aroud the room oce, stop, set the chair dow, all spi aroud three times, ad the start stackig the chairs. However, whe their cards are shuffled, the order of directios will become cofusig. Give groups three miutes to write their tasks ad procedures for each other. Whe both groups have writte their istructios, say: Give your istructios to the other group. As a group, it s your job to figure out how to do what the other group wrote dow. You ca refer oly to the writte istructios. Allow time. See how far kids get. After three miutes, brig kids together. Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. What was it like to do a task that was so complicated? What might ve bee differet if you could ve spoke to the rule-makers? Say: I our game, rules were a bit cofusig ad we were t able to get more iformatio. It s similar to how God asks us to follow his rules. The big differece is that God gives us lots of ways to kow how to follow his rules well. Today we ll lear about some rules God gave his people. He wats us to have rules that will help us, ot keep us from ejoyig life. We HONOR GOD BY OBEYING HIM. Lesso 4 Grades 3 & 4

41 41 2 BIBLE EXPLORATION God s Commadmets What You ll Do Poit out the God Gives the Te Commadmets picture o the Bible Timelie. Say: This week ad ext week, we ll lear about rules God gave the Israelites. They re called commadmets, ad God gave them to the Israelites so they would kow how to live i a way that hoored God. Just over two moths after the Israelites had left Egypt, they came to Mout Siai. This is where God gave Moses the Te Commadmets. God wated to let the Israelites ad us kow what to do to live our lives i a way that hoors him. Let s read our Bible passage ad fid out what God says. Distribute Bibles, ad ask a willig child to read aloud Exodus 19: Ecourage the other kids to act out what s happeig i the passage as the child reads. Play Rumblig Moutai (track 9 o the CD) whe the moutai begis to rumble. The ask aother child to read aloud Exodus 19: Ecourage kids to act out the passage agai this time, too. Say: Moses told the people about God s Te Commadmets. The first commadmet God gives us is You shall have o other gods before me. What s oe way you ca put God first i your life? God s Commadmets Supplies Bibles CD player Bible Truth Sleuth pes paper markers tape copies of the lyrics page (at the ed of this lesso) Teacher Pack CD: Rumblig Moutai (track 9), Give Thaks (1 Chroicles 16:8) (track 3) Bible Timelie God s Commadmets Easy Prep Tear out the Lesso 4 pages from each Bible Truth Sleuth studet book. Distribute pes ad this week s Bible Truth Sleuth pages, ad have kids tur to the Hoor God activity. Have them fid the Have No Other Gods Before Me headig, ad ask them to list other religios that people might follow. The have them place Jesus at the top of the list i big, bold letters ad cross out the other religios. Say: I the secod commadmet, God tells us ot to create or worship idols. What are some of the thigs we idolize ad worship istead of God? Say: God wats us to make him our umber-oe priority. Uder Do t Worship Idols, have kids draw a picture of somethig i their lives that sometimes seems more importat tha God. Whe they ve fiished their drawigs, say: Write God Is First across your picture. Say: The third commadmet tells us ot to misuse God s ame. Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 4

42 42 What do you thik it meas to misuse God s ame? What are some ways you ca use God s ame i a good way? Say: Let s sig a sog that will praise God s ame ad hoor him. Distribute copies of the lyrics page, ad play Give Thaks (1 Chroicles 16:8) (track 3 o the CD). The lead kids i sigig alog with the CD. Give thaks to the Lord; Call o his ame. Make kow amog the atios what he has doe. Give thaks to the Lord; Call o his ame. Make kow amog the atios what he has doe. Sig to him! Sig praise to him. Tell of his woderful works. Sig to him. Sig praise to him. (Repeat from the begiig.) Give thaks to the Lord; Call o his ame. Give thaks to the Lord; Call o his ame. Give thaks to the Lord! Give thaks to the Lord! Give thaks to the Lord! Give thaks to the Lord! Give Thaks (1 Chroicles 16:8) by Jay Stocker Group Publishig, Ic. All rights reserved. Have kids fid a parter ad share somethig they praise God for. The have kids write what they ad their parters shared i the Do t Misuse God s Name area o their pages. Say: The fourth commadmet says, Remember the Sabbath day by keepig it holy. How does keepig the Sabbath day holy hoor God? Set out paper, markers, ad tape, ad have kids create a baer depictig ways they ca keep the Sabbath holy. Have them each work o a separate piece of paper. They ll put together the pages at the ed to make a complete baer. Ecourage kids to work together where possible to make this a collaborative project. Lesso 4 Grades 3 & 4

43 43 Say: Choose oe thig o your baer, ad write it uder the last headig of your Bible Truth Sleuth page. Give kids a miute to decide ad write. Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. Which of these commadmets do you thik you d like to make a bigger part of your life? What do you thik of God givig these rules to you? What ca you do to respect God s rules? Say: We ca HONOR GOD BY OBEYING HIM. We wat to hoor God to show him our love. Givig the Te Commadmets was God s way of helpig the Israelites kow what to do for their part of a coveat, or very special promise, with God. God gave them these rules to help them. We ca follow these rules because they re good for us, too. 3 WEAVING FAITH INTO LIFE Hoorig God What You ll Do Make sure each child has a Bible. Say: Our Key Verse today is Deuteroomy 6:5. Hoorig God Supplies Bibles Have kids fid the verse i their Bibles, ad ask a willig child to read the Key Verse aloud: Love the Lord your God with all your heart ad with all your soul ad with all your stregth. Have kids form four groups (a group ca be just oe perso). Give each group oe sectio of the verse as listed below, ad have groups make up some actios that would help them remember their part of the verse. Group 1: Love the Lord your God Group 2: with all your heart Group 3: ad with all your soul Group 4: ad with all your stregth. Whe kids have fiished makig up actios, have them teach their sectio of the verse to the rest of the group. The whe everyoe has leared the other groups actios, repeat the Key Verse aloud together a couple of times. Ecourage kids all to act out the pieces of the verse together. Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 4

44 44 Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. What are some ways we ca love God with our whole heart? What are some ways we ca love God with our whole mid? What are some ways we ca love God with our lives? Say: If you re stuck tryig to figure out how to love God i ay situatio this week, you ca remember these actios. We ca hoor ad love God i every momet of our lives. We ca HONOR GOD BY OBEYING HIM ad obeyig his commadmets. Let s make somethig to help us remember to obey God. Upo My Heart Supplies red costructio paper markers scissors (several pairs) Bible Truth Sleuth Upo My Heart What You ll Do Set out markers ad scissors, ad give kids each a piece of red costructio paper. Show them how to cut a heart out of it. After everyoe has a heart shape, say: O your heart, write the commadmets we leared. Have kids write the followig abbreviated commadmets across their hearts: Have o other gods before me. Do t worship idols. Do t misuse God s ame. Keep the Sabbath holy. Ecourage kids to refer to their Bible Truth Sleuth pages if they eed help rememberig the abbreviated commads. Have kids form pairs. Say: Take turs talkig about oe way you ca follow oe of these rules. Allow time, ad the ecourage kids to pray for each other. After about three miutes, say: Now that you ve each writte these commadmets o a paper heart, take your heart home with you to help remid you to write them o your real heart ad to love God with all your heart, soul, ad stregth. Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. What differece do you thik it might make i your life to follow the rule you told your parter about? How did you react the last time someoe told you to obey a rule? How ca God help you obey him? Say: I all situatios, we ca HONOR GOD BY OBEYING HIM. We do t have to figure out how to obey God all o our ow; we ca let God help us. He s already helped us by givig us the Te Commadmets. Let s HONOR GOD BY OBEYING HIM this week. Lesso 4 Grades 3 & 4

45 45 4 LASTING IMPRESSIONS Daily Challeges What You ll Do Say: Let s cosider this week how we ca HONOR GOD BY OBEYING HIM. Daily Challeges Supplies Bible Truth Sleuth Have kids fid this week s Daily Challeges o their Bible Truth Sleuth pages ad choose oe to do this week. They ca choose oe or more of these three optios: Get your family together ad worship God. Praise his ame, ad talk about how you ca follow the third commadmet together. Choose a day to be your Sabbath. Sped time with God, ad do t let yourself be distracted. Cosider some thigs you sometimes sped too much time doig: playig video games? watchig movies? playig sports? Choose oe activity you wo t do this week, ad istead sped that time with God. Make sure you choose a Daily Challege as well, ad tell the kids what you chose. Kids will be more iclied to follow through o their commitmets whe they see you doig the same. Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. What s a practical way you re goig to do your Daily Challege? Iclude a time, a place, ad other ideas. Say: The Israelites leared some of the rules that God wated them to follow. Let s HONOR GOD BY OBEYING HIM by followig through o our Daily Challeges. Weavig Faith at Home Ecourage kids to talk with their parets about the Daily Challeges they chose ad what they leared about hoorig God by obeyig him. Kids ca also do the activities i the HomeCoect sectio of their Bible Truth Sleuth pages with their families. Talk to your Director about ig the FREE FamilyCoect to all your church s families. Available at group.com/digital. Say: Today let s close by sharig with oe aother the ways we will hoor God with our lives. As we bow our heads, each perso will say, I will hoor God by ad offer oe way you will hoor God with your whole heart. Ask kids to pray. If kids wat to pass, allow them to do so. Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 4

46 46 Lyrics Give Thaks (1 Chroicles 16:8) Give thaks to the Lord; Call o his ame. Make kow amog the atios what he has doe. Give thaks to the Lord; Call o his ame. Make kow amog the atios what he has doe. Sig to him! Sig praise to him. Tell of his woderful works. Sig to him. Sig praise to him. (Repeat from the begiig.) Give thaks to the Lord; Call o his ame. Give thaks to the Lord; Call o his ame. Give thaks to the Lord! Give thaks to the Lord! Give thaks to the Lord! Give thaks to the Lord! Give Thaks (1 Chroicles 16:8) by Jay Stocker Group Publishig, Ic. All rights reserved.! OK TO COPY Lesso 4 Grades 3 & 4

47 LESSON WHAT CHILDREN DO SUPPLIES EASY PREP 1 Gettig Started 2 Bible Exploratio God Gives the Te Commadmets (Part 2) How I Treat Others (about 10 mi.) Play a game, ad talk about how they treat others. At Mout Siai (about 25 mi.) Go through the fial 6 commadmets usig their Bible Truth Sleuth pages. Respectig Others (about 10 mi.) Decorate stickers that will help them remember to respect others. Bibles, Bible Truth Sleuth, pes, CD player Teacher Pack: CD, Bible Timelie Bibles, crayos, scissors Teacher Pack: sticker sheets Exodus 19:16 20:21 Beig accepted by their peers ad icluded i the group is very importat to thirdad fourth-graders. Beig icluded causes them to be proud of who they are ad gives them a sese of what it s like to be respected. Because they have bee show respect by beig icluded, it is importat that they lear to respect others by also icludig them i their group. Third- ad fourth-graders are just begiig to cosider the feeligs of others ad will beefit from learig ad uderstadig what it meas to respect others through this lesso. Tear out the Lesso 5 pages from each Bible Truth Sleuth studet book. Cut the stickers ito strips so there are 2 stickers o each strip. Lesso 5 Bible Poit God tells us how to respect others. 47 Key Verse Do ot murder, do ot commit adultery, do ot steal, do ot give false testimoy, hoor your father ad mother, ad love your eighbor as yourself (Matthew 19:18-19). Weavig Faith Ito Life Kids will show respect for others. Bold text withi the lesso is spoke text. Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 5

48 48 LESSON WHAT CHILDREN DO SUPPLIES EASY PREP 3 Weavig Faith Ito Life Showig Love ad Respect (about 15 mi.) Act out scearios, ad rate the level of respect show i each. Teacher Pack: Showig Love ad Respect cards Separate the Showig Love ad Respect cards. 4 Lastig Impressios Daily Challeges (about 5 mi.) Choose a Daily Challege to apply God s Word. Weavig Faith at Home (about 2 mi.) Talk about how to share what they leared with their families. Bible Truth Sleuth Bold text withi the lesso is spoke text. Lesso 5 Grades 3 & 4

49 49 God Gives the Te Commadmets (Part 2) Exodus 19:16 20:21 BIBLe BACKGROUND FOR LEADERS Last week s Bible Backgroud cocetrated o the evets surroudig the givig of the Te Commadmets, while this week s cocetrates o the commadmets themselves. If you have t already doe so, you may wat to read both of them before begiig this lesso. Commadmets With a Purpose These commadmets were t give to force the Israelites to follow a arbitrary set of rules. These commads were iteded to help the people live their lives to the fullest i relatioship with oe aother. With the death ad resurrectio of Jesus, we live o loger uder the law but uder grace. Jesus said he came to fulfill the law (Matthew 5:17-18). Certaily we are ot boud to follow these laws to try to wi God s favor, but the priciples behid the Te Commadmets are valid priciples for all time. Commadmets i Two Categories Over the ceturies, scholars have divided the commadmets ito categories i varyig ways. For the purpose of these studies, we re dividig them ito two sectios. The first four commadmets have to do with our relatioship with God; the last six have to do with our relatioships with others. God s Commadmets Establish Priorities The commadmets regardig our relatioship with God clearly spell out the priority ad hoor that he is to hold i our lives. How ofte eve i the Christia commuity do we let other thigs come before our relatioship with God? to misuse God s ame. To use it i swearig or frivolously i jokig is ot appropriate. How we use God s ame directly reflects how we feel about God. He ad his ame are worthy of all the hoor we ca muster! The commadmets regardig our relatioships with others (Exodus 20:12-17) give us lots of guidace o how to respect others. Though eve our Christia culture ca fail to take may of these commads seriously, livig by them gives people the hoor ad respect due them as uique creatios of God. No matter what we see aroud us, we must hold true to these priciples if we are to hoor God ad respect others the way God iteds. The Jesus Coectio As our relatioship with Jesus grows, we ca begi to see this world ad other people through his eyes of ucoditioal love. We will ejoy fellowship more ad others will see Jesus presece i our lives. God wats us to alter our lives to reflect our Savior who loves us eough to die for us. It s easy to get distracted, eve by good thigs, ad we ca get caught up tryig to be like other Christias more tha we try to be like Jesus himself. God loves his creatio so much that he gave us commadmets to help preserve it ad glorify him. God s greatest creatio is humaity ad we are surrouded by it. Every perso you have cotact with today gives you a opportuity to glorify God by liftig up his greatest creatio people. At the ed of the day, take ote of who God blessed through you ad how you were blessed i his service. You ca write your prayer i the space below. Oe commadmet that is ofte take too lightly, especially i today s culture, is the istructio ot Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 5

50 50 GETTING STARTED How I Treat Others What You ll Do Welcome kids warmly as they arrive, ad ask them how their week wet. Have kids umber off by twos. Have the Oes stad i a tight circle facig outward ad the Twos stad i a circle aroud the Oes. The Twos will face iward so that each of them is facig oe of the kids o the iside circle. Say: Let s have a discussio to show how we treat others. Explai that kids will complete statemets with their parters. Read aloud the followig statemets, ad allow kids to respod with their parters. I betwee each statemet, have either the iside or the outside circle move. This way kids will rotate ad have a ew parter for each statemet. Say: The last time I was i a good mood, people aroud me could guess my mood by [kids share with their parters]. Rotate. Say: The last time I was i a bad mood, people aroud me could guess my mood by [kids share with their parters]. Rotate. Say: Other people ca tell I love them because I [kids share with their parters]. Rotate. Say: The last time I was disrespectful, I [kids share with their parters]. Rotate. Say: I show that I respect someoe by [kids share with their parters]. Rotate. Whe kids fiish, have them sit dow. Say: We ll meet all differet types of people durig our lives. It s importat that we show respect to all of them. Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. How did you show respect to the people you spoke to today? Tell what happeed the last time you showed respect to someoe. What s oe way you ca show respect to your parets today? Say: You talked a lot about differet ways to respect people. Let s keep that i mid as we lear some ways that GOD TELLS US HOW TO RESPECT OTHERS. We re goig to Mout Siai with Moses ad the Israelites to hear what God has to say i his Te Commadmets. Lesso 5 Grades 3 & 4

51 51 2 BIBLE EXPLORATION At Mout Siai What You ll Do Have the kids gather i a circle. Show kids the God Gives the Te Commadmets picture o the Bible Timelie. Say: We re goig to fid out what God told his people i the last six commadmets. Whe Moses wet up o Mout Siai, the people waited below, ot really sure what was happeig. Let s fid out what the fial commadmets are that God gave to Moses, ad let s take a look at what these commadmets mea. Make sure everyoe has a Bible, ad have a willig child read aloud the fifth commadmet from Exodus 20:12. How does hoorig your father ad mother show respect? Distribute this week s Bible Truth Sleuth pages. Make sure kids all have pes, ad have them tur to the God Gives the Te Commadmets activity. Allow time for kids to complete part 1. At Mout Siai Supplies Bibles Bible Truth Sleuth pes CD player Teacher Pack CD: Rumblig Moutai (track 9) Bible Timelie At Mout Siai Easy Prep Tear out the Lesso 5 pages from each Bible Truth Sleuth studet book. Have a willig child read aloud the ext commadmet from Exodus 20:13. Say: Let s take a look at what Jesus tells us about murder. Have kids tur i their Bibles to Matthew 5: Say: Here Jesus tells us that ayoe who murders will be subject to judgmet, ad the he goes o to say that ayoe who is agry with his brother will be subject to judgmet. So if we murder or are agry with someoe, that s a problem with God either way. Have kids form trios ad follow the istructios o their Bible Truth Sleuth pages for part 2 of God Gives the Te Commadmets. Allow about three miutes. Have a willig child read aloud the ext commadmet from Exodus 20:14. Say: Whe two people get married, God wats them to stay true to each other i their hearts ad with their actios for the rest of their lives. I their trios, have kids complete part 3 o their Bible Truth Sleuth pages. Allow about three miutes. Have groups share their aswers with each other. Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 5

