Central Casting Manual

Dear Central Casting Teacher,

Thank you for allowing the Lord to use you this week in ministering to His very precious children. This will undoubtedly be a week of hard work, great patience, and – hopefully – a lot of fun. The creators of Backstage Pass: All Access have been working very hard for over a year to plan and prepare this curriculum, and it is our hope and prayer that we have given you the tools you need to help lead the children that God has placed in your VBS this year into a deeper understanding of the important role that we all play in God’s kingdom. Children often think that they will be able to serve God only when they become adults. They believe that because their resources are limited, then their opportunities are limited as well. Backstage Pass: All Access is meant to change that thinking. It is the goal of this VBS curriculum to reinforce to the children that they can – and should – do something NOW. But they don’t have to do these things with their own resources – they have “All Access” to the one and only God of the universe who can lead them and give them every help they need to accomplish His perfect plan for their lives. There is much talk these days about “citizen responsibility” and “changing the world.” The truth is that these things are the responsibility of those who follow Jesus Christ – and not just because we have a President who wants change, but because we have a King who desires to change the world. We ask that you please join us in praying daily for the success of Backstage Pass: All Access. Not a success measured by man, but a success measured by God who sees the hearts of these children. We ask you to pray for God’s perfect plan to be accomplished in every area. There will undoubtedly be snags along the way, but the Lord can use even the imperfections inherent in this (and any) curriculum for His Glory. His strength is made perfect in our weakness! As a Backstage Pass: All Access teacher, you play an integral role this week. Please read over this Central Casting Guide completely and plan to attend all the VBS meetings if possible. Your VBS Director will be looking for input from you to any changes that should be made to the curriculum and schedule. Thank you, again, for your willingness to participate this year! We pray you have a wonderful week of VBS!

The Backstage Pass: All Access Producers What to expect during a day of Backstage Pass: All Access

1. To Enjoy yourself! The kids will be greatly impressed not just by the words you teach during the lesson, but also by your attitude throughout the morning. If you are frazzled or upset, they will not learn all that God has planned for them this week. They may even hesitate to return. They will certainly not be comfortable. If you feel that you need a break – for any reason – please send one of your youth aides to the VBS leadership team. We will make every effort to send another adult to take over your class. (We ask that you return to your class as quickly as possible since you are the only one who has prepared fully for the lesson.)

2. To lead the children in the central Bible lesson and several activities that reinforce its message. This is the heart of Backstage Pass: All Access. This is when the children are presented with Scriptural truths in a concentrated time of learning, and it is absolutely essential to the entire success of the truths we want to pour into the children’s lives. PLEASE make sure you KNOW your lesson each day and are prepared to present it in a fun, exciting fashion. We prefer that you be able to tell the story without the need to simply read it from your Teacher’s Guide.

3. To get a break! There is a scheduled break for you during your morning, but if you need a break at any other time, please let another adult know.

4. To be supported and prayed for. Please know that the Leaders are here to support you. We want to make sure that you know that you are loved and appreciated. Don’t hesitate to ask for help! We will get you WHATEVER you need. Please see the VBS leadership throughout the week for any help you need. We will make every effort to meet your needs.

5. To gather the materials you may need for your week. You will find a list of materials that you need for each day on the day’s Dashboard. The Materials Coordinator has been given a Master List of Needed Materials to coordinate gathering the supplies for the entire week for every rotation. S/he will be gathering these materials from various sources during the months leading up to VBS. It is your responsibility to get the materials on your Dashboards from the Materials Coordinator on or before Set-Up Sunday. (We also ask that you please assist her in any way you can by donating whatever materials you can, as well.)

6. To set-up the Central Casting room on Set-Up Sunday. This is a time to make sure that you really do have all of your materials ready and on-hand. Please don’t hesitate to ask the VBS Coordinators for help on this day.

7. To attend the Friday Night Premiere and be prepared to share a minute or two about your week, if at all possible. This will be a really fun time for the kids. We will be “premiering” the videos that they have made throughout the week. We will have the full red-carpet treatment, a concession stand, paparazzi, and SWAG bags. You won’t want to miss it!

8. To pray for the entire Backstage Pass: All Access team. Each individual will face their own set of “trials and triumphs” throughout the week, both at VBS and at home. We want to have a team that is unified in purpose and prayer. The Lord will be faithful to bless our efforts.

THANK YOU!!!!

Scene 1: Deborah You are a special creation with special gifts to accomplish a special purpose.

Scripture Judges 4-5 Please read this passage before studying the rest of the lesson. Objectives Each child will recognize that he or she is a unique creation with special gifts and a special purpose. The child will turn this under-standing into praise and thankfulness to God, the Creator of his or her special gifts. The child will begin to under-stand how to recognize their unique gifts and abilities. Memory Verse Ecclesiastes 9:10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might.

From the Director’s Chair Like so many Bible personalities, we know very little about Deb-orah. But there is much that we can surmise about her character. She obviously loved God and followed Him in a time of challenge and crisis. She was a woman who stepped out of the cultural norms of her day to act as an arbitrator, judge, and administrator for the nation of Israel, which were positions of influence not typi-cally granted a woman in Old Testament time. She was also called a prophetess, which means she received special instruc-

tions directly from God. There are not many men and women in the Bible who are called prophets and prophetesses. She obviously gained the respect of all of Israel because she took the time to listen to God and to the people’s needs. We know that she had a heart of thankfulness and praise from her beautiful song found in Judges 5. Deborah is a wonderful example of using the abilities that we have been given and the circumstances of our life to accomplish great things.

CLAPBOARD ACTIVITY (10-15 minutes) We’re All Different On this first day of Backstage Pass, use this time to allow the kids to get to know each other in a fun, active way that will also introduce our theme for the day — we are all unique creations. Explain to the children that they will have to work together to line up in a certain way, according to the categories that you give them. To make it even more fun, divide into two or three random teams and have them race to complete the task each time. (Try to keep the teams to no more than 6-7 children each.) Switch teams around each time to keep it exciting and to allow the children to meet every-one at some point during this activity. For the younger age groups, you will need an assistant with every team to help the children organize their line. When the line is finished, have the children yell, “Cut!” Have them line up according to the following categories in the given order: 1. age 2. birthday (chronological) 3. lightest to darkest shirt 4. shoe size (older groups only) Explain that we are all created in a very unique and special way — we even had a special day for our birthday, and God has given us all special gifts and abilities to accomplish special things during our lifetime. Explain that today we will learn about a woman in the Bible who was very unique and was used by God in a very special way.

Take a quick minute to explain that your clapboard is the same kind that is used on a movie set. It is used to give the audio engi-neers an exact spot to work from when they go into “post-production” or editing the movie in case there is a synchroniza-tion problem. It’s also used to signal “Quiet on the set.” Explain that you will be using your clapboard throughout this week to get their attention. Have a few fun tries at Quiet on the Set by having the kids get roudy and then quiet when you clap the board.

PROPS Checklist Clapboard BV Card 1 (Ecclesiastes 9:10)

Don’ t Forget! Try to quickly learn each

child’s name and use it often. Point out areas where each

child seems to excel, such as being friendly, solving prob-lems, running quickly, helping to clean up, etc.

Look for opportunities to dis-cuss today’s theme.

DASHBOARD

Have you ever tried to figure out if you are really good at some-thing? Do you think that God has given you a special ability or talent? Today we are going to look at a woman in the Bible who had some very special gifts and abilities from God. Just like you do! God had a special plan for her to carry out. Do you know He has a special plan for you too? Her name was Deborah, and we read about her in the Bible in the book of Judges 4-5. Deborah lived during a time before Israel had any kings and before their beautiful temple had been built. It was a time when Israel was led by people that God called judges. Many times during this period of history, the Israelites turned away from God and began worshipping the false gods of the people that surrounded them. One of these groups of people was called the Canaanites. The Canaanites were very wicked and did extremely bad things while they were worshipping their gods. The Israelites were supposed to stay away from all of the people surrounding them — but they hadn’t obeyed — and now, the Israelites were actually worshipping the same gods that the Canaanites worshipped! God loved the nation of Israel, and He knew that His way was the best way. The gods of the Canaanites weren’t real. They could never do anything to help the Israelites, and they could certainly never love the Israelites. God had made a special promise to Abraham many years before that He would always love them. He would always be their God. But God could not allow His special people to worship other gods. That sin had to be punished, and the people needed to be reminded that when they disobeyed, they would always be separated from God. So, God allowed a man named Jabin, the king of the Canaan-ites, to come up against the Israelites and begin to steal from them and make their lives very difficult. Jabin did this for 20 years. He was an extremely powerful man and owned 900 iron chariots! The Israelites couldn’t do anything to make this man stop bothering them. The Bible tells us in Judges 4 that Deborah was judging Israel at this time. This meant that she was doing very much the same thing that judges today do. Except that she was the ONLY judge in the whole land of Israel. People would come to her when they needed someone to make a decision for them. God had given Deborah a special ability to judge men’s hearts and give wise counsel. But the Bible tells us that she was also a prophetess. This means that she received special messages and instructions directly from God. Not many people in the Bi-ble were called prophets or prophetesses. So she was a spiri-tual leader, too. It was very unusual for a woman in those days to have either one of those special jobs. But God had a special plan for Deborah so He gave her special abilities — just like you have been given special abilities to do a special job. So after 20 years of Jabin’s meanness, the people of Israel finally realized that they were being punished by God because of their sin. They knew that worshipping other gods was wrong,

