Like A Boss / Lessons from the life of King David / We Are Emmanuel

Overview

Session 1 // David and Samuel - Character - George Benson

Session 2 // David and Goliath - Faith - Tobi Ford-Western

Session 3 // David and Jonathan - Friendship - Annie Shotton

Session 4 // David and Michal - Worship - Christina Omoloso

Session 5 // David and Bathsheba - Failure - Steve Horne

Session 6 // David and Jesus - Future - Gareth O'Sullivan

Session 1 // David and Samuel - Character

1 Samuel 16:7 “For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”

Games
Feeding a partner from behind their back with arms through theirs.
Chinese whispers charades.
Empires or name on back 20 questions

Introduction
We are introduced to the life of David through his family and a crisis
Israel’s first King (Saul) has proved to be a failure so God sends Samuel to find a new King

Point 1
The question of faith and character is already present in this pursuit (Will the next king fail like the first?)
God directs Samuel to choose one of Jesse’s son - he is eager to choose the most impressive looking among them
But God corrects him revealing that it is the heart that he looks for and redirects Samuel to the youngest, David, who was out in the field looking after sheep
Point 2
Here we see the ways of God are unexpected and subvert human ways of thinking and prioritising.
The Bible says that there was nothing attractive about Jesus (Isaiah 53:2), he wouldn’t have been picked out in a line-up yet he is the One whose heart is pure and his ways honour the Father
Similarly David was not the strongest, or the eldest of his brothers that Samuel would choose him to be king. He was just a humble and hard-working shepherd boy
True ‘heroism’ or leadership or character is servant-heartedness (Mark 10:45), as demonstrated by Jesus - He is the true Good Shepherd
It’s wonderful news to have a King who has come to serve us!
Point 3
God looks at our hearts - He’s more interested in our motivations than our success
The way our hearts are changed is when we choose to follow Jesus because we see his heart to us, forgive us, and die for us! - This melts any hard-heartedness and frees us from the selfishness that would otherwise grip us

Conclusion
The world may value those who look impressive. But what fruit does this bear?: Insecurity, rivalry, jealousy, anxiety and despondency
Jesus values those who come to Him and say, ‘take my heart and make it like your own.’
To reflect on the nature of our hearts and recognise that God’s heart for us one of love and grace towards us - this is the character of a True Hero

Questions:
Can you think of any shows or movies that show heroes being big and great???
Can you think of any that show heros being small and weak?
What kind of character do you think heroes should have?
Do you ever find it hard to be humble?
In what ways can we try to have humility?

Session 2 // David & Goliath - Faith

1 Samuel 17:45 “I come to you in the name of the Lord of Hosts,”

Games
Dodge ball
Hide the string. Youth leaders hide cut string around the room before youth.
Get into teams and in the time limit allow teams to find and tie the string together.
Longest piece at the end wins.
Trust games of falling back into a friends arms.
Blindfold obstacle course and following instructions.

Introduction
In the first session we reflected on God’s valuing of a humble heart
Humility does not equal timidity!
Jesus was humble and soft-hearted because He trusted in His Father - David demonstrates this same quality here

Point 1
The way this story is presented underlines the fact that David sees the world through a lens of faith
His brothers , ‘look at the outward appearance’ of Goliath and see an impassable obstacle - but David looks upon the situations with eyes of faith.
David is shocked that the Israelite army regards Goliath as bigger than God
Point 2
David’s heroism comes not from his appraisal of himself but from his conviction that with God, we are always in the majority (We always have the upperhand!)
Although his Defeat of Goliath seems impressive, it is actually his faith in God that wins the day
God is looking for ‘heroes’ in the sense that He is looking for those who trust Him, not those are impressive in their own strength
It is our faith in God that makes heroes
Point 3
David’s defeat of Goliath is really just a picture of Jesus’ defeat over our biggest enemies - sin and death
Now that these enemies are vanquished, we can stand confidently and attack the challenges of our lives. Romans 8:31 - “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?”

