God Is Powerful Concept Area: God Week of June 5 Session Title and Scripture Memory Verse life Application God Defeated Jericho Joshua 6:1-21 We will do and obey everything that the LORD has commanded. Exodus 24:7 I can obey God and follow His plans. Week of June 12 God Helped David 1 Samuel 17:1-50 Trust in the LORD with all your heart. Proverbs 3:5 I can try things that seem hard but can trust God to help me. Week of June 19 God Took Care of Elijah 1 Kings 19:1-18 God is our refuge and strength, a helper who is always found in times of trouble. Psalm 46:1 I can ask God to protect me and meet my needs. Week of June 26 God Forgives Jonah You are a forgiving God. Nehemiah 9:17 I can ask God to forgive me when I disobey Him. Becky Fager works with first and second graders in Sunday School and serves as the Children s Division director at East Naples Baptist Church, Naples, Florida. Levels of Biblical Learning resources may be purchased from LifeWay Christian Resources by calling 1 (800) 458-2772, by ordering online at www.lifeway.com, or by visiting your nearest LifeWay Christian Store. Quick Scene God Is Love bulletin board borders (005191567) Bible Story Hand Puppet craft pack (005191585) God Loves Me stickers (005191549) God Is bookmarks (005191780) JUNE 2011 7
Week of June 5, 2011 God Defeated Jericho Bible Passage Joshua 6:1-21 Level of Biblical Learning (God) God wants me to obey, respect, and honor Him. Bible Truth God shows His power when His people are obedient. Life Application I can obey God and follow His plans. Memory Verse We will do and obey everything that the LORD has commanded. Exodus 24:7 8 You may remember Joshua as one of the 12 scouts Moses sent into Canaan to assess the land and its inhabitants. The 12 returned with mixed reports. Only Joshua and Caleb were prepared to follow God s plan; the others were afraid. At the time of this story, the Israelites had crossed the Jordan River and were on the threshold of their first battle in the promised land. Jericho was the first city to be reckoned with, and conquering Jericho would be no small task. The walls of Jericho were as much as 25 feet high and 20 feet thick. In all probability, guards were posted on top of the wall to keep watch for any approaching enemy. The inhabitants considered the city to be invincible. The situation must have seemed hopeless to the Israelites. Have you ever had a similar feeling when faced with a seemingly impossible task? Joshua, now the leader of the Israelites, was ready to take a step of faith. Why do you think Joshua had such confidence? (Read Joshua 6:2.) We can be sure Joshua trusted God. He knew his part of the plan was to carefully carry out God s instructions. We can learn something about faith and humility from Joshua s actions. God doesn t need our help to do anything. He merely allows us to be part of His plans. As you read the Lord s instructions to the Israelites as described in BIBLE TEACHING FOR 1ST AND 2ND GRADERS Joshua 6:3-5, think about what the people s reactions might have been. If they had any reservations about the plan, we see no evidence of it. Verses 6-11 indicate that there was no hesitation on the part of the Israelites. Read Joshua 6:12-14; then close your eyes for a minute and try to imagine what this must have looked like to the people of Jericho. At first the scene may have amused them. Perhaps the residents of Jericho were growing more and more anxious with each passing day. On the seventh day, the Israelites marched around Jericho as they had for the previous six days, but this time they made seven trips around the city. The number seven is used often in Scripture. Many Bible students see it as a sign of completion. What do you think its significance is in this chapter? On the seventh trip around Jericho, when the priests blew their trumpets, Joshua gave the signal, and the people began to shout as loud as they could. The noise must have been deafening. When the walls came down, the Israelites charged into the city. You can read the gruesome details in verse 21. Help the children you teach understand that the Israelites were given the victory because they followed God s plan to the letter. Explain that God has a plan for each of their lives. When they follow God s plans, they are being obedient to Him.
