Adventure 3 Teacher's Manual Sample

Leader’s manual AD3 God rescues his people From Exodus to Joshua

Contents How it works

4

Unit introduction

6

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

God hears his people

Exodus 1–2

9

God sends a rescuer

Exodus 3–4

19

God is all-powerful

Exodus 5–11

27

God rescues his people

Exodus 12–15

37

God provides for his people

Exodus 16–17

47

God tells his people how to live

Exodus 19-20

55

God is with his people

Exodus 25; 40:34

63

God’s people rebel

Numbers 13:1–14:35

71

God gives victory

Joshua 3; 4; 5:13–6:27

81

Follow the Lord

Joshua 23–24

89

3 Adventure

Adventure

How it works How the sessions are structured Bible passage: All sessions are Bible-focused

Aim This is the ‘big idea’ to be taught during the session. It is child-oriented.

Outcomes These statements break down the aim into ‘do-able’ chunks. There are generally only three, so that the leader can keep them in mind and check up later whether or not they were achieved. They are broken up into: • knowledge – information, concepts, beliefs • understanding – more personal ways of grasping the concepts in the session • life application – ways of making links between knowledge and children’s lives, and reflecting on what kind of change might happen in response to God’s word.

Memory verse This verse is usually based on the CEV Bible and will be taught during the session.

Notes

Get ready

These notes for the leader give Bible context and background. There are hints regarding the theology of the passage, where it fits in salvation history and how it may properly be applied to both leader and child.

There might also be comments about the management of the session content and special comments when needed about visual aids and activities.

This section gives hints about important preparation to be done before the session starts.

Leader’s prayer This section links to the aim and outcomes, mentioning the way this session will actually call for a response from the child and make a difference in their lives.

Start up During this time activities occur that introduce the theme, aim and ideas of the session. There may be a few activities to choose from. Each activity has a specific purpose.

Your choice of activities will often depend on the children in your group and the space available.

Gear

Chat time

A summary is given at the beginning of the session of all the equipment needed by the leader and when it will be used. Some items will be given as optional. The gear needed for the Start up and concluding Activities is given with the particular activity. Leaders should choose these in advance to ensure that they have all that is needed. It is advisable to try out any unfamiliar activity before the session to make sure it works.

This short section is when the activities are over and the leader and children reflect on what the activities were about and how they lead into the Bible focus time.

This will often involve a few open-ended questions.

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Bible focus

Music spot Various songs, on readily available CDs, are suggested to link into the session and to provide a high-interest flow to the activities.

Links Links are made with the previous sessions.

Connections with life are raised and the children are encouraged to discuss ‘real life’ situations they face. We will raise the issue here and it will be drawn to a conclusion during Bringing it together.

NOTE: Sometimes during Bible focus time there will be a special comment to the leader about an issue that may come up during the session.

Bringing it together

Teaching time This is the body of the session. It involves teaching and learning activities. The story time has as its central focus the explanation of the Bible text in an age-appropriate way so that the aim of the session is reached. The activities ensure that all the session outcomes are achieved.

This section is really important. The leader is encouraged to allow enough time for this as connections are discussed that impact the children’s lives.

What the leader actually says to the children is presented in bold text. Directions to the leader are in normal type.

In this part of the session the children are helped to understand the Bible. Concepts and activities are designed to be age-appropriate. The activities are designed to reinforce this by enabling the teacher to revise the main concepts and test the children’s recall.

Application is an important part of this section and it is done carefully, while being true to the passage and to the developmental needs of the children.

Adventure 5-7s builds on what the child has learnt in Serious play 3-5s as well as at home and in school Religious Education classes. Foundations continue to be laid for further knowledge and understanding.

Regardless of the stage of their faith, they can be called on to respond and can be encouraged to know how God’s word challenges them to love and trust Jesus as their Saviour and Lord.

This icon shows where in the session the Bible will be read to the children so they can listen to and interact with the word of God.

There may be open-ended questions that encourage children to respond in their own terms. We are aiming for honest responses from the children.

The Memory verse is often taught during this part of the session.

Prayer This will normally follow Bringing it together and allows time to pray for the issues highlighted by the children. Leaders will model prayer and also teach children how to pray – both for themselves and for others, and for the issues in the wider world.