Today we are going to look at a woman in the Bible who had some very special gifts and abilities. Just like you do! God had a special plan for her to carry out. Do you know He has a special plan for you too? Her name was Deborah, and we read about her in Judges 4-5. Deborah lived during a time before Israel had any kings and before their beautiful temple had been built. They had been led out of Egypt by Moses and they were now living in their Promised Land. It was a time when Israel was led by people that God called judges. Many times during this period of history, the Israelites turned away from God and began worshipping the false gods of the people that surrounded them. One of these groups of people was called the Canaanites. The Canaanites were especially wicked and did horrible things during their times of worship to their gods — even sacrificing their children! The Israelites had been warned to stay away from all of the people sur-rounding them — but they hadn’t listened — and now, the Israelites were actually worshipping the same gods that the Canaanites worshipped! God loved the nation of Israel, and He knew that His way was the best way. The gods of the Canaanites weren’t real. They could never do anything to help the Israelites, and they could certainly never love the Israelites. God had made a special promise to the Israelites many years before that He would always love them. He would always be their God. But God could not allow His special people to worship other gods. That sin had to be punished, and the people needed to be reminded that when they disobeyed, they would always be separated from God. So, God allowed a man named Jabin, the king of the Canaanites, to come up against the Israelites and begin to steal from them and make their lives very diffi-cult. Jabin did this for 20 years. He was an extremely power-ful man and owned 900 iron chariots! The Israelites could do nothing to defend themselves against such a powerful en-emy. The Bible tells us in Judges 4 that Deborah was judging Is-rael at this time. This meant that she was doing very much the same thing that judges today do. Except that she was the ONLY judge in the whole land of Israel. People would come to her when they needed someone to make a decision for them. God had given Deborah a special ability to judge men’s hearts and give wise counsel. But the Bible tells us that she was also a prophetess. This means that she re-ceived special messages and instructions directly from God. Not many people in the Bible were called prophets or proph-etesses. So she was a spiritual leader, too. It was very un-usual for a woman in those days to have either one of those special jobs. But God had a special plan for Deborah so He gave her special abilities — just like you have been given special abilities to do a special job. So after 20 years of Jabin’s meanness, the people of Israel finally realized that they had sinned and that God was using

and they were sorry for their sins. They wanted to repent and return to the Lord. So they went to Deborah and asked her what they should do. They trusted that Deb-orah would know what God wanted them to do about Jabin. Deborah called for an Israelite man named Barak to come see her. She told him that the Lord had a spe-cial plan for him too. He was going to help deliver the Israelites from their problems with Jabin. The Lord said that he was to take 10,000 men and go to a mountain called Mt. Tabor where the Lord God of Israel will help him defeat Jabin’s army. Barak asked Deborah to go with them. He knew God would go with them if Deborah was with them. So Deb-orah went with Barak, and God did exactly what He said He was going to do. We’re not sure exactly what hap-pened, but from the song of praise that Deborah sings later, we learn that there was probably a severe thunder-storm (maybe even an earthquake) that caused the river nearby to flash flood. This flood swept away the chari-ots. Then the soldiers in Barak’s army were able to over-come Jabin’s soldiers. This was all a miracle from God! Jabin’s army was completely wiped out! Deborah and Barak were so thankful that God had helped the Israelites be free of Jabin’s rule over them that they began to sing a beautiful song of praise! The song talked about how awesome God is and how He delivered His people from their enemy. The people once again followed the Lord! Deborah was an important part of God’s plan to deliver His people from false gods. And YOU are an important part of His plan, too. He can use you just like he used Deborah to accomplish something in His plan – even now as a child! I hope that makes you want to praise God too! He deserves our praise!!

Jabin to punish their sins. They were ready to repent and return to the Lord. So they went to Deborah and asked her what they should do. They trusted that Deb-orah would know what God wanted them to do about Jabin. Deborah called for a man named Barak. She told him the Lord’s directions. He was to take 10,000 men and go to Mt. Tabor where the Lord God of Israel would draw out Jabin’s army of 900 chariots to the River Kis-hon. There, the Lord promised that Barak’s army would defeat Jabin’s army — even though Barak’s soldiers didn’t have ANY weapons. The Bible tells us that not a sword or shield could be found in the whole country of Israel! (Probably, the weapons had been stolen by Jabin and melted down to make more chariots.) Barak asked Deborah to go with them. He knew God would go with them if Deborah was with them. So Deb-orah went with Barak, and God did exactly what He said He was going to do. We’re not sure exactly what hap-pened, but from the song of praise that Deborah sings later, we learn that there was probably a severe thunder-storm (maybe even an earthquake) that caused the river to flash flood. This flood swept away the chariots. Then the soldiers in Barak’s army must have overtaken Jabin’s soldiers and killed them with their own swords. This was all a miracle from God! Jabin’s army was completely wiped out! Deborah and Barak were so thankful for God’s deliver-ance that they began to sing a beautiful song of praise! The song talked about how awesome God is and how He delivered His people from their enemy. The people once again followed the Lord! Deborah was an impor-tant part of God’s plan to deliver His people from false gods. And YOU are an important part of His plan, too. He can use you just like he used Deborah to accomplish something in His plan! I hope that makes you want to praise God too! He deserves our praise!!

Today we are going to look at a woman in the Bible who had some very special gifts and abilities. Like you, she had a calling on her life. A special plan to carry out. Her name was Deborah, and we find her story in Judges 4-5. Let me give you a little background information about what was going on at this time in Bible history. Deborah lived during a time be-fore Israel had any kings and before their beautiful temple had been built. It was a time when they were led by people that God called judges, and they were worshipping in the tabernacle. But many times during this period of history, the Israel-ites turned away from God and began worshipping the false gods of the nations and people that surrounded them. One of these groups of people was called the Canaanites. The Canaanites were especially wicked and did horrible things during their times of worship to their gods — even sacrificing their children! The Israelites had been warned by Joshua (whom we will study on Friday) about staying away from all of the people surrounding them — but they hadn’t listened — and now, the Israelites were actually worshipping the same gods that the Canaanites were! God loved the nation of Israel, and He knew that His way was the best way. The gods of the Canaanites weren’t real. They could never do anything to help the Israelites, and they could certainly never love the Israelites. God had made a special promise to Abraham about 600 years before that He would always love the nation of Israel. He would always be their God. But God could not allow such sin in His people. That sin had to be punished, and the people needed to be reminded that their disobedience would always lead to separation from the real God. So, God allowed a man named Jabin, the king of the Canaanites, to come up against the Israelites and begin to oppress them for 20 years. Jabin was an extremely powerful man. He owned 900 iron chariots! The Israelites could do nothing to defend themselves against such a powerful enemy. The Bible tells us in Judges 4 that Deborah was judging Israel at this time. This meant that she was doing very much the same thing that judges today do. People would come to her when a situation came up that needed a legal decision. God had given her a unique ability to judge men’s hearts and give wise counsel. But the Bible tells us that she was also a prophetess. This means that she received special messages and instructions directly from God. Not many people in the Bible were called prophets or prophetesses. So she was a spiritual leader, too. Both of these jobs were certainly not usually done by women during this time period. But Deborah was given special abilities to do a special job — just like you have been given special abilities to do a special job. The people of Israel finally realized that they had sinned. They were ready to repent and return to the Lord. They trusted Deborah to know what God would have them do about Jabin. Deborah called for a man named Barak, who was a leader from the tribe of Naphtali. She told him the Lord’s directions. He was to take 10,000 men and go to Mt. Tabor where the Lord God of Israel would draw out Jabin’s army of 900 chariots (that was led by a general named Sisera) to the River Kis-hon. There, the Lord promised that Barak’s army would defeat Sisera — even though Barak’s soldiers didn’t have ANY weapons. The Bible tells us that not a sword or shield could be found in the whole country of Israel! (Probably, the weap-ons had been stolen by Jabin and melted down to make more chariots.) Barak wanted to make sure that the Lord would definitely go with them so he said he would only go if Deborah also went down with them. Deborah went with Barak, and God miraculously delivered the people of Israel from Jabin’s army. We’re not sure exactly what happened, but from the song of praise that Deborah sings later, we learn that there was probably a severe thunderstorm (maybe even an earthquake) that caused the river to flash flood. This flood swept away the chariots. Then the soldiers in Barak’s army must have overtaken Sisera’s soldiers and killed them with their own swords. This was all a miraculous deliverance by God! Sisera’s army was completely wiped out! Deborah and Barak’s response to God’s deliverance was to sing a song of praise! The people once again followed the Lord! Deborah was an important part of God’s plan to deliver His people from false gods. And YOU are an important part of His plan, too. He can use you just like he used Deborah to accomplish something in His plan! I hope that makes you want to praise God too! He deserves our praise!!

Scene 2: samuel God has given you a special time and place in history to hear His voice and follow His plan.

Scripture I Samuel 3 Please read this passage before studying the rest of the lesson. Objectives Each child will recognize that God is already prepar-ing them for a purpose—both for now and for the future. The child will turn this under-standing into a listening heart. The child will begin to under-stand how to listen for God’s direction. Memory Verse I Samuel 3:10

From the Director’s Chair Samuel was a driving force in the early history of the nation of Israel. He is considered the last judge, but his role as a spiritual leader and political advisor goes beyond what the other judges seemed to have. He was “in the ministry” from the time he was probably 3 or 4 years old, preparing for his role as the segue be-tween the leadership of judges and the time of kings. He had a heart for Israel and a heart for God. He is a wonderful example to the children that God is preparing them now for a future pur-

pose. He can use them now, of course. But many of the plans He has for them are in the “planning stages.” The story of Samuel will encourage them to be listening and looking for what God might have for them now — and in the future.

CLAPBOARD ACTIVITY (10 minutes) Listening to God Ask for a volunteer among the children to “help us learn how to listen to God.” Explain to the volunteer that he/ she should attempt to walk from one side of the room to the other without stepping on or tripping over any of the stumbling blocks in the way. Ask for another volunteer to act as the voice of the Holy Spirit. He/she will give directions that the child will follow so that s/he will avoid the blocks. The “Holy Spirit” must stay against the wall with the other children, but “It” can move along the wall, staying as close to the walker as possible. The rest of the group lines up along the walls of the room. They cannot move from their place along the wall. Only the person playing the "Holy Spirit" can move along the walls. The rest of your group will call out directions also, trying to get the blindfolded person to step on the stumbling blocks. So the challenge comes for the blindfolded person to listen to a voice she trusts and to try to block out all the other voices in the group... It will become very difficult to listen to the correct voice, and often, the walker will trip. Use this exercise to lead into a discussion about how it is impor-tant that we listen to the Holy Spirit leading us as we develop our gifts and abilities for God’s purposes, and introduce our Biblical character of the day, Samuel, who listened to God’s voice.

