Big Idea: God has made a way for us to be forgiven from all our sin!

Bible Passage: Joshua 7

In this story we learned that a man named Achan stole something and hid it, thinking that he would get away with it. God commanded all his people not to take anything from the cities they over took, but Achan disobeyed God and lied about it. The next time Israel went into battle, they lost. They were afraid, so Joshua cried out to God. God told Joshua, "Israel has sinned; they have violated my covenant, which I commanded them to keep." Achan and his whole family were punished for their sin. 

God was angry at the people's sin: God had commanded them to keep the covenant He gave them. Even though the people broke the covenant and were not perfectly obedient, God kept saving them from battle. The people repented, and God forgave them and protected and saved them. 

God keeps His promise to us, too. He knows we cannot be perfectly obedient, so He sent Jesus to die for our sin, so that we can repent and be forgiven and be made holy as God is holy. Our God didn't have to keep His promise to save us. He hates sin. Yet, He took the punishment our sin deserves so that we could be forgiven. We can bring our sin to Jesus knowing He sees it all, and loves us anyway. There is no shame for those who call on the name of Jesus.

Family Activity

Hide some gold coins around the house and have a treasure hunt. Remind children when they find the money that God can see all things, even things we think we can hide. Ask children what are some things they feel like they need to hide? Remind children that nothing is hidden from God, and that because of Jesus, we don't need to feel ashamed or hide our sin from God, because He always loves and forgives us, no matter what we do. Encourage children to bring the things they want to hide from God to him in prayer together. Remind them that there is no shame for those who call on the Name of Jesus.

Big Idea: God is almighty and He fights for his people.

Bible Passage: Joshua 6

This week the kids learned the story of the battle of Jericho. God's people had made it (finally!) into the Promised Land. They were now faced with the task of defeating mighty armies to claim the land God had promised them. Jericho was a city with fortified walls around it, and a strong army to defend it. But God told Joshua He would give the people the victory over the city. He gave Joshua special instructions to march around the walls with the army, and finally, give a shout. When the people obeyed, and they shouted, the walls fell down – at just the sound of their voices! God knocked the walls down, and he gave them the victory. 

It would have seemed silly to the people of God to try to defeat a walled city and a great army by simply marching and shouting. It would have taken great faith of Joshua to trust God with such an instruction. But he did, and God showed His mighty power to save His people. Sometimes trusting God in the face of danger or in hard circumstances feels very silly. Sometimes it doesn't make sense at all, and yet, we are told that our mighty God never ever lets us down or leaves us alone. 

We can trust God that He never changes, and that He is mighty to save us now as He was mighty to save His people then. We can trust this because we see his power over all things displayed on the cross for us. Jesus died and rose again to prove that God alone has power over all things – even death- and that we can trust Him to carry us through all things, even if all we have is our voice to sing His praises.

Family Activity

Make a tower out of anything you can find in your home – pillows, boxes, blocks, laundry, whatever you can find! Then, have children march around (without touching the tower) and make loud noises until the tower falls down. When the tower doesn't fall down, remind children that the people who yelled at the tower did not have the power, but God did. As the people followed God, he fought for them. Remind children that our God also promises to never leave or forsake us, and that He has already rescued us from sin and death, and that we can trust Him for whatever we need.