Activities After the more formal learning time the leader is encouraged to choose one or more of the activities included in each session as a way of reinforcing the main learning ideas. This also allows the children to interact with the adult leaders and their fellow group members. It provides time for the leader to talk informally with the children to hear their responses to the learning.

NOTE: The Links in each session help children to recall what they have already learnt. Leaders may wish to include a reflective session also.

Think about it

Think ahead

Here the leader is encouraged to think through issues that occurred in the session and reflect on possible strategies for the future.

This is a very brief indication of what the leader will need to plan ahead for next session. It may involve equipment, people and so on.

5 Adventure

On the march

Unit introduction

From Exodus to Joshua

Unit aim To help the children understand more of God’s power and his faithfulness in keeping his promises to his people. To encourage the children to trust God to look after them.

Unit outcomes By the end of this unit the children will: • know the story of the exodus and God’s rescue of his people from Egypt • know the manner in which God chose to protect, rescue and relate to his people • understand that the Israelites were not always faithful, but that God remained faithful to his promises • come to appreciate that God is worthy of our trust and our obedience.

Memory verses Sessions 1–3 He rescued Israel from Egypt. God’s love never fails. Psalm 136:11 (CEV) Sessions 4–8 Our Lord, no other gods can compare with you – Majestic and holy! Fearsome and glorious! Miracle worker!

Exodus 15:11 (CEV)

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Sessions 9,10 The Lord promised to do many good things for Israel, and he kept his promise every time. Joshua 21:45 (CEV)

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Where this fits in the Bible

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Timeline

We encourage the children to understand that God is always faithful to his people, no matter how unfaithful they are to him. God wants each of us to trust him completely, even if his promises seem impossible. For God, all things are possible!

6 Adventure

Notes

Promised Land. The children are also encouraged to consider God’s promises to them and to respond to him with trust and obedience.

Bible background This unit focuses on the power and authority of God by tracing the movement of his people from Egypt to the Promised Land. Much of the unit is taken up with a look at the defining moment of the rescue of the Israelite people from Egypt. Faced with the might of the Egyptian king, the Israelites were in slavery and seemingly without hope. Yet God had made promises to the descendants of Abraham and he would prove faithful to those promises.

The exodus rescue forms the focal point of the unit.

It speaks of God’s control of all of history. As Isaiah 40:23 declares, ‘God brings down rulers and turns them into nothing’, and the Egyptian king was left in no doubt as to who was the Lord of the universe!

The result for God’s people is the most dramatic rescue imaginable.

God gave his people direction and sustenance as they moved into the Sinai Desert. The Lord delivered the Ten Commandments and again revealed his power and might. The initial obedience of the Israelites gave way to complaints against Moses and the Lord.

Their idol worship put them in grave danger of divine judgement. The Lord relented when Moses pleaded for his people. The mercy and faithfulness of God was very much on display in this instance.

The crossing of the Jordan River and the defeat of Jericho were further reminders to God’s people that God was worthy of their trust and allegiance. Their repeated complaints and unfaithfulness brought consequences, but did not thwart God’s purposes.

He delivered on his promise to bring the people into the Promised Land.

There are many challenges in this material. The appropriateness of reverence and faithful obedience to the God of all of history is clear. The children will be encouraged to submit to God as one of his children, placing their trust in him alone. Equally evident will be the inability of God’s people to obey God in the way he demands. The importance of grace and the saving work of Jesus will be an important aspect of the unit. It is to Jesus that we now must look as the rescuer of God’s people. It is to him that the children must be directed – Jesus is their ‘bread of life’.

These sessions are full of active learning opportunities. The leader is given lots of ideas for drama, games, craft, singing and chanting raps.

These sessions provide memorable ways for the children to learn about God’s dealings with his people in the time of the exodus and entry into the

Faith development Children grow and develop physically, emotionally, cognitively and spiritually at different rates and in different ways. This unit aims to encourage growth in their relationship with Jesus, the Son of God. No matter what the stage of their faith development, they can be challenged to respond to God in Christ and to live in the way he wants us to.

Faith has been described as having four aspects: believing, imagining, trusting and doing. (See Children Finding Faith by Francis Bridger, SU, England, 2000, available from CEP.) Believing involves having faith in the truth of the gospel and a reliance on the promises of God in Christ. Imagining involves creatively exploring our beliefs. Trusting involves the relational side of faith. Doing is the way we act as an outworking of our faith. Children, like adults, benefit from learning approaches that involve exploring faith from each of these four aspects.

