PLAYING ON THE FIELD OF FAITH ULTIMATE FAITH ULTIMATE COURAGE ULTIMATE LOYALTY ULTIMATE LOVE ULTIMATE PERSEVERANCE
BIBLE STUDY FORMAT FIELD SUPPLIES What do you need for this lesson? FIELD OF FAITH SCRIPTURE What is the memory verse for the day? FIELD OF FAITH BIBLE FOCUS What is the scripture that the lesson focuses on today? INTRODUCTION TO THE FIELD What Character trait will be introduced today and how? FIELD OF FAITH GOING DEEPER How are we going to dig into God s word today and hear what he has to say to us? REAL LIFE FIELD OF FAITH How can we relate these Heroes of the faith to our lives? FOCUS ON FAITH AROUND THE WORLD What modern day faith heroes (missionaries) are serving around the world? LIVING OUT OUR FAITH Spend Time in prayer.
Day 1 Ultimate Faith Starting Blocks Biblical Truth: Ultimate Faith comes from believing in God and choosing to follow Him, no matter what the circumstances of this life bring. Memory Verse: Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. Hebrews 11:11 Central Passage: Hebrews 11:24-29: 24 By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh's daughter. 25 He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time.26. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. 27. By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the King s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible. 28. By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel. 29. By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned. Key Questions: What is faith? What do we put our faith in? What hope does God give us for the future? Biblical Context: The entire book of Exodus is an account of Moses journey of faith. In preparation for this lesson take the time to read through Exodus 1-16 and allow God to speak. His word will show you the amazing Faith Journey Moses was on. You may make a timetable of events that stand out to you and use these in your lesson. Moses could have easily stayed in the palace and taken full advantage of the well educated, wealthy, Egyptian Royalty life that he had. Instead he left the comforts of home to follow the one true God. He lived to see amazing miracles and endured great heartache, all the while holding on to faith. Moses and God became amazing friends. Moses spent day after day talking with God and enjoying a relationship with him. Many say that Moses is the greatest Jewish leader. He was the man who by faith set the Exodus in motion! WOW! He was the man God handed the Ten Commandments. Just like our verse says today, Moses was sure of what he hoped for and certain of what he did not see. Hebrews 11:27b even says, he persevered because he saw him who is invisible - What he did not see!! Goals: To show kids that a life of Ultimate Faith is lived with the ultimate prize in mind. An eternity in Christ! The list of things that they put their faith in may be long or short, but no matter if it is anything other than Jesus, it is not worth putting their faith in. Supplies: Tear Sheets, Markers, 5 bags filled with tape, markers, paper and other random items that you find lying around (will be used to make Moses), small sheets of paper or sticky notes, pencils or pens. The Race Foundation (10 minutes): Play a game to introduce the theme for the day. We want the kids to have a chance to read through Hebrews 11:1-32. So, make it a fun game. Explain that this week we will be talking about the Field of Faith. Many
people call Hebrews 11 the chapter of Faith Heroes. We are going to look this week at some of these men and women who walked through the Field of Faith. Divide the kids into groups. If you have a small group, you can put them into teams of 3-5 or if you have a large group you can even break them into teams of 7-10. Give each team a tear sheet and markers. Explain that they will have 5 minutes to write on their sheet as many faith heroes as they are able to find in Hebrews 11:1-32. When time is up, let each team share how many people they found. Then hang a tear sheet at the front of the room. Ask them to choose some of their favorite characters from their list ask why. Allow them to share with the group and you write a master list. Hopefully at the end of this, you will be able to circle the people we will be talking about this week. If their names have not come up yet, add them. They are Moses, Jesus, Abraham, Rahab and Deborah. Going Deeper (10 minutes): Tell the group that today we are talking about Ultimate Faith. The faith of Moses. Start by allowing the kids to share with you what they know about Moses. Divide them into 5 groups. Give them a garbage bags with random items. It can be anything you choose or can find laying around. Make sure in the bag there is tape, markers and some type of paper. Tell the groups you want them to make Moses and explain why they made him look like he did. Give them only 3 minutes. When they are done, let them tape their characters to the wall in the front of your room and share briefly why they made him look this way. Take the time to share a little about what you have learned from Moses and your reading of Exodus. I will give you a sample of what God has taught me. Here is what I would say. Today we are talking about Moses. This guy had faith like no other. He was a rich kid. He grew up in the palace, had all the riches and wealth of Egypt and could have stayed in his comfy place of power and security. However, God had another plan. I am going to read you a little bit about Moses faith from Hebrews 11. Just listen to how many times it says by faith. (read above text from Heb. 11) Moses was a by faith kind of guy. He lived his entire life by faith! In verse 26 it says that Moses was looking ahead to his reward. What reward was this? (allow kids time to share their thoughts) His reward was not the Promised Land, as many people think. He was thinking about eternal rewards. Rewards in heaven! God does not promise that life on earth will feel rewarding. But he does promise 2 things. That his word is true and that we can have faith in his promises. It took faith for Moses to give up his place in the palace, but he was not easily fooled. He chose not to put his faith in the temporary benefits of wealth, popularity, status, and achievement. Faith helped him look beyond what the world said was good to see Kingdom benefits. Life Application (10 minutes): Talk about things that people in our day and time put their faith in. Kids may say everything from popularity to money to stock market (for the more brainy kid). Write down what they are saying on a tear sheet. When you have finished making your list, take another tear sheet and write God. Tape it on top of the other list. Explain that if our faith is in anything other that God, it is useless and hopeless. Give them time to tell you why.