For the younger classes, have a few more practice turns of being noisy and having fun — and then suddenly quiet when you clap the board. Select an assistant from among the children to be your desig-nated clapper. You will alert the assistant when you need it to be quiet.

Props Checklist 1. Clapboard 2. BV Card 2 (I Sam. 3:10) 3. Blindfold 4. Stumbling blocks 5. BV Theme Card

Don’ t Forget! Try to remember each child’s

name and use it often. Introduce any new students

to the group Ask each group’s PA if they

have checked for Bible mem-ory work and punched the tickets

DASHBOARD

Do you remember yesterday’s Bible story about Deborah and how she used her abilities to help God’s people? We learned that God has given us all special talents and interests and abilities that we can use to help God’s people – or help others come to know God. Today we’re going to see that God has given us a special time and place to use those abilities. Let me ask you a few questions. How many of you got to choose where you were going to be born? Did anybody get too choose who their parents were going to be? What about when you were going to be born? Did you get to pick your birthday? Of course, the answer to all of these questions is no. The Bible tells us that even before God created the world, He knew when and where YOU were going to be today! Isn’t that wonderful to know that God loves us so much that He has planned the days of our lives? This reminds me of our theme verse for this week. Let’s look at that again. (Use BV Theme Card). Listen to the end of this verse – “which God prepared in advance for you to do.” That means the God planned before you were born what good things you’re going to do! And now He’s getting you ready for it – even while you are still a young person. There was a very special boy in the Bible named Samuel. You may have heard about him before. His mother Hannah had prayed for a long time for a child, and she had promised the Lord that she would give the child back to Him to serve in the tabernacle if He would an-swer her prayer. God did answer her prayer and gave her a son, and when he was just a little boy (even younger than you!) Hannah brought Samuel to the tabernacle to serve there. During this time, the high priest was named Eli. Eli had two sons, Hophni and Phineas, who were also serving as priests. Hophni and Phineas were extremely wicked, and they did very evil things right in the tabernacle of God. But Eli didn’t seem to care. Eventually, be-cause of all of this wickedness, a man of God came and told Eli that his family and all of his descendents would never be allowed to serve as priests again. It was a very sad result of Eli and his sons’ sins. Remember we learned yesterday that sin always separates us from God. And sin must always be punished. Samuel was just a boy serving in the tabernacle seeing all of the wicked things that were happening, but he continued to do his daily chores, faithfully serving Eli. One night, after they had gone to bed, Samuel heard a voice call his name. He immediately went to Eli, thinking that it must have been Eli who had called him. But Eli told him that he had not called. This happened two more times. Each time, Samuel went to Eli. Finally, Eli realized that Samuel was hear-ing the Lord speak to him! Eli instructed Samuel that if he heard the voice again, to answer, “Speak Lord, for your servant hears.” Samuel did hear the voice of the Lord again. And he answered just as Eli had told him to. The Lord spoke to Samuel that night. The Bible tells us that He came and stood next to Samuel! Isn’t that exciting? He told Samuel that the things that the man of God had said would happen to Eli and his sons would take place very soon. The next morning Eli wanted Samuel to tell him what the Lord had said. Even though Samuel knew Eli would not be happy about what the Lord had said, he obeyed. He faithfully told the truth, and Eli ac-cepted that Samuel was a very important part of God’s future plan for Israel. From that time on, the people recognized that Samuel was

Do you remember yesterday’s Bible story about Deborah and how she used her abilities to help God’s people? We learned that God has given us all special talents and interests and abilities that He wants us to develop so that we can also help God’s people – or help others come to know God. Today we’re going to see that God has given us a special time and place to use those abilities. Let me ask you a few questions. How many of you got to choose where you were going to be born? What about who your parents were going to be – did anybody here get to make that choice? All right, well, what about when you were going to be born? Did you get to pick your birthday? I think you get the point! God has planned – believe it or not, before He even created the world – when and where YOU were going to be today! This reminds me of our theme verse for this week. Let’s look at that again. (Use BV Theme Card). Look at the end of this verse – “which God prepared in advance for you to do.” God planned a long time ago what He wanted for you to do, and now He’s getting you ready for it – even while you are still a young person. There was a very special young person in the Bible named Samuel. You may have heard about him before. His mother Hannah had prayed fervently for a child and had promised to give the child back to the Lord for His service if He would grant her request. God did give her a son and when he was only a very small child – probably 3 or 4, Hannah brought Samuel to the tabernacle to serve there. During this time, the high priest was named Eli. Eli had two sons, Hophni and Phineas, who were also serving as priests. Hophni and Phineas were extremely wicked, and they did very wicked things right in the tabernacle of God. But Eli didn’t seem to care. Eventu-ally, because of all of this wickedness, a prophet came and told Eli that his family and all of his descendents would be cut off from ever serving as priests again. It was a very sad result of Eli and his sons’ sins. Remember we talked yesterday about how sin always separates us from God. And sin must always be punished. Samuel was just a boy serving in the tabernacle witnessing all this wickedness, but he continued to do his daily assignments, faithfully serving Eli. One night, after they had gone to bed, Samuel heard a voice call his name. He immediately went to Eli, thinking that it must have been Eli who had called him. But Eli told him that he had not called. This happened two more times. Each time, Samuel went to Eli. Finally, Eli realized that Samuel was hearing the voice of the Lord. Eli instructed Samuel that if he heard the voice again, to answer, “Speak Lord, for your servant hears.” Samuel did hear the voice of the Lord again. And he responded just as Eli had told him to. The Lord spoke to Samuel that night. The Bible tells us that He came and stood near Samuel! He told Samuel that the things that had been prophesied about Eli and his sons would take place very soon. The next morning Eli insisted on Samuel telling him what the Lord had said. Even though Samuel knew Eli would not be pleased with what the Lord had said, he obeyed. He faithfully told the truth, and Eli accepted that Samuel was a very important part of God’s future plan for Israel. From that time on, the people recognized that Sam-uel was God’s chosen spokesman. Samuel continued to hear from the Lord for many years; he listened carefully to all that God told

God’s chosen spokesman. Samuel continued to hear from the Lord for many years; he listened carefully to all that God told him to do. He was a judge just like Deborah had been – and many years later when the people asked the Lord for a king, Samuel was the man that anointed the first king of Israel who was named Saul. God began to prepare Samuel as a very young boy to listen for His voice – and to use the skills that he was being taught in the tabernacle to help the nation of Israel grow and follow the Lord. Do you believe that God is actually preparing you right now for something that may not happen for many years? Do you know that God can use you today, even while you’re still learning and developing your skills and interests? He has some very special plans for you, and He’s looking for kids that are willing to work hard at developing their gifts so they can be used for His plans.

him to do. He was a judge just like Deborah had been – and many years later when the people asked the Lord for a king, Samuel was the man that anointed the first king of Israel who was named Saul. God began to prepare Samuel as a very young boy to listen for His voice – and to use the skills that he was being taught in the tabernacle to help the nation of Israel grow and follow the Lord. Do you believe that God is actually preparing you right now for something that may not happen for many years? Do you know that God can use you today, even while you’re still learning and developing your skills and interests? He has some very special plans for you, and He’s looking for kids that are willing to work hard at developing their gifts so they can be used for His plans.

Do you remember yesterday’s Bible story about Deborah and how she used her abilities to help God’s people? We learned that God has given us all special talents and interests and abilities that He wants us to develop so that we can also help God’s people – or help others come to know God. Today we’re going to see that God has given us a special time and place to use those abilities. Let me ask you a few questions. How many of you got to choose where you were going to be born? What about who your parents were going to be – did anybody here get to make that choice? All right, well, what about when you were going to be born? Did you get to pick your birthday? I think you get the point! God has planned – believe it or not, before He even created the world – when and where YOU were going to be today! This reminds me of our theme verse for this week. Let’s look at that again. (Use BV Theme Card). Look at the end of this verse – “which God prepared in advance for you to do.” God planned a long time ago what He wanted for you to do, and now He’s getting you ready for it – even while you are still a young person. There was a very special young person in the Bible named Samuel. You may have heard about him before. His mother Hannah had prayed fervently for a child and had promised to give the child back to the Lord for His service if He would grant her request. God did give her a son and when he was only a very small child – probably 3 or 4, Hannah brought Samuel to the tabernacle to serve there. During this time, the high priest was named Eli. Eli had two sons, Hophni and Phineas, who were also serving as priests. Hophni and Phineas were extremely wicked, and they did very wicked things right in the tabernacle of God. But Eli didn’t seem to care. Eventu-ally, because of all of this wickedness, a prophet came and told Eli that his family and all of his descendents would be cut off from ever serving as priests again. It was a very sad result of Eli and his sons’ sins. Remember we talked yesterday about how sin always separates us from God. And sin must always be punished. Samuel was just a boy serving in the tabernacle witnessing all this wickedness, but he continued to do his daily assignments, faithfully serving Eli. One night, after they had gone to bed, Samuel heard a voice call his name. He immediately went to Eli, thinking that it must have been Eli who had called him. But Eli told him that he had not called. This happened two more times. Each time, Samuel went to Eli. Finally, Eli realized that Samuel was hearing the voice of the Lord. Eli instructed Samuel that if he heard the voice again, to answer, “Speak Lord, for your servant hears.” Samuel did hear the voice of the Lord again. And he responded just as Eli had told him to. The Lord spoke to Samuel that night. The Bible tells us that He came and stood near Samuel! He told Samuel that the things that had been prophesied about Eli and his sons would take place very soon. The next morning Eli insisted on Samuel telling him what the Lord had said. Even though Samuel knew Eli would not be pleased with what the Lord had said, he obeyed. He faithfully told the truth, and Eli accepted that Samuel was a very important part of God’s future plan for Israel. From that time on, the people recognized that Samuel was God’s chosen spokesman. Samuel continued to hear from the Lord for many years; he listened carefully to all that God told him to do. He was a judge just like Deborah had been – and many years later when the people asked the Lord for a king, Samuel was the man that anointed the first king of Israel who was named Saul. God began to prepare Samuel as a very young boy to listen for His voice – and to use the skills that he was being taught in the taber-nacle to help the nation of Israel grow and follow the Lord. Do you believe that God is actually preparing you right now for something that may not happen for many years? Do you know that God can use you today, even while you’re still learning and developing your skills and interests? He has some very special plans for you, and He’s looking for kids that are willing to work hard at developing their gifts so they can be used for His plans.

