Category Archives: Object Lessons

Object Lessons: Ken’s favorite word pictures to teach Biblical principles and stir the imagination of your youth. They also make great Children’s sermons. Christ often used them in his teaching, using common objects like a mustard seed, a fig tree, a grain of wheat, a drink of water, stony soil, and more.

Object Lessons

The Waste Basket of Life – What Are You Still Carrying?

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Bible Text: Philippians 3:13–14Also: Isaiah 43:18–19, Hebrews 12:1, 1 John 1:9, Romans 12:1–2

Key Concept:
Just like Paul, we need a spiritual waste-paper basket—somewhere to throw out the things that clutter our hearts and slow our pursuit of Christ.

Bible Text: Philippians 3:13–14

Also: Isaiah 43:18–19, Hebrews 12:1, 1 John 1:9, Romans 12:1–2

Trashcan Games:

Trash Toss Showdown – (Like basketball HORSE but with junk items) – Set up a trash can and gather random soft “trash” (crumpled paper, old socks, foam pieces). Players take turns attempting trick shots into the can from different spots or with goofy rules (eyes closed, backwards, under leg). If one player makes a shot, others must copy it. Miss the same shot and earn a letter in T-R-A-S-H. First to spell TRASH is out!

Garbage Relay – (Race with obstacles and trash) – Set up a racecourse with a trash can at the end. Teams must carry one piece of symbolic “garbage” (like a labeled item for fear, guilt, etc.) and race through a silly obstacle course to toss it in the bin. Then they run back and tag the next person. First team to dump all their “trash” wins!

Toss Your Trash Testimony – (Interactive storytelling with a twist) – Each player gets a piece of paper to write something God helped them overcome (e.g., fear, pride). When sharing, they crumple it and shoot it into the trash can as a symbolic act of letting go. Adds a playful, visual closure to a spiritual moment.

Trash or Treasure? – (Discernment game) – Prepare small objects or notes with words (some positive like “grace,” others negative like “jealousy”). One at a time, youth pull an item and decide whether it belongs in the “spiritual garbage” or a “treasure box.” They explain their choice before tossing or placing it. Encourages deep thought in a light format.

Garbage Can Charades – (Classic charades, trash-style) – Fill a trash can with props or slips of paper with silly actions. One by one, players draw from the can and act out what they get. Team guesses within 30 seconds. Add a theme twist like “things we need to throw out spiritually.”

Trash Bin Balancing Challenge – (Precision and pressure) – Players must stack symbolic “trash” (light objects with spiritual labels) on top of a trash can lid without letting them fall. Great for teamwork. Add time limits and blindfolds for extra chaos.

Trash Tag – (Tag with a twist) – One person is “it” and holds a trash can lid as their shield. Others run with symbolic “trash” labels attached to them. If tagged, they must freeze and hold up their “trash” until another player frees them by “helping them toss it” into the garbage.

Trash Can Knockout – (Dodgeball meets demolition) – Place trash cans in the center and surround them with cones. Teams compete to knock down the cans with soft balls while defending their own. Once a team’s can is knocked over three times, they’re out. Fast-paced chaos!

Can Slam Sprint – (Capture the flag remix) – Place a trash can on each side of the room. Teams try to run to the opposing side, grab an item of “trash” (like a bandana or rubber chicken), and make it back without being tagged. If they succeed, they slam dunk it in the can for points!

Human Trash Launch – (Catapult-style teamwork) – Teams create a human slingshot or launching platform (like a towel held tight) and launch soft “trash” into a target trash can across the room. Requires teamwork, aim, and major laughs.

Garbage Can Mayhem – (Musical chairs chaos) – Like musical chairs but with trash cans. Place half the number of bins as players. When music stops, players rush to toss a “trash item” into a bin and grab it. No bin = you’re out! Add jumping, crawling, or spins to get there.

Trash Dash Madness – (Timed throwing competition) – Place several trash cans around the room. Each team must collect and throw in as many symbolic items as possible from a pile at the starting line. But only one player can move at a time—nonstop rotation!

Exploding Trash Tower – (Stack and attack!) – Teams must race to build the tallest “trash tower” using random junk (cups, boxes, etc.) around their trash can. Once time’s up, opposing teams get 30 seconds to try and knock each other’s towers down by throwing soft balls. Combine strategy and action!

Key Concept:
Just like Paul, we need a spiritual waste-paper basket—somewhere to throw out the things that clutter our hearts and slow our pursuit of Christ.

What You Need:

  • A trash can (label it “LIFE’S TRASH” or “SPIRITUAL GARBAGE”)
  • Sticky notes or slips of paper
  • Markers
  • A table with some props (ideas below)
  • Optional: a clear bag filled with “trash” items like fake money, mirrors, broken headphones, etc.

The Activity: What Belongs in the Trash?

Setup:
Set the trash can in the front of the room. On a table nearby, place symbolic items like:

  • A chain (guilt, sin)
  • Mirror (vanity, obsession with image)
  • Stopwatch (wasted time)
  • Old backpack or bag (burdens, regrets)
  • Play money or coins (materialism)
  • Red ribbon (bitterness, anger)
  • A fake crown or trophy (pride)
  • Also prepare blank slips of paper or sticky notes for youth to write their own “trash.”

Instructions:

1. Start by holding up one item at a time and asking:
“Does this belong in the waste basket of life?”

As each item is discussed, talk briefly about what it represents. Invite students to come up and toss it into the trash can—if they agree it needs to go.

2. After all items are discussed, hand out sticky notes and invite youth to write down 1–2 personal “trash items” they know God wants them to throw out—habits, attitudes, shame, distractions.

3. Play soft background music and allow them to come one by one to toss their papers in the waste basket.

Take It to the Next Level

Make It Spiritual

  • Paul says in Philippians 3:8 that everything else is “rubbish” compared to knowing Christ.
  • What does your “trash” cost you spiritually?
  • Why does God want us to throw it out?
  • Hebrews 12:1 reminds us to “throw off everything that hinders”—we can’t run if we’re dragging a bag of junk.

Make It Practical

  • What’s one thing you’re holding onto that’s taking up emotional or spiritual space?
  • What are some “trash” things teens carry today? (Bitterness from a breakup, comparison on social media, secret sin, guilt over the past)
  • What would it look like to walk lighter this week?

Make It Personal

  • What’s in your waste basket right now that you haven’t let go of?
  • Is there anything you’ve pulled back out of the trash that God already forgave or freed you from?
  • If Christ is your treasure, what does it look like to throw everything else away?