The Final Lap Sports Story Tie-In (5-6 minutes): I have faith in Jesus Christ and I know that he has a plan for my life. Bethany Hamilton ** If you have TV access, there is a great DVD and a great video clip that shares her story. Bethany Hamilton was born in North Shore, Kauai. Both of her parents were surfers who moved to Hawaii from the continental United States for the surfing opportunities. Bethany was taught how to surf by her parents. Her surfing abilities progressed very quickly and, while still in school, she won first place in the "push and ride" division of a Quicksilver surfing contest. She entered her first major surfing competition at the age of 8, the "Rell Sunn" contest on the island of Oahu at Makaka beach, competing in the girls seven to nine shortboard, and seven to nine longboard, taking first place in both. Her senior career as a surfer started when she won the 1999 Haleiwa Menehune Championships 23rd annual contest. In February, 2000, she placed 1st in the "11-under girls", 1st in the "15-under girls," and 2nd in the "12- under girls" division at the Volcom Puffer Fish contest. She picked up a sponsor, Rip Curl, which aided her with her plans of becoming a professional surfer. On October 31, 2003, Bethany went for a morning surf along Tunnels Beach, Kauai with friends Alana, Byron and Holt Blanchard. Around 7:10 a.m., she was lying sideways on her surfboard with her left arm dangling in the water, when a 14 ft tiger shark attacked her, ripping her left arm off just below the shoulder. If the shark had bitten 2 inches further in, the attack would have been fatal. Bethany had lost 60% of her blood that morning. Her friends helped her paddle back to shore, and fashioned a tourniquet out of a surfboard leash around what was left of her arm before rushing her to Wilcox Memorial Hospital. Her dad was supposed to have a knee surgery that morning but she took his place in the operating room. Despite the trauma of the incident, Bethany was determined to return to surfing. Just three weeks after the incident, she returned to her board and went surfing again. She adopted a custom-made board that was longer and slightly thicker which made it easier to paddle. She has observed that she has to kick a lot harder to make up for the loss of her left arm. After teaching herself to surf with one arm, she has again begun surfing competitively. In July of 2004 Bethany won the ESPY Award for Best Comeback Athlete of the Year. She was presented with a special courage award at the 2004 Teen Choice Awards. She still aspires to become a professional surfer. But most important to Bethany is that she is also a devout Christian who uses her shark attack experience in her personal ministry. Through this tragedy, God has allowed her to speak the name of Jesus literally all over the world. Every time she speaks she shared about her faith in Jesus Christ. Her faith is not in surfing or winning or even that God would give her a complete, whole healthy body. Even after losing an arm, her faith is in the life she will have in heaven someday! Sound like anyone else we talked about today? (Moses) Around the World (5 minutes): There are athletes that use their God given gifts to share their faith around the world. This week we will take time to look at several of them. The person we just talked about Bethany Hamilton is one of those people. However, she started by sharing her faith in Jesus right in her own home and school. God took her faithfulness and used it to allow her to share her faith world wide. She has a passion for the people of Thailand. She uses her surfing ability to teach kids there how to find their true potential that God has given them. She also teaches them not to be
afraid of the ocean. Her surfing opens doors for her to talk with kids one on one. That has allowed her to lead many of them to Christ. God can use you to do big things just by using the talents and gifts you already have. Have faith! God will do the rest! Rest Prayer Time (5-6 minutes): Give kids a small piece of paper. Tell them to keep it private, but on the paper write where they are on a scale of 1-10 with their faith in God. How much do they totally trust him? Tell them that if they wrote down 2 or 3 that it is OK. Matthew 17:20 says - He replied, "Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you. " Tell them to stick that paper in their Bible as a reminder of the lesson today. Pray for everyone and ask God to help them on their journey of faith this week. Ask God to increase their faith. And yours. If you have a faith story of your own to share with the kids, please do it! They relate to personal stories.