A Sunday School Lesson On Courage

Here is a Sunday school lesson or Bible study lesson on courage.

What is Courage?

Is courage a lack of fear or overcoming fear? I believe it’s doing what needs to be done despite fear. Courage is the ability or mindset to face difficulty, danger, intimidation, uncertainty, and pain without shrinking back from it in fear. We can be courageous in climbing a mountain but that doesn’t mean we might not have some fear because we want to preserve our own lives. Courage is not living like there’s no tomorrow or living dangerous; it is doing what we know needs to be done despite having some fear or trepidation.

God goes with You

Deuteronomy 31:6 “Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.”

When my son was young, he and I went to a carnival and rode some of the rides but one ride was scary to him. He asked if I would go with him and even though I don’t like carnival rides as much as I used to when I was young, but I did it for his sake. By my going with him, he had more courage to go on the ride and had less dread of it because I was with him. In similar fashion, God promised Joshua that He will go with him but even better, God would not ever leave him or forsake him and with that promise, it make it easier for Joshua to be strong and courageous.

Do you feel more courageous when you know that God is with you?

Is there reassurance that God promises that He will never leave us or forsake us (Heb 13:5-6)?

Have you ever been forsaken by someone who promised you something?

Have you ever forsaken someone else by changing your mind?

The Peace of God

John 14:27 “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”

When a person has repented and put their trust in Christ, the wrath of God has been lifted and then God sets His love on them. When Jesus was about to go to the cross and then later, return to the Father, the disciples were troubled about Jesus’ going away, so He reassured them that He will leave them with His peace. The world’s peace is empty, vain, and hollow but the peace that Jesus gives is not just peace but it is His peace and it will remain with them. Part of having peace with God is being at peace with God and for those who’ve been saved, they have the condemnation that their sins brought removed (Rom 8:1) and now have the peace of God (Rom 5:1) because they are at peace with God.

Why does Jesus say “my peace I give you” and not just “just have peace about this?”

Do you feel the peace of God that Jesus gives?

How is Jesus’ peace different from the peace of the world?

Taking up Courage

Acts 23:11 “The following night the Lord stood by him and said, “Take courage, for as you have testified to the facts about me in Jerusalem, so you must testify also in Rome.”

When the Apostle Paul was before the council trying to explain why he was preaching, he ended up back in the barracks of the Roman guard because the Roman tribune was “afraid that Paul would be torn to pieces by them” so he “commanded the soldiers to go down and take him away from among them by force and bring him into the barracks” (Acts 23:10). Paul must have wondered if he was going to make it out of this because the “dissension became violent” so the next night, “the Lord stood by him” and told him “Take courage, for as you have testified to the facts about me in Jerusalem, so you must testify also in Rome.” This must have encouraged Paul because he knew that he had more to do and this was not the end for him.

Why did the Lord stand by Paul and encourage him, apparently in person?

Was the Lord’s appearance for Paul’s sake?

What did the Lord mean by telling Paul to “take courage?” What does that mean?

Waiting Courageously

Psalm 27:14 “Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord.”

It is hard to wait, I must admit, but if we are waiting on the Lord, we can take strength in the fact that His timing is always perfect. That fact should allow us to have more courage in waiting for God’s answer to our prayer or for Him to open a door for us. Here again, the phrase “take courage” is used, seemingly to indicate that we are responsible for taking the courage that God offers. The question is, will we take it while we wait? Several times the psalmist writes for us to “Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord” (Psalm 31:24).

Why is waiting so hard?

What can make the waiting easier?

What does the psalmist mean by saying “take courage?”

Conclusion

I urge you in your study to look at all of the Bible verses and read them aloud in the class so that you can get the most out of these lessons and it’s especially important in this lesson because there’s reassurance and comfort in these verses. We can take courage because we know God goes with us wherever we go; we can have courage knowing we’re not at peace with God; we can take up the courage that God offers us; and we can wait courageously because we can trust God for He is faithful and promises to never leave us or forsake us.

Do you believe God will never leave you?

What if you leave Him? Would you still have the same courage?

Does the Word of God encourage you when you read it?

Who is the source of our courage?

Article by Jack Wellman

Jack Wellman is Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren Church in Mulvane Kansas. Jack is also the Senior Writer at What Christians Want To Know whose mission is to equip, encourage, and energize Christians and to address questions about the believer’s daily walk with God and the Bible. You can follow Jack on Google Plus or check out his book Teaching Children the Gospel available on Amazon.