These sessions have been written with this in mind.

Special features The Leader’s pack includes: the Leader’s manual with ten sessions two full-colour A3 Memory verse posters 13 full-colour A3 Leader’s posters a sample children’s On the road with Moses notebook. Extra notebooks may be purchased from CEP so every child can complete the pages associated with the sessions.

• a set of photocopiable masters • a variety of Visual aids and activities for each session.

• • • •

On the road with Moses notebook The children will follow the journey of the Israelite people as they travelled from Egypt to the Promised Land. They will have the opportunity to engage in fun and thought-provoking activities to reinforce their learning each session by completing a page in their notebooks. As they work their way through the notebooks they will learn more of how God was with his people throughout the books of Exodus, Numbers and Joshua. They will also discover how the same God is with them today. The hope is that the children will come to know God as a mighty rescuer.

They will be encouraged to see themselves as part of God’s chosen people.

7 Adventure

Activities

Photocopiable masters

Children all learn in a variety of ways. Adventure 5-7s is for five to seven year olds who are beginner readers and actively learn through a range of activities. These have been selected to provide variety and to cater for the preferred learning styles of all children.

The set of photocopiable masters include Memory verse ideas, templates for craft activities and worksheets for children who finish more quickly than some of the others in the group. Purchase of the Leader’s pack entitles you to make one copy for each member of your group.

When choosing the activities you will include in each session, consider the number of children in your group, their individual skills and the space you have available. Try to encourage a wide range of activities so that the different learning skills of the children will be catered for.

At this stage children are learning how to relate to God through his word, the Bible, and also through prayer. It is important that the leaders model this behaviour and encourage the children to follow their personal example.

A Memory verse activity is included in each session and is presented in an interactive way so that the children will begin to build their own personal store of Bible verses.

Music spot Often the music helps children to remember the significant learning that has taken place in the session. CDs that will appeal to children include: • • • • • • • •

Promises, promises, CEP Baa baa doo baa baa, Colin Buchanan 10,9,8 … God is great, Colin Buchanan Practise being Godly, Colin Buchanan Remember the Lord, Colin Buchanan Follow the Saviour, Colin Buchanan I want my mummy, Colin Buchanan The King, the snake and the promise, Emu Music

These CDs are available from CEP.

8 Adventure

1

God hears his

people Exodus 1–2

Aim To teach the children that God hears his people when they are in trouble and ask him for help.

Outcomes By the end of this session the children will: • know the events surrounding Moses’ birth, childhood and early adult years • understand that God knows when his people are in trouble and hears their prayers • think of times when they can pray to God for help.

Memory verse He rescued Israel from Egypt. God’s love never fails. Psalm 136:11 (CEV)

Notes

came: ‘As soon as a Hebrew boy is born, throw him into the Nile River!’ (Exodus 1:22).

Read Exodus 1–2.

The story of the Israelites as slaves in Egypt is the historical backdrop for one of the most significant events in the Old Testament. The exodus from Egypt and the Passover are key parts of Israel’s history.

These events also provide important teaching about God’s character and his action on behalf of his people to rescue them from their enemies. Through their experience of the exodus and their time at Mount Sinai, God’s people were formed into a nation with God’s law as their social, moral and spiritual framework.

This session introduces Moses, the one God sent as rescuer for his people. Moses was a descendant of Levi, one of Jacob’s sons. Jacob’s family had by this time been in Egypt over 400 years and had grown into a huge number of descendants. Clearly God was continuing to fulfil his promise to Abraham (Genesis 12:1–3).

As the number of Israelites increased, the Egyptians became concerned about their increasing power and began to see them as a threat. They forgot about Joseph’s role in helping them through the years of famine. The Israelites were oppressed, but still their numbers continued to grow. Finally the command

Moses was born at this time, when the threat of death hung over every baby boy. Yet he escaped through the ingenuity of his mother, the courage of his sister and the compassion of the Egyptian king’s daughter. To save him, Moses’ mother put him into a tar-lined reed basket and placed it in the reeds at the riverbank. In a sense, this was exactly what the king had ordered. As his older sister Miriam watched, Moses was taken from the water by one of the king’s daughters who took pity on him and even asked his Hebrew mother to help care for him. After he was weaned, he was adopted by the princess and lived in the royal court.

