Wait Lifters

(Bobby runs out onstage, yelling like its the beginning of a mega rock concert.)

Bobby: Thank you! Thank you! Hello, Cleveland! Are you ready to ROOOOOOOOOOOOOCK?! (sings a loud, high-pitched rocker note)

Leader: Whoah! Who are you?!

Bobby: My names Rockit, Bobby Rockit! YEAAAAAAAH!!! Thank you, New York!!

Leader: Um...Mr. Rocker..

Bobby: Drop that “Mr.” stuff, bay-buh! And the names ROCKIT! WOOOOOO!!! Buffalo, are you ready to ROOOOCK?!

Leader: Sorry, Rockit. I think you're kind of confused. This isn't ANY of those places you just mentioned.

Bobby: Shucks, I know that! I’m just preparing myself for my first ever world tour with my band!

Leader: A band? You have a band?

Bobby: That's right, baaaay-buh! We are known as EX-SCREAM! YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!

Leader: Extreme?

Bobby: Naw, man! EX-SCREAM! We're the most extreme hair metal band of all time, and we love to SCREAM! YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!

Leader: (holding ears) That sounds....well....loud.

Bobby: Oh, you know it bay-buh! We're gonna have the loudest, wildest, most EXTREME tour of all time! We're practicing day and night, playin' our instruments until our fingers don't work (does an air guitar solo), singin' 'till we can't talk no more (lets out a rocker high note), and playin' our music so loud we can't hear anymore!

Leader: That sounds crazy!

Bobby: What? I can't hear ya!

Leader: (yells a little louder) I said “THAT SOUNDS CRAZY!”

Bobby: You know it bay-buh! ExSCREAM's gonna rock the world! YEAH!! Thanks to our awesome preparation techniques!

Leader: Preparation techniques? Like what?

Bobby: Well, I'm the lead singer, so in order to get my voice into tip-top shape every night before I go to bed I gargle ten raw eggs! YEAH!

Leader: Ewww...

Bobby: Oh, that ain't nothin'! Our lead guitarist, Tito, he practices with cinder-blocks tied to his hands so when he takes them off he can play EXTREMELY fast! (does a super fast air guitar solo)

Leader: Wow, those are some extreme ways to get prepared. You are taking time to pray, too. Right?

Bobby: Pray?! Why would we need to do that? We're ExSCREAM bayyy-buh! We're ready for anything!

Leader: Bobby, I can't believe what I'm hearing! You've done all this preparation for your big world tour and you're not even going to ask God for help? He has more power than anything in the universe! You need God’s POWER if you are going to do God’s plan!

Bobby: Did you just say “power”? Like...is God more powerful than WIIIIIIILD robot tiger?

Leader: Absolutely, He is!

Bobby: What about more powerful than a giant golden eagle that burps out hand grenades?!

Leader: I don't think that really exists, but if it did, YES! If you're wanting to do God’s plan for your band, you're going to need God's power!

Bobby: WOW!! I didn't realize just how powerful God could be! If we're gonna have the wildest, most EXTREME, most POWERFUL rock tour ever, we'd better start praying to God right now!

Leader: It sounds like you've got the right idea, Bobby!

Bobby: (looks off backstage) YO! TITO! Put down them cinderblocks! We got some prayin' to do! I'll see you later kids! My name's Bobby Rockit! YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!! THANK YOU, GOODNIGHT!!

Today we are starting this amazing series called “Joshua—EXTREME Hero”! We are studying the life of Joshua, one of the most EXTREME heroes of the Bible. It is important to know that Joshua did not just appear at the Battle of Jericho. We have many stories about Joshua BEFORE he became the big leader of the nation of Israel.

The life of Joshua teaches us that God prepares us to do EXTREME things for Him. Many times that preparation comes WAY beforehand. You see, kids, something we need to understand is...

