Hilltop Battle Exodus 17:8-16

Fall • Lesson 6 Hilltop Battle Exodus 17:8-16

Dear Teacher, Big Idea One of my favorite heroes of the faith is George Müller. Müller was When tough times come, a pastor who noticed the huge orphan problem in 19th-century we can pray for each Britain and wanted to do something about it. But he also wanted other and trust God to to encourage Christians that God still answers prayer and that “it answer in the best way. is not a vain thing to trust in Him.” * So Müller started an orphan- age and determined never to ask anyone for money. He decided to go only to God with the orphans’ needs so people could see “that God is FAITHFUL STILL, and HEARS PRAYER STILL.” * During his lifetime, Müller built five large orphanages and cared Action Plan for over 10,000 orphans, and he and his staff depended totally on Discuss ways to pray God through prayer. Müller had his faith tested in tough times, for and help each but he never quit trusting God, and he had miraculous answers other, then pray to- to prayer. What an amazing testimony of how God loves to work gether about needs. through prayer! Becky English Editor Bible Verse * George Müller’s Narratives, Vol. 1, Dust and Ashes Publications, http://www.dustan- dashes.com/434.htm (accessed December 19, 2011). “Pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.” Ephesians 6:18

Connecting You to Jesus God’s help in response to prayer is made clear in the story of the Israelites’ defeat of the Amalekites. Moses celebrated the victory by building an altar called “The Materials Lord is my Banner” (Exodus 17:15). The prophet Isaiah • The basics later wrote that the Messiah “will stand as a banner for (see contents) the peoples” (Isaiah 11:10). As long as Moses kept his • Broken toy hands raised in prayer to God, his banner, the Israelites were victorious. The same is true for us: We find salva- tion and victory only when we look to Jesus!

© 2012 Gospel Light. Permission to photocopy granted to original purchaser only. Elementary Large Group Leader Guide 57 Fall • Lesson 6 Big Idea (5 minutes) Opening Music When tough times come, As children come into the large-group area, play “Deep as the we can pray for each Ocean” (on Media DVD or track 1 on Worship CD). Lead children other and trust God to in singing and doing motions (see Song Motion Chart on p. answer in the best way. 139). God loves us a lot! That’s why He is the best One to talk to when trouble comes. We can trust Him to help us!

Icebreaker (5 minutes) TIP Let’s see how many people you can find today who you Greet kids as they arrive, have things in common with! When I say “Go,” begin act- and ask, What have you ing out something you like to do after school. See if you helped someone else do? can find others doing the same thing, and form a group with them. But no talking! Ready? Go! Students pantomime things they like to do and get into groups. Good job! Which of the things you like to do are most fun when you are with a friend? Volunteers respond. Today we’ll be talking about some friends who helped each other do something very important. Playlist Deep as the Ocean Bible Verse (10 minutes) My God Will Meet All Your Needs Our Bible verse today says that we should pray on all Go Down, Mo occasions with all kinds of needs. Let’s read it together. I Will Trust in You Open your Bible to Ephesians 6:18 and read it aloud. An occa- sion is anything that happens to you, whether it’s happy, sad, frustrating or something else! Let’s watch this clip to help us remember our verse! Show “Lesson 6: Mission Memorization” on Media DVD. You did really well. Aren’t you glad that we can tell God our problems Tip no matter what is happening in our lives and no matter Another fun way of how we are feeling? saying the Bible verse would be to use sign language. Search online for signs for keywords of the verse.

58 © 2012 Gospel Light. Permission to photocopy granted to original purchaser only. Elementary Large Group Leader Guide Fall • Lesson 6 Optional Game Invite six volunteers to the front. Today our volunteers are going to work together! Volunteers stand in a tight circle. Tap a balloon into the air over the circle. Volunteers help each other keep the balloon in the air, touching it only with their heads. Other students count how many times the balloon is bounced into the air. Let’s cheer for our volunteers! If time allows, invite another group of six volunteers to play. Great job, everybody! You worked well together. Some games you play by yourself, but it can be fun to play games in which you work with a partner or a team. Today we’ll hear about some men who worked together to help the whole Israelite nation!

Music (15 minutes) When things get tough, we need help! Sometimes we need wisdom, sometimes encouragement, sometimes something else! Whatever we need, God will provide! Lead children in singing and doing motions for “My God Will Meet All Your Needs” (on Media DVD or track 5 on Worship CD; see Song Motion Chart on p. 143).

Moses faced lots of hard times in his life, but he learned how to trust in God, and that made him strong! We can trust in God, too! Let’s sing about it. Lead students in singing and doing motions for “Go Down, Mo” (on Media DVD or track 2 on Worship CD; see Song Motion Chart on p. 140). When we trust in Jesus, we don’t need to be afraid, no matter what happens! Lead students in singing and doing motions for “I Will Trust in You” (on Media DVD or track 4 on Worship CD; see Song Motion Chart on p. 142).

Story Starter (5 minutes) OK, everybody, I need you to stand up with me! How many arm circles do you think you can do before your arms get too tired to keep going? Put your arms out to your sides, inviting students to follow your ac- tions, and begin counting arm circles aloud. Can you do 20? How about 40? Or even 50? Lead students in doing arms circles until you’ve done 50. Phew! Good job! You can sit down now. Are your arms tired? Mine sure are! In today’s story, a man’s arms got VERY tired, and he needed two of his friends to help him out! Let’s listen to find out how this man’s arms got so tired.

