LESSON date: Bible Passage: Judges 4 5 (Deborah) God Never Leaves His People REMEMBER VERSE God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another. 1 Peter 4:10 (NLT) SCHEDULE Connect 5 10 minutes Gather 20 35 minutes Respond 15 20 minutes Engage 15 20 minutes Bless 5 10 minutes Environment: SERVING The environment of SERVING can be seen through this week s lesson in how God strategically placed His servants, Deborah, Barak, and Jael, to be His hands and feet to deliver His people from their oppressors.. TruResources are developed in partnership with ROCKHARBOR Church and a national network of family and children s ministry leaders. All rights reserved.
Inspire The heat was stifling. I was drenched with sweat and the water I had poured over my head. My legs were wobbly and my feet hurt. I didn t know how I was going to continue. This wasn t at all the experience I had during my first marathon. On a crisp January day, I sailed through the 26.2 miles completely free of pain. It was one of the best experiences of my life. But this race was torture. By mile 17, my feet hurt so badly I could only hobble barely. On the more barren parts of the course, I felt completely alone. In my head I kept crying out to God. I desperately needed something big to carry me through the last few miles. That s when God met me. With less than 1.5 miles to go, my husband appeared out of nowhere and rode the rest of the course with me on his bike. When the officials wouldn t let him ride any farther, he left his bike on the corner and walked me to the finish line. It was just what I needed to get me across that personal touch, encouragement, and service from someone who loved me. Through my husband, God showed me I wasn t alone and that He d heard my cries for help. In my walk with Christ I ve experienced times like these times of pain when I felt like I was in a barren land. Yet, even at my worst, Christ has been my rescuer, redeemer, and strength. He comes at the least expected moment, when my life marathon exhausts me, and rescues me. He s never left me alone. Patty Santos TruStory Team 2
Equip God never leaves His people. He stayed with the Israelites as He led them into the Promised Land. And He gave them very clear instructions: Be careful not to make a treaty with those who live in the land where you are going, or they will be a snare among you. Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones Do not worship any other god (Exodus 34:12 17). God repeated this command many more times. The Israelites knew what needed to be done, but instead of obeying God, they broke the commandments by mixing with the people and worshipping false gods. Thus began a cycle of rebellion, repentance, and restoration that lasted for hundreds of years. Every time Israel did evil in the eyes of the Lord by worshipping other gods, God allowed enemies to conquer them (Judges 4:1 2). God used these nations to bring about repentance. The oppressed Israelites invariably realized their sin and repented. And God raised up deliverers, known as judges, to rescue the people. But these judges weren t like the judges of today. Though Deborah was a prophetess, judges were usually tribal rulers who also served as military leaders. The judges recorded in Scripture were charismatic individuals, but their charisma wasn t what brought them victory. The Holy Spirit descended on at least four of the judges to empower them. While it might seem that during the time of the judges God abandoned His people to their enemies, He didn t. In fact, even though the Israelites continually disobeyed, God was there all the time, waiting to rush in and deliver them when they turned back to Him. In spite of what His people deserved, God never left them. Environment of SERVING This posture of the heart asks, What needs to be done? It allows the Holy Spirit to cultivate a sensitivity to others and focuses on a cause bigger than one individual life. It helps fulfill the mandate that as Christ-followers we re to view our lives as living sacrifices that we generously give away. The 10 environments guide us in creating a climate that puts God on display. Encourage your families to discover more about creating the environment of SERVING in their homes by checking out HomeFront: A Spiritual Parenting Resource and Spiritual Parenting by Michelle Anthony. 3
Support Sometimes God seems far away. This feels especially true during times of trial or suffering. When things aren t going right or something gets tough, it s easy to wonder if God has left us. And it s during these times that we need to stop and practice the spiritual discipline of remembering. We need to remember how God has been faithful to us in the past. How He has served us by providing for us in times of need, healing us during times of brokenness, and speaking words of truth into our hearts. When we reflect on the ways God has done what needed to be done for us serving us with His love throughout our lives, we see clearly that God has never left us, and He never will. This week, take some time to make a list of times when you ve felt God was with you. Be specific. Write another list of times when you ve felt God was absent or far away. Take these two lists to the Lord in prayer. Invite Him to deepen your understanding about the truth that He has never ever been away from you that He has always done what needed to be done and served you in love. Place your first list in a visible place, such as on the mirror or the refrigerator, as a reminder that God will never leave you. TIMELINE ADAM & EVE NOAH ABRAHAM JACOB JOSEPH MOSES JOSHUA EHUD DEBORAH GIDEON RUTH JONATHAN ABIGAIL ELIJAH ELISHA JONAH HABAKKUK MARY JOSEPH JESUS PARABLES OF JESUS GOOD SAMARITAN WORKERS IN THE FIELD LOST SHEEP/COIN/SON WISE/FOOLISH BUILDERS UNMERCIFUL SERVANT PETER MARTHA & MARY THIEF ON THE CROSS MARY STEPHEN BARNABAS PAUL EPHESIANS 1 PETER ROMANS 7 CHURCHES YOU & ME OUR FUTURE WITH JESUS 4