Years later, God used Moses as the saviour and leader of Israel. It is clear that from his birth God was protecting and preparing Moses for this significant role.

Leader’s prayer Thank God for his mercy in rescuing his people – both from slavery in Egypt and slavery to sin. Pray that the children may begin to understand God’s power to save and his faithful commitment to his people.

9 Adventure

Gear q Leader’s poster 10 from Adventure AD2 – Joseph and Jacob in Egypt or a picture of Joseph and Jacob in a children’s Bible q A prepared copy of the flashcards (page 15), see Get ready q Playdough (see Get ready) q A plastic placemat for each child q A CEV Bible marked at Exodus 1:14b; 2:3,23–25 q CD player and CD of choice q An On the road with Moses notebook for each child q Small blank flashcards and a marker pen q A copy of the Take home photocopiables (pages 17 and 18) for each child q Gear for Memory verse and Take home activities q Gear for chosen activities in Start up and Activities sections

Get ready Make a copy of the flashcards (page 15). Cut into individual strips ready to show the children during Bible focus.

During Bible focus the children will each make four playdough models. Prepare enough playdough to give each of the children in your group four pieces.

If you choose to do the Plastic baskets activity in Activities, have the equipment for the basket construction ready. Cut the milk containers before the session.

Start up Choose from the following warm-up activities to suit your group and the time you have available. These activities are designed to introduce content and concepts that form part of the session. Please note that the Chat time is an important component of the session and should be completed immediately before moving into the Bible focus. For future reference, tick the activities you use.

Crocodile Purpose: To have fun, burn up some energy and introduce the idea that God knows each of our individual differences.

Gear q A large space to move and run around Choose a child to be ‘crocodile’ or play this part yourself. The ‘crocodile’ stands in the middle of the room or ‘river’. The remaining children stand to one side of the ‘river’. The children call: ‘Crocodile, crocodile, may we cross your river?’ The ‘crocodile’ replies, ‘Only if you are wearing the colour (choose a colour)’. Those wearing the colour may safely walk to the other side, across the ‘river’. The other children must cross the ‘river’, but they may be chased and caught by the ‘crocodile’. When they have been caught they become ‘crocodiles’ as well and help to catch the other children in the next crossing.

Clues

For extra impact Wear a simple headdress and present the Bible story in first person as Miriam, Moses’ sister; Moses’ mother; or Aaron, Moses’ older brother.

Playdough recipe Mix together the following ingredients in a saucepan: 1 cup plain flour, 1 cup salt, 2 tablespoons cream of tartar, 1 tablespoon cooking oil, 1 cup water, and a few drops of food colouring. Stir over low heat until the mixture is well-combined and has a thick, doughy consistency. Remove from the heat, allow to cool, then knead well. Make a few batches of playdough and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Purpose: To introduce the idea that God knows all about each one of us.

Gear q A sheet of paper and a pencil for each child Ask the children to write or draw three things: their favourite food, their favourite place and one person they love very much. They should not write their names on the paper. Ask them to fold their paper and collect the sheets. One-by-one, read the answers or show the drawings. The person who owns the clues should pretend they don’t know who is being described. Invite the children to use the clues to guess whose sheet of paper it is.

10 Adventure

Bible focus

Boat race Purpose: To think about Moses floating on the Nile River.

Links

Gear

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q A sheet of paper for each child q A copy of the How to make a boat photocopiable (page 16) for each child (optional) q A pen q A sand tray or large flat container containing water Give each child a sheet of paper. Ask the children to experiment to try to build a boat that will float.

Alternatively, give each child a copy of the How to make a boat photocopiable and help the children construct a paper boat. Write each child’s name clearly on their boat.

Have races with the boats by placing them in the tray of water and blowing them along to see which is the fastest. At the end of this activity, you could leave the boats floating to see which ones can stay afloat for the whole session.

Chat time In the game ‘Crocodile’, one particular thing about us meant we could safely cross the river and the crocodile would not hurt us.

What could get us safely across the river?

(Accept responses. Having the right colour would give us safety.)

If it is available, display Leader’s poster 10 from Adventure AD2 showing Jacob and Joseph embracing in Egypt.

Who can remember who these two people are?