Preparation is an important step in anything we do in life. Many people want to be a famous athlete. But, you don’t get to be a famous athlete without spending many years in preparation. You wouldn’t walk out and try to run a marathon without first spending months in preparation to get yourself in shape, right? If you did, you wouldn’t last more than a mile or so (if that).

If you want to be a firefighter, you can’t skip the process of preparation. If you try running into a burning building to put out a fire without spending the time in preparation to learn the skills and safety of being a firefighter—you will most likely die in that fire.

It’s the same way with God. If we want to do EXTREME things for Him, then we have to begin RIGHT NOW to prepare ourselves for that. There are many things that we can do to prepare ourselves to do EXTREME things for God. One of the things we need to get prepared is prayer. Not only do WE need to pray to God every day for His strength and power, but also…

Joshua understood this. We find him in Exodus chapter 17 about to face the army of the Amelekites. Joshua was the general of the army and was going to go to battle. (choose someone to represent Joshua, put the “Joshua” sign around their neck and instruct them to act out the story as you tell it) Joshua went down in the valley with the army and began to fight the Amelekites.

Meanwhile Joshua’s leader, Moses, (choose someone to represent Moses, put the “Moses” sign around their neck and instruct them to act out the story as you tell it) went up to the top of a nearby hill. He stood up there and held his arms in the air with the staff of the Lord in his hands. What was he doing this for? Was he trying to prove how strong he was? Of course not, Moses was praying for Joshua to win the battle.

How do we know this? Because the Bible says that as long as Moses held his arms in the air, Joshua and Israelites were winning. But, when Moses would lower his arms and stop praying, Joshua and Israelites would start losing the battle. So, when Moses’ arms got tired, there were two men that came alongside him to help. Their names were Aaron and Hur (choose two people to represent Aaron and Hur, put the “Aaron” and “Hur” signs around their necks and instruct them to act out the story as you tell it).

While Joshua was fighting the Amelekites, and Moses was holding up his arms praying for Joshua; Aaron and Hur were holding up Moses’ arms as they would start to drop. They held Moses’ arms up as he prayed all day long until sunset. As a result, Joshua and the Israelites defeated the Amelekites and won the battle!

Now, I have a question. Who was most responsible for the victory? Was it Joshua because he was the one fighting? Or was it Moses because he was the one praying? Or was it Aaron and Hur because they were the ones holding up Moses’ arms as he prayed? The truth is, they ALL had a big part in the victory! The battle was a HUGE part of Joshua’s preparation to become the leader of the Israelites, but it never would have happened if Moses, Aaron, and Hur wouldn’t have been willing to be a part of the prayer time.

What does all of this teach us, kids? It teaches us that God wants to use others to help prepare us for the future EXTREME things we will do for Him. You need your parents, pastors, and other adults praying for you as you grow up and become prepared to do the EXTREME things God has planned for you. Bottom line, you can’t do it on your own. We need other people praying for us, and...

We can’t do EXTREME things for God without God’s power. If we are ever going to do God’s plan, we MUST have God’s power. It was true for Joshua, and it is true for us.

1. What was today’s Big Idea? Answer: “If I’m Gonna Do God’s Plan, I Gotta Have God’s Power!”

2. What was the name of the EXTREME Sports Specialist in our video? Answer: Ban Daid

3. What was Ban Daid trying to jump over? Answer: a dump truck (toy)

4. What was the name of the EXTREME Wrestler who taught the Power Verse? Answer: Senor Magnifico

5. Who is the EXTREME HERO from the Bible that we are studying? Answer: Joshua

6. True or False: We don’t need to prepare in order to do God’s plan. Answer: False

7. According to our lesson today, who prayed for Joshua as he fought? Answer: Moses

8. What did Moses have to do while he prayed in order for Joshua to win? Answer: hold up his hands with the staff of the Lord in it

9. Who helped Moses when his arms got tired? Answer: Aaron and Hur

10. Where was our Power Verse found? Answer: James 5:16