Leader Guide

Video Leader Guide

Welcome (1 minute)

Welcome everyone! Today is the second lesson of our Superbook story, “Gideon.” I would like two people who were here for Lesson 1 to tell us something you learned about Gideon.

Gideon was an unlikely leader, but God gave him the victory! Let’s praise and worship our God who gives us victory in our lives! Let’s sing and do the motions to “Everything Good"

Play Video 11: (Song) Everything Good (3.5 minutes)

Be sure to preview the song so you can sing along with the children.

Everything Good

SuperTruth and Discussion (1 minute)

Our SuperTruth today says: “God gives me the victory.” Is there anyone here who likes to lose?

No, we all like to win. We like to have the victory! That is exactly what God gives us when we trust Him to lead us and to work in our lives. When you have the victory, do you whisper about it to others?

No! You want to shout about it; so let’s shout the SuperTruth together! “God gives me the victory!”

Introduce Condensed Bible Story (1 minute)

If all children watched the Bible story video in the previous lesson, you may skip it here and go straight to the Bible Background Video.

Does anyone remember from our video last time what Joy was asked to do for her parents? To call a tow truck because a tree branch had fallen on their car in a storm.

Was this an easy task for Joy? No—she did not know where the car was and the phone wasn’t working. She felt helpless.

For the children who haven’t seen our Bible story yet, we are going to watch a short version of “Gideon” now. For those of us who have seen the full video, watch for the answers to two bonus questions. 1. What happened to the offering Gideon brought for the Angel of the Lord? 2. What did Gideon’s army shout when they surrounded the enemy?

Play Video 4: Condensed Bible Story (11 minutes)

Condensed Bible Story

Superbook takes Joy, Chris and Gizmo back in time to meet Gideon—an unlikely hero hiding from enemies who have taken over Israel. The Angel of the Lord appears to Gideon, and he is transformed from a coward into a bold leader. Gideon faithfully follows God’s instructions, even when others doubt his wisdom. The children discover how to find courage to face any challenge.

Discussion (1 minute)

Why do you think Gideon needed so many signs that God wanted him to lead Israel’s army?

Have you ever doubted yourself and felt you weren’t capable of doing something you were asked to do?

God can give us the victory over doubt and fear; all we need to do is put our trust in Him! 

Introduce Bible Background Video (1 minute)

Now let’s watch our Bible Background Video and learn about the world in the time of Gideon. When Gizmo asks a question in the video, wait for him to suggest some answers, then call out the one you think is right!

Play Video 5: Bible Background (8.5 minutes)

Bible Background

Play Video 10B: SuperVerse Graphic 2

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

SuperVerse Graphic 2

SuperVerse (1 minute)

Our SuperVerse today is Isaiah 12:2:

“See, God has come to save me. I will trust in Him and not be afraid. The Lord God is my strength and my song; He has given me victory.”

Let’s say the SuperVerse together.

Does God want us to live in fear and to worry about things?

He wants us to trust in Him, no matter what. We may think we are small and weak—but our God is strong and mighty, and when we have faith in Him, we have the victory!

Children will have more time to learn the SuperVerse in Small Group. 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 and Send-Off (1 minute)

Let’s pray: Dear God, when we feel defeated You give us the victory. We will trust in You and not be afraid. You are the source of our strength. Amen.   

Let’s go to our Small Groups, where we will play a game about something the Lord told Gideon to do before he could lead his army to victory! Let’s go see what that is and learn how we can apply it to our own lives!         

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

Omit this paragraph if the condensed Bible story was not shown in Large Group today. Now it’s time for our two bonus questions from Large Group.  

1. What happened to the offering Gideon brought for the Angel of the Lord? It was burned  up, consumed. 
2. What did Gideon’s army shout when they surrounded the enemy and broke their pitchers? For the Lord and for Gideon!

In today’s game we are going to learn about something the Lord told Gideon to do before he could lead Israel into battle. God had turned Israel over to their enemies for seven years because Israel had done evil in God’s eyes. The Bible tells us that throughout the land of Israel, people had built altars to honor a false god and put up poles for idol worship. Gideon’s father had one of each—and the Lord told Gideon that he must knock them down! So, in our game today, we are going to knock down poles symbolizing false gods and idols.   

Divide the children into the Green Team and Yellow Team; teams do not need to be exactly even. Have each team line up behind a starting line at opposite ends of the room so they face each other. Both teams play at the same time. Each player gets to roll two marbles to try and knock down their team’s color of poles without knocking down the other team’s by mistake! If the opposite team’s pole is accidentally knocked over, it stays down. The first team to knock down all of their poles wins. Use as many marbles as you need to keep the game moving. Marbles roll back and forth between teams, so both teams use the same ones. If necessary, children waiting for their turn may help retrieve marbles. Play another round until all children have had at least one turn. For each new round, start with the players who were next in line to roll. You may play the best out of three rounds if time permits.  

