Thank you God for all the great things you have done for me!

1. Hook:

• Memory matching game


• Prepare 12 rock-shaped cards. Behind the cards, print/draw 6 pairs of images; 2 of a kind.
• Mix up the cards and paste the image-side onto the wall with blu tack.
• Get kids to come one by one to choose a card and attempt to find its pair.
• Once a match is made, the cards are removed.
• Game continues until all 6 matches are made. 
• Conclusion: All of you have good memory! God gave us the ability to remember things and events that happened and lessons we’ve learnt. Let’s learn about how He helped the Israelites to remember a very important lesson in their lives. 

  2. Story: (based on Joshua 4)

• Last week we learned that Joshua and the Israelites crossed a great big river. Who can remember the name of the river? (Jordan).
• Who went into the river first? (The priests, carrying the Ark of the Covenant)
• What happened when they went into the river? (The water stopped flowing!)
• After the whole nation of Israel had crossed the river, God told Joshua, “Choose 12 men — one from each tribe/family — to take a stone from the middle of the Jordan river, where the priest are standing.”
• So Joshua chose the men. How many men? (12 men!) Right! 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12! The people of Israel came from 12 brothers. So there were 12 big families or tribes that made up the nation of Israel. 1 man from each tribe.
• So the 12 men went to pick up a stone each from the river and put it on his shoulder. How many stones? (12 stones!) 
• The stones were a sign (like a photograph or a souvenir) for the people of Israel to remember what God had done for them — stopping the waters of the river of Jordan so that they could cross the river.
• After the 12 men had taken the stones, God told Joshua to ask the priests to come up from the Jordan. 
• The priests came out, carrying the Ark of the Covenant. And as soon as they stepped onto the side of the river, immediately all the waters of the Jordan came rushing in and filled it up fully again!
• The Israelites went to camp at Gilgal, near the city of Jericho. The 12 stoners the men had taken out of the Jordan were placed in Gilgal. It was stacked up like a memorial.
• Joshua told the people, “In the future, when your children and grandchildren and great grandchildren ask, ‘What do these stones mean?’, tell them  about how God dried up the Jordan rivers so that they could cross over on dry ground. God did this so that ALL the people of the earth, everybody, will know how powerful God is, and that you will always worship Him.”
• Children, just as the Israelites set up the stones so they can remember all the great things God has done for them, we should also always give thanks to God for what He has done for us. Every day we can say, “Thank you God for all the great things you have done for me!"
• What are some of the things you can give thanks for? (get kids to share) 
• Do you know: The most important thing God has done for us is given his son Jesus.  Jesus came to earth to live a perfect life and die on the cross to take the punishment for our sins.  This is the best thing God could have done for you and for me, so that we are no longer separated from Him by our sin.  We need to always remember how God gave us Jesus.
• Every week when we take the communion — the bread and the cup — we are remembering what Jesus did on the cross of us. Every day when we wake up, when we see God’s beautiful creation, when we enjoy His blessings, we can say, “Thank you God for all the great things you have done for me!" Amen!

3. Activity suggestions: 

• Memory Verse: Everyone will know how powerful God is, and I will worship Him. Joshua 4:24
  Or He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the Lord is powerful and so that you might always worship the Lord your God. ” Joshua 4:24
• Reinforcement: Thank you God for all the great things you have done for me!