God Deserves the Glory

God Deserves the Glory BIBLE PASSAGE Judges 6-8 (Gideon) 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 Large Group 35 55 minutes Small Group 20 25 minutes 1

Equipping Volunteers God deserves the glory for everything. Sometimes, as His people, we forget this.the Israelites often forgot to give God the glory and instead gave glory to false idols. Because of this, God allowed them to suffer the consequences of their actions. He allowed them to be conquered by foreigners until they cried out to Him. During the time of the judges, God appointed a few men and women to deliver Israel from her enemies and bring her back into relationship with Him. Othniel, the first judge, was a God-fearing man who led Israel from sin to repentance and a season of rest (Judges 3:7 11). Following Othniel were the judges Ehud (Judges 3:12 30), Deborah (Judges 4 5), Gideon (Judges 6 8), Jephthah (Judges 11), and Samson (Judges 13 16). As spiritual leaders, the judges devolved steadily starting with righteous Othniel and ending with unrighteous Samson. Gideon has been called a bridge judge because he formed a bridge between the earlier, stronger judges and the later, weaker ones. As a judge, Gideon was both strong and weak. He showed great courage when breaking down the altar of Baal and following God into battle with only 300 men. But he also argued with an angel, asked God to prove His presence with him through signs, and doubted God s promise. Though Gideon was flawed, God still used him to accomplish His purposes and bring glory to Himself. God used Gideon to lead 300 men (down from 32,000) in victory against an enemy s entire army to show He would win the battle for His people. God used Gideon a man both faithful and fearful to show that only He would gain the glory. 2

Large Group// 20 35 min Nov 24th/25th 1. Worship Through Music Open Large Group time with singing music to worship Jesus together. Christmas Music Season!!! 1. Joy to the World 2. Angels We have Heard on High 3. The First Noel 2. Large Group Welcome WELCOME VISITORS- As you welcome everyone to your day together, start by celebrating visitors! If they are a friend then have the regular attender who brought them introduce them to the group. Give all visitors a big round of applause for coming! And have a nearby leader give each visitor a high five AND a gumball (just for coming)!!! And how do we welcome new visitors to our group?! With a dance party! Play the We are Family song for a minute and everyone just dance around and have fun :) (BUT- if no visitors, no celebration... motivation to bring your friends!) CONNECT- To finish up welcome time, let kids engage in today s connect question- our mini ice breaker to get everyone knowing each other a little better! Show Connect Slide for kids to view. Encourage them to ask someone they might not know yet. After a minute or two, ask several kids to tell their friends answers to the group- What is your favorite hiding place and why? 3. Earning Gumballs This year, we have a new community goal... Gumball Goal! Children can earn 1 gumball for the day by showing one of the following. (One gumball no matter how many things they do). Know the Word- Memorizing this month s memory verse (NO mistakes for older kids!) Share the Word- Bringing a Friend Cling to the Word- Bringing their Bible Live the Word- Sharing a story of how they lived out what they are learning Give small groups 3-4 minutes to talk amongst themselves and earn their gumballs. They can go add their gumballs to the gumball machine. After a few minutes bring everyone s attention back together and make note of how we re seeing the gumball machine get emptied week after week! What a representation of how, as a community, we are learning to KNOW the word, SHARE the word, CLING to the Word, and LIVE the word! AWESOME WORK!!! 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) for any new kids who memorized it: 4. Remember Verse Go over this month s Remember Verse. Open your Bibles and read it together. When finished pass out Memory Verse cards to take home. Tell kids about the incentive for memorizing their verses... Colored tags of the verse they memorized! Earn all 12 this year and make a necklace, bracelet or keychain out of them! God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another. 3

