Tearing Down The Walls

Bobby: Thank you! Thank you! Hello TOKYO!! YEAAAAAAH!!!

Leader: Hey Bobby! It’s good to see you!

Bobby: It’s great to see you, baaaaaayyy-buh!! It’s great to be alive today! YEAAAAAAAAAHHH!!

Leader: WOW, you sure seemed pumped today!

Bobby: I sure am! God is in the hood, and I’m feelin’ GOOD!

Leader: God is in the hood? What are you talking about?

Bobby: Well, you remember last week I was telling you about all the CRAAAAZY stuff God was telling me to do?

Leader: Yeah! God told you to wear earplugs and…something else..

Bobby: Dance around like this! (flails around) Well I obeyed God in doing both of those, and something amazing happened! We made an earthquake, baaaayyyy-buh!!

Leader: You made an earthquake?? How did you make an earthquake?!

Bobby: Lemme tell ya! Last night was our dress rehearsal for the big world tour, and it was close to the end when the lead guitar player of EXSCREAM, Mighty Mike Moosehead, goes into his epic guitar solo!

Leader: Mighty Mike Moosehead?

Bobby: Yeah! He’s this big dude in the band who wears antlers on his head! He puts the guitar over his head and plays the solo with the antlers! It’s awesome! Anyway, He had turned his amp up waaaaaaay too loud! The stage started to shake!

Leader: Oh no! What happened next?

Bobby: Immediately everyone grabbed onto their ears ‘cuz it was too loud! Except for me! I was wearing my earplugs like God told me! Then the stage started falling around in pieces all around us!

Leader: Oh no! Did you get all banged up?

Bobby: Nope! I just started doing the dance moves God told me to do! Like this! (flails around like an idiot) I ducked and dodged and weaved and all the pieces of junk missed me! But nobody else was moving like that, and they were about to get crushed!

Leader: Did anyone get hurt?

Bobby: Nope! I danced my way right over to the emergency shut off switch on Moose’s amp. I stopped the quake just in time!

Leader: Bobby, that’s one of the coolest stories I’ve ever heard! I’m so glad you obeyed God and did what He told you to do!

Bobby: Me too, bayyyyy-buh! I’m glad I learned my lesson! From now on I will always OBEY God, no matter what He tells to do!

Leader: That’s a good idea. It’s not good enough to just trust in God, but we also have to OBEY Him!

Bobby: You said it, brotha! I need to go! Talkin’ about all of this stuff fallin’ down gave me an idea for a new song! I think I’ll call it…(sings a super high note) JERICHOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!! I’ll see you later boys and girls! I’M BOBBY ROCKIT! YEAH! THANK YOU, GOODNIGHT!!

Choose three boys and three girls to participate. Stack the soda cans in a “wall” on the table.

Have the children stand approximately fifteen to twenty feet away.

One at a time, have the children throw the Frisbee to try to knock down the wall of cans. Have each girl throw the Frisbee once, then count how many cans they knocked down. Have the boys do the same, then compare the two numbers. The team who knocked down the most cans, wins!

When we last left Joshua, he had just received the instructions from God about how to destroy the great city of Jericho. You remember Jericho, right? It was a city that was protected with a massive wall all the way around it. God told Joshua some pretty wild instructions...

“March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days. 4 Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams' horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets. 5 When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have all the people give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and the people will go up, every man straight in."

As we learned last time, even when God’s instructions sound “crazy” to us, we have to trust Him. Joshua did, and he passed on the instructions to the army of Israel. We can only assume that they also thought the instructions sounded crazy, but they also trusted God to deliver Jericho into their hands. Not only did they TRUST God, but they showed just how much they trusted God by OBEYING what He told them to do.

Joshua commanded the priests to take the Ark of the Covenant in front, and the army marched with them—not saying a word. They circled the city once per day for six straight days. Can you imagine what the people in Jericho must have been thinking? They had to be expecting a full blown attack. Instead, they got a bunch of people marching around the walls once a day, and then going back home.

That’s what happened—until the seventh day. On the seventh day, the armies began to march around the city just as they had done for the past six days. All the while, they didn’t say a single word—not even a peep. They marched and marched and marched until they had circled the city seven full times.

Then, when they had marched around the seventh time, the priests blew a long blast on their trumpets, and then Joshua commanded the entire Israelite army, “SHOUT! For the Lord has given you the city!” (have the kids pretend they are the Israelite army and shout as loud as they can)

As they shouted, the walls of the city began to shake and they crumbled to the ground. The Israelite charged into the city and conquered their enemies. God helped them win an EXTREME victory that day!

Looking at this story, we can learn some very valuable lessons:

Can you imagine how hard it was for the army to march around the entire city every single day and never say a word? You and I probably couldn’t go five minutes without talking. They had to do something that seemed impossible. But, they trusted God AND obeyed His instructions. It was difficult, but they obeyed anyway.

You and I must also obey God, even when His instructions may seem difficult. Loving our enemies may seem difficult, but God instructed us to do it—we must obey. Giving the tithe, 10% of all of our money, to God may seem difficult, but God instructed us to do it—we must obey. No matter what it is OR how difficult it may sound—if God instructs it, we must obey it!

Israel could have said, “Lord, we trust You.” But, if they never actually did what God commanded, then that would have proven that they really didn’t trust Him. Boys and girls, we must also show how much we trust God by obeying what He commands us to do. If we don’t obey, then it shows that we really don’t trust him after all.

We don’t have to worry! We can trust God. All He is looking for is for us to obey Him and He will take care of the rest. He has NEVER failed us before, and He will not fail us now. We can trust AND obey Him. If we obey, He will come through! We can experience the EXTREME victory just as Joshua and the Israelites did at Jericho.

1. What was today’s Big Idea? Answer: “I Will Obey! That’s The Only Way!!”

2. What stunt was Ban Daid attempting in today’s video? Answer: cliff jumping

3. How many days did the Israelite army march around Jericho? Answer: seven days

4. True or False: The Israelite army yelled insults at Jericho while they marched. Answer: False, they were silent

5. The priests did what after the army circled the city the seventh time? Answer: blew on their trumpets

6. After the priests blew their trumpets, the entire army did what? Answer: shouted with a great shout

7. In today’s lesson, we learned “Even When His Instructions Are Difficult, I Must __________ God.” Answer: Obey

8. In today’s lesson, we also learned “If I Truly ________ God, I Will Obey Him.” Answer: Trust

9. In today’s lesson, we also learned “If I Obey God, He Will _________ Come Thru.” Answer: Always

10. Where was our Power Verse found? Answer: Deuteronomy 11:1