Session 8 Moses Sends Spies Into the Promised Land Numbers 13:1 14:23 Worship Theme: God never fails. Weaving Faith Into Life: Children will praise God for never failing them and holding true to his promises. Session Sequence What Children Will Do Supplies Let s Praise God! (up to 25 minutes) Sing There s Power in the Blood (track 13) The Power! (track 6) Doxology (track 4) He Cares for You (1 Peter 5:7) (track 2) He Is Powerful (track 14) KidsOwn Worship Kit: Songs From FaithWeaver, Pick-Up Sticks game CD player Preschool Session Sequence What Children Will Do Supplies Let s Learn the Point! (up to 25 minutes) God Never Fails Try to touch the ceiling, and discuss what God can do. How Big Is a Giant? Consider how big giants are, and taste milk and honey to explore how God took care of the Israelites. * You Can t Beat God! Play a game similar to bowling to see that you can t beat God. Purple balloon, tape Bible; purple balloon; pencil; 1 paper cup and spoon per child; milk and honey for all Several milk cartons, ball, box filled with books 94 KidsOwn Worship Fall Quarter
Elementary Session Sequence What Children Will Do Supplies Let s Learn the Point! (up to 25 minutes) * Joshua and Caleb s Amazing Adventure Watch a video, and talk about Joshua and Caleb s adventure. How d You Do That? Learn a neat trick, and discuss what God can do. * Giants Everywhere Draw and talk about giants, and celebrate God s power. KidsOwn Worship Kit: Lesson Videos DVD: Joshua and Caleb s Amazing Adventure TV, DVD player Chalkboard or whiteboard, string, scissors 1 long strip of paper per child, markers Session Sequence What Children Will Do Supplies Let s Pray! (up to 10 minutes) The Offering Give their gifts, and sing to thank God because he never fails us. Unfailing God Talk about times when God didn t fail them. All the Power I Need Shout and sing praises to God. KidsOwn Worship Kit: Songs From FaithWeaver: Give Thanks (1 Chronicles 16:8) (track 17) CD player, offering bowls KidsOwn Worship Kit: Songs From FaithWeaver: There s Power in the Blood (track 13) 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 8 KidsOwn Worship 95
Bible Background for Leaders Moses Sends Spies Into the Promised Land Numbers 13:1 14:23 The spies were sent on an exploratory mission. The purpose was to see what kinds of opposition they would be facing and if the land would be able to support the Israelites as they conquered it. Moses instructions were clear: They were to explore the land from the southern end all the way to the northern end. When the spies first returned, they simply reported what Moses had asked for. They told of the fruitfulness of the land, the powerful people, and the fortified cities (Numbers 13:26-29). But after Caleb spoke his mind, the other spies went beyond what they had been asked to do. They began to lament that there was no way they could defeat the people in the land. They exaggerated the reports of the size and strength of the land s inhabitants. The people responded by rebelling against Moses and against God. Once again the Israelites grumbling attitude took over. Once again they lost faith and wished to be back in slavery in Egypt. Once again God threatened to strike down all the people and begin again with Moses. And once again Moses interceded for the faithless Israelites. This time Moses intercession involved protecting God s own name and reputation. Moses pointed out that what the Egyptians had learned about God through their recent experience would be nullified if God allowed the Israelites to die in the desert. Moses wanted the whole world, including the Egyptians, to see how powerful God was. God once again forgave the Israelites. But notice he imposed a harsh punishment: No adults who were alive during the rebellion except Joshua and Caleb would be allowed to enter the Promised Land. They were destined to wander and die in the desert during the next 40 years. God had forgiven them, but they had to live with the consequences of their lack of faith and of their rebellion against God. Joshua and Caleb had faith that God could do what he said he would. Their faith enabled them to stand up for God, even when it was not the popular thing to do. Although their courage didn t convince anyone else to have faith, they were rewarded. Devotion for Leaders Jesus Christ stood up for the world through his atoning sacrifice on the cross. Through our relationship with Christ, we should stand up for what we believe and who Jesus is. Weaving Faith Into Your Life: Throughout history and all over the world, people have died because they professed a faith in Jesus Christ. While most of us do not experience persecution to this degree, non-christians can be resentful of our claims to know the truth. These confrontations put Christians in a difficult situation. Think about non-christians you regularly come in contact with. Are you the same person with them that you are before the children you are teaching? Pray that you will stand up for Jesus in your interactions with non-christians. 96 KidsOwn Worship Fall Quarter
