Leader Guide

Objective
Students will learn that God is “omnipotent” – He has all power. That means they can be confident in Him and have the kind of hope that comes from that kind of faith.

Note: Encourage your worship band to learn this song and have them lead your group in singing the song as a wrap-up to this session.

Warm Up
The Impossible Shot – Use a Pringles can as a goal and set it up somewhere in the room. Be sure that the rules are clear before you start (i.e. will you accept it if the ball bounces out or if the can is knocked over?)

Use a regular-sized whiffle ball because it is just barely smaller than the Pringles can. Challenge your students to stand at a designated distance and try to make the shot.
(Play Mission Impossible music if you have it).

The shot is possible, but definitely not easy.

You could use this as a weekly challenge and give away a nice prize (like a scholarship to camp) to the ultimate champion.

Transition
Talk about how impossible making that shot was. Explain that some circumstances we encounter seem just as impossible. However, we have a secret “superpower” – God’s unlimited power. Let’s find out how we can experience His power in our situations.

The Song
Hand out the Student Guides – they include the lyrics. Encourage your group to sing along.

Play “I Know You Can” by Planetshakers.

Transition
Explain that the song references several different passages of Scripture. Let’s take a closer look at what Planetshakers is singing about.

Ask volunteers to look up and read each verse. Then, generate some discussion using the questions for each Scripture.

Bible Study
Read Matthew 17:20
That’s a pretty bold statement that Jesus made.

• Do you think He was serious?
• What keeps us from having that kind of faith?

Read Jeremiah 32:17

• Think over this past week – what did you encounter that you thought was “too hard” for you to do?
• Why do we sometimes think that God can’t or won’t help us?

Read Psalm 141:8

• When our “eyes are fixed” on something, that is what we are paying attention to. What do we normally have our “eyes fixed” on?
• How can we shift our focus from our circumstances to seeing God in every situation?

Read Romans 8:28
You can probably think of some pretty awful things in which there seems to be no way that God could be working for our good.

• But, how have you seen God turn “awful” into “awesome”?
• How would you restate this verse in your own words?

Wrap Up
Summarize the conversation you’ve had around these Bible passages.

Turn the corner to answer the “So what?” question: because God is all-powerful, and because He is working all things out for our good, we can have confidence in Him.

We can trust Him with the seemingly-impossible situations we face. We can start noticing how He’s engaged with us. We can say with conviction, “I know You can!”

Then, invite your worship band to lead your group in singing “I Know You Can” – encourage the group to use this song as an aspirational act of faith.

Close in a prayer of thanks for God’s omnipotence, grace, and presence.

Playlist
This song is featured on “The Linc: God’s Power” Spotify playlist – which is the perfect way to remind your students what you’ve taught them in this session. To share it with them, click the live link on the web version of this study.