52 52 Have a willig child read aloud the ext commadmet from Exodus 20:15. Say: We all kow stealig is wrog. After all, it s somethig you ca get arrested for! How does stealig show a lack of respect for someoe? Have trios complete part 4 o their Bible Truth Sleuth pages. Allow about two miutes. Have a willig child read aloud the ext commadmet from Exodus 20:16. Say: What this commadmet meas is that it s wrog to lie about others. How does lyig about someoe show a lack of respect? Say: GOD TELLS US HOW TO RESPECT OTHERS. Oe way to do that is to be truthful. All lies are wrog. Whe we lie, it ot oly shows disrespect for others but ca also cause a lot of trouble. Let s look at a few situatios about lyig ad act them out to see what might happe. Have kids complete part 5 o their Bible Truth Sleuth pages. Allow about two miutes. Have a willig child read aloud the ext commadmet from Exodus 20:17. Say: To covet meas to wat somethig that is t yours; it meas you wat somethig that belogs to someoe else. God wats us to be cotet, or happy, with the thigs we already have. Have kids complete part 6 o their Bible Truth Sleuth pages. Allow about two miutes. Play Rumblig Moutai (track 9 o the CD) as you read aloud Exodus 20: Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. How did these commadmets help you thik of ew ways to respect others? What ca you lear from oe of these commadmets this week? Explai. What differece do you thik it makes whe you treat people with respect? Say: No matter what other people are doig, we ca look i God s Word to kow that GOD TELLS US HOW TO RESPECT OTHERS. The Te Commadmets help us kow how God wats us to treat other people. We ca be glad that God gave us these rules. Let s thik more about how to do what God wats ad treat others with respect. Lesso 5 Grades 3 & 4

53 53 Respectig Others What You ll Do Make sure each child has a Bible. Say: Our Key Verse today is Matthew 19:18-19: Do ot murder, do ot commit adultery, do ot steal, do ot give false testimoy, hoor your father ad mother, ad love your eighbor as yourself (Matthew 19:18-19). Jesus was repeatig words from the Old Testamet i this verse. What does it mea to you that Jesus thought these were importat eough to repeat? Have kids say the verse alog with you a few times. Give each child a two-sticker strip. Have kids brig their sticker strips as they gather aroud tables with crayos set out. Respectig Others Supplies Bibles crayos scissors Teacher Pack sticker sheets Respectig Others Easy Prep Cut the stickers ito strips so there are 2 stickers o each strip. Say: Sice respectig others ivolves spedig time with them, we re goig to make a remider of this. Each of you has two stickers. Decorate oe to remid you to respect others, ad the decorate the secod sticker to give to aother perso to whom you wat to show respect. Give kids a few miutes to decorate their stickers. The have a few willig kids share their desigs with the group. Say: Put the first sticker somewhere you will see it ofte. You might wat to put it i your room, o a school otebook, or o your Bible. The thik about the perso you decided to give the other sticker to. Whe you give the sticker to that perso, it would be great if you could tell him or her what you leared today about respectig others. Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. How will it show respect to give the secod sticker to someoe else? Tell about a time someoe did somethig to show you respect. What do you thik is the most importat thig to remember about showig respect to others? Say: We ca respect other people i so may ways. Whether we re carig ad kid to them or if we talk kidly about them to others, we ca remember the Te Commadmets because GOD TELLS US HOW TO RESPECT OTHERS. Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 5

54 54 3 WEAVING FAITH INTO LIFE Showig Love ad Respect Supplies Teacher Pack Showig Love ad Respect cards Showig Love ad Respect Easy Prep Separate the Showig Love ad Respect cards. Showig Love ad Respect What You ll Do Say: We show respect to others by treatig them the way we would wat to be treated. We love them as we love ourselves. We take care of them the way we take care of ourselves. This meas we show them love ad respect eve if they do t love ad respect us i retur. Have kids form four groups. Give each group a Showig Love ad Respect card. Have groups read their cards together ad discuss them. Let kids kow they ll be actig out scearios. Say: After each presetatio, the rest of you will hold up 1 to 10 figers idicatig how respectful the mai character i the sceario was to the other people. Oe figer would idicate o respect, ad 10 figers would idicate very respectful. If you thik the mai character was t very respectful, thik of ways to respod to that disrespectful perso i a respectful way. You ca raise your had ad tell the actors how to respod respectfully. Have willig kids from each group act out for the etire group the scearios o their cards. Allow time for presetatios ad resposes. Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. I what ways ca you tell whether someoe is beig respectful or ot? What differece might it make to the people aroud you whether you re respectful or ot? What ca you do to show respect to all the people you meet, ot just some of them? Say: Our scearios showed us how every day we have opportuities to show love ad respect to others. Every day we make choices to either obey God s commadmets or to igore them. God wats us to obey his commadmets so that we ll have the best ad happiest lives possible. GOD TELLS US HOW TO RESPECT OTHERS. Let s choose to obey God. Lesso 5 Grades 3 & 4

55 55 4 LASTING IMPRESSIONS Daily Challeges What You ll Do Say: Let s cosider this week how we ca act o the ways GOD TELLS US HOW TO RESPECT OTHERS. Daily Challeges Supplies Bible Truth Sleuth Have kids fid this week s Daily Challeges o their Bible Truth Sleuth pages ad choose oe to do this week. They ca choose oe or more of these three optios: Let your brother or sister go first whe it s your tur to go first. Do what your parets ask without complaiig or arguig. Show them respect by treatig them as you d wat to be treated. Help someoe who eeds help without askig aythig i retur. Make sure you choose a Daily Challege as well, ad tell the kids what you chose. Kids will be more iclied to follow through o their commitmets whe they see you doig the same. Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. What s a practical way you re goig to do your Daily Challege? Iclude a time, a place, ad other ideas. Say: God gave the Israelites the Te Commadmets to help them remember that GOD TELLS US HOW TO RESPECT OTHERS. Let s treat others with respect this week as we follow through o our Daily Challeges. Weavig Faith at Home Ecourage kids to talk with their parets about the Daily Challeges they chose ad what they leared about respectig others. Kids ca also do the activities i the HomeCoect sectio of their Bible Truth Sleuth pages with their families. Talk to your Director about ig the FREE FamilyCoect to all your church s families. Available at group.com/digital. Have kids fid a parter ad pray with each other. Ask them to show respect by listeig ad carig for their parter as they pray together about the ways God wats them to show respect. Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 5

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57 Lesso 6 57 The Israelites Worship a Golde Calf Exodus 32:1-25 Third- ad fourth-graders are becomig more iterested i famous sigers, movie stars, ad brad-ame clothig ad shoes. They may ot realize their obsessio with these people or thigs ca be idolatrous. Use this lesso to help kids put thigs i perspective ad recogize how they ca worship God. LESSON WHAT CHILDREN DO SUPPLIES EASY PREP Bible Poit Oly God deserves our worship. 1 Gettig Started Who s Famous? (about 10 mi.) Decide i groups who their favorite famous perso is, ad the demostrate how a crowd would react to that perso. Key Verse You shall have o other gods before me (Exodus 20:3). 2 Bible Exploratio Who the Israelites Worshipped (about 25 mi.) Go through the Bible passage ad lear what each perso or group did. Bible, heavy object (such as a backpack full of books), lemo slices, CD player Teacher Pack: CD Weavig Faith Ito Life Kids will worship God. Bold text withi the lesso is spoke text. Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 6

58 58 LESSON WHAT CHILDREN DO SUPPLIES EASY PREP 3 Weavig Faith Ito Life Who Will We Worship? (about 15 mi.) Lear the Key Verse, ad discuss worship. Sweet Worship (about 10 mi.) Add sugar to lemos, ad discuss how sweet it is to worship God. Bibles, tape Teacher Pack: Who to Worship poster Bible Truth Sleuth, pes, lemo slices, paper cups, spoos, sugar Cut apart the 4 sectios of the Who to Worship poster, ad tape each piece to a differet corer of the room. Tear out the Lesso 6 pages from each Bible Truth Sleuth studet book. 4 Lastig Impressios Daily Challeges (about 5 mi.) Choose a Daily Challege to apply God s Word. Weavig Faith at Home (about 2 mi.) Talk about how to share what they leared with their families. Bible Truth Sleuth Bold text withi the lesso is spoke text. Lesso 6 Grades 3 & 4

59 59 The Israelites Worship a Golde Calf Exodus 32:1-25 BIBLe BACKGROUND FOR LEADERS Out of Sight Moses was up o the moutai for a log time receivig all the laws from God almost six weeks (Exodus 24:18)! It s likely that the Israelites feared Moses had perished o the moutai. Sice he had bee their mai cotact with God, they may have reasoed that they had lost cotact with God, too. The Hebrews spet more tha 400 years seeig gods i Egypt, ad ow they d bee asked to serve ad follow a God they could t see. For the majority of the time they d kow God, he d had persoal relatioships with idividuals amog them. They may ot have realized God was iterested i each of them idividually ad as a etire commuity. They d bee camped i the same place for six weeks ad were likely gettig axious to move o. They could t eve see God s represetative, so they fell back o what they were familiar with ad asked for a god they could see who would cotiue to lead them. I talkig to Moses, Aaro tried to make it seem as if he had o choice ad that the fire itself had mysteriously shaped the calf. God s sparig of Aaro i this situatio was certaily a example of his mercy ad grace. The Jesus Coectio We are surrouded by thigs that promise to brig us immediate pleasure ad satisfactio. May of these promises are deceitful, leadig to destructio. But eve God s blessigs themselves ca distract us from our true callig of worshippig God. Jesus came to offer the oly thig that s truly worth havig. Take a momet to write a prayer revealig your heart s desire to follow God ad askig for his help i dislodgig some thigs that might be stealig your worship away from God. What Was Aaro Thikig? Aaro s willigess to go alog suggests that he, too, had some doubt about Moses retur. However, some believe that Aaro s request for gold earrigs was a attempt to avert the people s desire for a god. If they realized they had to give up thigs of value, they might decide they did t really wat a golde god after all. If that was Aaro s itet, his attempt failed. After makig the idol, Aaro s proclamatio was that there d be a festival to the Lord. The ame traslated Lord (Yahweh) is the ame by which God had aouced himself to Moses at the burig bush. Apparetly, Aaro thought that this idol could somehow represet the true God. Regardless of his motives, Aaro was wrog i makig the idol. He led the people i disobeyig God s secod commadmet (Exodus 20:4). Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 6

60 60 GETTING STARTED Who s Famous? What You ll Do Welcome kids warmly as they arrive, ad ask them how their week wet. Have them form four groups. Say: Everyoe thik of a famous perso. The i your groups, decide which of your famous people your group likes the best. Do t let the other groups hear who you ve chose! Oce you ve decided, oe perso will preted to be the famous perso ad you ll act out for the rest of us the way you thik people would react if they saw that perso come ito this room. The rest of us will try to guess your famous perso. Give groups a couple of miutes to each choose a famous perso ad decide how they ll act out people s reactios to that perso. The have kids preset those reactios while everyoe else guesses who the perso is. Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. What do your reactios to the famous people you chose say about you or about those people? Why do you thik people react to famous people the way they do? Whe people react to famous people i the ways your groups demostrated, it s sometimes called idolizig or worshippig. Do you thik ay of the people you thought of today are worthy of worship? Why or why ot? Who the Israelites Worshipped Supplies Bible heavy object (such as a backpack full of books) lemo slices CD player Teacher Pack CD: Israelite Party (track 11)! ALLERGY ALERT Say: ONLY GOD DESERVES OUR WORSHIP. But sometimes we ca get cofused ad give our attetio to thigs that do t deserve our worship. We ll lear about who the Israelites worshipped whe they got distracted from God. 2 BIBLE EXPLORATION Who the Israelites Worshipped What You ll Do Say: Today we ll lear about how the Israelites became impatiet while waitig for Moses to retur from Mout Siai. Moses had bee goe a log time, ad the Lesso 6 Grades 3 & 4

61 61 people were tired of waitig. They did t kow what had happeed to Moses, so they decided to take matters ito their ow hads. Have a willig child read aloud Exodus 32:1-6. The give kids 30 secods to demostrate how they act whe they re impatiet. Say: The Israelites had waited a log time to get out of Egypt. They had bee slaves for more tha 400 years! Ad ow they had bee i the desert oly a few moths ad they were complaiig. The Israelites were impatiet. They wated thigs their way immediately. Let s look at what God said about how the Israelites were actig. Have a willig child read aloud Exodus 32:7-10. Say: The Israelites were stiff-ecked. Let s do somethig to help us thik about what that might mea. Have kids keep their ecks as stiff as they ca as they try to follow the commads you give. Say: Look at your eighbor s feet ad tell all of us what color socks he or she is wearig. Allow 30 secods. Say: Now look up at the ceilig ad cout how may lights there are i the room. Allow 30 secods, ad remid kids to keep their ecks stiff if they forget. Was it hard to follow my istructios while your ecks were stiff? Why or why ot? Say: Stiff-ecked actually meas iflexible or stubbor. God was very agry that the Israelites had disobeyed him ad were worshippig a idol, ad he kew they would be stubbor ad ot wat to chage their ways. Moses pleaded with God to spare the lives of the Israelites. Eve though they did t deserve it, God agreed. The whe Moses retured to where the Israelites were, he heard the oise of people shoutig. Joshua, who was helpig Moses, said he thought it was the soud of war. But that was t what it really was. Moses kew that what he was hearig was the Israelites havig a wild party. Play Israelite Party (track 11 o the CD), ad have kids celebrate ad party like the Israelites did. After a miute, ad before the CD segmet stops, startle the kids by droppig the heavy object o the floor to make a loud oise. The have kids sit together. What was it like to be startled out of your fu by this object droppig? Say: Whe Moses saw the Israelites, he was very agry because the Israelites were worshippig a idol. Let s fid out what he did ext. Ask a willig child to read aloud Exodus 32: Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 6

62 62 Say: After Moses had pleaded with God to save the Israelites, he was upleasatly surprised by what he saw them doig. They were ot worshippig the oe ad oly God, the oe who freed them from Egypt. They were worshippig a golde calf ad callig it a god! So Moses destroyed their idol ad groud it ito powder! Thik about a time somethig special to you got ruied. How did you react? Say: Moses did t stop at just destroyig the idol; he put the powder from the destroyed idol ito water ad made the Israelites drik it! Give a lemo slice to each child. After kids have tasted their lemo slices, say: These lemos tasted really sour, but what the Israelites drak was probably much worse. It probably tasted terrible! The Israelites sied. Moses wated them to kow it. Let s fid out what explaatio Aaro tried to give for their behavior. Have a willig child read aloud the rest of today s Bible passage, Exodus 32: Have kids form pairs ad preted to do what Aaro said he did. Tell the pairs to choose a iaimate object i the room ad preted to light a fire uder it. Ecourage them to ask the object to get up ad move. After about a miute, ivite them to come back to a circle. Say: There was quite a bit that did t make sese about what Aaro said. He told Moses that he put the gold ito the fire ad that the calf came out of it. But we kow that olivig thigs do t do aythig o their ow. Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. What do you thik of the Israelites behavior i this passage? What thigs i your life may have led you to worship somethig other tha God? What ca you do to put God back ito first place i your life? Say: ONLY GOD DESERVES OUR WORSHIP. He brought the Israelites out of slavery i Egypt ad was leadig them to the Promised Lad. We may thik the Israelites forgot too easily about the thigs God had doe, but the reality is that we ca easily forget about God, too. We ca fid thigs to distract us or take our time away from him. Let s make sure we do whatever is possible i order to give our worship to God oly. Lesso 6 Grades 3 & 4

63 63 3 WEAVING FAITH INTO LIFE Who Will We Worship? What You ll Do Make sure each child has a Bible. Say: Our Key Verse today is Exodus 20:3. Have kids fid the verse i their Bibles, ad ask a willig child to read the verse aloud: You shall have o other gods before me. Ecourage kids to repeat the verse together a couple of times. Say: This verse tells us that ONLY GOD DESERVES OUR WORSHIP. Have kids form four groups, ad the sed each group to a differet corer of the room. Have kids look at the pictures ad discuss why people would thik the item or items i their pictures are importat. Rotate groups aroud the room util each group has discussed each picture. Say: May thigs could easily become more importat to people tha worshippig God. Who Will We Worship? Supplies Bibles tape Teacher Pack Who to Worship poster Who Will We Worship? Easy Prep Cut apart the 4 sectios of the Who to Worship poster, ad tape each piece to a differet corer of the room. How is watig thigs like a shiy ew sports car or a ew ipod or eve lots of moey like worshippig idols? Say: I the Bible today, we leared that it was more importat to the Israelites to worship a golde calf tha to worship God. Eve though God had freed them from beig slaves i Egypt ad was takig them to the Promised Lad, they grew impatiet while waitig ad decided to worship somethig else istead. Have groups each brig their picture to a table. Say: The pictures you discussed durig this activity show just some of the thigs that people could worship istead of God. Let s see what the Bible says about worshippig thigs rather tha God. Have kids flip the pictures over ad put the four pieces of the verse i order. Have them sit dow. Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. Is there aythig you thik is more importat tha God? Explai. How ca you kow if you re puttig somethig before God i your life? What differece does it make whether God s i first place i your life or ot? What chages would you like to make to your priorities? Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 6

