Welcome back!
For the challenge today, you will need three playing cards (or similar sized pieces of card – you could even cut up an old box), three clothes pegs, and either some elastic bands or some small “stones” made from rolled up paper.
Clip a clothes peg to each card, and then stand them up in a line on a table as shown below.
Stand about 2-3 metres away from the table. Your challenge is to shoot the elastic bands, or to throw the paper stones, at the cards and try to knock all three over in one minute!
Here is a timer you can use:
You could challenge someone else in your house and see who can knock all three cards over in the fastest time!
Over the last few weeks, we’ve thought about the story of God’s people, the Israelites, as they travelled to the land that God promised Abraham and settled there.
Last time we heard about how the Midianite army attacked the Israelites but God helped Gideon to lead his people to victory. Today’s story takes place several years later, but the Israelites are under attack again – this time from the Philistines!
The person we’re thinking about today is David. Watch this short video to hear his story:
Think for a moment: what does David’s story teach us about God?
In today’s story, the Israelites were facing a big threat. The challenge of facing Goliath seemed too big for them and it felt like there was nothing they could do, but David’s attitude was very different.
Why do you think David was able to be so brave, even when everyone else was scared?
Here’s what David said to King Saul:
“The Lord who rescued me from the claws of the lion and the bear will rescue me from this Philistine!” (1 Samuel 17:37 NLT)
God had helped David when he faced danger in the past, so David trusted that God would help him again.
Sometimes we face challenges too. We see difficult things happening in our lives, or in our families, or in the world, and sometimes those things just seem too big, but Christians believe that God’s power is still stronger than any of those things and that he can help us.
That doesn’t mean he always takes our problems away, but he promises to be with us.
One challenge we all face is the problem of sin – the wrong things that all of us do, which separate us from God. It is the biggest giant of all - a problem that is far too big for us to fix by ourselves, but, just like God sent David to rescue the Israelites from Goliath, God sent Jesus to rescue us from sin. We’ll think more about that over the next few weeks as we move on to the New Testament of the Bible.
The next time you’re out for a walk or in your garden, you could look for a stone to decorate to help you remember David’s story. You could use paint or marker pens to draw or write something that reminds you of what you’ve been thinking about – for example, Courage, Power, God with us…
As always, we’d love to see any photos if you ask an adult to send them to us!
God, thank you that your power is bigger than any of the challenges we face. Please help us to trust in you and to ask for your help like David did, and please give us courage. Amen.
