women of faith 1. LEADER PREPARATION

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1 women of faith Lesson 3: Naomi This includes: 1. Leader Preparation 2. Lesson Guide 1. LEADER PREPARATION LESSON OVERVIEW The book of Ruth shares a powerful story about the friendship between Naomi and Ruth. Through Naomi s faith in God and care for Ruth even in the midst of great anguish and pain Naomi blessed future generations by becoming an ancestor of Jesus. This lesson will challenge students to think about their own faith and their impact on other people. LESSON OBJECTIVES 1. WHAT: Naomi modeled caring and faith in God through her friendship with Ruth. 2. WHY: God can use a student s faith and friendships to do great things. 3. HOW: Students will discuss how God worked in Naomi and Ruth s friendship, and they will consider how to apply these truths to their own lives. PRIMARY SCRIPTURE Ruth 1:6-18 SECONDARY SCRIPTURES Ruth 4:13-15, 17; Hebrews 11:1 TEACHING PREP The short overview below is designed to help you prepare for your lesson. While you may not want to convey this information word-for-word with your teenagers, you ll definitely want to refer to it as you lead. To get a complete feel for the story of Naomi, read all four chapters of Ruth. With your students, you will simply read or discuss portions of several chapters. Not only is the book of Ruth a wonderful story about faith and friendship, it s also a great reminder of God s goodness and kindness. Naomi s authentic faith in God, even in the midst of grieving the death of her husband and sons, was attractive to Ruth.

2 Ruth chose friendship with Naomi and stayed with her instead of returning to her own family when her husband (Naomi s son) died. Their journey together, both literally and figuratively, is a beautiful picture of God at work. Our study will focus on what the friendship of Naomi and Ruth looked like, even in difficult circumstances. And we ll help students see how they can care about other people, despite the challenges they face in their lives. Finally, we want students to understand how God can work through their faith and friendships to bless others. They ll be challenged to think about how they can grow their own faith. THE BEFORE & AFTER [optional] Text Message Questions We ve provided a couple of different text message questions to send out to your students prior to your meeting. Feel free to use one or both of the questions below. As with the rest of the curriculum, edit these questions to fit the needs of your ministry. Who was one of your best friends when you were younger? Bring a picture of them to share with the group tonight, if you have one. What s the nicest or most generous thing a friend has ever done for you? Come ready to tell us about it tonight. Parent We ve provided you with an below that you can send to your parents following the lesson. Our hope is to encourage parents to continue the conversation at home. Feel free to edit and customize the to fit your ministry needs. Dear parents, We just finished up the final week of our Women of Faith study. During this third week we talked about Naomi, the mother-in-law of Ruth and ancestor of Jesus. Our discussion centered on how our faith can play out in our friendships.

3 Even in their pain, Naomi and Ruth stayed together, cared about each other, and blessed each other through their friendship. We wanted students to understand that even when life is hard, they can not only care about their friends but also see where God is at work in their lives. During the week, we d encourage you to reinforce these thoughts by asking your student more about the study through these questions: When has a friend stuck with you through a tough situation? What was that like? If two people have faith in God, how can that make their friendship stronger? How has a friend helped you see one of God s blessings in your life that you didn t really notice before? Have a blessed week!

4 women of faith Lesson 3: Naomi 2. LEsson guide GETTING THINGS STARTED [optional] Bring in childhood pictures of you with your friends in kindergarten, elementary school, middle school, or high school any time during one of those seasons of life. Welcome your students and invite them into your meeting area. Open in prayer, and then show the photos you brought. If you used a text or message asking students to bring photos and they have some, let them show their photos. Then What s your favorite photo of you with friends? Why is it so meaningful? Why are friendships so important? How have your closest friendships changed in the past year? SAY SOMETHING LIKE: God didn t design us to live alone but in community, with our family and our friends. There will be times in our lives when friendship might not look the way we want it to, but it s something that s always worth fighting for. God can bless us through friendships; it is a gift when someone chooses to stay with us in good times and in bad. Today we re going to talk about a friendship like that. TEACHING POINTS The goal of the Teaching Points is to help students capture the essence of each lesson with more discussion and less lecture-style teaching. The main points we have chosen are (1) A friend stays with you in good and bad times, (2) Friends can help you see how God is working, and (3) God works through true friendships to bless others. Remember: All throughout these lessons, it s up to you to choose (1) how many questions you use, and (2) the wording of the main points keep ours, or change the wording to make it clearer for your audience. Read Ruth 1:6-18 together as a group. Consider dividing verses among your students so everyone has a chance to read.

