Josiah Promises to Follow the Lord

Session 6 Josiah Promises to Follow the Lord 2 Chronicles 34:1-33 Worship Theme: God speaks to us through the Bible. Weaving Faith Into Life: Kids will praise God for his Word. Session Sequence What Children Will Do Supplies Let s Praise God! (up to 25 minutes) Sing Let s Go! (Ephesians 2:10) (track 21) Those Who Hope (Isaiah 40:31) (track 22) Are You Going to Praise the Lord? (track 11) Work (Ephesians 6:7) (track 6) Create in Me a Pure Heart (Psalm 51:10) (track 3) All Scripture (2 Timothy 3:16-17) (track 18) KidsOwn Worship Kit: Songs From FaithWeaver CD player, newsprint, markers, masking tape Session Sequence What Children Will Do Supplies Let s Learn the Point! (up to 25 minutes) Marshmallow Idols Create people with pretzels and marshmallows. I Can Follow God! Sing a song about Josiah and following God, and eat their marshmallow people. Thank You for the Bible Make their own reminder that the Bible helps them follow God. 6 pretzel sticks and 3 marshmallows per child Marshmallow people Crayons, stamp pad, construction paper, photocopies of page 83, scissors, stapler 72 FaithWeaver Summer Quarter

Session Sequence What Children Will Do Supplies Let s Learn the Point! (up to 25 minutes) * Not Too Young Destroy idols and learn about an 8-year-old king who followed God. * Teamwork Watch a video about kids searching for their lost soccer ball. * Bible Maps Work in small groups to create maps of the Bible. A handful of small building blocks for every 4 kids KidsOwn Worship Kit: Kids Own Worship DVD: Teamwork (4) TV, DVD player 1 Bible, 1 sheet of newsprint, and several markers per group of 3 Session Sequence What Children Will Do Supplies Let s Pray! (up to 10 minutes) The Offering Talk about following God, and give so that someone without a Bible can have one. Partner Prayers Think of five things they like about the Bible and pray. All Scripture Sing to thank God for giving us the Bible. Offering bowls KidsOwn Worship Kit: Songs From FaithWeaver: All Scripture (2 Timothy 3:16-17) (track 18) CD player * Starred activities can be used successfully with preschool and elementary children together. Customize your session to fit your needs. You can separate preschoolers and elementary children for Section 2. Or, if you keep the children all together for the entire worship session, we suggest you choose from the starred activities. Session 6 KidsOwn Worship 73

Bible Background for Leaders Josiah Promises to Follow the Lord 2 Chronicles 34:1-33 Josiah began to rule Judah when he was only 8 years old, but he probably didn t rule by himself. Although his father and grandfather, Amon and Manasseh, were evil and cruel, Josiah apparently had been trained by his mother in the things of the Lord. Fortunately, he chose to follow in the footsteps of his great-grandfather, Hezekiah, and his ancestor, David, by obeying the Lord. When he became king, he was advised by others who were faithful followers of God. When he was 20, Josiah demonstrated maturity and wisdom far beyond his years as he began wiping out the places in Judah that were dedicated to worshipping idols. His zeal to cleanse God s people of their idolatry even led him to wipe out altars beyond his own kingdom, in the northern kingdom of Israel. Josiah s reforms and cleansing continued, and when he was 26, he decided to repair and restore the Temple, which had been turned into a house of idolatry by his father, Manasseh. It was during this cleansing that the Book of the Law was found. This was either the book of Deuteronomy or the entire five books of the Law, lost for years under the rule of kings who worshipped idols. Josiah had been raised to know and serve the Lord, but he may never have actually heard the words of the Law before this book was found. When it was read to him, he reacted with despair. He tore his clothes in grief over the sins of his people. He knew that God must have been terribly angry with the people of Judah and Israel. And the words of the prophetess, Huldah, confirmed his worst fears. Because Josiah had humbled himself before God, God honored him. And even though God promised Josiah that he would die before the destruction prophesied by Huldah, Josiah didn t give up on reforming his nation. Instead, he called the people together and read the Law to them. He didn t assign a priest or scribe to read it; he humbly read it himself! And before God and the people, he vowed to return Judah to obedience to the Lord. God s Word had revealed to Josiah the sins of his people, and it caused him to see what he needed to do to truly serve God. And that s what he tried with all his heart to do. For the rest of Josiah s life, the people of Israel did not fail to follow the Lord. Devotion for Leaders Where would we be without Jesus? He is the Word made flesh, and he helps us live lives that honor God s laws. Praise him! Weaving Faith Into Your Life: Bible reading and prayer are central to our growth and development as Christians. Consider this: How s your devotional life? What s good about it, and what needs to change? God has so much he wants to reveal to you. No matter what you have going today, be sure to take some time to open God s Word and listen to God s voice. 74 FaithWeaver Summer Quarter

