Each meeting covers one lesson. The passage, questions and notes are all on the lesson page, and group members can print their own copy.
Leaders need only this guide: first the flow that is the same every time, then the focus points and tips for each lesson.
A lesson takes about an hour. Meet weekly or every other week — whatever fits your group.
Each Meetingabout 55 min
Snacks and catching up
10 min
Read together
10 min
Discussion
25 min
This week
5 min
Close (prayer optional)
5 min
Opening: Start with last time’s ‘This week’: ‘Did you do it? How did it go?’ For the first lesson, ask everyone to say in one sentence why they want to read about this person. The leader goes first.
Read together: Take turns reading the passage, a few verses each. The leader reads the short notes between sections.
Discussion: You don’t need to discuss every question in ‘Think It Through.’ Pick one or two from each group, add this lesson’s focus points, and that is plenty.
This week: Read it together, and ask each person to decide on the one small thing they will do this week.
Close: You can pray using a verse from the lesson. If some aren’t used to praying aloud, a minute of silence together is fine too.
Lesson 1 · He Has Hidden Himself among the Baggage1 Sam 10:17-27
Focus 1 (vv. 21–24): Saul was chosen, but could not be found; the LORD said, “Behold, he has hidden himself among the baggage”; when he was brought out, Samuel said, “Do you see him whom the LORD has chosen.” Ask the group: reading these verses, what do you see?
Focus 2 (questions 7–8): Ask each person to say what comes to mind as they read verses 22 and 19 — the leader does not draw the conclusion for the group, and the group does not need to agree.
Focus 3 (This week): Everyone thinks of someone who has just taken on a load, and prays for them this week. Next time, anyone who wants to can share.
Leader tip: Why Saul hid, the passage does not say; don’t find reasons for him (don’t say he was insecure, and don’t say he was humble), and don’t use what he said in chapter 9 about ‘the smallest of the tribes’ to explain it. This lesson and the ones after it do not make Saul a warning example, nor a model; read the passage as it is written. Read “But he held his peace” (v. 27) as written; don’t make it ‘when criticized, just ignore it.’ “You have today rejected your God” (v. 19) is the word Samuel brought; the asking for a king was read in Samuel, Lesson 3, and is not gone over again here; and don’t make it ‘making Saul king was itself wrong.’ Read the casting of lots as written; don’t make it a method for seeking God today. What “the regulations of the kingdom” (v. 25) said, the passage does not record; there is no need to guess, and don’t bring it into today’s politics. Read “God gave him another heart” (1 Sam 10:9) as written; it is not discussed. There may be people in the group who are being looked down on or talked about right now — don’t press on question 10; only those who want to share need to.
Lesson 2 · Today the LORD Has Rescued Israel1 Sam 11:1-15
Focus 1 (vv. 4–7): The people wept; Saul came following the oxen out of the field, and “God’s Spirit came mightily on Saul”; “The dread of the LORD fell on the people, and they came out as one man.” Ask the group: reading these verses, what do you see?
Focus 2 (questions 7–8): Ask each person to say what comes to mind as they read verses 13 and 7 — the leader does not draw the conclusion for the group, and the group does not need to agree.
Focus 3 (This week): Everyone writes down the help from God they can see in something that has been done. Next time, anyone who wants to can share.
Leader tip: In verse 13 Saul does not let anyone be put to death, and he gives his own reason: “for today the LORD has rescued Israel” (v. 13). Read it to there; don’t add other reasons for him, and don’t make it a formula about ‘magnanimous leaders.’ Saul is not made a model, nor a warning example. Read “God’s Spirit came mightily on Saul” (v. 6) as written; don’t discuss whether the Spirit can leave a person. Read the gouging of eyes (v. 2) and the cutting of the oxen (v. 7) as written; don’t enlarge on them, and don’t discuss war. Read the numbers in verse 8 as they are; there is no need to work them out. “No man shall be put to death” (v. 13) is what Saul said that day; don’t carry it over to the Ten Commandments. What the people say in verse 12 can be read alongside what the worthless fellows said in 10:27, but the words are different; don’t say they were the same people. What Samuel said at Gilgal after Saul was made king is in Samuel, Lesson 4, and is not gone over again here. There may be people in the group who are being looked down on, or who still feel the sting — don’t press on question 10; only those who want to share need to.
Focus 1 (vv. 8–12): Saul stayed seven days; Samuel did not come, and the people scattered; he offered the burnt offering, and “as soon as he had finished offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came”; he gave his reasons. Ask the group: reading these verses, what do you see?
Focus 2 (questions 7–8): Ask each person to say what comes to mind as they read verses 13 and 14 — the leader does not draw the conclusion for the group, and the group does not need to agree.
Focus 3 (This week): Everyone tells God plainly about one thing they are waiting for. Next time, anyone who wants to can share.
