15 Isaac Marries Rebekah Geesis 24 Studets may feel either lost or pulled i may differet directios either oe leadig to cofusio. I additio, whe they seek to make importat decisios, the advice they ofte hear may be somethig alog the lies of do whatever makes you feel good. Throughout this study, help your studets uderstad that while God may offer them may differet opportuities through which to love ad kow him, God will ever leave them at the mercy of their ow whims. God cares about their decisios ad lovigly guides them each step of the way. STUDY WHAT STUDENTS DO SUPPLIES EASY PREP 1 Faith Coectio Choose Your Ow Adveture (about 20 mi.) Adveture 1: Rowdy Relay Participate i a crazy relay race. Adveture 2: The Rya Dumm Story Combie imagiatios to create a story. Bible Trek, pes, paper, ice cubes, pair of dice, box of crackers, bowl, ca of shavig cream, plastic tarp Bible Trek, pes Remove the pages from each Bible Trek studet book. Set up 5 statios aroud the room for Adveture 1. Make a umbered sig for each oe. The sigs should swerve or eve double back o themselves (for istace, statio 3 is before statio 2). Set out ice cubes at statio 1, a pair of dice at statio 2, othig at statio 3, a bowl of crackers at statio 4, ad a ca of shavig cream ad a plastic tarp at statio 5. Bible Poit Pray for God s directio. Key Verse If ay of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives geerously to all without fidig fault, ad it will be give to him (James 1:5). Weavig Faith Ito Life Studets will seek God s wisdom through prayer. 2 Bible Exploratio Of Camels ad Wives (about 20 mi.) Explore the Bible passage by writig questios. Bibles, pes, paper Bold text withi the lesso is spoke text.
16 STUDY WHAT STUDENTS DO SUPPLIES EASY PREP Guidace Couselor (about 15 mi.) Compare evets from the Bible passage with challeges they re facig, ad offer advice. Bibles 3 Weavig Faith Ito Life Media Coectio (Optio) (about 10 mi.) Liste to a sog, ad reflect o how they eed God s directio. music player, sog Hello Lord by Sara Groves Dowload Hello Lord by Sara Groves, ad cue your music player so you re ready to play it. Lack, Ask, Take (about 10 mi.) Work separately ad the together to complete a task. Bibles, iflated balloo, fleece blaket or jacket, 2 copies of the Lack, Ask, Take hadout, scissors Cut apart the Key Verse phrases o the Lack, Ask, Take hadout, ad keep the 2 sets separate. 4 Lastig Impressios Daily Challeges (about 5 mi.) Choose a Daily Challege to apply God s Word. Weavig Faith at Home (about 2 mi.) Talk about how to share what they leared with their families. Bible Trek, pes Bold text withi the lesso is spoke text.
17 Isaac Marries Rebekah Geesis 24 BIBLe BACKGROUND FOR LEADERS The Servat s Oath The Servat s Reward As we pick up with Abraham ad Isaac, we fid that Abraham s wife, Isaac s mother, Sarah, has died. Abraham is 140 years old. Isaac is about 40 ad has ot yet married. Abraham was determied that Isaac would ot marry someoe from the lads aroud him ad that oly a wife from Abraham s ow people would do. Abraham likely felt too old to make the jourey, ad he probably did t wat his so Isaac to leave him. So he chose to sed his trusted servat, who is ofte assumed to be Eliezer (Geesis 15:2). Eliezer s respose may have idicated the seriousess of the oath he was takig he wated to be sure he could be freed from the oath if the chose woma would t come with him. I respose Abraham reiterated his isistece that Isaac remai i Caaa. Perhaps Abraham feared that if Isaac retured to his family s homelad, he would hesitate to retur to Caaa, sice he kew that Abraham might die soo ad he would be left aloe. The Servat s Prayer The pieces of jewelry Eliezer immediately gave Rebekah were gifts of great value ad were apparetly give as a expressio of kidess, ot as a dowry for her marriage to Isaac. I agreeig to go with Eliezer to marry Isaac, Rebekah expressed great faith of her ow. She was givig up a elaborate weddig ear her home, she was givig up everythig familiar to her, she was promisig to marry a ma she had ever see, ad she was committig to live early a thousad miles away from her family. The Jesus Coectio Eliezer showed tremedous faith i God through his jourey ad by prayig as soo as he arrived. Eliezer prayed i faith ad Rebekah acted without hesitatio based o faith. How ca you promote this kid of faith ito your life? You ca write your prayer i the space below. Eliezer s jourey was about 800 to 1,000 miles each way ad would likely have take a couple of moths perhaps loger each way. Notice what Eliezer did first whe he arrived at his destiatio: He prayed. All we kow about Eliezer is that he was from Damascus (Geesis 15:2), ad he had faith i God. His prayer shows that he kew he eeded directio from God. Notice that before he had fiished prayig, Rebekah appeared. God helped Eliezer immediately! Rebekah did precisely what Eliezer had described i his prayer, ad he cofirmed that she was the right perso by askig whose daughter she was. The he praised ad worshipped God!
