Young people's session

Read Bible notes on 1 Samuel 8:4-11, (12-15), 16-20, (11:14-15)

God’s people ask for a king. God warns the people how a king will burden them, yet the people are so desperate to be like the nations around them that this warning doesn’t appease them; the passage finishes with Samuel acknowledging Saul’s kingship. Fundamentally, this passage is about how our choices have consequences.
Can you think of any times where you have experienced God’s influence in your decision-making?
As the young people think about how decisions have consequences, reassure them of God’s grace; even if we have made a poor decision, God can use this to draw us closer to the kingdom.

Don't forget:
Check-in: a weekly biblical reflection on youth and contemporary culture. 
Thrive: A resource to encourage family faith at home.
Plus: Images and links to templates, music tracks and other online resources.

Speed listing      W E S 

You will need: paper and pens.

• Ask the group to come up with categories based on top five favourites. For example, ‘Top Five Movies’, ‘Top Five Foods’, etc. The more the better.
• Allow two minutes for everyone to fill in as many of the lists as possible. The winner is whoever fills in the most lists.
• Get the group to feedback their choices. Were there any surprising choices? Did all the choices reflect what they thought, or were some choices just made at random, under pressure? Explain that the session will be about the importance of making good decisions.

First impressions

You could also use the image and following questions to help introduce the theme.

Click on the image to view a larger version or use the Jump menu to go to This week's images. For artist's details, see this issue's illustrators.

Questions

• Can you think of an action you have taken that has caused big ripples?
• Where was God in the decision you took?
• Are you aware of situations in the news where big decisions must be made?How might you pray for the decision-makers?

Sum it up    W S 

You will need: card and markers.

• Read through the Bible passage together.
• Split the group into pairs and ask them to imagine they are political campaigners, and they must come up with a slogan on a sign about why the Israelites should not demand a king. Invite the young people to hold up the signs they have made.
• Ask them why they think the Israelites wanted a king after being warned it was a bad idea.

Fruit surgery     E

Consider consequences 

You will need: range of fruits, knives, sticky tape, rubber bands and glue.

• Divide the young people into teams. Get each team to choose a fruit and then tell them they must cut their fruits into four or five pieces.
• Then, produce the glue, tape and rubber bands and explain that they now have to stick their fruits back together as best as possible. Decide which team did the best job.
• Talk about how uninformed decision-making can have bad consequences. Ask: How can obeying God help us make good choices? We won’t get every decision right, but we can learn from our mistakes and God can use them in unexpected ways.

Beautiful choices  W E 

A craft about choices

You will need: instructional video, straws, tape, coloured wool.

• Teach the young people how to weave with straws using the video and make a bracelet/bookmark.
• Discuss how when we involve God in our choices, they are woven together to make something beautiful.

Pursue      S A 

Failure isn't final

You will need: video and TV/screen for projection.

• Watch the poem about pursuing God’s call. Ask the young people if there is a difference between making good choices or being scared to fail.
• Can they think of examples of people who failed before finally achieving their goal?
• Discuss how following Jesus means making bold decisions

Choice map    W E S 

Hand our choices over to God in prayer 

You will need: pens and paper.

• Ask the young people to think about the choices they’ve made at the beginning of the school year. These could include subjects, hobbies, friends, etc. Map out the outcomes those decisions have had through the year. They could use road symbols and different paths to indicate these choices and consequences.
• Pray, thanking God for the good decisions and consequences. If there are bad decisions or consequences, give thanks that with God our bad decisions are not full stops but commas – we always have second chances.

Check-in: Connecting faith with everyday, real-life issues 

• Play ‘You are my Vision’, Rend Collective on CAMPFIRE.
• Explain that you are about to play a worship song called ‘You are my Vision’ based on words that have been said and sang for over a thousand years in Ireland. The song is about how Jesus should be at the centre of all our decision-making.
• Ask the young people to listen to the song and think about the different choices they have coming up, and pray that God will help base their choices on what allows them to follow Jesus best.

Go with God 24/7   W S A 

Write down the decisions you make each day this week. Were they decisions which helped or hindered you or other people

Thrive

As you finish,
give out the Thrive
resource to encourage
faith at home.