Faithful friends

Before beginning the questions for discussion, explain the history of David’s friendship with Jonathan: Saul was the King of Israel. Unfortunately, Saul was not a king who pleased God, so God chose to give the honour of being the king to David (1 Samuel 15,16), a young man who worked for King Saul. David spent a lot time in the palace and became very good friends with Saul’s son Jonathan. After some time, King Saul became so jealous of David that he wanted to kill him. Even so, Jonathan remained David’s best friend.

Questions for discussion

1. Do you have a best friend or some best friends?
2. Do you have a friend you love as much as you love yourself?
3. What would you give up for them?
4. Read 1 Samuel 18:1-4, 20:4. What does the Bible say that tells us that David and Jonathan were good friends?
5. Read 1 Samuel 19:1-7. What did Jonathan do to prove his love for David? Do you think this could have angered King Saul?
6. Would you speak the truth about one of your friends to defend him even if it might mean you could get yourself in trouble?
7. If someone was going to hurt your friend, would you be willing to defend him or her and risk getting hurt as well?
8. If another kid said that your friend was not allowed to play a game, would you be a faithful friend and say, “If you’re asking ________ not to play, then I am not going to play either”?
9. Read 1 Samuel 23:16-18. What did Jonathan do for David when he was in trouble?
10. What was Jonathan willing to give up for David?
11. Was Jonathan the kind of friend who you would like to have?
12. Was Jonathan the kind of friend who you would like to be?

Key concepts

Reading about the friendship between Jonathan and David shows us that true friends are faithful to each other even in difficult circumstances. Being a faithful friend means you are willing to give up your own valuable things for your friend. Jonathan gave up some of his physical possessions to David as well as his position as the next king of Israel. Jonathan also risked his life to defend David. Faithfulness means sticking by another person through hard times, not just in the easy times.

Your money or your heart

Read Matthew 23:23-26.

Note: You may choose to read a longer version of this story including Matthew 23:15-33.

Questions for discussion

1. Why was Jesus upset with the Pharisees?
2. What did Jesus say was more important to God than tithes or offering money?
3. Do you think God is more concerned about you giving money for offering at Sunday school or about how you treat others?
4. How can a kid be just?
5. How can you show mercy to others?
6. What do you think it means to be faithful?

Key concepts

Jesus was upset with the Pharisees because, on the outside, they made themselves look pretty good. They gave the required tenth of their spices and appeared to be righteous, but they did not have the proper attitude in their hearts. They did not practice justice, mercy or faithfulness. Instead, their hearts were full of self-indulgence, greed, hypocrisy and wickedness. To put this in kids’ terms, God wouldn’t care a lot about the money we put in the offering at Sunday School if we were not showing justice (being fair, taking turns), mercy (compassion for others who are not as fortunate) and being faithful (loyal to God and friends). Being faithful means that our actions match our words (1 John 3:18).

Faithful priests

Read Ezekiel 48:10-12.

Questions for discussion

1. Which priests were faithful?
2. How were the other priests unfaithful?
3. Read Ezekiel 48:10-12. What was the discipline for the unfaithful priests?
4. What was God’s reward to the Zadokites?

Key concepts

God was not happy with the priests who served sacrifices to idols and made the house of Israel fall into sin. There was also a group of priests called the Zadokites who faithfully served God even when the other priests led Israel astray. God decided He would no longer allow the other priests to come near Him to serve in the holy parts of the temple. He gave this job to the Zadokites. The other priests were allowed to do all the other work in the temple, except come into God’s presence or be near any of His holy things. God rewards those who are faithful by giving them privileges and honour. He is disappointed and angry with those who are unfaithful and disciplines them.

Mordecai is a faithful follower of the king

Read Esther 2:21-23, 6:1-11 and 7:10.

Questions for discussion

1. How were the officers who guarded the king’s gate unfaithful?
2. How was Mordecai faithful to the king?
3. How was Mordecai eventually rewarded for his faithfulness?
4. If you were faithful like Mordecai, would you have liked to go for a ride on a horse and wear a special robe or is there some other way you would have liked to be honoured by the king?
5. How can you be faithful to your parents?
6. How can you be a faithful friend?

Key concepts

Mordecai was sitting by the king’s gate when he overheard two of the king’s officers who were the guards of his doorway, discussing how angry they were at King Xerxes. They were so angry with him that they made plans to kill him.

Mordecai overheard the plan and told Queen Esther about it. She reported to the king the plan made by the unfaithful guards and told him that Mordecai had given her the information. The king had the report investigated, and when he found out that it was true, he had the two unfaithful guards hanged on a gallows. All of this was recorded in the book of history kept for King Xerxes.

