Leader Guide

Video Leader Guide

Welcome (1 minute)

Welcome, everyone! Today, we will watch a Superbook adventure called “David and Saul.” Saul was the first king of Israel. Can someone tell what story David is most famous for in the Bible? David and Goliath. David defeated Goliath the giant.

Yes, David defeated Goliath with just a sling and a stone. Saul took notice of David’s bravery—and so did everyone else! We’ll see what happened with David and Saul after that in our video! First, let’s watch the video and see what is happening with Chris, Joy and Gizmo today!

Play Video 2: Chris and Joy’s Dilemma (4 minutes)

When two tough teens grab and smash Chris’ guitar, Chris is furious and vows to take revenge.

Chris and Joy's Dilemma

SuperTruth and Discussion (2 minutes)

Let’s say today’s SuperTruth together. “I will not be jealous of others.”

Have you ever been jealous of someone?

Maybe someone has been jealous of you. Often, feelings of jealousy come when someone receives more attention, praise or success than we do. Most likely, we all have struggled with jealousy toward others. One of the main characters in our Bible story struggles with jealousy.

Do you think that the two teens in the video may have had jealous feelings; if so, why? Possibly, they could have been jealous of Chris and his valuable guitar.>

How did Chris react to what the boys did to his guitar? He was very angry and wanted to settle the score and make them pay for what they had done.

Play Video 3: Bible Story and Resolution (20 minutes)

Bible Story and Resolution

Superbook takes Chris, Joy and Gizmo to meet David, the young warrior who leads Israel’s army to victory. Although King Saul tries to kill him out of jealousy, David chooses not to take revenge. The children learn that anger and vengeance do not accomplish God’s purposes.

Play Video 10A: SuperVerse Graphic 1

Graphic loops 2.5 minutes without audio; turn off or freeze video after children repeat the verse.

SuperVerse Graphic 1

SuperVerse Discussion (1 minute)

Our SuperVerse today is James 3:16:

For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind.

I would like the girls to say the first part of the verse to the comma, then the boys finish it. Ready? Go!

Jealousy is a strong and harmful emotion, and it can get even worse. What can jealousy lead to? Disorder and every kind of evil; stealing, lying, cheating, revenge, etc.

We’ll learn more about jealousy and how to overcome it, today!

Children will have more time to learn the SuperVerse in Small Group. If younger children are not able to memorize the entire verse, be sure they understand its meaning.

Prayer and Send-Off (1 minute)

Dear God, help us to be content with who we are and what we have. You created us each to be unique and special. Help us to stop comparing ourselves to others. Thank You for the good plans You have for each of us! In Jesus’ name, Amen!

In Small Group, you are going to play a game called “Order Restored.” See if you can change chaos into order!

Teachers take children to Small Group classes for Grades 1–3 and 4–6. If the combined group is small, all children may stay together for Small Group time.

Game

What does disorder mean? To be out of order, in a state of confusion or chaos.

Does that sound like anything God would be associated with? No!

That’s right! Disorder, jealousy, selfishness, and other evil things all come from the wisdom of the world or the devil!

Read 1 Corinthians 14:33:

For God is not a God of disorder but of peace, as in all the meetings of God's holy people.

God brings peace, order and understanding! That is what our game is all about.

Hold up the bag or box. In here are cards that contain the words of our SuperVerse. There are several sets of cards, and they’re all mixed up!

Dramatically dump out all the cards into a heap on the floor. Some cards should be face up and some face down; this adds to the chaos! Wow, this is chaos! This doesn’t represent God according to the verse we read, does it? Your job is to restore order out of this disorder!

Let’s look at the board and say the SuperVerse together: James 3:16:

For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind.

Good! To add to the challenge, there are five cards with words that are not part of the SuperVerse. You need to watch for these cards; they can cause confusion!

Divide the children into teams of no more than eleven players each. Teams do not need to be even.

Have teams make separate lines several feet from the pile of cards. All teams play at the same time.