Conclusion: Great job! How did you like that game?

What was harder—aiming for your own team’s poles or avoiding the other team’s marbles and poles?

Let’s learn more about removing things in our lives that displease God so we can experience His victory!

Teaching

For those of you who saw the full-length Superbook story last time, why was Joy so worried? She did not feel confident or capable of handling the responsibility of sending help to her parents.

What did Joy learn from Gideon? She can have victory over her fears and lack of confidence; she can do what was asked with God’s help.

Can anyone remember our SuperTruth from Large Group? “God gives me the victory.”

We can experience victory like Joy and Gideon when we let go of our fears and fully trust in God.

Our SuperVerse for today is Isaiah 12:2: 

“See, God has come to save me. I will trust in Him and not be afraid. The Lord God is my strength and my song; He has given me victory.” 

God alone is our Savior, He gives us strength, and we need to trust in Him alone! 

When the Angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon under the tree and said, “The Lord is with you,” what did Gideon ask? He asked why bad things had happened to the Israelites if God was with them.

Pick a child to stand beside you, and quietly tell the child not to move. Explain to the class that the child represents Gideon and you represent God—then walk away from the child. Gideon believed this had happened to Israel. He thought God abandoned Israel! Was this true?

Absolutely not! God will never leave or abandon us—we have His promise in Deuteronomy 31:6: 

“So be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before them. For the Lord your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you.”

Stand beside the child again, and quietly tell the child to walk as far away from you as possible. This is what really happened: Israel chose to walk away from God and abandon Him! God never moved! In what way do you think they abandoned God? Hint if needed: the answer was in the Pole Bowl Game. They disobeyed God and worshiped false gods.

God told Gideon to tear down his father’s altar to the false god and the pole used for idol worship. Gideon did what God told him to do. He cut down the pole used for idol worship and tore down the altar to the false god, then he built an altar to God in the same place. As Gideon found out, victory starts with obedience.

To experience God’s victory in our lives, the first step we must take is to serve Him only. We must ask Him to cleanse our hearts and purify our lives of things that do not please Him. We need to make sure that there is nothing more important in our lives than the living God. 

We aren’t perfect, and God understands that! When we sin and stray away from God, it is urgent that we run back to Him as fast as we can! Have the child run quickly to you and give him/her a hug.

We should pray every day, asking God to show us things in our lives that don’t please Him. Israel cried out to the Lord, not understanding that the people themselves had moved away from Him. They were worshipping false gods that could never save them or protect them!

As we grow and continue to serve God, the Holy Spirit will speak to us and ask us to tear down things in our hearts that do not please Him. He will show us that we should remove things in our lives that have taken God’s place or have caused us to stray away from God.

Let’s think of things that people may think are more important than God. Have children raise their hands one at a time to name something. For each suggestion, knock down one pole on the table. Suggestions may include: money, jobs, sports, videogames, girlfriends, boyfriends, etc. You may briefly discuss each one before knocking down the pole. Then go on to list other things, such as: 

• Doing what the world says instead of trusting the Holy Spirit’s guidance.
• Trusting in our good works instead of Jesus.
• Trusting in our own strength and ability instead of God’s.
• Fearing what the world thinks more than God.
• Disobeying God’s Word and allowing sinful things to exist in our lives. 

Some of the things we listed are good—for example, families are wonderful! We all should love our families, and the Bible tells us we must honor and obey our parents. But should we love our family more than God?

We should not love anyone or anything more than we love the Lord God. 

The people of Israel had disobeyed God and worshiped other gods before the time of Gideon. When Israel first crossed into the Promised Land, Joshua called the people to make a choice!

Read Joshua 24:15:

“But if you refuse to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.”

Yes, God gives us the victory when we trust and honor Him above all else!

Discipleship Challenge/Practical Application

Now it is time for our Discipleship Challenge, where we have been learning to look at ourselves as God sees us!

Hand out Pitcher and Torch Patterns to any children who missed Lesson 1. Display the sample and ask children to learn the next two verses on the torches before the next lesson. Ask anyone who participated in the challenge last time if they would like to share about what the first two verses mean to them. 

SuperVerse

Let’s say our SuperVerse together. Isaiah 12:2:

“See, God has come to save me. I will trust in Him and not be afraid. The Lord God is my strength and my song; He has given me victory.”

The Old Testament prophet Isaiah wrote the book of the Bible where our SuperVerse is found. This verse is actually a song written to thank God for saving His people and delivering them from their enemies, giving them victory. Let’s say it really loud together again. Isaiah 12:2:

“See, God has come to save me. I will trust in Him and not be afraid. The Lord God is my strength and my song; He has given me victory.”

