ELEMENTARY CURRICULUM A four-week series BIBLE VERSE Be strong and courageous! For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go, Joshua 1:9. This four-part series explores how God s people were strong and courageous not from their own strength but God s. They came into the Promised Land, believing he would be with them. God makes the same promise to be with us, too, which gives us the courage we need to be strong. SERIES OUTLINE BOTTOM LINE And he is always with you. Joshua Leads Israel Over the Jordan River, Joshua 3-4 Bib Joshua and Jericho, Joshua 6 Rahab and the Spies, Joshua 2 Samson, Judges 13-16 Summit Creative Company. All rights reserved. summitcreativecompany.com 1
STRONG Elementary Week 1 SERIES CONCEPT This four-part series explores how God s people were strong and courageous not from their own strength but God s. They came into the Promised Land, believing he would be with them. God makes the same promise to be with us, too, which gives us the courage we need to be strong. BIBLE TRUTH Rahab and the Spies, Joshua 2 BOTTOM LINE God is strong. And he is always with you. BIBLE VERSE Be strong and courageous! For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go, Joshua 1:9. SUPPLIES Bible red cord NOTES All yellow highlighted text are cues for visual and audio slides. Assign a volunteer to play slides. The times in blue are to guide you. The program led from stage should be around 25 minutes. The month-long Bible Verse is threaded throughout the stories, while the Bottom Line is the application. SMALL GROUP Kids will remember the story of Rahab and the spies through playing ispy Rahab s Red Rope. Summit Creative Company. All rights reserved. summitcreativecompany.com 2
TEACHER DEVOTIONAL Read: Joshua 2 God commanded Joshua to defeat and destroy Jericho. So Joshua sent out two spies to see what would be waiting for them in battle. Once the spies entered Jericho, they took shelter in the house of Rahab, the prostitute. The Bible doesn t tell us why Rahab was a prostitute. Her people were known for idolatry and immorality, so maybe she just followed what most of the people around her did. What we do know is that Rahab had heard about the God of the Israelites. She knew what happened at the Red Sea and about the victories God had secured for his people. Rahab actually told the spies that the hearts of her people melted when they heard about God s faithfulness to his people (Joshua 2:11). Unlike her people who continued to live in unbelief, Rahab responded to God s faithfulness with awe, wonder, and belief. She chose to trust a God she d only heard about, and because of her faith, God redeemed her story. Rahab risked everything, including her own life, for the spies. In return they promised to rescue her and bring her and her family to safety once Jericho was destroyed. She later became the mother of Boaz the same Boaz that married Ruth the same family of the bloodline of Jesus; all because of her decision to trust the one, true God. The irony of this story is clear a prostitute is redeemed and used by God to form the family from which his own son, the Savior of the world, is born. What an amazing picture of who God is! He doesn t see us by our sins and our mistakes. He sees people who believe in him. He sees our faith. Do you believe God can use you for something? Can you look back on a time where you risked something to trust God? Do you ever struggle to separate who you are from what you ve done? Do you believe God can redeem your story? Summit Creative Company. All rights reserved. summitcreativecompany.com 3
WELCOME 2-3 minutes Hey everyone! I m so glad you re all here today. (Welcome kids.) FRIENDS AROUND THE WORLD (Share with kids how God asks us to love all his children through giving and praying. Talk about a global or local outreach program and encourage kids to give by collecting an offering.) WORSHIP 6-7 minutes (Encourage kids to worship God through song and dance. Play worship songs.) INTRO 1 minute + 4.5 minute video Show Series Graphic: Strong We re starting a brand-new series called Strong! God tells us to be strong and courageous, but what are we supposed to do when we face things that are scary or seem too hard for us? How do we even know what being strong looks like? Let s tune into CNN: Castle News Network to see if they can help us. Show Video: Wk. 1 Castle News Network Strong Show Series Graphic: Strong BIBLE TRUTH 6-7 minutes (reacting to the video) Well I m not quite sure that helped us figure out what true strength is, but we got the point that it isn t just being physically strong. (Grab Bible.) The Bible is awesome because it teaches us what being strong means. It also shows some great examples of people who were strong and courageous Setup like some of the Israelites! Say, Israelites