When you say “Go,” the first player on each team walks backward to the pile and finds a card that is part of the SuperVerse.

The player then walks back, places the card on the floor beside the team, and goes to the end of the line.

The next player repeats the process.

If a player accidentally brings back an extra card that is not part of the SuperVerse, it should simply be laid aside.

Continue until the SuperVerse is assembled in order with the Scripture reference at the end and the team shouts the verse together. The first team to do this wins!

Conclusion: Great job restoring order! Nothing good comes from jealousy—so let’s learn how to overcome it!

Teaching

Let’s say our SuperVerse together. James 3:16:

For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind.

In the video we watched, Saul struggled with jealousy. It seems surprising that a powerful king would be jealous of anyone! Let’s find out why.

Saul was anointed as Israel’s king, and the Spirit of God was upon him. (See 1 Samuel 10:1–6.) So, what happened? God rejected Saul.

Why did God reject Saul? Disobedience; he rejected God’s command. Saul did not completely destroy the enemy and their possessions.

Pick up the cloth. Samuel told Saul that God had rejected him. As Samuel turned to leave, what happened? Saul grabbed Samuel’s robe and tore it.

Tear the cloth. Yes, Samuel told Saul that God had torn the kingdom of Israel from him and given it to someone better. To whom did God give the kingdom of Israel? David.

The Spirit of the Lord left Saul. A tormenting spirit filled him with fear and depression. When David was anointed as king, the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him.

David began to serve in Saul’s court. He played his kinnor, or harp, for the king. David’s music made Saul feel better and the tormenting spirit would go away. Saul was pleased with David and asked him to serve as his armor bearer. (See 1 Samuel 15:12–23.)

By the power of God, David defeated Goliath, the Philistine giant. Saul made David the commander of his army. The Bible tells us that whatever Saul asked David to do, he did it successfully! All was good, right?

Not so fast! When David returned after defeating the Philistine army, the relationship between Saul and David took a turn for the worse! The women danced and sang praises to celebrate David’s victory over Goliath and the Philistines.

Read 1 Samuel 18:8:

This made Saul very angry. “What’s this?” he said. “They credit David with ten thousands and me with only thousands. Next they’ll be making him their king!”

So from that time on, Saul kept a jealous eye on David.

God had already made David king; Saul just didn’t know it, yet! Saul was filled with jealousy. He was not content with what he had—he wanted the praise and favor that the people were giving David, too!

When we begin to compare ourselves to others, we open the door to jealousy. Instead, we should focus on God and who He created us to be! He made each of us unique with special abilities and a purpose. When we are content and confident in who we are in God, we can celebrate with others as they receive praise and success!

Read Proverbs 27:4:

Anger is cruel, and wrath is like a flood, but jealousy is even more dangerous.

Jealousy is a powerful and destructive emotion. Saul wanted to destroy David! Sadly, Saul didn’t turn to God for help. Let’s learn from his failure and how we can always turn to God for help to overcome jealousy!

Stand behind the table. Hold up the sandwich bag with the sad face visible to the children. One at a time, place the three balls with black marks, in front of the sad face in the bag as you speak. This face represents Saul. He was filled with many emotions—like uncontrolled anger, jealousy, and selfishness. Was he happy and content? No.

The Bible tells us that when we follow the desires of our sinful nature, it will lead to sin. Uncontrolled anger, jealousy, and selfish ambition are specifically listed as sin in the book of Galatians. (See Galatians 5:19–20.)

So how can we be free of these things?

As you speak, empty out the balls with the black Xs. Let’s say this bag with the sad face represents us now. First, we need to confess our sins to God and ask Him to forgive us. He will take them away from us! Then, we must choose to do what pleases God instead of ourselves. All of us who have accepted Jesus as our Savior have the Holy Spirit living inside us, producing the good things of God in our lives. This is called spiritual fruit.