Scene 3: samson God wants you to humbly use your gifts for His glory and purposes.

Scripture Judges 14 Please read this passage before studying the rest of the lesson. Objectives Each child will understand that special gifts and abilities are given to us by God, and we can bring Him glory with those gifts. However, if we begin to think too highly of our own gifts, our hearts will become prideful which does not bring pleasure to God. The child will turn this under-standing into desiring to have a humble heart that pleases God. Memory Verse “For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” I Samuel 16:7

From the Director’s Chair Samson is a unique example in Scripture of God using an individual in spite of his many failures and apparent inability to be governed by the Holy Spirit. We know that the “Spirit of the Lord came upon Samson” as was evidenced by great physical strength and that God used that great strength to bring judgment on the Philistines — but it is difficult to draw great lessons of faith and godly character from Samson — so we have done the opposite. We have examined Samson in his weak-

ness. Samson did not ever seem to be acting in humility or for the consideration of oth-ers. His outbursts of anger on the Philistines were usually reactions to his own selfish ambitions. He certainly never seemed to be concerned for the nation of Israel as a whole. Only at the end of his life was Samson able to humbly use his strength, even in his death, for God’s glory.

CLAPBOARD ACTIVITY (10 minutes) Precious Stones Using the geode and the polished stone, ask the follow-ing question: “Which of these stones is prettier?” (The pol-ished stone should be chosen.) Discuss how these two

stones remind you of the gifts that God has given each person. “Some gifts seem to be “more attractive” (hold up the polished stone) than others. These are gifts that people wish they could have because other people ad-mire them so much.” Ask for examples of “attractive” gifts. (You may need to prompt them with a few, for example — professional athletes, musicians, public speaking). “Even in the church body, God has given some people gifts that other people might admire and wish they had — like being able to preach a great sermon or tell others about Christ easily. But let’s look at these stones a little more closely.” First place the polished stone (reinforce that this stone represents the gifts that others admire) inside the old sock and use the hammer to break it. Show the kids that the inside of the rock isn’t very special at all. Then place the geode (reinforce that this represents a gift that others may not think is so im-portant — like being able to organize things, or plan menus and parties, or even bake cookies) inside the sock. Use the hammer to smash the geode open, revealing the beauty inside. Use this example to introduce Samson, an OT judge who looked like one of these polished stones on the outside because he was strong and people around him admired his strength, but on the inside he was not very attractive at all because he didn’t glorify God with his amazing gift. Explain that we want to be like the geode — using the ordinary skills we have to accomplish great things for the Lord.

Props Checklist Clapboard BV Card 3 1 geode per class (total 3) 1 polished stone per class (total 3) 1 old sock or pillow case 1 hammer

Don’ t Forget!

If time permits, use personal examples from your own life as you discuss to-day’s topic. As a child, was there a special skill or “gift” that you wished you possessed? How did you come to un-derstand that God had other things for you to do? Children often idolize movie stars, athletes, and singers because they are popular. Our culture suggests that those people are worth more than the average person. It is VITAL that we teach these children that God has gifted them in a unique and perfect way.

DASHBOARD

Here at Central Casting this week, we’ve been learning that God has given each of you special abilities and interests that you can be devel-oping even now – as kids – for His special purpose. Today we’re going to learn about another interesting man in the Bible who had a very special gift. In fact, we don’t know of any other person that ever lived that had this same special gift. I’ wonder if you’ve heard of this man before? His name was Samson. And do you know what his very special gift was? That’s right — his great strength! This strength really was a gift from the Lord. Samson didn’t do anything special like to go the gym everyday to lift weights or drink some kind of special vitamin shake! In fact, we’re not sure that Samson had this great strength all the time or just at certain times when the Holy Spirit came upon him. But let’s go back to the beginning of his story. Samson was born during the time of the judges (just like Deborah and Samuel) – and just like then, the Israelites were doing evil in God’s sight by worshipping false gods. But Samson’s parents only wor-shipped the one true God. They had no children so they had prayed that God would give them a child (just like Hannah did for Samuel, remember?) God answered their prayer and told them that they would have a very special child. This child would be a Nazarite. (A Nazarite was someone who made a special promise to serve God in a different kind of way. The person was not allowed to ever cut his hair or eat anything that the Israelites considered to be unclean. He also could not eat or drink anything that grows on a vine like grapes, rai-sins, wine, or grape juice. And he couldn’t eat anything made with the seeds or skins of those things. Also, the Nazarite was not allowed be near the dead body of an animal or human. Samson didn’t choose to be a Nazarite – God chose him to be one before he was even born. So Samson grew up as a Nazarite. When he got old enough to marry, he saw a beautiful Philistine woman that he wanted to make his wife. The Israelites had been commanded to stay away from the people around them – and not to form families with them. But Samson wanted to do his own thing – he didn’t care that he was doing some-thing that would not please God. One day, as Samson was traveling to the village where his future wife lived, a lion suddenly roared up. The Bible tells us that “the Spirit of the Lord came upon Samson” and he tore the lion in two with his own hands! Wow! Talk about great strength! But now Samson had a problem – he had touched a dead body! This was against his Nazarite vow. Sometime later, as Sam-son was again going to the village for his wedding feast, he saw the skeleton of that same lion – but now inside the skeleton was a bee-hive! Samson took some of the honey from the hive and ate it. He even took some to his parents to eat, but he didn’t tell them where it had come from. Again, Samson showed that he didn’t care about keeping his special vow to God when he ate the honey – because the honey had touched a dead body. At Samson’s wedding feast, an interesting thing happened. Samson decided to trick the men of the village. He came up with a riddle for them to solve. A riddle is a word puzzle to figure out – but anybody should be able to figure it out if they thought hard enough about it. This riddle, however, was about the lion and the beehive. Nobody would be able to solve it because nobody else had seen the lion and the beehive! He challenged the thirty men there that if they couldn’t answer the riddle, they would each owe him a new set of clothes. But if they could solve the riddle, he would give each of them a new set of clothes. Here was the riddle: “Out of the eater (that’s the lion) came

Here at Central Casting this week, we’ve been learning that God has given each of us special gifts and abilities. We are learning that we can be developing these special gifts even now – as kids – because one day, God will use them for a very special purpose. Today we’re going to look at another interesting man in the Bible who had a very special gift. In fact, we don’t know of any other person in all of history that had this same special gift. You might have heard of him before – his name was Samson. And his very special gift was that he was very strong! This strength really was a gift. Samson didn’t do anything special – like go to the gym every day or drink some kind of muscle-building protein shake! Instead, his strength came from the Lord. Let’s go back to the beginning of his story. Samson was born during the time of the judges just like our other two Bible characters this week, Deborah and Samuel – and again, the Israelites were doing evil in God’s sight by worshipping false gods. But Samson’s parents had remained faithful to worshipping the one true God. They didn’t have any children, and they prayed that God would give them a child (just like Hannah prayed for Sam-uel, remember?) God answered their prayer and told them that they would have a very special child. This child would be a Nazarite. (A Nazarite was someone who makes a special promise to serve God in a special way. A Nazarite was not allowed to cut his hair or eat anything that the Israelites considered to be unclean. They could not eat or drink anything that had been grown on a vine like grapes, raisins, wine, or grape juice. And they couldn’t eat anything made with the seeds or skins of those things. And finally, a Nazarite was not allowed be near the dead body of an animal or human. Samson didn’t choose to be a Nazarite – God chose him to be one before he was even born. So Samson grew up as a Nazarite. When he got old enough to marry, he saw a beautiful Philistine woman that he wanted to make his wife. One day, as Samson was traveling to the village where his future wife lived, a lion suddenly roared up. The Bible tells us that “the Spirit of the Lord came upon Samson” and he tore the lion in two with his own hands! Wow! Talk about great strength! But now Samson had a problem – he had touched a dead body! This was against his Nazarite vow. Sometime later, as Samson was again going to the same village for his wedding feast, he saw the skeleton of that same lion – but now inside the skeleton was a bee-hive! Samson took some of the honey from the hive and ate it. He even took some to his parents to eat, but he didn’t tell them where it had come from. Again, Samson showed that he didn’t care about keeping his special vow to God when he ate the honey – because the honey had touched a dead body. At Samson’s wedding feast, Samson decided to trick the men of the village. He came up with a riddle for them to solve. A riddle is a word puzzle to figure out – but anybody should be able to figure it out if they thought hard enough about it. This riddle, however, was about the lion and the beehive. Nobody would be able to solve it because nobody else had seen the lion and the beehive! He chal-lenged the thirty men there that if they couldn’t solve the riddle, they would each owe him a new set of clothes. But if they could answer the riddle, he would give each of them a new set of clothes. Here was the riddle: “Out of the eater (that’s the lion) came something to eat (that’s the honey), and out of the strong (the lion) came some-

something to eat (the honey), and out of the strong (the lion) came something sweet. (the honey)” After a few days of thinking about it, the men realized that they wouldn’t be able to solve the riddle. So they went to Samson’s new bride and told her that if she didn’t find out the answer to the riddle, they were going to kill her and her family. So Sam-son’s bride pleaded with him to tell her the answer — and he finally did! The bride then went and gave the answer to the men. When the village men came to Samson and told him the answer, he was very upset! Instead of buying 30 new sets of clothes for these men, he went to another Philistine village and killed 30 men there and then gave their clothes to the village men. How sad that Samson used his amazing gift of strength to do such a terrible thing! Samson had been given a very special gift of the Lord – his great strength. But Samson’s heart was not pure. He didn’t want to use his special gift to help free the Israelites from the Philistine’s rule. Instead, he used his strength for his own good. Samson’s life would have been so much more blessed if he had humbled himself and been willing to glorify God with his abilities.

thing sweet (the honey).” After a few days of thinking about it, the men realized that they wouldn’t be able to solve the riddle. So, they went to Sam-son’s new bride and threatened her and her family that if she didn’t find out the answer to the riddle, they were going to kill her and her family. So Samson’s bride pleaded with him to tell her the answer – and he did! The woman then went and gave the answer to the men. When the village men came to Sam-son and gave him the answer, he was very mad! Instead of buying 30 new sets of clothes for these men, he went to an-other Philistine village and killed 30 men there and then gave their clothes to the village men. How sad that Samson used his great strength for such a terrible thing! This whole event led to many more sad outcomes that you can read about in your Bible. Samson had been given a very special gift from the Lord – his great strength. But Samson’s heart was not pure, and he did-n’t want to help other people with this great strength. Instead, he used his gift of strength for his own benefit. Samson’s life would have been so much more blessed – and a blessing to others if he had humbled himself and been willing to glorify God with his abilities.

