Preschool Teacher Guide Unit 8, Session 5: The Day the Sun Stood Still LifeWay Christian Resources

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1 Preschool Teacher Guide Session Title: The Day the Sun Stood Still Bible Passage: Joshua 10:1-15 Big Picture Question: What does God do when we pray? God answers our prayers. Key Passage: Joshua 24:15 Unit Christ Connection: Joshua was a representation of Christ, leading the Israelites to victory in overcoming Canaan as Jesus leads us to victory in overcoming the world. TEACHER BIBLE STUDY Prep Time The Gibeonites were a deceitful people. They lied to Joshua about where they were from because they did not want Israel to attack them. (See Josh. 9:3-6.) Even though God had warned Joshua not to make treaties with anyone (Deut. 7:2), the Gibeonites convinced Joshua to make a peace treaty with them. When Joshua found out he had been tricked, he was mad. When the king of Jerusalem heard how Joshua had captured Ai and made peace with Gibeon, he was very afraid because Gibeon was a great city. The king of Jerusalem called to the four other kings in the land, and the kings formed a coalition and made war against Gibeon. The men of Gibeon sent word to Joshua and said, Please come help us! God reassured Joshua that He would be with him in defending the Gibeonites. God fought for the Israelites! He threw the five kings armies into confusion. While the armies fled, God threw down large hailstones from heaven, and they died. God killed more men with hailstones than the Israelites killed with their swords. Joshua and the Israelites were still in battle, but time was running out. It would get dark soon. So Joshua prayed to God: Sun, stand still over Gibeon. God made it happen. The sun stood still for almost a full day. The Israelites won the battle and returned to their camp. What an exciting story! Joshua s name, which means, Yahweh is salvation testifies to the Lord s saving hand. God fought for the Israelites and made them victorious over their enemies. This story points ahead to another time when God saved His people in an even greater way. God sent His Son Jesus to fight the battle against sin and death. Jesus died, taking the punishment for sin, and then rose again triumphantly. Because of our faith in Jesus, we too are victorious over sin and death. Welcome/Transition Time (15 minutes) Lesson Snack/Video (20minutes) Activities LifeWay Christian Resources

2 WELCOME/TRANSITION TIME (15 minutes) Greet boys and girls as they arrive. Direct them to work on the color/activity page. After that, they may choose to play with a favorite toy or do another activity that you have provided. Color Page/Activity Sheet: Match the Shadows - provided Crayons or colored pencils color/activity sheet, 1 per child Say God stopped the sun in the middle of the day. The sun does not make long shadows in the middle of the day. When the sun begins to set, it makes long shadows. Draw lines to match things in the picture to their long afternoon shadows. On the day God stopped the sun, it was a long time before there were long shadows! Talk about Night and Day Turn off the classroom light to show night. (unless it scares the children) Then, turn the light back on and talk about day. Ask the children to describe the two situations. Transition to Lesson Use your usual transition cue to signal that it is time for Bible study. Ring the bell, show the countdown video, flip the lights, or clap a simple rhythm for children to copy to gain attention. LESSON Worship Music Classroom DVD contains worship songs for each unit that the children will enjoy learning. Unit 8 DVD Story Time Say Listen to today s Bible story to hear about another mighty act of God. Be ready to tell how He helped His people LifeWay Christian Resources

3 THE BIBLE STORY Preschool Teacher Guide (2 year old teachers can reference the large story card in the classroom) The Day the Sun Stood Still Joshua 10:1-15 The land the Israelites were in was ruled by five kings. The kings were bad kings; they did not love God. Also, the kings heard that Joshua and the Israelites had fought the men of Ai in battle and set the city on fire. The kings did not want Joshua and the Israelites to attack them and set their cities on fire! They even heard that Joshua had become friends with the people in Gibeon. If the men of Gibeon and the men of Israel got together and fought the kings armies, the kings would lose for sure! So the kings made a plan. One king called to the other four kings in the land. He said to them, Help me attack Gibeon. They are friends with Joshua and the people of Israel. So the five kings went to fight the people of Gibeon. The men of Gibeon sent a message to Joshua: Friends, help us! Save us! All the kings and their armies are fighting with us. So Joshua and his whole army went to help Gibeon fight. The LORD said to Joshua, Do not be afraid of them. I will help you beat them. Joshua and his army marched all night. When they got to the battle, the kings armies were surprised! They did not know the Israelites were coming. As the Israelites fought, God helped them kill their enemies. The five kings armies ran away. God sent a hailstorm; the hail hurt the armies of the kings. The battle was not yet over. Joshua and the Israelites needed more time to fight before the sun went down. Joshua prayed to God. He said, God, please make the sun and the moon stand still in the sky. The sun stood still and the moon stopped until Israel and Gibeon beat their enemies. The sun did not set for almost a full day! Nothing like that had ever happened before. Nothing like that has happened since then. Joshua knew God made the sun stand still. After all, God made the sun! God heard Joshua s prayers and fought for the Israelites. When the battle was over, Joshua and all his army returned to where they were camping at Gilgal (GIL gal). Christ Connection: Joshua s name means God saves. God helped Joshua lead the people of Israel and saved them from their enemies. Jesus name also means God saves. God helped us by sending His Son, Jesus, to die on the cross. Jesus saves us from sin and death. If we trust in Jesus, we will live with Him in heaven LifeWay Christian Resources

4 Review/Key Passage Key Passage Poster Big Picture Question Poster Say God promised to give His people the land of Canaan. It was time to move into the land. The Israelites had to fight battles to win the land. Each different group of people had a king and a god that they thought was powerful. Their gods were not real. Israel s God was and is the one true God. He helped His people cross the Jordan River. He helped them win battles. Everybody all around saw how powerful He is. Most of them were afraid. They did not think about asking Him to be their God. They acted as if they were smarter and stronger than God. Say Who chose the best way to act? Our key passage is about how Joshua made the best choice. Read the key passage poster. Stand and sing Joshua 24:15. Ask questions about the story: How many kings tried to fight God s people? (five) Why did the Israelite army march all night? (to surprise the five kings) What surprising weapon did God send to help? (hailstones) What did Joshua do during the battle? (He talked to God.) How did God make enough time to finish the battle? (God made the sun stand still!) When Joshua prayed, God answered his prayer in a mighty way. What does God do when we pray? God answers our prayers. Did you know that Joshua s name means God saves? Jesus name also means God saves. God sent Jesus to die on the cross to save us from sin and death. If we trust in Jesus, we will live with Him in heaven. SNACK/VIDEO Signal for cleanup time using the countdown video or whatever method you prefer. Take a bathroom break and wash hands before the snack. Ask for volunteers to help set up and serve the snack. Remind kids to wait until everyone has been served before eating. Thank God for your snack. Watch Video Show the video The Day the Sun Stood Still (from Classroom DVD) LifeWay Christian Resources

5 ACTIVITIES Play Sun, Stand Still! provided Line up kids across the room from you. Hold up a big yellow construction paper sun. Kids must march, hop, skip, or whatever you ask them to do while you wave the sun around. Occasionally, stop moving the sun and say, Sun, stand still! Kids freeze. Ask a question about the story. When one of them answers, begin to move the sun again, and they can again march, hop, skip, or whatever they were doing. Repeat the game several times. Say Joshua spoke to God in front of all the people. God gave him permission to say, Sun, stand still! What does God do when we pray? God answers our prayers. Pick up Preschool children need to be picked up by a parent/grandparent and the adult must show the parent receipt with matching I.D. number. If the tag is missing, the adult can go to a check in kiosk and have a receipt reprinted. Welcome the second session teachers and tell them what they need to know about the children who are present LifeWay Christian Resources

Preschool Teacher Guide Unit 24, Session 3: Jesus at the Temple LifeWay Christian Resources

Preschool Teacher Guide Unit 24, Session 3: Jesus at the Temple LifeWay Christian Resources Preschool Teacher Guide Session Title: Jesus at the Temple Bible Passage: Luke 2:41-52 Big Picture Question: Why did Jesus go to the temple? Jesus went to the temple to worship God. Key Passage: John 1:14