On the Trail Lesson 7

Promises are special to children. Whether they make a promise or someone makes one to them there is always a choice involved. You can choose to believe the promise or not. It is the same with God’s promises, we choose to believe or not to believe.
Our goal this week was to teach your children that God promises them eternal life and it is their choice whether or not to accept it and believe it.
Our Bible story today was the story of Moses sending the twelve spies to go scout out Canaan, the land God had promised to give the Israelites. The spies came back and gave their report. They all agreed that the land was great but ten of the spies said that the people who lived in the land are too big and war-like to defeat. Two of the spies said that they should go possess the land. The Israelites didn’t
listen to the two spies and instead started complaining and weeping. They chose not to believe God’s promise about giving them the land. They even talked about killing Moses and choosing a new leader. The Israelites chose not to believe God’s promise. God was very angry with the Israelites and punished them by making them wander for 40years.
In today’s skit Tex scouted ahead to the area where the cattle drive will end. He brought back a great report but it turns out to get to the end they will have to pass through the badlands. Tex didn’t believe they could make it through so he planned out a new, longer route. Cookie encouraged Tex to believe the trail boss’s promise about getting them to the end safely. Tex finally agreed. Just like Tex,
we have a choice. We can either believe God’s promises or not. That includes the promise of forgiveness and salvation through Jesus Christ.
Our Bible story, skit and every activity in our small group time was geared toward teaching your children about God’s promise of eternal life and the choice they have to believe it or not.

On The Trail Lesson 5

On The Trail: The Exodus of Israel Lesson 5

This Sunday your child learned about the God giving Moses the 10 commandments. This passage can be found in Exodus 20. We emphasised that the 10 commandments can be summed up in our main point, Love God & Love Others. In Bible Stories By the Campfire we showed how God spoke to the Israelites at Mt. Sinai and how it was a dramatic event.
In our skit we saw how Tex had a rope that he had stolen and he was thought it was so good that he was worshiping the rope. He also tried to accuse his father for taking the rope. This was to show how the 10 Commandments apply to our lives each day.

Read over the 10 Commandments with your child this week and point out how they apply to our lives practically each day. When we Love God & Love Others we are putting the 10 Commandments into practice each and every day.

Barry <><

On The Trail Lesson 4

Lesson 4 On the Trail
It’s very easy to worry and complain about the things we need. Our goal for today was for your child to learn that when they have a need, they shouldn’t worry or complain. Instead, they should thank God for what He’s already done for them and then ask him to meet their need.
On stage we told the story of God providing for the Israelites in the wilderness found in Exodus 15:22 – 17:7. On three separate occasions the Israelites have a need. Once they have a need for food and twice they have a need for water. However, instead of being thankful for everything God had done for them already, they complained and whined to Moses. They accused
him of bringing them out to the wilderness to die. Moses, however, didn’t whine and complain. He prayed to God about their needs and God provided for them every time. Moses demonstrated the proper way to present our needs to God.
During our large group skit, Tex had some trouble determining the difference between wants and needs. He was hungry but he didn’t want the beans that Cookie made, he wanted cookies. He didn’t want the water that Cookie gave him, he wanted soda. He whined and complained until Cookie explained to him the difference between wants and needs. Cookie also explained
the importance of being thankful that his needs are being met. Tex apologized and started being thankful. Just like Tex we need to be thankful to God for meeting our needs.
Every element of today’s lesson was geared toward teaching your children that when they have a need they should pray to God about it and they should be thankful for what God has already done for them.