Scriptures

  • Philippians 3:13–14 – “Forgetting what is behind… I press on.”
  • Isaiah 43:18–19 – “Forget the former things… I am doing a new thing.”
  • Hebrews 12:1 – “Throw off everything that hinders…”
  • 1 John 1:9 – “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive…”
  • Romans 12:1–2 – “Do not conform… be transformed.”

Final Encouragement

God never meant for you to carry spiritual garbage. Paul had a waste-paper basket, and so should we. Let’s stop holding on to what Christ already died to take from us. Throw it out. Travel light. Pursue the prize.

Object Lessons

Popcorn Christians

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Popcorn Christians
Popcorn is a seed that is hard and tasteless, until placed in the fire. And then the white goodness on the inside comes out for us to not only smell the aroma, but also to taste. It’s a powerful object lesson and metaphor for Christ working in us and drawing others to himself through as as Christians.

What You Need

  • Lots of popped Popcorn
  • Some unpopped popcorn
  • There are several games below that may require additional materials such as drinking straws, cups, blindfolds, and a spoon.

Preparation

Pop some popcorn, preferably in the room in which you have the meeting, so the smell of popcorn permeates the room before the youth arrive.

Popcorn Games

  • Popcorn Race: Using a drinking straw, the youth must blow a popped kernel of popcorn across a table. First to blow it from one end to the other wins.
  • Popcorn Catcher: You must stand on a chair and dropped popped kernels of popcorn into a cup. The person with the most kernels in the cup when time is up wins.
  • Popcorn Toss: Each youth tries to throw a piece of popcorn as far as possible. The farthest throw wins.
  • Popcorn Collector: Each youth is blindfolded, given a metal spoon, and placed in from of a large bowl of popcorn. They must also hold a bowl or cup on top of their head. In the time given they youth compete by using the spoon to scoop popcorn into the cups on their heads while everyone else watches. Many times, they will deliver empty spoons to their heads and many times they will miss the cup. When time is up, the youth with the most kernels of popcorn in the cup wins.
  • Popcorn on the fire: Play a game in which two teams simulate being popcorn in a pan. Explain that in the activity, everyone on a team sits on the floor and each is a piece of popcorn. The floor is a big pan on the fire. As the pan begins to heat, some kernels of corn begin to pop. A youth pops by jumping up, clapping their hands together, and saying “Pop”. Usually popcorn begins to gradually pop and builds up to become very active and loud and then eventually stops. The team that best demonstrates the making of popcorn gets a prize.

Enjoy some Popcorn

Finish off by sharing popcorn for all the youth to enjoy. First offer the un-popped kernels and then when the youth refuse, pass around the popped popcorn.

TAKE IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL

DEBRIEF

  • Ask the youth to tell you everything they know about popcorn.
  • Ask the youth to tell you the way they have experienced popcorn in the meeting

MAKE IT SPIRITUAL

  • How is a kernel of popcorn similar to a person’s heart?
  • What are some lessons and truths we can learn from a kernel of popcorn?
  • What are some of the things that heat up our situations and cause us to respond?

Touch Points

  • The seeds start as hard and tasteless, can’t be digested
  • When heated, some respond, but some do not.
  • At some point, a change occurs, and all the potential inside the kernel is released.
    • Some remain hard and tasteless and may even burn
    • Others, the sweet inside is exposed and can be enjoyed
    • We not only taste it, but there is also a pleasant aroma that attracts people
  • Everything comes from inside the kernel
  • Most people love the smell of popcorn. One small bag fills the room. with the smell. Another word for smell is aroma. God compares us to an aroma. We experience it from a distance. It attracts us. We want it. We want to taste it for ourselves. In the same way, We must live our lives in such a way that Christ in us, is noticed by others, and they want to experience Christ for themselves.
  • Human hearts can either be like a hard kernel or the soft, fluffy, fragrant popcorn.
  • God places us in the heat – circumstances so our hearts can open up (Visually express this by changing a clenched fist to an open hand)

MAKE IT PRACTICAL

  • How do circumstances change us? Why does God allow difficult circumstances? See James 1:2-4 and Romans 5:3-5
  • In what ways are Christians an aroma of Christ?
  • What are some actions, attitudes, mindsets, and other characteristics of Christians and their relationship with Christ that are attractive to the lost?

MAKE IT PERSONAL

  • Would you consider your heart hard and tightly closed up, or soft and open?
  • What are some of the circumstances God has used in your own life to bring about a pleasant change in your life?
  • If you were to do a self test on your life as a Christian, what would it reveal? Does your life express an aroma of Christ?
  • What can you personally do this week that will serve like a pleasant aroma to draw others to Christ and want to experience Christ for themselves?

Scriptures

  • Matthew 12:35 – “A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.”
  • Luke 6:45 – “A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.”
  • Matthew 15:11 – “What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.”
  • Matthew 15:16-20 – “Are you still so dull?” Jesus asked them. “Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them.”
  • James 1:2-4 – “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
  • Romans 5:3-5 – “Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”
  • Romans 8:18 – “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”
  • 2 Corinthians 2:14-16 – “But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are an aroma that brings death; to the other, an aroma that brings life. And who is equal to such a task?”

MORE IDEAS? See “Creative Object Lessons”

200 page e-book that explains everything you need to know when planning your very own object lessons. It contains 90 fully developed object lesson ideas and another 200 object lesson starter ideas based on Biblical idioms and Names / Descriptions of God.

Learn More…

Game Ideas, Object Lessons

Chopsticks Christian Living – An Object Lesson

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Chopsticks Christian Living
We just celebrated Chinese New Year here in Asia, which gave me the idea of games using chopsticks. Chopsticks always come in pairs and work together to pick up items. It reminds me of the Helper, the Holy spirit, who always works along side us to accomplish God’s purpose in our lives and the world.

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Games Using Chopsticks

NOTE: For these games you will need Chinese chopsticks (kebab sticks or even a couple of pencils could be used if you have a hard time finding chopsticks). You could also try your local Chinese takeout to grab some chopsticks. As awards you can use martial arts designations like “Blackbelt in Chopsticks.” (Yellow Belt, Orange Belt, Green Belt, Brown Belt, Black Belt)