18 FAITH CONNECTION Choose Your Ow Adveture Supplies Bible Trek pes Adveture 1 paper ice cubes pair of dice box of crackers bowl ca of shavig cream plastic tarp Adveture 2 o additioal supplies! ALLERGY ALERT Choose Your Ow Adveture Easy Prep Remove the pages from each Bible Trek studet book. Set up 5 statios aroud the room for Adveture 1. Make a umbered sig for each oe. The sigs should swerve or eve double back o themselves (for istace, statio 3 is before statio 2). Set out ice cubes at statio 1, a pair of dice at statio 2, othig at statio 3, a bowl of crackers at statio 4, ad a ca of shavig cream ad a plastic tarp at statio 5. Choose Your Ow Adveture What You ll Do Distribute Bible Trek pages ad pes. Say: Today we re goig to talk about seekig God s directio. To get you started thikig about the topic, read the questios o the Thik It Over sectio of your Bible Trek pages ad write i your aswers. Allow time. Say: I our advetures today, we have two activities you ca choose from. Adveture 1 uses physical activity, ad Adveture 2 uses creative writig. The directios are o your Bible Trek papers. Look them over ad decide which activity you wat to do. You ca work with the others who choose the same activity. Allow time for studets to decide which adveture they wat to do. Summaries of each adveture follow. ADVENTURE 1 PHYSICAL ACTIVITY: ROWDY RELAY I this adveture, studets will participate i a outrageous relay ad discuss what it meas to have directio i life. ADVENTURE 2 CREATIVE WRITING: THE RYAN DUMM STORY I this adveture, studets will combie their imagiatios ad creativity to write a haphazard story, ad the they ll discuss what gives us directio i real life. Say: After you fiish your adveture, you ll preset some of what you experieced, so keep that i mid. Whe everyoe has fiished, we ll talk about what we ve leared. You have 15 miutes to complete your advetures. While studets are workig, move betwee the statios, ad offer assistace as eeded. Let groups kow whe they have about five miutes left so they ca wrap up their work. After 15 miutes, have your groups take turs presetig what they experieced. Talk With Studets Lead studets i this discussio. What are some decisios you make i your life, both importat ad less importat? How do you go about makig these decisios? Do you ever feel cofusio about where to go or what to do? Why or why ot? If so, how do you hadle this cofusio? Where do you thik we ca fid directio that will help us make the right decisios?
