THIS WEEK’S PASSAGE
1 Samuel 24:1-13
BACKGROUND PREPARATION You will need: four cards saying A, B, C and D, paper and pens, a tape measure, at least ten cups, a table tennis ball and a shredder or bin.
Defend the keys
10 mins
Put a chair in the middle of the room with a big set of keys under it. Choose one person, the ‘defender’, to sit on the seat and be blindfolded. The rest of the group should stand around the edges of the room before one person is selected to try to take the keys and get back to the edge of the room without being tagged by the defender. Use this game to introduce how David cut off part of Saul’s robe in the cave and how hard it must have been to do so.
Read the passage
5 mins
If you have young people who like drama, assign characters and challenge them to act out the entire episode in just 30 seconds. If not, read the story as a group. Point out the Bible’s unglamorous and straightforward account of details (i.e. Saul was having a poo!).
Scenarios and voting boards
10 mins
Give everyone two cards with A, B, C and D on in large letters (one letter per side) so they can vote by holding up the relevant card. Read out the scenarios on the links section of the Youthwork website and allow them to vote on what they would do. (If you can project the options for each scenario on a screen it might make it easier for them to remember what they are voting for!)
Target practice
15 mins
Make a grid of ten large cups at one end of a table. Write one challenge or question on a bit of paper in each up. In turn get the young people try to bounce a table tennis ball off the table so it lands in one of the cups. They then have to do whatever the slip of paper says. Award a small prize for completing the task. Include the following examples and make up extras as necessary:
1. What do you really want in your life that you might have to step on other people to achieve? (E.g. getting a spot on a certain sports team or getting a certain girl/boy to go out with you.)
2. Lick your elbow.
3. Name the leaders of the three main political parties.
4. Which celebrity do you admire the most and why should they be a role model for young people?
5. Get other members of the group to bring you three boys socks, five pens, a Bible, something red and two girls’ watches within two minutes.
6. Get the whole group arranged in a line according to where their birthday is in the year.
Use this activity to discuss the nature of influence; and leadership and respect for authority - in particular the list of characteristics of a great leader. Bring it back to David’s example whenever possible.
Spider Diagram - ‘ME’
15 mins
Give everyone an A3 sheet to close. Ask everyone to write ‘ME’ in the middle and in spider diagram style spend several minutes writing down everything they can about what makes them who they are! (What they like, do, are good at; favourite music, books, movies etc.) Make sure they include their dreams for the future and words they feel God has spoken over them / gifts he’s given them and even areas of challenge, hurt and struggle. It may sound hard but encourage them to fill the sheet. Once they’ve finished, in pairs discuss with a friend:
1. What are the main things that make you special/ unique?
2. What does all this communicate to others about your attitudes and values?
3. What are the main one or two things on here that you feel God is calling you into more of?
4. What are the three main obstacles to you getting there / going further towards this?
5. How much does this diagram demonstrate your trust in God? Are there areas you feel fearful about?
6. Which two areas are you going to need to be courageous in order to stand up for what is right and reflect the kind of godly character that David did? To make this meeting guide work for your context, check out the links section of the Youthwork website.
KEY POINT #1
David recognised the authority of Saul. God had made Saul the King of Israel and that held a lot of weight for David - he wasn’t arrogant enough to presume he knew better than the one above him. These days, our society encourages people to follow their own leadership and ignore authority if it gets in the way, but this isn’t how God calls us to live. Ask the group how they can respect authority in their day-to-day lives.
KEY POINT #2
David recognised his time had not yet come – he felt no need to use circumstances to get his own way but was genuinely happy to live life as well as he could, and just see how God unfurled it before him. These days we are encouraged to do more, go further, succeed, achieve, take and win as often as possible. There is something to be said for David’s calm assurance as he ‘lives for an audience of one’ - he does not need to take control away from God and make his dreams happen by himself, whether he is a king or a shepherd.