Why We Worship for Leaders It was finally time for the Israelites to claim the land God promised them. Moses sent scouts to explore the land. It was a land flowing with the richness of God s promise: It was abundant in fruit, milk, and honey. Everything they had been promised was right before them. All of the scouts observed the same things: The land was very fertile, the people were powerful, and their cities were fortified. But from there, the reports differed significantly. Ten scouts warned that the people were too powerful for them to overtake. But Caleb, and later Joshua, encouraged the Israelites to take the land, insisting that the Lord would be with them. Caleb and Joshua knew they could count on God to help them. They knew that God never fails to keep his promises. Let s help children understand what Joshua and Caleb knew that God never fails his people. Rather than comparing ourselves to the giants in the land, let s compare the giants to God! No matter how big a problem we face, God is greater. All problems pale in the light of the goodness of the God who never fails. Let s worship God because he never fails. Easy Prep for Leaders Joshua and Caleb s Amazing Adventure Set up a TV and DVD player. Cue the Lesson Videos DVD to Joshua and Caleb s Amazing Adventure. You ll want to watch it at least once before the worship session. How d You Do That? Write the text of Isaiah 55:8-11 on a chalkboard or whiteboard. For additional worship songs each week, check out the Sing & Praise DVD included with your KidsOwn Worship kit! Cut a 2-foot piece of string for each elementary-age child. At one end of each string, make a loop that will slide over a child s finger. Preschool Activities Refer to the preschool pages for preparations. Let s Praise God! Have Songs From FaithWeaver, Fall 2015 playing as children arrive. some children to stand at the door and welcome everyone who comes into the room. the greeters to smile, shake hands, and say, Welcome! When you re ready, begin the worship session. Hello, everyone! We re here to worship God today because God never fails! Let s play a game to see what we mean when we say that God never fails. Take the Pick-Up Sticks from the KidsOwn Worship Kit. Hold them in a bundle as you would hold uncooked spaghetti, with the bottoms of the sticks against a table. Release your hand, and let the sticks fall in a random pattern. Have the children take turns trying to take one of the sticks without making any of the other sticks move. At first some of the children will be successful, Session 8 KidsOwn Worship 97
but soon it ll be almost impossible to take a stick without causing another stick to move. Worship Leader Tip Because the first sticks in the Pick-Up Sticks game are the easiest to pick up, let preschool children go first. Their motor skills aren t as developed as those of some of the older children, and allowing them to go first will give them a sense of accomplishment. Give each child one chance to play. Even if a child does remove a stick successfully, move on to another child for the next stick. If you run out of sticks before you run out of children, set up the game again. Once everyone has had a turn, put the sticks away. How difficult was it to take a stick without moving the others? (It was pretty easy at first; it was hard when others got in the way.) What did you think about while you waited for your turn? Were you nervous? Why? (I started getting nervous, because other people weren t doing a good job; I knew I could do it, because I came up with a strategy.) Imagine that you were playing this game all by yourself. Do you think you d be able to remove all of the sticks without ever making another stick move? Explain. (No, others would still get in the way; yes, I could make sure to move the top sticks first.) Do you think you could play five games in a row perfectly? (No, that would be too hard; yes, five isn t many.) How about 100 games? (No way, that s a lot of games; I d probably mess up a few times.) When I say that God never fails, I really mean never! God could play this game a million times and do it perfectly every time. There is no one stronger than God. There is no one smarter than God. No matter what God tries to do, he ll always succeed. Let s sing about our wonderful God. Sing There s Power in the Blood. Lyrics are in the back of the book. This song told us about how much power we have through Jesus. Raise your hand if you can think of a time the Bible tells about when God proved that he is powerful. Call on individual children, and have them mention various Bible stories. Discuss how God showed power in those situations. Track 13 God never, never, never, ever fails! He is always powerful. And if we take the time to look, we ll see God s power working all over the place. Let s sing The Power! Sing The Power! Lyrics are in the back of this book. Just as God moved in mighty ways in the Bible, God moves in mighty ways now. God is mighty, and he never fails! God never fails to help us when we re in trouble. God never fails to encourage us when we re sad. We serve a mighty God. Let s praise him. Track 6 98 KidsOwn Worship Fall Quarter
