Moses Last Journey Numbers 27:12-23, Deut. 34

Transcription

1 4 Moses Last Journey Numbers 27:12-23, Deut. 34 Kids will understand: The account of Moses last journey and Joshua accepting his responsibility as the leader of Israel. That God s work is passed down to others and continues. That God wants kids to step up and take responsibility for His work. Dec

2 Activity - Skit Parker Woods is a character who has been carried through the quarter. The skits have an outdoors setting where Parker battles the elements while introducing and/or demonstrating the park element in some way. Parker should be dressed in outdoor gear to the hilt with plenty of camping supplies around him. He is well meaning and serious in wanting to show the kids the ropes about safe and enjoyable camping in the park, but he often runs into some kind of humorous difficulty. Parker s hiking gear canteen backpack Parker is hiking and stops for a break. He takes a drink from his canteen (that s empty) and looks out over the valley. Parker: Oh my, would you just look at that view! Mmm, mmm, God sure can make a valley! Wow, makes ol Parker s heart skip a beat! You know, my daddy used to bring me up here. It seemed like we hiked all day. I was so little! I musta taken six steps for every two steps he hiked. Yep, my daddy always mapped out our trails and packed my gear. He made sure I had all the supplies I needed. I ll never forget one fall afternoon my daddy and I were getting ready to go camping. He said, Parker, you re old enough for more responsibility. Pack your own gear! It took me by surprise, but he was right. I was old enough to start doing some things for myself! I tried to remember all the supplies my dad had packed for me before. Well, on that hike we stopped for a drink of water. I pulled out my canteen to take a nice cool drink and wouldn t you know I had forgotten to fill it with water! (chuckles to himself) I had to wait until we found a nice clear stream miles up the trail. I was so thirsty! (puts canteen close to mouth) But I learned from that mistake! Speaking of being thirsty, I need a drink right now! (puts canteen to lips and gets nothing, tilts it further back and still dry) What in the world? (shakes the canteen) Can you believe it? I forgot to put water in my canteen! Boy, am I glad my dad isn t with me on this hike! I d never hear the end of it! Remember Parker s tip for today you may not think so, but you re old enough to take on more responsibility. I was a little nervous the first time I packed my gear, but I got over it. And, oh yeah, I made a few mistakes early on. But, pretty soon I was ready for more jobs and my daddy gave me even more responsibility. You may find yourself taking on more responsibilities around the house or it could be doing some kind of job at church. Show you re reliable and can handle it and the sky s the limit! My second tip for you is to double-check that you filled your canteen with water! (shakes canteen again) Just hold it up and give it a little jiggle. If it sounds like mine, you forgot to so something! (laughs and slaps knee) You always should hear some water a-splashin around! (laughs again) 2

3 All this talk about taking responsibility reminds me of a Bible story. Moses had reached the end of the line. He had led God s people as far as he could take them. It was time for him to hand over the responsibility to someone else. God chose Joshua because he had proven himself worthy and he had God s Spirit on him! I ll see you all next week. Now, I need to find the nearest stream around here, or even better, a machine that sells bottled water. (laughs heartily) Object Lesson For a relay baton, you can use a 12 dowel or a piece of PVC pipe. Have you ever seen a relay race at a track and field event? Maybe you ve seen a relay race when you were watching the Olympics. The runners carry a baton. Hold the baton up for all to see and show the slide. Let s say it s a quarter-mile track. Each runner on the team runs a lap or a quarter mile as fast as they can go. Then, they hand the baton to the next runner on their team. That runner runs a quarter mile. This continues until all four runners have run a quarter mile. relay baton PowerPoint slide Now, here s the point the race is a mile long, but each runner is responsible to run a quarter of the mile. The first runner runs his part. When he reaches the finish line, his responsibility is over. The next runner then has a responsibility to run his leg of the race. This is like God s master plan at work. God s plan covers thousands of years. But, no one person is called to go the whole distance! When one person has done what God called him to do, he has fulfilled his responsibility! God calls another Christian to continue the work and run the race until the work is completed. In our Bible account today, Moses had reached the end of the race God called him to run. He had led the Israelites out of Egypt and through the desert. They now stood at the door of the Promised Land! Moses was 120 years old! You heard me right 120! It was time for him to pass the baton (hold up baton) to a new leader to continue the journey. Let s see who Moses handed the baton to! Bible Account You re going to narrate the story and pull kids into the action on the spot, as it happens. There is no need to practice. You will feed kids their lines and actions real time! The kids will do some kind of pantomime actions to portray the scene. Choose a kid to be the sound effects (SFX) person to stand beside you. The bold text is where the kid should portray some action in the scene. They can ad lib if they think of something else! 3 actors narrator

