4-27-15 Notes from Guest Speaker Karina Woodruff

Icebreaker: Karina started by asking the students to tell her something good that happened this weekend or today. The students shared their stories in 30 seconds or less.

Lesson:
Background information: The Tribe of Israel were known as "God's people."  All throughout the Old Testament they flip flop back and forth from following God then falling away.  Eventually they ask for a King to lead them. They have good kings and bad kings, and at the point where we join the story they have King Saul.  Due to Saul's bad behavior, God rejects Saul.  Samuel is the prophet during this time, and it is his job to find and anoint the new king.

Bible Passage Read Aloud: I Samuel 16

All of Jesse' sons are brought before Samuel starting with the eldest brother.  None are accepted, and then Samuel asks if there are any more sons of Jesse.  There is only one, but he is a stinky shepherd out with the sheep and the youngest of all the brothers.  Samuel tells them to go get him.  God chose him, David, the "least of these," because God saw that David's heart was good.

Game: 3 random kids were chosen to pick from 3 gifts with different wrappings sitting on the floor.  They then talked about why they chose the gift they chose.  Then they opened their gifts.  The least desirable gifts were wrapped in the best wrappings, but the best gift was wrapped in paper towels.  The point was that just like these gifts, people aren't always in the best wrapping - outward appearance - but what's inside is what counts.

Karina works with homeless youth who say "The only thing I want from people is for people to look me in the eye."

Karina then had students share their own experiences of when they had misjudged someone.  Several students shared.

God does not look at the outward appearance but He looks at the heart.
I Samuel 16:7 But the Lord said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or this height, for I have rejected him.  The Lord does not look at the things people look at.  People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart."

Matthew 23:25-28 Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.  Blind Pharisee!  First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean. Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean.  In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.
 
Karina encouraged the students to look beyond the outward appearance and look at people's hearts as well as making sure our own hearts are in the right place.