Pray Sing the Doxology. Lyrics are in the back of this book. Our God is worthy of our best praise. God never fails us when we have problems; he never fails us when we re sad; and he never fails to provide for us, either. Raise your hand if you can think of times in the Bible when God provided for his people. (Pause to discuss.) God even cares for the birds of the air and the flowers of the field. But even more than that, God cares for you! Sing He Cares for You (1 Peter 5:7). Lyrics are in the back of the book. The Bible is full of stories about how God never fails to rescue his people from scary circumstances. There s a song we sing that tells about these exciting stories. It s called He Is Powerful. Sing He Is Powerful. Lyrics are in the back of this book. God, we thank you that you never fail. You never fail to set us free. You never fail to be all the power we need. In Jesus name, amen. Let s Learn the Point! Track 4 Track 2 Track 14 Preschool Activities, pages 101-102 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 * Joshua and Caleb s Amazing Adventure Show Joshua and Caleb s Amazing Adventure on the Lesson Videos DVD. In this video, Joshua and Caleb will tell what happened to them when they were spies in the land of Canaan. After the DVD, have the children form small groups of three or four to answer these questions. Session 8 KidsOwn Worship 99
What made Joshua and Caleb s trip into Canaan so adventurous? (There were big, powerful cities; they were sent as spies; they found great things in the land; they wanted to conquer the land.) Why do you think they stood against the rest of the Israelites? (Joshua and Caleb knew what God wanted; Joshua and Caleb wanted to go into the land, but the Israelites were scared.) Do you think it was hard for them to stand up for the truth? Why or why not? (Yes, because everyone was against them; no, because they knew what was right.) Why do you think the other spies were so sure that the people couldn t take the land? (They were scared; they forgot how powerful God was; they knew the cities in the land were powerful.) Why is it sometimes easy to get scared and forget that God won t fail us? (We see scary situations and only think about what we can do; we forget how strong God is.) In what situations in your life do you need to remember that God won t fail you? (When my family fights, I need to remember that God is in control; I need God to comfort me when I m scared.) Joshua and Caleb were brave men. They were in the minority. Ten men were saying that they would lose any battle they fought against the people in Canaan. Those 10 men quickly convinced all the Israelites that they would be defeated. Only Joshua and Caleb stood up for the truth and reminded the people that God was on their side and that God never fails. In any situation, we can know for certain that God won t fail us. Let s talk about why. How d You Do That? I ve got a trick to show you that you won t believe! Choose a volunteer, and have him or her stand next to you in front of the other children. Have the child hold up one finger. Loop the string around the child s finger, and touch the tip of your index finger to the child s finger. (continued on page 103) 100 KidsOwn Worship Fall Quarter
Preschool Activities Moses Sends Spies Into the Promised Land Numbers 13:1 14:23 Worship Theme: Using Theo Session 8 God never fails. Easy Prep for Leaders God Never Fails Tape an inflated purple balloon to the ceiling or on the wall too high for you to reach it standing on the floor. You Can t Beat God! Gather a small ball, several milk cartons or 2-liter soda bottles, and a heavy object that can t be knocked down by rolling a ball, such as a box of books. 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 try to touch the balloon during the God Never Fails activity. See the KidsOwn Worship Kit for a puppet skit written for today s worship session. God Never Fails Today we are worshipping God because he never fails. To fail means that we can t do something. Even though we try, we sometimes fail. But God never fails he can do anything. I need to use a balloon for the Bible story today. Can you reach it for me? Try to stretch your arms up and touch the balloon. Do this with the children. What happened? We failed. We can t touch it. Let s try harder. Let s stand on our tippy toes and touch the balloon. Do this with the children. What happened? We failed again. We still can t touch it. Let s jump as high as we can and touch the balloon. Do this with the children. Warning To avoid potential choking hazards, pick up pieces of any broken balloons promptly. What happened? We failed. No matter