Week 4 – Constructing The Temple: My Glory or God’s? – 1 Kings G2G Curriculum

1 Kings Sermon Series Curriculum

Week 4 – Constructing The Temple: My Glory or God’s? (1 Kings 5-9:9)

(Our G2G Curriculum was crafted in-house and is designed to follow our Fall Sermon Series: 1 Kings ~ A Heart & House Divided. Want to get connected to a G2G group? Contact us and we’ll find a spot for you!)

You may want to begin by watching the sermon that goes with this passage.

SUMMARY: In chapter 5, Hiram king of Tyre sends messengers to Solomon.  Solomon responds with a request: “help me build a temple for the LORD.”  “You supply the wood and labours and I’ll supply more labours and I’ll finance the whole project.”  Hiram agrees and they strike a deal.  Solomon conscripts workers from Israel and the massive temple project begins.

Chapter 6 describes the temple in detail.  Beams of cedar, stone chiseled at the quarry, and a golden interior.  In the middle of the construction God’s word comes to Solomon to remind him: stay obedient to the LORD your God.

Chapter 7 seems to interrupt the temple focus by inserting details about Solomon’s palace.  It was just as beautiful and even larger than the house he was building for God!  Our attention is refocused back at the temple where the articles of the temple are described: the bronze Sea for ritual cleansing and other bronze articles and gold articles from the altar and lamp stands to golden door sockets.

In chapter 8 the Ark of the Covenant is brought into the temple and the presence of the LORD descends.  In the midst of God’s appearance, Solomon offers prayer for himself and the people as he dedicates the temple.

Finally, chapter 9 begins with God’s answer to Solomon’s prayer and a warning to be obedient to the LORD and walk in His ways.

Offer group members a pen and paper. Give them five minutes to reflect and respond to the following:

  1. Solomon’s dream was to build the temple. What’s your dream 
  2. Where is God in your dream? Is the dream for your glory, God’s or both? Explain.
  3. Read 1 Kings 9:4-9. God tells Solomon that there will be roadblocks along the way if he is not obedient. Have you experienced roadblocks in pursuing your dreams? Have they been because of your disobedience or your obedience to God?
  4. Solomon prayed a prayer of dedication for the temple. Write down your prayer of dedication for your dream.

Leader, after everyone is finished, read each question out loud one at at time. Ask if anyone would like to share – leave space and time for that.

If people don’t know their dreams, have a discussion about hearing God’s voice or ways to discern a dream for their life.

Teen Challenge Choir

We had the distinct privileged of welcoming the Teen Challenge Men’s Choir last Sunday. And because they did different things in each service we are offering them both.

Week 3 – 1 Kings G2G Curriculum

1 Kings Sermon Series Curriculum

Week 3 – Teen Challenge Sunday

Option #1:
 Spend an evening making food for HMC’s freezer.  Meals for individuals and families in need are getting low so it would be great if your group could help replenish our supply of “ready to go” meals.  Talk to Pastor Lyndsay for more info.

Option #2:
 Invite some non-churchgoing friends or neighbours to a BBQ or games night with your group.

Jr Pitch Fun ~ video

Our Junior Youth had a blast last weekend attending the annual retreat at Stayner Camp. Take a moment and check out the highlight video Dave McArthur put together – Thanks Dave!

An Update From The Claussen’s

the following is a verbatim update, sent to us by Andrew Claussen, one of our missionaries in Indonesia

Last month Amberlynne became bedridden and we suspected pregnancy, but took her to town to verify that it was a baby causing all the issues and not a virus. She is doing much better now that she is moving out of the morning sickness stage. We are now in town for the next month because Amberynne’s local OBYGN (she is Aussie), said she needs to stay here and regain the weight lost while sick.

Because of the nature of Amberlynne’s births she can’t deliver in country. Our original plan was to go to Singapore and then come back for the final 3 months in Papua, but after listening to the counsel of our co-workers, we have decided to come home 5 months earlier for our Home Assignment. Initially, we were disappointed that we weren’t finishing out our 4 year term. But as we have processed the decision, we have peace. We are exhausted physically, emotionally and spiritually and are looking forward to resting.

Our plan currently is to arrive in the USA the first week of December. Going from 3 years of perpetual summer to winter will be an interesting experience. We will mostly be in Washington state during home assignment (H.A.) I plan to work with my brother (to subsidise our 24k Worldteam salary) volunteer at our home church, and get medical training for the field as well.