Why We Worship for Leaders We can and should worship God for giving us the Bible. We can read about God s promises to us in his Word. God s Word gives us guidelines by which we should live our lives. It teaches us how God will bless us when we live our lives for him and follow him. What an awesome reason to praise and worship God! Easy Prep for Leaders Let s Praise God! Make a footprint path by drawing simple outlines of feet on a long sheet of newsprint that leads from the entrance to the worship area. Also, mark a path through the room by placing masking tape on the floor. Teamwork Set up a TV and DVD player, and cue the KidsOwn Worship DVD to Teamwork (4). Watch the clip at least once before the worship session so you ll be familiar with it. Preschool Activities Refer to the preschool pages for preparations. Web Help Get bonus leader tips and ideas at kidsownworship.com. Let s Praise God! Play Songs From FaithWeaver, Summer 2011 as children arrive. Greet everyone by name, and lead each person to the footprint path. Say, Welcome to children s church! Write your name in one of the footprints on the path as you think about how you can follow God. When everyone has arrived and written on a footprint, begin worship. Hello, everyone! Welcome to children s church! Today we re praising God because he gave us the Bible. Did you know that God gave us the Bible so we would know how to follow him? Aren t you glad you don t have to figure out how to live the way God wants you to all by yourselves? Let s worship God today for giving us his Word to help us know how to follow him. Sing Let s Go! (Ephesians 2:10). Track 21 Have kids form a single-file line. I want you to close your eyes and walk around the room on the marked path. Ready? Go! After a moment, have kids stop and open their eyes. Why couldn t you follow the path? (We couldn t see; we didn t know where we were going.) What would have helped you follow the path better? (If I could see; if someone would guide me.) Have kids walk the path again, this time with their eyes open. Session 6 KidsOwn Worship 75

Why was it easier to follow the path this time? (I knew where I was going; I could see.) Having your eyes open allowed you to see the path marked on the floor so you would know where you re going. God helps us open our eyes through the Bible so we know where we re going in life. When we open our eyes and read the Bible, we can see what we need to do to follow God. The Bible gives us examples of people who followed God and walked by faith. Who are some of the people who followed God? (Abraham; Moses; Isaiah; Jonah; Elisha.) God helped those people do great things! God does the same for us. Let s sing about that! Sing Those Who Hope (Isaiah 40:31). Track 22 What are things God does for you? (He gives us food to eat; he loves me; he helps me tell others about him.) What do you do to thank him? (I pray; I sing to him.) One thing you can do to thank God is praise him. Let s do that now. Sing Are You Going to Praise the Lord? Track 11 We praise God because God helps us and has good plans for our lives, just as he had good plans for Isaiah, Moses, and Joshua. But we need to know what God wants us to do to make those good plans come true. Let s sing about working for God. Sing Work (Ephesians 6:7). Track 6 What a great job you did singing that song! Let s sing a quieter song now and think about inviting God into our hearts. Sing Create in Me a Pure Heart (Psalm 51:10). Track 3 Why can we be thankful for the Bible? (It guides us in life; it helps us know how to live.) What are some things we can learn from the Bible? (How to love others; we can learn how God wants us to serve him.) The next song we ll sing tells us why God gave us the Bible and how we can use it. It s from 2 Timothy 3:16-17. Sing All Scripture (2 Timothy 3:16-17). Track 18 76 FaithWeaver Summer Quarter