(Accept responses. Jacob and Joseph.)

Why is the older one crying? Why are they so happy to see each other? (Accept responses.

Jacob thought his son Joseph was dead and he was very happy to see him again. Joseph was sold as a slave in Egypt and thought he would never see his father again.)

Jacob and his whole family came to live in Egypt. Four hundred years passed. By then there were so many people in Jacob’s family that there were enough for a whole nation.

They were called the Israelites.

Today we will find out what it was like in Egypt for the Israelites after all those years.

This Bible story happened long ago – many, many years before Jesus was born. God’s people, the Israelites, were in bad trouble.

Show the prepared flashcards.

How did the crocodile know who had the right colour on? (Accept responses. The crocodile only had to look at us to know what colour we were wearing.)

Does God know what colour we are wearing?

(Accept responses.)

What does God know about us that can’t be seen by anyone else? (Accept responses. He knows all about us! He knows our feelings and our thoughts. He knows what we are afraid of and what makes us happy.)

God doesn’t need us to give him clues on a piece of paper so that he can find out about our favourite food, our favourite place or the name of someone we love. He knows all about us already.

They were saying to each other: ‘Does God know about us? Does God see us? Does God care about our problems?’

Do we ever think things like that? Sometimes when we are in trouble or feeling worried and sad, we might say (point to the flashcards and ask the children to read the words with you): ‘Does God know about us? Does God see us? Does God care about our problems?’

Put the flashcards aside for Bringing it together.

Teaching time If you have a headdress (see For extra impact), put this on. Invite the children to sit in a circle. Give each child four pieces of playdough and a placemat. The leader should also have a placemat and playdough to make each item as a demonstration for the children.

I will tell you what to make with your playdough as we hear the Bible story.

Ask the children to begin by making big buildings from one piece of playdough.

11 Adventure

1

The Israelites were living in the land of Egypt. There were so many Israelites that the Egyptians began to say to each other: ‘Look at all those Israelites! There are so many of them.

They might fight against us. Let’s make them into slaves.’

So the Egyptians put slave masters in charge of the Israelites. They tried to wear them down with hard work. They made them build big cities.

Ask the children to put their big buildings together to make a ‘city’.

But even though they were treated like slaves, the Israelite families kept growing bigger and bigger. They kept taking over more and more land. The Egyptians grew more afraid and more mean. This is what happened.

Read Exodus 1:14b from a CEV Bible.

The king called the nurses who looked after the Israelite women when they had their babies. He told them to do something terrible: ‘When an Israelite baby is born, if it is a boy, kill him! If it is a girl, let her live.’

Of course the nurses knew that God would not want them to do such a terrible thing. They obeyed God, not the king of Egypt, so the Israelite families kept growing.

the river to see where it went. She wanted her baby brother to be safe.

Ask the children to make a girl from their third piece of playdough.

Miriam followed the basket. The baby began to cry. ‘What will happen now?’ thought Miriam.

‘Maybe someone will hear the crying and hurt my little brother.’ She kept watching.

Then something amazing happened.

Miriam saw a woman bathing. She was a princess of Egypt and she had servants with her. They heard the baby crying. ‘Oh no!’ thought Miriam, ‘Now what will happen?’

The princess told her servants to get the basket.

When she opened it up she saw the little baby boy. Miriam waited. She was afraid. But the princess loved the little baby and felt sorry for him because he was hungry. At that moment Miriam knew she had to do something.

What could she do? (Accept responses.)

Miriam was very brave. She stepped out from behind the reeds and walked right up to the Egyptian princess.

She said: ‘Do you want me to get a Hebrew woman to take care of the baby for you?’

Next the king made a command to all of the Israelites: ‘As soon as a baby boy is born, throw him in the Nile River!’

Who could look after this baby? (Accept responses. Moses’ mother could do it and she would want to look after him.)

One Israelite mother had a baby boy. When he was born she did not throw him in the river, but she kept him hidden at home. For three months she kept that baby hidden.

Ask the children to put their playdough girl next to the baby in the basket.

Why would it be hard to keep a baby hidden for three months? (Accept responses.)

So the princess gave the baby to Moses’ sister, Miriam. She took him home to her mother to feed him and look after him until he was old enough to live at the palace with the princess.

