The aim of this session is to: 

Teach the children about Joshua – who he was and the task/mission God gave him to accomplish. Our challenge is to apply this teaching to our lives today by living each day with God-centred, courageous faith like Joshua; certain that God is always with us and promises never to leave or abandon us.

Verse:Joshua 5:13–6:21

Diving into the Story:

Can you think of people you know who have done something very brave? You can think of friends and family as well as TV characters or fictional characters. Discuss your answers as a family or Write down the answers or draw a simple picture of what the person did or does. 

Today’s Bible character is Joshua.

• God had given Him a special mission – to lead God’s people from the desert (where they were living) into the land that He had promised them back when Abraham was alive.
• The land (Canaan) already had big people living in it and had cities that had massive walls to defend them (for older groups introduce the idea of fortified cities).
• The first thing that Joshua had to do was take the city of Jericho – it was one of the best defended cities in the land. God told Joshua what he needed to do…and it wasn’t quite what you would expect!

Read -The story of Joshua and battle of Jericho-Joshua 5:13–6:21.

Questions: 

• Did they expect Joshua to win this battle by just blowing trumpets and shouting? Why or why not? (Whilst walking round a city blowing trumpets may seem like an odd way to fight a battle, the key thing to pull out is that Joshua got God’s people to do what God asked them. They were obeying God and trusting Him.)
• What was so special about Joshua? (he was extremely brave and went into a very difficult situation, trusting God totally. He remembered that God had promised He would always be with them.)

Encourage the children to think back to their own difficult situations where they need to be brave. Remind them that God promises to be with His children always. We can pray (talk) to God and ask for help to be brave and help to trust Him in difficult situations – just like Joshua did.

We need to live with God-centred, courageous faith, just like Joshua. Depending on God’s promise that He will always be with us – never leaving us or forsaking us.

Activity:

Draw a picture of a situation you need to be brave in this week. It could be something with school, something you are scared to do, or you need to tell something to someone but it is a little scary.

Together as a family pray: ‘Dear God. Please help me to be brave when I have to do xxxxx. Thank you for being there with me.’

Encourage the children to write their prayer on the picture and stick it somewhere visible at home. This will remind you  that God will be with you when you have to face that difficult situation.