64 64 Say: We ca pray ad ask God to help us see the areas i our lives i which we re ot placig him i first place. Whe we do that, it helps our hearts be more healthy because ONLY GOD DESERVES OUR WORSHIP. The Israelites got distracted ad worshipped thigs they made rather tha the God who made them. They leared the hard way that ONLY GOD DESERVES OUR WORSHIP. Sweet Worship Supplies Bible Truth Sleuth pes lemo slices paper cups spoos sugar! ALLERGY ALERT Sweet Worship Easy Prep Tear out the Lesso 6 pages from each Bible Truth Sleuth studet book. Sweet Worship What You ll Do Have kids form pairs ad sit dow somewhere i the room with their parters. Pray: Dear Lord, there are may thigs i our lives that ca seem to be more importat to us tha you are. Please help us always put you first ad worship you oly. Thak you for sedig your So, Jesus, to free us from our sis. Distribute pes ad this week s Bible Truth Sleuth pages. Ivite kids to take about five miutes to write prayers o the I Will Worship God sectio. The pages cotai istructios. Kids will write about thigs they worship istead of God. Use this time to distribute the lemo slices, each oe i a paper cup. After about four of the five miutes, ask kids to stop writig ad pray. Ecourage them to liste to God more tha they talk. Whe kids fiish, say: I Jesus ame, ame. Set out sugar ad spoos. Say: You tasted lemos earlier. Whe we worship God ad believe i his So, Jesus, it s sweet to him. Have kids put plety of sugar all over the lemo slices ad bite ito them agai. Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. What chaged about the taste of the lemos? How is that the same as how worshippig God ca chage our lives? What s differet about how we re affected whe we worship God compared with how it affects us to worship other thigs? What ca you do i your daily activities to worship oly God? Say: No matter what kids of thigs are goig o i our lives, worshippig God ca chage our attitudes ad help us eve i hard times. That s why ONLY GOD DESERVES OUR WORSHIP. Whe we worship thigs istead of God, we re missig the best part. The Israelites missed the best thig they could ve worshipped whe they gave their worship to the golde calf istead of worshippig God. Lesso 6 Grades 3 & 4

65 65 4 LASTING IMPRESSIONS Daily Challeges What You ll Do Say: Cosider how you ca remember this week that ONLY GOD DESERVES OUR WORSHIP. Daily Challeges Supplies Bible Truth Sleuth Have kids fid this week s Daily Challeges o their Bible Truth Sleuth pages ad choose oe to do this week. They ca choose oe or more of these three optios: Fid oe thig i your life that takes up more space tha you wat it to. Ask God to help you replace that thig with him. Ask your parets to help you choose a good love sog or poem. Read the lyrics of the sog or poem ad compare them with the way you ca worship God i your life. Write a love sog or poem to God. Make a list rakig the importace of thigs i your life. Evaluate your priorities ad pray about them. Ask God to help your priorities lie up with worshippig oly him, ot just worshippig him more tha other thigs. Make sure you choose a Daily Challege as well, ad tell the kids what you chose. Kids will be more iclied to follow through o their commitmets whe they see you doig the same. Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. What s a practical way you re goig to do your Daily Challege? Iclude a time, a place, ad other ideas. Say: The Israelites forgot to keep God first i their lives. We ca remember that ONLY GOD DESERVES OUR WORSHIP as we follow through o our Daily Challeges. Weavig Faith at Home Ecourage kids to talk with their parets about the Daily Challeges they chose ad what they leared about worshippig God. Kids ca also do the activities i the HomeCoect sectio of their Bible Truth Sleuth pages with their families. Talk to your Director about ig the FREE FamilyCoect to all your church s families. Available at group.com/digital. Have kids form pairs ad pray together, askig God to help them worship oly him throughout the week. Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 6

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67 Lesso 7 67 The Israelites Build the Taberacle Exodus 35:4 36:38 Third- ad fourth-graders have reached a age at which they are begiig to have some idepedece ad resposibility. May have a allowace ad a idea of the thigs o which they wat to sped their moey. Most have some cotrol over the activities they will ad wo t participate i. This is prime time to discuss with them the importace of seeig their time, talet, ad treasures as a meas of servig God. Use this lesso to share with them that we all ca serve God with everythig we are. LESSON WHAT CHILDREN DO SUPPLIES EASY PREP 1 Gettig Started 2 Bible Exploratio What s My Talet? (about 15 mi.) Play a guessig game, ad try to figure out oe aother s talets. Buildig the Taberacle (about 30 mi.) Examie the process of buildig the Taberacle through a poster ad the CD. chairs Bibles, Bible Truth Sleuth, scissors, pes, paper, markers, glue, CD player, copy of the Sig-Up Scroll hadout (at the ed of this lesso) Teacher Pack: CD, Taberacle poster, taberacle yar Set up chairs i a semicircle with 2 chairs i the frot middle facig the rest of the chairs. Tear out the Lesso 7 pages from each Bible Truth Sleuth studet book. Cut the yar ito 1-foot segmets. There should be eough to have 20 pieces of each color. Bible Poit We all ca serve God. Key Verse Ad whatever you do, whether i word or deed, do it all i the ame of the Lord Jesus (Colossias 3:17). Weavig Faith Ito Life Kids will serve God i may differet ways. Bold text withi the lesso is spoke text. Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 7

68 68 LESSON WHAT CHILDREN DO SUPPLIES EASY PREP 3 Weavig Faith Ito Life 4 Lastig Impressios Do It All i the Name of Jesus (about 15 mi.) Lear the Key Verse, ad share how God could use them. Daily Challeges (about 5 mi.) Choose a Daily Challege to apply God s Word. Weavig Faith at Home (about 2 mi.) Talk about how to share what they leared with their families. Bibles, CD player, copies of the lyrics page (at the ed of this lesso) Teacher Pack: CD Bible Truth Sleuth Bold text withi the lesso is spoke text. Lesso 7 Grades 3 & 4

69 69 The Israelites Build the Taberacle Exodus 35:4 36:38 BIBLe BACKGROUND FOR LEADERS Geerous Offerigs The Jesus Coectio It was time for the Israelites to build a portable dwellig place for the worship of God. Whe Moses asked for cotributios, the people gave geerously. Apparetly the evets of the previous moths ispired them to give to God. They may have realized how they had wroged God i worshippig the golde calf ad wated to do what they could to make ameds for the damage doe. They gave so geerously that evetually they had to be told to stop brigig more materials (Exodus 36:6-7)! Oe might woder where these former slaves got gold ad fie cloth to doate to the Taberacle. The aswer lies i the geerosity of the Egyptias as the Israelites were escapig. God told the Hebrews to ask for thigs from the Egyptias; the Egyptias respoded with silver, gold, ad clothig (Exodus 12:35-36). Our relatioship with Jesus gives us daily opportuities to serve him. He is our fried, our Creator, ad our Savior. Service is a choice we make o a daily basis. But how ofte do you aalyze your motives for servig? Wrog motives ca rob us of blessigs ad limit our effectiveess i service. For the Christia, service comes out of thakfuless for salvatio ad devotio to hoor our Creator. If we are ot servig for those reasos, perhaps we re really self-servig. Write a prayer here askig God to refie ad hoe your heart as you serve today ad each day goig forward. Taleted Workers Not oly did the Hebrews give thigs, but they gave time ad talets as well. This passage sigles out Bezalel ad Oholiab as the leaders of the workers ad also metios wome skilled i spiig goat hair (Exodus 35:26) ad other skilled ad willig people (Exodus 36:2). Willig Worship What ca we lear from this evet? Servig God ivolves all kids of differet tasks ad abilities. If you ca t build a structure, maybe you ca spi cloth. If you ca t sig, maybe you ca tell a co-worker about Jesus. Each oe of us has God-give abilities ad spiritual gifts. God wats us to use what he s give us to serve ad hoor him i whatever ways we ca. God ca use ayoe to serve him ad to further his kigdom here o earth. The oly thig stoppig our service to him is ourselves. Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 7

70 70 GETTING STARTED What s My Talet? Supplies chairs What s My Talet? Easy Prep Set up chairs i a semicircle with 2 chairs i the frot middle facig the rest of the chairs. What s My Talet? What You ll Do Welcome kids warmly as they arrive, ad ask them how their week wet. Have kids sit i the semicircle of chairs you set up beforehad. You will sit i oe of the two chairs facig the rest of the chairs. Say: Thik of somethig that you do really well. Some thigs you might be good at are drawig, sigig, playig baseball, or tellig stories. Choose oe thig you do especially well, but do t tell ayoe what that talet is. We re goig to play a guessig game. You ll ask questios to try to guess each other s talets. Ask for a willig child to be the first cotestat. Have the cotestat whisper his or her talet to you ad the sit beside you. The have the rest of the group take turs askig questios to try to guess the talet of the cotestat. If kids get stuck, refer to the questios below. How log have you had this talet? Do you have to keep practicig to do this talet well? Do you ejoy your talet? If your talet requires ay special tools or equipmet, what are those? Let the perso who guesses the talet be the ext cotestat. If o oe guesses after three or four questios, have the curret cotestat reveal his or her talet ad the choose the ext cotestat ad switch seats with the perso they chose. Repeat this util each child has bee the cotestat. Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. Which talets are you most proud of? Why? What do you like most about havig these talets? What s good about usig your talets to serve God? Say: We all have differet talets ad abilities. Today we ll look at how the Israelites used their talets to build a special tet for God. Just like the Israelites used their talets for God, WE ALL CAN SERVE GOD, too! You may wat to move the chairs out of the way after this activity. Lesso 7 Grades 3 & 4

71 71 2 BIBLE EXPLORATION Buildig the Taberacle What You ll Do Say: Today s Bible passage is foud i Exodus 35:4 36:38. It tells us how the Israelites used their talets to work together to build the Taberacle, which was a special tet for God. Let s take a look at the passage. Make sure kids each have a Bible, ad have kids tur to Exodus 35:4 36:38. Say: Now we ll hear a accout of the actio as it happes. Keep the Taberacle poster folded so that oly Scee 1 is visible. As the accout of the Israelites ufolds, chage the poster scee to match your place i the passage. There are a total of four scees. Say: Our first picture is live at the scee of the buildig of the Taberacle. Our crew is o-site, ad the leader, Moses, is just about to speak. We re goig to hear about some thigs that Moses eeds from us i order to get the Taberacle built. There ll be a sig-up sheet goig aroud. You ca put your ame i the colum that you re most iterested i. Liste to the categories Moses lists; those will be the same as what s o the sig-up sheet. Play Moses Taberacle Address (track 12 o the CD) while you display Scee 1 o the poster. While the CD plays, have kids pass aroud the Sig-Up Scroll hadout ad sig up for the way i which they d like to help or cotribute. Say: It sure souds as if Moses has a huge pla i mid for the Taberacle, ad the people will have to doate a lot of their time ad possessios to get the job doe. But Moses said God commaded that the Israelites give. Why do you thik it was importat for the Israelites to give their talets? What kids of thigs do you thik you could give to God? Set out the craft supplies. Say: As teams, you ll use materials provided to build a small replica of the Taberacle together. Your group oly eeds to worry about the compoets you siged up for. You do t eed to be cocered about how all the pieces will fit together. Have kids form groups based o what they siged up for ad discuss the ways they will use their selected role to make the Taberacle beautiful. Allow a few miutes for them to decide ad get to work. Say: As you work, we ll check i with Harold, our rovig reporter o the scee, to see what s happeig ow. So work quietly! You might hear some ideas that will help you work o your area of iterest. Harold, what s goig o dow there? Buildig the Taberacle Supplies Bibles Bible Truth Sleuth scissors pes paper markers glue CD player copy of the Sig-Up Scroll hadout (at the ed of this lesso) Teacher Pack CD: Moses Taberacle Address (track 12), Taberacle Doatios (track 13), Taberacle Foreme Are Chose (track 14), A Look at the Completed Taberacle (track 15) Taberacle poster taberacle yar Buildig the Taberacle Easy Prep Tear out the Lesso 7 pages from each Bible Truth Sleuth studet book. Cut the yar ito 1-foot segmets. There should be eough to have 20 pieces of each color. Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 7

72 72 Play Taberacle Doatios (track 13 o the CD) while you display Scee 2 o the poster. Ecourage willig kids to form small groups ad act out what s takig place o the CD. Say: Some strage thigs were used to build the Taberacle. But it seems that everyoe had somethig to cotribute. Ask groups to talk about these questios as they cotiue to work o their Taberacle compoets: What kids of thigs could you doate for a service project today, eve if you do t have ay moey? What are some skills you have that you could use to serve God? Have kids work quietly for a few more miutes, ad the say: Let s get back to Harold i the Israelite camp ad see what s happeig. Have kids cotiue to work while you play Taberacle Foreme Are Chose (track 14 o the CD). Display Scee 3 o the poster. Whe the track eds, have kids brig their materials together ad begi assemblig them ito a miiature Taberacle. Say: The Israelites fiished their buildig project just like we ve fiished ours. Ask kids to cheer ad celebrate aroud the miiature Taberacle they built. Let s check out the scee oe more time ad see what all their service was able to accomplish. Harold, how is the project lookig dow there? Choose a willig child to siletly poit out the pieces of the Taberacle as Harold talks about them o the CD track. Fially, play A Look at the Completed Taberacle (track 15 o the CD) as you display Scee 4 o the poster. Say: Let s look at how we ca use our talets to serve God. Distribute this week s Bible Truth Sleuth pages, ad have kids tur to the How I Ca Serve God activity. Give each child oe strad each of red, blue, ad purple yar. Say: You ll use these strads of yar to create a picture o your Bible Truth Sleuth pages. You ca either draw a picture ad use the yar to make it more elaborate, or you may create the etire picture out of the yar you have. Be creative, ad do whatever you wat to do to create a picture with your yar that describes a talet you have. Use ay of the available supplies that you wat. Give kids 10 miutes to complete their pictures. Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. What s oe way you ca use the talets you ve illustrated o your Bible Truth Sleuth page to serve God? Lesso 7 Grades 3 & 4

73 73 Whe you use your talets to serve God, does it matter what other people thik? Explai. Who do you sped most of your time or eergy tryig to please? Is that how you wat it to be? Explai. Say: God is pleased whe we use our time, our talets, ad the thigs we have our possessios or treasures to serve him. The Israelites all helped build the Taberacle. That meas everyoe s skills ad talets were valuable ad were part of the project. God gives each of us uique ad special ways to serve him. WE ALL CAN SERVE GOD! 3 WEAVING FAITH INTO LIFE Do It All i the Name of Jesus What You ll Do Say: Our Key Verse today is Colossias 3:17. Make sure kids each have a Bible, ad have kids fid the verse. Read the verse aloud with them: Ad whatever you do, whether i word or deed, do it all i the ame of the Lord Jesus (Colossias 3:17). Say: Let s sig Whatever You Do, which is our Key Verse. Distribute copies of the lyrics page, ad play Whatever You Do (Colossias 3:17) (track 16 o the CD). Lead the kids i sigig the sog. Do It All i the Name of Jesus Supplies Bibles CD player copies of the lyrics page (at the ed of this lesso) Teacher Pack CD: Whatever You Do (Colossias 3:17) (track 16) Whatever, whatever, What-what-what-what-whatever. Whatever, whatever, What-what-what-what-whatever. Ad whatever you do, Whether i word or deed, Do it all i the ame Of the Lord Jesus. (Repeat.) Givig thaks to God the Father through him, Givig thaks to God the Father through him, Givig thaks to God the Father through him, Givig thaks to God the Father through him. Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 7

74 74 Ad whatever you do, Whether i word or deed, Do it all i the ame Of the Lord Jesus. (Repeat.) Givig thaks to God the Father through him, Givig thaks to God the Father through him, Givig thaks to God the Father through him, Givig thaks to God the Father through him. Ad whatever you do, Whether i word or deed, Do it all i the ame Of the Lord Jesus. (Repeat.) Whatever, whatever, What-what-what-what-whatever. Whatever, whatever, What-what-what-what-whatever. Whatever You Do (Colossias 3:17) by Jay Stocker Group Publishig, Ic. All rights reserved. Say: Wheever we do somethig, we ca thik about how God sees it. Ask kids to form pairs, ad have oe perso i each pair thik of a way to serve God i word. Allow a miute. The have kids switch roles ad ame ways to serve God i deed. Allow a miute. Say: Whe you do thigs with a attitude of watig to serve God, you re doig it i the ame of Jesus. Ask the etire group: How ca you do thigs i the ame of Jesus? Have kids form three groups. The have them all choose oe of their talets ad act out a way that talet ca be used to serve God. Give kids a settig i which they will act out their talets. The settig for Group 1 will be church. The settig for Group 2 will be school. Ad for Group 3, the settig will be at home. Allow about three miutes. The have kids quickly preset their talets to everyoe else. Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. What ca you do to serve God with some of the talets you have? Explai whether you thik you ca do great thigs, eve godly thigs, without actually doig them for God. Lesso 7 Grades 3 & 4

75 75 What ca you do to keep your words ad deeds focused o God? What s oe way you hope you ca serve God? Say: No matter who you are, you ca serve God. God put the talets of the Israelites to use to build him the Taberacle. WE ALL CAN SERVE GOD, too. We ca ask God to help us focus o servig him with our words ad actios. 4 LASTING IMPRESSIONS Daily Challeges What You ll Do Say: Cosider this week how WE ALL CAN SERVE GOD. Daily Challeges Supplies Bible Truth Sleuth Have kids fid this week s Daily Challeges o their Bible Truth Sleuth pages ad choose oe to do this week. They ca choose oe or more of these three optios: Oe day this week whe you re gettig ready (whe you re brushig your teeth, washig your hair, or eatig breakfast), use that time to dedicate your day to servig God. Ask God to use you i each momet of that day, ad as ofte as possible remid yourself that you re servig God with everythig you do that day. Use oe of your God-give talets to help someoe else. You might help a eighbor with yardwork, pait a picture for someoe who s sick, cook a good meal for your family, or play music for someoe who eeds to be ecouraged. Do that thig for God, ad serve him as you use your talet. Pay attetio to the thigs you see ad the thigs that happe aroud you. Whe you see someoe usig a talet God gave him or her, thak that perso for blessig you with that talet. For example, if a clerk at the grocery store is very kid, thak that perso for blessig you. Make sure you choose a Daily Challege as well, ad tell the kids what you chose. Kids will be more iclied to follow through o their commitmets whe they see you doig the same. Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. What s a practical way you re goig to do your Daily Challege? Iclude a time, a place, ad other ideas. Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 7

76 76 Say: God used all of the Israelites to make a beautiful place for him. Just as God used all of the Israelites talets, WE ALL CAN SERVE GOD as we follow through with our Daily Challeges. Weavig Faith at Home Ecourage kids to talk with their parets about the Daily Challeges they chose ad what they leared about servig God. Kids ca also do the activities i the HomeCoect sectio of their Bible Truth Sleuth pages with their families. Talk to your Director about ig the FREE FamilyCoect to all your church s families. Available at group.com/digital. Stad i a circle. Ecourage kids to pray for the perso o their right. They ca pray siletly or out loud. Ask them to pray that the perso ext to them will be able to see the talets God has give him or her ad be able to see how he or she ca serve God. Lesso 7 Grades 3 & 4

