RADIANT LIFE TEACHER GUIDE TEENS SUNDAY SCHOOL RESOURCE SEASON December 11, 2022
Unit 6: Pursued By A Promise Study 2: Fulfillment of a Promise
ALSO, READ
- RADIANT LIFE TEACHER GUIDE TEENS ASSEMBLIES OF GOD NIGERIA SUNDAY SCHOOL December 11 2022
- Assemblies Of God ADULT SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSONS 24 DECEMBER 11 2022
Text: Gen 16:1-3,15-16; 17:1-8,15-21; 18:10-15;
21:1-7; Gal 3:7-9,22,29
Key Verse: Gal 4:28
Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise. (KJV)
>>Focus
Abraham waited twenty-five years for the fulfillment of God’s promise. As he and his wife grew older, it may have seemed like God had forgotten. Abraham and Sarah even tried to help God fulfill His promise by bringing Ishmael into the world through Hagar. But God had other plans. He hadn’t forgotten His promise; He was just waiting for the right time to fulfil it.
If we’re to trust God, one of the most important things we must realize is that He isn’t like us. He doesn’t work according to our schedules. In tact, the Bible teaches that a thousand years is like a single day from His perspective (2 Peter 3:8). His thoughts are beyond ours. His ways are past finding out. He is always good and faithful. And He never forgets His promises.
Use this study to remind students of these important truths. Help them realize that they are in God’s calendar. He hasn’t overlooked or forgotten them – as long as they’re willing to keep following and believing, no matter what.
>>The Basic Message: Explain to students..
¶ WHAT’S THE BIG IDEA?
God will fulfill His promises in His time and according to His perfect plan.
¶ WHY DOES IT MATTER?
Focusing on our plans rather than trusting God’s leads to wrong choices.
¶ HOW DO I LIVE IT?
Submit to God’s plan and allow Him to fulfill His purposes and promises in your life.
>>Activity Option: FORCING THE ISSUE
Explain that God has a plan for each of us. We can follow His plan and wait for His promises to be fulfilled in our lives. Or we can try to work things out according to our own plans and end up with results God never intended. Then discuss with students the following questions: 1. Do you ever find it hard to wait for God to show you His plans or fulfill His promises? Explain. | 2. What happens when we expect God to do things our way? [Hint: When we lose focus of His plans and promises and start making our own, it results in flawed plans -we even risk missing out on all that God desires for us.]
>Guide: Explain that most people don’t like to wait. But God’s ways are beyond ours. He often reveals His plans for our lives one step at a time. This teaches us to rely on Him and trust in His wisdom.
Study Overview
Explain that today’s study considers:
✓ Why it’s a mistake to try forcing our plans on God.
✓ How Isaac’s birth was part of God’s eternal plan.
✓ The fact that God always fulfills His promises.
>>lnform and Discuss
a. A flawed Plan
Read or have volunteers read Gen 16:1-3,15-16. Explain that it may have seemed hard to believe when God first promised to give Abram a son. Now Abram was even older, and there still had been no miracle birth. His wife, Sarai, thought that God had kept her from having a child (Gen 16:2). While in reality, God was planning to bless her in ways she couldn’t imagine.
1. Do you think Sarai’s idea was a good or reasonable one? Why or why not? [Hint: Sarai’s plan was not God’s plan. Rather than waiting on God to fulfill His promise in His time and according to His will, Sarai tried to make it happen on her own. When God makes a promise, we shouldn’t start looking for our own solutions when He doesn’t follow our timing. We need to depend on Him and keep trusting.
2. What mistake did Abram make? [Hint: Just as Adam listened to Eve and fell into sin, Abram began to pay attention to what his wife was saying rather than focusing on God’s plan. When we start listening to people more than God, we’ ve already messed up.
b. A Perfect Plan
Read or have volunteers read Gen 17:1-8,15-21. At an age when most people would be reaching the end of their lives, God came and reaffirmed His covenant to Abram and Sarai, who were 99 and 89 years respectively. He restated His promise of giving Abram a son. This time, He made it clear that Sarai would be the mother. God also renamed the couple Abraham and Sarah.
1. What request did Abraham make on behalf of his son Ishmael? [Hint: Abraham asked God to bless Ishmael. Apparently, Abraham still thought this might be the most logical way for God to accomplish His plan of building a nation.]