  • Chopsticks & ping pong ball relay – give every team member a pair of chopsticks and line them up in a row. With one hand behind their backs, team members must pass a ping pong ball down the line. The first team to pass the ball to the end of the line wins.
  • Chopstick Transfer – For this game you will need a pair of Chopsticks, a bowl & Plate for each team. You will also need some items to pick up with chopsticks. Marshmallows or cotton balls are easy, but you can also use peanuts, uncooked rice grains, peas, beans, jelly means, M&ms, ice cubes, small candies, popcorn, peanuts, and even marbles. Set a timer or stopwatch for 1 Minute. See how many Items can be transferred from the Bowl to the plate in 1 Minute using the chopsticks in one hand only. Who ever can transfer the most in that time Wins. Alternatively put different items in the bowl with more difficult items being with more points.
  • On the Hook – In this game, contestants must hold a chopstick in their mouth, attached to a piece of string and an open paper clip. The contestant has to fish 4 keys off a stand (or stool) within 60 seconds. Alternatively, the Team to get all four in the fastest time wins.
  • Chopstick Pickup Dash – Played like “chopstick transfer”, place the bowl and plate about eight feet apart. Some objects are easier to carry than others. Each youth’s bowl should contain the same number of items. Using only their chopsticks, the participants carry the items from the bowl to the plate. Each team member takes a turn carrying an item before handing the chopsticks off to the next player.
  • Chopstick in the Hole – You need at least two youth to play this game. Give each player a single chopstick. Tie a string around the end of the chopstick. For youth, tie the other end of the string around the waist. Younger children can play with the string tied to their wrist. The object of this game is to get the chopstick into a glass bottle (or any other object with a small hole at the top) without using hands. Have the participants lean over the bottle and try to lower the chopstick through the hole. The first one to get it in wins. This game works as a relay as well. Choose teams. Time the rounds instead of stopping when the first player succeeds. The team with the most chopsticks in the hole wins.
  • Chicken Wok – Youth line up in two teams with the first person from each team standing
    on a starting line. Give the first youth in line two chopsticks. On the signal to begin, the first student will pick up the rubber chicken from inside a hula hoop using only chopsticks. (They may not use hands or stick the chopstick inside the chicken). If you can’t get rubber chickens you can also use bean bags, or a blown up rubber glove. They will have to bring the chicken down to their wok or stir fry pan, then give the sticks to the next youth in line, who then repeats the process. The process continues until everyone has had a turn. First team to have every person go wins.
  • Chopstick M&m Sort – For each team, put a bag of m&m’s in a bowl. Team members must hold one hand behind their backs and use chopsticks to seperate the colors into different bowls. The team to correctly separate the most M&ms in 1 minute wins.
  • Balance Pasta With Chopstick – For each team, you will need 7-8 Mezze Penne uncooked pasta pieces and a pair of chopsticks. As the time starts, the participants have to grab the chopstick and place it into their mouth. Once the chopstick is placed in their mouth, the participants are not allowed to use their hands. They have to keep them behind their backs. The participants must pick up the pennes one by one using the chopstick in their mouth. The participants should be careful while picking up the pennes so that the pennes already on the chopstick do not fall off. If they fall on the ground they can not be picked up, but if they fall on the table they can pick them up again. Penne can touch a participant’s lips, but they should not enter their mouth. The participant who is able to hold the maximum penne pasta on his/her chopstick in one minute wins.
  • Chocolate and chopsticks – Place a chocolate block in the center of the table. The candy should stay in its wrapper and, to make the game last longer, you could wrap the chocolate block in layers of gift-wrapping paper as well. Each person sitting around the table takes a turn at rolling the dice. The 1st person who rolls a six gets to start eating the chocolate block — but only with one hand behind his or her back and using only a pair of chopsticks. While they are getting ready to eat the chocolate block, the group keeps taking turns rolling the dice. If someone rolls a six, then the person who rolled the six before him relinquishes his right to the chocolate block, and the 2nd person must try to eat the chocolate before someone else rolls six. The game is over when the block of chocolate is finished. This can also be played with packages of M&ms.
  • “Pick-up Sticks” with wooden chopsticks – Split a class into small groups. One youth on each team starts the game by dropping a handful of chopsticks on a table or floor. The chopsticks will end up in a pile. Each participant on the team must remove a chopstick from the pile without touching or moving any of the other sticks. If a youth fails, he or she loses their turn. The student(s) with the most chopsticks at the end of the game is the winner. To add an interesting twist, Roll a slip of paper with a scripture verse around some of them. A piece of tape or glue will help hold the paper in place.
  • Tallest Tower – Have students work in teams to construct towers out of wooden chopsticks. You can add rubber bands or only permit participants to use the plastic or paper wrapper that pairs of chopsticks usually come with to tie their towers together. The team that builds the tallest tower in a designated amount of time wins.
  • Lemon Roll – You will need a pair of chopsticks, One lemon and a timer. The objective is to get the lemon from you to the next person on your team, and eventually all the way to the end of the line. participants may only use the chopsticks to manipulate the lemon.
  • Pass the Object – Arrange the youth in a circle and give them each a pair of chopsticks. Choose an object such as a marshmallow, a peanut, a walnut, a gummy bear or a marble. Give the item to one youth to start the game. The youth should pass the item around the circle using their chopsticks. If someone drops the item, he is out. Move the circle in and continue the game until there is only one player left standing.
  • Chop Stack – In one minute or less, use a standard pair of chopsticks to grab and stack four tubes of lip balm, creating a vertical tower. Place the chopsticks on the table, as well as the four tubes of lip balm. The lip balms should be resting horizontally (on their sides) rather than standing up. The contestant starts off by standing in front of the table, facing the laid-out supplies. Start the timer. The player can now pick up the chopsticks and arrange them in one hand, using them in the traditional manner. Then, he or she picks up the tubes of lip balm, one at a time, and stacks them. The tubes must stand straight up (with the lid facing upwards), and the completed tower of four lip balm tubes must be free-standing. The tower of tubes must remain standing, without any support, for three seconds to qualify. Complete this task in one minute or less and you win the game. As a team competition you can do the fastest time or the the team member who gets the most in one minute.
  • Chopsticks On A Jar – You will need one wide-mouthed container, such as a peanut butter jar and several pairs of chopsticks. The group’s goal is to have all of the chopsticks successfully balanced on top of the jar simultaneously. Each youth takes a turn placing one of the chopsticks on the mouth of the container. The youth attempts to place his/her chopsticks without spilling any of the previously placed chopsticks. At the end of one minute, the team with the most chopsticks balanced on the jar wins.
  • Jacks – Divide the youth into groups of three. Give each group a rubber ball or tennis ball and ten chopsticks. Each youth in the group will have a turn. The first youth in the group will take the bundle of 10 chopsticks and spread them on the ground. Sitting down in front of the group of sticks, throw the ball up (not too high). Quickly pick up one chopstick and then catch the ball, allowing the ball to bounce just once. Continue the game until all the sticks are retrieved one at a time. If the person cannot pick up the chopstick or misses the ball, his/her turn is ended. If the person successfully picks up the ten sticks he/she goes on to the next step. The next step is picking up chopsticks by two’s. Then picking up chopsticks by three’s, then by four’s, five’s, sixes, seven’s, eight’s nine’s, and all ten. After all these steps have been completed, the player will hold all ten chopsticks in one hand and tap them on the ground three times while the ball bounces once. The first player to complete all these steps wins the game!
  • Jelly Feast – Most jelly eaten with chopsticks in one minute wins.
  • Crossed or uncrossed – Take a couple of chopsticks.. sit in a circle and explain to the Youth that they have to figure out the secret to this game. Key a few youth in before you start. Pass the chopsticks to your right asking, “Are they crossed or uncrossed?” The key to this game has nothing to do with the chopsticks being passed. The answer depends on the legs of the person doing the passing, if the legs, ankles, feet of the passer are crossed, the answer is “Crossed”, if they are uncrossed, the answer is “uncrossed.” Again, as the game goes on, make the crossing of the legs more obvious. These games are fun when you exaggerate the motion or positioning of the objects they are trying to figure out because the key has nothing to do with the object.
  • Jolly Javelin – Use individual chopsticks as a javelin. The youth who tosses it the furthest wins.
  • Nut Job – Arrange 8 iron nuts in a row at the end of a table and provide the contestant with a chopstick. The contestant has to string the nuts into the chopsticks without using his hands. All 8 nuts have to be on the chopstick at the end of the minute.

