My God is so BIG!

This is a draft of my talk to the kids at the Summer Holiday Club this week who will be studying the book of Joshua. The kids are aged 6 to 11 and their parents will be joining us on the last day for this gospel talk.

Also, I’ll be dressed up as Joshua. If anyone can lend me a fake beard and a toy sword, I’d be very grateful!

Hello boys and girls. My name is Joshua. That’s JOSH--SHUUUAA!

I hear that you have been reading my book, is that right? The book of Joshua. That’s me!

Can anyone tell me what my name, Joshua means? Anyone? It’s a very special name. Joshua means God saves. Did you know that? God saves. This book you have been reading is about God. I hope you enjoyed reading my book and I hope that you enjoyed learning more about my God.

Today what I want to do is tell you kids three things about my God.

1. My God is so BIG

Number One: My God is so BIG! He is big and powerful God! Did you know that? Well sometimes you can know that God is so big but if you are like me, sometimes you can forget that God is so big.

You see, sometimes you feel scared or when you have a big problem in front of you or you have big, big job to do, you might forget that God is a big God. You might think, “I’m just a small kid but I’ve got big problems.” Ever feel like that sometimes?

I feel like that sometimes. Which is why God said these words to me. They are up on the screen. I wonder if you could read them together?

Remember that I commanded you
to be strong and brave.

Don’t be afraid,
because the Lord your God will be with you
everywhere you go.

Wow! Isn’t that amazing? God reminded me that when I feel small and weak, to remember that God is big and strong - because he’s God! He made the entire world.

Can you imagine if God was standing right next to me right now? How big he would be standing right next to tiny little me? I don’t think anyone would want to mess with me, would they, if they saw this big awesome powerful God going with me to school, eating lunch with me, hanging out with me at SHC.

Boys and girls, do you know what? Look at those words again. God says, “I will be with you... everywhere you go!” That means he is right here with me!

Wow! If God is with me, why, I don’t think anyone would want to mess with me would they? I’m friends with God!

So, the first thing to know about my God: He is BIG! And he is my friend!

2. My God is so faithful

Number Two: My God is so faithful. That means, God keeps all his promises in the bible.

Do you remember the time I went round and round the walls of Jericho. Every day... my whole army would wake up early in the morning. They would put on all their armour, like me. And then.. we would go out for a walk!

Every day, we would get up, eat our breakfast, get dressed. And then walk one circle round the city of Jericho.

You know what? A few of my friends said, “This is stupid! We’re just walking around the city doing nothing. The priests would be in front. They would carry the ark of the covenant and some of them would blow trumpets (Pooh! Pooh! Pooh!). And all us soldiers would be walking behind them. After going one round the city (in the hot sun) and then.... go home for lunch.”

We felt so stupid! But God told me to do this for six days. Round and round and round.

But on the seventh day..... God said, “March around the city SEVEN times!” So we did. Round and round and round. But on the seventh time, kids, do you remember what I said?

Shout! For the LORD has given you the city!

Do you remember what happened next? All the walls fell down! Wow!

You see, God promised that he would fight for us. He destroyed the city, not us soldiers. Why? Because God promised. And my God keeps all his promises.

So, that’s number two: My God keeps all his promises.

3. My God is so holy

Number three (and this is the last one): My God is holy.

This is a sad story. Do you remember a man named Achan. I call him Ah-Chan. What did he do? And what happened to him?

That’s right. Achan took some of the gold and the silver and the money he saw in the city of Jericho. God had already said to us that this money belonged to him. But Achan thought, “I’ll just take a little for myself.” Achan disobeyed God.

It was a very sad story because even though Achan sinned, everyone was punished for Achan’s sin. Even those who did not take the gold for themselves.

Why is that? It’s because God is holy. That means that God does not like sin. He doesn’t like it when we don’t listen to him; when we say to God, “I think I don’t want you to be my God anymore. I will be God. I will make up my own rules for my life.”

Because of Achan’s sin, he was punished. He died and his family died and donkeys died. And all his money was burned up.

That’s very, very sad. The bible is warning us that when we disobey God by thinking we are smarter than God, by thinking we can take things which belong to God and hide it from him... God actually knows when we sin against him. And the bible tells us that God will punish us for our sin.

That’s the bad news. The good news is that when we say sorry to God, God will forgive us our sin. He will not punish us. In fact, he will change us so that we will not want to sin anymore.

Now, someone might ask me: How do you know that? How do you know that God will forgive my sin?

I know that because the bible tells us of another man named Joshua. You might know him as Jesus. Both Joshua and Jesus are the same name, did you know that? Both mean, “God saves.”

The bible tells us that Jesus forgives us our sin by dying on the cross. You see, Jesus became like Achan. He took the punishment of sin by dying on the cross. Only, Jesus never sinned, not even once in his life. But he died so that all the Achan’s would not have to die; so that instead of me, Joshua, being punished for my sin, he, Jesus, was punished instead.

Isn’t that amazing? Jesus is actually a better Joshua than me! I led the people into the Promised Land. Jesus leads us into heaven. I helped Israel win the victory over the enemies. Jesus won the victory against the devil and against sin and against death. Jesus is the better Joshua.

God loved us so much that he gave his Son Jesus so that whoever believes in him shall not perish (like Achan) but have eternal life.

Conclusion

So, I hope you can remember the three things we learned about God today.

1. My God is sooo BIG
(You might be a little kid but remember your God is big! And he is always with you! That means you can talk to him. You can pray to him any place, any time.)

2. My God is sooo FAITHFUL
(This book contains all the promises of God. And God says I will do everything I promised in this book! Wow!)

3. My God is sooo HOLY
(God wants us to listen to him because he loves us and knows what is best for us.)

But finally, 4. My God is sooo LOVING. He loved us so much that he sent Jesus to die on the cross, so that we would not perish but would have eternal life.

To end, let’s remind one another the memory verse:

Remember that I commanded you
to be strong and brave.

Don’t be afraid,
because the Lord your God will be with you
everywhere you go.