2. How did God respond to his request? God promised to bless Ishmael with many descendants. But He also emphasized that Ishmael was not the promised child He had spoken of years earlier. God would establish His covenant through Isaac.]
>>Guide: Explain that it’s a mistake to try forcing our plans on God; it doesn’t work! He alone knows what’s best for our lives. And His perfect plan far exceeds anything we could imagine or hope to achieve on our own.
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>>Teacher Hint: Over time, Abraham learned to trust God completely, and he is regarded as Our spiritual father of faith (Rom 4:16-22). However, his impatient decision, which brought Ishmael into the world, continues to be remembered and played out on the world stage. Though there is little historical evidence linking modern Arabs to the line of lshmael, their claim on the land of Israel (Isaac’s descendants) remains the cause of serious conflict in that region. Thus, failing to trust God and taking the matters into our own hands can result in long-standing tension and difficulty.
Read or have volunteers read and summarize the following passages: Gen
18:10-15; Gen 21:1-7. [Guide: Explain that we can’t hide anything from God. He knows our doubts and sees every hidden flaw. Yet, He deals graciously with us, keeping His promises and giving us favour that we don’t deserve. Despite the mistakes and doubts of Abraham and Sarah, God kept His promise, even as the couple aligned to His Will.]
C. An Eternal Plan
Discuss with students the following questions:
1. Why is it important to know that God fulfilled His promise to Abraham
and Sarah? [Hint: We can be encouraged by the fact that God always keeps His promises. We also need to realize that the fulfillment of this promise is part of God’s eternal plan. It even affects us today.]
2. In what way could this promise relate to you? Gal 3:7-9. [Guide: Explain
that God said He would bless all people through Abraham’s family line.
That promise was fulfilled in Jesus. We take part in the promised
blessing by giving our lives to Christ.]
3. What does Gal 3:9 mean when it says, “those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham”? [Hint: Abraham didn’t choose God as much as God chose him. But Abraham had to decide how he would respond to God’s plan. It was through faith that Abraham received the promise. Similarly, God pursues us by His Holy Spirit, desiring to rescue us from sin. By having faith in Jesus and giving our lives to Him, we’ll receive the promise of eternal life.]
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>>Guide: Explain that through the disobedience of Adam and Eve sin entered the world, and separated us from our Creator. But God set a plan in motion to free us from sin and bring us back into a right relationship with Him. That is the essence of His promise to Abraham. Having overcame sin through His death and resurrection, by accepting the forgiveness Jesus offers, we can receive eternal life and experience the blessings of God (Gal
3:22,29). This inheritance is for all people.]
4. Read or have a volunteer read Gal 4:28. In what way are Christians children of promise? [Hint: Every believer is part of the spiritual family that God promised to establish through Abraham and, ultimately, through Jesus. By having a relationship with Jesus, we inherit the fulfilment of every blessing God has promised.]
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Involve Them: STORY OF MY LIFE
Ask students to imagine what their life stories might someday include.
Distribute paper and pens or pencils, and have them write a brief, imaginative “biography” about themselves. Encourage them to think several decades into the future. Allow volunteers to read their biographies to the class. Explain that it’s fun to imagine what we might become. But as
great as our plans may seem, God has a far better one for each of our lives. Encourage students to seek and pursue God’s plan and trust Him to fulfill the promises in his Word.
>>Activity Option: PROMISE CHALLENGE
Have students who memorized a passage this week from “That’s a
Have Promise” (Study 1) recite their verses. Give prizes to those who successfully meet the challenge.
Music Connection:
Play the song “God Evermore” by Aaron Shust from his album Ever Be. (Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSo122NgqKcs) Ask students what it would look like in their lives if they let God completely take control Can you sing with true conviction in your heart to the Lord the words, “We adore You”?
>>lnspire Them
Remind students THE BASIC MESSAGE of this study, explaining WHAT
the Big ldea behind the study is; WHY it matters; and HOW we can live the
lesson captured in this study.
Teacher Hint: Ask Yourself..
1. Can students describe how God fulfilled His promise to Abraham?
2. Do they understand why it’s important to stay focused on God’s plan?
3. Can they explain how God’s plan for Abraham relates to His eternal plan of salvation?
THIS PUBLICATION IS A PRODUCT OF GENERAL COUNCIL TEENS SOLUTION DEPARTMENT ASSEMBLIES OF GOD NIGERIA