TAKE IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL

MAKE IT SPIRITUAL

Lessons from Chopsticks

  • Chopsticks Only Work in Pairs – Since chopsticks must be used in pairs, in Chinese culture, it stands for “close cooperation”.
  • Patience – It takes patience and care. Sometimes instead of rushing we need to wait on God and His timing.
  • Only pick up one thing at a time – We often try to do too much at once, but sometimes we need to fully focus on only one task at a time and seek God’s direction for what he wants us to focus on at the time.
  • Don’t hold on too tight – Sometimes God chooses a delicate and gentle touch, a quiet whisper, to accomplish mighty things.
  • No matter how careful you are, sometimes you’ll drop something. God chooses to use us even though he knows we will fail him. But he is always merciful and redemptive and will pick us back up and use in might ways for His glory.

After Jesus announced to His disciples that He would be leaving them soon, He encouraged them: “And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Counselor to be with you forever – the Spirit of Truth” (John 14:16=17). The Greek word translated “Comforter” or “Counselor” or “advocate” (as found in John 14:16, 26; 15:26; and 16:7) is parakletos. It is made up of the preposition para, “beside,” and the adjective kle-tos, “called.” It means “to come alongside to help”, “one called to the side of another,” with the secondary idea of counseling or supporting him or her. A paraklete is someone who can do something for you that you cannot by yourself.

MAKE IT PRACTICAL

  • In John 14, how does Jesus say the Holy Spirit will help the disciples?
  • What does it mean that the Holy Spirit is our Paraklete? Our Helper?
  • What are the benefits of having the Holy Spirit as a helper alongside us?
  • What roles does the Holy Spirit have in our lives and in the world? What does he help us with?

MAKE IT PERSONAL

  • What choices do you have to make this week that you need the Holy Spirit’s help with?
  • What thing do you need to do this week that you need the Holy Spirit’s help with?

SCRIPTURES RELATED TO THE ROLES OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

  • Conviction – John 16:8 “And when he comes, he will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment.”
  • Baptism – Matthew 3:11 – “I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” Mark 1:8 – “I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
  • Regeneration – Titus 3:5 – “he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit,” John 3:5-8 – “Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
  • Indwelling – John 14:17 – “the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.” I Corinthians 3:16 – “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?” (See also 6:19)
  • Sealing – Ephesians 4:30 – “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” II Corinthians 1:22 – “set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.”
  • Filling – Ephesians 5:18 – “Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit,”
  • Guiding – Galatians 5:25 – “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.” Galatians 5:16 – “So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.” Romans 8:14 – “For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.”
  • Development of Christian fruit – Galatians 5:22-23 – “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”
  • Teaching – Jesus promised that when the Spirit came he would lead believers into truth. The Spirit illuminates the mind of the believer to the revelation of God’s will through his Word. – John 14:26 – “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” John 16:13 – “But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.” 2 Tim 3:16-17 “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” 1 John 2:27 – “As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit – just as it has taught you, remain in him.”
  • Gives us spiritual gifts – I Corinthians 12, Romans 12:3-8, and 1 Peter 4:10-11 reveal the names of many gifts God’s Spirit provides to believers. Each believer has at least one (1 Corinthians 12:7), and each person is specifically gifted for the acts of service God has prepared for him or her (Ephesians 2:10).
  • Assists in evangelism – Acts 1:8 – “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Acts 4:31 – “After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.”
  • Prayer – Romans 8:26 – “In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words”
  • Empowers us for all aspects of the Christian Life and transformation – Ephesians 3:14-19 – “For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge – that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”

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Game Ideas, Object Lessons

Reflecting Christ’s Image – Object Lesson Using Foil

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Reflecting Christ’s Image

Aluminum foil is one of those things we often take for granted. It has so many uses. But this week’s lesson uses foil to remind us that as Christians we are destined to be conformed to the image of Christ, reflecting Him in all that we do. It’s not just being seen as Christlike, but God moulding us and shaping us into the image of His Perfect Son.