After three months the mother knew she could not keep him a secret any longer. This is what she did:

What do you think the mother might have said when she saw Miriam coming home with the baby? (Accept responses.)

Read Exodus 2:3 from a CEV Bible.

Ask the children to make a man from the fourth piece of playdough.

How do you think this mother would be feeling when she put her baby in the basket near the edge of the water? (Accept responses.)

When he was a boy, Moses went to live with the princess. She called him Moses.

Ask the children to make a little baby in a basket from their second piece of playdough. Put their baskets together.

Moses grew up in the palace. He knew he was not like all the other boys at the palace. They were Egyptians. He was an Israelite.

After a time, the water rose and floated the basket away. But there was someone watching.

The baby’s sister, Miriam, was watching that little basket. She followed along the edge of

One day, when he was a grown man, Moses saw a fight. The fight was between an Egyptian slave master who had a whip and a stick, and a poor Israelite slave who was being beaten.

12 Adventure

How do you think Moses might have felt when he saw what was happening? (Accept responses.)

Activities

Moses was very upset and angry. He did not like to see the Israelite slave being beaten and hurt. He lost his temper. He hit the Egyptian slave master so hard that he killed him. Moses knew he was in big trouble now.

Choose from these activities to suit your group, the time and the resources available.

What could Moses do? (Accept responses.)

q An On the road with Moses notebook for each child q Coloured pens and pencils

Moses tried to solve his problem by running away. He ran away to the desert. He never wanted to go back to Egypt again. Moses knew he had made a bad mistake.

Ask the children to make the man look like he is running.

A long time passed. Things got even worse for the Israelites in Egypt. They had to work harder and harder for their Egyptian slave masters.

They were very unhappy.

What could they do? (Accept responses.)

Here is what happened.

Read Exodus 2:23–25 from a CEV Bible.

God heard the prayers of his people. He still had a plan for Moses to help them. Moses didn’t know about the plan yet. The people didn’t know about the plan yet. But God knew.

God knew what was happening to his people and he felt sorry for them. He would make sure they would be rescued.

Music spot Choose from the following songs.

Because of the Lord’s great love, track 8 on Colin Buchanan’s Baa baa doo baa baa CD.

On the road with Moses notebook Gear

Give each child a copy of the On the road with Moses notebook. Invite the children to write their name on the cover and fill in their personal details on page 1. Ask the children to complete the activity on page 2. The children are to find a way through the maze of the reeds in the river so that the baby in the basket can get from the mother to the princess.

The children are to find and colour Miriam who is hiding in the reeds. They can also fill in the missing letters at the bottom of the page to reveal the words of Exodus 2:25. Collect the notebooks ready for the next session.

Plastic baskets Gear q q q q q

A two-litre plastic milk bottle for each child Stapler and staples Strips of coloured paper Adhesive tape Craft glue

Before the session, pre-cut the plastic milk bottles as shown. Staple the handle in two places. Show the children how to weave strips of paper together before gluing these onto the basket.

God’s love is strong love, track 26 on Colin Buchanan’s 10,9,8 … God is great CD. Nothing takes God by surprise, track 12 on Colin Buchanan’s Remember the Lord CD. God is faithful (track 5) or In God’s hands (track 19) on CEP’s Promises, promises CD.

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1

Bringing it together

Scenes of Egypt Gear q Books about ancient Egypt showing pyramids and buildings q Playdough or paper, coloured pencils, pens and crayons Show the children some famous scenes and buildings of ancient Egypt. Invite them to create some Egyptian scenes themselves using the paper and art materials or the playdough. Put their work together to make a simple display. As they work, talk about the way God’s people were used as slaves in Egypt to help build cities and to work in the fields.

Remind the children that the Israelites cried out to God to help them.

Drama Ask the children to think of a scene of the Bible story and mime it for the rest of the group. Encourage the rest of the group to try to guess which part of the story is being acted out. Alternatively, invite the children to participate in a group drama and to act out parts of the story, such as: • the Israelites working hard in the hot sun, making bricks, building things, working in the fields and so on • Moses’ mother putting him in a basket and leaving him in the reeds at the edge of the water • the princess bathing and then finding baby Moses in a basket • Miriam happily taking baby Moses home to her mother to care for him.

Show the flashcards and read them with the children: ‘Does God know about us? Does God see us? Does God care about our problems?’

