Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong. 1 Corinthians 16:15 (NKJV)
Bible Story Benaiah Chases a Lion 2 Samuel 23:20-23 Today s Takeaway Fear can't stop us, when we are focused on God! Theme Verse Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong. 1 Corinthians 16:15 (NKJV) Weekly Verse "Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise." Philippians 4:8 (NLT) 2
Skit Skit Information: The Fearless skits will require two people. One person will play the straight person (themselves), and the other person will play the character. It works best if you can find a person willing to commit to being the character for the entire series. Character Bio: The character s name is Extreme Eddy, could also be Daring Daphne if desired. Extreme Eddy is totally into all extreme sports: skate-boarding, snow-boarding, skiing, base jumping, motocross, parkour, etc. He believes he is completely fearless. He (or she) should be dressed like a skater or snowboarder. Consider putting your character in a helmet, body pads, and have them carry a skateboard or snowboard with them. 3
4 Week 3 Skit Leader: Have you guys seen Eddy? I m a little worried about him. Last week he came in all bandaged up, then ended up running out of the room scared! I never did find him to see if he was ok. Extreme Eddy: Creeps in looking around and totally paranoid. Leader: I m so glad to see you Eddy! I was really worried about you last week! I m glad to see your feet are healing up nicely. Extreme Eddy: Still creeping around and looking paranoid. Pretends to not hear the leader speaking at all. Leader: Eddy, are you ok? Speak to me! Extreme Eddy: Oh, sorry. I didn t hear you. I was too busy checking the room to make sure there wasn t a fire. Leader: Why would there be a fire? Extreme Eddy: I don t know, but ever since I walked on fire and burnt my toes I ve been too scared to go anywhere or do anything! Leader: That s ridiculous Eddy. You can t just stay home forever! Extreme Eddy: Well, I could, but there could even be a fire at home! I can t escape it! Leader: Ok, calm down. I can clearly see you have been traumatized. Extreme Eddy: You would be too if you stepped on fire thinking you would be fine, and burned your toes! I have a big motocross competition coming up today, but I m too afraid to get on my motorcycle. It could catch on fire! Leader: Eddy, accidents happen, and yes sometimes things do catch on fire, but we can t just hide in a bubble because we're afraid to face our fears. Extreme Eddy: A bubble? That sounds like a great idea! Where can I get a bubble to hide in? Leader: Eddy, there is no bubble! That s just a saying! What happened to Extreme Eddy who was the most fearless person who ever lived?
Skit Extreme Eddy: He s gone Leader: I don t believe that! You have just lost focus on what is important to you because you are afraid. You are letting your fear stop you from doing what you love to do! Extreme Eddy: Well...I guess you re right. Leader: That does happen a lot. Extreme Eddy: I might still be able to make it to that motocross competition if I leave right now! I ll let you know how it goes next week! Leader: That sounds like a great plan! I ll see you next week. 5
Game: Egg Scramble 1 dozen raw eggs 1 dozen hard-boiled eggs A small table Paper towels (for clean up) Supplies Setup Boil 1 dozen eggs before service, and allow to cool. Set up a table with both cartons of eggs on it. How To Play 1. 1 kid will play in each round of the game. If you have teams, alternate between the teams for each round. 2. Before you begin the game, show the kid which egg is the raw egg and which egg is the boiled egg. 3. The goal is for the kid to pick the hard-boiled egg. 4. The leader will move the eggs around a lot while the kid tries to focus on the boiled egg. 5. After about 30 seconds, stop moving the eggs around, and allow the kid to choose which egg they think is the boiled egg. 6. The kid must hit the egg on their forehead. If the egg is boiled, give them points or a prize. 7. Choose a new kid for each round. 6
Message Supplies A Bible in your preferred version (New Living Translation is used in this message) A blindfold Candy or prize Introduction Have you ever been so afraid of something that you let your fear stop you from doing what you wanted or needed to do? Allow kids to respond. It has definitely happened to me before. Share a story about a time when you were so afraid to do something that you missed out on an opportunity. If we aren t careful we can let our fear stop us from doing what God has called us to. The only way we can stop fear from getting in our way is to keep our focus on God. Bible Story Today s Bible story is shorter than usual, but it has a powerful message for all of us. Has anyone ever heard of a man named Benaiah? Allow kids to respond. I m not surprised that many of you haven't heard of him. We actually don t know a lot about Benaiah. There is very little said about him in the Bible, but what is said about him tells us what kind of a man he was. Benaiah was one of King David s thirty mighty men, and the Bible calls him a valiant warrior. What earned Benaiah a place in David s thirty mighty men? He was known for facing his enemies head on. Let s take a look at what the Bible says about him in 2 Samuel 23:20-23 today. Read the whole passage directly from the Bible. There was also Benaiah son of Jehoiada, a valiant warrior from Kabzeel." He did many heroic deeds, which included killing two champions of Moab. Another time, on a snowy day, he chased a lion down into a pit and killed it. Once, armed only with a club, he killed an imposing Egyptian warrior who was armed with a spear. 7