1 Peter 4:10 (NLT) 5. Offering As a response of thankfulness and trust in God, we give a part of our money to the church to be utilized in big ways for the Kingdom! It is because we thank God for all that He has given to us, and because we trust Him to provide for us no matter how much or how little we may have. Pass around the Offering Bucket. Remind kids of how God is using our offering this year- to support your overseas sponsor child! Challenge your kids to continue to give out of what they have so that God might give it to your campus s sponsor child. 6. Prayer Take a moment to pause, be still, and ask God to quiet your hearts and minds as a room. Encourage kids to quiet their voices and take a seat. Then ask them to pray with you as you begin the lesson. 7. The Big God Story- God Deserves the Glory SUPPLIES- Timeline animation, Slides, Video of Fire SET UP- Cue all of the slides and video for the day ahead of time ENGAGE- As storyteller for today, feel free to act out the different signs sections where Gideon is looking for signs from God. You will need something to represent meat and bread, and a small blanket to lay on the ground. Would be a good visual for the kids if you choose to do this! Who knows what the word glory means? (Allow kids to answer.) If someone has glory, that means he s famous or well-known for doing great things. So, to glorify someone means to give them praise or honor. Who deserves all of the glory for the great things in this world? (Allow kids to answer.) Right: God deserves the glory, because He created everything we see, because He loves us, and He made a way for us to be with Him forever! Today we ll hear about how God gave glory to Himself while also saving His people from a terrible situation. For the past few weeks we ve heard how God used people called judges to deliver the Israelites from evil kings and oppressive leaders. Who were two of the judges God used? (Allow kids to answer.) Good thinking Ehud and Deborah. Why did God s people need a deliverer? (Allow kids to answer.) Because they rebelled, which means they turned their backs on God (show Rebellion slide). God then allowed their enemies to conquer them because He knew that this painful experience would cause them to repent, or turn away from their sins (show Repentance slide). After the Israelites repented, God always restored them (show Restoration slide) by sending a judge to save them from their enemies. This cycle happened over and over again. For a while, the Israelites would obey and serve God, but then they would forget what God called them to do. Do you remember? What was God asking them to do? (Allow kids to answer). Yes, worship Him only! And the cycle would start all over again. (Show the RRR cycle slide and act out each hand motion as a whole group). Today s part of The Big God Story begins with this cycle. Let s take a look at God s Word: Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and for seven years He gave them into the hands of the Midianites (Judges 6:1). The Bible says the Midianites were like a plague of locusts (show slide of locust). Locusts are bugs that swoop in and eat all of the crops all at once. The Israelites were living in a beautiful land full of valleys and forests near the sea. They had many crops. Foreign tribes saw everything the Israelites had and came in and took everything they d been growing. To protect themselves, God s people made caves in the mountains 4

(show slide of mountain clefts). From there the Israelites cried out to the Lord for help (v. 6). (Show Repentance slide.) God heard their cries and raised up a man named Gideon to save them. God gave Gideon a few really cool signs to show him He was with him. The first sign happened while Gideon worked in a field. An angel of God came to Gideon and said, The Lord is with you, mighty warrior (v. 12). Gideon was probably shocked! He was only a farmer, but the angel was calling him a mighty warrior! Through the angel, God told Gideon that He was sending him to fight against the Midianites, and He would be with him (v. 16). To show Gideon that He really meant what He said, God sent down fire (show fire video) to burn up Gideon s offering of meat and bread. Woah! Can you even imagine what it must have been like for fire to suddenly burn up the meat and bread sitting in front of you?! Gideon knew He needed to take God seriously. Gideon realized God was truly with him. Now all the Midianites, Amalekites and other eastern peoples joined forces and crossed over the Jordan and camped in the Valley of Jezreel. Then the Spirit of the Lord came on Gideon, and he blew a trumpet, calling all of Israel to follow him (vv. 33 34). But before Gideon went to battle, he wanted ANOTHER sign from God that He would be with him. Gideon told God he would place a wool fleece on the ground. Gideon said, If there is dew only on the fleece and all the ground is dry, then I will know that you will save Israel (Judges 6:37). (Do you know how the ground is sometimes wet in the morning? That s dew.) So Gideon laid out the fleece. When Gideon got up the next day, the fleece was so wet that when he squeezed (do a squeezing motion like you re ringing out the blanket) out the water, it filled a whole bowl! Then Gideon said to God, Allow me ONE MORE test with the fleece. This time make the fleece dry and the ground covered with dew. And God did just what Gideon asked. The next morning, Gideon saw that the ground was wet but the fleece was dry! The next morning, Gideon was ready to fight along with the thousands of men in his army. But the Lord said to Gideon, You have too many men for me to deliver Midian (7:2). God wanted to show Gideon that He alone deserved the glory, not Gideon s large army. So Gideon got rid of some of the men in his army by saying, Anyone who trembles with fear may turn back and leave Mount Gilead. So twenty-two thousand men left, while ten thousand remained (7:3). (Show Background 4 slide) But the Lord told Gideon he still had too many men. So Gideon told the men to all go to the spring and drink water from it. God separated out the men by the way they drank the water. (Show Background 5 slide). In this way, God took the Israelite army from 10,000 men to 300 men. Wow! From 22,000 men down to 300 against a huge army! Through this battle, God would definitely bring glory to Himself, because this small number of men could never defeat a huge army without God s help! God then gave another sign to Gideon a sign that God Himself would win the battle and receive all the glory. God sent Gideon and his servant, Purah, to the enemy camp to eavesdrop on them, or to listen to them talking. Gideon heard a man telling his friend a dream about a loaf of barley bread (show slide of barley bread) tumbling into the enemy camp and making the tents collapse. The man s friend said the dream meant God would let Gideon s army defeat the Midianites (7:9 14). When Gideon heard this, he worshipped God because he knew God would deliver Israel. Gideon may not have had a lot of faith, but in the end his faith grew! And he trusted God completely! So Gideon ran back to the Israelite camp and said, Get up! The Lord has given the Midianite camp into your hands (v. 15). 5

