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If you want your group to understand where Bible books fit in to the story, consider adapting the outline to mark them up (perhaps on a whiteboard) as you go through the session, adding books to the list as you reach the material they cover. Be careful of giving people too much information all at once. It may be better to give the big story in full, then get them thinking about which Bible books apply to which part of the story. You could print out the ‘character report’ passages on Moses and Joshua so that people don’t spend the whole time looking it up.
FOLLOW MY LEADER
15 mins
This is an old game, but a good one. One group member leaves the room. The rest of the group decides who will be the ‘leader’. When the person re-enters the room the leader starts making a series of movements (eg tapping their head with their hand, coughing loudly, standing up and sitting down, waving their arms in the air). The solo group member has to work out who is leading this group with three guesses. Then the original ‘leader’ is sent out, and you do it again.
Say: Sometimes it’s easy to work out who’s in charge of a group, other times it’s not. Through the history of God’s people, having the right leaders would be very important. There are three kinds in the big story: the pioneers (Moses and Joshua), the part-timers (12 people who stepped up to the plate when there weren’t identifiable leaders around), and the princes – the kings of Israel and Judah.
THE PIONEERS
10 mins
To lead people out of Egypt across the desert, there was Moses. To lead them into the Promised Land, there was Joshua. Divide into four groups; get two to write a brief character description of Moses by looking at Exodus 4:10-13, Numbers 12:1-7, Numbers 11:10-15. Get the other two to do the same for Joshua, checking out Numbers 14:1-9, Joshua 24:14-16 and 23:14-15.
Share the results and say: Neither Moses nor Joshua were perfect, but they were prepared to trust God as Abraham had done: to go out on a limb in faith, doing whatever God asked.
KEY POINT
The leaders God uses aren’t perfect models of virtue: they can be depressed, frightened and occasionally disobedient, but ultimately their lives are committed to following God in faith, and that’s why he uses them.
THE PART TIMERS
5 mins
Read Judges 2:8-15 and say: For a long time there weren’t official leaders in the nation but at least 12 important leaders emerged. Who were they? Get small groups to skim Judges and see who can come up with all 12 names first. They helped the country stand against its enemies, won important victories and brought some harmony. But things kept sliding back into a mess because, ‘Every man did what was right in his own eyes’.
Ask people to walk along a straight line on the floor with their eyes shut. See who can get farthest without straying off the line. It isn’t easy! When we aren’t looking at God’s plan for life, but simply exist with our eyes tight shut, we soon lose direction and wander off the path. Somebody can get us back on the straight line for a while – but we’ll wander off again. (Perhaps use the video on the links section of the Premier Youthwork website to explain.) That’s what happened repeatedly in the days of the Judges: see Judges 3:7, 3:12, 4:1, 6:1 and 10:6.
KEY POINT
When God’s people lose touch with what he wants, and trust their own judgement, they get into a mess pretty quickly. The period of the Judges demonstrates this repeatedly.
THE PRINCES
10 mins
Say: The Israelites wanted a king, just like all the other nations had. Explore in small groups what God did about it, through his prophet Samuel. It’s in 1 Samuel 8:6-21. Read the passage then discuss these questions:
• What was God’s attitude to their request (verses 6-9)?
• What did Samuel warn them about having a king (verses 11-18)?
• What was the people’s response (verses 19-21)?
Saul was the first appointed king, and he disobeyed God repeatedly and had to be removed by God. David was the great hero of the kingship, and for many centuries afterwards the country longed for another king like him. Solomon was David’s son, the wealthiest and wisest king, an example of what a king could achieve with God on his side but unfortunately (1 Kings 11) he left his earlier commitment to serving God, and left the country weakened. Things were on the slide towards the disaster we’ll hear about next time. Rehoboam, Solomon’s son, miscalculated badly (the story is in 1 Kings 12), lost his support, and managed to divide his country into two not-very-friendly sections. God’s people were fatally weakened. Their lifestyle wasn’t great either; disaster was looming. But that’s for next time.
WRAP UP
10 mins
Do a quick recap of all you’ve covered (from the start, including last week’s part of the story). Repetition will help people remember increasingly over the four sessions. You could build it into a final contest to add spice and interest; if they know the whole evening is heading towards a climactic challenge, they’ll try even harder to remember details.
Finally pray, asking God to help you learn from all this stuff. Ask that we’ll all find good leaders and examples to follow, but more importantly, that we’ll always look first for what God desires and commands, and stay on the straight line to success. Thank God that the story shows he’s a God of forgiveness, recovery, and second chances.
