Say something like “Today we are going to look at the story of a man named Samson. Now Samson had a really awesome story but it is also a really sad story. We are going to look at how Samson had the strength of God, how he screwed it all up, and how God took care of him anyways.”
Read through these parts of the story of Samson together
Judges 13:2-5; 24
Say something like “Samson was a special man. He was very strong. Check out these verses about his strength”
Judges 14:5-6
Judges 15:9-17
Judges 16:2-3 (these gates would have been very tall and very heavy)
1. God is the source of our strength
Say Something like “Just like Samson, God gives us strength to do many things. This does not mean that we can have ninja like skills and kill people with a bone or can carry away giant gates. God gives us each the strength we need. For some it means standing up to bullies, for others it is a tough time at home, and to sill others it is getting on with life after losing someone we love. Without God we would not be able to do these things.”
- What is a time in your life where you did something or got through something because of God’s strength?
- Do you ever feel like you aren’t strong enough to do something? What is it? Do you think you just might be scared?
Read the story of Samson and Delilah
Judges 16:4-21 (Be sure to leave verse 22 for the next section)
*These students are in Jr. High and should be able to understand (although maybe only limitedly) the lustful nature of Samson bring this into the following discussion as you see fit as the maturity and innocence of the groups will vary.
2. We have limits and flaws (Our strength in not absolute or our own)
- Did you think anything could have stopped Samson before reading this?
- What caused Samson to lose his strength? (God took it away)
- Why did God take away Samson’s strength? (He broke his vow/promise to God) What do we call it when we do something against God? (Sin)
- Have you ever sinned/done something wrong and then felt like there was no way out of the situation? That your strength had left you? What happened?
- Do you think that this means God doesn’t love us anymore? (Leave this question open as we move on to the last part of the story)
Read the rest of the story
Judges 16:22-30
3. God is there even after we screw up
- Did you catch the foreshadow in verse 22? (The Bible is really cool sometimes)
- Did God abandon Samson and stop loving him?
- Did you ever pray after something went wrong and then things worked out? Did it make you remember how powerful God is?
Application
Say something like “God gives us strength in many areas of our lives. Yet sometimes we forget that it isn’t really our strength and we screw up. Sometimes we think we are stronger than we actually are and other times we just do things that we know we shouldn’t”
- How many of you have ever done something you know you shouldn’t have? Did you get in trouble?
- Is there an area of your life that you keep making the same mistakes in? (Further discussion on this can be done if students are willing)
Say something like “The best part about God is that when we screw up he is still right there by us. Sometimes it may not seem like it but it’s true. Even though Samson broke his promise with God, he got back his strength and was able to hurt his people’s enemy one more time before he died. Now chances are that your life story won’t be near as dramatic as that (but who knows). It is important to remember though that God forgives us if only we ask. ”
Read 1 John 1:9
Say something like “No matter what we do God will forgive. This doesn’t mean we will not be punished but it does mean that God loves us no matter what. It also means that we, like Samson will receive strength to make it thorough not only our trials but also the punishment we receive when we screw up.”
Use 1 John 1:9 as the take home verse