“THANKSGIVING STONES”

For The Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta

By Sally Ulrey

Key verses: Joshua 4:6-7

“In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ 7 tell them that the flow of the Jordan
was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan
were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever.”

Objective: To help youth remember the ways God was with them, and to provide a tangible
way for youth to express their thanksgivings to God, as well as tell their stories about God.
The Set up: Minimal

The Plan:
 Hook: Story Telling Game (15 mins)
o Pass out strips of paper with random words/phrases that youth have to incorporate into a
collaborative story
 Book: The Story of the Stones (10 mins)
o Tell the story of crossing the Jordan, and the role the stones played in reminding the people of
the wonderful things God had done
 Look: Telling our Stories with Stones (30 mins)
o Give youth time to write the timeline of their own lives, including the things God has done in
their lives, on several different river rocks (Be prepared to give a personal example)
o Allow youth to share their stories in small groups
 Took: Stones of Thanksgiving (5 mins)
o Designate a place to pile the stones as a reminder of all the good things God has done in the
lives of youth, and offer prayers of thanksgiving
The Supplies:
 Copy of lesson
 River Rocks (approx. 10/person) like these: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Vigoro-0-5-cu-ft-Pond-Pebbles-54249V/100550970
 Sharpies
 Paper & Pens
 Bibles
 Optional: AV Equipment, or guitars and lyrics to “My Story” by Big Daddy Weave

The Preparation:
 Buy River Rocks! https://www.homedepot.com/p/Vigoro-0-5-cu-ft-Pond-Pebbles-54249V/100550970
 Familiarize yourself with the story of crossing the Jordan in Joshua ch 3 & 4
 Be prepared to give an example of your own story of God’s faithfulness to you (see the “Look” section)

“Thanksgiving Stones” by Sally Ulrey

for the Diocese of Atlanta
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Story-Telling Game (Hook, 15 mins)
In this section, youth will play a collaborative story-telling game, where they all take turns adding to the story.
We’ll use this story-telling activity to talk about how important stories are to God, and how telling our stories
help remind us to be thankful, and help others come to know who God is.

Instructions:
 Pass out a strip of paper with a random word/phrase on it to each youth (see examples at the end of
the lesson). Tell them not to show anyone what’s on their paper.
 Explain to the youth that they will have to work that word or phrase into the story when it’s their turn.
They’ll need to work it in so it connects to the story that’s already going.
 Explain to them that they’ll go around in a circle, and when it’s their turn, they’ll have 3 or 4 sentences
to continue the story, somehow adding in their word or phrase.
 Play a couple rounds as time permits

Transition: The Bible is a story…the story of redemption…the story of when God does amazing things for the
people, when God fulfills promises, when God takes care of them, when God is with them. Let’s read a STORY
about one of those times in the Bible….

The Story of the Stones (Book, 10 mins)

In this section, we take a look at a verse from Hebrews about how Christians are encouraged to keep meeting
together in Christian community in order to gain courage to keep living out their faith.

 Recruit 2 volunteers to read three different chunks of Scripture (below for your reference):
o Joshua 3:14-7
o Joshua 4:4-7
 Go over some background:
o The Israelites had been wandering in the desert for 40 years, and God told them that now it
was time for them to enter the land God promised them, and they would be getting a
permanent home (yay!)
o God did a miracle in stopping the Jordan so they could cross through
o They were to take 12 huge river stones from the bottom of the river (that they wouldn’t have
otherwise been able to get if the river had been flowing) and pile them up on the bank
 Ask a comprehension question: When generations later, people saw that pile of stones and asked,
“Hey, what’s that pile of rocks over there?” what were they supposed to tell them?
o Vs 7—they were supposed to tell them about the miracle of what God did stopping the river
when they crossed the Jordan to make the Promised land their home
 Summarize: the stones reminded everyone, so they wouldn’t forget, about the wonderful things God
had done…the ways that God was with them, helped them, took care of them, and built their faith.
The stones were also a way to share with others about who God is, and encourage them in their faith.

“Thanksgiving Stones” by Sally Ulrey

for the Diocese of Atlanta
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Joshua 3:14-17 (NIV)
14
So when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carrying the ark of the covenant went
ahead of them. 15 Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the
ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge, 16 the water from upstream stopped flowing. It
piled up in a heap a great distance away, at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan, while the water
flowing down to the Sea of the Arabah (that is, the Dead Sea) was completely cut off. So the people crossed over
opposite Jericho. 17 The priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the L ORD stopped in the middle of the
Jordan and stood on dry ground, while all Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing
on dry ground.

Joshua 4:4-7 (NIV)

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So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, 5 and said
to them, “Go over before the ark of the LORD your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up
a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, 6 to serve as a sign among you. In
the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ 7 tell them that the flow of the Jordan was
cut off before the ark of the covenant of the L ORD. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were
cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever.”