Tilt the bag back flat against one hand to make it stiff. As you name each fruit of the spirit, slide one of the nine balls with hearts into the bag to cover up the sad face as you say each fruit. The Holy Spirit fills us with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. (See Galatians 5:22–23.)

Look, the sad face has disappeared!

Attempt to place the three balls with black Xs back into the bag. Don’t force them; just place them on top so children can see that the bag can’t be closed. Look, the uncontrolled anger, jealousy and selfishness won’t fit now! When we are filled with the good things of God, there is no room for evil things! Put the three balls down and seal the top of the bag closed. Turn the bag around so children can see the happy face.

When we are filled with the good things of God, we will be at peace, content, and full of joy! How do we overcome evil things like jealousy? Children suggest answers.

We need to be honest with ourselves and with God. We need to confess our sins. We need to spend time with God by reading His Word, praying, and asking for His help. It also helps to spend time with other believers who encourage us to act in godly ways. When we are filled with God’s love and led by the Holy Spirit, there is no room for jealousy! Let’s say our SuperTruth together: “I will not be jealous of others.”

Discipleship Challenge/Practical Application

Give each child a David’s Kinnor Pattern, empty tissue box, David’s Kinnor Instructions, two pencils, children’s scissors, and three rubber bands or pieces of string. Children should cut out and glue the verse card on the back of their harp. Have children put their name on the back and follow the instructions to add the strings. Assist any children with special needs.

When Samuel anointed David to be king, the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him from that day on! (See 1 Samuel 16:13–14.)

God anointed David as a musician. He wrote and played songs of worship and praise that we can read today in the book of Psalms.

The musical instrument that David played was a stringed instrument called a lyre or kinnor in ancient times. It is now commonly translated as a harp. God’s Spirit flowed through David’s music to sooth Saul’s troubled spirit.

Optional: read 1 Samuel 16:23:

And whenever the tormenting spirit from God troubled Saul, David would play the harp. Then Saul would feel better, and the tormenting spirit would go away.

The Holy Spirit fills our hearts so we can love others, even when we are wronged. The Discipleship Challenge is to be led by the Holy Spirit in every area of our lives. When we give control of our life to the Holy Spirit, we can positively affect others with God’s love and peace.

Let’s read Romans 5:5b, which is on our harps:

For we know how dearly God loves us, because He has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with His love.

At home, look up the verses for Lesson 1, Galatians 5:25–26. Discuss the meaning of the verses with your family. Each day pray and ask the Holy Spirit to lead you in every part of your life. Ask Him to help you with any feelings of jealousy or discontent. The harp can be a reminder to follow the Holy Spirit’s leading each day. When we are led by God’s Spirit, we can respond with God’s love and share His peace with others.

SuperVerse

As we said in Large Group, jealously often is felt when someone receives more attention or praise than we do. Jealousy is not being content with who you are or what you have.

What did Saul want that David had? The people praised David because of his victories in battle. Saul wanted their attention and praise.

Yes, this made King Saul very jealous of David and angry at him. Was David at fault? No, he was simply obeying the orders of King Saul, and God’s favor was upon him.

Disorder means to be out of harmony or order. It means to be in a state of confusion, or chaos. Can you think of ways that disorder and chaos were present because of Saul’s behavior?

David was probably confused and frustrated trying to obey Saul’s orders, only to have Saul try to kill him!

Have the children stand in a semi-circle in front of the board. Let’s say our SuperVerse a little differently three different times together. You may look at the board if needed.

1. Say the verse like a robot.
2. Sing the verse in a high voice while you pretend to play the harp.
3. Say the verse loudly in a very deep voice, with authority!

Nicely done! No matter how we say it, jealousy is never good. We must stay on guard, for jealousy can easily creep into our hearts when others are praised or rewarded. That is why it is so important to go to God and confess jealous feelings to Him. By doing this, we can overcome jealous thoughts before they grow and lead to sin.

Younger children may not be able to memorize the entire SuperVerse. They may simply repeat it several times, while older children may memorize part or all of it. Be sure all children understand its meaning.