That being said, the first couple of months, we want to take a break from ministry. We have spent 3 years pouring into others with without being filled ourselves. We are looking forward to worshipping together with other believers and being fed the word of God by someone other than ourselves. In the summer we plan on being on the east coast with the intention of speaking at churches. We will get in touch when we have figured out those dates! We’d love for the opportunity to share some morning. We’re also planning on stopping in a second time, but haven’t worked out the exact timing yet.

There are some ways you could help us prepare to come home…

1. Pray for us to end well here. While we are excited and anxious to be home in a culture and language we completely understand, yet we want to finish well. That means taking the time and energy to say goodbye culturally and to make sure our house and ministry is set in order for our year long absence.

2. Pray for our national co-workers (Yohanes and Elies (ay-less). Our team is a mixture of gifts and talents. We all bring something important to the table, and when one is gone the rest feel it. Our co-worker, Delila (Elies’ wife), is also pregnant. If her pregnancy continues, they will also be leaving the village for a time.

3. Pray for our kids. The village is a real struggle for them. While coming home will be a huge blessing for them, please pray that Danokit will have a special place in their hearts despite the hardships and loneliness of Danokit compared to the plethora of family and great blessings that America offers.

4. On a more practical side… our clothes are all sun faded and moldy and are more appropriate for the tropics, not the cold rainy Washington winter so we will need to update our wardrobe . Any gift cards would be awesome! We aren’t picky. Our favourite places are Walmart (yes, we are one of THOSE people), Target, Old Navy, but really… we will take anything. And if people have 3 or 4 bucks left over on a card, we’ll be happy to take those. And on that note, we also wouldn’t be against any restaurant/fast food/gas gift cards 🙂 I’m not really sure how that works with Canadian gift cards? Maybe that wouldn’t work?

Tickets aren’t purchased yet so plans aren’t finalised. I will let you know more as plans develop.

(learn more about the Claussen’s on their website or their ministry facebook page)

If you’re interested in supporting them, contact us and we’ll connect you with our Mission’s Planning Team.

Week Two – Lessons From A Young Leader – 1 Kings G2G Curriculum

1 Kings Sermon Series Curriculum

Week 2 – Lessons from a young leader (1 Kings 2:13-4)

(Our G2G Curriculum was crafted in-house and is designed to follow our Fall Sermon Series: 1 Kings ~ A Heart & House Divided. Want to get connected to a G2G group? Contact us and we’ll find a spot for you!)

You may want to begin by watching the sermon that goes with this passage.

SUMMARY: In chapter 2 Adonijah approaches Bathesheba, the mother of king Solomon, to request a wife.  The woman of his dreams is none other than Abishag—the young virgin that kept David warm in his bed (1 Kings 1:1-4).  Bathsheba agrees to approach Solomon on Adonjiah’s behalf only her son an unwilling matchmaker.  Instead, Solomon has Adonijah killed.  Solomon then pursues two of Adonijah’s supporters—exiling one and killing the other.  The chapter finishes when Solomon fulfills his father’s final wish—bring Shimei’s grey head down to the grave (1 Kings 2:8-9)!

In chapter 3 Solomon shows half-hearted devotion to God by his choices:  in marriage (Deut. 7:3; 17:17) and worship.  Nevertheless, God meets with him and grants him one wish.  Solomon chooses wisdom.  The full extent of his discernment is shown when two mothers scuffle over a single living baby and Solomon determines the rightful mother.

Chapter 4 summarizes Solomon’s kingdom administration and the joy and peace of the people living under the wise rule of their king.  It’s not only Israel but kings from all over the world that benefit from Solomon’s wisdom.

1.    Why does Bathsheba advocate for Adonijah (1 Kings 2:13-21)?

2.    Is the bloodshed of chapter 2 necessary?  Is God rubber-stamping the anointed king’s actions or is something else going on?  Notice  the last sentence in 1 Kings 2:46.  Now read 1 Kings 2:12.  What’s changed between those two verses?

3.    Imagine if chapter 3 (Solomon’s request for wisdom) happened before chapter 2 (bloodshed).  Would chapter 2 look different?  What chapter in your life do you wish you could redo in light of what you knew later?