19 Say: We re all faced with big decisios i our lives, ad ofte it s hard to kow what to do especially if people are givig us all kids of advice. We may wat to make the best decisios but may ot be sure where to go for directio. Today we re goig to read about someoe who was set o a pretty importat missio, ad we ll explore how to PRAY FOR GOD S DIRECTION. 2 BIBLE EXPLORATION Of Camels ad Wives What You ll Do Have studets form groups of four, ad give each group a Bible, a piece of paper, ad a pe. Have each group tur to Geesis 24. Of Camels ad Wives Supplies Bibles pes paper Say: As you re readig this passage, thik up at least four or five questios with your group. Each questio should be somethig you woder about the passage for example, is it still okay to ask God for sigs? Pause to write dow your questios wheever you have them. Whe all the groups have fiished readig, you ll get to ask aother group your questios. Oe thig to ote: We re skippig verses 34-49 because those are mostly the servat retellig the first part of the passage. Oce all of the groups have read the passages ad writte dow questios, have groups come together to form groups of eight. Have groups read their questios to the ew group they ve joied with ad discuss ay possible aswers they ca thik of. Talk With Studets Lead everyoe i this discussio. What thigs did you lear from each other about the passage? What questios have you had about God s directio for you? What has helped you fid the aswers to those questios? What ca you do if you do t kow how God is directig you? Say: This is a great accout to read if we ever feel like we ve bee asked to do somethig that s beyod our uderstadig or ability. We ca look to Abraham s servat as a example of someoe who asked God for wisdom ad directio ad received both! He did t rely o himself but respoded oly to what he kew was a aswer from God. Ad he was blessed for his faith ad courageous obediece. Now let s thik about how we ca PRAY FOR GOD S DIRECTION i our ow lives.
20 3 WEAVING FAITH INTO LIFE Guidace Couselor What You ll Do Have studets form four groups. If you have more tha 20 studets, you may wish to form more tha four groups ad give multiple groups the same topic so that everyoe gets a chace to share. Say: The servat ad Rebekah both faced some difficult situatios i which they eeded God s guidace. Perhaps you re wrestlig with God s directio for your life. Let s cosider what you ca lear from this passage. Assig each group oe of the followig verses from Geesis 24 ad the topic that is listed with it below: verse 8: a hard task verse 17: someoe asked you for somethig verse 21: a area where you re tryig to tell what God wats verse 58: a tough decisio Say: With your group, read your assiged verse ad the give each perso oe miute to share about a similar way he or she eeds God s directio, usig the topic provided. Whe everyoe has shared, take aother miute to discuss thigs you ca lear about God s directio for your situatios from the way thigs wet i the Bible passage. Allow time for sharig. Give warigs each miute to switch whose tur it is to share. Talk With Studets Lead studets i this discussio. What are some ways the evets of our passage ca help direct you i your situatios? The servat i the Bible sought God s directio through prayer. What are some specific ways prayer ca lead to directio? What are some of the ways God gives advice? Say: God does t always give such specific sigs as a woma offerig to get your camels a drik. But he does direct us today. Whe we PRAY FOR GOD S DIRECTION, we ca be sure he ll hear us. Ad God ca use his Word, circumstaces, tugs at our hearts, or other people to show us what he wats us to do.
21 Media Coectio (Optio) Istead of the Guidace Couselor activity, play Hello Lord by Sara Groves. First say: The servat ad Rebekah both faced some difficult situatios i which they eeded God s guidace. Perhaps you re wrestlig with God s directio for your life. Let s liste to a sog about that. As you liste, cosider a specific situatio where you wat to hear what God s directio for you is. Play Hello Lord. Talk With Studets Lead studets i this discussio. Media Coectio Supplies music player sog Hello Lord by Sara Groves What thoughts did you have about God s directio for you as you listeed to our sog? How ca you liste to God? What if you just ca t hear him? The servat i the Bible sought God s directio through prayer. What are some specific ways prayer ca lead to directio? What are some of the ways God gives advice? Media Coectio Easy Prep Dowload Hello Lord by Sara Groves, ad cue your music player so you re ready to play it. Say: God does t always give such specific sigs as a woma offerig to get your camels a drik. But he does direct us today. Whe we PRAY FOR GOD S DIRECTION, we ca be sure he ll hear us. Ad God ca use his Word, circumstaces, tugs at our hearts, or other people to show us what he wats us to do. Lack, Ask, Take What You ll Do Have studets form two groups. Ask each group to form a iward-facig circle so studets ca t see what the other group is doig or what you re about to distribute. Give oe group a set of cut-apart Key Verse phrases from the Lack, Ask, Take hadout alog with a iflated balloo. Do t let the studets touch the papers; istead, scatter the phrases faceup o the floor i the middle of the circle. Give the other group the secod set of cut-apart Key Verse phrases (i the same way faceup o the floor) alog with the fleece object. Say: I ve give both groups our Key Verse for today James 1:5. I ve also give each group a differet object, but please do t let each other kow what object you have. Now I ve already told you that you ca t touch the papers o the floor. First read the four phrases as a group, ad decide i what order you thik they go to form today s Key Verse. Oce you ve doe this, you still ca t touch the papers sorry. Your secod assigmet is to pick up the parts of the Key Verse i the order of how it s read by usig the object I gave you. But before you begi, here s the catch: You ca use oly this object. I m goig to give you a miute or two to figure out your strategy. Lack, Ask, Take Supplies Bibles iflated balloo fleece blaket or jacket 2 copies of the Lack, Ask, Take hadout scissors! BALLOON WARNING To avoid chokig hazards, be sure to pick up pieces of ay broke balloos promptly. Balloos may cotai latex. Lack, Ask, Take Easy Prep Cut apart the Key Verse phrases o the Lack, Ask, Take hadout, ad keep the 2 sets separate.