Session at a Glance 1) PREVIEW the Bible Study Use with children who arrive early. The children will practice Bible skills. 2) POWER UP for Bible Study (5 10 minutes) Start at the time designated by your church for Sunday School to begin. The children will play a game in which they walk in different ways. 3) PLUG IN to Bible Study (25 30 minutes) Study the Bible content and worship. To help them know that they can obey God and follow His plans, the children will sing God Is Mighty, practice Bible skills, learn Exodus 24:7, listen to a Bible story, review, apply the Bible truth, pray, and begin learning Proverbs 3:5-6 by singing. 4) PERSONALIZE the Bible Study (20 25 minutes) Each teacher leads a group of children to do one of the following activities. Choice 1: Follow God Frieze Choice 2: Who Am I? Riddles Choice 3: Obedience Box Display 1 PREVIEW the Bible Study Direct the boys and girls to pronounce each of the Bible book names on the cards. Each child will choose a card and find that book in her Bible. Guide the kids to use the list of books in the front of their Bibles to arrange the cards showing the books in the order they appear in the Bible. Print the following Bible book names on index cards: Exodus, Joshua, 1 Samuel, 1 Kings, Nehemiah, Psalms, Proverbs, and Jonah. (CD-ROM) 2 All the June Bible stories and memory verses are found in these eight books of the Bible. All of these Bible books are in the Old Testament. POWER UP for Bible Study Invite the children to stand in a circle. Explain that they will silently walk in a circle but that they must walk in the way directed by the CD. Play Walking Instructions from the CD (track 8). If necessary, remind the kids that they may not speak during the game. Teaching Tip Save the cards to use again in 2 weeks and as needed. CD (pack item 1) Thank the kids for following the walking instructions. In today s Bible story, the children will hear that many people followed God s instructions to walk around a city in a certain way. Option Use the Quick Scene God Is Love bulletin board borders (005191567) to add to a bulletin board during June. WEEK OF JUNE 5, 2011 9
Display the title banner and memory verses (pack items 2 and 3). CD (pack item 1) and the God Is Mighty song chart (back of teaching picture 6) 3 PLUG IN to Bible Study Hear 1 Introduce the unit, and sing. Read aloud the title banner, and preview the unit of study. Know The June Bible stories will help the kids learn about God s power. Today s Bible study will help kids learn that God can choose to show His power when His people are obedient and follow His plans. Read the words of God Is Mighty. Sing the song with the CD (track 3). A beach ball Teaching Tips Practice telling the Bible story aloud. Maintain eye contact with the kids as you tell the story. Vary your tempo, tone, and volume as appropriate. 2 Use Bibles, and learn the memory verse. Read aloud Exodus 24:7. Say the verse together. Lead the kids to find and read Exodus 24:7 in their Bibles. Walk to a child, and give her the ball. She will say the first word of the verse and walk the ball to another child. That child will say the second word and will take the ball to a third child, who says the third word. Continue until the entire verse and the reference have been said. Challenge the kids to repeat the process another time or two, working faster each time. (Options: Direct the kids to toss the ball instead of carrying it. Direct the kids to sit in a circle, to pass the ball, and to stand with the ball when they speak.) 3 Tell the Bible story. Guide the children to find and read Joshua 6:1 in their Bibles. Invite them to listen to discover how God defeated the city of Jericho. Open your Bible to Joshua 6, and tell the Bible story in your own words. Say: The Israelite people had finally arrived in the land God had promised to them. Now they stood outside the city and faced the high, strong walls that protected Jericho. Jericho 10 God said to Joshua, Look, I have handed Jericho over to you. God told Joshua that the Israelites should march around the city once a day for the next six days. But on the seventh day, God said, You will march around the city seven times. Joshua summoned the priests and said to them, Take up the ark of the covenant. Seven priests will carry ram s-horn trumpets in front of the ark. Joshua told the people to move forward and to march around the city with armed troops going ahead of the priests and more armed troops coming behind the priests. The seven priests carrying the trumpets moved forward and blew the trumpets. The priests carrying the ark of the covenant followed them. The armed troops went in front of the priests with the trumpets, and the rear guard went behind the ark. BIBLE TEACHING FOR 1ST AND 2ND GRADERS
Joshua commanded the people: Do not shout or let your voice be heard. Don t let one word come out of your mouth until the time I say, Shout! The people marched around Jericho, circling it once. They returned to their camp for the night. For six days, everyone lined up and circled the city one time. Each night they returned to their camp. For six days, the people did not speak a word as they marched. Early on the seventh day, the people began marching. They marched around the city seven times. After the seventh time, the priests blew the trumpets. Finally, Joshua said to the people, Shout! For God has given you the city. Joshua told the Israelites that they were to conquer and destroy the city. They were not allowed to take anything for themselves. They were to spare the lives of one woman and her household because she had protected two of the Israelite men who had previously been sent to learn about the city. Items of silver, gold, bronze, and iron were to be saved for God s treasury. The people gave a great shout, and the wall around the city collapsed. The people had obeyed. God had defeated Jericho. Joshua 6:1-21 4 Review, and apply the Bible truth. Point to the teaching picture. Ask what is happening in the picture. Ask what happened before and