with me. Israelites. Great. The Israelites were God s people who he promised to save. See, the Israelites had been slaves in Egypt for a long time, until God rescued them through a man named Moses. Raise your hand if you have heard of Moses. (Allow kids to respond.) Raise your hand if you think Moses was strong. (Allow kids to respond.) Raise your hand if you think Moses was strong only because he had huge, ginormous muscles. (Allow kids to respond.) Right. We have no idea how big Moses muscles were, and that wouldn t have even mattered anyway. Moses was strong because he knew that God was with him. See, God was strong, and since he was with Moses, the Israelites were saved and able to leave Egypt. All the Israelites were so excited to leave slavery, but they didn t really know where they were going. So they started wandering through the wilderness. God promised them a wonderful land where they could live. We call this the Promised Land. The Promised Land was far away and they didn t know where it was, so the Israelites lived out in the wilderness for a long time. Summit Creative Company. All rights reserved. summitcreativecompany.com 4
(Pause.) I m talking like, 40 years-long. They complained and complained; blaming Moses and God. But God had a plan. Since they were out in the wilderness so long, Moses got very old. He would die soon, so he put someone else in charge. His name was Joshua. God told Joshua to be strong and courageous; enough to take the Israelites into their new land. Bible Verse In fact, what God told Joshua is our Bible verse this month. Check this out. Show Verse: Be strong and courageous! For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go, Joshua 1:9. Let s read that together once. Be strong and courageous! For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. These were God s words to Joshua, and they are also for us today. God wasn t saying, Good luck, Joshy! He was telling him I ll be with you. And I m strong. So you can be, too. So Joshua continued to lead the Israelites knowing God was with them. Call to Action The Israelites finally neared the Promised Land. It was about time to take it over and live there. But there was a city on the border of the Promised Land called Jericho. Jericho had a huge wall all around it that was five feet thick with a giant tower for the soldiers to see everything for miles around. Plus, they had a big, mean, scary army. Jericho was in the way of getting into the Promised Land, so the Israelites needed to defeat the army. But they had to know what they were up against, so Joshua sent two spies to travel into Jericho. These spies would report back what the land, people and armies were like but they couldn t get caught. Journey (Act this out.) The spies snuck into the city. But just as they walked in, some soldiers saw them. They yelled, Spies! Spies! Over there! So, the spies jumped into the nearest open door, into a house that was built into the wall on the outside of the city. This house belonged to a woman named Rahab. Rahab had heard about the amazing things God had done for his people things like parting the sea so they could escape Egypt, or raining down bread from the sky so these people could eat. She knew that since God was with these people, anyone who would fight against them would surely be defeated. Rahab was strong and courageous and hid the spies. She quickly snuck them to a place behind a bunch of plants up on her roof. Summit Creative Company. All rights reserved. summitcreativecompany.com 5
But just as she got them hidden, soldiers rushed to Rahab s house (Pretend to knock hard on a door.) boom, boom, boom Bring those spies out here. Rahab opened the door, and the soldiers said again, Bring the spies out. Rahab said, Oh, the spies? (Look behind you.) Yeah, they stopped by, but they ran away! Yep, they ran right out of the city. You can probably catch em if you hurry! (Change postion to be the soldiers.) So, the soldiers said, We gotta go get em! And they rushed away. Rahab quietly closed her door. She crept upstairs to her roof and pushed big bundles of plants out of the way. The two spies looked up at Rahab, unsure if they were safe. The soldiers left, Rahab told them. Rahab helped the spies up and said, Everyone in Jericho has heard how strong your God is. And since he s on your side, you re going to defeat the army of Jericho, I just know it. (Pause.) But since I hid you, can you PLEASE keep me and my family safe when your army comes to destroy our city? Low Point Rahab knew how strong God was, and that he was on their side. She wanted to be on that side. She believed in God s strength, which made her strong and courageous to help the Israelites. But she also knew God was so strong that everyone in Jericho could be wiped out. Would the