77 77 Lyrics Whatever You Do (Colossias 3:17) Whatever, whatever, What-what-what-what-whatever. Whatever, whatever, What-what-what-what-whatever. Ad whatever you do, Whether i word or deed, Do it all i the ame Of the Lord Jesus. (Repeat.) Givig thaks to God the Father through him, Givig thaks to God the Father through him, Givig thaks to God the Father through him, Givig thaks to God the Father through him. Ad whatever you do, Whether i word or deed, Do it all i the ame Of the Lord Jesus. (Repeat.) Givig thaks to God the Father through him, Givig thaks to God the Father through him, Givig thaks to God the Father through him, Givig thaks to God the Father through him. Ad whatever you do, Whether i word or deed, Do it all i the ame Of the Lord Jesus. (Repeat.) Whatever, whatever, What-what-what-what-whatever. Whatever, whatever, What-what-what-what-whatever. Whatever You Do (Colossias 3:17) by Jay Stocker Group Publishig, Ic. All rights reserved.! OK TO COPY Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 7

78 78 Sig-Up Scroll gold, silver, or broze blue, red, or purple yar or cloth lots of aimal skis wood, precious gems, or spices people who are good at buildig or sewig ! OK TO COPY Lesso 7 Grades 3 & 4

79 Lesso 8 79 Moses Seds Spies Ito the Promised Lad Numbers 13:1 14:23 Third- ad fourth-graders are begiig to struggle with fear i a more abstract sese tha whe they were youger. They re icreasigly aware that the world aroud them is ot withi their cotrol, ad that reality ca brig up fears. Whether they fear family disasters, such as the divorce of their parets or failig at ew edeavors, fear has become somethig that goes beyod the typical moster-uder-the-bed types of isecurities. Use this lesso to help your kids see that God ca replace their fear with bravery i the face of ay obstacle. LESSON WHAT CHILDREN DO SUPPLIES EASY PREP 1 Gettig Started 2 Bible Exploratio Spies i the Lad (about 15 mi.) Play a game i which the Caaaites fid the spies. But There ll Be Giats! (about 30 mi.) Play a fast-paced game as they try to get past the giats. Teacher Pack: Spies i the Lad cards Bibles, pes, paper, Bible Truth Sleuth, sticky otes Teacher Pack: Giats i the Lad game poster, Giats i the Lad game cards Separate the Spies i the Lad cards. Tear out the Lesso 8 pages from each Bible Truth Sleuth studet book. Separate the Giats i the Lad game cards. Bible Poit Be brave for God. Key Verse Therefore, my dear brothers, stad firm. Let othig move you. (1 Corithias 15:58). Weavig Faith Ito Life Kids will be brave for God. Bold text withi the lesso is spoke text. Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 8

80 80 LESSON WHAT CHILDREN DO SUPPLIES EASY PREP 3 Weavig Faith Ito Life 4 Lastig Impressios Stad Firm (about 15 mi.) Create outlies of their feet, ad lear the Key Verse. Daily Challeges (about 5 mi.) Choose a Daily Challege to apply God s Word. Weavig Faith at Home (about 2 mi.) Talk about how to share what they leared with their families. Bibles, costructio paper, markers Bible Truth Sleuth feet drawigs from the Stad Firm activity. Bold text withi the lesso is spoke text. Lesso 8 Grades 3 & 4

81 81 Moses Seds Spies Ito the Promised Lad Numbers 13:1 14:23 BIBLe BACKGROUND FOR LEADERS Your Missio, Should You Choose to Accept It... The spies were set o a exploratory missio. The purpose was to see what kids of oppositio they d be facig ad if the lad could support the Israelites as they coquered it. Moses istructios were clear: They were to explore the lad from the souther ed all the way to the orther ed. Missio Impossible Whe the spies first retured, they simply reported what Moses had asked for. They told of the fruitfuless of the lad, the powerful people, ad the fortified cities (Numbers 13:26-29). But after Caleb spoke his mid, the other spies wet beyod what they had bee asked to do. They bega to lamet that there was o way they could defeat the people i the lad. They exaggerated the reports of the size ad stregth of the lad s ihabitats. The people respoded by oce agai rebellig agaist Moses ad agaist God. Oce agai God threateed to strike dow all the people ad begi agai with Moses. Ad oce agai Moses iterceded for the faithless Israelites. stad up for God, eve whe it was ot the popular thig to do. Although their courage did t covice ayoe else to have faith, they were rewarded. The Jesus Coectio Jesus Christ stood up for the world through his atoig sacrifice o the cross. Through our relatioship with Christ, we ca stad up for what we believe ad who Jesus is. Throughout history ad all over the world, people have died because they professed a faith i Jesus Christ. While most of us do ot experiece persecutio to this degree, o-christias ca be resetful of our claims to kow the truth. These cofrotatios put Christias i a difficult situatio. Thik about o-christias you regularly come i cotact with. Are you the same perso with them that you are i frot of this Suday school group you re teachig? O the lies below, write a prayer that you will stad up for Jesus i your iteractios with o- Christias. The Faith of a Mustard Seed Moses poited out that what the Egyptias had leared about God through their recet experiece would be ullified if God allowed the Israelites to die i the desert. Moses wated everyoe, icludig the Egyptias, to see God s power. God oce agai forgave the Israelites. But otice he imposed a harsh puishmet: No adults who were alive durig the rebellio except Joshua ad Caleb would be allowed to eter the Promised Lad. Joshua ad Caleb had faith that God could do what he said he would. Their faith eabled them to Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 8

82 82 GETTING STARTED Spies i the Lad Supplies Teacher Pack Spies i the Lad cards Spies i the Lad Easy Prep Separate the Spies i the Lad cards. Spies i the Lad What You ll Do Welcome kids warmly as they arrive, ad ask them how their week wet. Say: Today our lesso is about spies, so we re goig to play a spy game. Distribute oe card to each child. Be sure to tell kids ot to show their cards to ayoe else. Say: Each of you has a card that tells you whether you are a Spy or a Caaaite. Spies, you must fid the other Spies by askig each other questios. Oce you have foud aother Spy, ru to your safe zoe together. Idicate the corer of the room that is the safe zoe. Caaaites, you must fid the Spies. Oce you fid a Spy, you must capture him or her by touchig his or her shoulder ad callig out, Spies are i the lad! The that Spy must go to the captured corer. Poit out the captured corer. Oce all the Spies are either i their safe zoe or i the captured corer, the game is over. Have kids play util all Spies are either foud or get to the safe zoe. If time permits, redistribute the cards ad play agai. Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. Spies, explai what it was like to search for oe aother without gettig caught. Caaaites, explai what it was like to try to fid the spies without kowig who they were. Have you ever had to do somethig for God that was scary for you? Explai. Say: From the Bible today, we will lear about spies that Moses set ito Caaa to check thigs out. What the spies saw was scary to them. We ll lear what they foud out ad what they did about it, ad we ll lear that we ca BE BRAVE FOR GOD. Lesso 8 Grades 3 & 4

83 83 2 BIBLE EXPLORATION But There ll Be Giats! What You ll Do Say: Our Bible passage today is foud i Numbers 13:1 14:23. It tells us about whe Moses set 12 spies ito the Promised Lad to see what was happeig there. The spies wet i; let s see what they foud. Make sure kids have Bibles, pes, ad paper. Have kids work i pairs to create lists of pros ad cos for the Promised Lad while they read Numbers 13: The have kids compare lists to see which oe is loger. Have you ever bee i a situatio i which you felt like you could t wi? Explai. How is your situatio like or ulike the situatio the Israelites were i? Say: The Israelites faced a difficult situatio. They kew this beautiful lad was what God had promised them, but ow they faced giats. They eeded to be brave for God ad take possessio of the lad he had promised them, but their fear was keepig them from doig it. But There ll Be Giats! Supplies Bibles pes paper Bible Truth Sleuth sticky otes Teacher Pack Giats i the Lad game poster Giats i the Lad game cards But There ll Be Giats! Easy Prep Tear out the Lesso 8 pages from each Bible Truth Sleuth studet book. What do you thik the best choice was for the Israelites? What kids of thigs keep you from stadig up for God? What does it mea to be brave for God? Separate the Giats i the Lad game cards. Set out the game poster, the game cards, ad a supply of sticky otes, ad have kids gather aroud the poster i a circle. Say: Today we ll play a game to try to get past the giats ad ito the Promised Lad. Our goal i this game is to get to the milk ad hoey. But there are giats stoppig us. You ll take turs choosig oe of the Giats i the Lad cards. If you choose a We ca! God is with us! card, take a sticky ote ad put it over a giat o the game poster. If you get a Grumble card, you must remove the last sticky ote that was put over a giat. If you choose a card that says We ca t, you ll tell about a time you or someoe you kow did somethig for God eve whe it was hard or scary. The you may put a sticky ote over the ext giat. Choose the perso whose birthday is closest to today to draw a card first. The i clockwise order, have kids take turs each drawig a card. Remid them of the rules as eeded. Play util all the cards have bee draw. Eve if kids are able to cover a giat whe they draw a We ca t card, they wo t be able to get to the milk ad hoey because of the Grumble cards. Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 8

84 84 Say: Whe the Israelites foud out there were giats i the lad that God had promised them, they were afraid. The Israelites did t believe Caleb ad Joshua whe they said God would help them defeat the giats. Let s read about how the Israelites reacted whe they were told what was i the lad. Have a willig child read aloud Numbers 14:1-4. Distribute this week s Bible Truth Sleuth pages, ad have kids tur to the What Are Your Giats? activity. After kids have completed the activity, have them form pairs ad share their giats with their parters. The have them pray together, askig God to help them be brave for him eve whe they face their giats. Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. I our game, did you thik we d be able to get ito the Promised Lad to get the milk ad hoey? Why or why ot? What do you do whe you face a hard or scary situatio? What ca you do to keep your hope i God whe you face difficult situatios? Say: Our game was like real life because it showed us that walkig with God does t mea we wo t face challeges. God promises us that we wo t be aloe whe we face hard times. No matter what we face, we ca BE BRAVE FOR GOD. Because of the Israelites grumblig, God did t allow their geeratio to go ito the Promised Lad. 3 WEAVING FAITH INTO LIFE Stad Firm Supplies Bibles costructio paper markers Stad Firm What You ll Do Make sure each child has a Bible, ad have kids tur to this week s Key Verse, 1 Corithias 15:58. Say: Let s take a look at our Key Verse for today ad see what it says about stadig up for God. Read 1 Corithias 15:58 together with all of the kids: Therefore, my dear brothers, stad firm. Let othig move you (1 Corithias 15:58). What do you thik it meas to stad firm? How is it related to bravery? What kids of thigs might keep you from doig what God wats you to do? Say: Beig brave for God meas followig him o matter what. We re goig to create somethig to remid us to give ourselves fully to the work of the Lord ad to bravely stad firm. Give each child a piece of costructio paper large eough for him or her to stad o, ad have kids work with a parter for this activity. Lesso 8 Grades 3 & 4

85 85 Say: Take turs stadig o your piece of paper as your parter draws a outlie of your feet. Whe kids have fiished drawig outlies of each other s feet, have them write out the Key Verse o their paper feet i the followig maer. At the top of the paper have them write, Therefore, my dear brothers, ad have them write the words stad ad firm iside the feet. The have them write the rest of the verse at the bottom of their paper. Give kids a little time to decorate their feet. Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. I what way does stadig o the words from our Key Verse symbolize stadig firm i tough situatios? Tell about a time you were tempted to do somethig wrog but you stood firm ad were brave for God. What s differet about the times you ve stood firm for God ad the times you ve struggled? How ca our Key Verse help you the ext time you face somethig difficult? Say: The Israelites were afraid, ad most of them were t very brave. But we ca stad firm like Joshua ad Caleb did ad trust God always. Whe you take these feet home, you ca use them to remid you about how to stad firm ad BE BRAVE FOR GOD. If you keep God s Word i your heart, you ca stad firm o that aytime you re tested. 4 LASTING IMPRESSIONS Daily Challeges What You ll Do Say: Cosider this week how you ca BE BRAVE FOR GOD. Daily Challeges Supplies Bible Truth Sleuth Have kids fid this week s Daily Challeges o their Bible Truth Sleuth pages ad choose oe to do this week. They ca choose oe or more of these three optios: Whe a fried tells you about somethig difficult goig o i his or her life, be brave for God ad ask if you ca pray with your fried about that situatio. Oe morig whe you re gettig ready for your day, stad o the feet you made today. Pray that God will help you stad firm for him ad bravely do what s right. Ivite a fried to church with you. Pray about which fried God would like you to ivite, ad the be brave by askig that perso to joi you at church. Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 8

86 86 Make sure you choose a Daily Challege as well, ad tell the kids what you chose. Kids will be more iclied to follow through o their commitmets whe they see you doig the same. Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. What s a practical way you re goig to do your Daily Challege? Iclude a time, a place, ad other ideas. Say: As we saw i the Israelites situatio, it s sometimes hard to BE BRAVE FOR GOD. But he promises to always be with us. We ca trust God ad be brave for him by stadig up ad doig what s right. Weavig Faith at Home Supplies feet drawigs from the Stad Firm activity Weavig Faith at Home Ecourage kids to talk with their parets about the Daily Challeges they chose ad what they leared about beig brave for God. Kids ca also do the activities i the HomeCoect sectio of their Bible Truth Sleuth pages with their families. Talk to your Director about ig the FREE FamilyCoect to all your church s families. Available at group.com/digital. Have kids place their feet drawigs i a circle o the groud ad stad o them. Ask kids to pray about situatios they kow they ll face this week i which they ll eed to be brave for God. Lesso 8 Grades 3 & 4

87 Lesso 9 87 Balaam s Dokey Talks Numbers 22:1-38 Third- ad fourth-graders are willig to accept thigs that are said to them by authority figures. The accout of Balaam s dokey is a strage oe as it comes very close to some fairy tales they re used to hearig ad seeig, ad it may seem fictioal as those stories are. It s importat for kids this age to make a coectio to the thigs God is doig as real ad applicable to their lives, If kids this age ca lear to pay attetio to God, they ll also lear to discer his truth. Use this lesso to help kids pay attetio to God i all areas of their lives. LESSON WHAT CHILDREN DO SUPPLIES EASY PREP 1 Gettig Started 2 Bible Exploratio That s Amazig! (about 10 mi.) Iterview oe aother about amazig thigs. Dokey Tales (about 35 mi.) Make large paper-bag dokeys ad play a game to help tell the Bible passage. paper, pecils, stopwatch Bibles, Bible Truth Sleuth, scissors (several pairs), a supply of ewspapers, packig tape, tape, markers, 2 brow paper grocery bags ad 2 brow luch bags per child, 1 small paper bag per 2 childre (optioal), copies of the Dokey Hooves hadout (at the ed of this lesso) (optioal), yar (optioal), hole puch (optioal) Teacher Pack: Bible Timelie, Balaam s Visitors cards Tear out the Lesso 9 pages from each Bible Truth Sleuth studet book. Separate the Balaam s Visitors cards. Bible Poit Pay attetio to God. Key Verse Come ad see what God has doe, how awesome his works i ma s behalf! (Psalm 66:5). Weavig Faith Ito Life Kids will pay attetio to God i all thigs. Say What? (about 5 mi.) Cotiue the jourey, ad lear that Balaam s dokey spoke. CD player, dokeys from the Dokey Tales activity Teacher Pack: CD Bold text withi the lesso is spoke text. Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 9

88 88 LESSON WHAT CHILDREN DO SUPPLIES EASY PREP 3 Weavig Faith Ito Life 4 Lastig Impressios Come ad See! (about 10 mi.) Share amazig thigs that God has doe i their lives. Daily Challeges (about 5 mi.) Choose a Daily Challege to apply God s Word. Weavig Faith at Home (about 2 mi.) Talk about how to share what they leared with their families. Bibles, Bible Truth Sleuth, pes Bible Truth Sleuth Bold text withi the lesso is spoke text. Lesso 9 Grades 3 & 4

89 89 Balaam s Dokey Talks Numbers 22:1-38 BIBLe BACKGROUND FOR LEADERS The Fortueteller This evet takes place ear the ed of the Israelites time of waderig i the desert. They had defeated a few adversaries i their travels ad were approachig the Promised Lad agai. The leader of Moab was afraid of what Israel might do to his lad, so he sought the help of Balaam. Apparetly Balaam was a widely kow fortueteller, or divier, who made his livig through his diviatio. He probably believed i may gods ad would cosult ayoe, icludig the Lord, who could help him ear his fees. A Wrog Motive Eve though Balaam called upo the Lord ad spoke God s words to the people set by Balak, Balaam s uderlyig motive was for selfish gai. Whe God had told Balaam o the first time, Balaam should have take that as a fial aswer. But whe Balaam came back to God a secod time, it was clear that Balaam s desire for fiacial gai was greater tha his desire to do what God told him. I lettig Balaam go but ot lettig him do aythig that would please Balak, God was showig how he disliked Balaam s moey-hugry attitude. had bee blided by his desire for riches. God fially opeed his eyes to the agel stadig i the path ad to the evil of what Balaam had bee doig. Speakig God s Words After gettig Balaam s attetio through the dokey ad the agel, God let Balaam kow that he wated Balaam to go through with his trip but to speak oly what God said. This whole evet was iteded to help Balaam thik clearly ad to kow that he had to do what God told him. The Jesus Coectio God is always doig thigs i us ad through us, but we ca sometimes forget that ad stop payig attetio to him. Whe we let our focus stay o God, we ca be used more easily by him. Write the most recet thig you ca remember that helped you see God at work. Ask God to help you pay attetio to him i the big ad small thigs i your life. You ca write your prayer o the lies below. God let Balaam go with Balak s me, but God was agry because he kew that Balaam was actig from self-iterest ad greed. A Talkig Dokey? Not beig able to see the agel his dokey saw must have bee a huge isult to Balaam, who prided himself o kowig ad seeig spiritual thigs. Certaily Balaam was humiliated whe the dokey had to speak i order to get him to see reality. Balaam Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 9

