Middle School Youth Lesson - Samson & Luke Cage - Judges 13 - 16
Middle School
Youth – Samson’s Strength and Being a Hero of Our Time
Start with Pizza Party.
Competitive Game
Ask each youth to blow up a balloon and then tie a string to
it. Next, have them tie the string to
their ankle. The goal of this game is for
each youth to protect the balloon tied to his own ankle while trying to pop the
balloon tied on the ankles of other youth.
Team maker Game
Invite the youth to pair up.
Have the pairs sit back-to-back.
They have to stand up together without their hands or arms touching the
floor. Then have the youth get in groups
of three and try this again. Then four.
Then five. See if you can get the whole group together to stand up as one.
Pop Culture
Reference
TV Show: Luke Cage
“Everyone has a gun, no one has a father.” – Luke Cage
Luke Cage is an average guy who has done some time and is trying
to find his way – except for one special gift – he is “immune to bullets.”
His skin is impenetrable.
Watch Luke Cage
trailer on YouTube or Netflix.
Takes place in the streets of Harlem where turf wars are
taking place.
In his world, we see that what is right and what is wrong
isn’t always clear. We see that
sometimes the criminals sometimes do good moral things. Sometimes the people who are good and moral
do things they shouldn’t do.
Luke Cage has his superpower, but he still has to make
choices about how he will live. Which is
very human! He has come up with a moral
code to guide him – he doesn’t curse or drink and he keeps an even temper. But, he is loose when it comes to women – and
he doesn’t hold himself in check when it comes to how he intimately connects
with them. What are some of the things that guide your moral code?
Bible Story
Samson is the story of a man who was born with a purpose and
a superhero power. He was actually a lot
like Luke Cage. Let’s read his story. See Judges 13-16
Judges
13: 1-5
Judges 13: 24-25
Judges 14: 1-6
Judges 16: 4-6
Judges 16: 17-19
Judges 16: 20-22
Judges 16: 26-30
Judges 13: 24-25
Judges 14: 1-6
Judges 16: 4-6
Judges 16: 17-19
Judges 16: 20-22
Judges 16: 26-30
Discuss the Following:
What was Samson’s superhero power?
What was Samson’s moral code? (What is a Nazirite? See Numbers 6:1-21)
What or Who distracted Samson from his purpose?
What was the result?
Did he still achieve his purpose? Do you think it could have been achieved in a
different way?
How are Samson and Luke Cage alike?
What are your superhero strengths?
What might be your purpose?
Application
Activity
One student stands on chair – other youth gather around
chair. The student on chair tries to
pull the other youth up onto the chair. Tell the youth on the floor to resist
being pulled up on the chair. It should be difficult for the student to pull
the other youth up. Then reverse the
situation such that the youth on the floor try to pull the student on the chair
off the chair. This time the student on
the chair should try to resist being pulled off. Pulling the student off the chair should be
much easier than pulling the youth up onto the chair. Talk about how it is easier to be pulled down
in life then pulled up. Then have the
youth try the first part of this exercise again, except this time the youth on
the floor desire to be pulled up onto the chair. Discuss with the youth how this illustration
tells us something about peer pressure and evangelism. When we share our faith or encourage our
peers to do what is right, they need to have some interest or desire in order
to be pulled up. Otherwise, their
resistance might pull us down into the temptations of negative peer pressure.
Idea Time
As a group discuss desires for the youth ministry of the
church. Describe a perfect church youth
gathering. What would it look like? What would we do? What would we learn? How would we serve? How would we worship? How often would we meet? Who do you want to invite? What should be our goal as a group?
Time of Prayer
As a group share praises and prayer requests and then have
the youth pray for each other.
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