Prayer

We have seen how jealousy can cause great problems. Do you think we can simply make up our minds never to be jealous again so that we will never be envious of anyone again, for the rest of our lives? No.

We are all human, so we will all face times when we wish we could be like someone else, or have something that other people have.

Who will help us overcome those feelings of jealousy? God.

When we accept Jesus as our Savior, His Spirit lives inside us. He gives us the power to obey God’s Word and to live in a way that pleases Him. We need His strength to overcome our problems.

Read 1 Peter 5:7:

Give all your worries and cares to God, for He cares about you.

God will help us with any struggles that we face because He cares about us! Today, take time to silently share any feelings of jealousy, sadness or fear with God. Ask Him to help you overcome them with His power, and to replace those feelings with His joy in your heart.

Allow time for children to pray.

Close in Prayer: Dear God, thank You for caring about us and inviting us to bring our feelings that we struggle with to You. The Bible tells us that we can come boldly to Your throne when we have a need and there we will find Your help! Help us to replace our feelings of jealousy with happiness for others. Help us to find our happiness and confidence in You! In Jesus’ name, Amen!

Giving Game

Saul was filled with many harmful emotions including anger, fear and jealousy. What should Saul have done instead of carrying these things by himself? He should have asked for God’s help.

Read 1 Peter 5:7:

Give all your worries and cares to God, for He cares about you.

God doesn’t want us to live with these negative emotions and hurtful feelings. He loves and cares for us. He wants to help us. That is what our game is about—taking our cares to God and giving them to Him!

Hold up the cotton balls. Three things that Saul struggled with were anger, fear and jealousy. The three cotton balls represent those emotions.

Demonstrate the game as you explain it. On your turn, pick three cotton balls from the container on the floor, put them on the plate, then shuffle your feet as you walk to the table. Why shuffle? Because of the cares and worries you are carrying by yourself! When you get to the table, place the plate on the table and then give your cares and worries to God. Seems easy, right? Not in this game! You must use a toothpick to pick the cotton balls up from the plate and put them in the container representing God. You cannot touch the cotton balls with your hands at any time. You must shake the cotton ball to remove it from the toothpick. However, you don’t want to shake it so hard that it goes flying across the room! You want your cares to go right into the “God” container. When you get all three cotton balls into the container, put the toothpick back in the holder. Then, pick up the plate, skip quickly back to the line, and hand the plate to the next player on your team. Why skip back? Because you just gave all your cares and worries to God. The burdens you were carrying alone are now in God’s hands! The first team to finish wins.

Divide the children into two equal teams. If teams are unequal, one player may play twice. If you have a very large class, you may add another team. The teams will form separate lines behind the line or mark with the container between them. Give a plate to the first player on each team. Teams play at the same time. Start the game!

Conclusion: To make our game challenging and fun, we made it tricky to give our cares to God. However, in real life, it isn’t difficult. We give our cares to God in prayer; telling Him what we are struggling with and asking for help to overcome them. When we do this, we are freed from the burden of carrying them ourselves, and He will fill us with His peace and strength. Why?

Because He cares for us!

Object Lesson

Let’s say our SuperVerse together. James 3:16:

For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind.

Walk around with the craft so children can see the “Jealousy and Selfishness” above the soil. What words do you see at the top of the pot? Jealousy and Selfishness.

Those are the only words you see, right? Yes.

Hmmm, does that seem right that they would be alone according to our SuperVerse?

Have children look at the SuperVerse on the board.

No, it doesn’t; why? The verse says where there is jealousy and selfish ambition, we will find disorder and other kinds of evil, too.

Saul was jealous. He selfishly desired the praise that people were giving David!

Have a child slowly pull the strip up and stop after the next line. What do you see? Evil

Ahhhh, so there is more! Just like a plant, there is much more hiding that you can’t see, deep below the surface! Let’s reveal a few kinds of evil that were hidden in Saul’s heart. These things grew and became visible by his actions, thoughts and words.

