Ready to prepare another lesson for Gospel Doctrine? I hope these lesson tips and ideas will help to get your class excited to participate.
Lesson 18: “Be Strong and of a Good Courage”
Scriptures to go over:
1. Joshua 1: Joshua is called by the Lord to lead the Israelites after Moses dies. He is encouraged by the Lord to also be strong and courageous. He is taught to study the scriptures and to keep the commandments. Joshua teaches the Israelites to prepare themselves to inherit the promised land.
Activities:
1. Ask the class what other scripture heroes or heroines showed great courage. Have a scribe write on the board some of those people. Have the class explain why each person on the board deserves to be on that list. Ask the class to write down on a piece of paper who in their life is courageous to them. It can be a relative who has gone through cancer or someone who has shown courage by standing up to people when odds are against them. Lead into talking about Joshua.
2. Take one piece of paper and roll it up. Have a volunteer come up to rip it apart. This is to show how easy it is to do it. After that, roll up several papers and ask the same person or someone else to try to rip all of those papers apart. This is to show how difficult it is to rip the pages. Share with the class that Joshua could not have been strong if he didn’t have God and his fellow Israelites supporting him as their leader succeeding Moses.
3. After crossing the Jordan River, twelve stepping stones were set down in the river as a memorial to the Israelites. Have prepared twelve small stones. Ask twelve members of the class to come up and take a stone. Have each one in turn set down a stone in order so the stones end up lined up at the end. Before setting the stone down, each volunteer is asked to share a moment where they succeeded at something they did recently and are proud of what they accomplished. By the end, A line on stones will have been placed on the ground. Ask the class what this activity meant to them.
4. For the class’s entertainment, play the song “Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho” by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.
5. Have the class read some scriptures pertaining to Joshua’s counsel to the Israelites Have a scribe come up on the board and write down what those words of counsel were from Joshua in chapter 24. Ask the class if we today are excluded from what Joshua taught the Israelites and then ask why.