4.    Solomon asks for a discerning heart to govern people well and to distinguish between right and wrong (1 Kings 3:9).  What is right and wrong in Canada today?  Is it clear?  Are their grey areas?  What do we do and how do we know when it’s grey?     

5.    Read 1 Kings 3:14.  Do God’s promises always come with conditions?

A Chance to Be The Church and Say Yes

by contributing writer, Kristina Dyck

If you haven’t heard about ISIS and the Syrian refugee crisis (on top of all the millions of refugees there already where from more than just Syria) then you are in the minority. Almost all of us have heard, we all wept over Aylan’s body and the news of so many others who have either perished trying to escape, been caught and sent back to the war zones, or made it to what they thought was safety only to be mistreated in those places. It is heartbreaking and although it is nothing new many of us didn’t really wake up to the problem until recently. We have a chance now to either ignore the problem, pretend it isn’t happening, or be the church, show love and say yes we will obey.

On Wednesday night our church held a meeting for us, the other churches in the area and anyone who was interested in coming to talk about bringing a family over. I have been desperately hoping that we would sponsor at least one family as a church so this was very encouraging. I worried that this would just be more talk when what is really needed now (and was long before this new crisis) is action but left feeling encouraged that this isn’t just talk, it is a plan. It is amounts of money written down on pieces of paper promising how much each person is able to give so we know how many families we can bring over. It was information from someone who has already gone through this whole process and can answer our questions even the ones we didn’t know we had. It was people promising to help teach ESL, to help with all the little things that are necessary to live in a climate like ours.

As I drove home I thought about how God already has a family (or multiple families) chosen for us, He knows what country they will come from and what language they will speak. We can imagine and speculate but He already has them picked out. I thought about how cool it is that I can already be praying not only for the logistics of sponsoring a family but I can pray specifically for the people that we will one day meet. It doesn’t matter to God that I haven’t learned their names yet because HE already knows them.

So as our community embarks on this new adventure that will, I am sure, be difficult and amazing and trying and leave us all changed, will you pray with me for the family God will bring into our lives? Will you pray for us as we prepare to show the love of Christ to a family who has been through unimaginable pain. Will you pray for patience and wisdom and lots of grace for everyone who will be involved in this process. Thanks.

By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.          (John 13:35)

Kristina Dyck currently lives in Durham with her family. She is a missionary kid who married another missionary kid and wants to serve the Lord wherever He leads which is in Grey Bruce right now.  She has been an active part of HMC for 3 years. She is a photographer, birth doula, and art enthusiast. You can find her over on her own blog, Unashamed Grace.

Visit our HMC website for more information on how you can
get involved and help through the current refugee crisis.

Week One – A Surprise King – 1 Kings G2G Curriculum

1 Kings Sermon Series Curriculum

Week 1– A Surprise King (1 Kings 1-2:12)

(Our G2G Curriculum was crafted in-house is designed to follow our Fall Sermon Series: 1 Kings ~ A Heart & House Divided. Want to get connected to a G2G group? Contact us and we’ll find a spot for you!)

You may want to begin by watching the sermon that goes with this passage.

SUMMARY: King David is very old.  His spoiled son, Adonijah, senses the time for his kingship is near and he celebrates.  The sneaky son invites his brothers and some tribal officials to join him for a party fit for a king, but he leaves a few important people off the guest list.  Some of the uninvited, Nathan the prophet and Bathsheba, convince the ailing King David to step in and appoint another son, Solomon, to the throne.  David agrees.  He acts quickly: he calls royal officials together and has them anoint Solomon as king.  Another great party—rivaling Adonijah’s—ensues.  Soon Adonijah and his guests discover that their plan has been thwarted.  Solomon, not Adonijah, has been anointed king!  Fearing for their lives, Adonijah’s guests scatter.  Adonijah, himself at risk of death, runs to safety and pleads with King Solomon to spare his life.  Solomon honours his request, for now.  

1.    Was Solomon God’s choice or Nathan’s?  Read 1 Kings 1:11-14 and discuss.  Could David have appointed another leader?

2.    Why did Nathan go to Bathsheba and not directly to the king to make a case for Solomon to be king?  What might have been motivating him?  What motivates you when you avoid confronting someone directly?


3.    David’s parting words to Solomon seem somewhat vengeful (1 Kings 2:2-9).  Was that appropriate?  What if Jesus took David’s place?  What might he instruct Solomon to do?


4.    What other questions come to mind as you wrestle with this text?