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Aluminum Foil Games

  • Mirror Maze – Make a maze on the floor using masking tape. Make mirrors for teams by wrapping a piece of aluminum foil, shiny side out, around a small square of cardboard. Youth must walk through the maze by looking into the foil mirror held straight out from their eyebrows so that the mirror reflects the ground at their feet. Youth are only allowed to look in their mirror to navigate. The youth who completes the maze in the quickest time wins. To make it a little more difficult, assign time penalties for each time a person steps on a line or touches an obstacle. Variation: Everyone must walk backwards from one side of the area to the other using only foil mirrors to see.
  • Mirror Scavenger Hunt – Place a variety of items inside a designated area that youth must collect and deliver to their team. They must look toward the ceiling, holding a foil mirror above their head so that it reflects the ground at the feet to navigate and retrieve the objects. if they look down at any time they are disqualified. The team that picks up all the items the fastest wins. Variations: Youth must pick up the items according to size or place some items that incur penalties when touched.
  • Walk the Line – Make a zig-zag and single maze like line of masking tape or using chalk that winds around the room and ends on the opposite side of the room. While looking into a foil mirror placed above their heads youth are to walk the line to the end of the room then return. If they miss stepping on the line they must return to the start. Using a stop watch, time the team in getting all members to walk the line (relay style). Team with the quickest time wins.
  • Mirror Dodge Ball – Make balls of foil from discarded aluminum foil. Place a line or divider down the center of the room. While looking AWAY from the supposing team and into a mirror so they can see the team behind them, youth must toss the balls of foil and try to hit people in the other team. if someone is hit they are out of the game. Team with the most remaining members after a given time period is declared the winner.
  • Capture the Flag – Divide your youth group in two teams and the room into two territories so that each team has one territory. Give each team a flag they can place anywhere in their territory. (It must be visible when you are next to it and the other team must be able to directly access it) Teams can place tables, chairs, or other “defense objects” in their territory. Supply each team with as many aluminum foil balls as possible. The object is to get the other team’s flag to your side without getting hit by an aluminum foil ball thrown from the other team. If a person is hit with a foil ball, he/she must sit out until the next round. When the team members begin to dwindle, raids can be made on the other team’s flag. The first team to capture the other team’s flag is declared the winner. Everyone re-supplies with the aluminum foil balls and another round can be played.
  • Foil wars – For this game you’ll need a dark room, a strobe light, and several rolls of aluminum foil. Make as many balls of aluminum foil as possible. Divide the room in half and have a line down the middle of the room. Place an equal number of foil balls on each side of the room, shut off the lights and start the strobe light. When the lights come back on the team with the fewest number of foul balls on their side wins the game. If you want to reduce the amount of foil used you can also cover ping pong balls with foil.
  • Aluminum Foil Sculptures – Give each youth small sheet of aluminum foil. When the clock starts, they will have one minute to create an aluminum sculpture. When finished, display the Sculptures on a table in the front of the room and have the youth group vote on winners for various categories.
  • Tallest Tower – Give each team a roll of aluminum foil and using only the foil teams must create the tallest free-standing tower possible in 10 minutes. For an extra challenge, give all the teams less time.
  • Spot the Difference – Find some “spot the difference puzzles” – Two images that are mirror reflections of each other but with changes. Award points to teams of youth for correctly identifying the differences in the two mirror images.

NOTE: You can also replace the ping pong ball in many games with a ball of aluminum foil or use the wrapping paper ideas I sent at Christmas and use foil instead.

Final Game for Key Application

  • Foil Faces – Give each youth a piece of aluminum foil big enough to cover his/ her face. Have each find a partner who will make an image of his/her face by placing the foil up to the person’s face and carefully molding the foil sheet to the face. If they wear glasses, a hat, earrings or other peculiar identifiable items ask them to leave them on during the mold making process. With a marker put the owners name on the inside of each. If you have a very large group you can reduce the time required by recruiting several representatives in advance. Place the masks in random order in front of the volunteers. The youth have to try to match the face with the mask. The player with the most correct wins.

TAKE IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL

KEY TRUTHS

  • We are created in the image of God – We are created in God’s image to reflect his light in our lives. Image – “a physical likeness or representation of a person, animal, or thing, photographed, painted, sculptured, or otherwise made visible.” Our lives are moulded to him and we reflect him in our actions and thoughts.
  • Sin corrupted God’s image in us – However when man fell he became a distorted, corrupted image of God. Like a piece of foil, wadded up and then used as a mirror, the reflection is shattered. When we sin, we choose to be moulded not into the image of God, but into the image of other things. We replace God with those things and they shape our lives, corrupting it and destroying the image of God in us.
  • God redeems us – You’ve made an impression of your face in foil, but the foil isn’t really you. It looks a little like you, but It’s not you. It’s just an impression of who you are. In the same way, we are created in the “image of God.” We are NOT God, but created to be like Him and reflect what He is like. After our fall, God sent His perfect image, Jesus Christ, to restore God’s image in us as we accept Him as our Savior and Lord. Each of us was created, shaped, loved, redeemed, and called by God to be transformed into His Perfect You, reflecting the best of God in everything.
  • God wants to Mould us into the image of His Son – God’s also want to leave His impression on us, specifically the impression of Christ – to be Christlike. We still look like ourselves, but God wants us to look like him in the ways we live and think. It’s not the reflection of our face, but the reflection of our heart God wants to change.
  • Moulding requires pressure – It take pressure to mould the foil to your face. In the same way God may use pressure to mould us into the image of His Son. It may be through health, trials, temptations, challenges, tests of our faith. Whatever circumstances God allows in our lives are for the purpose of making us more Christlike. [Quite a personal application for me as I continue my chemotherapy]

MAKE IT SPIRITUAL

  • What is an image? What is a mould?
  • When you look at your reflection in a mirror, how does the quality of the mirror affect how you see yourself?

MAKE IT PRACTICAL

  • Is it possible to not see a problem in yourself, even if the mirror is in front of you?
  • What are some ways that a Christian begins to look like Christ in his or her actions, deeds, values, thoughts, habits, and words?
  • What are some examples of Christlike characteristics?
  • In what ways does a Christian mirror Jesus?

MAKE IT PERSONAL

  • Do you spend most of your time looking into physical mirror or the mirror of God’s Word? What does this say about you?
  • Does your life reflect Christ? Actions? Thoughts? Habits? Your Heart?
  • In what ways is God moulding you into the image of His Son?
  • In what ways is God still conforming you to his image?
  • What Christlike characteristics would others describe in your life?
  • What’s one thing that would change in your life if you were more Christlike?

SCRIPTURES

  • Genesis 1:27 – “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”
  • 1 Peter 1:13-16 – “Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”
  • Psalm 139:13-16 – “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”
  • Galatians 3: 26-29 – “You are all sons (and daughters) of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”
  • Peter 3:3-4 – “You should be known for the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God.”
  • Romans 12:1-2 – “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”
  • 1 Corinthians 13:12 – “Now we see a dim reflection, as if we were looking into a mirror, but then we shall see clearly. Now I know only a part, but then I will know fully, as God has known me”
  • James 1:22-25 – “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it – not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it – they will be blessed in what they do.”

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Game Ideas, Object Lessons

Chewing on God’s Word – A bubble gum object lesson

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Chewing on God's Word
NOTE: As I write this week’s idea of the week, I’m sitting in the hospital while they do the preparation for chemotherapy for lymphoma. It’s been an eventful past couple of weeks since I was diagnosed and I missed last week’s idea of the week.

This week’s lesson is centered around bubble gum. When I think of bubble gum there are a couple of things that come to mind. First, when you unwrap it and first place it in your mouth, it’s kind of hard and not very flexible. But when you chew on it a while it becomes not only flexible, but you can then fill it with air and expand it to make huge bubbles. Chewing the bubble gum for me is a lot like meditation on God’s Word. I’ve had a lot of time to do that in the hospital as they run all the tests to decide the chemo regiment and make sure I will be able to tolerate it. Like bubble gum, you have to chew on God’s Word a while to get the full flavor and experience it more fully. At first it may seem kind of HARD to understand but you just need to chew on it awhile. God’s Word, unlike Bubble Gum, never loses it flavor. And once we’ve meditated or chewed on it a while, we become more flexible and useful to God. He can stretch us and fill us and use us.