Here at Studio 210 this week, we’ve been learning that God has given each of us special gifts and abilities. We are learning that we can be developing these special gifts even now – as kids – because one day, God will use them for a very special purpose. Today we’re going to look at another interesting man in the Bible who had a very special gift. In fact, we don’t know of any other person in all of history that had this same special gift. You might have heard of him before – his name was Samson. And his very special gift was that he was very strong! This strength really was a gift. Samson didn’t do anything special – like go to the gym every day or drink some kind of muscle-building protein shake! Instead, his strength came from the Lord. Let’s go back to the beginning of his story. Samson was born during the time of the judges just like our other two Bible characters this week, Deborah and Samuel – and again, the Israelites were doing evil in God’s sight by worshipping false gods. But Samson’s parents had remained faithful to worshipping the one true God. They didn’t have any children, and they prayed that God would give them a child (just like Hannah prayed for Samuel, remember?) God answered their prayer and told them that they would have a very special child. This child would be a Nazarite. (A Nazarite was someone who makes a special promise to serve God in a special way. A Nazarite was not allowed to cut his hair or eat anything that the Israelites considered to be unclean. They could not eat or drink anything that had been grown on a vine like grapes, raisins, wine, or grape juice. And they couldn’t eat anything made with the seeds or skins of those things. And finally, a Nazarite was not allowed be near a dead body.) Samson didn’t choose to be a Nazarite – God chose him to be one before he was even born. So Samson grew up as a Nazarite. When he got old enough to marry, he saw a beautiful Philistine woman that he wanted to make his wife. One day, as Samson was traveling to the village where his future wife lived, a lion suddenly roared up. The Bible tells us that “the Spirit of the Lord came upon Samson” and he tore the lion in two with his own hands! Wow! Talk about great strength! But now Samson had a problem – he had touched a dead body! This was against his Nazarite vow. Sometime later, as Samson was again going to the same village for his wedding feast, he saw the skeleton of that same lion – but now inside the skeleton was a beehive! Samson took some of the honey from the hive and ate it. He even took some to his parents to eat, but he didn’t tell them where it had come from. Again, Samson showed that he didn’t care about keeping his special vow to God when he ate the honey – because the honey had touched a dead body. At Samson’s wedding feast, Samson decided to trick the men of the village. He came up with a riddle for them to solve. A riddle is a word puzzle to figure out – but anybody should be able to figure it out if they thought hard enough about it. This riddle, however, was about the lion and the beehive. Nobody would be able to solve it because nobody else had seen the lion and the beehive! He challen-lenged the thirty men there that if they couldn’t solve the riddle, they would each owe him a new set of clothes. But if they could an-swer the riddle, he would give each of them a new set of clothes. Here was the riddle: “Out of the eater (that’s the lion) came some-thing to eat (that’s the honey), and out of the strong (the lion) came something sweet (the honey).” After a few days of thinking about it, the men realized that they wouldn’t be able to solve the riddle. So, they went to Samson’s new bride and threatened her and her family that if she didn’t find out the answer to the riddle, they were going to kill her and her family. So Samson’s bride pleaded with him to tell her the answer – and he did! The woman then went and gave the answer to the men. When the village men came to Samson and gave him the answer, he was very mad! Instead of buying 30 new sets of clothes for these men, he went to another Philistine village and killed 30 men there and then gave their clothes to the village men. How sad that Samson used his great strength for such a terrible thing! This whole event led to many more sad outcomes that you can read about in your Bible. Samson had been given a very special gift from the Lord – his great strength. But Samson’s heart was never pure, and he never de-sired to help other people with this great strength. Instead, he used his gift of strength for his own benefit. Samson’s life would have been so much more blessed – and a blessing to others if he had humbled himself and been willing to glorify God with his abilities.

Scene 4: Gideon God has given us a special way to know Him and His purpose for our lives.

Scripture Judges 6:11-35 Please read this passage before studying the rest of the lesson. Objectives Each child will recognize that s/he has been given a special mission to follow the Lord. The unsaved child will turn this understanding into trust-ing the Lord as his/her Sav-ior (as the Holy Spirit leads). The saved child will desire to trust God with his or her life’s purpose, knowing that He knows the absolute best path for them. Memory Verse Daniel 12:3

From the Director’s Chair Gideon has very often gotten a bad rap for his request of the Lord to be given a sign, actually four different signs. But his fear was legitimate, and I think we can all identify with wanting a “clear sign” that we are sensing God’s direction, especially when that direction seems to heading into scary and dangerous new paths. We’ve chosen to examine the first appearance of the Lord to Gideon. This is sometimes overlooked in the typical children’s

lesson of Gideon and the fleece. We want to emphasize that the Lord saw in Gideon a “mighty man of valor” long before Gideon would have ever believed that of himself. We want the children to understand that God sees in them something amazing and of great value to Him. This is also the day that we will emphasize the need for salvation. We can only receive our mission if we’ve accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior.

CLAPBOARD ACTIVITY (10 minutes) A Black Dot Use your marker to draw a black spot in the center of each child’s clean, dry coffee filter placed on the table. (Also write their names in small print with a ball point pen at the very outside of the filter.) Drop several drops of water on the spot in the mid-dle. In a few minutes, you'll see rings of color that

go out from the center of the circle to the edges. When you do this, you'll see some amazing colors. How does this work? (Most non-permanent markers use inks that are made of colored pig-ments and water. On a coffee filter, the water in the ink carries the pigment onto the paper. When the ink dries, the pigment re-mains on the paper. When you dip the paper in water, the dried pigments dissolve. As the water travels up the paper, it carries the pigments along with it. Since the water carries the different pigments at different rates, the black ink separates to reveal the colors that were mixed to make it.) As the students wait for their filters to dry, revealing the beautiful colors, explain that today you are going to tell the story of a man who saw only the black dot of his life. He looked around him at the circumstances of his life and he didn’t think anything good could come from it — and he looked at himself as a black dot. He didn’t think he had anything to offer. But, you’ll see that by the end of the story, this man understood that God can take what we see as a black dot and turn it into something that is truly beautiful — if we’re willing to let Him. Have the children move away from their filters as they dry to hear the story of Gideon. Take them back to the table at the end of the story to see the results of the water on the filter.

Props Checklist Clapboard BV Card 4 Coffee filter—1 per child Black marker (not permanent) Eye dropper for water Glass of water Towel for quick drying Table or hard surface

Don’ t Forget!

Today is the day we discuss salvation during the Closing Session in Soundstage A. As you see opportunity, begin to prepare the children’s hearts for that special message

DASHBOARD

We’ve heard a lot this week that God has a special plan for our lives – and that we have our own unique gifts that God has given us. But I wonder if you REALLY believe that you are an amazing and special creation? And that God has a wonderful plan for your life? I think some of you probably still aren’t so sure that you’re really anything special. Sometimes I feel the same way! There is another man in the Bible I want to tell you about today who felt didn’t feel like he was anybody special and that God was not going to work in his life. Remember that this week most of our Bible stories have been about the judges who ruled Israel before they had kings. Some of these judges were great! Remember Deborah who stepped out in faith to defeat Jabin and his army? And then she gave all the praise and glory to God in her beautiful song. And remember Samuel who served the Lord from the time he was just a little boy? And then there was that not-so-good judge Samson who used his amazing gift of strength only to help himself when he got angry. Today I want to tell you about the judge who didn’t really want to be a judge! He didn’t think that he was anybody special – or that he could do anything special for God. His name was Gideon. Gideon lived during a time when, once again, the Israelites had fallen away from the Lord and were worshipping the false god of the Midianites called Baal. Of course, we have learned that worshipping false gods must be punished, so the Lord allowed the Midianites to start causing trouble for the people of Israel. The Midianites often came and stole food and animals from the Israelites, even forcing the Israelites to go into hiding just so they wouldn’t starve to death. And that is exactly where we find Gideon at the beginning of this story – hiding out! Gideon was under a tree, threshing wheat when the Angel of the Lord came and sat down under the tree. Now this wasn’t just any angel – this was the Lord Himself! We know this from several clues we get in the Bible so take my word for it -- this was an Old Testament appearance of the Lord Jesus. So the Lord plops down under the tree and says, “The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!” (Valor is another word for courage.) Now, I doubt that anybody had ever called Gideon a mighty man of valor before! We know he was the youngest son of his father and here he was doing the work of a ser-vant by threshing the wheat. We also learn a little bit about Gideon in the next few chapters of the Bible – and believe me, Gideon doesn’t seem to be very courageous! But the Lord saw something in Gideon that other people didn’t see – even Gideon didn’t believe that he could do anything special for God. But the Lord knew that Gideon had been created to deliver the Israelites from the Midia-nites – and He knew that He could help Gideon do it! Now at first, Gideon doesn’t realize that he is talking to the Lord! He begins to disagree with this “man” by saying that he doesn’t think the Lord is with anybody anymore. He says that the Lord has left them. He wonders why they don’t see any miracles anymore like their forefathers had seen. The Lord gives him a very interesting answer. He says to Gideon, “Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?” Finally, Gideon starts to think that he may not be talk-ing to just any ordinary man. What kind of man would send him to deliver the Israelites from the hand of the Midianites? He asks the Lord how he – the youngest son of the smallest family in the tribe of Manasseh -- could possibly accomplish such a thing! Again, the Lord answers Gideon with an astonishing announcement. “Surely I will be with you and you shall defeat the Midianites as one man.” At this point, Gideon finally understands that he is talking to the Lord – but now he just couldn’t believe what the Lord was saying! Try to imagine what Gideon must have felt right then. What if the Lord sat down beside you at lunch one day and said, “You are an incredibly coura-geous person. Go now to the country of Sudan in Africa and you will deliver