90 90 GETTING STARTED That s Amazig! Supplies paper pecils stopwatch Dokey Tales Supplies Bibles Bible Truth Sleuth scissors (several pairs) a supply of ewspapers packig tape tape markers 2 brow paper grocery bags ad 2 brow luch bags per child 1 small paper bag per 2 childre (optioal) copies of the Dokey Hooves hadout (at the ed of this lesso) (optioal) yar (optioal) hole puch (optioal) Teacher Pack Bible Timelie Balaam s Visitors cards Dokey Tales Easy Prep Tear out the Lesso 9 pages from each Bible Truth Sleuth studet book. Separate the Balaam s Visitors cards. That s Amazig! What You ll Do Welcome kids warmly as they arrive, ad ask them how their week wet. Have kids form two groups. Oe group will be Reporters ad the other group will be the Crowd. Give the Reporters a supply of paper ad pecils. Say: Whe I give the startig sigal, the Reporters will have two miutes to iterview as may Crowd members as possible. Reporters, the oly questios you ca ask i each iterview are What s the most amazig thig you ve ever see? ad Why did you pay attetio to that thig? Reporters will write dow each respose ad the move o to iterview someoe else. If a Reporter receives a duplicate respose, he or she must ask the Crowd member for a ew respose. Give the startig sigal, ad let Reporters iterview for two miutes. The call time, ad let groups chage roles. Play for aother two miutes, ad the gather kids i a circle. Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. What s the most amazig thig you heard about? Explai why you paid more attetio to that thig. Say: God does amazig thigs to show his power. There s othig too big or too difficult for God to do, ad we ca PAY ATTENTION TO GOD so we otice the thigs he s doig. Today i the Bible we ll meet a ma who foud out just how amazig God is! Somethig that seemed impossible happeed to help him lear to PAY ATTENTION TO GOD. 2 BIBLE EXPLORATION Dokey Tales What You ll Do Poit out Balaam s Dokey Talks o the Bible Timelie. Lesso 9 Grades 3 & 4

91 91 Distribute this week s Bible Truth Sleuth pages, ad set out the supplies. Say: Today we ll look at the book of Numbers. Ope your Bible to Numbers 22:1-38, ad show kids the passage. Before we go ay further, let s make somethig. We re goig to lear about a ma amed Balaam ad his dokey. Actually, Balaam s dokey plays a pretty importat role i what happeed, so we ll make dokeys of our ow. Here s how. Lead kids through the followig steps: 1. Loosely stuff oe paper grocery bag with ewspaper, ad the fit aother large paper bag over the ope ed. This will form the body of the dokey. (Sice kids will be ridig their dokeys, make sure they do t stuff the dokeys so fat that they ca t straddle them.) 2. Stuff oe paper luch bag with ewspaper, ad fit aother luch bag over the ope ed. This will be the dokey s head. 3. Have kids draw faces o their dokeys heads ad the use a loop of packig tape to attach the head to the body. 4. Have kids tur to the Dokey Ears sectio of their Bible Truth Sleuth pages. Have kids cut out the ears ad tape the ears to their dokeys heads. 5. Optioal: To make a mae for the dokey, make several loops of yar ad tie it i the middle. Cut both eds of the looped yar. You ca also create a tail by makig several larger loops of yar, tyig it i the middle, ad cuttig both eds. Pich a corer of the bag ad hole puch it where you wat to attach the mae ad tail, ad the tie the yar to the bags. 6. Optioal: Cut a small paper bag ito eight strips ad have kids cut out the Dokey Hooves hadout. Help kids tape the hooves to the bottom of four strips from the paper bag, ad the tape these to the bottom of the large paper bag to form legs with hooves. Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 9

92 92 Whe everyoe has fiished makig a dokey, gather kids i a circle. Say: As you kow, there were o cars i Bible times. Everyoe walked or rode a aimal. Before we hear from the Bible, let s get used to ridig our dokeys. Have kids ride their dokeys aroud the room twice. The have kids form four groups, ad umber the groups from oe to four. Give each group a Bible. Say: We ll be ridig our dokeys as we hear about Balaam ad his dokey. Balaam was tryig to igore what God wated him to do, but God had a way of makig sure he got Balaam s attetio. We ca PAY ATTENTION TO GOD all the time. At the time that Balaam lived, the Israelites God s special people were waderig aroud i the desert. Show kids the Balaam s Visitors cards. Explai that with each card, kids will read aloud what s writte i bold type ad the follow the istructios. Have kids take turs pickig a card, makig sure to go i sequece. Let the child who picks the card read it ad lead everyoe i followig the directios. Afterward, read aloud Numbers 22: Say: The Bible does t tell us exactly why God was mad at Balaam, but may Bible scholars believe it was because God kew somethig about Balaam s heart that the Bible does t tell us. Later i the Bible, the Apostle Peter wrote that Balaam loved the wages of wickedess. Whe you hear me metio Balaam, act out what Balaam does. I ll lead you i the actios. Are you ready? Let s go. Have kids form a lie. Stad at the frot of the lie, carryig your Bible with you, ad lead kids aroud the room as they ride their dokeys. The abruptly stop, lettig kids bump ito you. Face the kids, ad read aloud Numbers 22:23. Ecourage kids to preted that their dokeys are turig off the road ad they re tryig to get their dokeys back o the road. Lead kids aroud the room agai. Stop abruptly, ad read aloud Numbers 22: Ecourage kids to preted that their dokeys are pressig agaist a wall ad hurtig the kids feet. Have kids preted they re tryig to get their dokeys movig. The lead kids aroud the room agai. Stop abruptly, ad read aloud Numbers 22: Ecourage kids to preted that their dokeys are lyig dow i the road. Have kids preted they re tryig to get their dokeys goig. Have kids ride ito a circle, dismout, ad sit dow. Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. Lesso 9 Grades 3 & 4

93 93 What do you thik of a aimal seeig the agel whe a huma could t? Tell about a time you did t do somethig you were supposed to do because you were t payig attetio. What kids of thigs distract you from doig what s right ad listeig to God? How ca you pay attetio to God better tha Balaam did? Say: A dokey seeig a agel i the road is pretty amazig. But wait this is t over yet! Balaam was really ot payig attetio, so God did somethig Balaam could t igore. We ca lear from Balaam s mistake ad make sure we PAY ATTENTION TO GOD all the time. We ca read God s Word, liste to people who are wiser tha we are, ad do what we kow is right. Let s fid out how God fially got Balaam s attetio. Say What? What You ll Do Say: After Balaam s dokey had see the agel three times, a eve more amazig thig happeed. Liste with your dokey. Play Balaam s Dokey (track 17 o the CD). Say: You re goig to hear about some pretty amazig thigs that happeed. This dokey did some rather huma thigs. Whe you hear about the dokey doig somethig huma, treat the dokey you made earlier like a perso. Whe the dokey is doig regular dokey thigs, treat your dokey like a dokey. For example, kids might offer their dokeys food at a trough whe the dokey is t speakig, but they might sit their dokey up to eat at a table whe the dokey is talkig. Allow kids to be creative ad give ideas that they thik work best. Say What? Supplies CD player dokeys from Dokey Tales activity Teacher Pack CD: Balaam s Dokey (track 17) Talk With Kids Whe the track has eded, have kids fid parters ad aswer the followig questios. After each questio, ask pairs to share their isights with the rest of the group. Lead kids i this discussio. I what ways is it surprisig that God used a dokey to talk to Balaam? What s oe thig you ca do to help yourself pay attetio whe you re feelig distracted? Why does it matter whether we pay attetio to God or ot? Say: Balaam must ve felt pretty importat to have the kig of Moab beggig him to come ad messegers kockig o his door all the time. But God was t impressed. God used a lowly dokey to cause Balaam to PAY ATTENTION TO GOD. God wet to amazig measures to protect the Israelites ad to get Balaam to obey. God doig amazig thigs to help people is what today s Key Verse is all about. Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 9

94 94 3 WEAVING FAITH INTO LIFE Come ad See! Supplies Bibles Bible Truth Sleuth pes Come ad See! What You ll Do Give each pair a Bible, ad have parters read the Key Verse, Psalm 66:5. Lead kids i repeatig the Key Verse aloud several times: Come ad see what God has doe, how awesome his works i ma s behalf! (Psalm 66:5). Say: Whe you do somethig i someoe s behalf, that meas you do somethig for that perso you help that perso do somethig he or she may ot have bee able to do aloe. Ask kids to aswer this questio i their pairs: Whe has someoe doe somethig i your behalf? Distribute pes. Have kids tur to the Come ad See What God Has Doe! activity o the Bible Truth Sleuth page. Say: I the left-had sectio, list amazig thigs that God has doe o ma s behalf ad write dow oe way you ca pay attetio to each of those thigs. Whe kids have fiished writig, tell parters to discuss their aswers with each other. The ivite willig kids to read their aswers to the rest of the group. Say: Now i the right-had sectio, write about the most amazig thigs you ve see God do i your life or o your behalf ad write dow how you paid attetio to God whe each of those thigs happeed. Whe kids have fiished writig, let parters discuss what they ve writte, first with each other ad the with the rest of the group. Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. Why is it importat to pay attetio to the amazig thigs God has doe? Is it easy or difficult for you to be truly amazed by God? Explai. How ca you show God you re payig attetio to him? Say: It s helpful for us to pay attetio to the amazig thigs God s doe for us, ad it s also good to share what God s doe with other people. Our stories ca ecourage other people ad help them PAY ATTENTION TO GOD. God used a amazig thig to help get Balaam s attetio, ad he ca do the same for us. Lesso 9 Grades 3 & 4

95 95 4 LASTING IMPRESSIONS Daily Challeges What You ll Do Say: Cosider this week how you ca PAY ATTENTION TO GOD. Daily Challeges Supplies Bible Truth Sleuth Have kids fid this week s Daily Challeges o their Bible Truth Sleuth pages ad choose oe to do this week. They ca choose oe or more of these three optios: Take a walk, ad ask God to help you pay attetio to him. Notice all the thigs aroud you that help you pay attetio to God. Draw a picture of somethig amazig God has doe for you or for someoe you kow. Hag up the picture as a remider to pay attetio to see what other amazig thigs God will do for you. Make your favorite sack with your mom or dad. Do t eat the sack right away. Every time you thik about the sack, say a prayer to God. Remember that God wats you to pay attetio to him. Make sure you choose a Daily Challege as well, ad tell the kids what you chose. Kids will be more iclied to follow through o their commitmets whe they see you doig the same. Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. What s a practical way you re goig to do your Daily Challege? Iclude a time, a place, ad other ideas. Say: God did somethig extraordiary to get Balaam s attetio. We ca PAY ATTENTION TO GOD as we follow through o our Daily Challeges. Weavig Faith at Home Ecourage kids to talk with their parets about the Daily Challeges they chose ad what they leared about payig attetio to God. Kids ca also do the activities i the HomeCoect sectio of their Bible Truth Sleuth pages with their families. Talk to your Director about ig the FREE FamilyCoect to all your church s families. Available at group.com/digital. Have kids pray i groups of four. Throughout the prayer time, clap your hads radomly to get kids attetio. Remid them to pay attetio to God at least as much as they re payig attetio to you whe you clap. Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 9

96 96 Dokey Hooves! OK TO COPY Lesso 9 Grades 3 & 4

97 Lesso Joshua Becomes Leader of Israel Joshua 1:1-11 Third- ad fourth-graders are more cofidet tha whe they were youger, but they still really like to do thigs with others ad still appreciate the help of older kids ad adults whe they do ew tasks. Kids this age are very kee o social iteractio ad would prefer to do most thigs with someoe else. With a growig ad chagig list of tasks at home ad school, they may feel scared at the thought of doig some thigs aloe ad bored by the thought of doig other such tasks by themselves. Use this lesso about Joshua to help kids realize that God will always be with them o matter what s goig o. LESSON WHAT CHILDREN DO SUPPLIES EASY PREP 1 Gettig Started 2 Bible Exploratio Who s Next? (about 10 mi.) Play a balacig game to see what it s like to have help. Shields of Stregth (about 25 mi.) Make shields as they read Joshua 1:1-11. There He Is (about 15 mi.) Quietly poder what it meas to have God with them. CD player, books, maskig tape Teacher Pack: CD Bibles, costructio paper, scissors (several pairs), maskig tape, markers, paper grocery bags Bible Truth Sleuth, pecils Place two 3-foot maskig tape lies o the floor about 2 feet apart. Tear out the Lesso 10 pages from each Bible Truth Sleuth studet book. Bible Poit God is with us. Key Verse Have I ot commaded you? Be strog ad courageous. Do ot be terrified; do ot be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go (Joshua 1:9). Weavig Faith Ito Life Kids will live their lives kowig God is with them. Bold text withi the lesso is spoke text. Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 10

98 98 LESSON WHAT CHILDREN DO SUPPLIES EASY PREP 3 Weavig Faith Ito Life Be Strog Sog (about 10 mi.) Lear a sog about the Key Verse. Bibles, CD player, copies of the lyrics page (at the ed of this lesso) Teacher Pack: CD 4 Lastig Impressios Daily Challeges (about 5 mi.) Choose a Daily Challege to apply God s Word. Weavig Faith at Home (about 2 mi.) Talk about how to share what they leared with their families. Bible Truth Sleuth Bold text withi the lesso is spoke text. Lesso 10 Grades 3 & 4

99 99 Joshua Becomes Leader of Israel Joshua 1:1-11 BIBLe BACKGROUND FOR LEADERS God With You As we begi this passage, Moses had died ad Joshua had take over the leadership of the Israelites, as had bee arraged i advace (Deuteroomy 31:1-8). Joshua 1:5 tells us that God was goig to be with Joshua i the same way he had bee with Moses. God at Work Through You The questio may arise: Why was it okay for the Israelites to kill other people ad take away their lad? This is a complicated questio. However, oe poit seems apparet: God was usig Israel to judge the immoral people who lived i the lad at the time. Just as Israel was later defeated ad their lad take away because of si, so God was usig Israel as a istrumet of puishmet, takig away the lad of the Caaaites because of their si. Joshua s orderig the leaders to get the people ready to cross the Jorda. The Israelites were ready to move ito the Promised Lad, ad God was goig to give them the lad. The Jesus Coectio Our plas ad God s plas do t always match. We wat to be happy ow; God wats to give us greater joy as we surreder our lives to his service. Whe we commit our lives to Christ, he uses us to accomplish his missio. God promises the same thig to us that he promised to Joshua: He ll be with us all the time. O the lies below, write a prayer about oe area of your life i which you eed to kow God is with you. God s Pla for You I this passage God gave Joshua a commad of ecouragemet ( Be strog ad courageous ), a coditio for success ( obey all the law my servat Moses gave you ), ad a promise of his presece ( the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go ). God had a pla for Israel, ad Joshua was the istrumet through which he was goig to accomplish that pla. God Goes Before You What more could Joshua ask for? All he had to do was follow what God laid out for him, ad God would be there to assure his success. However usure or discouraged Joshua might have bee at the death of Moses, this visit from God rejuveated him. The first thig recorded after God s message to him is Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 10

100 100 GETTING STARTED Who s Next? Supplies CD player books maskig tape Teacher Pack CD: Wherever You Go (Joshua 1:9) (track 18) Who s Next? Easy Prep Place two 3-foot maskig tape lies o the floor about 2 feet apart. Who s Next? What You ll Do Play Wherever You Go (Joshua 1:9) (track 18 o the CD) softly i the backgroud as kids arrive. Welcome kids warmly, ad ask them how their week wet. Have the kids form two rows facig each other to create a path that crosses the maskig-tape river you made beforehad. Say: Today we ll start with a fu game called Who s Next? The object of the game is to walk dow the path betwee the two lies of people while balacig these books o your head. Show kids several books. Explai that the space betwee the two tape lies will represet the river. The oly catch is that you ll have to step over the river as you walk to the other ed of the lie. Oh, ad oe other thig you ca t touch the books with your hads. If the books fall off, your tur is over. Who wats to go first? Choose a willig child to begi, ad help the child balace the books o his or her head. The have the child walk dow the path betwee the two rows of kids, tryig to keep the books balaced. Istruct the child to step over the river without lettig the books fall. After the books have toppled or the child has reached the ed of the path, say: Who s ext? Cotiue util each child has had a tur. The have each lie sit i a circle. Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. What was it like to try to keep the books balaced? What were you thikig as you waited for your tur? What might ve helped you be more cofidet as you tried this task? What s the differece betwee how hard you had to work to keep the books with you compared with what it s like to keep God with you? Say: Keepig the books balaced o your head was a difficult job, was t it? But keepig God with us i all thigs is o work for us because he wats to be there all the time. I today s Bible passage, we ll meet someoe who was ext i lie to accomplish a very big, very importat pla. He might have felt kid of scared about whether he could accomplish the pla, but God was with him just as GOD IS WITH US. Lesso 10 Grades 3 & 4

101 101 2 BIBLE EXPLORATION Shields of Stregth What You ll Do Have kids form groups of four, ad give each group a Bible. Say: A shield is cosidered a sig of stregth. We re goig to make shields to remid us of our Key Verse ad also the Bible passage. We ll read the Bible passage i four parts, oe for each perso i your group. After each readig, we ll discuss the passage. The you ca create a picture o your shield about that part of the passage. Shields of Stregth Supplies Bibles costructio paper scissors (several pairs) maskig tape markers paper grocery bags Give each group a sheet of costructio paper ad a pair of scissors. Set out the supplies, ad show kids how to cut their sheets of costructio paper to resemble shields. Have someoe i each group read aloud Joshua 1:1-2. Say: A log time before this took place, God promised the lad o the other side of the Jorda River to the Israelites. Now God was fulfillig his promise. But it was Joshua who would lead the Israelites to the Promised Lad ot Moses. Give kids a few miutes to create a picture showig God s promises o a sectio of their shields. The have aother child i each group read aloud Joshua 1:3-5. What does it mea to you to kow that God will ever leave you? Have aother child i each group read aloud Joshua 1:6-8. What does it mea to be strog ad courageous? Whe do you eed stregth ad courage? After discussig the questios, have kids draw aother picture o aother sectio of their shields of what they thik it meas to be strog ad courageous i God s eyes. Have someoe i each group read aloud Joshua 1:9-11. Have kids draw aother picture o their shields of a beautiful place to live to remid them of the Promised Lad. After they ve fiished their shields, show kids how to cut ad twist a strip of brow paper grocery bag to form a hadle ad tape the hadle to the back of the shield. The have groups set aside their shields. Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 10