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Bubble Gum Games

Bubble Gum Blowing Contest – You can play this game as individuals, or with representatives from multiple teams. Give each youth 2 pieces of gum. On your signal, they must unwrap the bubble gum, chew it, and blow a large bubble. The largest bubble wins. Give the youth 60 seconds to blow their best bubble. The easiest way to time the game is to play some upbeat energetic music and then stop the music after 60 seconds as a timer. (NOTES: You might want to have a ruler for measurement. Also, if you add a little peanut butter to bubble gum you can blow even bigger bubbles. Peanut butter also works wonders for getting bubble gum out of hair.)

Bubble Gum Blow-Out – Tape a piece of paper to the wall at an easily reached height for your youth. You’ll need one for each team. On “go”, each player has to race to a table on the other side of the room to get a piece of bubble gum. They must then. They then unwrap it and start chewing it to get it flexible enough to blow a bubble. A once they blow the bubble they must stick it to the paper on the wall for their team, using only their mouth. No hands are allowed. The first team to have every member stick a bubble to the paper wins. (Note: Some brands of bubble gum are easier to stick to the paper than others)

Bubble Gum Matchup – You will want to buy several different flavors or colors of bubble gum. Give everyone about 5-10 pieces of different bubble gum flavors or different colored individually wrapped bubblegum balls. (Be sure to tell them not to eat it yet.) Tell them they have about 1 to 2 minutes to get all the same color of Bubble Gum. To do so they need to trade with other youth. The first person to trade and get all of one color wins.

Bubble Gum Swing – Youth pair up for this game, and it can be played with the entire group or a representative from each team. For each pair, tie a piece of bubble gum to a string so that when the end of the string is placed in a person’s mouth, the bubble gum is about 6 inches from the floor. One youth in each pair holds the string in his or her mouth and swings the bubble gum to their partner. The partner must catch the piece of bubble gum into their mouth while standing up straight and at no time can either person use hands. They must then chew the bubble gum as quickly as possible and blow a bubble. The first pair to do so wins, but you might want to continue the game until several more are successful.

Bubble Gum Art – Give each youth one or more pieces of bubble gum to chew, a toothpick and an index card. Allow them a few minutes to chew the bubble gum, place it on the index card and then create a sculpture of something on the index card using only the toothpick as a tool – no hands. You can either give them a specific object to sculpt or you can let them come up with their own sculpture. If you allow them free reign with their creations, give each person an opportunity to show off their creation. You can also give other youth an opportunity to guess what the scultpture is. The person with the best and most creative design, as determined by the peer group is the winner. You can have several categories of winners, like “Most ingenious,” “Most Creative,” etc.

Bubble Blow Up – Give a representative from each team a Blow Pop sucker. The first one to unwrap it, and bite into it, to the gum, and blow a bubble wins.

Bubble Gum Treasure Hunt – Young Life Twist: Bury a piece of bubble gum in plate of flour. Without using their hands, youth have to find the gum and blow a bubble. First to do so wins.

Bubble Race – First person in a pair to blow and pop ten bubbles in a row wins. Face your opponent (this is important, it means you can cheat by making your rival laugh and they won’t be able to blow a bubble) and on the count of three start blowing. Bubbles have to make a pop or they don’t count and you can’t make your bubble pop by sucking it backwards. It has to pop while it’s being blown outwards. The first one to ten wins.

TAKE IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL

Discussion:

  • What is your favorite kind of bubble gum? Why?
  • Why do you choose to chew bubble gum? The flavor, to blow bubbles, or simple to have something to chew on or pass the time?
  • What does it mean to chew on something?
  • What is the benefit of chewing something for a long time?

MAKE IT SPIRITUAL

* In what way is meditation in God’s Word similar to chewing gum?

In many of these games, we rushed to chew the gum quickly so that we could simply blow a bubble. We didn’t take it slowly or take time to enjoy it and fully experience the flavor, but we simply chewed it just enough to get something done. Unfortunately this is the same way many of us treat our Bible reading. We read just enough to get the job done, but we don’t really meditate on it or or take time to really enjoy it. In the Bible, we are often commanded to meditate on scripture. We are also told to taste and see that God is good.

* When given a piece of gum, do you quickly chew it and swallow it, or do you chew it for a while and enjoy it?
What is your favorite food? Have you ever chewed your favorite food very slowly so that you can taste every nuance of the flavor and truly enjoy it? This is a lot like meditation.

MAKE IT PRACTICAL

Meditate means to take your time to think long and hard about something, to focus on something or someone in order to get the most out of it.
What are some ways we can meditate on scripture?

Here three of my favorites:
Look up key words in the verse in an English Dictionary. How does the full meaning of the words expand your understanding of the scripture?
Read a verse emphasizing a different word each time. For example, John 3:16
FOR God so loved the World….
For GOD so loved the world….
For God SO loved the world…
For God so LOVED the world….
ETC… How does each emphasis bring more depth to the meaning of the verse?
3. Read it in various translations.

MAKE IT PERSONAL

  • Make sure you have a personal bible reading plan or devotional book you use to mediate on scriptures.
  • Set aside some time each day to meditate on Scripture.
  • Keep a journal of your insights as you meditate on God’s Word each day.

SCRIPTURES

1 Corinthians 3:1-3 – “And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to infants in Christ. I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able, for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men?”

John 16:12 – “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear.”

Hebrews 5:12 – “In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food!”

1 Peter 2:2 – “Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation,”

Joshua 1:8 – “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.”

Psalm 1:1-6 – “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; ”

Psalm 119:9-11 – “How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word. With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments! I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.”
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Game Ideas, Object Lessons

Stretched by God – Games and an Object Lesson

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Stretched by God

There is going to be a tug-of-war in our spiritual life because God is always in the process of transforming us. Change causes tension and we are stretched. This week’s lesson uses rubber bands for games and as an object lesson on the topic of being stretched by God.