5 SAY SOMETHING LIKE: The story of Naomi and Ruth spans four chapters in the Bible. In the section we read, we learn that Naomi was Ruth s mother-in-law. Naomi and Ruth were related to each other only because Ruth married Naomi s son, but after he died, they did not have any tie that still bound them together. Yet they had a friendship influenced by Naomi s faith in God that kept them together. 1. A friend stays with you in good and bad times What are the best times you have experienced with your friends in the past year? Think about your closest friends how did you meet? How did your friendship grow? What s the nicest or most generous thing a friend has ever done for you? Look at Ruth 1: Based on Ruth s words, how would you describe the kind of friendship Ruth and Naomi had? Have you ever experienced a deep friendship like this? If so, tell us about it. If two people have faith in God, how can that make their friendship stronger? Even though Naomi was in deep pain and knew she d end up alone, she still chose to consider what was best for Ruth and Orpah. Why would that have been a difficult thing for Naomi to say? Think of the last time you were really hurt or sad. Did you focus more on what you were feeling, or on how others were feeling? SAY SOMETHING LIKE: Naomi and Ruth had known each other for many years, and had developed a deep friendship. They cared deeply for each other. Naomi knew it would be best for her daughters-in-law to go back to their families, even though that meant Naomi would be alone. She cared more about their futures than her own needs. It can be easy to be friends with someone when life is going well. But when things get hard, it can be tempting to stop caring and bail out. But Ruth chose to follow Naomi and remain her friend.

6 2. Friends can help you see how God is working SAY SOMETHING LIKE: The second chapter of Ruth tells about Ruth s hard work once she and Naomi arrived in Bethlehem. Ruth spent each day in the fields, collecting grain to provide for Naomi. Ruth ended up in the fields of a man named Boaz, who treated her kindly. When Naomi found out about Boaz, she knew God was at work and helped Ruth experience this blessing. Tell us about a time you guessed what a friend would say or do before they did it. Naomi recognized that God was at work in this situation because she knew God so well. How have other people helped you see God working in your life? What s the coolest thing God has done in your life recently? Why is it important to know where God is at work in your life? in your friends lives? SAY SOMETHING LIKE: When we know God and trust him, we are ready to see where he s at work and listen for his direction. We ll want to join him in the things he s doing, because we know he wants the best for us. God is about carrying out his plans, and he loves to do it in and through the faith of his people. 3. God works through true friendships to bless others NOTE: Consider going back to the pictures you displayed at the beginning of the lesson and talking about how those friendships have been a blessing in your life. How have your been blessed by your friendships? Be specific. How have other people been blessed by your friendship? Be specific here, too. Read Ruth 4: Ruth and Naomi s friendship led to blessing for both of them. What blessing did they each receive? Read Ruth 4:17. God also blessed many others through Naomi and Ruth s friendship and care for each other, and they became the greatgrandparents of King David. Who was the most famous descendant of King David does anyone know?

7 [NOTE: If you want to give a hint, tell your students that his parents were Mary and Joseph.] SAY SOMETHING LIKE: It s awesome to see how Naomi and Ruth chose to bless each other in their friendship. Ruth and Boaz got married, and had a son who was the ancestor of King David and Jesus! Every one of us is blessed by their choices through our relationship with Jesus. God is at work in and around us all the time. ADDITIONAL DISCUSSION [optional] Ask students to form groups of two or three for these questions. We know how the book of Ruth ends, but during Naomi s life, she had no idea what would happen. How can that help you to hang in there and not quit during painful moments in life? If someone asked you what faith was, what might you say? Read Hebrews 11:1. What did Naomi hope for? How sure was she that it would happen? Bring everyone back together, and ask for volunteers to share answers to the previous questions, as time permits. APPLICATION What friends have blessed your life? How can you express your thanks to them this week? Be specific. What is the biggest barrier that is keeping you from an even stronger faith in God? What two steps might help you grow your faith? Jot down these two steps, and take a moment to brainstorm and write down what you can do this week to move forward on one of these steps.

8 SUMMARY End your lesson here. Provide your teenagers with a quick summary or take-home challenge based on (1) the content of this lesson, (2) the dialogue that took place during the lesson, (3) your understanding of the issues and struggles your teenagers are facing, and (4) the big picture of your youth ministry and what your leadership team wants accomplished with the teaching and discussion time. FOR KEEPS [MEMORY VERSE] Encourage and/or challenge your teenagers to memorize the verse below. Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see (Hebrews 11:1).