All-age Service: Promises, promises!

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PRAYER / WORSHIP ACTIVITY

OPTION 1

10 mins

Display Psalm 145:3-6 on a screen or large board at the front. Read it together aloud:

Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom. One generation commends your works to another; they tell of your mighty acts. They speak of the glorious splendour of your majesty - and I will meditate on your wonderful works. They tell of the power of your awesome works – and I will proclaim your great deeds.

Using card and string make a ‘speech bubbles’ – enough for one per person to hang around their necks. Invite everyone to think of a ‘mighty act’ or an ‘awesome work’ that God has done for them in the last few weeks and write or draw it onto the speech bubble. They can then hang the speech bubble around their neck so all can see it. Go around the room, meeting each other and telling of God’s mighty acts.

OPTION 2

5 mins

Play a gentle song. Using a bubble machine, blow bubbles, explaining that when the bubbles pop, they disappear. Likewise when we say sorry to God, he forgives us and our sins disappear and are wiped out. As the music is playing and you are blowing the bubbles encourage people to pray, asking God for forgiveness and thanking him that he forgives us and makes our sin disappear.

STORY

15 mins

Invite everyone to gather into groups of 12. Give each group a clipboard with some paper and pens and then read out this story, pausing for the questions:

The Israelites had escaped Egypt and were heading for Canaan, the land God had promised them. Following God’s instructions, Moses chose one person from each of the 12 tribes to spy out the new land. They were extreme explorers! What would you want to find out if you were exploring a new land to live in? Talk in your group and write your ideas on your clipboard.

Moses asked the spies these questions (put these questions up on a screen so everyone can see them):

What is the land like? Are the people who live there strong or weak? Are there lots of them or just a few?

What kind of towns do they live in? Do they have walls around them or not?

What is the soil like? Is it good for growing food?

Are there trees?

Can you bring back some fruit from the land?

So the spies packed their bags and left to explore for 40 days.

Encourage the groups to get up and begin to walk together around the room. Have different stations with instruction cards around the room for them to visit. They can make notes on their clipboard as they go along.

Station one: grapes

Put out enough clusters of grapes for each group to take. On the instruction card, write: The spies discovered some enormous juicy grapes growing in the land. They collected a cluster and took them home to show the rest of their people.

Station two: soil

Fill a large box with good compost or soil. On the instruction card, write: The soil in the land was good! Perfect for growing food for themselves and their animals! It was rich land which truly flowed with milk and honey.

Station three: giants

Produce some larger-than-life cut-outs of people (you can use lining paper for this). If you are artistic, you can make the whole body. If it is easier, just make a large cardboard head and stick it behind a curtain. On the instruction card, write: The people living in the land were enormous and strong! Some of the spies were very scared of them and felt as small as grasshoppers compared to them.

Station four: towns

Using tables, chairs or large cardboard boxes, make a wall around a ‘town’. On the instruction card, write: The towns and cities had very strong walls around them. They were well protected from any attacks.

When everyone has been around all four stations and made notes on their clipboards, invite them to sit back down in their groups. Ask them to report back to you what they discovered on their journey before continuing the story:

The twelve spies reported their findings to Moses. Ten of the spies were very scared. ‘We can’t attack those people,’ they explained to Moses. ‘They are bigger and stronger than us, and their towns are cities are so well fortified. We’ll all be killed!’ But a young spy called Caleb put up his hand and silenced them all. (Invite one person from each group to stand up and be Caleb.) ‘Of course we can take this land,’ he exclaimed. ‘God has promised this land to us and he is on our side!’

Joshua, another young spy, agreed with Caleb. (Invite one more person from each group to stand up and be Joshua.)But Caleb and Joshua were on their own. Nobody else believed them.

The rest of the people were terribly upset. They spent the night wailing (invite the rest of the group to wail loudly at this point) and complaining. They moaned that God had brought them out of Egypt only for them to die when they reached their promised land.

Joshua and Caleb got down on their knees (invite Joshua and Caleb to kneel down if they are able) in desperation and pleaded with the people to believe their God. But the people did not; they moaned and muttered among themselves (moaning and muttering noises please!) and refused to believe God could help them take this promised land.

Because of their disbelief and disobedience, the Israelites wandered in the desert for forty more years. (The groups can now stand back up and begin to wander around the room together again aimlessly.)

All the people who had come out of Egypt died in the desert during those forty years. God did not want them to see the land he had promised them because they hadn’t believed him. All the people, except two: Caleb and Joshua. (At this point, some of the group can either pretend to die dramatically or just sit back down again, leaving ‘Joshua’ and ‘Caleb’ standing.)

At the right time, Caleb and Joshua entered the land God had promised them. (All the Calebs and Joshuas in the room can go and break down the ‘walls’ of the town and stand inside it.)They were old men by this time but they had held onto God’s promises and seen them fulfilled.

REFLECTIVE RESPONSE TO THE STORY

OPTION 1

5 mins

Using the stations again, ask everyone to walk around and think about which parts of the story are most relevant for their lives. Is there something they want to give thanks for? Do they have obstacles that need to be overcome? Are they fearful? Encourage them to kneel at the station which means the most, and ask God to help them believe in him for this area of their lives.

OPTION 2

10 mins

What are God’s promises to you? Give out some wooden lolly sticks and ask people to write or draw something they feel God has promised them. Take the sticks to the middle of the ‘town station’ and encourage people to hold them in their hands as you pray this prayer slowly, so that people can have a chance to think about the words:

God who gives us good things; help us to hold on to your promises.

God who helps us overcome obstacles; help us to hold on to your promises.

God who never lets go of us; help us to hold on to your promises.

God who is bigger than our fears; help us to hold on to your promises.

God who takes us to new places; help us to hold on to your promises.