Now I will read the verse to you and stop at certain places—then you shout the next word of the verse. Do the first round with the children facing the board. Read the verse aloud and stop before words such as “save,” “trust,” or “victory.” For subsequent rounds, have the children turn around with their backs to the board, and leave out different words of the verse for them to fill in without peeking. Play as long as time allows.   

Prayer

Have the children sit down in a semi-circle in front of you, facing the board. As we just learned, today’s SuperVerse is a song of praise to God in celebration of victory. When we trust in Jesus—who died on the cross and rose from the dead—God gives us the victory over our enemies.   

Did you know that we can thank God for the victory in advance by faith, even before we actually see the answer?

Yes, by thanking God in advance we are expressing our trust and faith in Him.

Before the battle started, this is what Gideon told his men in Judges 7:15:

“Get up! For the Lord has given you victory over the Midianite hordes!”

That’s amazing! Before the battle even began, there was no question that the victory was already won! So when you are having a hard time, remember to trust and thank God.

I would like you all to bow your heads and think of something you need victory over. Maybe there are many areas you need God’s victory—God will help you with each one! Don’t say anything out loud—just silently tell God how you need His help. Allow a few moments for children to think.

Now let’s use the things we have learned from our SuperVerse as prayers of thanksgiving. We will go around the circle, and each of you will thank God for the victory by saying one of the four phrases written on the board. I’ll start.

Say a phrase, then go around the circle and have each child say one phrase from the board.

Close in prayer: Dear Jesus, thank You for the victory You won over death when You rose from the grave! We trust in You and will not be afraid because You are with us!  In Your name we pray. Amen.

Triangle Game

Gideon was instructed by God to divide his army into three groups of 100 men. They quietly surrounded the enemy while they were sleeping at night. On Gideon’s cue, they blew their rams’ horns, smashed their jars to reveal their torches, and shouted. The enemy awoke, confused and terrified—then panicked and ran. God had given His people the victory without even fighting! Let’s divide into three groups and work together as a class to win a victory!      

Divide the children into three groups. Groups do not need to be exactly even. Have the first player of each group stand on one of the points of the triangle marked in the center of the room, with each point about 5 feet apart. Have the other players in each group line up single-file behind the first player in their group.    

Give the ball to the first player of Group 1, who is standing on the first point of the triangle. That player shouts the first word of the SuperTruth, tosses the ball to the first player in Group 2, then walks quickly to the back of Group 1’s line as the next player in Group 1 steps to the front. Meanwhile, the Group 2 player who received the ball shouts the next word of the SuperTruth, tosses the ball to the first player in Group 3, then walks quickly to the back of Group 2’s line as the next player steps forward. When the SuperTruth is successfully completed, the next player starts over again with the first word of the SuperTruth. If the ball hits the floor, that player must begin the SuperTruth again with the first word. Continue in this manner for one minute, and keep track of how many times the children say the complete SuperTruth. Play additional rounds as time allows, trying to beat the previous scores.

Optional: To make the game more difficult for older children, you may have them say the SuperVerse or the words of Gideon’s troops in Judges 7:20: “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!” For larger classes you can add a ball and divide the class into two groups with three teams each.

Conclusion. Wow, that was fun to see you all working together! This SuperTruth is a powerful weapon to learn and repeat as we face difficult situations during the day! It reminds us that when we feel weak, the key to our victory is to trust in God!  

Object Lesson

As you present the lesson, write the enemy’s number on the top left side of the board. Write Israel’s numbers as you discuss them on the top right side. Do the subtraction underneath so children can see easily. See illustration of completed presentation.

Let’s read how the Bible describes the enemies that Gideon faced. Read Judges 7:12:

The armies of Midian, Amalek, and the people of the east had settled in the valley like a swarm of locusts. Their camels were like grains of sand on the seashore—too many to count! 

What a frightening sight for Gideon to see as he looked at their camp. We saw that in the video!      

When Gideon first gathered his army, the Israelites totaled 32,000 men. That might seem like a lot of soldiers—until you read in the Bible that the enemy army had 135,000 soldiers! See Judges 8:10. 

That means Gideon’s army was outnumbered more than four soldiers to one! For every Israelite soldier, there were four enemy soldiers. Could you possibly fight four people at the same time—and win?

It would be extremely hard!

Then what happened?

God told Gideon that Israel’s army was too large! What did Gideon do?

Gideon obeyed God and told the soldiers that anyone who was afraid should go home. 22,000 men chose to do just that! Now Gideon had only 10,000 soldiers, while the enemy still had 135,000. That meant for every one Israelite soldier, there were 13 enemies. Could you beat 13 people at the same time?

