Jesus is the New and Better…
…Joshua
Intro: Where is the best place you have ever been? What was it like? Today we’re going to learn about how Joshua led the Israelites into the best country they’d ever lived in. And how God has an even better country prepared for the people who follow Jesus.
Games: To establish that they’ve been wandering in the desert for ages.
Canaanites footsteps - Exactly the same as Grandmother’s footsteps. The Canaanite stands facing a wall (Canaan) with all other players at the opposite end of the room (Egypt). The ‘Israelites’ have to sneak up and touch the wall by the Canaanite without being seen. The Canaanite can turn round whenever they want and anybody they see moving must go back to Egypt. You’ll probably need a leader to adjudicate!
Wandering in the desert - Very much like an unmusical chairs. There is a randomly spaced chair (or cushion) per child in the room. The kids must wander around the wilderness until a leader shouts ‘CAMP’ when they must sit on a chair/cushion. However a camp (or more) will be removed between each turn.
Talk: Some talk notes explaining the similarities between the Promised Land and Jesus’ promises for us. And here’s a talk about the rest we find in Jesus.
Drama:
You could teach the crowd their lines and promt them by showing the appropriate happy or scared face on a card as appropriate. You can cut up the other lines (my prefered method is to cut across 95% of the page and tear the last little bit off) and hand them out to the characters as they are needed. For younger children who can’t read a short line can be read to them for them to repeat. Lines for characters without names can be played by as many or as few actors as you have available.
This drama tells us about the good things in the Promised Land and the Israelites’ reaction to it.
The second drama is about the Gibeonites deception!
Activity: Host a tasting session: you might want to have pomegranates (or pomegranate juice), figs (or fig rolls), honey (on toast), milk, goats milk, grapes. Why did the Israelites think the land so good?
Memory Verse: But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells. 2 Peter 3:13 The instructions and everything you need to print for this hanging ornament are here, but you could also make it from cut up unused maps.
“Draw a picture of a home – it can be a house or a country – write or draw all the good things God will have ready for you there. In no particular order: no more sadness, no more sin, living with God, no more sickness, no more pain, no more darkness, Jesus, the light of God, other Christians…Thank God for it (and ask him to forgive you and have a place ready for you if you haven’t before.)”