102 102 Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. What about Joshua seems courageous to you? What do you do whe you get discouraged? How ca you rely o God to help you whe you re discouraged? Say: I life you ll face discouragig ad difficult times. But GOD IS WITH US all the time. God had big plas for Joshua. Ad he made it clear to Joshua that he did t eed to be afraid because God would be with him wherever he wet. Let s keep rememberig that God is always with us just as he was with Joshua so we ca be strog ad courageous. There He Is Supplies Bible Truth Sleuth pecils There He Is Easy Prep Tear out the Lesso 10 pages from each Bible Truth Sleuth studet book. There He Is What You ll Do Distribute this week s Bible Truth Sleuth pages, ad set out pecils. Say: Sit by yourself ad sped a miute thikig of somethig you have to face that is discouragig for you. This could be somethig you re curretly dealig with or somethig you have dealt with i the past. Allow oe miute. Have kids write oe to two seteces about the thig they thought of with oe letter per square ad blaks for spaces, ad let them kow they ll be sharig their seteces with someoe else. Allow a few miutes. After kids fiish their seteces, have them trade papers with someoe else. Say: Look at the seteces your fried gave you, ad thik of a symbol you could draw i the remaiig boxes at the bottom of the grid to demostrate that God is with them. The draw that o the grid, completely fillig i the empty boxes. Allow a few miutes. If kids eed ideas, suggest thigs like a cross or a dove. Whe kids are doe, have them get together with the perso they swapped pages with. Say: Take a few miutes to talk with your parter about the discouragig thig you wrote about, ad the discuss ways that God could be with each of you i your situatios. Allow a few miutes. Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. Explai aythig that surprised you about some of the ways that you ca kow God is with you i your difficult situatio. What s oe way you ca kow God is with you whe thigs are scary or difficult? I what way ca you ecourage others ad help them remember that God is with them too? Lesso 10 Grades 3 & 4

103 103 Say: Joshua was give a very importat ew job, ad God told him he could be cofidet ad courageous because God was goig to be with him. We ca remember that GOD IS WITH US, too. There s o job that s too big for us whe we kow GOD IS WITH US ad is helpig us. 3 WEAVING FAITH INTO LIFE Be Strog Sog What You ll Do Make sure each child has a Bible, ad have them tur to today s Key Verse, Joshua 1:9. Say: Today s Key Verse comes straight from the Bible passage. Ope your Bible to Joshua 1:9. Liste while I read the Key Verse: Have I ot commaded you? Be strog ad courageous. Do ot be terrified; do ot be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go (Joshua 1:9). Have kids read the Key Verse aloud with you a few times. Be Strog Sog Supplies Bibles CD player copies of the lyrics page (at the ed of this lesso) Teacher Pack CD: Wherever You Go (Joshua 1:9) (track 18) Distribute copies of the lyrics page, ad play Wherever You Go (Joshua 1:9) (track 18 o the CD). Lead kids i sigig alog with the CD. Have kids fid a parter ad sig together as they walk aroud the room facig obstacles (such as chairs ad tables these do t have to be set up ahead of time). Have them alterate i helpig oe aother aroud the obstacles. Have I ot commaded you? Be strog ad courageous. Do ot be terrified; Do ot be discouraged, For the Lord your God will be with you Wherever you go. Wherever you go. (Repeat twice.) Wherever you go. Wherever you go. Wherever you go. Wherever You Go (Joshua 1:9) by Jay Stocker. 2006, 2008 Group Publishig, Ic. All rights reserved. Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 10

104 104 Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. How did havig your parter with you help you as you avoided obstacles? How is that like or ulike God beig with you wherever you go? Which of the words of this sog do you thik you ll remember best? Why? How will you be courageous i the situatios i your life this week? Say: God wats us to be courageous. We ca do that because we ever face ay situatio aloe. GOD IS WITH US everywhere ad all the time. Nothig is bigger or more powerful tha God, ad we ca trust him to take care of us just as he helped Joshua. Remember the words of this sog this week whe you re facig a challege. 4 LASTING IMPRESSIONS Daily Challeges Supplies Bible Truth Sleuth Daily Challeges What You ll Do Say: Cosider this week how you ca remember that GOD IS WITH US. Have kids fid this week s Daily Challeges o their Bible Truth Sleuth pages ad choose oe to do this week. They ca choose oe or more of these three optios: Write God is with me o a sticky ote. Stick it to the iside of your backpack ad take it to school with you. Whe you see it throughout the day, remember that God is always with you. Make a sig that says God is with me, ad hag it o your bedroom door. Whe you see it, thak God for beig with you everywhere you go. Stad up for someoe who s beig treated ufairly. Thak God for beig with you as you did somethig that was strog ad courageous. Make sure you choose a Daily Challege as well, ad tell the kids what you chose. Kids will be more iclied to follow through o their commitmets whe they see you doig the same. Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. What s a practical way you re goig to do your Daily Challege? Iclude a time, a place, ad other ideas. Lesso 10 Grades 3 & 4

105 105 Say: Just as God promised to be with Joshua, GOD IS WITH US, too. Let s remember that as we do our Daily Challeges this week. Weavig Faith at Home Ecourage kids to talk with their parets about the Daily Challeges they chose ad what they leared about how God is with us. Kids ca also do the activities i the HomeCoect sectio of their Bible Truth Sleuth pages with their families. Talk to your Director about ig the FREE FamilyCoect to all your church s families. Available at group.com/digital. Ecourage kids to form two circles, oe for boys ad oe for girls. Have them stad i a circle with their arms aroud oe aother s shoulders. Say: GOD IS WITH US always. We ca remid each other of that by stadig close ad prayig together. Ecourage kids to quickly pray about ways they eed God with them, ad the close the prayer. Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 10

106 106 Lyrics Wherever You Go (Joshua 1:9) Have I ot commaded you? Be strog ad courageous. Do ot be terrified; Do ot be discouraged, For the Lord your God will be with you Wherever you go. Wherever you go. (Repeat twice.) Wherever you go. Wherever you go. Wherever you go. Wherever You Go (Joshua 1:9) by Jay Stocker. 2006, 2008 Group Publishig, Ic. All rights reserved.! OK TO COPY Lesso 10 Grades 3 & 4

107 Lesso Joshua Seds Spies to Jericho Joshua 2:1-24 Third- ad fourth-graders are begiig to be able to relate what happes i the Bible to what happes i their ow lives. Faith is still a pretty abstract cocept for kids this age. They ca relate to some of the more obvious examples of faith, such as those used i this lesso. Use Rahab s faith to ecourage your kids ad to teach them that God ca make big thigs happe i our lives whe we supply a little faith. LESSON WHAT CHILDREN DO SUPPLIES EASY PREP Bible Poit We ca have faith that God will do big thigs i our lives. 1 Gettig Started Circle of Faith (about 10 mi.) Decide whether to jump iside a tape circle, ad talk about faith. maskig tape Make a 3-foot-wide circle o the floor with maskig tape. Key Verse Ad without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). 2 Bible Exploratio The Jericho Spies (about 25 mi.) Seak ito Jericho, hide at Rahab s house, ad the report back to Joshua. Bible, CD player, paper, scissors (several pairs), copies of the Rahab s Faith Script hadout (at the ed of this lesso) Teacher Pack: CD Set up a table i the ceter of your room to represet the walls of Jericho. Weavig Faith Ito Life Kids will act o their faith that God will do big thigs i their lives. Bold text withi the lesso is spoke text. Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 11

108 108 LESSON WHAT CHILDREN DO SUPPLIES EASY PREP 3 Weavig Faith Ito Life Pleasig God (about 15 mi.) Lear the Key Verse ad how it coects to their lives. Faith Fiders (about 10 mi.) Make scarlet cord bookmarks to use i their Bibles. Bibles, Bible Truth Sleuth, pes Bibles, Bible Truth Sleuth, 6-ich legth of red ribbo per child, scissors (several pairs), glue sticks, clear mailig tape Tear out the Lesso 11 pages from each Bible Truth Sleuth studet book. 4 Lastig Impressios Daily Challeges (about 5 mi.) Choose a Daily Challege to apply God s Word. Weavig Faith at Home (about 2 mi.) Talk about how to share what they leared with their families. Bible Truth Sleuth Bold text withi the lesso is spoke text. Lesso 11 Grades 3 & 4

109 109 Joshua Seds Spies to Jericho Joshua 2:1-24 BIBLe BACKGROUND FOR LEADERS A Differet Method The Jesus Coectio As Joshua prepared to sed spies ito the Promised Lad, o doubt he remembered the fiasco of 40 years earlier whe Moses set a large group of spies ito the lad. This time Joshua set oly two ad gave them a very specific missio: Ivestigate Jericho. He set them secretly, ot watig the Caaaites to kow what they were doig ad probably also to protect the Israelites from the distressful result of the first spy missio. Rahab s faith laded her amog Jesus acestors. Whe we veture forth with a small act of faith, God respods ad shows us his much larger faithfuless. I what areas of your life would you like to show more faithfuless to God? What are some ways you ve see God s faithfuless to you? You ca write your prayer askig God to use you to do big thigs. There s othig too big for the God of the uiverse who wats to lead ad guide your life. Good Gossip It may seem suspicious that the place the spies wet was to the home of a prostitute. However, it s likely that this was a place where gossip would aboud. I additio, the word most ofte traslated prostitute ca just as accurately be traslated ikeeper. Either way, it was a place where the spies were able to hear ad gauge how the people of Jericho felt about the Israelites who were camped just across the Jorda River. A Woma of Faith Rahab, though she lied about hidig the spies i her house, had apparetly become a believer i God through what she had heard about the Israelites experieces ad coquests. She hid the me at great persoal risk. She was commeded for her strog faith i the New Testamet i Hebrews 11:31. Note that God did ot commed her for lyig but for actig i faith ad hidig the spies. God blessed her for that faith. The ed of this evet lies beyod the scope of today s passage. Durig the victory over Jericho, Rahab ad her family were ideed spared from death (Joshua 6:17). Moreover, the New Testamet attests to her faithfuless ad icludes her i the lie of Kig David ad of Jesus (Matthew 1:5)! Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 11

110 110 GETTING STARTED Circle of Faith Supplies maskig tape Circle of Faith Easy Prep Circle of Faith What You ll Do Welcome kids warmly as they arrive, ad ask them how their week wet. Have kids stad aroud the outside of the circle you created beforehad. Make a 3-foot-wide circle o the floor with maskig tape. If I ask you to jump iside this circle, do you thik the floor will hold you up? Why or why ot? What if I tell you that, istead of the floor, there s really oly a big hole iside this circle? Do you still have faith that the floor will hold you up? Say: The Bible tells us i Hebrews 11:1 that faith is beig sure of what we hope for ad certai of what we do ot see. If you jump ito this circle, you hope that the floor will hold you. Ad eve though you ca t see the support beeath the floor, you seem certai that the floor is strog eough to hold you. I d have to say that you have faith that the floor will hold you. Are you ready to try? Cout to three, ad have kids jump iside the circle. Say: You were right! Your faith was rewarded by ot fallig i a hole but by havig the floor hold you. Now let s test our faith that there will be plety of air to breathe. Take a really deep breath ad the hold it util I tell you to breathe. After kids hold their breath for about 15 secods, say: Okay, everybody, breathe! Eve though you could t see the air, you kew it was there. Fillig your lugs whe you fially took a breath rewarded your faith that the air was there. Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. How did you kow there would be air for you to breathe? How does that help you uderstad faith i God? What s easy or difficult for you about havig faith i God? Say: Today i the Bible, we ll meet a woma who had faith i God. She leared that WE CAN HAVE FAITH THAT GOD WILL DO BIG THINGS IN OUR LIVES. Just like we kow that the wid is there eve though we ca t see it, we ca have faith that God is at work i our lives. We ca do big thigs for him because he s the oe i charge. Lesso 11 Grades 3 & 4

111 111 2 BIBLE EXPLORATION The Jericho Spies What You ll Do Distribute paper ad scissors. Ask kids to cut the paper ito strips, about strips per child. Say: These will be stalks of flax. Have kids gather i oe corer of the room as your startig poit. The opposite corer will be Rahab s roof. Leave the stalks of flax at the Rahab s roof locatio. Say: God told Joshua to lead his people ito the lad God had promised to them. Ad that lad icluded the city of Jericho. Today s Bible passage comes from the secod chapter of the book of Joshua. Ope your Bible to Joshua 2:1-24, ad show kids the passage. Say: Joshua wated to see exactly what he was up agaist before he ivaded Jericho, so he secretly set two spies there to check thigs out. We re goig to preted that we re those two spies. Begi whisperig. We ll have to be very quiet because if the soldiers i Jericho catch us, they ll throw us i priso or worse! Follow me, but be very, very quiet! Crawl across the room, leadig the kids toward the table. Gather kids, still crawlig, i frot of the table. The Jericho Spies Supplies Bible CD player paper scissors (several pairs) copies of the Rahab s Faith Script hadout (at the ed of this lesso) Teacher Pack CD: Rahab s Faith (track 19) The Jericho Spies Easy Prep Set up a table i the ceter of your room to represet the walls of Jericho. Cotiue whisperig. Okay, here we are, right at the wall surroudig Jericho. This is a dagerous missio. If ay of you wat to tur back, ow s your chace. Otherwise, stay right behid me ad be quiet! Crawl uder the legth of the table toward the opposite corer of the room. Oce everyoe is out from uder the table, gather kids. Whisper: Okay, we re iside the city! Where do you thik we should go to get the best iformatio without beig caught? Let kids offer a few ideas. Whisper: I see what looks like a hotel or a house over there, built right ito these heavy walls. Maybe if we...shh! Get dow I hear soldiers! Quickly lie o the floor, pretedig to wait as soldiers pass by. The keel agai. Whisper: Whew! That was close! Now what was I...oh, yeah. Let s see if we ca get over to that house. Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 11

112 112 Lead kids i crawlig to the corer represetig Rahab s roof. Whisper: It looks as if a woma ows this place. Uh-oh. She spotted us. Let me do the talkig, okay? Just follow me, ad do everythig I do, okay? Distribute copies of the Rahab s Faith Script hadout, ad play Rahab s Faith (track 19 o the CD). Lead kids i followig the actios o the hadout as if you were really iteractig with Rahab. Whe the track eds, gather kids i a circle. Say: That was quite a adveture! The Bible tells us that the spies retured to the Israelites ad reported their fidigs to Joshua. Let s preted we re reportig our fidigs, too. Talk With Kids Have kids fid a parter to aswer these ext few questios. How could you tell that Rahab had faith i God? Tell a few ways that Rahab had to have faith based o the adveture you just heard about. What did Rahab s adveture show you about faith? Whe has your faith i God helped you? Say: The Bible tells us that the spies wet back to Joshua ad told him that the people of Jericho were terrified of the Israelites. The Bible also tells us that Rahab did put the scarlet cord i her widow. Ad it was that act of faith that saved her life ad the lives of her family members whe the Israelites ivaded the city. WE CAN HAVE FAITH THAT GOD WILL DO BIG THINGS IN OUR LIVES. 3 WEAVING FAITH INTO LIFE Pleasig God Supplies Bibles Bible Truth Sleuth pes Pleasig God Easy Prep Tear out the Lesso 11 pages from each Bible Truth Sleuth studet book. Pleasig God What You ll Do Make sure each child has a Bible. Say: Our Key Verse today is Hebrews 11:6. Have kids fid the verse i their Bibles, ad ask a willig child to read the verse aloud: Ad without faith it is impossible to please God. Say: Fid a parter, ad discuss what you thik this verse meas. Give kids a miute or two to talk, ad the ask willig kids to share their isights with the rest of the group. Lesso 11 Grades 3 & 4

113 113 Distribute pes ad this week s Bible Truth Sleuth pages. Have kids tur to the Key Verse Coectio activity, ad ask kids to write their aswers to the questios i the spaces provided. Whe kids have fiished writig, have pairs read their aswers to each other. Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. What s oe way this verse ca help you have faith each day? What big thig do you hope God will use you to do? Say: Whe we have faith, our faith pleases God. Whe we trust that God exists, ad whe we really wat to do what he says, he s pleased. WE CAN HAVE FAITH THAT GOD WILL DO BIG THINGS IN OUR LIVES as he did through Rahab. Faith Fiders What You ll Do Set out the legths of red ribbo for kids to attach to bookmarks to represet the scarlet cord Rahab placed i her widow. Have kids fid the Faith Fider activity o today s Bible Truth Sleuth page. Say: You ll be makig bookmarks to remid you of today s Bible adveture. Distribute scissors, ad have kids cut out the bookmarks from the bottom of their studet pages. Set out the mailig tape ad glue sticks. Give each child a legth of red ribbo, ad have kids glue their ribbos to the bookmark legthwise. The have kids use mailig tape to lamiate their bookmarks. Faith Fiders Supplies Bibles Bible Truth Sleuth 6-ich legth of red ribbo per child scissors (several pairs) glue sticks clear mailig tape If kids have their ow Bibles, have them tur to Hebrews 11:6 ad isert their ew bookmarks at that page. Poit out how the scarlet cord hags out of the Bible, just as Rahab s scarlet cord hug from her widow. Say: Toight before you go to bed, ope your Bible to the page where your bookmark is, ad read today s Key Verse to yourself. Remember that havig faith pleases God. I your prayers, ask God to help you grow i faith. The every day this week, use your bookmark to mark a differet Bible verse that helps you have faith. A good place to start is with The WORD for the Week verses, which are o the back of your bookmark. Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 11