how hard we try, we can t touch the balloon by ourselves. God never, ever fails. He can make anything happen. Stand on a chair to remove the balloon from the ceiling and place it just above the children s heads. Now, gently touch the balloon. (Pause.) You couldn t reach the balloon because it was too high. It seemed to be impossible for you to touch the balloon. But I brought the balloon down where you could reach it. In the same way, God makes impossible things happen. God never fails at what he does. God will help us do what we need to do because God is on our side. Let s place the balloon over here because we will need it later. Put the balloon out of the children s reach. How Big Is a Giant? How big is a giant? Is a giant this big? Make a pencil mark on the wall a little taller than the children. Is a giant this big? Make a mark as tall as you are. Is a giant this big? Make a mark as high as you can reach. God is even bigger and stronger than giants, because God made the giants! Open your Bible. Our Bible story tells us about a land called the Promised Land that had giants in it. It also had great big grapes. Show the children the balloon. The grapes might have been as big as this balloon! What would you think if you asked your mom for some grapes and she gave you a grape that was this big? The Promised Land had all kinds of good things to eat. God knew that his people would need good land that could grow lots of food. God wanted to provide for them, because God never fails. God didn t just give them a land that would grow food; God gave them a land Session 8 KidsOwn Worship 101
Preschool Activities that would grow great big fruit (hold up the balloon) and other wonderful food. Raise your hand if you like sweet things to eat. (Pause.) I love sweet things to eat. In the Promised Land, God even provided sweet things for his people to eat this honey, for example. Allow the children to use spoons to taste some honey. God never fails to provide all our needs. When you eat a meal, what else do you need beside food? That s right, God knew they would need something to drink. So God did not fail them. He gave them lots of milk to drink in the land. Distribute cups of milk to drink. God told his people to go to the Promised Land, but some of them were afraid of the giants in the land. God told them he would take care of the giants for them, but some of the people didn t believe God. Joshua and Caleb knew the secret, and they weren t afraid to say it right out loud. Let s say it together in a loud voice, God never fails! Lead kids in repeating the phrase. Joshua and Caleb told the others that they could go in and take the land because God would be with them. They knew that it is really no secret that God never fails. Let s stand up and shout, God never fails! Lead the children in shouting the phrase. We know that God is bigger, stronger, and better than any giants! We know that God never fails. That s why we worship God! Let s say it together one more 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 read food labels carefully as hidden ingredients can cause allergy-related problems. time, God never fails! Lead the children in shouting, God never fails! * You Can t Beat God! We re going to play a game that helps us to remember that God never fails. This game is called You Can t Beat God! Set up the milk cartons like bowling pins. We re going to take turns rolling this ball to knock the cartons down. Allow the children to knock them down. That was very easy. We knocked these over easily. We can beat this game easily. But you can t beat God. God is sort of like this heavy box. You can t knock God over. No enemy can beat God. The giants in the land may have been big, but they could not have beaten God! Allow the children to roll the ball at the box. God is greater than anyone! God is strong, and God cares about us. God will help us. God is on our side! No one can knock God down because God never fails! Replace the cartons with a heavy object. 102 KidsOwn Worship Fall Quarter
(continued from page 100) See how the string is trapped between our fingers. Unless we separate our fingers, there s no way for the string to be released. Tug at the string to emphasize this point. But watch this! Step 1: Take your index finger off of the child s finger. Using your middle finger, pick up the left side of the string, loop it over the right side of the string. Step 2: Then turn your hand over so that your fingers are pointing up. Step 3: Stick your index finger through the hole closest to the child s finger. Step 4: Slide your fingers toward yourself. Step 5: Flip your hand back over so your fingers are pointing down. Step 6: Put your middle finger on top of the child s index finger, pull gently on the string with your left hand, and watch the string fall freely from the child s finger. Hand out strings to all the children, and teach them how to do the trick. Give the children four or five minutes to