Leader tip: Read Saul’s reasons (vv. 11–12) and Samuel’s words (vv. 13–14) as written; don’t defend Saul, and don’t charge him either (don’t call him ‘impatient’, ‘faithless’ or ‘proud’), and don’t say Samuel was ‘late’. Read verses 13 and 14 together as written; there is no need to harmonize them, and don’t make it ‘God had always meant to replace him.’ Whether Saul’s offering was lawful, or whether a king could offer sacrifice, is not discussed in this lesson. Saul’s age in 13:1 differs between versions; this lesson does not read it or work it out. The Pointing to Christ section only sets the verses side by side; don’t say Saul is a type of anything. There may be people in the group who are waiting for something very hard to wait for, or who have just made a decision because they couldn’t wait any longer and now regret it — don’t press on questions 9 and 10; only those who want to share need to.
Focus 1 (vv. 37–45): “But he didn’t answer him that day”; the lot fell on Jonathan, and Saul said, “you shall surely die, Jonathan”; the people said, “Far from it!” and rescued Jonathan. Ask the group: reading these verses, what do you see?
Focus 2 (questions 7–8): Ask each person to say what comes to mind as they read verses 37 and 45 — the leader does not draw the conclusion for the group, and the group does not need to agree.
Focus 3 (This week): Everyone tells God plainly about one thing that seems not yet answered. Next time, anyone who wants to can share.
Leader tip: Read Saul’s oath in verse 24 as written; don’t judge it, and don’t make it a lesson on ‘don’t swear rashly.’ Why Saul swore it, and why he said “you shall surely die” (v. 44), the passage does not say; don’t guess. Don’t set Jonathan against Saul as ‘good son, bad father’; Jonathan and David are in David, Lesson 3, and are not taken up here. In verse 37 God did not answer, and the passage does not say why; “know and see in whom this sin has been today” (v. 38) is Saul’s word — don’t make it ‘God didn’t answer because Jonathan ate the honey,’ and don’t make it ‘when God doesn’t answer, someone has sinned.’ Read the casting of lots (vv. 41–42) as written; don’t make it a method for seeking God today. The eating with the blood is only in the bridge line; the food laws are not discussed. There may be people in the group who are in days when ‘God seems not to answer,’ or who carry deep hurts between father and child — don’t press on questions 9 and 10; only those who want to share need to.
Focus 1 (vv. 11–13): The valiant men of Jabesh Gilead heard, “went all night,” took down the bodies of Saul and his sons, buried them under the tamarisk tree, and fasted seven days. Ask the group: reading these verses, what do you see?
Focus 2 (questions 7–8): Ask each person to say what comes to mind as they read 1 Sam 11:13 and 2 Sam 2:6 — the leader does not draw the conclusion for the group, and the group does not need to agree.
Focus 3 (This week): Everyone thinks of someone who has been forgotten, or is remembered only for what was bad, and does one small thing for them this week. Next time, anyone who wants to can share.
Leader tip: Take this lesson slowly. How Saul died (v. 4) — read it once as written; don’t ask the group to retell it, and don’t discuss it; don’t discuss ‘whether a person who takes their own life can be saved’, don’t judge, and don’t make it ‘pride to the end’ or ‘unwilling to be shamed.’ There may be people in the group who have lost a family member or friend to suicide: don’t press anyone, and don’t discuss suicide in the group; if someone is upset, stay with them on their own afterwards. Whether Saul was saved is not discussed in any of these lessons. Endor is only told at the beginning; don’t discuss who it was that the woman brought up, and don’t turn it into teaching about spiritism; read the evil spirit ‘from the LORD’ (16:14) as written, don’t explain it as any kind of illness, and don’t lead the group that way. Verses 11–12 can be noted as the Jabesh Gilead that Saul rescued in Lesson 2, and left there; the passage does not say why the men of Jabesh did this — don’t call it ‘repaying a kindness’. Don’t press on questions 9 and 10; only those who want to share need to. Question 11 is for looking back; leave ten minutes for it.
Principles
The leader is not a teacher, but someone walking alongside everyone else.
Give everyone a chance to speak. If some talk a lot, you can gently say, ‘Let’s hear from those who haven’t spoken yet.’
Don’t rush to give answers. If there is silence, wait a few more seconds.
If you can’t answer a question, it’s fine to say, ‘I don’t know — let’s look into it together,’ and come back to it next time.
What is said in the group stays in the group.
At the start, the leader can share their own answer first. Keep it simple and honest.
In the lessons, words in double quotes with a reference are scripture. What the passage does not say, we can only guess; guessing is fine, as long as we say we are guessing.
Don’t press on painful things. If someone becomes upset, stay with them after the meeting; if needed, involve a pastor from their church or a professional counselor.