(Show Background 6 slide). Gideon gave each of the 300 men a trumpet and a jar with a torch inside and led them to the edge of the Midianite camp. Gideon told the men, Follow my lead. When I get to the edge of the camp, do exactly as I do. When I and all who are with me blow our trumpets, then from all around the camp blow yours and shout (Judges 7:17 18). All 300 men did as Gideon said and then smashed the jars containing the torches! This terrified the Midianites, who ran away from their camp. Gideon and his men began to go after those running away. They also captured two Midianite leaders. Even though Gideon s army only had 300 men, God miraculously delivered the Israelites from their enemies! (Show Background 7 slide) After this, Gideon gained such respect from Israel that they asked him to be their new ruler. But Gideon said, I will not rule over you The Lord will rule over you (8:23). Gideon knew God was the One who had rescued them. He was the One who deserved all of the glory. Though Gideon gave God the glory in this situation, he later became prideful and fell into sin- remember our sinful cycle? Let s say it together: Rebellion, Repentance, Restoration. Gideon fell into rebellion again, just like we all do, and he forgot who God is and that He deserves all the glory. So the cycle of the judges began again (show Rebellion, Repentance, and Restoration slides again). God s people rebelled and fell into sin, then repented when they realized their need for someone to deliver them, save them and rule over them. 8. What does this say about Jesus? The strength of the Israelite army didn t win the battle. And the strength of Gideon didn t win the battle. God won the battle, and He deserved all the glory. Many times we forget that God deserves all the glory in our lives. Even Gideon forgot- later on after this story happened, he fell away from worshipping God. Just like Gideon, we also sometimes forget how God has worked in our lives and how He has rescued us. We talk about this each week, and some of you may be saying to yourselves- I know who deserves the glory, I know who has saved us and rescued us once and for all... Jesus! But do you really remember? Every morning when you wake up? Every day at school? Every evening at dinner time? Every night at bed time? Do you remember that it is Jesus who was the FINAL rescue for us all? KNOWING and REMEMBERING is very different. God deserved all the glory for defeating the Midianites. And He deserves all the glory for rescuing us once and for all through Jesus. Sometimes we think that WE do enough things right to feel like God must be happy with us, right? Or we do enough good things for other people that maybe Jesus thinks we re good enough now. But are these true? Are you ever good enough to earn the praise? Allow kids to respond. NO! We are NEVER EVER EVER good enough to earn the praise. Only GOD deserves the praise in this story today. And only JESUS deserves the praise for rescuing us from this horrible cycle of Rebellion-Repentance-Restoration. Remember- just knowing, and actually remembering are two different things. So how might we remember that only GOD deserves the glory? And only JESUS deserves the glory? We could try to remember on our own couldn t we? But we ll probably forget again, if we re honest. BUT- where does God tell us all we ever need to know to remember all that He s done for us? Hold up your Bible while you re saying this and allow kids to answer. Have them say it even louder the second time- THE BIBLE! Yes!!! His WORD helps us remember day after day. Today in your small groups you re going to talk about a few verses from God s Word that will help you each day to remember that HE deserves the praise and the glory. ALL OF IT! 6

