unlikely heroes Lesson 1: Gideon This includes: 1. Leader Preparation 2. Lesson Guide 1. LEADER PREPARATION LESSON OVERVIEW One of the most unlikely heroic moments happens in the life of Gideon, a fearful young Israelite who lived during the time of Midianite oppression of his people. God called Gideon to be courageous and rescue the Israelites. Gideon ended up leading 300 warriors to defeat the mighty Midianites. This lesson will help your students discover how God can provide courage and strength, even in the most insurmountable situations. LESSON OBJECTIVES 1. WHAT: Gideon was a timid, fearful young man whom God used to help the Israelites. 2. WHY: God can give courage and strength to anyone to accomplish great things. 3. HOW: Students will be challenged to consider where they need God s courage in their lives to act. PRIMARY SCRIPTURE Judges 6:7-27; 7:1-11; 8:22-23 SECONDARY SCRIPTUREs Philippians 2:3-5 TEACHING PREP The short overview below is designed to help you prepare for your lesson. While you may not want to convey this information word-for-word with your teenagers, you ll definitely want to refer to it as you lead. Read Judges 6:7-27, 7:1-11, and 8:22-23; if you have time, read all of Judges 6 8. The Israelites had strayed from God again. God allowed the Midianites to oppress them for seven years before they called out to God, asking for a rescuer. God chose Gideon, a young man from the poorest tribe and least in his family, to rescue the Israelites.
Gideon was afraid and didn t want to lead but God assured Gideon, empowered him, and gave him courage to lead. The Midianites worshipped a false god called Baal, and they had influenced the Israelites toward idol worship as well. God called Gideon to first destroy a Baal altar and build one for the Lord. Gideon obeyed, but he did it at night because he was afraid of the Midianites. God continued to show up and show his power, which helped Gideon keep on leading. Finally, Gideon was ready to lead the Israelite warriors against the Midianites in battle. But God wasn t finished growing Gideon s courage. He reduced Gideon s army down to 300 warriors, and then once more encouraged Gideon to trust him for defeat of the Midianites. After the victory, the Israelites wanted Gideon to be their ruler, but Gideon stayed humble and pointed people back to the one true God. THE BEFORE & AFTER [optional] Text Message Questions We ve provided a couple of different text message questions to send out to your students prior to your meeting. Feel free to use one or both of the questions below. As with the rest of the curriculum, edit these questions to fit the needs of your ministry. Who is the bravest person you know? Talk about that person tonight with the group. What s one of your best accomplishments? We ll all share our answers tonight when the group meets. Parent Email We ve provided you with an email below that you can send to your parents following the lesson. Our hope is to encourage parents to continue the conversation at home. Feel free to edit and customize the email to fit your ministry needs.
Dear parents, We ve begun a new four-lesson study called Unlikely Heroes. During this series, we ll discuss several Old Testament people and how God used them to do heroic things, despite their unlikely credentials. In our first lesson, we talked about Gideon and his story in Judges 6 8. Our conversation focused on how God was patient with Gideon s fear and need for reassurance, and how God gave Gideon courage to obey. Gideon ended up leading 300 Israelites to defeat the oppressive, idol-worshipping Midianite army. As you go throughout the week, help reinforce this teaching in your child s life by asking these kinds of questions: When was the last time you felt overwhelmed or afraid because of something you had to do? How did you handle that situation? How can God s faithfulness fill you with more courage to stand up for God? What step could you take this week to grow in courage? How can I pray with you to take that step of courage, as you remember that God is always with you? Have a courageous week!
unlikely heroes Lesson 1: Gideon 2. LEsson guide GETTING THINGS STARTED [optional] Preview this short video for your group: wingclips.com/movie-clips/evan-almighty/ build-an-ark. You will need an Internet connection and a computer or tablet to display the video for your participants. Welcome your students and invite them into your meeting area. Open in prayer, and then show the video clip. Then In this clip from Evan Almighty, God tells Evan to build an ark. Do you think you d have responded differently than Evan did? Why or why not? Why might someone like Evan be afraid to believe God and build the ark? What can stop you from having courage to do something God is asking you to do? SAY SOMETHING LIKE: Evan Almighty is a funny movie, and we can laugh about the courage it took for Evan to believe God and build an ark in his neighborhood. In real life, being courageous isn t something that just happens it s something we must choose to be. And it s hard to do when we feel alone or afraid. Today we ll be talking about a guy in the Old Testament named Gideon, and his story will help us see that we aren t actually alone when we are fearful God himself wants to give us courage and strength to obey as we accomplish great things for him. TEACHING POINTS The goal of the Teaching Points is to help students capture the essence of each lesson with more discussion and less lecture-style teaching. The main points we have chosen are (1) It takes courage to obey God s directions, (2) It takes courage to stand up for God, (3) It takes courage to trust God s plan, and (4) It takes courage to be humble and give God the glory. Remember: All throughout these lessons, it s up to you to choose (1) how many questions you use, and (2) the wording of the main points keep ours, or change the wording to make it clearer for your audience.
