Leader Guide

Teaching

Often, TV or movies show heroes as people with special superpowers or superhuman strength. What do some heroes do with their powers? Fly, become invisible, climb walls, save the world from a villain, pull someone from a burning building, etc.

In the video, Chris said that all of his game heroes had special powers and weapons. Do you have super powers? No.

Does that mean you can’t be a hero? No.

Do we need to do something really, really big, so big that television news crews surround our house to interview us? No.

What does it really take? Children respond.

I think you will be very excited to learn the answer in today’s teaching.

Hold up the Blank Checklist. Raise your hand if you have seen a list similar to this. Children respond.

Hold up the Chore Checklist, read each item aloud, and use a marker to check each one. Raise your hand if you have been given a checklist with a list of chores similar to this to complete at home. Children respond.

In the video, Joy said that Noah could check all the boxes for being a hero. Noah then explained that following God was heroic but not easy.

Hold up the Hero Checklist. So what boxes could Noah “check” to be a hero for God?

Check the boxes with the marker as you say the three things. To follow God and be a hero in God’s eyes means to love, honor and obey Him in our lives every day!

Wow! We don’t need super weapons, superhuman powers, or strength to be a hero in God’s eyes. We just need the desire to love, honor and obey God with the help of His Spirit—every day! Ephesians 3:20 says:

That sounds like a hero to me. Don’t look at your own limited ability and power; look at God! He fills you with the power of His Holy Spirit, who lives inside every believer! God is at work transforming us into His heroes!

Noah simply loved God and was righteous in His sight. The Bible tells us that the world was very bad, but Noah was blameless. Noah didn’t try to please others; his goal was to please God.

Hold up the Hero Checklist. Noah had a close relationship with God and found favor in His sight because he loved, honored and obeyed God. (See Genesis 6.)

The Bible tells us three times that Noah did exactly what God told him to do (See Genesis 6:22, 7:5,9.) Even when it was difficult, and even when Noah didn’t understand God’s plan—Noah obeyed EVERY INSTRUCTION God gave him! He trusted God and did what God said. Noah built a big boat even though there was no water nearby and no rain in sight. That is called faith!

Hold up the Hero Checklist. Raise your hand if you agree with Joy, that Noah checked all of the boxes for being a hero in God’s eyes. Children respond.

In the video, who was the hero who helped Joshua and God’s people? Rahab.

What did she do? She risked her life to hide the Israelite spies.

What’s unique about Rahab is that up until that time, she probably was not a follower of God. You could even say that her people were enemies of God’s people! Yet, God recorded her name in the Bible so she will be remembered forever as a hero who obeyed Him.

As a reward for her heroic act of bravery and obedience, she was given the privilege of living among God’s people for the rest of her life! (See Joshua 6:25; Hebrews 11:31.)

And in the New Testament, she is listed as one of Jesus’ ancestors! (See Matthew 1:5.)

Another ordinary and unlikely hero in the Bible that we saw briefly in the video was David. He was the youngest son in the family! While his older brothers went out to fight in the army, he stayed home to take care of the sheep. Who can tell me why David is famous? He killed the giant Goliath.

David could only be a hero because He obeyed God, and God was with him, not because of his own ability and power!

In order to do great things for God, is our own strength and willpower enough? Children respond.

No, we will never have enough human strength or willpower to be a hero for God. Because we are human, we will fail and make mistakes sometimes. But being a hero for God doesn’t mean that we are perfect. There is only one Bible hero who lived a perfect life without sin. Can you guess who? Jesus!

Because Jesus lived a perfect life on Earth, we can confess our sin to Him when we mess up, and the Bible says that Jesus is faithful to forgive us and cleanse us. (See 1 John 1:9.)

It’s only with the power of God’s Spirit living in us that we can live obedient, heroic lives for Him.

Psalm 90:17 says:

When we choose to listen and obey, we can do extraordinary things for God!