Israelites spare her and her family? If the spies decided not to help her, she was all on her own. And if the rulers of Jericho found out she helped them, they d also be really mad. She needed God. (quiet, dramatic) So, again, she asked the Israelite spies, Please keep me and my family safe. Victory The spies looked at each other. They looked at Rahab. (Pause.) And they nodded. That we will do. They handed Rahab a red rope and said, (Take out red cord, and go act out throwing it from a window.) Tie this in your window, and anyone in this house when our army comes will be safe. So, Rahab helped the spies get out of Jericho, and she tied the rope in her window. She invited her family and friends to come into her house. And, spoiler alert, the spies kept their promise. When the Israelites came to take over the armies and the city, they saw the red rope hanging out of the window. Rahab and all her family were saved! Summit Creative Company. All rights reserved. summitcreativecompany.com 6
APPLICATION 1-2 minutes Now, Rahab wasn t an Israelite. She didn t grow up learning what God is like. All Rahab knew was that God had done amazing things, and was stronger than anyone or anything. (referring to the Bible verse slide) And, Rahab believed that God was there, which gave her strength. Her life completely changed when she decided to trust God was with her! See, we can t always be strong all alone. Our own physical strength might help us sometimes, but why would we try and face hard stuff alone? We have God with us, just like the Israelites knew, and just like Rahab knew. Bottom Line We can be strong because God is strong. And he is with us wherever we go, which is great news. So even though CNN: Castle News Network couldn t really help us answer the question of what is strong, I think we figured it out. It s our bottom line this month. Check it out. Show Bottom Line: God is strong. And he is always with you. Who is strong? (Let kids respond.) That s right! God is strong. And when is he with you? (Let kids respond.) Always. Say that with me once more. God is strong. And he is always with you. Let s memorize that so we remember to be strong. My favorite way of memorizing important truth is to add some motions. Let s all stand up and try it. Follow my lead. I m going to ask, Who is strong? then you ll say: God (Jump into a big X with both fingers pointing up to the heavens.) is strong. (Flex both biceps.) And he (Point one hand back up to God and the other on your hip like a superhero stance.) is always (Spin around.) with you. (Stop yourself from spinning, facing back forward and put both hands on your hips like another superhero stance.) Great job! Let s pray and thank God for always being with us. PRAYER God, thank you for promising to be with us always. You are so strong, which means we can be strong if we remember you are with us. Help us to trust you. We love you and pray in Jesus name, amen. SMALL GROUP Let s head to small groups! Summit Creative Company. All rights reserved. summitcreativecompany.com 7
STRONG Elementary Small Group Week 1: ispy Rahab s Red Rope SUPPLIES: markers/crayons/colored pencils, print out: ispy PURPOSE: Kids will remember the story of Rahab and the spies through playing ispy Rahab s Red Rope. Sit down and say names. 1 minute DISCUSSION 6 minutes 1. What was your favorite part of the story? (Take responses.) 2. How did Rahab help the Israelite spies? (She hid them in her house.) 3. What would you have done if you were Rahab? (Take responses.) 4. Why do you think Rahab helped the Israelites? (Take responses. She knew God s strength.) 5. Have you ever done something that was really scary, but you trusted God was with you? (Take responses, giving a personal example if need be. A good example is asking someone to hang out when nobody else wanted to; maybe because they were mean or something.) PRAYER 2 minutes Dear God, thank you for promising to be with us always. You are strong, which means we can be strong if we remember you are with us. Help us be strong! We love you and pray in Jesus name, amen. ACTIVITY 6 minutes Say Does anyone remember what the Israelite spies told Rahab to do so they would pass over her house when they took over Jericho? (Take a response.) That s right! She tied a red rope out her window. To help us remember the story of Rahab and the spies, we re going to be spies and look for red ropes in this image. There are 15. See if you can find them all! Do 1. Hand each kid a ispy Rahab s Red Rope sheet and a crayon/marker. 2. Let them search for all 15 small red ropes. 3. If kids finish early, stay seated in your circle and play ispy with my little eye with things around the room. KEEP GROUP TOGETHER UNTIL TIMER IS UP. Summit Creative Company. All rights reserved. summitcreativecompany.com 8