4 Narrator: (pull a boy up) Moses was 120 years old. God told him it was time for him to die. Moses was not surprised; he knew in his spirit his time was over. Even though Moses was 120, he was still strong physically and his eyes were still sharp! Moses looked to heaven and asked God to choose a leader so the Israelites would not be like sheep without a shepherd. (SFX sheep noises) God told Moses to call Joshua (pull a boy up) to stand before Moses. This is who God had chosen to take on Moses responsibilities as the new leader. Joshua was full of God s Spirit. (looks energized) Yes, The sheep would NOT be without a shepherd! (SFX - cheers) Moses laid his hand on Joshua in front of the priest Eleazar (pull another boy up) and all the people of Israel (pull several kids up to be Israelites). The people of Israel congratulated Joshua. They knew He had been given Moses responsibility as leader. Still Moses could not give Joshua all the honor and authority He had with God. Moses had a relationship with God like no other man ever would. Moses talked to the people for a long time. He encouraged them and told them, (feed the lines small bits at a time to Moses and he repeats them with authority) Be strong - be of good courage - Fear not God will go with you God will not fail you! - As you followed me follow Joshua now - into the Promised Land! - The land of Canaan is yours now! Moses then walked out of the camp. He hiked and hiked and hiked and climbed and climbed until he reached the top of Mt. Nebo. From there, God showed Moses the beautiful land of Canaan below. Moses looked back and forth in every direction at the gorgeous wooded hills, the bubbling streams and the rich green valleys. Moses was very happy. After Moses surveyed the beautiful land below he peacefully lay down and died. The Bible says that God was the one to bury Moses. That s how close their relationship was. The people of Israel loved Moses. They wept and mourned his death for 30 days. (SFX weeping and sadness) Joshua was now Israel s leader. He stood tall in front of the Israelites! He accepted the responsibility handed down from Moses to lead the Israelites into the Promised Land! 4

5 Game Divide the kids into teams that have the same number of players, 5-8. The larger the area you have for this game, the better. You can even play it outside. Each team will need 2 beach balls and a laundry basket. Place the beach balls at the start line and the laundry baskets at the finish line. The players on each team will spread out from the starting line to the laundry basket, with the first person next to the beach balls and the last person close to the basket. Try to have at least 6 feet between team members or more. beach balls laundry baskets At the signal, the first person on each team will pick up a beach ball and toss it to the next person, who turns around and tosses it to the next person. Continue tossing the beach ball until the last person gets it and deposits it in the laundry basket. As soon as the ball is in the basket, then the first person can start tossing the second beach ball down the line. The first team to get both balls in their basket will answer one of the questions about the story (below). Before starting the play over for the opportunity to answer the next question, the kids will shift positions. The person by the basket will become the starting player and everyone else on the team will move one position closer to their team s laundry basket. Continue playing like this until all the questions have been answered. Questions and Answers True or False. The word responsibility means to be accountable. (True) How old was Moses when he died? (120 years old) True or False. Moses was surprised he was going to die. (False. God told him and he knew in his spirit it was time.) What did Moses ask God to do? (choose a leader so the Israelites would not be sheep without a shepherd) Who did God choose for a leader? (Joshua) Joshua was filled with something. God said he was filled with. (God s Spirit) What did God tell Moses to do with his hands? (lay them on Joshua and pray for him, showing that he was the new leader) Was Joshua made leader in secret? (No. God had Moses do this in front of the priest, Eleazar, and all the people.) True or False. Joshua had all the authority and honor that Moses did. (False. Moses relationship with God was unique.) What did Moses do before he died? (climbed a mountain) 5

