Week 4 - Struggling with Friends

Visual 1 - Show pictures of animals that are not real alongside some strange animals that are real. Have the kids say real or fake when each picture shows up.

Sometimes people will try to convince you of something that may not be real. Bad friends may try to get you to disobey God because “you’ll never get caught,” or “God doesn’t really care.” These things are not true. Good friends will try to help you obey God and your authority. “You should do what’s right because it pleases God.”

For some time, David (the son go Jesse) was living in the house of the King, working as a bodyguard and musician. King Saul didn’t want to obey God, and sometimes he would get very angry. He needed someone to play music for him to calm him down. That’s why he hired David. But what he didn’t know was that David had been specially chosen by God to become the next king.

Visual 2 - Show picture of Saul, Jonathan, and David

While David was living in King Saul’s house, God gave him a special friend named Jonathan. Jonathan was the prince, King Saul’s son. They loved to have fun together, but most of all they enjoyed God and worshipped Him together. As time went by, however, it was obvious that God was blessing David. When there was a battle, David—the King’s bodyguard—would do more fighting than King Saul! When there was a gathering of people, everyone liked David more than King Saul. King Saul became very jealous, and one at dinner day he told Jonathan what he was going to do.

Visual 3 - 1 Samuel 20:31 “As long as the son of Jesse liveth upon the ground, thou shalt not be established, nor thy kingdom. Wherefore now send and fetch him unto me, for he shall surely die.”

Jonathan tried to change King Saul’s mind, but King Saul got even more angry. He took a weapon and threw it at Jonathan. Jonathan knew that his dad was serious. King Saul would stop at nothing to try to kill David.

What if Jonathan was a bad friend to David? What would he tell David to do? What do you think Jonathan would do if he was a good friend to David?

Visual 4 - Main theme: Good friends grow godly together!

Visual 5 - Picture of David and Jonathan in the field.

After that meal, Jonathan went out to warn his friend, David, to run for his life. Jonathan had a plan. He would shoot three arrows into a field and have a young boy go get them. David would hide in the field. If Jonathan yelled the code words, “The arrows are beyond you,” to the boy, then David knew he was in danger. Jonathan shot the arrows; the boy went to get them, and he yelled, “The arrows are beyond you.” After the boy brought back the arrows, Jonathan told him to go home. Then David came out crying, and Jonathan spoke to him.

Visual 5 - 1 Samuel 20:42 “Go in peace. . . we have sworn both of us in the name of the Lord saying, the Lord be between me and thee, and between my seed and thy seed forever.”

That was the last day that David and Jonathan got to be together. But no matter what they were still going to be good friends—even for their kids! Many years later, when Jonathan was no longer alive, David decided to take care of Jonathan’s son because of the promise that he made. They wanted to do the right thing, even when it was really really hard. Good friends can help you do that!

Later, when David felt all alone, he knew he had a Friend that would never leave him. When you ask God to save you, He brings you into His family, and He promises, “I will never leave you!” He’s the best Friend of all, because He knows exactly how to help you all the time. What sort of friend are you? And what sort of friends do you want to have—good friends or bad friends?