22 After groups have braistormed optios for a miute or two (ad they just might come up with some good oes!), have each group share what it discussed. What s your strategy for completig the missio I gave you? Do you thik you ll be successful? Why or why ot? What might make your missio easier to accomplish? Have the studets attempt to pick up the papers for about oe miute. Say: Okay, ow I d like each group to ask the other what object it has. Have the groups show each other the balloo ad fleece. Now that you ve bee show what the other group has, do you see a easy way of accomplishig your missio? If so, what would it ivolve? Have each group allow the other to use its object to create static ad pick up the papers. The gather everyoe back together, ad have a willig studet read the Key Verse, James 1:5: If ay of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives geerously to all without fidig fault, ad it will be give to him. Talk With Studets Lead studets i this discussio. What was it like to lack somethig you eeded? to ask for somethig you eeded ad receive it? How does this compare with askig God for what you eed? What are some thigs you eed to ask God s wisdom for this week? How ca you be cofidet God will give you wisdom? Say: Askig others to share a object so you could pick up some papers is very differet from askig God for wisdom. However, the results ca look pretty similar. God kows what our missios are, ad God kows what we eed to accomplish them. We ca PRAY FOR GOD S DIRECTION, just as the servat did whe he was lookig for a wife for Isaac. Ad whe we seek his directio by askig for wisdom, God respods by givig geerously.
23 4 LASTING IMPRESSIONS Daily Challeges What You ll Do Direct studets to the Daily Challeges i their Bible Trek pages ad have them choose oe to do this week. They ca choose oe or more of these three optios: Pray every morig while you brush your teeth for God to give you wisdom throughout the day. Use a Bible website or app to look up oe verse that talks about wisdom at least five days this week. You could try biblegateway.com or the YouVersio app. If you re facig a difficult decisio, talk to two frieds with the specifics (be careful ot to gossip!), ad ask them to pray for you. Daily Challeges Supplies Bible Trek pes Talk With Studets Lead studets i this discussio. What s a practical way you re goig to do your Daily Challege? Iclude a time, a place, ad other ideas. Say: Whe the servat prayed, God listeed. God provided wisdom ad directio so the servat kew just what to do. Let s PRAY FOR GOD S DIRECTION i our lives this week by followig through with our Daily Challeges. Weavig Faith at Home Ecourage studets to talk with their parets about the Daily Challeges they chose ad what they leared about God s directio. Studets ca also do the activities o the Brigig It Home sectio of their Bible Trek pages with their families. Talk to your Director about emailig the FREE FamilyCoect to all your church s families! Available at group.com/digital. Close with prayer. Have studets fid a parter they ve worked with at some poit durig today s study ad pray together for God s directio i their lives.
24 Lack, Ask, Take IF ANY OF YOU LACKS WISDOM, HE SHOULD ASK GOD, WHO GIVES GENEROUSLY TO ALL WITHOUT FINDING FAULT, AND IT WILL BE GIVEN TO HIM.! OK TO COPY