We’ve heard a lot this week that God has a special plan for our lives – and that we have our own unique gifts that God has given us. But I wonder if you REALLY believe that you are an amazing and special creation? And that God has a wonderful plan for your life? I think some of you probably still aren’t so sure that you’re really anything special. Sometimes I feel the same way! There is another man in the Bible I want to tell you about today who felt didn’t feel like he was anybody special and that God was not going to work in his life. Remember that this week most of our Bible stories have been about the judges who ruled Israel before they had kings. Some of these judges were great! Remember Deborah who stepped out in faith to defeat Jabin and his army? And then she gave all the praise and glory to God in her beautiful song. And remember Samuel who served the Lord from the time he was just a little boy? And then there was that not-so-good judge Samson who used his amazing gift of strength only to help himself when he got angry. Today I want to tell you about the judge who didn’t really want to be a judge! He didn’t think that he was anybody special – or that he could do anything special for God. His name was Gideon. Gideon lived during a time when, once again, the Israelites had fallen away from the Lord and were worshipping the false god of the Midianites called Baal. Of course, we have learned that worshipping false gods must be punished, so the Lord allowed the Midianites to start causing trouble for the people of Israel. The Midianites often came and stole food and animals from the Israelites, even forcing the Israelites to go into hiding just so they wouldn’t starve to death. And that is exactly where we find Gideon at the beginning of this story – hiding out! Gideon was under a tree, threshing wheat when the Angel of the Lord came and sat down under the tree. Now this wasn’t just any angel – this was the Lord Himself! We know this from several clues we get in the Bible so take my word for it -- this was an Old Testament appearance of the Lord Jesus. So the Lord plops down under the tree and says, “The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!” (Valor is another word for courage.) Now, I doubt that anybody had ever called Gideon a mighty man of valor before! We know he was the youngest son of his father and here he was doing the work of a servant by threshing the wheat. We also learn a little bit about Gideon in the next few chapters of the Bible – and believe me, Gideon doesn’t seem to be very courageous! But the Lord saw something in Gideon that other people didn’t see – even Gideon didn’t believe that he could do anything special for God. But the Lord knew that Gideon had been created to deliver the Israelites from the Midianites – and He knew that He could help Gideon do it! Now at first, Gideon doesn’t realize that he is talking to the Lord! He begins to disagree with this “man” by saying that he doesn’t think the Lord is with anybody anymore. He says that the Lord has left them. He wonders why they don’t see any miracles anymore like their forefathers had seen. The Lord gives him a very interesting answer. He says to Gideon, “Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midia-nites. Have I not sent you?” Finally, Gideon starts to think that he may not be talking to just any ordinary man. What kind of man would send him to deliver the Israelites from the hand of the Midianites? He asks the Lord how he – the youngest son of the smallest family in the tribe of Manasseh -- could possibly accomplish such a thing! Again, the Lord answers Gideon with an astonishing announcement. “Surely I will be with you and you shall defeat the Midianites as one man.” At this point, Gideon finally understands that he is talking to the Lord – but now he just couldn’t believe what the Lord was saying! Try to imagine what Gideon must have felt right then. What if the Lord sat

the Christians there from the rebel armies all by yourself.” Even if you could really make yourself believe that you were talking to the Lord, don’t you think you might wonder if He really meant what He was saying? I think I would feel that way! I think we all have a hard time believing that God sees something amazing in us that He wants to use! Gideon asks if the Lord would wait while he went and prepared an offering for him. The Lord said that He would wait. This is how we can be absolutely sure that this angel was not just any angel – but the Lord. No angel would allow a man to make a sacrifice to him. But the Lord allows Gideon to go and prepare an offering. Gideon brings back a young goat and unleavened bread. The Lord tells him to put the offering on a nearby rock. The Lord then stretches out the staff that He had been carrying and touched it to the offering, and immedi-ately fire came out and consumed the offering. And then suddenly – the Lord was gone. Gideon knew he had seen the Lord face to face. He built an altar right there, and many years later when this story was written down in the Bible, that altar still stood there. Later that night, the Lord spoke to Gideon again. The Lord gave Gideon a specific mission to do. He was to go out and tear down the idol to Baal that his father had built and replace it with an altar to the Lord. Gideon was still afraid and he didn’t think he could really accomplish his mission – but he obeyed anyway. Sometime later, the Midianites and another group of people called the Amalekites gathered together to go to war against the Israelites. Gideon remembered that the Lord had told him that he would lead the people in defeating the Midianites – but he still doubted if it could really be possible. He ended up asking for another sign, and then another one, and even another one still – but finally, he believed. The Lord DID end up destroying the HUGE army gathered against them – and all by just a few soldiers blowing their trumpets, breaking their pottery pitchers, and shouting. The Lord showed Gideon that He was still the same God of miracles and deliverance that Gideon’s ances-tors knew. God has a special mission for you, too. He created you for a pur-pose, but you must first know Him as your Lord and Savior if you are ever going to be able to fulfill that purpose. Today during the closing session, ________________________________ will be sharing with us how we can be sure we are all able to hear God’s voice like Sam-uel did and that we’re ready to go out on our mission like Gideon did. During the last few songs, if you would like to talk to me about know-ing for sure you have accepted the Lord Jesus as your Savior, please come see me. We’ll come back here and talk together about it.

down beside you at lunch one day and said, “You are an incredibly courageous person. Go now to the country of Sudan in Africa and you will deliver the Christians there from the rebel armies all by your-self.” Even if you could really make yourself believe that you were talking to the Lord, don’t you think you might wonder if He really meant what He was saying? I think I would feel that way! I think we all have a hard time believing that God sees something amazing in us that He wants to use! Gideon asks if the Lord would wait while he went and prepared an offering for him. The Lord said that He would wait. This is how we can be absolutely sure that this angel was not just any angel – but the Lord. No angel would allow a man to make a sacrifice to him. But the Lord allows Gideon to go and prepare an offering. Gideon brings back a young goat and unleavened bread. The Lord tells him to put the offering on a nearby rock. The Lord then stretches out the staff that He had been carrying and touched it to the offering, and immedi-ately fire came out and consumed the offering. And then suddenly – the Lord was gone. Gideon knew he had seen the Lord face to face. He built an altar right there, and many years later when this story was written down in the Bible, that altar still stood there. Later that night, the Lord spoke to Gideon again. The Lord gave Gideon a specific mission to do. He was to go out and tear down the idol to Baal that his father had built and replace it with an altar to the Lord. Gideon was still afraid and he didn’t think he could really accomplish his mission – but he obeyed anyway. Sometime later, the Midianites and another group of people called the Amalekites gathered together to go to war against the Israelites. Gideon remembered that the Lord had told him that he would lead the people in defeating the Midianites – but he still doubted if it could really be possible. He ended up asking for another sign, and then another one, and even another one still – but finally, he believed. The Lord DID end up destroying the HUGE army gathered against them – and all by just a few soldiers blowing their trumpets, breaking their pottery pitchers, and shouting. The Lord showed Gideon that He was still the same God of miracles and deliverance that Gideon’s ances-tors knew. God has a special mission for you, too. He created you for a pur-pose, but you must first know Him as your Lord and Savior if you are ever going to be able to fulfill that purpose. Today during the closing session, ________________________________ will be sharing with us how we can be sure we are all able to hear God’s voice like Sam-uel did and that we’re ready to go out on our mission like Gideon did. During the last few songs, if you would like to talk to me about know-ing for sure you have accepted the Lord Jesus as your Savior, please come see me. We’ll come back here and talk together about it.

