Hi again!

Welcome back. This month we are learning stories from the Bible, from the books of 1 Samuel-Esther. These stories are aimed at small children 2-6ish years old.

Today’s story comes from 1 Samuel 17.

Once again the Philistines and the Israelites (God’s chosen people) were fighting.

Many of the Israelites went to fight (including some brothers from Bethlehem.) Their younger brother stayed home to care for the sheep and their dad Jesse would send David to check on the boys and bring them food sometimes.

The Philistines had a big fighter, named Goliath. He was very tall and very strong. Every day he would come out and say “Bring me your best warrior. I will fight him and whoever wins, their whole country wins.”

But all of the Israelites were too scared to fight that big Goliath.

One day, when David was bringing food to his brothers, he heard Goliath making fun of God and his people and he wondered why no one stood up to fight.

“Have you SEEN him?!” they all answered.

“But we have GOD! We can do anything with God’s help! I will go fight Goliath!”

David went to king Saul and said HE would fight Goliath. “I have to protect my father’s sheep from lions and bears and i know God will help me.”

So King Saul put David in his best armor…but it was too big and David said, “no thank you. I’d rather just fight in what fits me.”

Next David went to a nearby stream and he gather 5 smooth rocks. He put them into his bag and went to meet Goliath.”

Goliath laughed at David. He was so little?! How could he possibly defeat the great Goliath?!

David answered, “You come at me with big weapons, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel. Everybody here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and He will give all of you into our hands.”

David took one of the rocks and put it into his slingshot. He whipped it around, threw it at Goliath and the great big man fell down with his face in the ground. Then David killed Goliath and so the Israelites won.

David wasn’t the biggest or strongest, but he trusted God and God helped him defeat the Philistines.

Even though you might be small, God can help you do big things too, if you trust in Him.

We watched the veggie tales “Dave and the Giant Pickle” (free instant video with amazon prime)

Craft ideas: For this one you can make a slingshot from a toilet paper roll and a rubber band and shoot soft pom pons to re-enact the story. You could also just cut out a slingshot from paper and glue on some beans to be the rocks.

This is a fun story for kids to act out though, so take turns being David or Goliath. Remember it was God who gave David the victory.

Posted by Praise in Motion Music this is the David and Goliath song. (The cheesy factor is great with this one, but it’s a cute song that helps tell the story.)

This video posted by Teaching Kids About Jesus is a nice short summary of yesterday and today’s stories. (I don’t love HOW gigantic they made Goliath in this video…but…overall it does tell the story fairly well).

Thanks for joining us today. Love to you all!