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Rubber Band Games

  • Rubber Band Face – Youth compete by stretching a rubber band over their heads and open their mouths so that the rubber band is stretched between their teeth and below their ears. Without using their hands, they must move the rubber band down their faces so that it ends up around their neck. They will need to use their tongue, lips and teeth and lots of chin wriggling to make this happen. be sure to have a camera because the distorted faces are hilarious. (You can also place the rubber band on the upper lip just below the nose for a different variation)
  • Rubber Band Face – Youth compete by stretching a rubber band over their heads and open their mouths so that the rubber band is stretched between their teeth and below their ears. Without using their hands, they must move the rubber band down their faces so that it ends up around their neck. They will need to use their tongue, lips and teeth and lots of chin wriggling to make this happen. be sure to have a camera because the distorted faces are hilarious. (You can also place the rubber band on the upper lip just below the nose for a different variation)
  • Rubber Band War – Set up two fortresses in a classroom using folding tables turned on their sides about 8-10 feet apart. Put a line of masking tape down the middle of the playing field between the two tables. Give two teams tons of rubber bands (you can buy them by the bag at office supply stores). Teams try to hide behind the fortress, but can jump out and run around as long as they stay on their side of the dividing line. If anyone gets shot by a rubber band, even from their own team, they are out of the game. The last team standing (or crawling around the floor) wins. Rubber bands must be shot directly in order to get a person out. Simply tossing them over the table doesn’t count. Stress the importance of honesty. Try different configurations with your tables to keep it interesting. Use thin rubber bands so they don’t hurt too much or cause injuries.
  • Rubber Band Targets – Hang aluminum pie tins from string across one end of the room. Use a marker to label them with different point values. When hit with a rubber band they will make a definite sound. Give each youth 5 to 10 rubber bands to shoot from the other side of the room. Highest score wins.
  • Rubber Band Pass – The objective of this youth group game is to pass the most rubber bands to the end of your team’s line as possible in a given amount of time. Divide into teams and give every team member a plastic drinking straw to place in his or her mouth. (You can also use dried spaghetti in place of a straw) Once the straw is in the mouth you cannot adjust it or touch it with your hands. The first person on each team places a rubber band on his or her straw, then using the straws only must pass it to the second person in line, and continue until it reaches the end of the line. Only one rubber band can be on a straw at a time.
  • Rubber Band Man – You’ll need a lot of rubber bands for each team. Give each team 1 minute to place as many rubber bands as possible on their rubber band man (or woman). A rubber band on the rubber band man’s hands or arms is worth 1 point. The feet and legs are two points. Face is 3 points. Hanging it on the ears doesn’t count. The neck is not allowed. The team with the most points wins. Use different size rubber bands to make the game more interesting. Be prepared for some outrageous photos.
  • Rubber Band Rope Jumping – Loop a number of rubber bands together tightly until you have a larger one (You can select the length you want). Teams then compete to see who can make the most jumps using the rubber band.
  • Loop Groups – Tie a number of rubber bands together to form a big loop about the size of a hula hoop. Ask the youth to stand in a circle and hold hands. Then have one pair of youth release their hands and reach through the loop circle and then re-connect hands. The ring of rubber bands must travel in a clockwise direction and return to the initial starting position without anyone letting go of the hands on either side of them. The youth must stay in one location while the rubber band loop moves around the circle. Fastest time wins.
  • Rubber Band Limbo – This game, is like the traditional game of limbo, except that the string of rubber bands replaces the pole. The rubber bands are stretched at progressively lower levels and the youth try to pass under it.
  • Rubber band wrestling – This game is played between pairs of youths. They must sit at a table facing each other, and resting their right hands on the table. They then hook their fingers together with their thumbs raised up in the air. A rubber band is then placed around the two thumbs. On “go” they each try to capture the rubber band without dropping it by wiggling their thumbs. The side with the most winners can be the winning team or you can have successive play off until you have a single winner.
  • Elastic Bull’s Eye – You will need loop of rubber bands tied together into a circle and one “target” (non-elastic string loop) for each group. The group must release the stretched out rubber band in such a way that the elastic falls inside the target (inside the bulls eye). Divide the youth group into teams of 4-8 and supply each group with one loop of rubber bands and one “target” (non-elastic string). Each person in the group holds onto the elastic with two fingers and then the group backs up so the elastic is stretched out in a big circle (people are spaced evenly from each other). Place the target in the center of the circle. The group must now release the elastic simultaneously and in such a way that the elastic falls into the target. Most number of success in a given time wins. Rules: The group must keep the loop stretched just before the release. The group must release the loop simultaneously. The stretched loop must be kept parallel to the ground. The target must stay in the center of the circle. The loop can only land inside the target as a result of the simultaneous release of the loop by the group (example: the elastic cannot be thrown by one person)
  • Focus Ring – You’ll need a large thick rubber band that is a bit smaller than a tennis ball for each team. Each team will also need two empty plastic soda bottles. Finally you will need about 3 ft or 1 meter of string for each team member. Tie the strings to the rubber band in a radiating pattern so that the rubber band is in the center of all the strings. Place the tennis ball on top of one of the empty soda bottles as a pedestal. The objective it to pull on the strings and use the rubber band to move the tennis ball on top of the other. Each person in the group holds on to at least one string (depending on the size of the group, some will have more than one string). The participants spread out like spokes of a wheel, holding on to the end of their string. Rules: Each participant gets to operate at least one string. Participants must hold onto the end of the string and no other place. Participants must stay at a distance of at least the length of a stretched out string (very important). If the ball falls the group must start again. If the pedestal falls over the group must start again. The group is successful when the ball is balanced on the pedestal.

TAKE IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL

One of the key characteristics of a rubber band is that it is stretched. In fact, a rubber band isn’t much use unless it is stretched.

  • What are some things that we use rubber bands for?
  • Why are the rubber bands ideal for such tasks?
  • What happens to a rubber band after it is stretched many times?

MAKE IT SPIRITUAL

Just as a rubber band becomes more useful when stretched, God also stretches us to make us more effective and use us more fully for his glory. When stretched you expand your usefulness to God. See the scripture section below for verses that talk about us being stretched in the Christian walk. Stretching means trusting God in moments of stress, tension, pressure, and discomfort. Sometimes it is painful and sometimes merely uncomfortable.

MAKE IT PRACTICAL

There is going to be a tug-of-war in our spiritual life because God is always in the process of transforming us. Change causes tension and we are stretched. But in these times God is moving us forward into the likeness of Christ. When God stretches us, He is not making us somebody we do not want to be. He is actually stretching us to be the person He created us to be.

  • When a muscle is regularly stretched it becomes more flexible, versatile, efficient, strong, and growing. What difference would it make in your Christian walk if these characteristics were also true of you spiritual life?
  • Consider also the opposites of those qualities. How would your spiritual life be different if it was characterized by inflexible, limited, ineffective, atrophied, weak and brittle?
  • When a muscle is not regularly stretched it atrophies or shrinks. How does this relate to spiritually exercising our faith?
  • There is always a purpose to being stretched. How do we cooperate with God and grow in the stretch?

MAKE IT PERSONAL

  • How is God growing and stretching you right now?
  • Do you tend to cooperate and hear what God is doing, or pull away when you are being stretched
  • How can you personally cooperate with God when he is stretching you?