Message Benaiah wrenched the spear from the Egyptian s hand and killed him with it. Deeds like these made Benaiah as famous as the three mightiest warriors. He was honored more than all the other members of the thirty, though he was not one of the three. And David made him captain of his bodyguard. That was a lot of information about Benaiah, so let s break it down. The passage of scripture we just read talks about three specific victories Benaiah had they made him one David s thirty mighty men. Can you remember what they are? Allow kids to respond. First, it mentions him defeating two champions of Moab. The next victory he had was not over a man, but over a lion. It says he chased a lion down into a pit on a snowy day and killed it. Let s think about that for a moment. Why would anyone in their right mind chase a lion anywhere, especially into a pit on a snowy day? Allow kids to respond. Benaiah could have turned around and run away, but he chose to focus on his goal. He followed a lion into a pit and finished the job. Would you have followed the lion, or run away? Allow kids to respond. I probably would have run away too, but Benaiah didn t let his fear stop him. The last victory we see mentioned in the Bible is a victory over an Egyptian who had a spear, when all he had was a club. Which weapon do you think was better, the spear or the club? Allow kids to respond. Definitely the spear. Did that stop Benaiah from facing his enemy? No! He took the man s spear right out of his hand and defeated him. 8
Message Life Application/Object Lesson What can we learn from Benaiah s victories? Allow kids to respond. We may not be facing a lion in a pit anytime soon, but we all have fears we have to face every week. Satan tries to distract us from doing what God has called us to do by putting fear in our minds. Who do we need to keep our focus on? Allow kids to respond. That s right, God! I need a volunteer to come up here, and help me with an object lesson. Choose an older kid who can follow directions well. I have this candy bar for you. Would you like it? Allow kid to respond. Great, but there s a catch. You will be blindfolded, I will be standing across the room from you, and the rest of the kids will be yelling trying to distract you. Here s what you need to do to get the candy bar. Focus only on my voice and walk towards me. If you can get to me through all the distractions, you can have the candy bar. Allow kid to try to complete the task. If they are struggling to find you, move closer to them so they can hear your voice. Great job! Was it hard to focus on my voice with everyone yelling around you? Allow kid to respond. It can be hard to remain focused on God in a world of other distractions. Let s pray and ask God to help us ignore the distractions and keep our focus on Him. 9
Small Group Questions 1. If you lived during the time of King David, would you have been one of his thirty mighty men or women? Why or why not? 2. What is something you are afraid of that is stopping you from doing something you want to do? 3. How can we keep our focus on God instead of our fears? 4. Share about a time when you missed out on an opportunity because of your fear. 5. How can we help our friends overcome their fears? 10
Optional Game: Egg Toss Supplies Several dozen eggs (The amount of eggs will depend on how many kids you have. You will need several eggs per pair of kids to play multiple rounds. You can choose to make it messy and use raw eggs, or hard boil the eggs for a less messy alternative.) Tarps (optional) Setup Hard boil your eggs for a less messy option. Set up tarps prior to playing the game (optional). How To Play 1. All kids can play this game! 2. Have the kids pair up and give each pair an egg for the first round. 3. Have the kids stand close together at first, and toss the egg back and forth until the leader says stop. 4. After each round, have the kids take one step back. If a pair drops their egg at any point in the game, they are out. 5. Keep playing until you get down to one pair of kids. 6. Play again if time. Optional Variation: If you have a large group of kids, you can choose 8-10 kids to play the game instead of having everyone play. 11
Review Questions 1. What is our new series called? Answer: Fearless 2. What was the name of the valiant warrior from our Bible Story? Answer: Benaiah 3. What is one of the three things Benaiah did to make him one of David's thirty mighty men? Answer: Defeated two champions of Moab, chased a lion into a pit and killed it, defeated an Egyptian with his own spear. 4. What is Today's Takeaway? Answer: Fear can't stop us, if we are focused on God! 5. What is our theme verse in our Fearless Series? Answer: Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong. 1 Corinthians 16:13 12