© 2012 Gospel Light. Permission to photocopy granted to original purchaser only. Elementary Large Group Leader Guide 59 Fall • Lesson 6 Big Idea When tough times come, Hilltop Battle we can pray for each (15 minutes) other and trust God to Exodus 17:8-16 answer in the best way.

STORYTELLING IDEA As you read the rhyme, pause as indicated throughout the story so that students can shout out the rhyming word. Prompt students as needed.

The Big, Bad, Powerful, Mean Amalekites The Israelites were traveling through the desert, camping at dif- ferent places that God showed them as He led them from Egypt to their own land. Besides leading them, God also provided food and water for the people in amazing ways! The journey was not easy, but the Israelites were learning that God was taking care of them. But today we’re going to hear about a major battle between the Israelites and their dreaded enemies the Amalekites! And

Fall • Lesson 6 there’s a brave young man who Moses chose to lead the Israel- © Gospel Light. It is illegal to photocopy or reproduce this material in any form. ite army. His name was Joshua. Joshua Against the Amalekites I’d like to tell our story in a fun and lively way, So listen very carefully to what I’m going to say! But as I tell this story, friends, you’ll need to help me out. Whenever I don’t know the word, please say it with a shout! This story is about some guys who kindly helped their friend, Who did their job with no complaints and stood firm ‘til the end. It’s also ‘bout a battle—a big and nasty fight— Between the army of Joshua and the dread Amalekites! The Amalekites were scary; they were big and strong and mean— More powerful than anything the Israelites had . . . Kids shout, “SEEN!” These enemies attacked the Israelites out of the blue. And now what were the Israelites and Moses going to do?

Moses called for Joshua to lead a mighty charge Against the Amalekite army, which was strong and very large! Moses said he’d go up on the hill and he would stand; Tip He’d take the staff of God and hold it high up in his . . . Kids shout, “HANDS!” Guide students to open their Bibles to Exodus Now when the staff that Moses had was raised up in the air, 17:12-13 and follow along The Israelites were winning, and they fought without a care! as you read how Aaron But after a little while, Moses’ staff went down again. and Hur helped Moses The Amalekites grew stronger, and they started then to win! and how that also When Moses’ arms got tired, it was hard to hold them high, helped Joshua. So Aaron and his friend Hur thought of something else to . . . Kids shout, “TRY!” They thought it would be good for Moses to sit on a stone. Then each of them held up an arm so Moses wasn’t alone! Tip With the help of friends, Moses was able to keep going, Invite a volunteer And the Israelite army’s strength was definitely growing! to read aloud the So Joshua tasted victory, thanks to God—his King and Lord. definition of the Joshua and the men destroyed the Amalekites with the sword! word “altar” on God then wanted Moses to remember that whole day, page 293 in What By writing on a scroll all the words God had to . . . Kids shout, “SAY!” the Bible Is All God wanted Israel to think of how they’d won the fight About for Kids. And to know there’d be no memory on earth of the Amalekites! Finally, Moses built an altar in a special manner. Then he gave the altar a name: It was The Lord’s my Banner. Moses knew that God’s the One who’d helped the Israelites win, And God would defeat the Amalekites again and yet again! Working Together So there you have it! What a great story to show us what to do when trouble comes! The Israelites were probably surprised when the Ama- lekites attacked them, but Moses knew exactly what to do. He knew that Joshua and the men needed to go out and fight the enemy and that he, Moses, needed to pray! Aaron and Hur knew what they needed to do, too. And it’s a good thing! If Aaron and Hur hadn’t helped Moses, he wouldn’t have been able to keep his hands lifted up to God—and the battle would have been lost! Aren’t you glad that God gave us each other so that we can help each other and pray for each other when tough things come our way?

© 2012 Gospel Light. Permission to photocopy granted to original purchaser only. Elementary Large Group Leader Guide 61 Fall • Lesson 6 Big Idea Wrap-Up When tough times come, Being attacked by the Amalekites was a hard thing for Mo- we can pray for each ses and all the Israelites to go through! We all go through other and trust God to times when things are tough. Show broken toy. Maybe our answer in the best way. favorite toy breaks or a friend is mean to us or we have trouble in our families. During times like that, we need to remember that God knows the BEST way to help us! Read Ephesians 6:18. God wants us to pray to Him in our tough situations, like Moses did, and never give up! But sometimes, when life get REALLY hard, we need help even to pray! We need friends who will help us, like Aaron and Hur helped Moses. And not only do we NEED friends, but we can also BE friends to other people who are going through hard times! It is good for us to help each other by praying and trusting in God.

Connecting Kids to Jesus When Moses held up his hands on the hillside, he was praying and showing that the Israelites were depending on God’s help. It was as if he was holding up a banner that said God was winning the battle for everyone to see. In the same way that Moses prayed to and trusted God for victory, we can pray to Jesus and trust Him to save us.

Prayer (5 minutes) Has someone ever prayed for you? Have you ever prayed for someone else? Give kids a chance to answer briefly, and then pray,Dear God, thank You for giving us friends who will help us and pray for us. Help us to do the same for others. In Jesus’ name, amen. Dismiss to Small Groups Aaron and Hur were good friends to Moses because they helped him to keep trusting in God. As you go to your small groups, think about ways that people have helped you or ways that you have helped someone else. We’ll talk about that more in our small groups.