Taking Steps of Faith
Main Themes: Faith, Obedience, Obstacles, Victory God's Way
(See background information below.)
Guide for Point of Light Groups
Welcome: Read the purpose of your group:
Our goal is to grow as disciples of Jesus and to make disciples of other people by inviting them to our group or starting a new group with them.
Worship Time: Spend a few minutes singing a worship song. Show a video with the lyrics.
Opening Question: Have you ever had a promise from God or a dream of something for your life that seemed impossible?
Introduction: Read the background information below.
Word: Read Joshua 6:1-21 aloud together. (Goal is that everyone understand the Bible story — keep at it until everyone knows the story. Have someone tell the story in their own words. Ask others to add any details that were missed. When all the details are filled in, have someone tell the story in their own words.
Discussion: Discuss questions below together. (Goal is to use these general questions to guide a discussion.)
Prayer Time:
Pray for an empty chair, representing new people you want to join the group. Think of specific people to pray for by name.
Divide into two groups (for males and females) to pray for the needs of the members of the group.
Background Information
Joshua, a young man, had been Moses' assistant, and now Moses was dead. God had called Joshua to lead the people of Israel to take possession of the land that God had promised to them. There were other nations living in the land. These other nations worshiped false gods and did things that were terrible in God's eyes. They even would sacrifice (burn in fire) their little children to the false gods. By calling Joshua to lead the nation of Israel to conquer the promised land, God is doing 2 things. First, God is fulfilling his promise to give the people of Israel the promised land. Second, God is executing judgment against the people who live there, because of their detestable actions and lifestyle.
Jericho is the first city that Joshua will fight against. The city of Jericho, like all cities at that time, had high walls all around it for protection and an army on top of the walls to fight. God gives Joshua instructions, but not normal military strategy instructions.
Discussion Questions
1. What new thing did you discover in the story that you did not know before?
2. Put yourself in Joshua's position. How do you think he felt? What was he thinking? Can you relate to him?
3. What did you learn about God from the story?
4. What did you learn about people from the story?
5. What important lessons for us do you see in this story?
6. What will you take away from this discussion?
7. What will you do with what you have learned? (Make sure everyone answers this.)