New International Version (NIV)

Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide

Transition: The Bible is a story…the story of redemption. And when we become Christians, we get invited into
that BIG story, but we also have our own story of redemption individually

How God loves us when we’re not enough

How God steps in…when we were in trouble or desperate need
How God’s love changed us
How God does amazing things for us…shows us God’s goodness
How God is with us when we need someone the most

Let’s look at some of our own stories about those times when God has been there for us.

“Thanksgiving Stones” by Sally Ulrey

for the Diocese of Atlanta
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Telling Our Stories with Stones (Look, 30 mins)
In this section, the youth will explore their own stories, first just the timeline of their lives, and then look a
little deeper into the times when God was made known to them, or they felt close to God, or times when their
faith was formed or strengthened.

Timelines (15 mins):

 Pass out the paper and pens. Instruct them to create a timeline of their lives, with the significant
things and major events that happened so far.
 Once they have completed their timelines, ask them to add the times when they felt close to God, or
the things that helped form their faith

 LEADER TIP: Be prepared to give your own examples of the things that formed your faith, the times you felt
close to God, or the times when God came through for you.

 Once the youth have identified and listed out several times/events that formed their faith or when
they felt close to God, instruct them to count those instances, and then get that same number of rocks.
 Pass out the sharpies and have the youth write or draw a word/phrase/picture on each rock that
symbolizes each event.
 Once they have completed that, place the youth into small groups of 3-5, and have them answer the
small group questions below.

Small Group Questions (15 mins):

1. Share about the things you put on your rocks (as you are comfortable). Share at least one item
2. Were most of these items times when something was going well in your life, or were there times you
felt close to God or that built your faith even when the circumstances were difficult?
3. Looking back at your life and your faith, what are some things you notice?

Transition: Hopefully this has helped you realize all the ways that God loves you and is there for you and cares
for you, but even if you had trouble seeing it, maybe now this will help you look for those ways. Because God
does love us and does take care of us, and we have so much to be thankful to God for….Let’s thank God for
some of those things now…. Just like the Israelites, we are going to pile up all these stones to remind us of all
the ways God has been good to us, been there for us, taken care of us. Just like the Israelites, we’ll look at this
pile and let it remind us that God is good. Just like the Israelites, we may leave some stones here so that when
others ask “Hey, what’s that pile of rocks?”, we can share some stories about who God is with someone else
so that they can be encouraged in their own faith. Let’s offer some prayers of thanksgiving now…

“Thanksgiving Stones” by Sally Ulrey

for the Diocese of Atlanta
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Stones of Thanksgiving (Took, 5 mins)
This section will help youth see in a tangible way the many ways God has been good to them, and then they’ll
offer prayers of thanksgiving. You can give youth the option of taking their stones home, or of leaving them in
a designated place. You can also have a pile of blank stones on an ongoing basis, so that week-to-week, when
they come into your youth space, and they have a new thanksgiving, a new way they saw God, a new way they
felt close to God, they can write it on a rock and add it to a pile. This can be a regular practice of encouraging
thanksgiving, and reminding youth to tell their stories to encourage each other.

Instructions:
 Ask the youth to pile all the rocks onto the floor or a designated space, and make a circle around them
 Close in prayer, thanking God for all the ways that God has been good to us, and all the times that God
came through, encouraged us, came near to us, built our faith, and praying that we would continue to
look for the goodness of God in our lives, continue to tell those stories to encourage ourselves and
others in our faith.
 Give youth the option of taking their rocks home or leaving them in the pile to be a reminder for the
youth of the group that God is loving and good.
 If you will have an ongoing place for the rocks as a regular practice encouraging thanksgiving, explain
that to the youth.
 Optional: Close by singing the song “My Story” by Big Daddy Weave to encourage them to share the
stories of God’s goodness in their lives: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIHmYBKkGa8

“Thanksgiving Stones” by Sally Ulrey

for the Diocese of Atlanta
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 Story-Telling Game Prompts
Instructions: cut into strips and put into a cup

Mickey Mouse

Catgut Guitar Strings

Rings of Saturn

Bride on her wedding day

Silent Ninja

Frogs

Harry Potter’s Firebolt

Water the Ficus

Geez Louise

Your mother was a hamster and your father smelled of elderberries

Properly Strapped into a Grocery Cart

“Thanksgiving Stones” by Sally Ulrey

for the Diocese of Atlanta
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Shopping for humorous greeting cards

Painting sunsets and writing memoirs

The Little Mermaid

There’s no such thing as dragons

Top Gun

Britney Spears vs Katy Perry

The Duchess of Sussex

Mama Mia

Black Panther

New Plan: destroy half of humanity to save humanity….???

“Thanksgiving Stones” by Sally Ulrey

for the Diocese of Atlanta
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