after this point of the story. Form teams. Introduce and play Boardwalk using this week s review questions. Explain that you will remember where the game pieces end so that the game can continue next week. Teaching picture 1 and Boardwalk (pack item 5) Put the session 1 review question cards (pack item 4) in a sand pail (or bag). Ask the kids to name ways they can obey God and follow His plans. Ask why we should obey God. Joshua and the Israelites chose to obey God and follow His plan, even when they did not know exactly what God was going to do. God has a plan for each child s life. We can follow God s plan by obeying Him. 5 Pray, and sing. Ask each child to name one way she can obey God. Lead a sentence prayer. Encourage each child to pray, Please God, help me and to complete the prayer by naming a way she will obey and follow God s plans. Show and read Proverbs 3:5-6. Sing Proverbs 3:5-6 with the CD (track 2). 6 Form Personalize groups. Describe the activities you have prepared to help the kids learn more about obeying God and following His plans. Guide each child to choose an activity. Proverbs 3:5-6 (back of teaching picture 7) Teaching Tip Display Proverbs 3:5-6 throughout the month. Challenge the children to learn this Scripture passage. WEEK OF JUNE 5, 2011 11
Choice 1 Markers and a long piece of craft paper (or freezer paper) Options Children can draw their pictures on individual pieces of paper and tape the pictures to the long paper. Make a mural instead of a frieze. (A mural is one big picture. A frieze is a series of panels with individual pictures on one long surface.) 4 PERSONALIZE the Bible Study Do Choice 1: Follow God Frieze Children who participate in this activity will make a frieze to show ways they can obey God and follow His plans. Learner guide pages 5 6: Complete Flip-flop Match and Beach Ball Bounce. Ask how the children could obey each Bible verse used in the Flip-flop Match activity. Ask if they can think of other ways to obey those verses. Ask if they can think of other Bible verses they can obey. Divide the craft paper into sections. Assign each child to a section. Guide each child to draw in his section a picture showing a way he can obey God. Encourage each child to print the related Bible verse on his section. God has plans for every person s life. We can follow God s plans by obeying Him. Kids may not know right now all of God s plans for them, but He will show more of His plans as the boys and girls grow. Kids can obey God and can follow the parts of His plan that they already know: read the Bible, pray, worship, give offerings, help others, obey parents and teachers, and do their best at school. * Apply the Bible truth all week. Choice 2 A large sheet of paper, writing paper, a marker, and pencils Choice 2: Who Am I? Riddles Children who participate in this activity will write riddles as a way to review the Bible study and to identify ways they can obey God. Learner guide pages 5 6: Complete Flip-flop Match and Beach Ball Bounce. Ask how the children could obey each Bible verse used in the Flip-flop Match activity. Ask if they can think of other ways to obey those verses. Ask if they can think of other Bible verses they can obey. Explain that a riddle is a puzzle made up of one or more clues, followed by a question. The kids will write riddles about people or objects mentioned in the Bible story. Make a list of possible riddle subjects from the story (for example, walls, trumpets, priests, Joshua, soldiers, shout, ark, march, and so on). Direct each child to choose a subject and to write a riddle. Be prepared to give lots of help. Each child will read his riddle. The other kids will guess the answer. Help the kids write additional riddles that tell ways they can obey God and follow His plans. Print all the riddles on the large paper for kids to read and guess. 12 BIBLE TEACHING FOR 1ST AND 2ND GRADERS
God has plans for every person s life. We can follow God s plans by obeying Him. Kids may not know right now all of God s plans for them, but He will show more of His plans as the boys and girls grow. Kids can obey God and can follow the parts of His plan that they already know: read the Bible, pray, worship, give offerings, help others, obey parents and teachers, and do their best at school. * Apply the Bible truth all week. Choice 3: Obedience Box Display Children who participate in this activity will make a box display to show how they can obey God and follow His plan. Learner guide pages 5 6: Complete Flip-flop Match and Beach Ball Bounce. Play the Obedience Match game. The kids will use their Bibles to match Bible verse references to the sentences that tell ways to obey the verses. Guide the kids to think of additional ways they can obey each verse. Each child will choose one of the verses and will draw or print a way to obey the verse. The kids will cut out their illustrations and tape or glue them to the box. Add the references and sentences from the game. Choice 3 Obedience Match (pack item 6), a medium-size cardboard box, markers, paper, scissors, and tape or glue Option Obtain a large appliance box. Cut away 2 opposite sides, leaving the bottom, top, and other 2 sides so that kids can walk through the box. Kids can display their pictures and Bible verses inside the box. Others can view the display by walking through the box. God has plans for every person s life. We can follow God s plans by obeying Him. Kids may not know right now all of God s plans for them, but He will show more of His plans as the boys and girls grow. Kids can obey God and can follow the parts of His plan that they already know: read the Bible, pray, worship, give offerings, help others, obey parents and teachers, and do their best at school. * Apply the Bible truth all week. * Apply the Bible truth all week. Ask each child to name one way he will obey God and follow His plans this week. Lead the group to say Exodus 24:7. Pray, asking God to help the children to remember ways they can obey Him and follow His plans. WEEK OF JUNE 5, 2011 13