Yet God wasn’t done—there were still too many Israelites in the army! Gideon gave the men a test by God’s instruction and sent 9700 more soldiers home! He had just 300 men remaining! Think of that—300 Israelites versus 135,000 enemies—plus all their camels to ride! Can you guess what the odds were now?

Good guesses; there were now 450 enemy soldiers for every one soldier in Israel’s army! Could you possibly fight 450 people at the same time—and win?

It would take a miracle, wouldn’t it!

So why do you think God told Gideon to make the army so small?

The answer is in our SuperTruth. Let’s shout it together: “God gives me the victory!”

God reduced Gideon’s army to these impossible odds because He wanted the Israelites to know that they would not win because of their own size, strength or ability! They would win because God was helping them! 

Imagine if you were Gideon’s soldiers looking at the huge camp of the enemy. You would probably be wondering what was going on! Maybe they thought that Gideon would give them some super powerful weapons to take into battle! Let’s take a look at the weapons now! Uncover the table in a dramatic fashion and hold up the items.

He gave each soldier a ram’s horn, a torch, and a jar. Imagine their reaction when Gideon revealed their weapons for battle! If you researched weapons on the internet or in a book, would you expect these to appear in your search? No!

In the video, Gizmo even called them decorations! The key for Gideon’s army and for us is what the Lord told Gideon under the tree. 

Read Judges 6:16:

The Lord said to him, “I will be with you. And you will destroy the Midianites as if you were fighting against one man.”

In God’s eyes, Gideon wasn’t outnumbered 135,000 to 300 soldiers. Gideon outnumbered the enemy 300–1! With God, we are always in the majority! You see, it isn’t what we take with us into battle; it’s WHO we take with us! It isn’t our strength, it is His strength. It isn’t about our ability but His supernatural ability! It isn’t about us in any way—it is all about trusting Him! There is nothing that can stand against our God! God alone gives us the victory!    

Activity

Gideon divided his army into three groups of 300 men and they surrounded the enemy camp. They blew their horns, smashed their jars, and raised their torches. The enemy was confused and terrified. We are going to divide into three groups like Gideon’s army and then plan and create murals together that show the battle scene and how God brought victory to Gideon’s army. 

Divide the children into three groups and distribute markers or crayons. Give the children a set amount of time to create their murals. When the murals are complete, allow each group to share their mural with the class.

If you have a very small or large class, you may choose to add or subtract groups and modify the wording of the introduction.

Conclusion. God gave a miraculous victory to Gideon and his 300 men. They were outnumbered and had no chance of victory on their own—yet God did a mighty miracle! No matter what we face, when we put our trust in God, we have the victory!

Bible Study

Have children look up and read aloud the different verses. For each passage, ask the children to identify the victory or victories we have through God and how He brings it to us. Go through as many passages as time allows.

1 Corinthians 10:13:

The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, He will show you a way out so that you can endure. 

Temptation—God limits it and guides us, He shows us an escape route, and He gives us strength to get through it. 

1 Corinthians 15:57:

But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ. 

Sin and death—through Jesus’ death on the cross and resurrection.

1 Peter 2:24:

He personally carried our sins in His body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. By His wounds you are healed. 

Bondage to sin, sickness—healing and freedom through Jesus’ work on cross.

Deuteronomy 20:4:

“For the Lord your God is going with you! He will fight for you against your enemies, and He will give you victory!” 

Over various enemies, things that come against us—God is with us and fights for us.

John 16:33:

“I have told you all this so that you may have peace in Me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” 

Trials, sorrow, anxiety, unrest, the world itself—peace by having Jesus’ presence in our lives, He is with us, His victory and authority over all.

James 4:7:

So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 

The attack, influence, and power of the devil—we must resist and submit to God, place ourselves in His hands.

1 John 5:4:

For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith. 

Evil in the world, the enemy—faith in God.

Isaiah 41:10:

“Don't be afraid, for I am with you. Don't be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with My victorious right hand.” 

Fear, dismay or distress, weakness, uncertainty—He holds us up and strengthens us.

Jeremiah 20:11:

But the Lord stands beside me like a great warrior. Before Him my persecutors will stumble. They cannot defeat me. They will fail and be thoroughly humiliated. Their dishonor will never be forgotten. 

Persecutors, bullies, those who come against our faith in God—God the warrior stands with us and defeats, causes to stumble and fail.

John 14:27

“I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.” 

Unrest, being troubled, anxiety, fear—gift from Jesus, His peace inside us.

2 Timothy 1:7

For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline. 

Fear and timidity—by His Spirit He replaces those things with power, love, discipline, or control.

Conclusion. God gives each of us victory in our lives in so many areas that we face on a daily basis. As our SuperVerse tells us, we can trust in God and not be afraid. He is our song and gives us victory!