Small Group// 15 20 min. Small group time is not only a time to go deeper into the lesson and find some take home application together, but it is also a time for you to grow in relationship with your kids. As you spend time together the rest of today, go further than just the review questions and the Create project. Spend time asking kids what they thought about the lesson. What surprised them? What questions do THEY have about this part of God s story? How do they learn more about Jesus through this story? What was their faith challenged by? Talk as you work on your projects. Kids are much more apt to talk while their hands are busy! Before you Review... Give each person in your group a print out of the verses for Who deserves the Glory? Read these verses together. Talk as a group about what it means just to KNOW these verses, versus REMEMBERING these verses. How might your group want to learn to memorize one or more of these verses together? Circle your favorite verse as a group. Can you challenge yourselves to come back next week with this memorized? If you have extra time today, decorate these cool sheets and hang them up somewhere where you ll see it everyday and REMEMBER that God deserves the glory! 1. Review Questions: Questions for Younger Kids What cycle did the Israelites repeat What did the angel of the Lord tell Gideon? (Judges 6:8 12) What signs did Gideon ask for from God? (Judges 6:36 39) Why did Gideon have a hard time believing God was with Him? (Judges 6:13) Why did God make Gideon s army smaller? (Judges 7:2) If you had been in Gideon s army, would you have been afraid? What is something you re afraid of? God called Gideon to serve Him, and He wants you to serve Him too. How is God calling you to serve? Questions for Older Kids What cycle did the Israelites repeat? Why do you think Israel continued to forget God? Why were the Israelites afraid of the Midianites? (Judges 6:3 5) What did the angel of the Lord tell Gideon? (Judges 6:11 12) Why do you think Gideon wanted so many signs from God? (Judges 6:17 18, 36 40) Have you ever asked God for a sign? Why? Why did Gideon have a hard time believing God was with Him? (Judges 6:13) Why did God make Gideon s army smaller? (Judges 7:2) If you had been in Gideon s army, would you have been afraid? Why do you think God deserves all the glory? What did having a smaller army prove to Gideon and to the Israelites? (Judges 7:2) God called Gideon to serve Him, and He wants you to serve Him too. How is God calling you to serve? 2. Create: Torches SUPPLIES- small mason jar, colored tissue paper, mod podge (for decoupaging), paint brushes, scissors, liquid glue, tea lights, sheet of verses, paper towels for cleaning! SETUP- Set out all the supplies 7

ENGAGE- When God told Gideon to attach the enemies of Midian, He didn t tell them to do it with swords and weapons. Instead, the men took trumpets and torches inside jars. This isn t a typical way to fight a battle, but God still gave His people the victory over the Midianites. Today, let s make our own torches in jars. It will help us to remember the story of Gideon and 300 men defeating thousands of midianites with just some trumpets and lights! And it will help us to remember WHO deserves the glory... God! Have the kids lightly paint the outside of their jars with the mod podge. Then have them rip up the tissue paper into pieces and spread those pieces over the jars. Encourage the kids to get creative and use many different colors. Then have them cut out one of the Scripture verses- maybe their favorite? or maybe the one you all decided to memorize this week! Glue this verse on top of the tissue paper (just a dab of glue will do). Finally, have your kids paint a final layer of mod podge over the entire jar and let it dry for about 10 minutes. As they wait for it to dry they can clean up some of their mess! And then practice memorizing their verse(s)! Give each kid a tea light to put inside their jar. They can light it at home! 3. Closing Prayer Before your kids leave today, end your group time with this prayer and blessing. Open a Bible and read Revelation 4:11: You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being. May the Holy Spirit help you give God the glory He deserves through your thoughts, words, and actions. May God reveal Himself to you so you will desire to fall to your knees and worship Him. 8