6 Was Moses allowed to enter the Promised Land? (No. God only allowed him to view it from Mount Nebo.) What did Moses tell the people before he died? (They should be strong and of good courage. Fear not, God will go with them and not fail them!) True or False. Moses was weak and almost blind before he died. (False! He was still strong, eyes were sharp and he climbed the mountain!) How long did the Israelites mourn Moses death? (30 days) Puppets Note: these puppets will be used throughout the quarter. Make or locate 2 small hats that look like ranger hats and 2 badges. 2 generic puppets Trainee: Trainee: Trainee: Trainee: Trainee: Trainee: Good morning, trainee! Did you sleep well last night? Yes I did! That hike up the big hill wore me out! Yes, that was quite a steep climb! But, you stayed right with me! How do you do it? I mean, you re a lot older than I am. You wore me out! Well, thank you! I try to eat healthy and exercise. I like to stay active. And, I pray every day for God to keep my body strong! Well, it s working. I hope I can be like you when I am older! That reminds me, I m not going to be a ranger forever. One day I will retire. You ve really shown yourself to be reliable and a good learner. I can always count on you to be here and try your best. Thank you, ranger. That means a lot coming from you. Because I can count on you, I m going to show you everything that I do. I m going to give you more and more responsibilities in the park. One day, I really hope you will be the Agape National Park Ranger! What? You mean me take over your job? I think you can do it. I m proud of you. You pray about it and I will too. Let s see what God wants, okay? You better believe it! That s a lot of responsibility. But, I m excited to see if that s what God wants me to do. Excellent! That s what I wanted to hear! 6

7 Message Prior to class, smear one plate with mud or other gunk to make it dirty. (show slide #1) Are you ready for responsibility? Did you know the church is yours, too? Your parents, grandparents and older brothers and sisters may all be involved, but what about you? Are you ready for some responsibility? There are some requirements for being given more responsibility. God chose Joshua. How did He do that? Call 3 kids to come forward. Is this how God picked from the millions of Israelites? Move finger between kids as you speak. Eeny, meeny, miny, mo, catch an Israelite by the toe. If he hollers let him go, Eeny, meeny, miny, mo, God chooses you! PowerPoint slides wood blocks 2 plates mud drinking cup canteen water No! How about an arm wrestling contest or maybe the Israelites shot free throws or possibly Moses had a spelling bee? No! God looks at the heart and picks someone He knows can handle the responsibility. This didn t happen overnight for Joshua! Joshua had proven himself over the years in both big and small tasks. He had hiked with Moses many miles for many years. He was also one of two spies, along with Caleb, to bring a good report back to Moses about the Promised Land. He told Moses that the Promised Land was theirs with God s help! Joshua had led the Israelites into battle many times. Yes, Joshua was a man full of faith and action! He could handle more responsibility. It s like this.choose a volunteer and have them hold their hands out. Place a block in their hands. Very good. You can handle that responsibility of holding that block! Let s try another. Add another block. I think she s ready for even more responsibility, don t you? Add more blocks with a similar dialogue. This is how responsibility works. If she would ve dropped the blocks after three, would I have kept giving her more blocks to hold? No! She had to prove she could handle what she already had! Look up and read Luke 16:10 (NIV), Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. Be dependable and trustworthy with small tasks and you will be given greater responsibility! (show slide #2) Get cleaned up! God s work is special work. It is holy work. Not everyone qualifies. Look up and read 2 Timothy 2:21 (ESV), The Lord wants to use you for special purposes, so make yourself clean from all evil. Then you will be holy, and the Master can use you. You will be ready for any good work. Hold up a dirty plate. Would you put your food on this plate to eat? No! How about this plate? Hold up a clean plate. Yes! This plate is clean and ready for use! It s ready to be given the responsibility of holding your food! Can you see what God is looking for? Why would he dish out the responsibility of His work to someone who is not clean and ready to receive it? If you want more responsibility from God you have to have a pure heart and live by God s Word! You know what? We need to clean ourselves up daily in our prayer time to make sure we re ready for God 7