114 114 Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. Tell about a time you eeded faith. Tell about a perso you kow who has very strog faith. How have you oticed that perso s faith? I what ways ca you have faith i a situatio you re facig? Say: No struggle is too difficult for God to hadle. You ca face ay challege whe you have faith i God because he s always by your side. WE CAN HAVE FAITH THAT GOD WILL DO BIG THINGS IN OUR LIVES. Just like Rahab, we do t eed to be afraid because God will help us accomplish his will oe step at a time. 4 LASTING IMPRESSIONS Daily Challeges Supplies Bible Truth Sleuth Daily Challeges What You ll Do Say: Cosider this week how WE CAN HAVE FAITH THAT GOD WILL DO BIG THINGS IN OUR LIVES. Have kids fid this week s Daily Challeges o their Bible Truth Sleuth pages ad choose oe to do this week. They ca choose oe or more of these three optios: Talk with your mom or dad about thigs she or he hoped for you whe you were a baby. Tell your paret the thigs you hope God will do with your life ad how you have faith for those thigs. Write a letter to God about ay doubts you have i your faith, ad ask God to help you overcome them. Write dow ay questios you have about God, ad the talk to a Christia adult about them. Make sure you choose a Daily Challege as well, ad tell the kids what you chose. Kids will be more iclied to follow through o their commitmets whe they see you doig the same. Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. What s a practical way you re goig to do your Daily Challege? Iclude a time, a place, ad other ideas. Lesso 11 Grades 3 & 4

115 115 Say: Rahab s faith meat that God used her to do somethig amazig. WE CAN HAVE FAITH THAT GOD WILL DO BIG THINGS IN OUR LIVES as we follow through o our Daily Challeges. Weavig Faith at Home Ecourage kids to talk with their parets about the Daily Challeges they chose ad what they leared about faith. Kids ca also do the activities i the HomeCoect sectio of their Bible Truth Sleuth pages with their families. Talk to your Director about ig the FREE FamilyCoect to all your church s families. Available at group.com/digital. Have kids form pairs ad talk about ways they hope their faith i God ca grow, ad the have them pray for oe aother. Close by prayig: Dear God, thak you for beig worthy of our faith. Thak you for takig care of us, just as you did Rahab. Help us have more ad more faith so we ca please you. I Jesus ame, ame. Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 11

116 116 Rahab s Faith Script Rahab: Greetigs. I ca see from your dress that you are foreigers here. May I help you? (Shrug shoulders, duck head, ad shake head o.) Ca it be? Why, you are Israelites! If you re caught here, you ll be killed! (Look scared.) Ad I hear those soldiers returig. Hurry! Follow me! I ll hide you o my roof. Climb this way! Hurry! (Make climbig motios with your hads.) Here! Hide here o my roof. (Motio for kids to lie dow o the floor.) Lie dow here, ad do t move! I ll cover you with the stalks of flax I was dryig up here. (Cover kids with the paper stalks they ve prepared, ad tur out your room lights.) Now lie still, ad do t make a move. I ll see if I ca get rid of the soldiers. Soldiers: Rahab! Rahab! Get over here! Liste! We kow that some of the Israelites have come here toight to spy out the lad. So the kig of Jericho has set you this message: Brig out the me who came to you ad etered your house, because they have come to spy out the whole lad. Rahab: Yes, the me came to me, but I did ot kow where they had come from. At dusk, whe it was time to close the gate, the me left. I do t kow which way they wet. Go after them quickly. You may catch up with them. Soldiers: C mo, let s go! Quickly! Out through the gate before it is shut! We ll check the road! Rahab: You ca come out ow they ve goe. (Remove the paper stalks, ad let the kids sit up. Preted to pick straw from your hair ad face.) I kow that the Lord has give this lad to you, ad I also kow that all the people of Jericho are afraid of you. We ve heard of the amazig thigs the Lord has doe for the Israelites, ad our hearts are meltig with fear. Now the, please promise me that you will show kidess to my family whe you take over the city. I have show kidess to you, so please show kidess to me. Give me a sig, so I kow you wo t hurt my family. Spies: So be it! If you do t tell what we re doig, we will treat you kidly whe the Lord gives us the lad. Rahab: Good. Now quickly, you must go! I ll use this rope to let you dow from my widow so you ca ru to the hills ad hide. Spies: (Preted to climb out of a widow ad dow a rope.) Oe fial thig, Rahab. Whe we eter the lad, you must take this scarlet cord ad hag it out of your widow. Make sure that everyoe i your family is i the house, ad that you have the scarlet cord showig from the widow. That way we ll kow to spare you ad your family i this house. Rahab: It is agreed. Now go! (Lead kids i a crouchig ru to the side of the room where you started. Tur o the lights.)! OK TO COPY Lesso 11 Grades 3 & 4

117 Lesso The Israelites Cross the Jorda River Joshua 3:1 4:24 Third- ad fourth-graders wat to feel idepedet, ad they are begiig to uderstad how God ca be part of eve the thigs they do idepedetly. Kids this age eed to feel autoomous but also cared for ad protected. They re also i the midst of learig to coect thakfuless to the thigs others do for them. Use this lesso to help kids lear to remember ad thak God for the thigs he s doe for them. LESSON WHAT CHILDREN DO SUPPLIES EASY PREP 1 Gettig Started 2 Bible Exploratio Remember Whe? (about 10 mi.) Tell about importat dates ad evets i their ow lives. Lights, Camera, Actio! (about 30 mi.) Create a movie about the Israelites crossig the Jorda River. Bibles, scissors (several pairs), paper, pecils, set of car keys, water bottles with water, blue ad brow costructio paper, markers, tape, paper grocery bags, plastic bags Teacher Pack: Ito the Promised Lad poster, FaithWeaver NOW box Cut apart the pieces of the Ito the Promised Lad poster. Bible Poit Remember what God has doe. Key Verse Give thaks to the Lord, call o his ame; make kow amog the atios what he has doe (1 Chroicles 16:8). Weavig Faith Ito Life Kids will remember ad thak God for the thigs he s doe for them. Bold text withi the lesso is spoke text. Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 12

118 118 LESSON WHAT CHILDREN DO SUPPLIES EASY PREP 3 Weavig Faith Ito Life Say It With a Sog (about 10 mi.) Lear the Key Verse sog, ad write a prayer of thaks to God. Picture This! (about 10 mi.) Pose ad preted to take pictures of thigs God has doe. Bibles, Bible Truth Sleuth, CD player, pes, copies of the lyrics page (at the ed of this lesso) Teacher Pack: CD Tear out the Lesso 12 pages from each Bible Truth Sleuth studet book. 4 Daily Challeges (about 5 mi.) Choose a Daily Challege to apply God s Word. Bible Truth Sleuth Lastig Impressios Weavig Faith at Home (about 2 mi.) Talk about how to share what they leared with their families. Bold text withi the lesso is spoke text. Lesso 12 Grades 3 & 4

119 119 The Israelites Cross the Jorda River Joshua 3:1 4:24 BIBLe BACKGROUND FOR LEADERS God Guides a Natio at the Jorda River Parts of this evet may seem like a reru of the Israelites crossig of the Red Sea 40 years earlier. Remember, however, that apart from Joshua ad Caleb, all of the people crossig the Jorda River were o older tha childre whe Israel crossed the Red Sea. This totally ew experiece must have remided them of the stories their parets had told them about the miracle of crossig the Red Sea. Notice that the Jorda River was ot just a tricklig stream it was at flood stage. I the area of Jericho, it would have bee 10 to 12 feet deep ad the curret quite strog. Israel Memorializes God s Miracle The Jesus Coectio As we grow i relatioship with Christ, we become more Christ-like. We ca testify that we have bee reewed ad delivered from our differet lives of the past. Reread Joshua 4:24. Note the public display of power that God left as a remider of his love ad power. I times of darkess, it s ofte helpful to rest i the truth of what we have experieced i the past. Ecouters with our Savior remid us that he is with us. Write a prayer of thaks for the ways God has bee preset i your life. Whe you talk to God this week, start by thakig him for these great thigs, ad add to the list as God cotiues to work i your life. You ca write your prayer i the lies below. The Israelites built a stoe memorial with the rocks take from the ceter of the Jorda River. The memorial would remid people of the woders God had doe for the Israelites as they etered the Promised Lad, ad the 12 stoes together would remid them of the 12 tribes joied together as oe atio. The last verse of today s passage, Joshua 4:24, tells us why God dried up the Jorda for the people to cross: so that all the peoples of the earth might kow that the had of the Lord is powerful ad so that you might always fear the Lord your God. God wated his people to fear him to give him the worship ad service he deserved. Rememberig what God had doe would give them ecouragemet ad faith whe they faced the difficulties of coquerig this ew lad. Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 12

120 120 GETTING STARTED Remember Whe? What You ll Do Welcome kids warmly as they arrive, ad ask them how their week wet. Say: Today s Bible passage is about a importat evet that happeed to the Israelites. But before we get to the Bible, let s talk about some importat evets that have happeed to us! Have kids form pairs. Explai that you ll call out a series of questios. After each questio, have parters tell each other their aswers. Whe each pair has fiished sharig after each questio, they ll jump up ad stad with their arms i the air. Whe all kids have aswered each questio, choose a child to share what his or her parter s aswer to the questio is. What s a importat date i your life? Why? Where did you go o your favorite vacatio? What s the best birthday party you ve ever had? Who was your favorite teacher? Why? What s the best Christmas preset you ve ever received? Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. Why do you remember certai evets from your past, but ot everythig? Whe somethig amazig happes i your life, what do you wat to do about it? Say: Like the evets we just spoke about, we remember evets that are importat to us evets that affect our lives i some way. Ad whe a importat evet happes, people ofte tell oe aother about it. Today s Bible passage is about a importat evet that happeed to the atio of Israel. It happeed a log time ago, but it s still importat to us today to REMEMBER WHAT GOD HAS DONE. Lesso 12 Grades 3 & 4

121 121 2 BIBLE EXPLORATION Lights, Camera, Actio! What You ll Do Say: Today s Bible passage comes from the third ad fourth chapters of the book of Joshua. Ope your Bible to Joshua 3:1 4:24, ad show kids the passage. Say: Today we re goig to fid out what God did whe it was fially time for the Israelites to eter the Promised Lad! But there was oe small problem. Betwee the Israelites ad the Promised Lad ra the Jorda River ad the Jorda River was at flood stage. Today we ll make a movie about the crossig of the Jorda River. Have kids form four groups, ad explai that each group will have a role i the movie productio. Assig each group oe of the followig roles: Set Desig Crew Actig Crew Soud Effects Crew Costume Crew Have each group go to a separate corer of the room to prepare for its role. Set out the supplies, ad give each group its piece of the poster. Have kids retrieve the supplies listed o their istructios. (The istructios ad pictures o the poster are there to guide crews. But do t be surprised if crews come up with their ow ideas for the movie. Activities that allow kids room for expressio ad creativity lead to learig that lasts!) Explai that kids will have about 20 miutes to follow the istructios o the poster for their part i the movie. As kids work, circulate aroud the room to offer help as eeded. Ecourage kids to refer ofte to both the Bible ad the poster istructios. Lights, Camera, Actio! Supplies Bibles scissors (several pairs) paper pecils set of car keys water bottles with water blue ad brow costructio paper markers tape paper grocery bags plastic bags Teacher Pack Ito the Promised Lad poster FaithWeaver NOW box Lights, Camera, Actio! Easy Prep Cut apart the pieces of the Ito the Promised Lad poster. After 20 miutes (or sooer if kids seem ready), have groups assemble to begi the movie. Help everyoe get i the right place for the movie to begi. Explai that you ll slowly read aloud the Bible passage while crews act out their parts. The Actig Crew ad Soud Effects Crew will be ivolved cotiuously. The Set Desig Crew will move the river whe the passage calls for it with the assistace of the Costume Crew. Whe everyoe is ready, slowly read aloud Joshua 3:14-17; Joshua 4:1-3; ad Joshua 4: Pause to allow kids to perform their roles. After the movie, lead everyoe i applause as each crew takes a bow. Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 12

122 122 Talk With Kids Have kids aswer the followig questios i their crews. What was so importat about Joshua ad the 12 tribes buildig a moumet after they crossed the river? Why is it importat that we remember what God has doe eve if it did t happe to us? Say: God made it clear that he wated people to remember what he d doe for the Israelites whe he helped them cross the Jorda River. Without his help, they would ever have bee able to get across that flooded river. Ad people do remember, because here we are readig about it thousads of years later! God is so awesome! We re makig sure to REMEMBER WHAT GOD HAS DONE. 3 WEAVING FAITH INTO LIFE Say It With a Sog Supplies Bibles Bible Truth Sleuth CD player pes copies of the lyrics page (at the ed of this lesso) Teacher Pack CD: Give Thaks (1 Chroicles 16:8) (track 3) Say It With a Sog Easy Prep Tear out the Lesso 12 pages from each Bible Truth Sleuth studet book. Say It With a Sog What You ll Do Make sure each child has a Bible. Say: Our Key Verse today is 1 Chroicles 16:8. Have kids fid the verse i their Bibles ad read the verse aloud with you: Give thaks to the Lord, call o his ame; make kow amog the atios what he has doe (1 Chroicles 16:8). Repeat the Key Verse with kids a few times. Say: God costatly does amazig thigs for his people. We REMEMBER WHAT GOD HAS DONE so we ca thak him ad tell others about him. Let s do that right ow with a Key Verse sog. Distribute copies of the lyrics, ad play Give Thaks (1 Chroicles 16:8) (track 3 o the CD). Lead kids i sigig alog with the CD. Give thaks to the Lord; Call o his ame. Make kow amog the atios what he has doe. Give thaks to the Lord; Call o his ame. Make kow amog the atios what he has doe. Sig to him! Sig praise to him. Tell of his woderful works. Lesso 12 Grades 3 & 4

123 123 Sig to him. Sig praise to him. (Repeat from the begiig.) Give thaks to the Lord; Call o his ame. Give thaks to the Lord; Call o his ame. Give thaks to the Lord! Give thaks to the Lord! Give thaks to the Lord! Give thaks to the Lord! Give Thaks (1 Chroicles 16:8) by Jay Stocker Group Publishig, Ic. All rights reserved. After the sog, gather kids i a circle. Distribute pes ad today s Bible Truth Sleuth pages. Have kids tur to the What God Has Doe activity. Say: Iside the stoe, write a prayer to God to thak him for what he s doe. Give kids a few miutes to write. Whe everyoe has fiished writig, ask kids to share what they ve writte with someoe sittig ear them. Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. What s a good way for you to remember the amazig thigs God has doe? How ca it help us to remember the amazig thigs God does? Explai how you might be able to ecourage someoe else by helpig him or her remember what God s doe. Say: We ca REMEMBER WHAT GOD HAS DONE i may ways. Whether we write dow the amazig thigs ad look at them agai later or if we keep tellig others about what God has doe, it s importat that we do t forget about those thigs. The Israelites remembered the great thigs God had doe for them whe they built a altar after crossig the Jorda River. Picture This! What You ll Do Have kids form pairs. Say: I your pairs, discuss some of the best thigs you ca remember that God has doe. It s okay if some kids are most comfortable metioig thigs they ve heard from Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 12

124 124 the Bible, ad it s fie if some kids tell about their ow experieces or thigs they ve heard from other people. Allow about two miutes for kids to share. Say: I your pairs, choose oe thig God has doe that you most wat to remember. Do a freeze-frame ad preted to have that momet photographed. Have kids switch whose idea they re makig a picture of after about a miute ad a half. Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. I what ways did it ecourage you to hear your parter s accouts of God s awesomeess? How does that ecourage you to share your God Sightigs with others? What ca you do to make sure you otice ad remember the great thigs God does for you each day? Say: God s doe amazig thigs for his people sice the begiig of the earth. Some of the best thigs are writte dow i the Bible, such as whe God helped the Israelites cross the Jorda River. We ca read our Bibles to fid ecouragemet ad remiders that God is doig amazig thigs. We ca also share our experieces with others ad liste to what God has doe i their lives, too. I every way, it s importat for us to REMEMBER WHAT GOD HAS DONE. 4 LASTING IMPRESSIONS Daily Challeges Supplies Bible Truth Sleuth Daily Challeges What You ll Do Say: Cosider this week how you ca REMEMBER WHAT GOD HAS DONE. Have kids fid this week s Daily Challeges o their Bible Truth Sleuth pages ad choose oe to do this week. They ca choose oe or more of these three optios: Write dow a list of your favorite thigs God has doe. Iclude thigs he s doe i your life. Iterview other people who kow God to ask them about their favorite thigs God has doe, too. Share this with your family to ecourage them. At diertime, lead your family members i a prayer ad have everyoe at the table say oe thig God has doe for him or her that he or she is thakful for. Write a sog that tells about some thigs God has doe. Share the sog with a fried. Lesso 12 Grades 3 & 4

125 125 Make sure you choose a Daily Challege as well, ad tell the kids what you chose. Kids will be more iclied to follow through o their commitmets whe they see you doig the same. Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. What s a practical way you re goig to do your Daily Challege? Iclude a time, a place, ad other ideas. Say: Joshua ad the Israelites kew it was importat to REMEMBER WHAT GOD HAS DONE. So let s REMEMBER WHAT GOD HAS DONE i our lives as we follow through o our Daily Challeges. Weavig Faith at Home Ecourage kids to talk with their parets about the Daily Challeges they chose ad what they leared about the thigs God has doe. Kids ca also do the activities i the HomeCoect sectio of their Bible Truth Sleuth pages with their families. Talk to your Director about ig the FREE FamilyCoect to all your church s families. Available at group.com/digital. Have kids stad i a circle. Give kids oe miute to thik of somethig they re really glad to kow God has doe. Pray ad thak God for the thigs he has doe, ad the go aroud the circle so childre ca each list the thigs they thought of. Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 12