experiment with it. Then have the children put the strings in their pockets, or collect the strings until the end of the worship session. What makes this trick so much fun? (At first it seems impossible, but it s possible; it s surprising.) Do any of you know why this trick works? (No; it doesn t make sense to me.) I don t know why this trick works either. That s why this trick is so cool! It doesn t seem like it should work, but it does, and we can t figure out why. How is figuring out this trick like trying to understand God? (We ll never understand him; God does things to surprise us all the time.) Listen to these verses from the Bible. Direct kids to the text of Isaiah 55:8-11 on the chalkboard. Read the words aloud to the children. Then have the children read the words aloud with you. Why don t we understand God? (Because his ways are greater than ours; he knows more than we do.) Why is it that God never fails at what he sets out to do? (God is perfect; God is holy; God is powerful.) We can t understand God. God is smarter than we are, and God is stronger than we are. In the Bible, God says that he will always accomplish exactly what he sets out to do. We may not understand God, but we can trust God. God loves us very much, and he wants the best for us. God will never fail that means that God will never fail us. We can count on him. Session 8 KidsOwn Worship 103
* Giants Everywhere For this activity, you ll need long sheets of paper. Use newsprint, toilet paper, paper towels, or adding machine tape. You ll also need markers and scissors. Check to make sure the markers won t bleed through and stain the carpet or the floor. Ten spies and all the Israelites were so scared of the giants in Canaan that they forgot to trust in God. There are giants in our lives, too. Let s think of the things that frighten us and make us forget that God will never fail. What makes people forget that God never fails? (When bad things happen to them; natural disasters; people who hurt us or are mean to us.) Take a strip of paper that s as tall as these bad giants are. Use a marker to draw a picture of a giant thing on the strip of paper. If you want, write the name of the giant thing you ve thought of that makes people forget that God never fails. Give the children time to do this. Have them explain their giants to one another. What do you think we should do when these giants appear in our lives? (Pray; ask God to help us; trust God; read the Bible.) God wants us to remember that he is faithful and powerful. He ll never let these giants destroy us. God will never fail. He s more powerful than the biggest, meanest giant. Let s destroy these giants to celebrate our God who will never fail. Encourage the children to tear, crumple, or rip their giants and throw them into the trash can. Let s Pray! The Offering As we give our offering today, let s give thanks using a song from 1 Chronicles 16:8. The Scripture says, Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done. Let s make known among our nation right here what God has done. After we sing the song, stand up, and shout out one thing that God has done. (For example, children might shout, God, you parted the Red Sea. ) Sing Give Thanks (1 Chronicles 16:8). Lyrics are in the back of the book. Track 17 104 KidsOwn Worship Fall Quarter
Pray Pray Unfailing God People can fail you, but God never fails. It s important to remember times when God has helped you. This helps you to remember that God never has failed and never will. Turn to the person to your right, and tell him or her about an experience you had when God didn t fail you. Give the children time to share. Now face forward. In just a few minutes, we will all thank God together for never failing us. I will start, and then we will all thank him together. Thank you, Father, because you never have failed and you never will. Thank you for keeping your promises to us. Thank you for not failing me when [have all the children say their experience at the same time]. In Jesus name, amen. All the Power I Need In every experience we have, God is all the power we need. Just like God brought you through the experiences we just talked about, God will bring you through everything. Let s close by thanking God because he gives us power. Let s say together on the count of three, Thank you, God, for being powerful. Let s sing There s Power in the Blood. Sing There s Power in the Blood. Lyrics are in the back of the book. Let s give God a round of applause for being the one who never fails! Lead the children in praising God with applause. God, today we celebrate your strength, your power, and your intelligence. We know that there s nothing you can t do. You re bigger than any problem. No matter what, you will never fail. We worship you because you are a great and mighty God. Help us remember this week that you are always with us and you promise to help us every day. In Jesus name, amen. Track 13 Session 8 KidsOwn Worship 105