I'm the show! Don't miss the show!

Yesterday and today I helped with VBS. My job was to tell the Bible Story while the kids were waiting to start craft time. I had 10 minutes with each group, and I had to give this performance 8 times in 2 hours. Here's the story I told today. See if you can read this whole thing aloud, with feeling, in 10 minutes! Well, 9 1/2, giving them time to line up at the door at the end.

Hi guys! Welcome to day 3 of VBS! Please sit down on the floor in the middle. Not on the table, thanks! (18 elementary kids scramble around finding a place to sit.)

Please sit where you're not touching anyone else! Yep, that means you, in the cowboy hat. Hands to yourself, thanks! Everybody's eyes on me! I'm the show...you don't want to miss the show. So yesterday we talked about Joshua and his Israelite buddies who are traveling across the desert, having lots of adventures. What happened to them yesterday? They had to cross the Jordan River, but it was...

FLOODED!

You're right...and they were scared! But what can we remember when we're feeling scared? That God is...

WITH US! YEE-HAW! (in a throw-back to Pee-Wee's play-house and the word-of-the-day, everytime someone says a "VBS Truth" you say "yee-haw." )

Yep. God is always with us. (yee-haw!) Now before we hear today's story, how many of you play some kind of sport or activity where you have a coach?

Me! Me!! Soccer! Softball! Cheerleading! Football! Gymnastics! Guitar!

Awesome...the rest of you can put your hands down. Thanks for volunteering. So let's pretend I'm your coach, and you guys are all my soccer team. What if I said, "Okay, team, we're gonna have a great season! I know we can win all of our games! Here's how you play soccer. This is a ball. This is my foot. Watch me kick a goal." Now am I being a good coach?

NO!

Why not? What am I doing wrong?

WE DIDN'T GET TO PLAY!

Huh. So if I'm going to be a good coach, I have to let everyone participate in the game, right? Please quit kicking your neighbor, Dylan, thanks. Well, did you know that God wants His children to participate in His plan? Today's story about Joshua and his Israelite buddies getting to participate.

Joshua and his Israelite buddies are still walking across the desert, and they come to the town of Jericho. They're supposed to go into the city and take it over, but there's a big problem. What's the problem with Jericho?

IT HAS A HUGE WALL!

You're right! So if God wanted to, what could God have done to that wall?

Silence...NOT BUILT IT?

Well, yeah, or God could have just gone Bash, Smash, Crash, No More Jericho! But what did we learn about God? He wants his children to ...

(with prompting from a team leader) PARTICIPATE

in His...

(more prompting) PLAN!

Yep, God wants His children to participate in His plan. So He wants Joshua and the Israelites to knock down the wall. Now this wasn't any ordinary kind of wall like this cinder block here. If it was, Joshua would be able to just do some karate chops (Sarah does impressive kick towards wall) and knock it down.

(kids are impressed)

No, this was like the Wall of China. It was huge. And God had a plan. He told Joshua that the Israelites were supposed to walk around the wall, once a day, for 6 days. Now does that sound like a good plan to you?

YES!

It does? To walk around a wall? I mean, no offense, God, but wouldn't it be quicker to just use a bulldozer, or a wrecking ball, or shoot a cannon at the wall?

OH YEAH!

But when God gives us a plan, what are we supposed to do?

LISTEN! OBEY! DO IT!

Yep, so Joshua and his guys walked around the wall. Day 1, walk around the wall, go home, have lunch, take a nap. Day 2, walk around the wall, play some basketball. Day 3, walk around the wall, Day 4, Day 5, do you think they're getting dizzy yet? Day 6, walk around the wall.

Now if you were living in Jericho, standing up on top of the wall, looking down, what would you be thinking? Are the Israelites crazy? Do they think this is a track for exercising? Are they lost? What is going on?

But then on Day 7, God told Joshua to walk around the city 7 times. So around they go...1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and on the 7th time, Joshua said to his men, "Shout, men, raise your voices! Today the Lord has given us this city!" So all the Israelites shouted and yelled, like when someone scores a touchdown, or when the teacher says it's time for recess.

And the people in Jericho are saying, "Hey, could you be quiet down there!" But then the dishes on the table start to rattle. And the picture frames fall off the wall. All the cats in Jericho get scared and hide under the bed. The walls start to crack, and pretty soon it's like one of those movies when all the buildings are crumbling, and then, the walls of Jericho...

FELL DOWN!

Yep, and the Israelites were able to go into Jericho and take over the city. So how do you think Joshua and his buddies felt?

AWESOME!

Yep, because they did what?

LISTENED TO GOD!!! PARTICIPATED IN HIS PLAN!!! KNOCKED DOWN THE WALL!!!

You're all right! So when we pray, or listen to parents and teachers, or read the Bible, we learn God's plan. And what are we supposed to do then?

LISTEN! DO IT! OBEY! KNOCK DOWN WALLS! YEE-HAW!

Yep! Okay, time for crafts! Line up behind your teacher!

I grab a drink of water and greet the next group who are waiting in the hall. Whew... I came home for lunch and promptly took a nap.

It was the longest series of 10 minutes of my life! Yee-Haw!