THIS WEEK’S PASSAGE
1 Kings 17:2-16
BACKGROUND PREPARATION Prepare any personal stories needed for the session and ask any other leaders to do so. Collect the recipe and ingredients for making the bread, and print off the relevant Bible passages for the session.
Sardines
10 mins
Play this classic game to kick the session off – if your meeting space allows it. One young person goes off to hide while the others shield their eyes for an arbitrary amount of time. The group then go off to find the hider, joining them in hiding when they find them. Encourage the young people to bluff and counter-bluff so they can hide without being spotted. The game continues until everyone is hiding with the first person to find the hider becoming the hider for the next game. Repeat as many times as enthusiasm allows.
After the game is finished you could link this game into the theme of the session by comparing the person hiding on their own to Elijah on his own in the wilderness. Or you could just use it as a fun introduction to the session!
Fed by the ravens
15 mins
If you haven’t already, explain to the group that this session will be looking at Elijah’s experiences in the wilderness. Read 1 Kings 17:2-6 as a group. Ask the group:
• What do you think of this story?
• What does this story tell us about the way God provides?
• Has God ever provided for you in an unexpected way?
Say: seeing God provide like that will have altered Elijah’s perceptions and, in turn, his actions. In fact, our view of God is often shaped by what he has done in our lives already. It’s important to remember and share these stories in order to encourage both ourselves and other people. Ask the group if anyone would like to share any stories of God working in their life that encourages them. Prepare some stories of your own to share, and ask other leaders to do so as well in case the young people keep quiet!
A little goes a long way
15 mins
Head to the kitchen with a simple bread recipe (plenty are available online), and while mixing, kneading and baking, discuss this story. While the group mix, read 1 Kings 17:7-16.
Say: the rest of the story shows the impact of God’s previous providence. God provides for Elijah and a faithful widow in amazing ways – he just requires them to take a simple step. As the young people knead the bread, discuss the story, ask them what they think, and how it makes them feel. Use the act of making bread as a reflection on this story.
God in the wilderness
15 mins
Split the group into smaller groups and give each one a copy of each of the passages below, or a Bible to look them up. Give them ten minutes to look over the three passages and to discuss what the passages and the stories of these people have in common. If appropriate, you could explain each story and context instead.
• Moses in the wilderness (Exodus 3:1-4:17)
• The Israelites in the wilderness (A massive story, but use Exodus 14 and Exodus 20)
• Jesus in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1-11)
Bring the group back together and ask them to share what they saw in these passages and what they have in common.
Say: for all of these people, their time in the wilderness was crucial preparation for what God was going to do through them. God worked in them in this time so that he could work through them afterwards. For Moses this meant becoming the leader he never thought he could be, God showed the Israelites a new way of life to model to the rest of creation, and for Jesus… well, he proved his resistance to temptation while relying on his father. For Moses and the Israelites, these stories were when God was most real in their lives.
Close
10 mins
Close by sharing the bread you’ve baked earlier in the session. If suitable, you could use this as an opportunity to take communion as a group, if your tradition allows it. Either way, use the bread to remind the young people of the story of the Last Supper and the ultimate provision of God – on the cross.
Say: while we were still lost and ‘in the wilderness’, God sent his son and provided for us in the most amazing way in human history. He does this time and time again throughout history, just like in today’s passage. Close by encouraging the young people to seek out God when times are tough, to remind themselves of what he has done before and believe that he will do again. Pray to finish.
KEY POINT #1
God has given us a whole heap of stories. We have a Bible full of them to read and are placed in communities full of people who have lived them out. Between those two sources and what God has done in our lives we can be confident that the God who has loved and provided for us before will do so again, and can move forward in confidence.
KEY POINT #2
It is often during the most difficult ‘wilderness’ times in our lives that we meet God most vividly and are most shaped by him. The Bible is full of people who meet with God in difficult situations, and the same things happen today. When things are difficult, it’s vital that our faith in God remains secure, safe in the knowledge that he has provided before and will do so again. If appropriate, you could share a story of God meeting and shaping you in a difficult situation here.
