“The Young Hero and The Horrible Giant” Lesson 2

A hearty hello to all of you! Thanks for joining me on our blog for the second and last lesson for this month.
      Each lesson I write has one section for children and one for adults.
     There are two important events I want to share. Sunday School will gather at church on December 15 and our Christmas program will be on December 22. More details can be found at the end of this document.
     Our selected story is “The Young Hero and The Horrible Giant” found on pages 122-129 of The Jesus Storybook Bible written by Sally Lloyd-Jones.
Children  Please oral read the story yourself and check out the pictures for additional information.
     We left our discussion last week about David and Goliath when King Saul accepted David’s offer to take on Goliath one-on-one in battle! This does appear to be a silly offer by David, and a crazy one for King Saul to hear, but David had two great reasons to feel confident. He shared both with King Saul, and the king agreed.
     Reason #1 -> In the Bible, David said to King Saul, “I have been keeping my father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it.  I have killed both the lion and the bear; this Philistine will be like one of them.” David was confident he could deliver a life-ending blow with a rock and his sling.

 Reason #2 -> David knew that the Lord rescued him from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear and believed deep in his heart that the Lord would certainly rescue him from the hand of the Philistine Goliath. In our story David says that “it isn’t how strong you are or how many swords and spears you have that will save you – it is God who saves you! This is God’s battle. And God always wins His battles!”
     David was confident God would deliver a life-ending blow to Goliath, and that is just what happened.

David and Goliath

David’s practiced well-aimed stone from his simple sling hit Goliath on his forehead and killed him. The Philistines no longer had their secret weapon and all ran away. David was a hero!
     God wants to be our secret weapon and help us with the problems we encounter in this life.
 
Adults  Our narrative from Lesson 1 continues from 1 Samuel 17, New International Version bible.
38 Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head. 39 David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them.
“I cannot go in these,” he said to Saul, “because I am not used to them.” So he took them off. 40 Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine.
41 Meanwhile, the Philistine, with his shield bearer in front of him, kept coming closer to David. 42 He looked David over and saw that he was little more than a boy, glowing with health and handsome, and he despised him. 43 He said to David, “Am I a dog,that you come at me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44 “Come here,” he said, “and I’ll give your flesh to the birds and the wild animals!”
45 David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. 47 All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.”
48 As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him. 49 Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground.
50 So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him.
51 David ran and stood over him. He took hold of the Philistine’s sword and drew it from the sheath. After he killed him, he cut off his head with the sword.
When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they turned and ran. 52 Then the men of Israel and Judah surged forward with a shout and pursued the Philistines to the entrance of Gath and to the gates of Ekron. Their dead were strewn along the Shaaraim road to Gath and Ekron. 53 When the Israelites returned from chasing the Philistines, they plundered their camp.
54 David took the Philistine’s head and brought it to Jerusalem; he put the Philistine’s weapons in his own tent.
     This story teaches an important lesson of bravery, courage and faith. It was with immense faith that David faced Goliath and came out victorious. From the giant Goliath's attitude we also learn that pride leads to a fall, and one should never underestimate their opponent.
Children and Adults
~This Week’s Prayer~
Lord, You are our secret weapon to lighten our life’s problems!
 
     I hope to see you at our Sunday School gathering on December 15 at 11am – 12pm and our Christmas program on December 22 at 10am-10:45am. All are welcome to attend!
Have a blessed Christmas,
Margo Greer