Dear God, thank you so much for giving us the Bible! You are so awesome to tell us through the Bible how to follow you. Thank you for loving us so much that you don t leave us to figure things out on our own. Help us take the time to read your Word and obey what it tells us. Help us to follow you all the days of our lives, in everything we do. In Jesus name, amen. Let s Learn the Point! Preschool Activities, pages 79-80 At this time, have the preschool leader invite the preschoolers to go to their own room for this section of activities. Tear out the Preschool Activities page, and give it to the preschool leader. Have the preschool leader bring the preschoolers back to participate in Let s Pray! with the older children. If you prefer to keep all the children together, do the starred (*) activities. They will work well with both elementary and preschool children. Elementary Activities * Not Too Young Have all of the 8-year-olds come to the front of the room. Ask them the following three questions. What are some things you can do now that you couldn t do when you were younger? (I can walk; I can ride a bike; talk.) How old do you think someone needs to be to follow God? (Any age; old enough to talk to him.) How do people find out how to follow God? (They learn from God; they learn from their parents; from reading the Bible.) In today s Bible story, we ll learn about a boy named Josiah who was only 8 years old when he became king. He may have been young, but he wasn t too young to follow God. Let s find out what he did. Allow the 8-year-olds to sit down. Ask the entire group the next question. Have you ever known something wasn t right and not been quite sure how to fix it? What did you do? (I asked for help; I figured it out on my own.) In today s Bible story, Josiah became king and knew that he wanted to follow God, but he wasn t really sure what he needed to do. He knew his ancestor, King David, served God, and he wanted to do the same thing. But all of the people in Jerusalem were worshipping idols. What is an idol? (A false god; something man-made that people worship.) Session 6 KidsOwn Worship 77

Have kids form groups of four. Pass out a handful of blocks or building toys, such as LEGO construction toys, to each group. Have each small group use the blocks to build a structure that represents an idol. What are some idols people worship today? (Money; rock stars; cars.) Why do you think people would worship idols? (They don t know God; they like the idols.) How do you think people would know that worshipping idols is wrong? (Someone would have to tell them; they need to read the Bible.) Josiah was just a young man, but he knew worshipping idols wasn t right, so he had the people destroy the idols. Have kids destroy their structures. After Josiah had all of the idols destroyed, he commanded men to repair the Temple. While a priest named Hilkiah was doing repair work, he found God s Law, the Bible! When Josiah read what was in it, he promised to always follow God, and the people did the same thing. We can serve God, too, but we need the Bible to tell us how. Let s watch a video about some kids who also lost something important. * Teamwork Show Teamwork (4) on the KidsOwn Worship DVD. The video shows a group of kids playing soccer. When the kids lose their soccer ball, they work together using a map, tools, and a plan to find and retrieve their ball. What did the kids do when they lost their soccer ball? (They looked for it; they worked together; they used maps and made plans to get it back.) The kids in the video used lots of different tools to get their soccer ball back. They used binoculars, walkie talkies, and a map as they searched for it. And when they had to find a way to get the ball from the big dog, they came up with a plan. Explain what kind of tool you think the Bible is most like. (A map because it gives us directions; binoculars because it helps us see things better; a walkie talkie because God uses it to talk to us.) How did having the Bible help Josiah know what to do? (He knew how God wanted him to live; he learned how to follow God.) The kids in the video lost their soccer ball. Without it they couldn t play soccer, so they worked together to get it back using all the tools they had. The Bible is a kind of tool, too. It s like a walkie talkie because God uses it to talk to us. It s like a compass because it points our lives in the right direction. And the Bible is like a map because we can follow it to go the direction God wants us to go. (continued on page 81) 78 FaithWeaver Summer Quarter

Preschool Activities Josiah Promises to Follow the Lord Session 6 Worship Theme: God speaks to us through the Bible. Easy Prep for Leaders 2 Chronicles 34:1-33 Thank You for the Bible Photocopy the Thank You for the Bible handout on page 83. Cut apart the sections. Have a stamp pad available. Using Theo Consider using Theophilus the FaithRetriever puppet today in these ways: Have Theo lead the preschoolers from the main worship area to the preschool room. Have Theo lead the songs in I Can Follow God! See the KidsOwn Worship Kit for a puppet skit written for today s worship session. Marshmallow Idols Give each child three marshmallows and six pretzel sticks, and help children make marshmallow people. Have them stick a marshmallow on a pretzel stick and add another marshmallow to the other end of the pretzel stick. Then have the children stick another pretzel into the other end of the second marshmallow and add one more marshmallow on the other end of that pretzel stick. Figures I Can Follow God! Have the children sit in a circle and hold their marshmallow people. God s people had forgotten all about worshipping the one true God. They worshipped idols they made out of wood and stone and metal. Then a new king came into power. His name was Josiah, and he loved God. Let s find out what Josiah did with those silly idols. ALLERGY ALERT Be aware that some children have food allergies that can be dangerous. Know your children, and consult with parents about allergies their children may have. Also be sure to carefully read food labels as hidden ingredients can cause allergyrelated problems. will have a head (one marshmallow), a neck (part of the first pretzel stick), and a torso (the two marshmallows). Have children add the other four pretzel sticks for arms and legs. (See the illustration.) Today we re going to learn about people who created idols out of wood and stone and metal. They thought the idols they made were God, and they worshipped them. That s as silly as it would be for us to worship the marshmallow people we just made. Let s learn what happened to those idols. Have kids sing the following words to the tune of The Mulberry Bush. Josiah wanted to follow God. The Bible told him how to Destroy the idols the people have built; Down go the idols! In our Bible story today, Josiah had all of the people destroy all of the idols they had built. Have kids destroy their marshmallow idols by eating them. Then some of Josiah s workers found the Bible. No one had read the Bible for many years. No one could remember what the Bible said. When they read the Bible, they learned how to follow God. What do you do to follow God? Session 6 KidsOwn Worship 79

