(10 minutes)
Supplies Needed: Paper, small stones
Teacher Note: Additional activities can be found in the Bible Study Manager by clicking the Extra Resources tab.
The students’ mission this week is to trust God with their fears and worries. God told Joshua that he did not need to be afraid because He was always going to be with him. God is powerful, and He always keeps His promises.
Ask your students to share a time when they were afraid but trusted God and asked Him for help. Emphasize the importance of remembering when God helps us. When we are tempted to be afraid or to worry the next time, we can remember God’s power and His love for us. Remind them that the Israelites set up 12 stones to remind them of God’s power and love for them (Joshua 4:19-24).
Encourage your students to keep a journal this week. In the journal, they should write down their fears or concerns. Then they should pray and ask God to help them and to give them courage. Encourage them to also record how God answered their prayers.
Read Joshua 4:4-7 to your students. Spend a few minutes discussing the passage and then divide your students into two teams for a relay race. With this race, they will pretend to run into the Jordan River to collect rocks before racing back to their teams. Ask the students to help you crumple up pieces of paper to be the “rocks.” Set the rocks at one end of the room and line the two teams up across from the rocks. When you say “go,” the first students from each team will race to get a rock and bring it back to their teams. There, they will tag the next person in line who will race to collect a rock. Tell the students that they may only carry one rock at a time. Continue until all of the rocks have been collected. The team who gathers the most rocks will win.
Then gather your students back together and discuss the importance of writing down, talking about, and remembering what God has done in our lives. If possible, give each student a small stone. Encourage them to put their stone somewhere so that they will see it every day to help them remember who God is and all that He has done for them.