8 to use us and to show Him that we re ready for more responsibility! All we have to do is repent and ask forgiveness! (show slide #3) God will equip you! If you re cleaned up and willing if your heart is right God is ready to equip you for His work! If you have emptied yourself of all the junk you know of, God will fill you up! Hold up an empty cup. This cup is empty. It s ready to hold something! It s ready to be filled up! Pour water from the canteen until the cup is overflowing. Now the cup is filled up with clean water! The cup is doing its job. It s doing what it was made to do fulfilling its responsibility! Yep, God would rather have empty vessels that are cleaned out so He can pour all of His good stuff into you! God told Moses that Joshua was full of His Spirit! He had filled him full! He then told Moses to transfer some of his authority into Joshua by laying his hands on him. God equipped Joshua. Joshua didn t show up with everything he needed! What do you think? Are you ready for more responsibility? Object Lesson Responsibility means to be accountable or answerable for something. You are to do what it takes to get the job done. As an example, parents have a responsibility to raise their kids to do whatever is necessary to keep them safe and healthy to instruct them in the things of God. God makes parents accountable for that. balloon Call up a volunteer. Bring out an inflated balloon and start bouncing it up in the air with your hands. Just do it a few inches high so you can talk easily. Let s say my responsibility is to keep this balloon from touching the ground. You see how I m doing it? I can talk and talk to you about how to do it and you would probably get bored pretty quickly listening to me talk and just watching. So, how about this now that you ve watched me do it, are you ready for the responsibility? Bounce the balloon higher to the volunteer. It s your turn! Step away. I m not responsible any more you are. It s your job. You re accountable and I can go do something else that s needed to be done in the church! If the balloon accidentally falls to the ground, well, that happens. Just pick it up and start over. God doesn t freak out over mistakes and demand perfection. He looks at your heart and sees the effort you re putting in. (address the volunteer) It was one thing watching me all that time, but it was a whole different ballgame when you actually took over, wasn t it? When I gave you the responsibility you felt it. A weight came on you a kind of a burden to make sure the balloon stayed in the air. Joshua had watched Moses time and time again lead the people. He helped Moses, but now he had the burden and responsibility put on him! God said Joshua was ready. God s Spirit was in Joshua and Moses had laid hands on and prayed for Joshua. God says when it s time. He 8

9 has filled us with His Spirit, equipped us, and will be with us every step of the way when we do His work! Game Divide the kids into teams of 5-8 kids. Each team will need a backpack, a bag of mini-marshmallows, a large bowl, a cup, and an empty box. Prior to class you will need to prepare for each team by dumping a bag of mini-marshmallows into their large bowl, along with a cup. This bowl of marshmallows and the backpack go at the team s start line. At the other end of the room you should put an empty box for each team. backpacks bags of mini-marshmallows cups large bowls boxes There is a job that needs to be done. Each hiker has the responsibility to hike to the campsite and take a load of marshmallows with you so they can be roasted on the fire later for S mores. At the signal, the first player on each team will open their backpack, scoop out a cup of marshmallows and dump them into the backpack. They will then zip the backpack, put the backpack on (both arms must be in the straps), run to the other end, take the backpack off and dump the marshmallows into the box, run back to the start line with the backpack on, and hand the backpack to the next player in line. Repeat this process with all players. The first team to complete their responsibility of taking all of the marshmallows to the campsite wins! In today s lesson you learned that the word responsibility means to be accountable and responsible for something that needs done. It s a duty and a job! When you have a responsibility, people count on you to be reliable and perform it! Having a responsibility is like carrying a burden or weight. When you strapped on that backpack you took on a weight and you were aware you had it on. It was a reminder to you that you had an important job to do! Activity - Video Watch the video, Everybody s Watching but Nobody s Doing Anything. It s easy to point out that something is wrong or notice when someone s about to have an accident or get hurt. Should we be entertained by that? Or, should we take a step and do something to correct it? What was the responsible thing to do in this video? Did it take somebody with very specific skills to help, or could anyone step out and do something about the situation? 9 Everybody s Watching but Nobody s Doing Anything VIDEO

10 Object Lesson The kids will look up and read Hebrews 13:21 (NLT), may he equip you with all you need for doing his will. May he produce in you, through the power of Jesus Christ, every good thing that is pleasing to him. All glory to him forever and ever! Amen. Bibles toolbox assortment of tools You know some people never make themselves available for God s work, because they don t feel they have the tools for the job! Look at this prayer that the writer of Hebrews prayed for Christians at that time. May He equip you with all you need for doing His will. And he goes on, May He produce in you, through the power of Jesus Christ, every good thing that is pleasing to Him. Wow! Think of it God has a job for the church body the Christians the believers in the church. He will give you all the tools you need to do His will or the job He needs done. He will produce in you or make it happen through you! He equips you in Jesus mighty power and name! How totally awesome is that? God doesn t expect you to show up with all the knowledge, talent, skills and tools. He just wants you to show up! Let s say this is God s toolbox. Bring out a toolbox. God has some work that needs done. If He wants you to measure something, (pull out the tape measure and hand it to a kid) He equips you with a tape measurer. If He wants you to tighten a screw (hand a screwdriver to a kid), He will equip you with a screwdriver. Continue on with the remainder of the tools in this fashion. If it s needed for God s work and it pleases Him, He will produce it in you or hand it to you! Now, this is just an object lesson. God doesn t carry a toolbox around and hand out tools! It s about Him giving you wisdom, leadership and understanding, patience, any fruit of the Spirit that is needed! God equips those who are ready for responsibility! Prayer It s time for some of you to step up and take some responsibility. God has something He wants you to do, someone He wants you to serve, a need He wants you to fill. Don t get confused, though, and think that it s time for you to do what grown-ups do. Right now is your time of training when you re testing how you can minister and figuring out where God wants you. As the baton is passed to you by the people who have gone before you just like Moses handed over leadership to Joshua you have to decide if you re going to grab hold or if you re going to drop it. Ask a good number of adults to join you for this time of prayer. They are here to pray over individual kids. Give these guest adults access to the batons that you ll be giving out as Take Home Reminders (below). They will hold out a baton to a child, and the child will grab the other end. Before letting go of it, the adult should pray for the child by name 10 relay baton adults