Much later, when the king could not sleep one night, he had someone read from the record book. They read him the story of how Mordecai saved his life by exposing the assassination plan made by the two unfaithful guards. The king then asked what kind of reward had been given to Mordecai. When he found out that nothing had been done, King Xerxes asked his helper, Haman, what should be done for a man whom the king wanted to honour. Haman thought the king wanted to honour him, so he suggested the man should get to wear one of the king’s royal robes and ride on a horse that the king had ridden with a royal crest on its head. Then, he suggested that one of the king’s nobles lead the horse around the city saying, “This is what is done for the man the king delights to honour.” In the end, Mordecai was honoured and rewarded for being faithful, and Haman was punished for his unfaithfulness (Esther 6:11, Esther 7:10).

Faithfulness rewarded

Note: These passages can be studied individually or together.

Questions for discussion

David: Read 1 Samuel 26:21-25 and 1 Kings 3:6.

1. How did David show he was a faithful servant of God and King Saul?
2. How did God reward this faithfulness?

Hezekiah: Read 2 Chronicles 31:20-21.

3. What did Hezekiah do to show he was a faithful servant of God?
4. How did God reward this faithfulness?

Abraham: Read Hebrews 11:8-12, 17-19.

5. What did Abraham do to show he was a faithful servant of God?
6. How did God reward this faithfulness?

And for us!: Read Psalm 18:23-26 and Psalm 37:28-29.

7. How can we be faithful servants of God?
8. How does God reward faithfulness?

Key concepts

God honours those who are faithful! We are faithful to God when we obey His commandments and chose to do what is right. God shows His faithfulness to those who are faithful by protecting them. We can look at the way God cared for the faithful men and women of the Bible and trust that He will care for us, too.

David: David did not kill Saul, the man God placed as king over Israel, even though Saul was trying to kill him. God rewarded David’s faithfulness by allowing David to be king of Israel and his son Solomon to be crowned king after him.

Hezekiah: Hezekiah was faithful to follow God’s commands. He removed idols and reopened the temple. The Bible says he trusted God. Hezekiah’s faithfulness was rewarded through God giving him victory in battle and adding fifteen extra years to his life.

Abraham: Abraham was faithful because he followed God’s directions to go to a far away and unknown land. Abraham also believed God would give him a son, even though he and his wife were very old. God rewarded Abraham’s faithfulness by making his descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky.

A family secret

Questions for discussion

1. Do you like secrets?
2. Do you want to hear a special secret?

Read Psalm 78:1-8 quietly. Precede the reading by saying, “I have a special secret to share with you. It is a special secret that parents shared with their children way back in the days of the Bible. For years and years, parents have shared this special message with their children. Would you like to hear it, too?”)

3. How has God has been faithful to our family?
4. If I said I would serve your favourite supper and then served something else, would you trust me? Or, if I said I would catch you when you jumped into the pool and then didn’t, would you trust me?
5. Do you think you can trust God?

Key concepts

God is who He says He is and does what He says He will do. He is faithful to us and we can always trust Him.

As parents, we are faithful to do what we say we will do so that you, our children, can trust us. In turn, we expect you, our children, to be faithful children – doing what you say you will do, so we can trust you, too. 

Praise for a faithful God

Read Psalm 98.

Questions for discussion

1. In what ways is God faithful to us?
2. How would you like to praise God for His faithfulness?

Key concepts

God shows His faithfulness to us by loving us, caring for us and offering us salvation. He is worthy of our praise. Other verses about God and His faithfulness include Exodus 34:6, 1 Corinthians 1:9, Psalm 86:15, Psalm 89:8, Psalm 111:7-8, Psalm 117:2 and Psalm 146:6-10.

The good and faithful servant

Read Matthew 25:14-30.

Questions for discussion

1. Why was the master happy with the first two servants?
2. Why was he unhappy with the third servant?
3. How can we be faithful servants to God?
4. What talents has God given you?
5. How can you use them to honour God?

Key concepts

God has given us talents and resources. We need to use them in a way that is pleasing to Him. He is pleased when we are willing to use our talents and abilities to bring honour to Him. One way to honour God with our talents is to make sure that whenever someone compliments our special abilities, is to give the honour to God by saying, “Thank you. God has made me with ________” (“strong legs,” if someone compliments your running ability; “a creative mind,” if someone compliments your creative writing or drawing, etc.). This way, we bring honour to God instead of ourselves.