God Gives Us the Courage to Obey and Follow

Let’s get up and dance with your kids in praise! Play some worship music in your home, have fun with it! Raise your hands, jump, close your eyes – enjoy a time of worship as a family. To get you into a groove, here are some songs to choose from:

One Way - by Hillsong Kids https://youtu.be/ZZ2zXc_9Q00
Trust In You - by Preschool Worship https://youtu.be/vEpAeqqSURI

God Gives Us the Courage to Obey and Follow

Lesson: Kids will say, “I’m not scared to follow God.”
Bible Passage: Numbers 13:26-14:4, The 12 Spies

Today’s story comes to us from the Bible. (Hold up a Bible.) The Bible is God’s word to us, so we know that everything it says is true. (Open the Bible and set it down in front of you as you give the lesson.)

Everyone gets scared at some point. Whenever we feel afraid, we can remember that God is always with us and loves us. God’s perfect love can make our fear, disappear!

God had promised his people a very special land to live in. Moses led them to the Promised Land, but when they got there, they found that there were already other people there. But this was the land God told them to go to. Would the people follow and obey?

Moses sent twelve spies ahead of them into the land to check it out. Ten of the spies came back scared. They came back with a bad report. They said the people living in the land were so big, they were like giants. God’s people looked like tiny grasshoppers next to them. They were scared.

Two of the spies – Joshua and Caleb – were not scared. They said, “God is with us. God will give us the victory. God will give us the land he has promised.” Joshua and Caleb were not scared to follow God.One day, the king of the land, Abimelech found out the truth. He was very angry with Isaac. He called for Isaac and said, “Why did you lie to me and to all my people?” Isaac admitted that he had been scared. That’s why he lied.

But the rest of the people were scared because of what the ten scared spies had said. They were too scared to follow God. They were too scared to obey God. It would be many years before the people would have enough courage to follow God into the land he had promised them.

We all get scared sometimes. But when we trust in God, like Joshua and Caleb did, our fear will disappear. He’ll give us the courage we need to follow and obey. We can say with confidence: “I’m not scared to follow God.”

Simple Prayer:
Dear God, Help us to never be afraid to follow you and obey you. Amen

Discussion Questions:
Wiggle Tamer: Play a few rounds of Simon Says.

Small Group Memory Verse: Have kids repeat the verse popcorn style. Point to kids randomly. Each time you point to a kid, he or she says the verse. (If a kid can’t repeat the verse, say a gentle “that’s okay” and move on to another kid.)

Questions: How many spies did Moses send out? Which two spies trusted God? Can God give us courage to follow him?

Game: Sit in a circle. At the same time, have everyone demonstrate their best “scared face” then their best “courageous face.” Go through a list of names. If you say “Caleb” or “Joshua” kids should put on their courageous face; if it’s any other name, the scared face. You can make up names or use the names of the actual spies as listed in Numbers 13:4-16. At the end, go around the room, pointing to each kid individually as you say their name. Will they choose to be scared or courageous?

Arts & Craft: Tell The Truth Sheet
Items Needed: White construction paper, green crayon, purple washable paint, cardboard tubes, paper plates, markerAdvanced Prep: Write at the top of each paper, “I’m not afraid to tell the truth.”

Directions: Explain to the kids that when the spies came back from their journey they brought huge clusters of grapes that were growing in the land they had just seen.

Give each kid construction paper and a green crayon. Have them draw the leaves of the grapevine.

Place purple paint onto paper plates. Give each kid a cardboard tube, which they will use to dip into the paint, and then stamp onto their paper. The goal is to create a cluster of grapes.

Allow the grapes to show that the land was good, the people were still too afraid to go into the land God had promised. At the top of each page, write, “I’m not scared to follow God.”