Read Judges 6:7-27, 7:1-11, and 8:22-23 together as a group. Consider dividing verses among your students so everyone has a chance to read. SAY SOMETHING LIKE: Gideon was a timid guy who felt unfit for the task that God had given him: rescuing the Israelites. Gideon needed lots of reassurance from God that he really could do what God was asking him to do. Let s explore these passages to see how Gideon ultimately trusted God and moved forward with the task God had given him. 1. It takes courage to obey God s directions When was the last time you felt overwhelmed or afraid because of something you had to do? How did you handle that situation? Look at Judges 6:14. Use three words to describe how Gideon might have felt when he heard what God wanted him to do. Look at Judges 6:24. What in your life helps you remember who God is and how God has protected you and provided for you? SAY SOMETHING LIKE: When we need courage, it helps to know we aren t alone. When we know God is with us, we can have a supercharged approach to the challenges we face. That was true for Gideon. Once he decided to obey God s directions, he still experienced fear, but he knew he wasn t alone. 2. It takes courage to stand up for God When in your life have you needed courage to stand up for God? Look at Judges 6:25-27. How would you explain the mix of fear and courage Gideon displayed in this passage? Be specific. Why do you think God commanded Gideon to destroy an idol s altar and build another one for the Lord? As Gideon obeyed God, he saw God continue to work in several ways. How can God s faithfulness fill you with more courage to stand up for God?
SAY SOMETHING LIKE: Even though Gideon in his fear destroyed Baal s altar at night, he still obeyed God s command. God is often waiting for us to be courageous and trust him before he shows us what he s going to do. God was getting Gideon ready for the huge assignment that was ahead: saving the Israelites. Then God asked Gideon to take an even bigger step of courage to battle the Midianites with a very small army. 3. It takes courage to trust God s plan Do you find it easy or difficult to trust other people? Why? Look at Judges 7:2-7. What s your reaction to how many warriors Gideon wanted to take to the battle and how many God told him to take? Why? How do you believe God feels when you lack courage to trust him? Why? Look at Judges 7:9-11. What is amazing about the way God responded to Gideon s continued need for courage? SAY SOMETHING LIKE: It s encouraging to see that God was not only patient with Gideon s fear, but he even considered how to encourage Gideon to trust his plan. God gave Gideon the victory over the entire Midianite army using just 300 warriors, rams horns, and clay jars. We don t have time today, but you ll have to read this amazing passage on your own! 4. It takes courage to be humble and give God the glory Think of one of your best accomplishments in life winning a sports championship, writing an awesome poem, receiving some kind of award, or something like that. How did you feel when you accomplished it? And if you got a little or a lot of recognition from people, how did that feel? Look at Judges 8:22. Why do we sometimes give people credit for victories or accomplishments instead of giving honor to God? Look at Judges 8:23. What does Gideon s response to the people s praise and their request reveal about his heart and his attitude?
SAY SOMETHING LIKE: It takes real humility to remember the source of your courage and victory. Even though Gideon was a man who didn t get things right all the time, he knew that God deserved the glory for the victory and that God should rule the Israelites. ADDITIONAL DISCUSSION [optional] Gideon an unknown, fearful guy hiding from the Midianites became an Israelite hero. Think of a specific person today who has quickly risen to fame maybe through a TV show competition, or because of athletic skills, or for something they created and posted online, or for some heroic act. How is that person s attitude similar to Gideon s attitude? How are their attitudes different? Read Philippians 2:3-5. What are some specific ways Jesus demonstrated a humble attitude? Would you rather spend time with people who are prideful or humble? Why? Why does God call us to be humble? APPLICATION Ask students to form groups of two or three for these questions. When you think about your own courage level when facing risk, where would you rank yourself from a 1, being very fearful of risk, to a 10, where you re ready to bring it on? When you are facing a situation that requires courage, how much do you think about God being with you? Explain. What step could you take this week to grow in courage? How can I pray for you to take that step of courage, as you remember that God is always with you?
Bring everyone back together, and ask for volunteers to share answers to the previous questions, as time permits. SUMMARY End your lesson here. Provide your teenagers with a quick summary or take-home challenge based on (1) the content of this lesson, (2) the dialogue that took place during the lesson, (3) your understanding of the issues and struggles your teenagers are facing, and (4) the big picture of your youth ministry and what your leadership team wants accomplished with the teaching and discussion time. FOR KEEPS [MEMORY VERSE] Encourage and/or challenge your teenagers to memorize the verse below. Don t be selfish; don t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves (Philippians 2:3).