One spring, day on an apple farm in. Michigan, some men who had been pruning an, orchard made. a great pile of branches about 100 yards from the farmer’s barn. One morning the farmer saw a bird carrying to that pile of prunings materials for a nest. So he marked the spot with a stick. At sundown, with the bird flying about and chirping wildly, the man reached into the pile and tore the nest apart. If the bird were thinking, she was saying to herself, “How cruel this man is!” Next day the man saw the bird again trying to build at another place in the same pile. Again he marked it with a stick, and at night he destroyed all the work that the bird had done. No doubt the bird’s wild flutterings and chirpings were bird language for “This evil man! How terrible he is to destroy my nest!” On the third day he noticed that the bird was building in a rose bush near the house. He smiled and let the bird alone. The farmer had intended to burn the branch pile, and he knew if the bird were allowed to build among the branches, the nest and its little fledglings would have been destroyed. So in great kindness he had torn the two earlier nest apart. On the cross of Calvary we see that there are no accidents! As Jesus hung there, “the just for the unjust,” it looked as though there had been an accident; that God had made a mistake. But on the third day after, when “God raised him for our justification,” all believers knew that “the cross was for our good” and so the previous Friday was called “Good.” Out of that seeming tragedy, Christ paid the eternal price demanded by God for our sins. “The Lord laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

Game Description
This Easter egg toss can be used as a creative teaching idea to stimulate youth to discuss the empty tomb on Easter morning.

Game Materials

• Hard boiled eggs – Ideally you should have at least 1 hard boiled egg for every two youth.

A friend shared with me a beautiful legend about a king who decided to set aside a special day to honor his greatest subject. When the big day arrived, there was a large gathering in the palace courtyard. Four finalists were brought forward, and from these four, the king would select the winner.

Introduction
The Focus of Luke 15 is God’s love for the lost and the extend that he will go to get them back into his loving care!

Game Description
You can use a variety of scavenger hunt types of games to serve as an introduction to the three stories in Luke: Parable of the Lost Sheep, Parable of the Lost Coin, and Parable of the Lost Son. Here’s a few ideas:

John Milton lost one eye, and then the second one too, but he didn’t lose heart. Instead he produced some of the world’s greatest poetry. His blindness was an opportunity to stimulate his verbal richness.

10. I got twisted up in my sheets and couldn’t escape.
9. I didn’t have time after reading Psalms for my devotional
8. I was planning my next vacation on the maps in the back of my Bible.
7. I already had a “quiet” time for the past 8 hours.
6. I didn’t have time after my 10K morning jog and left my knee pads at the rugby field!
5. My pillow had me in a head hold and I couldn’t escape!
4. The TV was blaring late into the night so I couldn’t sleep!
3. Alright.. Whose the prankster who put super glue on my pillow?
2. Quiet time? In my house it is NEVER quiet!

If everything is coming your way, you might be in the wrong lane!

Are you a ‘one-thing’ person?
The future fearlessness of your faith will rest on the singleness of your desire…

Imagine a family of mice who lived all their lives in a large piano. In their piano world the music of the instrument filled all the dark spaces with sound and harmony. At first the mice were impressed by it. They drew comfort and wonder from the thought that there was Someone who made the music – though invisible to them – above, yet close to them. They loved to think of the Great Player whom they could not see. Then one day a daring mouse climbed up part of the piano and returned very thoughtful. He had found out how the music was made. Wires were the secret; tightly stretched wires of graduated lengths which tremble and vibrate. The mice must revise all their old beliefs. Some, however, still held on to the faith in the Unseen Player.

A Youth Sunday School teacher spent considerable time explaining the details and information for an upcoming evangelism conference. After answering questions from several students, one seventh grade boy asked: “Can you tell us again, the date of the vandalism conference?”

As told by Tan Fippin, Texas