We’ve heard a lot this week about God’s special plan for our lives – and our own unique gifts that He has given us in order for us to be able to live out that plan. But I wonder – and you don’t have to raise your hands – how many of you REALLY believe that you are an amazing and special creation? And that God has a plan and purpose for your life? I think some of you would have to say that you still aren’t so sure that you’re all that special. Sometimes I feel the same way! There is another judge I want to tell you about today who felt didn’t feel like he was anybody special and that God was not going to work in his life. Remember that this week we are looking mostly at the time period in the history of Israel when judges helped rule the nation. Some of these judges were great! Re-member Deborah who stepped out in faith to defeat Jabin and his army? And then she gave all the praise and glory to God in her beautiful song. And remember Samuel who served the Lord from the time he was just a little boy, always being faithful to do the Lord’s work and speak His messages? And then there was that not-so-good judge Samson who used his amazing gift of strength for his own benefit. Today I want to tell you about the judge who didn’t really want to be a judge! He was an ordinary guy who didn’t necessarily want to be anybody or do anything spe-cial. His name was Gideon. Gideon lived during a time when, once again, the Israelites had fallen away from the Lord and were worshipping the false god of the Midianites called Baal. Of course, we have learned that worshipping false gods must be punished, so the Lord allowed the Midianites to begin oppressing the people of Israel. The Midianites often came and stole food and animals from the Israelites, even forcing the Israelites to go into hiding just so they wouldn’t starve to death. And that is exactly where we find Gideon at the beginning of this story – hiding out! Gideon was under a tree, threshing wheat when the Angel of the Lord came and sat down under the tree. Now before we go any further, it’s important that you under-stand that this wasn’t just any angel – this was the Lord Himself! We know this for a few different reasons that I’ll share with you as we go along. But for now, take my word for it -- this is an Old Testament appearance of the Lord Jesus. One reason we know this is because the A in Angel is capitalized – and all of the letters in LORD are capitalized. Whenever you see all the letters in LORD capitalized in your Bible – it’s talking about the Lord Jesus. Anyway – back to our story – the Lord plops down under the tree and says, “The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!” (Valor is another word for courage.) Now, I doubt that anybody had ever called Gideon a mighty man of valor before! We know he was the youngest son of his father and here he was doing the work of a servant by threshing the wheat. We also learn a little bit about Gideon in the next few chapters of the Bible – and believe me, Gideon doesn’t seem to be very courageous! You see, the Lord saw something in Gideon that other people didn’t see – even Gideon didn’t believe that he could do anything special for God. But the Lord knew what Gideon had been created to do, and He knew that He could give Gideon everything He needed to live out that purpose. Now at first, Gideon doesn’t realize just to Whom he is talking. He begins to disagree with this “man” by saying that he doesn’t think the Lord is with anybody anymore. He says that the Lord has left them. He wonders why there are no miracles anymore like the forefathers had seen. The Lord gives him a very interesting answer. He says, “Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?” I imagine that it’s right about then that Gideon begins to think that he may not be talking to just any ordinary man. What kind of man would send him to deliver the Isra-elites from the hand of the Midianites? He asks the Lord how he – the youngest son of the smallest family in the tribe of Manasseh -- could possibly accomplish such a thing! Again, the Lord answers Gideon with an astonishing announcement. “Surely I will be with you and you shall defeat the Midianites as one man.” At this point, Gideon finally understood to whom he was talking – but now he just couldn’t believe that the Lord meant what He had said. Try to put yourself in Gideon’s shoes for a minute. What if the Lord sat down beside you at lunch one day and said, “You are an incredibly courageous person. Go now to the country of Sudan in Africa and you will deliver the Christians there from the hand of the rebel armies all by yourself.” Even if you could convince yourself that you were really talking to the Lord, don’t you think you might be tempted to think He was talking to the wrong guy (or girl?) I admit that I would feel that same way! I think we all have a hard time believing that God sees something in us that is amazing and useful to Him. Gideon asks if the Lord would wait while he went and prepared an offering for him. The Lord said that He would wait. This is how we can be sure that this angel was not just any angel – but the Lord. No angel would allow a sacrifice to made and brought before him in worship. But the Lord allows Gideon to prepare an offering. Gideon brings back a young goat and unleavened bread. The Lord tells him to put the offering on a nearby rock. The Lord then stretches out the staff that He had been carrying and touched it to the offering, and immediately fire came out and consumed the offering. And then suddenly – the Lord was gone. Gideon knew he had seen the Lord face to face. He built an altar right there, and many years later when this account was written down in the Bible, that altar still stood there. Later that night, the Lord spoke to Gideon again. The Lord gave Gideon a specific mission to do. He was to go out and tear down the idol to Baal that his father had built and replace it with an altar to the Lord. Then he was to sacrifice a bull on that altar, using the wood that had been used to make the idol of Baal. Gideon was still afraid and he didn’t think he could really accomplish his mission – but he obeyed anyway. He did all that the Lord had told him to do, but he did it at night so nobody would know that it had been he and his servants who had done it. The Lord protected Gideon from any harm that the men of the city might have done to him. Sometime later, the Midianites and another group of people called the Amalekites gathered together to go to war against the Israelites. Gideon knew that the Lord had said that he would deliver the Israelites from the Midianites – but he still doubted if it could really be possible. He ended up asking for another sign, and then another one, and even another one still – but finally, he believed. The Lord DID end up destroying the HUGE army gathered against them – and all by just a few sol-diers blowing their trumpets, breaking their pottery pitchers, and shouting. The Lord showed Gideon that He was still the same God of miracles and deliverance that Gideon’s ancestors knew. God has a special mission for you, too. He created you for a purpose, but you must first know Him as your Lord and Savior if you are ever going to be able to fulfill that purpose. Today during the closing session, ________________________________ will be sharing with us how we can be sure we are all able to hear God’s voice like Samuel did and that we’re ready to go out on our mission like Gideon did. During the last few songs, if you would like to talk to me about knowing for sure you have accepted the Lord Jesus as your Savior, please come see me. We’ll come back here and talk together about it.

Scene 5: Joshua and Caleb God has a special assignment for you and will help you do it!

Scripture Num. 13:1-14,45; Deut. 1 Please read this passage before studying the rest of the lesson. Objectives Each child will believe that God has a special assign-ment for him/her and that God will help him/her ac-complish it. The child will receive cour-age to seek God’s help in preparing for a future mis-sion from the Lord and will understand that there are opportunities today to serve God with our skills and inter-ests. Memory Verse I Corinthians 15:57

From the Director’s Chair Joshua and Caleb are remarkable examples of standing against the current of common opinion. Even in the face of possible stoning, Joshua and Caleb insisted that God was faithful and able to fulfill the promise that He had made so many years before to Abraham. Joshua and Caleb were not igno-rant of the challenges that lay before the people of Israel as they prepared to conquer the Promised Land, but they courageously believed that God would give them what they needed to fulfill His purposes. Because of their cour-age, both men were entrusted with special missions. Joshua eventually led

the next generation of Israelites over the Jordan River and into the Promised Land after their forty years of wilderness wanderings. Caleb was given a mountain for his family, but more importantly he was honored in God’s Word as a “man who followed God whole-heartedly.” What a testimony to his life. The story of Joshua and Caleb is meant to challenge the chil-dren to trust God with their future; it is meant to inspire them to be bold and courageous!

CLAPBOARD ACTIVITY (10 minutes) 12 Strands Before class begins, string the 10 black and 2 red lengths of yarn from one side of the room to the other. (To make it even more fun, crisscross the lengths.) On each string place 4 small gift bags. Tape or tie the bags to the yarn so it can not be moved. At the end of the strand tape a bigger, better bag. The children should not be able to see into any of the bags. In the 4 smaller bags on each of the 10 black strands, place a goodie of

some kind, preferably mini chocolate bars or candy. In the 4 smaller bags on each of the 2 red strands, place rocks. In the 10 big bags at the end of the 10 black strands, place big rocks, and in the 2 big bags at the end of the 2 red strands, place a regular sized candy bar. As the children come in, ask for 12 volunteers. Tell each volunteer to pick a strand and stand beside it. If they ask why there are 2 red ones or if the 2 red ones are different, don’t give any hints. Just explain that it will make more sense to them at the end of the game. When you give the signal, have each child move to their first bag, take out the contents, and hold them up for everyone to see. Keep doing this with each bag. When you get to the final bag, the kids may be expecting to see something really great come out of the bags at the end of the black strands. They won’t expect to see a rock pulled out. The 2 children work-ing their way across the red thread will be excited to see their BIG candy bar! Have each of the children take a seat. The children on the 10 black strands may keep only one of the mini chocolate bars, sharing their chocolate with any child who didn’t have the opportunity to participate or returning any extra to a basket up front. Explain that this fun activity is an illustration of what the story today is about. Explain that some paths we choose for ourselves look like they’re going to be filled with good things. Those black strands looked good, but the result was just a rock — nothing special and noth-ing of value. And even the good things that were gained along the way, those little candy bars, were taken away. The red strands however had a few unpleasant things along the way — those little rocks looked to be discouraging, but at the end was a wonderful surprise, a better reward than the other paths. Explain that we are looking today at two men (point out the two red strands) who chose to take a path that looked to be more difficult — but it was clearly God’s plan for them. Ask if anybody can guess why you chose the color red for the two strands. Explain that red is the color of redemption. It’s the color of blood, and it is only through the blood of Jesus that we find the perfect path for our lives. *Could use map of the Israelites journey to illustrate how far the Israelites traveled

Props Checklist Clapboard BV Card 5 48 small gift bags (or lunch paper bags) 12 larger gift bags 1 mini chocolate bar per child at VBS 10 regular sized chocolate bars per 100 children at VBS Black yarn Red yarn *map of Israelite’s journey

Don’ t Forget! Encourage the children to attend

the Friday Night Premiere tonight! Remind the children that each of

them are unique and have qualities that the Lord is preparing to use in their own mission one day.

Make sure that all the children leave with at least one piece of candy.

Try to call the children by their names.

DASHBOARD

Boys and girls, I hope that you’ve been listening closely to the lessons this week and that you’ve begun to understand that you are a very special person to God and that He has a very special plan for you life! Isn’t that wonderful to know? Today we’re going to look at a time in the Bible when God had a very spe-cial plan for the Israelites, but it didn’t turn out quite like it should have. You’ll see why at the end of our lesson. This story in the Old Testament takes places before the time of the judges. So, we’re going back in time from the other Bible characters we’ve studied this week. Moses had just led the children of Israel out of Egypt. They had been slaves there for 400 years, but God had performed incredible miracles to get the people out of Egypt. Have you heard the story of the 10 plagues? How about when the Red Sea parted and all the Isra-elites walked on dry land, but then Pharaoh's soldiers and chariots were swept away? These were the miracles that the people had seen with their own eyes right before the story we’re going to talk about today. Now, God was ready to take them to the beautiful Promised Land that He had prepared for them. This land was beautiful and full of good soil to grow crops and plenty of water for their animals – and God had promised that He would give it to them! As the Israelites approached the land from the south, the people decided that they wanted to know what was up ahead. They believed that if they knew more about what the land and cities were like and what the people who lived there were like, then they would be better prepared for whatever they needed to do to conquer the land. They begged Moses to send out spies to see what kind of cities and people were already there. I think they also wanted to know if the place was as good as God had told them it was. Maybe they thought that if it was going to be too hard to conquer the land, they could just find another place to go. God allowed Moses to choose one man from every tribe. There were 12 tribes of Israel, so there were 12 spies. They were to go and check out this “Promised Land.” Moses en-couraged the men to be brave. He also gave them one instruc-tion – bring back some of the fruit of the land so that all the people could see it. Moses knew that God’s promises were always good enough!! So the twelve spies entered the land of Canaan. They looked around for 40 days, and when it was time to return, they cut down just one cluster of grapes, but it was so heavy they had to carry it between two poles! The spies returned and raved about how amazing the land was – they called it a “land flowing with milk and honey.” But then, ten of the spies began to tell the people that there was no way they could conquer it. The cities were too big and had big walls around them – and there were actually giants living in the land! Two of the spies, Joshua and Caleb, tried to calm the people. They tried to tell the people that they could conquer the land – this was God’s promise to them. But the people would only listen to the other ten. They began to panic. People began to whisper that they should elect a new leader to take them back to Egypt! Can you imagine?