126 126 Lyrics Give Thaks (1 Chroicles 16:8) Give thaks to the Lord; Call o his ame. Make kow amog the atios what he has doe. Give thaks to the Lord; Call o his ame. Make kow amog the atios what he has doe. Sig to him! Sig praise to him. Tell of his woderful works. Sig to him. Sig praise to him. (Repeat from the begiig.) Give thaks to the Lord; Call o his ame. Give thaks to the Lord; Call o his ame. Give thaks to the Lord! Give thaks to the Lord! Give thaks to the Lord! Give thaks to the Lord! Give Thaks (1 Chroicles 16:8) by Jay Stocker Group Publishig, Ic. All rights reserved.! OK TO COPY Lesso 12 Grades 3 & 4

127 Lesso God Gives Victory Over Jericho Joshua 6:1-27 Whe kids thik of power, they ofte thik of physical stregth. Childre geerally icrease i their physical stregth as they grow from year to year. The feelig of physical stregth ad power is importat ad affirms that they re growig ad becomig more idepedet. But they do t always have the stregth or power they feel they eed whe they re worried or afraid. Use this lesso to help kids uderstad that God s power gives them stregth metally, emotioally, ad spiritually. LESSON WHAT CHILDREN DO SUPPLIES EASY PREP 1 Gettig Started 2 Bible Exploratio Powerless Walkig (about 10 mi.) Play a spiig game ad discover they re uable to walk i a straight lie o their ow. God Gives Victory Over Jericho (about 20 mi.) Act out the Bible passage. maskig tape Bible, CD player, copies of the lyrics page (at the ed of this lesso), paper Teacher Pack: CD, Walls of Jericho posters, Rahab ad Family poster, FaithWeaver NOW box, Bible Timelie, tape Tape the two Walls of Jericho posters together. Bible Poit God s power works for good. Key Verse Humble yourselves, therefore, uder God s mighty had, that he may lift you up i due time. Cast all your axiety o him because he cares for you (1 Peter 5:6-7). Weavig Faith Ito Life Kids will rely o God s power i their lives. Bold text withi the lesso is spoke text. Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 13

128 128 LESSON WHAT CHILDREN DO SUPPLIES EASY PREP 3 Weavig Faith Ito Life God s Power (about 20 mi.) Create commercials to show how God s power helps us. God s Mighty Had (about 10 mi.) Lear the Key Verse, ad write worries or cocers i God s had. Bibles, Bible Truth Sleuth, pes, scissors (several pairs) Tear out the Lesso 13 pages from each Bible Truth Sleuth studet book. Daily Challeges (about 5 mi.) Choose a Daily Challege to apply God s Word. Bible Truth Sleuth 4 Lastig Impressios Weavig Faith at Home (about 2 mi.) Talk about how to share what they leared with their families. Bold text withi the lesso is spoke text. Lesso 13 Grades 3 & 4

129 129 God Gives Victory Over Jericho Joshua 6:1-27 BIBLe BACKGROUND FOR LEADERS God Promises Victory at Jericho Archaeologists have foud the site of aciet Jericho but are still ucertai which city is the oe delivered ito the hads of the Israelites because it has bee destroyed so may times. I light of the curse put upo Jericho i Joshua 6:26, the archaeological fidigs are iterestig ideed. Joshua Receives a Message From God While scoutig out the city, Joshua was o doubt surprised to see a ma with a draw sword i frot of him (Joshua 5:13). We do t kow if this was a appearace of God himself, a preicarate appearace of Jesus, or a agel; however, we do kow that he was someoe set from God. Notice how the messeger respods to Joshua s questio: Are you for us or for our eemies? The messeger was the commader of the Lord s army. It was up to Joshua ad Israel to be o the Lord s side, ot for the commader to be o Joshua s side! Just as promised, Rahab ad her family were spared because of the faith she had show i hidig the Hebrew spies. God s power worked to save her ad the Israelites, while at the same time it was workig to destroy the ihabitats of Jericho for their idolatry ad immorality. The Jesus Coectio A relatioship with Jesus allows us to walk i cofidece, as his power of forgiveess has give us freedom. His love for us provides us with what we eed to be clea i his perfect eyes. Take a few miutes to write dow as may words of prayer as you ca that show the character of God. Each day, meditate o oe of these characteristics ad how God has show those characteristics i your life. Give God praise, ad ackowledge God s mighty work i your life. I the middle of God s message to Joshua, the writer stops to metio a very importat fact i Joshua 6:1: The people of Jericho had closed up their city, coutig o its strog fortificatios to protect them. It was so firmly sealed that o oe could go i or out. This meat that o oe from Jericho would get i the way as the Israelites marched aroud the city walls! God Fulfills the Promise Notice that God ot oly told Joshua what to do but also told him precisely what would happe (Joshua 6:5). Assumig that the word from God spread amog the Israelites, imagie their icreasig aticipatio as the army marched siletly aroud the city day after day ad the seve times o the seveth day. The people kew that God was about to do somethig spectacular! Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 13

130 130 GETTING STARTED Powerless Walkig Supplies maskig tape Powerless Walkig What You ll Do Welcome kids warmly as they arrive, ad ask them how their week wet. Have kids form trios. Place maskig tape i a straight lie o the floor i frot of each group. Say: Oe perso i each group will spi aroud several times ad the try to walk i a straight lie o the maskig tape i frot of you. Each of you will do this oce. The two ospiers may make sure the spier does t fall dow, but you may ot help him or her walk the straight lie. Have each child i the trios attempt this oce. Ask kids to thik of thigs that might help them walk i a straight lie if they were to do this agai. Say: Let s try it agai, ad this time the ospiers will try some of the ideas you thought of to help those who are spiig walk straight. Have kids spi agai, ad this time let the other two kids from their trios help i various ways. Let each perso have a chace to try agai. Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. What was it like to have help the secod time you tried to walk? How is that like God helpig you whe you have somethig hard to do? What hard thigs have you had to do you that you were glad you had help with? Say: I the Bible today, we ll lear about a time the Israelites were told to do somethig that seemed impossible to them. They eeded God s power to do what they d bee told, so they had to trust God to help them. We ca trust that GOD S POWER WORKS FOR GOOD i our lives, too. Lesso 13 Grades 3 & 4

131 131 2 BIBLE EXPLORATION God Gives Victory Over Jericho What You ll Do Show kids the God Gives Victory Over Jericho picture o the Bible Timelie. Have two willig kids hold up the Walls of Jericho poster durig this activity. Say: Jericho was a aciet city. It had a huge wall all the way aroud it, much like the huge brick or stoe walls that surroud a castle. No oe wet i or out of the city uless they had permissio. God told Joshua that the Israelites would have victory over Jericho. Although it seemed like a crazy idea, God told Joshua exactly what they eeded to do to see God s power at work. Read aloud Joshua 6:1-5. Joshua eeded God s help for this task. Whe have you had to do somethig really hard ad eeded God s help to do it? How does God s power work i our lives? Say: As I cotiue to read our Bible passage, you ll act out what you hear as I say it. Have oe child stealthily hide the Rahab ad Family poster uder a table i the room. The poster will remai hidde util someoe comes to get it. Say: This all begis with Joshua callig for the priests ad tellig them to take up the ark of the coveat. Have two to four kids pick up the FaithWeaver NOW box, which represets the ark, ad the wait. God Gives Victory Over Jericho Supplies Bibles CD player copies of the lyrics page (at the ed of this lesso) paper Teacher Pack CD: Wherever You Go (Joshua 1:9) (track 18) Walls of Jericho posters Rahab ad Family poster FaithWeaver NOW box Bible Timelie tape God Gives Victory Over Jericho Easy Prep Tape the two Walls of Jericho posters together. Say: Joshua told the priests to carry trumpets i frot of the ark. Have a couple of kids represetig the priests with trumpets stad i frot of the ark ad roll up paper ad hold it like trumpets. Have aother child stad i frot of the priests ad aother child stad behid the ark; they will act as armed guards. Everyoe else will be Israelites ad will follow the priests ad armed guards. Say: Oce everyoe was i place, Joshua said, Advace! March aroud the city, with the armed guard goig ahead of the ark of the Lord. The priests blew the trumpets as they walked. But Joshua told the people, Do ot give a war cry, do ot raise your voices, do ot say a word util the day I tell you to shout. Have kids march oe time aroud the two kids holdig the poster as the priests preted to blow their trumpets. After they have goe aroud the walls of Jericho oce, have them sit dow. Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 13

132 132 Say: They did this for six days i a row! Have kids walk aroud the poster five more times, stoppig each time to preted to camp overight. The Israelites probably felt foolish marchig aroud the city ad the goig back to camp each day. Say: O the seveth day, the Israelites marched aroud the city seve more times. Have kids march aroud the poster oe more time, ad make sure they do t talk at all as they walk. Say: After the Israelites had marched aroud Jericho seve times that seveth day, the priests blew their trumpets, ad Joshua said, Shout! For the Lord has give you the city! Have kids stop ad shout. Say: Whe the trumpets souded ad the people shouted, the walls aroud Jericho collapsed! Have kids ru through the poster, tearig it dow as they go. Say: The Joshua set i the two me who had bee spies to get Rahab ad her family. Because Rahab hid them, they kept their promise to save her ad her family. Sed two kids to rescue Rahab. Say: The the Israelites destroyed the etire city ad everythig i it. Ad Joshua said very sterly that o oe was supposed to rebuild the city. Let s sig to celebrate how God was with the Israelites! Distribute copies of the lyrics page, ad play Wherever You Go (Joshua 1:9) (track 18 o the CD). Lead kids i sigig alog with the CD.. Have I ot commaded you? Be strog ad courageous. Do ot be terrified; Do ot be discouraged, For the Lord your God will be with you Wherever you go. Wherever you go. (Repeat twice.) Wherever you go. Wherever you go. Wherever you go. Wherever You Go (Joshua 1:9) by Jay Stocker. 2006, 2008 Group Publishig, Ic. All rights reserved. Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. What were you thikig about as you marched aroud the poster so may times? How did God s power work i this situatio? I what ways do you hope God s power will work for your good right ow? Lesso 13 Grades 3 & 4

133 133 Say: What seemed like a crazy idea was t so crazy after all! Whe the Israelites trusted ad obeyed God, eve whe it seemed crazy, God used his power to defeat their eemies. God used his power to make them victorious. Our powerful God wats to help us, too. He wats to give us victory over the thigs we struggle with every day. GOD S POWER WORKS FOR GOOD i our lives. 3 WEAVING FAITH INTO LIFE God s Power What You ll Do Have kids form groups of three or four. Say: As we saw i today s Bible passage, God sure is powerful! God showed his power at the walls of Jericho, ad he also shows his power i our lives. I your groups, you ll create a commercial to show how GOD S POWER WORKS FOR GOOD i our lives. Be sure to metio today s Bible Poit, GOD S POWER WORKS FOR GOOD, durig your commercial. You ca advertise for God s power however you wat, ad you ca use persoal stories or the evets that happeed to Israel to demostrate God s power. Allow time for groups to braistorm ad practice their commercials. After about 10 miutes, have groups take turs presetig their commercials to everyoe else. Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. What about these commercials helps you remember that God s power works for good? How has God s power worked for good i your life? How ca you advertise God s power to someoe this week? Say: Commercials make us remember thigs. Usually they ecourage us to buy thigs, but these commercials help us remember how GOD S POWER WORKS FOR GOOD. We ca read our Bibles, share our stories with other people, ad liste to other people to remember these thigs, too. God wats us to kow that he s got the power to take care of thigs just as he helped the Israelites have victory over Jericho. Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 13

134 134 God s Mighty Had God s Mighty Had Supplies Bibles Bible Truth Sleuth pes scissors (several pairs) God s Mighty Had Easy Prep Tear out the Lesso 13 pages from each Bible Truth Sleuth studet book. What You ll Do Make sure each child has a Bible. Say: Our Key Verse today is 1 Peter 5:6-7. Have kids fid the verse i their Bibles, ad ask a willig child to read the verse aloud: Humble yourselves, therefore, uder God s mighty had, that he may lift you up i due time. Cast all your axiety o him because he cares for you. Distribute pes ad this week s Bible Truth Sleuth pages. Have kids tur to the God s Mighty Had activity ad complete the activity. Allow about five miutes. Say: Just as the walls of Jericho crumbled whe the people depeded o God s power, our worries ad axieties will crumble whe we deped o God s Word ad his power. Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. What s it like to struggle with worry over the thigs you wrote ad talked about? How is that similar to the walls of Jericho? I what ways ca you trust God to help you with your big worries ad cocers? Say: Just like the huge walls aroud the city of Jericho, we sometimes build up walls i our lives. We let our worries ad fears build up aroud us util we feel as if we ca t overcome them. God wats to help us with our worries. GOD S POWER WORKS FOR GOOD i our lives. He ca break dow the biggest walls i our lives. 4 LASTING IMPRESSIONS Daily Challeges Supplies Bible Truth Sleuth Daily Challeges What You ll Do Say: Cosider this week how you ca trust that GOD S POWER WORKS FOR GOOD. Have kids fid this week s Daily Challeges o their Bible Truth Sleuth pages ad choose oe to do this week. They ca choose oe or more of these three optios: Lesso 13 Grades 3 & 4

135 135 Every time you worry about somethig, write it dow o a piece of paper. The throw it away, askig God to take that worry away. Wheever you use a TV, microwave, or radio, thak God for all the ways he uses his power for good. Read the headlies of a ews website that your parets trust. Pray for the situatios that you read about. Ask God to use his power for good i each of those situatios. Make sure you choose a Daily Challege as well, ad tell the kids what you chose. Kids will be more iclied to follow through o their commitmets whe they see you doig the same. Talk With Kids Lead kids i this discussio. What s a practical way you re goig to do your Daily Challege? Iclude a time, a place, ad other ideas. Say: God did somethig amazig to show his power whe he kocked dow the walls of Jericho for the Israelites. I our lives, too, we ca kow that GOD S POWER WORKS FOR GOOD as we follow through o our Daily Challeges this week. Weavig Faith at Home Ecourage kids to talk with their parets about the Daily Challeges they chose ad what they leared about God s power. Kids ca also do the activities i the HomeCoect sectio of their Bible Truth Sleuth pages with their families. Talk to your Director about ig the FREE FamilyCoect to all your church s families. Available at group.com/digital. Close by havig kids form small groups to pray ad give their worries to God. Ecourage kids to trust his power to help them, o matter where they are. Grades 3 & 4 Lesso 13

136 136 Lyrics Wherever You Go (Joshua 1:9) Have I ot commaded you? Be strog ad courageous. Do ot be terrified; Do ot be discouraged, For the Lord your God will be with you Wherever you go. Wherever you go. (Repeat twice.) Wherever you go. Wherever you go. Wherever you go. Wherever You Go (Joshua 1:9) by Jay Stocker. 2006, 2008 Group Publishig, Ic. All rights reserved.! OK TO COPY Lesso 13 Grades 3 & 4

137 Skits They ll Remember! from The Skit Guys the wildly popular comedic duo give you 20 side-splittig skits for your childre s miistry. I this book, you ll fid etertaiig, faithfocused skits o a variety of topics you ca use as a boost to your messages ad lessos for kids. Each skit comes with a full script ad five discussio questios to egage kids i faith discoveries. You ll get 20 impactful ad power-packed skits, icludig: Creatio Noah s Ark David & Goliath Joah & the Big Fish Daiel i the Lios De Ad 15 additioal skits to go with your Bible lessos. ISBN $19.99 Order today! Visit group.com or your favorite Christia retailer.

138 Thak your voluteers for ALL they do! What You Do Matters: Thak You for Helpig Kids Love Jesus! The key to the success of every miistry is voluteers! They give so much but do t expect aythig i retur. It s up to you to make sure they feel appreciated ad ready to cotiue servig ad What You Do Matters will help you do just that! This keepsake book for voluteers ad teachers weaves ecouragemet, upliftig Scripture, real stories, ad more ito a gift that ll warm their souls ad help keep their ethusiasm for itroducig kids to Jesus goig strog. Show your team members how much you care as they grow their relatioship with Jesus ad jourey with childre to make a eteral differece i the world. Let them kow you appreciate them! This book is the perfect gift for ew teachers, thak-you gifts, Christmas gifts, stockig stuffers, pick-me-ups, or aytime affirmatios. ISBN $9.99 Order today! Visit group.com or your favorite Christia retailer.

139 Tos of fu ways to reiforce Bible poits! The Humogous Book of Games for Childre s Miistry Super-size fu with 220 games that reiforce Bible poits. You ll always have a great big fu game at your figertips for ay area of childre s miistry. Idexed by Scripture ad eergy level. ISBN $29.99 I Caada $32.99 Also available i this series: The Humogous Book of Preschool Ideas 2 ISBN $29.99 I Caada $32.99 The Humogous Book of Bible Skits ISBN $29.99 I Caada $32.99 (BOOK & CD) The Humogous Book of Childre s Messages ISBN $29.99 I Caada $32.99 The Humogous Book of Preschool Ideas ISBN $29.99 I Caada $32.99 Order today! Visit group.com or your favorite Christia retailer.

140 Kids Travel Guide to the Beatitudes Travel Guide Series Jesus left o doubt that beig a Christia ca be hard; but because of God s promises, each of us ca experiece his blessigs. These 13 Suday school lessos help kids discover a wealth of wisdom about how to live a life full of blessigs eve whe thigs get tough. Ad they ll lear firsthad about all the woderful ways God shows his love i their lives, o matter the circumstaces. NEW! Will be available for Fall 2013 Each book icludes 13 lessos to help take your kids o a travel adveture: Kids Travel Guide to the Parables ISBN Kids Travel Guide to the 23rd Psalm ISBN Kids Travel Guide to the Fruit of the Spirit ISBN Kids Travel Guide to the Lord s Prayer ISBN Kids Travel Guide to the Te Commadmets ISBN Kids Travel Guide to the Armor of God ISBN Kids Travel Guide to the Beatitudes ISBN Each book i this series is $19.99 All of the hads-o sessios iclude loads of Scripture, activities, ad memetos to help kids lear for a lifetime. Plus, you get heaps of easy teacher tips ad extra creative optios to make the most of your sessios. Pack your bags ad buckle up for a adveture full of surprises with Jesus! For more iformatio: Go to group.com or call

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