Conclusion
On any given day we may, ‘succeed’ or ‘fail’, but that doesn’t really matter
What matters is living as David did; ‘in the name of the Lord of Hosts’
God is Emmanuel - God with us - because of our trust in Jesus, the Holy Spirit is with us to encourage, strengthen and guide us through all that life throws at us
The Christian life is about learning to depend on Him. it is not about having a ‘strong faith’ it is about putting our faith in the One who is strong

Questions:
Have you ever had to trust God for something big or small?
What are some things that could make it hard to trust God?
When have you felt God supporting or guiding you?
What are some helpful ways to remember that God is dependable?

Session 3 // David and Jonathan - Friendship

1 Samuel 18:1-5

Games
Pulse game where two team sit opposite each other and send a hand squeeze down the chain.
Team game of ladders Hockey
Jockeys up

Introduction
David is the great hero king of the book of Samuel but, as we’ve already seen, God constantly placed others around him to help and assist.
His friendship with Jonathan was the deepest relationship of his life, says the Scripture
Point 1
We live in a very individualistic culture and are prone to undervalue the importance of friendship
Collectivist cultures come together much more easily
Passages like this remind us that friendships are nice, but that we are made for them and we function best in community with others
Point 2
Just like David, we need friendships for emotional support
You may think that you are very relational or not relational at all, but we all long to be known and loved and appreciated by those around us
Friendships can help us to fulfil this longing - but can’t completely / 100% fill it
Point 3
Jesus is the one who ultimately satisfies this need - Only he can fulfil us completely
Jesus called his disciples his friends - He didn’t stick to a rabbi/student relationship
In the same way he befriends us as we choose to walk with him - knowing his forgiveness, his kindness, his wisdom and his grace as we get to know him more and more through prayer and the Bible

Conclusion
Knowing the friendship of Jesus also empowers us to better befriend others
Jesus’ disciples were all very different - fisherman, a tax collector etc. - you don’t need to be like someone to like them
There are few better things that a Christian can do in their school [- e.g…] than be someone who befriends others intentionally and without prejudice.
This helps us to demonstrate the friendship of Jesus to those around us

Questions
Do you find it hard to be a Christian in your school?
How can you be intentional in your friendships?
What does a good friend look like?
How can you be more of a friend of Jesus?

Session 4 // David and Michal - Worship

Scripture - 2 Samuel 6:16, 20-22

Games
Musical chairs
Secret dancer

Introduction
At this point in the Story David is king
One of David’s wives sees him worshipping God and thinks he is a fool!
She believes his behaviour (leaping around) is not fit for a king
Should a king be dignified and strike fear into those below him?
Point 1
David points out that God has given him the privilege of being king
He will continue to worship whole-heartedly whether he is a shepherd boy in the field or a king in his royal palace
God isn’t just for some but for all of us - Whether you are a lowly shepherd or the king of the world!
Point 2
Worshipping God isn’t just singing songs but is the complete prioritisation of Him in our lives - it’s a practice that those who don’t know Him won’t understand
We might not get caught in our underwear dancing for Jesus (or maybe we will!)
Anyone who is trying to follow Jesus will soon make choices that others (friends or family members) won’t understand
Point 3
Even though he was king, David didn’t prioritise his status above being a child of God
He had a lot to lose - His story is a rags to riches one!
Surely he would do all he could to gain respect and adoration from everyone around him
David didn’t guard his reputation because he knew that God had given him everything he had - God had chosen him for favour, protected him and shown grace to him

Conclusion
It’s the same for us - Following Jesus will put us out of step with culture
Like David we might sometimes look stupid and we’ll often be misunderstood
We might lose friends or lose our reputation - But what Jesus has given is way more precious than whatever we may lose
Jesus has chosen us for favour - shown us grace and forgiveness - Show us love that lasts forever

Questions:
What does worship look like?
What are some things that you value the most?
What are some things that we worship?
How can we put Jesus first?
Is there anything that prevents you from worshipping?
How can we encourage each other to live more worshipful lives?