Preschool Activities I Can Follow God! (continued) Josiah was excited to learn about God in the Bible. Let s sing about how Josiah learned to follow God. Continue to the tune of The Mulberry Bush. Josiah promised to follow God All of his life, all of his life. The people promised to follow God, too, Thanks to the Bible. How does the Bible help you? What s your favorite part of the Bible? Let s sing some more. Let s tell God that we want to follow him too. Continue to the same tune. We can choose to follow God Just like Josiah, just like Josiah. Because God gave the Bible to us, We ll know what to do. God gave us the Bible so we would know how to follow him. Aren t you glad he didn t make us figure it out on our own? Let s make something to remind us of what God gave us! Thank You for the Bible Give each child the handout sections you cut apart before the session. Have kids color the words on each of the four sections. Then have the children press their thumbs on the stamp pad and walk their thumbs across the bottom of each section to make footprints to indicate that they want to follow God. Give children each a half sheet of construction paper, folded in half, and have them cover their booklets. Then staple the booklets together. What helps you follow God? How can you thank God for the Bible? We can always praise God for giving us the Bible! 80 FaithWeaver Summer Quarter

(continued from page 78) * Bible Maps Help the children form groups of three. Give each trio a Bible, a sheet of newsprint, and several markers. Talk in your small group about how God s Word is like a map. You can refer to the Bible you have. Then work together to draw a map of the Bible on the sheet of newsprint. Encourage kids to think of creative ways the Bible can be considered a map. They can show a map that leads to heaven, with a relationship with Jesus being the path to get there. They could show important events in the Bible that we can learn from. Give the children ten minutes to work. Then have each group share its map with the other groups. What happens when you follow a map? (You get where you need to be; you know where you re going.) What happens when you don t pay attention to the map? (You may get lost; you won t know where you are.) What happens when we follow God s Word? (We know how to live; we get to know God better.) What happens when we don t follow God s Word? (We ll be lost in life; we won t know what s going on in our lives; we won t know God.) We can praise God and thank him for giving us his Word. The Bible tells us how to love God and follow him no matter what we re facing in our lives. Let s give thanks to God now. Let s Pray! The Offering What are some ways we can show we are following God? (We can tell others about him; we can make sure we re doing right in everything.) How does giving an offering to God show that we are following him? (He asks us to give; we re giving him what belongs to him; we re trusting God with our offering.) To follow someone, you need to trust him or her. By giving an offering to God, you are showing that you trust God to use your money wisely and in ways that will help others know about him. Today we re going to use our offering to buy a Bible to give to someone who doesn t have one. Take the offering. Then either donate the money to an organization, such as the International Bible Society, or buy a Bible and give it to someone you know who doesn t have one. Session 6 KidsOwn Worship 81

Partner Prayers Help the children find partners. With your partner, come up with five things you like about the Bible. Then pray with your partner, and thank God for each of those five things. Give the children two or three minutes to discuss and pray. All Scripture As we close today, let s sing All Scripture to remind us of what God s Word does for us. Sing All Scripture (2 Timothy 3:16-17). Track 18 Dear God, thank you for giving us the Bible to teach us how we can follow you. Help us read your Word and understand it. We love you, Lord. In Jesus name, amen. 82 FaithWeaver Summer Quarter

Thank You for the Bible God gave the Bible to help me follow him. Permission to photocopy this handout from KidsOwn Worship Leader Guide, Summer, granted for local church use. Copyright FaithWeaver. kidsownworship.com Session 6 KidsOwn Worship 83