Bible Passage: Joshua 8

Big Idea: We come together and celebrate God's victory over sin and death because of Jesus!

This week we learned that God gave Joshua and the Israelites victory over the battle of Ai. The people honoured God for their victory and gave Him glory for the battle. Afterwards, the people gathered together, "The foreigners, and those who were native born there….and the women and children," and worshipped God. They brought offerings, sacrifices and read the book of the Law that Moses gave to the people. There in front of Mt Gerazin and Mt Ebal, the people celebrated God and the victory He gave them, and they promised to obey and be like Him.

We too, come together to celebrate the victory that God has given us. When the people of God gather as the church, we also bring our offerings and worship Him together. We celebrate the victory God has given us through Jesus over sin and death. We likewise, hear from His word and commit to obeying and be like Him. Our gatherings are to celebrate Jesus and the victory we share in Him. Consider baking a cake or some other yummy food to celebrate together our victory in Jesus!

Family Activity

Use this week to hold a 'family gathering' and ask children how they feel about going to church gatherings on Sundays. What are some of the things they enjoy? What are some things they find hard? Talk about the importance of joining together with God's people to hear from Him, and worship Him together, and commit together to be more like Him. Think about how you can do this together in your home as a family. How can you worship/celebrate God together each week? (Prayers, meals, family walks, singing together in the car, holidays, Christmas, birthdays)  What offerings do you bring Him? (Our money, our time, our gifts and talents) When do you gather around or read His word and talk about how to be more like Jesus? Gathering is an important aspect of our faith so that we can grow together to serve one another and be more like Jesus!

See you next week!