I really hope that you’ve been listening closely to the lessons this week and that you’ve begun to understand that you are an amazing creation that God wants to use in a very special way. He has placed you in this time and place in history because He has a special mission for each of you! Whether or not you complete this mission is up to you. Today we’re looking at a time in the Bible when the Israelites had the opportunity to go up and fulfill their destiny! But it didn’t turn out quite like it should have. This event in the Old Testament takes places before the time of the judges. So we’re going back in time from the other Bible characters we’ve studied this week. At this point, Moses had just led the children of Israel out of Egypt. They had been slaves there for 400 years, but God had performed incredible miracles to get the people out of Egypt. Remem-ber the 10 plagues? Remember the waters of the Red Sea parting so that about a million Israelites could pass over? These were the things that the people had seen with their own eyes not long before! And now, God had prepared the Promised Land for them. This land was beautiful and full of good soil to grown crops and plenty of water for their ani-mals – and God had promised that He would give it to them! As the Israelites approached the land from the south, the peo-ple decided that they wanted to know what was up ahead. They believed that if they knew more about what they would see when they reached the cities and they knew what kind of people lived there then they would be better prepared for whatever they would need to do to conquer the land. They begged Moses to send out spies to see what kind of cities and people were already there. I think they also wanted to know if the place was as good as God had told them it was. Maybe they thought that if it was going to be too hard to conquer the land, they could just find another place to go. God allowed Moses to choose one man from every tribe (remember, there were 12 tribes). They were to go and check out this “Promised Land.” Moses encouraged the men to be brave. He also gave them one instruction – bring back some of the fruit of the land so that all the people could see it. Moses knew that God’s promises were always good enough!! So the twelve spies entered the land of Canaan. They looked around for 40 days, and when it was time to return, they cut down a single cluster of grapes that was so heavy they had to carry it between two poles! The spies returned and raved about how amazing the land was – they called it a “land flowing with milk and honey.” But then, ten of the spies immediately began to tell the people that there was no way they could conquer it. The cities were big and had huge walls around them – and there were actually giants living in the land! Two of the spies, Joshua and Caleb, tried to quiet the people. They tried to convince the people that they could take the land – this was God’s promise to them. But the peo-ple would only listen to the other ten. Then the people began to panic. Rumors spread that they should elect a new leader to take them back to Egypt! Can you imagine?

How could they want to go back to Egypt where they would be made slaves again? Moses, Aaron, Joshua, and Caleb began to weep and beg the people not to turn against the Lord in this way. But the people didn’t lis-ten. They actually began to pick up stones to throw at Joshua and Caleb to kill them. Suddenly, the glory of the Lord appeared in the taberna-cle in front of all the people. It’s hard for us to imagine what that must have looked like, but it was definitely incredible! The Lord spoke aloud to Moses and told him that He planned now to wipe out these people who refused to believe Him and continually rejected Him. He promised Moses that He would make another great nation from Moses’ own children. But Moses began to plead for God to forgive these fear-ful and unfaithful Israelites. God heard Moses’ prayer and did forgive them. But there was a very tragic result – the people had to stay and wander in the wilderness for 40 years, and all of the people (except Joshua and Caleb*) who were 20 years old or older died in the wil-derness. They never even got to see the beautiful land that God had promised to give them. Forty years later, Joshua led the Israelites into the Prom-ised Land. Caleb went with him and conquered a big mountain for his own family. These two men were the ones who believed God could take them to the incredible place that He had promised them and already prepared for them. And they were the only two who saw it! Do you believe that God plans to take you to a incredible place in your life? Sometimes it’s not always the best thing for us to know everything ahead in our lives. When the Israelites looked ahead at the challenges of entering the Promised Land, they became fearful and couldn’t move on. God has given you amazing gifts and skills, but He probably won’t let you know what He plans to do with those for quite a long time. So what about right now? What do you do right now? Remember that verse in Ecclesiastes from our very first day about your hands? “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might.” Wow! That’s what you do right now! You do all the normal things – like homework, practicing piano, soccer games, whatever – and you do it the best that you can. You will be pleasing the Lord – and you’ll be figuring out what you’re really good at!! *Although Moses stood with Joshua and Caleb against the other ten spies, he was not allowed to enter the Promised Land because of another act of his own disobedience

How could they want to go back to Egypt where they would be made slaves again? Moses, Aaron, Joshua, and Caleb began to weep and beg the people not to turn against the Lord in this way. But the people wouldn’t listen. They actually began to pick up stones to throw at Joshua and Caleb to kill them. Suddenly, the glory of the Lord appeared in the taberna-cle in front of all the people. It’s hard for us to imagine what that must have looked like, but it was definitely incredible! Then, the Lord spoke aloud to Moses and told him that He intended to wipe out these people who refused to believe Him and continually rejected Him. He promised Moses that He would make another great nation from Moses’ own descendents. But Moses began to plead with God to forgive these fearful and unfaithful Israelites. God heard Moses’ prayer and forgave them. But there was a very tragic consequence – the people had to remain and wander in the wilderness for 40 years, and all of the people (except Joshua and Caleb*) who were 20 years old or older died in the wilderness. They never even got to see the beauti-ful land that God had promised to give to them. Forty years later, Joshua led the Israelites into the Prom-ised Land. Caleb went with him and conquered a big mountain for his own family. These two men were the ones who believed God could take them to the incredible place that He had promised them and had already pre-pared for them. And they were the only two who saw it! Do you believe that God plans to take you to a incredi-ble place in your life? Sometimes it’s not always the best thing for us to know everything ahead in our lives. When the Israelites looked ahead at the challenges of entering the Promised Land, they became fearful and couldn’t move on. God has given you amazing gifts and skills, but He probably won’t let you know what He plans to do with those for a quite a long time. So what about right now? What do you do now? Remember that verse in Ecclesiastes from our very first day about your hands? “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might.” Wow! That’s what you do right now! You do all the normal things – like homework, practicing piano, soccer games, whatever – and you do it to the best of your ability. You will be pleasing the Lord – and you’ll be figuring out what you’re really good at!! *Although Moses stood with Joshua and Caleb against the other ten spies, he was not allowed to enter the Promised Land because of a different act of his own disobedience.

I really hope that the lessons from this week have gotten deep into your heart! You are an amazing creation that God wants to use in a very unique way. He has placed you in this time and place in history because He has a special mission for each of you! Whether or not you fulfill this special destiny is up to you. Today we’re looking at a time in the Bible when the Israelites had the opportunity to go up and fulfill their destiny! But it didn’t turn out quite like it should have. This event in the Old Testament takes places before the time of the judges. So, we’re going back in time from the other Bible characters we’ve studied this week. At this point, Moses had just led the children of Israel out of Egypt. They had been slaves there for 400 years, but God had performed incredible miracles to get the people out of Egypt. Remember the 10 plagues? Remember the waters of the Red Sea parting so that the million plus Israelites could pass over? These were the things that the people had seen with their own eyes not long before! And now, God had prepared the Promised Land for them. This land was beautiful and fertile – and God had promised that He would give it to them! As the Israelites approached the land from the south, the people decided that they wanted to know what was up ahead. They believed that if they knew more details – they’d be better prepared for whatever would be involved in conquering the land. They begged Moses to send out spies to see what kind of cities and people were already there. I think they also wanted to know if the place was as good as God had told them it was. If it was going to be too hard, maybe they could find another place to go. God allowed Moses to choose 1 man from every tribe (remember, there were 12 tribes). They were to go and check out this “Promised Land.” Moses encouraged the men to be brave. He also gave them one instruction – bring back some of the fruit of the land so that all the people could see it. Moses knew that God’s promises were always good enough!! So the twelve spies entered the land of Canaan. They looked around for 40 days, and when it was time to return, they cut down a single cluster of grapes that was so heavy they had to carry it between two poles! The spies returned and raved about how amazing the land was – they called it a “land flowing with milk and honey.” But then, ten of the spies imme-diately began to tell the people that there was no way they could conquer it. The cities were big and fortified – and there were actually giants in the land! Two of the spies, Joshua and Caleb, tried to quiet the people. They insisted that they could take the land – this was God’s promise to them. But the people would only listen to the other ten. They began to panic. Rumors spread that they should elect a new leader to take them back to Egypt! Can you imagine? Moses, Aaron, Joshua, and Caleb began to weep and plead with the people not to rebel against the Lord in this way. But the people didn’t listen. They actually began to take up stones to throw at Joshua and Caleb to kill them. Suddenly, the glory of the Lord appeared in the tabernacle in front of all the people. It’s hard for us to imagine what that must have looked like, but it was definitely incredible! The Lord spoke aloud to Moses and told him that He intended to wipe out these people who refused to believe Him and continually rejected Him. He promised Moses that He would make another great nation from Moses’ own descendents. But Moses began to plead with God to forgive these fearful and unfaithful Israelites. God heard Moses’ prayer and did forgive them. But there would be a very tragic consequence – the people would have to remain and wander in the wilder-ness for 40 years, and all of the people (except Joshua and Caleb*) who were 20 years old or older would die in the wil-derness, never seeing the Promised Land. Forty years later, Joshua led the Israelites into the “land flowing with milk and honey.” Caleb went with him and con-quered a big mountain for his own family. These two men were the ones that believed God could take them to the in-credible place that He had promised them and had already prepared for them. And they were the only two that saw it! Do you believe that God plans to take you to a incredible place in your life? Sometimes it’s not always the best thing for us to know everything ahead in our lives. When the Israelites looked ahead at the challenges of entering the Promised Land, they became fearful and couldn’t move on. God has given you amazing gifts and skills, but He probably won’t let you know what He plans to do with those for a very long time. For now, do what you can. Remember that verse from our very first day in Ecclesiastes about your hands? “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might.” Wow! That’s what you do right now! You do all the normal things – like home-work, practicing piano, soccer games, whatever – and you do it the best that you can. You will be pleasing the Lord – and you’ll be figuring out what you’re really good at!! *Even though Moses stood with Joshua and Caleb against the other 10 spies, he was not allowed to enter the Promised Land because of a different act of his own disobedience. (The children may ask this question.)