Lesson Overview Experience Time Summary Supplies/Prepare (Master Supply List at tru.davidccook.com) Connect// 5 10 min. Gather// 20 35 min. Designed to allow children to develop relationships with their leaders and one another. Children will gather together to experience and learn more about God through communal and personal prayer, a creative telling of the day s portion of The Big God Story, an investigation into God s Word through word studies, and more. Forgetting and Remembering Discussion Time none Prayer none Storytelling Bibles (1 per child) Investigate discussion questions Remember Verse none Respond// 15 20 min. Engage// 15 20 min. Kids will worship collaboratively, individually, through many media, and with an eye to the greater faith community. The So what? Now what? component. Kids will engage with one another through various forms of play, including interactive games and activities, engaging projects and experiments, and more. God Never Leaves Us Rocks of Remembrance Bibles verse sheets (see tru.davidccook.com) rocks permanent markers God Delivers Capture the Flag 2 brightly colored flags (or bandanas or T-shirts) cones or markers (to identify boundaries of the game) painter s or masking tape Bless// 5 10 min. This time of blessing will allow children the opportunity to take new steps toward living out their part of The Big God Story. It is designed to lead them to go forth with a posture of responding to what they ve learned and received from God by sharing and giving away their knowledge and blessings to others. Bible (for the blessing) HomeFront Weekly (1 per child; see tru.davidccook.com) HomeFront: A Spiritual Parenting Resource 5
Connect// 5 10 min. Connect encourages kids to develop relationships with their leaders and one another. Within a free-flowing setting that utilizes simple supplies and conversation starters, Connect gives kids and leaders the opportunity to get to know one another better. Forgetting and Remembering Throughout the book of Judges, we see the same pattern: the Israelites forgot what they needed to do to worship God only. Because of this, God allowed them to be conquered by their enemies. After a while, the Israelites cried out to God and repented, and He restored them through a judge or deliverer who knew God and whom God led to ask, What needs to be done? The cycle of the Israelites forgetting God and remembering Him happened over and over again. Today s part of The Big God Story highlights the story of Deborah one of the judges whom God appointed to lead Israel back to Him. CONNECT QUESTION: Welcome and greet children. Open your time by asking this question: What is one of your favorite memories? Discussion Time SUPPLIES none RELATE Have your fifth and sixth graders gather together to share stories about times they remembered or forgot something important. Use this list of questions as conversation starters or think of your own. Share a time you forgot something. What did you forget? How did it make you feel when you realized you d forgotten? Did anyone help remind you when you forgot? Do you think it s easy or difficult to forget things? Why or why not? Have you ever remembered something important at the last minute? What was it, and what happened? What is something that helps you remember things? Who is someone who helps you remember things? How does he do this? 6
Gather//20 35 min. During GATHER, kids will experience and learn more about God through communal and personal prayer, a creative storytelling of the day s portion of The Big God Story, and an investigation into God s Word, which may include word studies, Scripture crossreferencing, and a look into the context surrounding the passage. In this section, your children will often act as detectives and investigators working together to understand the mysteries and truths found in the Bible. Prayer Gather your children into a circle. Encourage them to hold their hands in front of them as a posture of receiving what God might speak to them today. Before you pray, designate a leader (or two) to open and close the time of prayer. Tell the children they are encouraged to participate in this time of prayer if they would like to. Remind them that praying is simply talking and listening to God, and that He always hears us when we pray. As you pray, leave space between prayers for the children to take the opportunity to pray, in case some may be apprehensive and need a little more time. Pray that God would bless the day s lesson as you are in His Word. Pray that God would speak to the hearts of His children, revealing to them the truth of today s Ponder Point, that God Never Leaves His People. Storytelling Storytelling Technique: Story Pantomime and Acting For this storytelling technique, use child volunteers to act out the story. The children can pantomime what the storyteller says and/or read for the characters of Jael, Deborah, and Barak. SUPPLIES Bibles (1 per child) PREPARE Print copies of the storytelling section for your actors playing Jael, Deborah, and Barak. RELATE Before you begin the storytelling section, invite the kids to act like mini chariots. To do this, pair the kids off. One child will be on his hands and knees while the second child picks up her partner s ankles. They will walk