Have different children take turns gently pulling up the weed just one section at a time until the next word or phrase is revealed. Stop after each section and briefly discuss each one.

• Disorder: Yes, it is present just like our SuperVerse told us! We said earlier that disorder means to be out of order, out of harmony, or in a state of confusion or chaos. Saul’s obsession with hurting David took his focus away from his duties as king and brought confusion, distrust and fear to those around him.
• Uncontrolled anger: Saul could not think properly because of his jealousy and anger. He could only think of hurting David.
• Murder: Saul didn’t kill David; however, he tried several times. Saul killed other innocent people in his jealousy and selfish ambition. (See 1 Samuel 22:16–18.)

Jealousy is a dangerous and powerful emotion. When we allow it to take root and grow in our heart and thoughts, it leads to every kind of evil. Yet if we confess jealousy to God, He can cleanse and remove it from our hearts and minds and replace it with His love! So let’s uproot that jealousy weed completely and get rid of it! Dramatically pull out the weed and toss it in the trash.

True and False Game

Divide the children into two teams. If they are unequal, a player may take two turns.

Step back and forth on the floor signs and then toss a sock ball as you describe the game.

This is a True and False question game where you will have not one, but two chances to score points for your team! You can score a point by answering the question correctly and by tossing your sock into the correct container.

I will ask the same question to a player for each team. You will answer by standing on either the True or the False Sign. That’s right; you don’t even have to speak! After both players are standing on their sign choice, I will reveal the answer. Players score one point for standing on the correct answer. Then, players try to toss their sock into the container with the correct answer. So, if the correct answer is true, you score a point by tossing your sock into the container with the True Sign. So, even if you didn’t stand on the correct sign, you still have a chance to score a point! Let’s play!

Read the questions from the list. The team with the most points after all the children have taken a turn wins.

Conclusion: Did you like having two chances to score points?

Saul and David were going in two different directions, weren’t they! Saul fell out of favor with God because of his disobedience, jealousy, and uncontrolled anger. David increased in favor with God and people as he obeyed God under the anointing of the Holy Spirit.

True/False Question/Answer List

1. Samuel told Saul that he had disobeyed God’s command and God rejected him as king. (True—1 Samuel 15:26.)
2. Saul tore the hem of Samuel’s robe. (True—1 Samuel 15:27.)
3. Samuel was sent by God to anoint Moses as king of Israel in Saul’s place. (False—Samuel anointed David, 1 Samuel 16:1.)
4. The Spirit of God came powerfully upon David when he was anointed king. (True—1 Samuel 16:13.)
5. God’s Spirit left Saul. A tormenting spirit filled him with depression and fear. (True—1 Samuel 16:14.)
6. When Saul was depressed, David played a tambourine and Saul felt better. (False—David played a harp, 1 Samuel 16:23.)
7. A kinnor is another name for the harp that David played. (True.)
8. Whatever Saul asked David to do, David did it successfully. (True—1 Samuel 18:5.)
9. Saul was happy for David when the women sang about David’s battle victory. (False—he was jealous, 1 Samuel 18:7–9.)
10. One day when David was playing the harp, Saul shot an arrow at him. (False—he threw a spear, 1 Samuel 18:10–11.)
11. At times, David hid in caves to avoid Samuel. (False—to avoid Saul, 1 Samuel 22:1; 1 Samuel 24:1–3.)
12. David’s men tried to keep David from taking revenge on Saul. (False—they encouraged him to take revenge,1 Samuel 24:7,10.)
13. David would not hurt Saul because he was God’s anointed one. (True—1 Samuel 24:5–6.)
14. David cut off part of Saul’s sandal in the cave instead of hurting him. (False—he cut part of his robe, 1 Samuel 24:4.)
15. David told Saul that he would never hurt him. (True—1 Samuel 24:12.)

Bible Study

Have children look up and read the Bible verses aloud. Lead a discussion with the questions below.