11 a blessing over the child asking the Lord to make Himself known to this child asking God to reveal what responsibility He would like this child to take hold of thanking God that He is the One we serve and He is the Great Provider. Blessing May you always be willing to do the work God has equipped you to do. 11

12 Take Home Reminder Give each of the kids a relay baton. They can be purchased from orientaltrading.com, item #IN-64/48, $9.00/dozen. They have removable caps at both ends, so they can actually keep marbles in them or collect coins. relay baton In a relay race, a special baton is passed from one runner to the next. Handing off the baton while they are running is difficult, especially knowing that if you drop it, you ll be disqualified. Just as God instructed Moses to pass on the leadership to Joshua, leaders in the church will one day pass on their responsibilities to you. It was important for Moses to do what God instructed in order for the baton to be passed without dropping it. Is it time for you to take on some responsibility that will someday lead to the baton being passed to you? Scripture Memorization Isaiah 40:31, Those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint. Moses was 120 years old when he died. The Bible says that his eyes were sharp and he was as strong physically as he ever was! Moses, as our scripture passage talks about, trusted in the Lord over and over to find new strength to lead God s people. Moses had a huge responsibility leading millions of people. Moses was strong, not weak or weary; He climbed a mountain before he died, so no way was he faint! One way that God strengthens his leaders in the church is to spread out the work and share responsibility of the work of the church among other believers. To start the game, you will choose 6 kids to stand before all the others and say the scripture together. Then, all the kids will get up and walk around the room, giving each other high-fives up high, down low over and over. When the leader sounds the noisemaker (whistle, bell, horn, cymbal), everyone freezes except for the 6 kids originally chosen. They will turn to the closest person to them and lay their hands on that kid s shoulders. All the kids who have hands on their shoulders will now recite the scripture passage. Give the signal and all the kids will begin moving around, encouraging one another with high-fives again, until they hear the noisemaker. They all freeze and the kids who just had someone place hands on their shoulders will do the same to the person closest to them. Now, all 12 kids will recite the passage together. Continue doing this until everyone has been chosen and had hands placed on their shoulders. 12 PowerPoint scripture slide noisemaker

13 Why do you think you placed your hands on the other person s shoulder? Moses placed his hands on Joshua when he sent him forth as the new leader. Snack God told Moses to hike up the mountain. The kids will make a mountain snack. Beforehand, you ll want to add green food coloring to some white canned icing. Also, add a little water or milk to thin the icing so it s easier to spread. The kids won t use as much, either. Give each kid a sugar cone. They ll set the sugar cone upside down on their plate, so the point it sticking up. They will then use a craft stick to spread a thin layer of the green icing all over the cone. This is their mountain. But, they also need to mark the trail that Moses walked. They do this by placing Rice Krispies cereal in a squiggly line up and around the sugar cone mountain. sugar cones Rice Krispies cereal white icing green food coloring craft sticks small paper plates Can you imagine being 120 years old and God tells you to hike to the top of a mountain? It would be a rough trip for someone 120 years old, even if they were being pushed in a wheelchair. But, get this no one was with Moses. No one was there to steady him or push him! Why do you think it was so important for Moses to go to the top and look out over the Promised Land? How hard do you think it was for him to only be able to see the land but not actually get to go into it, especially after traveling for years and putting up with millions of people s rebellion and complaints? Music DVD downloads Every Good and Perfect Thing and Not To Us are the two DVD downloading songs that are included with this unit. These songs were recorded by Yancy, a contemporary preteen worship leader. For more information about other music by Yancy, go to yancynotnancy.com. 13