March 2020 : Ready to use all-age service – Spies!

MEETING AIM: To understand that with God we can do what seems to be impossible.

BIBLE PASSAGE: Numbers 13; 14:5-9, 24

BACKGROUND: Caleb was one of the spies sent by Moses into the Promised Land. Only Caleb and Joshua believed that they could take the land; the others saw the dangers and declared that it was too dangerous. Caleb knew that God would be true to his word – he wouldn’t have promised something he couldn’t deliver. He knew that with God, the people would be able to achieve what seemed impossible.

WELCOME ACTIVITIES

5 MINS

OPTION ONE: Party pieces

Invite some volunteers to the front who can do something unusual or seemingly impossible. Prime some people beforehand to get the ball rolling. Talents might include football freestyling, skateboard tricks or circus skills. (If this is not practical, then look online for videos of people doing the seemingly impossible.) What do people think when they see feats like these?

OPTION TWO: Testimony

Find someone who has done the seemingly impossible through God’s strength and power. This could be a story of survival, of healing, of employment circumstances or repaired relationships. Make sure that their story is appropriate to an all-age setting. Invite them to the front and ask them a few questions to get them going.

BIBLE STORY

10 MINS

You will need: a volunteer to play Caleb; spy costume; the Mission Impossible theme tune and the means to play it

Give your volunteer the script below and encourage them to prepare it so that they can deliver it with confidence. Dress them like a spy and play the Mission Impossible theme tune as they come to the front:

Alright? I’m Caleb – one of the people of God, the Israelites. We’ve been travelling from Egypt, where God freed us from slavery, to a new home. It’s taken ages, but we’ve reached the edge this new home. Moses chose twelve people to be spies and guess what? I’m one of them!

We sneaked into this new land. God had promised we would live there, but when we travelled through our new home, we discovered people were already there. They were big! So big that some of the others said that we looked like grasshoppers in comparison.

But there were some amazing sights. We found bunches of grapes that were so big it took two of us to carry them! There were huge cities with enormous walls – they were strong and beautiful.

When we got back, the other spies started to tell Moses, Aaron and the people about this new land. They started off positively, but then went onto the difficulties. “All the men are huge!” they said. “There are lots of different people living all over this land.”

The people started to panic, so I shouted out: “Let’s go and take the land, I know we can do it!” But the other spies said: “Those people are too strong for us! We can’t farm that land! The people are like giants!”

The people cried all night and complained to Moses, but I shouted: “If we obey God, he will give us this rich and fertile land. God is on our side, those people won’t stand a chance!” But the people were scared, they didn’t believe us!

Can you believe it? God promised us this land – why would he do that if he couldn’t do the impossible through us and for us?

SMALL GROUPS

10 MINS

You will need: copies of the questions below; Bibles

Break into small groups – made up of one or two families, or different mixed-age groups – and give each group a copy of these questions and a Bible:

•What’s your favourite part of the Bible passage?

•How were Caleb and Joshua different from the other spies?

•Has God ever promised you something? Did he deliver? How?

•Are you in a position where you need the strength of God who can do the impossible? Give the groups time to chat about these questions, referring to the Bible passage in they need to.

REVIEW

10 MINS

You will need: roving mic (if needed)Get some feedback on questions two and three from ‘Small groups’, using a microphone to hear people’s contributions if your meeting space is large.

RESPONSE ACTIVITIES

10 MINS

Set these three activities up in different parts of your meeting space. Explain what each one is and encourage people to go to the one that will help them process what they have discovered most effectively.

OPTION ONE: Discussion

Assign some volunteers to help guide a discussion about the story and what it might mean for the congregation today.

OPTION TWO: Hot-seating

You will need: Caleb from ‘Bible story’

Invite Caleb to come and sit in the middle of the group. Encourage the group to ask questions of him, as if he were actually Caleb. Your volunteer should try to answer in the same way.

OPTION THREE: Reflection

You will need: grapes

Invite participants to take some grapes and think about them as a symbol of God’s provision. Ask everyone to reflect on the story and talk to God about what he is saying to them.

CLOSING

5 MINS

Bring everyone back together and ask if anyone would like to share anything from the response time. Thank every-one for taking part and say an appropriate blessing to close the service.