Worship!!!

Tech: Cue Title Slide Hello everybody—it’s so great to see you here today! One of my favorite things in the world is learning how to follow our awesome God with you—it’s such an adventure. Hey—speaking of adventures, have any of you been on a really cool adventure before? (Take a few responses.) That’s incredible!

Today we’re going to hear about an amazing adventure God wanted to take the Israelites on, but before we get started, I think we should take a snapshot! Hold up camera On the count of three, I want you all to strike a pose like you’re on the biggest adventure of your life! Count to 3 and take a picture. Tell kids to take a seat.

Upload picture to DROPBOX. Tech: open photo in Dropbox and display on screen Taking a snapshot is great because it helps you remember. Like this picture I just took—when I look at it in a year from now, I’ll remember all of you and the awesome time we had learning about God.

And you know what, it’s kind of like that with the Bible. Pick up Bible and flip through it. The stories in the Bible are a lot like snapshots—they give us a picture of who God is. They help us remember how loving, how powerful or how trustworthy He is.

So that’s what we’re going to do today! We’re going to get a picture of who God is by looking at another snapshot of God’s Word in the Book of Numbers. Oh yeah—and here’s the best part! We get to strike some pretty awesome poses to help tell the story. Let’s get started!

Tech: Cue “snapshot” from previous week of kids looking angry Do you remember this picture from last week? In our story from last week, what was it that made Moses so mad? Take answer. That’s right—after receiving the 10 Commandments, Moses found the Israelites worshipping a golden calf. But Moses prayed for the Israelites and God agreed to forgive them.

Tech: Cue “The Big Bible Story” graphic Strike a pose like you’re packing a suitcase! (Let kids pose.) Nice—hold that pose until I say stop. Take a snapshot. After God gave Moses the 10 Commandments, God told the Israelites to pack up and head out for the land He had promised to give them—a land called Canaan.

Tell kids to release pose. There was only one problem with Canaan. There was already a bunch of people living there, and they weren’t going to give the land up without a fight. So Moses came up with a plan.

Strike a pose like you’re part of a super- secret spy agency. Take a snapshot. God told Moses to send twelve spies to explore the land of Canaan. The spies were told to look at how good the crops were, how many people were living there already and what the cities looked like.

The Israelites needed this information to know what they were up against. So the twelves spies began sneaking around Canaan and taking notes on all the stuff they saw. When the spies saw the crops in Canaan, they were amazed at how big they were. They didn’t think the Israelites would believe them, so they cut down a bunch of grapes to take back and show them.

Strike a pose like you’re carrying something really heavy. Take a snapshot. The grapes were so heavy that it took two men to carry them! Unfortunately, the grapes weren’t the only huge thing in Canaan….

Show me your best muscleman or musclewoman pose. Take a snapshot. The people living in Canaan were also huge—much taller and stronger than the Israelites. And there were huge walls surrounding their cities—walls that would have been really hard to get through.

After 40 days, the spies reported back to Moses. Strike a pose like you’re super confident. Take a snapshot. Two of the spies named Joshua and Caleb were super confident that God would help them take the land. Caleb said they could take it for sure!

Now strike a pose like you’re a total scaredy-pants. Take a snapshot. But the other 10 spies were shaking in their boots! They told Moses and the Israelites that they’d have to be crazy to attack Canaan. They said the people were too powerful and the walls were too big. They said that they would get crushed if they tried to take the land!

The two brave spies, Joshua and Caleb, couldn’t believe what they were hearing. Listen to what they said to the Israelites! Tech: Cue Verse Slide Read Numbers 14:7-9 aloud: ‘We passed through the land and checked it out. It’s very good. If the L ORD is pleased with us, he’ll lead us into that land. It’s a land that has plenty of milk and honey. He’ll give it to us…

…But don’t refuse to obey him. And don’t be afraid of the people of the land. We will swallow them up. The L ORD is with us. So nothing can save them. Don’t be afraid of them.” Tech: Cue Bible Story Graphic Do you think this little pep talk helped give the Israelites some courage? (Kids respond.) Unfortunately not!

Even though God had promised to be with them and to help them take the land, the Israelites were too scared to do what God had told them. God told Moses and all of the Israelites that because of their disobedience, none of them would ever see the Promised Land. Only the Israelites’ children and the two spies who trusted God would be able to see the Promised Land.

Tech: Cue “Bible Story Questions” graphic Ask kids the following questions. Have them discuss and give some answers. What do you think this story teaches us about God? Why do you think the 10 cowardly spies had trouble trusting that God would help them?

Tech: Cue Title Slide Did you know that God asks us to do some pretty hard things too? It’s true! And here’s the great news—just like God was with the Israelites, God is with us. He gives us a Spirit of power so that we can follow Him even when it looks impossibly hard or scary.

In fact, that’s what our Bible verse for today says. Let’s look at it together. Tech: Cue Verse Slide Read verse aloud, then have kids repeat it after you. “God gave us his Spirit. And the Spirit doesn’t make us weak and fearful. Instead, the Spirit gives us power and love. He helps us control ourselves.” 2 Timothy 1:7

Do you see that? God Spirit doesn’t make us weak or fearful. So let’s do this—when I point to you, I want you to throw your fist up in the air and yell, “POWER!” Got it? Kids respond. When God calls us to do something, He gives us a Spirit of…(point to kids) POWER! When God calls you to tell others about Him, He will give you…(point to the kids) POWER!

When God calls you to put other people first, He will give you…(point to kids) POWER! When God calls you to stand up for someone who’s getting picked on or to tell the truth when it’s hard, He will give you…(point to kids) POWER! God gives us a spirit of…(point to kids) POWER, so we can have the courage to follow Him anywhere.

Take final snapshot of kids doing “POWER” motion. Let’s pray and thank God for giving us His power when we need it the most. Close in prayer After prayer, introduce GO! DEEP Stations. Remind kids that the response time is a quiet time. After a few minutes, dismiss small groups