together one child on his hands, the other on her feet. Encourage the pairs to try to make it across the room! Great job! Today, The Big God Story will feature 900 chariots! The last time we were together we heard how God used a left-handed judge named Ehud to deliver the people of Israel from King Eglon. We are at a point in The Big God Story that was a difficult time in Israel s history. God s people were stuck in a terrible cycle. What was the cycle? (Allow answers.) Yes, the people rebelled (make fist) against God (or turned away from Him) by worshipping other gods. Because of this, God allowed their enemies to conquer them. The nations that conquered them treated them badly. Because of this, the Israelites remembered that the God they worshipped was so good to them and loved them very much. They longed to worship Him again, so 7
they repented (or turned away from their sins) (put palms together). Because God never leaves His people and because He loves His people so much, He always restored (clasp hands) His people by raising up a judge who worshipped God and desired to serve God with his or her life. God led this judge to deliver His people from their enemies. After Ehud died, the people chose not to serve God or worship only Him. They rebelled (make fist), and God allowed the King of Canaan (cay-nan) to defeat them. After being treated badly for 20 years, the people repented (put palms together) and cried out to God! Because God never leaves His people and because He hears His people s cries, He raised up another judge named Deborah to deliver them and restore (clasp hands) them to freedom. Invite a child to pretend to sit under a tree like Deborah. One day Deborah called a man named Barak to come see her (invite the child to read this line to another child playing Barak): Deborah: Barak, God told me He wants you to lead an army to defeat our enemies. Storyteller: Do you think Barak was excited? No, he wasn t. Let s open our Bibles and read why (Judges 4:3). Barak knew that the enemy king had a general named Sisera (siss-er-uh), who had 900 iron chariots! How many chariots do you think Israel had? (Allow answers.) None! That s not very fair is it? That would be like a professional basketball team coming to your school to play against your school basketball team! No, Barak was not very excited to face that army. But what did Barak forget? (Allow answers.) He forgot that God never leaves His people. He forgot that God gives His people what they need to serve Him when they trust and obey Him. So Barak said to Deborah (invite your actors to read these lines): Barak: I will go, but you have to go with me. Deborah: Ok, I will go, but you won t get the credit for the victory. Storyteller: Then Barak took the army from Israel and went out to fight against Sisera and his chariots. Can you imagine how loud it was when 900 chariots were coming at them in battle? (Invite kids to drum on their table or stomp their feet loudly.) That s really loud! That might have been what it was like for Barak and the army. Even though the odds were completely against them, God gave the Israelites victory! (Invite the kids to read this in Judges 4:15.) The Bible says that the Lord defeated the whole army of Sisera, while Sisera himself ran away and hid in the 8
tent of a woman named Jael (jie-el). Jael pretended to be Sisera s friend, but she was really on the side of the God of Israel! So Jael told Sisera (invite another child to read Jael s lines): Jael: Come, hide in my tent, and I will keep you safe. Storyteller: When Sisera fell asleep, Jael took a tent peg and she killed him! When Barak arrived, Jael came out and told Barak the good news. Jael: Sisera is dead, and Israel is free! Storyteller: Though her actions might seem strange to us today, Jael knew that Sisera was the enemy of God. God gave her the strength to serve Him by doing what needed to be done! After this, the people all celebrated the victory and sang a song of praise to the Lord. (Invite the kids to read the victory song in Judges 5:1 3.) Through this song, they praised God who had restored (clasp hands) His people! Even though His people had rebelled (make fist) and had to suffer consequences for their actions, He had never left them! Invite your kids to celebrate by dancing around and cheering as if they were the Israelites. So what do you think? Did the people keep trusting God and worshipping only Him? (Allow answers.) No, they didn t. Sadly, they eventually started in that cycle all over again! (Do hand motions.) Though it can be easy to point fingers at the Israelites, we can all rebel (make fist) against God. We can forget to worship only Him over everything else in our life. (Share a story of time when you put other things before God.) Sometimes we disobey Him. When we do, does He abandon us? No, God never leaves us alone. When we repent (turn away from our sins) (put palms together), He is faithful to restore us (clasp hands). (Tell an age-appropriate story of a time God restored you.) We serve a God who is gracious to us even when we choose not to worship Him. We serve a God who daily forms us into people who have hearts of service hearts of worship for only Him. We also serve a God who never leaves us, even when we have disobeyed Him or when we go through hard times. It s wonderful to serve a God who never leaves His people. 9