Session 5 // David and Bathsheba - Failure

Scripture - 2 Samuel 11 & 12

Games

Introduction
So far we have seen David, generally, in a positive light
We’ve traced his young life, through defeating giants to being a king in the making in exile, to reaching the heights of the palace and ruling wisely over God’s people
Point 1
One of the most remembered episodes in David’s life is his failure with Bathsheba
Surrounded by the comforts of his palace he somehow loses his way morally and sleeps with another man’s wife
What’s more, to cover his tracks he arranges for her husband to be killed in battle
Adultery, deception, murder - Good proportion of the 10 commandments broken in very short space of time
Point 2
The Bible is a true story - also an honest story - God is honest enough with us to talk about sin. And call it sin too
Our culture has a conflicted attitude to sin. On one hand, we accept that nobody’s perfect (and we quite like stories about flawed heroes anyway) - There’s stuff that we get wrong but generally we’re encouraged to not be too hard on ourselves and not get hung up on it
On the other hand, there are certain social ‘ills’ that are beyond the pale. If someone messes up in certain ways (I don’t even need to mention them), they are ‘cancelled’
Point 3
In general as a society we are good at forgiving ourselves but not very good at forgiving others
God is not like that. In this story God sends Nathan the prophet to help David realise just how bad his behaviour has been. - He is serious about sin
But he is also very serious about dealing with sin. - It can be troubling to read but as a result of David’s sin, the child that he conceived with Bathsheba actually dies
This event is pointing out God’s solution for sin: David sins. His son dies. We sin. The Son dies

Conclusion
God is so serious about sin He came to earth to take it on Himself. That’s what the cross is about
God satisfying the due penalty of sin, and in the same action justifying sinners like me and you
We’re starting to get reminded that David isn’t the true hero after all. We need a real hero, because we all sin.
The good thing is that he has already come!

Questions
In what ways do you fail?
What do you do after you fail?
How can we help each other when we fail?
How does failure point to the true Hero/Boss?
How is God different in the way he reacts to failure?

Session 6 // David and Jesus - Future

Scripture - Acts 13:21-22 - Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. And when he had removed him, he raised David up to be their king, of whom he testified and said, ‘I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.’

Introduction
In this passage Paul summarises David with the phrase ‘a man after my heart, who will do all my will.’
‘A man after God’s own heart is often used to describe David and reminds us that his heroism points back to the Bible’s true ‘Boss’ Jesus
Point 1
As we have seen and heard from our previous sessions on David’s life he achieved many great things: defeating giants, escaping from Saul and succeeding him as king and leading God’s people and writing tonnes of Psalms.
But he is mostly remembered, not for the things he accomplished but for the posture of his heart
Point 2
We have arrived at the true meaning of how to be a ‘boss:’ It’s a matter of the heart - A matter of faith and not works - Relationship not rules
This all points to Jesus, he brings us into the heart of God
Part of what it means to be a boss, like David, be a ‘man after God’s own heart’ this is also shown in the passage (he was committed to do God’s will)
As we have seen, David did not do this perfectly, but still the orientation of his life was to follow God than live for the glory of his own name
Point 3
This brings us to the humility of Jesus
He truly did nothing wrong
Jesus lived in submission to His Father in Heaven, demonstrating true love, true worship, true fellowship with God

Conclusion
So, how can we be like a Boss?
The worldly answer is to make a name for yourself and be celebrated by others - In one sense there is nothing wrong with that (David was one of the most famous people in the world in his day)
But true heroism, the secret to life in face, is to recognise that we need a true hero/boss to be the person that we can never be - Jesus’ grace allows us to live in fellowship with God and walking in his ways is the right way to live
To be a ‘boss’, we live by faith in the true boss, the true hero - Jesus Christ!

Questions:
Do any of you/ your friends worry about the future?
What does the future look like?
What do you want your future to look like?
What does success look like?
How can we be comforted about the future?
What does God say about the future?