Introduction

This unit invites children to take part in telling the rich and foundational stories of Moses and the birth of God’s people through the Red Sea. Step by step, the Bible Storytelling takes us from slavery in Egypt, through the birth of Moses, his flight to the wilderness, his encounter with God in the Burning Bush and his confrontation of Pharaoh, leading to God’s people’s dramatic escape from Egypt through the Red Sea.

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Towards the end of the unit, there’s an opportunity for children to take part in a baptism workshop, which explores the way in which many of our symbols of baptism echo these stories of the escape from Egypt. The stories of Moses also open up all sorts of opportunities for groups to explore strong feelings, such as rage, fury, fear and desolation, and to witness them being taken up by God and transformed into a passion and thirst for justice and God’s mission.

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The unit’s Gathering Song picks up Moses’ words in Deuteronomy 5.15: ‘Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt.’ Repeatedly through the Bible, the people of God are called on to remember this foundational experience of slavery and rescue. They – and therefore we (see Book 1, p. 226) – are charged to let it shape our understanding not only of God, who has the power to save, but also of how we are to behave to others, particularly the stranger or the vulnerable among us.

 

See Exodus 13.3, 20.2; Leviticus 25.42, 26.13; Deuteronomy 5.6, 5.15, 6.12, 6.21, 7.8, 8.14, 13.5, 13.10, 16.12, 24.18, 24.22; Joshua 24.17; Judges 6.8; Jeremiah 34.13–14; Micah 6.4.

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The Diddy Disciples portrayal of Pharaoh the consumerist bully, who always wants ‘MORE!’ is strongly influenced by Walter Brueggemann’s book, Sabbath as Resistance: Saying No to the Culture of Now (Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2014). This very accessible book is really worth reading (particularly the introduction and first chapter).

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"In Exodus 5, we are given a passionate narrative account of that labor system in which Pharaoh endlessly demands more production . . . Pharaoh is a hard-nosed production manager for whom production schedules are inexhaustible." Walter Brueggemann

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Build your own Diddy Disciples session

Click on the Building Blocks on the left to explore the worship material and build your own Diddy Disciples session.

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See Book 1, p.6 for a short introduction to how to build a session.

See Book 1, p.217 for a step-by-step guide to each Building Block.

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Bible Storytelling

See Diddy Disciples Book 2 for the stories from the ​God's Best Friend, Moses unit.

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Week 1:   The Baby Pulled from the Water (Exodus 1.8-2.10), p.283.

Week 2:   Moses in the Wilderness (Exodus 2.11-25), p.288.

Week 3:   Moses, You Will Set My People Free! (Exodus 3.1-4.17), p.293.

Week 4:   Let My People Go! (Exodus 7.14-12.32), p.296.

Week 5:   The Path through the Red Sea (Exodus 12-15), p.301.

Extra:        Our Baptism, p.307.

Week 6:   When Moses Climbed up the Mountain (Exodus 19-20), p.320.

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Creative Response Starter Ideas

See Diddy Disciples Book 2 from p.325 for a wide range of Creative Response Starter Ideas.