BONUS INVESTIGATE: Remembering God s Goodness For each and every one of us, it s difficult sometimes to remember God s past faithfulness or goodness when we are in a time of distress. Yet God calls us to serve Him by worshipping Him only and offering ourselves as living sacrifices to Him. Ask the kids: What are some ways that God has been good to you? Faithful to you? Tell us about a time when you knew God was with you. How can we help ourselves remember in practical ways that God has been good and faithful to us when we are in the midst of hard times? Do you think God wants us to remember His goodness in the midst of difficult times? Why or why not? Investigate Discussion Questions What cycle did the Israelites repeat over and over again? (Judges 4:1) What did the Israelites need to do to serve God? What question did they need to ask? What did they do instead? (Judges 2:10 12a) Why did God allow the Israelites to suffer? (Judges 2:12b 15; 4:1) Did God ever leave the Israelites? How do you know? (Judges 4:3, 6 7) How did Deborah, Barak, and Jael serve God? (Judges 4:4, 14 15, 21) How do you think the Israelites and Barak felt when they went to fight Sisera and his chariots? How did God act like a warrior for Israel? (Judges 4:14; 5:4 5) How can God lead you to worship Him through service? What does it mean to serve God? Rebellion, Repentance, Restoration In the book of Judges, we see the same cycle over and over again: rebellion (turning away from God), repentance (turning away from sin), and restoration (God restoring His people to peace when they repent). Every time, God used a leader called a judge to deliver His people. Invite the kids to read about this pattern in Joshua 2:10 19. Even though God allowed some difficult events to happen in order to turn His people s hearts back to Him, did He ever leave His people? (Allow answers.) No! God never leaves His people. In the same way, we may disobey our parents and receive consequences for our actions, but our parents never stop loving us. Like our parents, God allowed consequences for His people s actions, though He never left them. In fact, He always heard their prayers when they repented (turned from their sins) and cried out to Him. In fact, God went to great lengths to get His people back. Though it may have seemed like God left His people, He didn t. He was always present. Invite the kids to read about God s grace toward His people in Judges 3:9 10, 15; 4:3 7. 10
Developmentally Speaking Children in fifth and sixth grade have strong critical thinking and reasoning abilities. They enjoy asking the question, Why? and also participating in more grown-up, in-depth discussions. As you lead your fifth and sixth graders through these INVESTIGATE sections, remember that, developmentally, most are eager and willing to engage in deep conversation. As you discuss, offer your fifth and sixth graders respect as intelligent, curious, deep-feeling individuals. God Never Leaves His People Scripture is full of promises about how God never leaves His people. Whether life is difficult or easy, it is helpful to read these Scriptures and remember the truth that God will never leave you. Invite your kids to read the following Scriptures: Joshua 1:9; Psalm 73:23 26. What was your favorite part/word/idea from these Scriptures? Do you ever feel like God has left you or forgotten you? What is that like? Do you think it s difficult to continue to serve God when we feel like He is not there, or when prayers aren t answered the way we hoped? Why or why not? How do you feel knowing that God promises that He will never leave you? What do these portions of God s Word make you think about God? How do you want to respond to Him? 11
Remember Verse Each week children will spend time memorizing a portion of Scripture together. Remember Verses are chosen according to the 10 environments. This week we are highlighting the environment of SERVING, which asks, What needs to be done? SERVING Remember Verse: God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another. 1 Peter 4:10 (NLT) Game: Verse Song/Rap SUPPLIES none RELATE Read the Remember Verse to the kids a few times. Split the kids into groups and ask them to come up with a rap or song with the words of the Remember Verse. They can use the melody of a familiar tune such as Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star or come up with a brand new melody of their own. They can also turn the Remember Verse into a cheer! After a few minutes, invite the kids to come back together and sing, rap, or cheer the Remember Verse for the group. Space for the Holy Spirit The Holy Spirit longs to speak to His children. Allow time and space for your kids to respond to what God might be speaking to their hearts. To create space for children to hear from and respond to Him, ask the kids a few simple questions: After all you ve seen, heard, and experienced today through God s Word, what do you know about God? How does that make you feel? What does this mean for your life? How do you want to respond to God right now? As you lead the kids through this time of reflection, pause and ask God to give you the strength and faith to be flexible as you give the children the space to respond in the way that God leads. 12
