Remote Control

Materials
A remote control. If you don't have one. Make one from a small rectangular box. Cover it with paper and draw the following buttons: rewind, fast forward, play, Pause, and stop.

Preparation
Prepare a list of temptations that youth commonly face. Describe each situation as if it were a drama script. Each situation should also culminate to a point where a specific decision, a specific choice, must be made. Scenarios can be anything with a decision to be made. Examples include the opportunity to cheat on a test, shoplifting, disobedience to parents, drinking at a party, etc.

What to do

1. Choose a few volunteers to participate in the "remote control" role play.
2. Describe one of the tempting situations and ask youth to consider the way "their peers" (friends) might handle the situation. Give them a couple minutes to think.
3. Then hit the "play" button (and say "play" aloud) and allow youth time to act out the situation as you have described it. When they come to the point where a decision must be made, press pause button while (calling out "pause") and have the actors freeze.
4. Ask the rest of the group what how the actors should respond to the choice.
5. The actors then act out the group consensus.

Take it to the Next Level
At this point you may look into scriptures dealing with the topic, and if a difference choice becomes more evident, hit the "rewind" button (while calling out "rewind") and have kids rewind the role play so they can come to a new Bible based conclusion.

• Were the role-plays typical of how your friends at school might respond? How would they justify these responses?
• How do we know when to listen to the group as opposed to doing what we think is the correct thing to do?

Linking ideas
1. The remote control could be kept around and used at any time during a lesson when a choice or decision arises. It allows you to place Biblical truths and principles into real life applications.

Variation

• Take any Biblical story and tell the first half of the story. Then talk about what the Biblical character might have done were he living today. Then hit the play button and explain what actually happened.
• You can also use this as an object lesson or children's sermon about forgiveness and second chances.