Why did the Israelites say these things to one another? (Accept responses. They were being treated badly as slaves in Egypt.)

Did God care about their problems in Egypt?

(Accept responses.)

God knew his people were in trouble in Egypt.

God heard his people pray for help. He had a plan to save them.

God hears us when we pray to him for help. He listens to our prayers. We can always pray to God when we have problems.

What are some problems we might have that we can pray to God about? (Accept responses.)

As the children mention things, write them on the small flashcards. Put the flashcards in a line in front of the children. Pray for each of the problems mentioned by the children and keep the cards for next session.

Memory verse Gear q A copy of the following words and pictures on a large sheet of paper

Keep the basket afloat Gear q A large bowl with a flat base filled with water, popcorn or rice q A model of Moses in a basket q Towels This game will be messy! Allow small groups of children to try to balance the bowl of water, popcorn or rice on their feet while they lie on their backs on the floor. The model of Moses should be placed in the bowl. They should try to keep Moses’ basket safe.

Solve the meaning of the words and pictures with the children to reveal the Memory verse. Encourage the children to say the Memory verse together.

He rescued Israel from Egypt. God’s love never fails. Psalm 136:11 (CEV)

Prayer Invite the children to repeat the following prayer.

Dear God, Thank you that you hear us when we pray to you for help. Thank you for always caring about our problems and us.

Amen.

14 Adventure

Take home Gear q A copy of the Take home photocopiable (page 18) for each child q A stapler, scissors and adhesive tape q Coloured crayons q Padding for the basket, such as grass, cottonwool balls or craft wadding

Have a basket already constructed to show the children. Help the children cut out the paper strips and colour them quickly with thick crayons. Assist them in the weaving and join the ends of the strips with adhesive tape. Fold up each corner and staple together. Pad the basket with grass, cottonwool balls or craft wadding. Colour and cut out the picture of baby Moses, then add him to the basket. You could try floating baby Moses in some water if the children don’t mind their creation getting wet and soggy!

The children can take home their baskets and share the story of Moses with their family.

Does God know about us?

Does God see us?

Does God care about our problems?

Think about it

Think ahead

Do the children understand that their problems matter to God?

You will need Memory verse poster 1 and the children’s On the road with Moses notebooks.

You will also need props for the drama, a bell and the prayer flashcards from this session.

Have the children been encouraged to pray to God themselves?

See Gear in Session 2 (page 20).

15 Adventure

1

How to fold the boat

Begin with a sheet of A4 paper.

Fold the top left-hand corner into the centre.

Place your thumbs inside the paper. Pull outwards and …

Turn the paper over and fold the second flap upwards.

Fold the paper in half.

Fold one flap upwards.

… flatten the paper.

Place your thumbs inside the paper. Pull outwards and …

Fold the top right-hand corner into the centre.

Fold the second flap upwards.

Fold one flap up from the bottom.

… flatten the paper.

Pull the ends outwards.

Now … put your thumbs in the middle of the boat and pull the paper outwards.

You should now have a paper boat!

© CEP 2004 The purchaser of the Adventure AD3 manual is entitled to photocopy this page for use with his or her group.

16 Adventure

Basket for Moses Cut baby Moses out, colour him in, fold his arms and legs and place him in your basket.

1. Weave a basket from coloured cardboard or paper.

Either use the photocopiable (page 18) or use another sheet of paper or cardboard. Draw a margin all the way around the mat, approximately 4 cm in from the edge. Cut slits in the mat as shown.

2. Either use different coloured paper on the copier, or colour and cut out the strips. Weave the first strip in and out, the second strip out and in, and so on. If you like, fasten the strips at either end with adhesive tape or a spot of glue (but they will hold anyway).

3. Cut one slit in each corner as shown.

4. Fold the long borders in, followed by the short borders. Wrap the ends of the long borders around and staple in place to form a basket ready for Moses.

Š CEP 2004 The purchaser of the Adventure AD3 manual is entitled to photocopy this page for use with his or her group.

17 Adventure

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Fold

Fold

5 Slits

Paper strips

2 strips for the sides these 3 strips go in the base Print out on different coloured cards then mix and match.

Cut along the lines.

Fold along the dotted lines. © CEP 2004 The purchaser of the Adventure AD3 manual is entitled to photocopy this page for use with his or her group.

18 Adventure

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