Lesson February 22

Small Group Encouter:
I. Discuss the scripture and drama
1. Who does Samuel think is speaking to him? (Eli)
2. Why? (because Eli is old and has probably woken Samuel before to get him to help him; because Eli is the only other person close enough for Samuel to hear; because Eli is the only person Samuel expects to be talking to him)
3. Why doesn’t Samuel know that it is God talking to him? (he is not expecting God to talk, God has not talked to the people of Israel for a long time; he is just a boy; he is expecting Eli to talk to him; he has never known God to talk to him; it is not a part of his known experiences or even a part of what he has heard anyone tell a story about except for the ones from long ago.)
4. Why does it take Eli so long to figure out what Samuel is hearing? (see above!)
5. Why do you think God chooses to talk to Samuel? (Samuel is a boy; he has not yet been corrupted by what he thinks God should be; he is open to the God who reveals himself; no preconception of God; Eli has not been a good father to his sons; he has allowed them to be wild and not disciplined them, therefore God is displeased with Eli; Samuel’s mother and father are pure and holy; so much so that Hannah, his mother, has given her only son dedicating him to God in fulfillment of the promise she made to God when God sent her a son though she was barren for many years.)
6. Do you believe God talks to you? (students responses here will be yes or maybe or I don’t know, or not in the way God talks to Samuel. Let them talk.)
7. How do you think God talks to you? (student responses will be varied. Let them talk, encourage open dialogue here. Don’t give them answers.)
II. Show Video clip: How God Talks to Me
Discuss the clip with your students. Possible questions:
1. What were you thinking when you heard these people you know talk about how God speaks to them?
2. When can you best hear God speak to you? (we want students to get in the habit of listening for God in the ordinary, the every day, every moment of every day rather than saving it all up for church!)
III. Craft
Read this verse:
“Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This is the way; walk in it." Isaiah 30:21
Explain to your students that staying in daily contact with God through devotion and prayer makes it much easier to hear God’s voice. But also, remind them of the promise that God makes: if they listen, they will hear God’s voice making clear to them, “This is the way; walk in it.” Isaiah 30:21
Make it:
Iv. Taking it with you
Read aloud: Oswald Chambers says:
When the spirit of God comes to us, He does not give us glorious visions, but He tells us to do the most ordinary things imaginable… his inspiration is to do the most natural, simple things –things we would never have imagined God was in, but as we do them we find Him there.
( From My Utmost for his Highest, “ February 17”)
1. What kind of ordinary do you think Chambers is talking about? (eating breakfast, being polite to your family, getting along with people on the bus, being kind to the bus driver, being nice to your mother/father, having a servant’s attitude with everyone you meet at school, on your way home, at sports or music practice, eating dinner with kindness, practicing God every minute of every day!!)
This week, hear God in the ordinary.
III. Closing Prayer

Stand, and pray linking hands right over left. Then close with the following verse:
The Lord bless you and keep you.
25 the LORD make his face shine upon you
and be gracious to you;
26 the LORD lift his countenance upon you
and give you peace."
Numbers 6:24-25