Respond// 15 20 min. During RESPOND, kids will have the opportunity to process what the Holy Spirit has been teaching them. They will be encouraged to demonstrate their response to God in a time of handson worship, to express themselves individually through the use of many media, and to worship collaboratively with a mindset focused on the greater community. Resource Tip Minute to Win It activities are available for this lesson. Premium, Unlimited, and Combo users may access this resource at tru.davidccook.com. God Never Leaves Us Rocks of Remembrance SUPPLIES Bibles verse sheets (see tru.davidccook.com) rocks permanent markers RELATE Today in The Big God Story, we heard how God clearly showed the Israelites what needed to be done to serve Him. He gave them the Ten Commandments through which He commanded them to worship Him only. Though the Israelites often rebelled (turned away) from what God commanded them, they repented (turned away from their sins) after their enemies took them over. Every time they repented, God, in His grace, restored them to a time of peace. We can see through the cycle of the Judges that even though God s people may have thought He d abandoned them, He never had. God never leaves His people. We serve a God who will never leave us. Though life is difficult, confusing, or scary sometimes and sometimes we may struggle with feeling God has left us His Word gives us reminders that He will never leave us. His Word reminds us that God always stays close to us. Spend some time with your kids reading Scriptures that express the fact that God never leaves His people. Allow the kids to look these Scriptures up in their Bibles and then take turns reading the verses out loud: Deuteronomy 31:6: Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Matthew 28:20b: Jesus said,... surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. Hebrews 13:5b 6: Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you. So we say with confidence, The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid Give the kids a chance to sit quietly and talk with God as you read this Scripture and prayer over them: God says in Hebrews 13:5b 6: Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you. So we say with confidence, The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid I pray that you will not be afraid or confused. God is with you wherever you go. He never leaves His people. 13
Allow the children to ponder this Scripture and blessing as they talk with God. Invite them to ask Him to daily reveal to them the truth that He never leaves His people. Pass out the sheet on which these verses are written as jumping-off points for kids discussions with God. DEMONSTRATE Once the kids have spent time reflecting on Scripture, allow them to create their own Rocks of Remembrance. Invite the kids to write a short sentence, word, or symbol that describes how God will never leave them. Once kids have finished, ask them to take their rock home and put it somewhere they will see it often. When your kids go through hard times, their rocks can act as reminders that God will never leave them. 14
Engage// 15 20 min. The ENGAGE section gives kids time to play, laugh, and explore together through interactive games and activities, engaging projects, experiments, and more. God Delivers Capture the Flag SUPPLIES 2 brightly colored flags (or bandanas or T-shirts) cones or markers (to identify boundaries of the game) painter s or masking tape PREPARE Before the kids play, divide the group into two teams. Give each team one colored flag. Also, set boundaries marking the field in which the game will be played. Using tape, draw a line down the center of the field. Each team has one side of the field. RELATE Explain that the object of the game is for one team to capture the other team s flag and return it to their side of the field without being tagged. A child can only be tagged if he is in the other team s part of the field. To play, invite the teams to hide their flag in a visible area. Once the flags have been hidden, the game can officially begin. If someone is tagged, he will be put in jail on the other team s side. Those in jail can be freed if tagged by a free team member. The game is over once one team has successfully captured the other team s flag and brought it to their side without being tagged. NOTE: For safety, ask the children to play this game while crawling or walking on their knees or tiptoes. 15
Bless// 5 10 min. As followers of Christ, we ve been blessed to be a blessing to others. This BLESS time will allow children to take new steps toward living out their part of The Big God Story. This time will lead kids to go out into the community and respond to what they ve learned and received from God by sharing and giving away their knowledge and blessings to others. Before you bless the children in your group, pray about the blessing that God would have you give to them. Gather the children together and read the blessing from Deuteronomy 31:6: Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. May you have no fear because you know without a doubt that God is with you always and that He will never leave you. Invite your fifth and sixth graders to stand in a line facing one direction. Have the first child at one end of the line turn to the person to his left and speak the blessing: God will never leave you. Then invite that child to turn to her left and repeat the blessing. Do this until each child has been blessed. HomeFront Weekly: Be sure to send home the HomeFront Weekly for next week s lesson! This preteaching tool for parents encourages families to spend time in God s Word together before children arrive at church. HomeFront: A Spiritual Parenting Resource is a magazine that gives families ideas for creating fun, spiritually forming times in their homes setting aside a sacred space for family in the midst of their active, everyday lives! As the new issue becomes available each month, you may choose to print them for families or encourage them to visit HomeFrontMag.com to subscribe to have the magazine sent directly to their inbox. HomeFront is also available as an app for your iphone, ipad, or Android device. 16