The Promises of God

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The Promises of God, Lesson 2, Page 1

The Promises of God Lesson 2: “You Are Not Alone” 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. https://vimeo.com/108525740 ● 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.

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 2 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.

Say: Our culture doesn’t put a high value on being “alone.” If you need evidence, there’s Exhibit A: Facebook. In the year 2012 Facebook provided a personalized relational network for one-seventh (1/7) of the planet’s population, while becoming a seven-trillion-dollar business annually. God did create us to be in relationship, but it appears that we have lost the ability to be alone with ourselves.

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Ask:   

What does it mean to be alone? When have you found yourself alone? Is “alone” always a negative state?

Let’s use our senses to think about and discuss what it means to us to be alone. Using the boxes in your Participant’s Guide, brainstorm on your own what it sounds like, what it looks like, and what it feels like to be alone. Give the class participants 2 or 3 minutes to brainstorm. Now, share your thoughts with your table. Allow for a few minutes of sharing. When you sense the conversation waning, Say: Let’s talk about what “alone” is like and share the thoughts from your table. Ask a representative from each group to share their findings with the rest of the class. Being alone can be very challenging at times. However, God promises us that we are not alone in John 14:16-17:

The Promise “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.” Ask:   

In your own words, what is God saying about being alone? Does this change how it feels to be alone? Why or why not? Does knowing that God is always with us mean it is wrong to long for human company? Why or why not?

New Story One of the ways we can explore God’s promise that we are not alone is to see how other people have struggled to apply this promise to their lives. Let’s take a look at XXXXXX’s story. Show The Promises of God: Week 2 DVD. ASK: ● Hold for comprehension question.

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● Hold for empathy-building question. ● Hold for application question.

God’s Story Let’s ground ourselves in God’s Word so we can better understand God’s commitment to be with us forever. Read Genesis 16:1-16 and Genesis 21:8-21 aloud or invite a volunteer from your class to read these passages aloud. Encourage everyone else to follow along in their own Bible or in their Participant Guide.

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 Genesis 16:1-16 (ESV) 16 Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children. She had a female Egyptian servant whose name was Hagar. 2 And Sarai said to Abram, “Behold now, the LORD has prevented me from bearing children. Go in to my servant; it may be that I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. 3 So, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, Abram's wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her servant, and gave her to Abram her husband as a wife. 4 And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress. 5 And Sarai said to Abram, “May the wrong done to me be on you! I gave my servant to your embrace, and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked on me with contempt. May the LORD judge between you and me!” 6 But Abram said to Sarai, “Behold, your servant is in your power; do to her as you please.” Then Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she fled from her.

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The angel of the LORD found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur. 8 And he said, “Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?” She said, “I am fleeing from my mistress Sarai.” 9 The angel of the LORD said to her, “Return to your mistress and submit to her.” 10 The angel of the LORD also said to her, “I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for multitude.” 11 And the angel of the LORD said to her, “Behold, you are pregnant and shall bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael, because the LORD has listened to your affliction. 12 He shall be a wild donkey of a man, his hand against everyone and everyone's hand against him, and he shall dwell over against all his kinsmen.” 13

So she called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, “You are a God of seeing,” for she said, “Truly here I have seen him who looks after me.” 14 Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi; it lies between Kadesh and Bered. 15

And Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. 16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram. Genesis 21:8-21 (ESV) 8

And the child grew and was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned. 9 But Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, laughing.10 So she said to Abraham, “Cast out this slave woman with her son, for the son of this slave woman shall not be heir with my son Isaac.” 11 And the thing was very displeasing to Abraham on account of his son. 12 But God said to Abraham, “Be not displeased because of the boy and because of your slave woman. Whatever Sarah says to you, do as she tells you, for through Isaac shall

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your offspring be named. 13 And I will make a nation of the son of the slave woman also, because he is your offspring.” 14 So Abraham rose early in the morning and took bread and a skin of water and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, along with the child, and sent her away. And she departed and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba. 15

When the water in the skin was gone, she put the child under one of the bushes. 16 Then she went and sat down opposite him a good way off, about the distance of a bowshot, for she said, “Let me not look on the death of the child.” And as she sat opposite him, she lifted up her voice and wept. 17 And God heard the voice of the boy, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What troubles you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is. 18 Up! Lift up the boy, and hold him fast with your hand, for I will make him into a great nation.” 19 Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. And she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink. 20 And God was with the boy, and he grew up. He lived in the wilderness and became an expert with the bow. 21 He lived in the wilderness of Paran, and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt. Behind the Scenes

The story of Hagar happens within the story of Abram/Abraham and Sarai/Sarah. Abraham and Sarah are called by God to start the group of people that will become the nation of Israel. God has made a promise to Abraham that he will have as many descendants as the stars (Genesis 15:5). However, Abraham is in his 80s and Sarah is in her 70s and has been unable to have children her entire life. It would take a miracle (which God does in Genesis 21) for her to have a son. During this time period, women had much less freedom and status than today; women were under the guidance and protection of their nearest male relative. For a woman to be barren meant that she was inadequate. Many cultures allowed her husband to divorce her or to marry another woman to have children. Male children were needed to take care of the mother once the father had passed away and to lead and protect the family in the absence or death of the father. Before God miraculously gives Sarah a son, we get to know Hagar. She is Sarah’s servant from Egypt. Sarah and Abraham take God’s promise into their own hands at the beginning of Genesis 16, which leads to conflict within the family and Hagar’s encounters with God.

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Let’s get back into our table groups and see if we can make sense of God’s promise that we are not alone by exploring Bible passages that illustrate God’s promise. In your Participant Guide you’ll find Genesis 16:1-16 and Genesis 21:821 on page XX. Look at these passages and then answer the question that follows them. Talk about this for about five minutes in your table 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 table share findings with everyone.

Let’s work through the next few questions together. ● What are the circumstances that put Hagar in a lonely position in each passage? How are the circumstances similar? How are they different? Allow time for several responses. Use your active listening skills and acknowledge everyone’s responses. ●If you were in Hagar’s place, what would you have felt like? ●How does God first approach Hagar in both passages? Why is that significant?

Behind the Scenes It is important to observe that God takes care of Hagar and her son Ishmael, even though they were not part of his promise and covenant with Abraham. God’s attributes of everlasting love and care for all of his creation are shown in this story. When God made his covenant with Abraham (Genesis 12:1-3), he promised that Israel would be a blessing to all the nations, and we see a partial fulfillment of that promise here. Hagar is seen by God and he cares for her. He even extends the promise of descendants from Abraham to include Ishmael!

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 Genesis 16:1-16 and Genesis 21:1-21. 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

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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. ASK: ●How do the promises God gives to Hagar seem to change her actions or attitude? ●What does this story say about God and his heart for each individual?

Growing It’s one thing to know that God will never leave us alone, but it’s another thing to actually trust that he’ll be with you. Spend a few minutes now journaling in your Participant Guide, to begin applying this promise of God’s presence to your own life. Write responses to these two questions: ●When have you felt alone? How did God meet you there and provide for you? ●What are the things that you turn to, instead of God, when you feel lonely? How are these inadequate? How can you practice turning to, and listening to, God? Allow for five to eight minutes of quiet reflection and journaling. End the session by thanking God that he gave us his Spirit and promises to always be with us.

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Being Alone…

…looks like:

…sounds like:

…feels like: