The Promises of God

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The Promises of God, Lesson 4, Page 1

The Promises of God Lesson 4: “Your Needs Will Be Met” Leader Guide

LEADER PREP: ●Read the entire lesson ahead of time. Also read the corresponding pages in the Participant Guide, as there may be additional information provided there that will be helpful for your preparation. ●Read the “Behind the Scenes” boxes. If you’re in a hurry, it might be tempting to skip these. However, they provide Biblical commentary that will help you better understand and teach this lesson. The Participant Guide also contains the “Behind the Scenes” boxes. ●Preview the video clip that accompanies this lesson. If possible, test it on the equipment you’ll be using on Sunday. http://vimeo.com/album/3070355 (The password is “promises.”) ● Spend time in prayer asking God to help you facilitate the discussion well. Ask God to prepare the hearts of your class participants as well. ●Before class, make copies of the “play money” template found on the last page of this lesson. You’ll need one “dollar” for every class participant.

Greeting Welcome everyone and be sure to introduce yourself. ● Be sure everyone has a copy of The Promises of God Participant Guide. ● Let everyone know you’ll be covering Lesson 4 today, so that they can find that lesson in their Participant Guide. ● Remind class participants about the “Behind the Scenes” commentary notes found throughout the lesson. These notes can be used as helps during discussion groups or to prepare ahead of time for the lesson. ● Ask the class how meditating on last week’s memory verse and God’s promise impacted their week.

Pass out a play money “dollar” to every person in your class.

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Let’s start this session by seeing how far we can make a dollar stretch. Actually, I want you to pretend that this dollar represents your monthly income. I’m going to call out a list of expenses and I want you to rip off the portion of your dollar bill that roughly equals the percentage of your income that goes to that expense each month. Ready? Read the following list and wait for your participants to tear their dollar bill each time.      

Tithing/charitable giving Mortgage/rent Car Utilities Food Entertainment

How are you doing? Do you still have enough money to meet the needs that might come up during the rest of the month? Continue reading the following list until most people have completely torn up their “dollar.”    

You get sick and have to spend money for a co-pay and a prescription. Your son asks for money to go to the movies. It’s wedding season and you have two on your calendar. Time to buy gifts. Your car has a flat tire.

From the shape of your dollars, it looks to me like things are getting very tight. We’re going to break into small groups now to discuss three questions:   

As the exercise went on, did you change how you tore your dollar? How close to real life was this experience? Why? Do you notice any changes in how you relate to God when things become financially tight?

You don’t need to worry about remembering these questions. They are in your Participant Guide.

Allow for about five minutes of sharing in the small groups. Then ask for a representative from each group to share their findings with the rest of the class.

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It is difficult to be worried about having enough money each month and, at the same time, to trust God to provide, God promises to take care of us in Philippians 4:19 with these words:

The Promise “And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:9

Ask:  

In your own words, what is God promising in this verse? And just as important, what are some things this verse isn’t promising? In other words, how have you noticed this promise being misused?

New Story: Tiffany One of the ways we can explore God’s promise to meet our needs is to see how other people have struggled to apply this promise to their lives. Let’s take a look at Tiffany’s story. Show The Promises of God: Week 4 DVD. Ask: ● What shift happened in Tiffany’s thinking when she realized that her life wasn’t her story at all, but a part of God’s story? ● Have you ever felt like Tiffany in that you were trying to obey God, but it seemed like he wasn’t taking care of you? How did you feel? ● What’s one concrete thing you can do when you feel anxious about God’s ability to take care of you?

God’s Story Let’s ground ourselves in God’s Word so we can better understand God’s commitment to supply all our needs. Read 1 Kings 17:1-16 aloud or invite a volunteer from your class to read this passage aloud. Encourage everyone else to follow along in their own Bible or in their Participant Guide.

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Before we discuss this, I’d like each of you to take a moment to reflect. What are the first questions that come to mind? Go ahead and record your initial thoughts and questions in your Participant Guide. Allow a minute or two for class participants to record their own thoughts and questions before continuing with the lesson. Stress that this is an individual exercise — not a group exercise. Once everyone appears to be finished and ready to proceed, continue.

