27 September 2020 Junior Church Resources
For our Younger Children
God Provides
https://youtu.be/6w4tgq3AAZY
Theme: God can do impossible things.
Object: Small rock, blank piece of paper, scissors
Bible Reading
Exodus 17:5-6New International Version – UKThe Lord answered Moses, ‘Go out in front of the people. Take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink.’ So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel.
Story & Activity
How many of you have ever played the game Rock, Paper, Scissors? Here’s how to play Rock, Paper, Scissors. Follow along. Demonstrate the motions as you explain.
Players all hold one hand out as a platform and hit it with their other fist while saying, “Rock, Paper, Scissors…go!” On the fourth hit and the word “go,” players form either a rock, paper, or scissors. Demonstrate each item as you say the words.
This is how you know who wins: rock smashes scissors, paper covers a rock, and scissors cut paper.
Let’s play! You can all play against me and you can keep track of how many times you win. Ready? One, two, three, go. For the first round, choose a rock.
I made a rock. If you made paper, you win. If you made scissors, I win. If you made a rock, we tied. Play several rounds.
The great thing about Rock, Paper, Scissors is that you can be a winner no matter what you choose from game to game. Today, I have a real rock, paper, and scissors with me. These items are all useful in their own way. Hold up each item as you talk about it. If you wanted to write a letter, a rock or scissors wouldn’t be much help, but a piece of paper would be, wouldn’t it? If you wanted to cut a piece of paper, a rock or paper wouldn’t help, but a pair of scissors would. If you were really thirsty and needed a drink of water, a piece of paper or a pair of scissors wouldn’t be much help, but a rock might be exactly what you need.
Wait—what?
Some of you are looking at me like I’m crazy! Don’t you think a rock would be helpful if you needed a drink of water? Let’s vote. Have kids raise their hand if they think a rock would help or not if a person needed water.
Well, in our Bible lesson today, that’s exactly what happened: A rock helped when people were thirsty.
What’s it like when you feel very, very thirsty? Let a few kids respond. Being thirsty is uncomfortable. It can give you a headache and make you dizzy. In fact, the human body has to have water every day, multiple times a day to stay alive.
Moses had led the Israelites out of slavery into the desert. The Israelites were more and more thirsty, the situation was getting very serious, and they complained to Moses. So Moses went to his tent and fell on his knees before God.
God answered and Moses did exactly what God told him to do. After he struck the rock, water began rushing from it—enough to quench the thirst of all the people and all their animals!
We can learn a lot from Moses. When you and I face an impossible situation, we can go to God and ask for His help. God can do impossible things.
Dear God, when we face impossible situations, help us remember Moses and know that we serve a God who can get water from a rock. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Daily Discussion
Daily Discussion – click here to view
For our older Junior Church Members
Grab the popcorn and gather round to watch this classic Rob Bell video – Rain
From Rob Bell: Things don’t always work out the way we want them to, or the way we think they will. Sometimes we don’t even see it coming. We get hit with some form of pain out of nowhere leaving us feeling desperate and helpless. That’s the way life is. Still, it makes us wonder how God can let these things happen to us. How God can just stand by and watch us suffer. Where is God when it really hurts? Maybe God is actually closer to us than we think. Maybe it’s when we’re in these situations, where everything seems to be falling apart. that God gets an opportunity to remind us of how much he really loves us.
https://youtu.be/nsjk-AGJQO0
Some questions you may wish to discuss together…
1. Have you ever had one of those moments in your life that is so beautiful you just want to freeze it? If you could freeze a moment, what moment would that be?
2. What are some of the storms in your life? Is it raining now? Do you think God intentionally puts us through trials? Isn’t there an easier way for us to learn?
3. Have you ever felt like God failed to come through for you? Looking back, do you still feel that way?
4. There’s a false, twisted idea among religious people that somehow you’ve got to have it all together to have a relationship with God. Do you ever act like everything is okay even when it isn’t? Why do we do this?
Leave a Reply