God’s Word 1 Kings 17:1-16 (ESV) Now Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.” 2 And the word of the LORD came to him: 3 “Depart from here and turn eastward and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. 4 You shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.” 5 So he went and did according to the word of the LORD. He went and lived by the brook Cherith that is east of the Jordan. 6 And the ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook. 7 And after a while the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land. 8

Then the word of the LORD came to him, 9 “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to feed you.” 10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, “Bring me a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.” 11 And as she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, “Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.” 12 And she said, “As the LORD your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. And now I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it and die.” 13 And Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go and do as you have said. But first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterward make something for yourself and your son. 14 For thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘The jar

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of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the LORD sends rain upon the earth.’” 15 And she went and did as Elijah said. And she and he and her household ate for many days. 16 The jar of flour was not spent, neither did the jug of oil become empty, according to the word of the LORD that he spoke by Elijah. Behind the Scenes

In the first verse of 1 Kings chapter 17, we meet Elijah the Prophet, in action, without any introduction or clues about his background. His appearance and the rise of the prophets mark a turning point in God’s struggle for the heart of Israel. King Omri and his successor, Ahab, had led the Northern Kingdom deeper into idolatry. In fact, they had crafted a new religion that centered around the worship of Baal. The very future of the nation of Israel was at stake, so God began to work powerfully through prophets who would warn the nation of its imminent doom. Chapter 17 of 1 Kings opens with Elijah reminding Ahab that Yahweh, not Baal, is the God of Israel. His announcement that there would be no rain was a direct challenge to Baal, who was the Canaanite god of the storm and rain. But the drought, that ultimately lasted three years and six months, impacted more than Ahab and his pagan priests. In this passage, both Elijah and a widow find themselves without the food they need to survive. They are utterly dependent upon God to meet their needs.

Let’s get back into our small groups and see if we can make sense of God’s promise to meet our needs by exploring a Bible passage that illustrates God’s promise. In your Participant Guide you’ll find 1 Kings 17:1-16 on page XX. Look at this passage and then answer the question that follows it. Talk about this for about five minutes in your small group, and then we’ll hear some reports back to the rest of us. Allow the groups to work independently for about five minutes. Have a representative from each group share findings with everyone.

Let’s work through the next few questions together.   

Do you think it was fair that God’s judgment on the land impacted the righteous, as well as those practicing idolatry? How did Elijah’s experience with the ravens help prepare him for his interactions with the widow? What do you think gave the widow the courage to make Elijah a small meal, when her child was in such poor shape?

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Behind the Scenes

In Deuteronomy 28, Moses outlined a series of blessings and curses that awaited Israel based on the willingness of the Israelites to keep the terms of the covenant. The curses were not intended to crush the Israelites, but to prod them back into a positive relationship with God.

I want to give you all a chance to share in your group about your own observations and questions. Now is the time to share anything that seemed especially meaningful to you in 1 Kings 17:1-16. And if you’re comfortable, share any question the passage raised in your mind. Perhaps someone else has an insight that will shed some light on your question. Allow at least 10 minutes for the groups to talk. Give a one-minute “let’s wrap it up!” warning so groups have time to finish their thoughts. You can use the remaining time to allow a representative from each group to report back on insights and questions. If you feel pressed for time, consider focusing on a “burning question” that a group was unable to answer. Just remember that you yourself are not responsible for having the final answer. It is healthy to admit what you are uncertain about and to ask the class if anyone is interested in researching the answer during the next week. The chapter opens with the confrontation between Elijah and Ahab over the spiritual fate of the nation of Israel, but then the chapter shifts to the needs of a nameless widow and her dying son. It is as if the author of Kings wanted the reader to know that, even while the struggle for salvation was happening on a national level, God was equally concerned with providing for the needs of his faithful servants and the underprivileged. Ask: 

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Why do you think God chose to provide for Elijah by commanding an impoverished widow with a dying son to feed him? How do you think that experience changed Elijah? How do you think it changed the widow? God ended up replenishing the woman’s flour jar and oil jug for more than three and a half years. What kind of thoughts do you think went through her head whenever she picked up her flour jar or her oil jug?

Allow time for several responses.

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Growing It’s one thing to know that God will supply all our needs, but it’s another thing to actually trust that he’ll meet your specific needs. Spend a few minutes now journaling in your Participant Guide, to begin applying this promise of God’s provision to your own life. Write responses to these two questions:  

How did God provide for you in the past when times were difficult? When do you find it difficult for God to provide for you now? Why is it hard to trust God?

Allow for five to eight minutes of quiet reflection and journaling. End the session by thanking God for his provision, even when times are difficult.

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