SCRIPTURES

  • Philippians 3:14 – “I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”
  • Isaiah 54:2 – “Enlarge the place of your tent, And let them stretch out the curtains of your dwellings; Do not spare; Lengthen your cords, and strengthen your stakes.”
  • Philippians 3:13 and 14 – “forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”
  • Matthew 12:13 – “Then He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand!” He stretched it out, and it was restored to normal, like the other.”
  • James 1:2-4 – “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials; knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”
  • 1 Corinthians 10:13 – “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.”
  • Philippians 4:13 – “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”

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Game Ideas, Object Lessons

Babies in Christ – An Object Lesson for the New Year

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Babies in Christ
The new year is often represented by a new born baby because a baby represents a fresh beginning. Jesus described Salvation to Nicodemus in John 3 as being “born” again. Both physically and spiritually, we begin as babies. But we don’t stay as babies – we must grow. The Bible tells us to “grow in grace in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ” (II Peter 3:18).

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Baby Games

  • Baby Bottle Guzzlers – The first to drain a baby bottle filled with soda and then burp wins. (You might want to enlarge the hole in the nipples.)
  • Baby Bottle Knockover – Get a pair of old pantie hose and put a potato in the stocking and let it slide to the foot of one of the legs. Tie the other leg around the youth’s head. You’ll need one for each team. Place a baby bottle on the floor for each team. First person to knock the baby bottle over with the potato in the stocking wins.
  • Baby Food Roulette – Label several gross baby food flavors with numbers stuck on with a piece of tape then play a game of hot potato with a plastic spoon. When the music stops, the person holding the spoon picks a number and must eat a big spoon of baby food from the jar of baby food with that number on it and the person is out of the game. Rearrange the numbers so youth don’t know what they are getting for the next round and repeat. Continue until there is only one person left in the game.
  • Baby Items in the Bag – Put at least ten common baby items inside a diaper bag: a bib, cotton buds, cotton balls, baby powder, teething ring, rattle, bottle, baby brish, baby lotion, baby shampoo, diaper, wet wipes, diaper pin, sock, onesie, and baby blanket are just a few ideas that are also fairly inexpensive. Give each youth a pen and paper before passing the diaper bag around. Without looking, each youth should stick a hand inside the diaper bag and try to identify as many items as possible. Give each youth 60 seconds to make their guesses before moving the bag to the next person. Once everyone has had a turn, whoever has the most correct answers wins. (Variation: put them on a tray and cover it. Uncover it for 60 seconds then cover it back up before they youth are allowed to write down the contents of the tray.)
  • Baby Relay – A person from each team must put on the diaper, tuck the bib in the shirt, place their thumb in their mouth, and waddle to the other end of the room (or if outside, a designated place) where they will get on their hands and knees (like a crawling baby) and have a fellow team member squirt a bit of water from the baby bottle into the mouth of the baby. The baby then returns and the next person repeats the same tasks. First team to have all members go through the tasks wins.
  • Baby Sketch Artists – Each youth is given a paper plate and a marker. With the paper plate no top of her or his head, each person draws a picture of a baby. Best sketch wins.
  • Baby Stroller F1 Race – You need at least one baby stroller and a doll to put inside. You might also want a stopwatch. Use cones, flags, are anything else to mark out a race course. Representatives from each team will have a turn at racing the stroller through the race course as fast as possible. Add penalty seconds for hitting any object, for the baby falling out of the stroller,or other infractions of your rules. Fastest time wins.
  • Blind Diaper Relay – Give each team a baby doll, and a blindfold. First person in line dons the blindfold, takes off the current disposable diaper, and replaces it with another diaper. when finished, the baby, extra diaper, and blindfold is passed to the next person on the team. First team to all complete the task wins.
  • Bowling Baby Bottles – Arrange 10 baby bottles in a triangle shape, and have each youth “bowl” with a small ball. Highest score wins.
  • Diaper Danger – Blindfold a representative from each team who must diaper a blown up balloon with a good amount of baby powder added inside. First person to diaper the balloon to the best of their ability and without popping the balloon with the safety pins wins.
  • Diaper Derby – Split the youth into teams and provide each team with a roll of toilet paper. They have five minutes to wrap a team member up in a diaper made of toilet paper. The team with the most creatively diapered ‘baby’ wins.
  • Diapers in the Dark – You’ll need several safety pins, a blindfold, and a large doll for each team. You also nned a cloth diaper that fits on the doll. Blindfolded representatives from each team must put the diaper on the “baby.” Quickest and best diapered ‘baby’ wins a prize.
  • Dirty Diapers – (Gross game warning) – Place a different types of chocolate candy bar in several newborn-sized diapers (or folded napkins) then microwave each a few seconds until melted. You will want those that are creamy, nutty, caramel-filled, milky, chunky, etc. Pass the diapers around and have each person smell (or taste) the ‘poo’ in the diapers to try and guess which brand of candy bar is in each diaper. The person with the most correct guesses wins.
  • Feed The Baby – Give everyone a large bib and a small spoon. In teams of two, the pairs must feed a jar of applesauce to one another at the same time. The fastest pair to finish their applesauce wins. (Messier Variation: Do it with blindfolds)
  • Guess the Baby Food – Buy several unique flavors of baby food in jars and number each lid and tear off the labels. Ask each youth to sample each and write down the flavor. The most correct guesses wins.
  • Pacifier Pass – Give each youth a straw to place in his or her mouth. Using only the straws to touch it, each team must pass a pacifier to end of the line. First team to the end without dropping it wins. If it is dropped the team must start over.
  • Pin Drop – Youth compete to hold diaper pins at nose level and drop them into a baby bottle. The most diaper pins in the bottle after 60 seconds wins.
  • Ring Toss – Spread a series of bottle nipples on a flat surface, with several inches between each and labeled with a score based on distance. Youth must stand behind a throw line and try to toss the bottle rings that hold the nipple on a bottle onto a nipple. Highest score wins.
  • Siamese Diaper Relay – In teams of two, each pair stands side by side with the center hands behind their backs and quickly and neatly puts a cloth diaper on a baby doll with safety pins. Each person in the pair can only use the outside hand. Quickest and best diapered baby wins.
  • Spit the Pacifier – Youth line up and are each given one pacifier to put in his or her mouth. The youth that spits out the pacifier so it lands the farthest away wins.

TAKE IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL

MAKE IT SPIRITUAL

New Christians and new babies have a lot in common. One of the first things a baby learns to do is to drink from a bottle. Soon a baby will learn to feed him/herself. Yet the parent is very careful about what a baby eats. As a matter of fact, a baby will stick almost anything it can find in its mouth thinking it is food. A parent is careful that a baby does live on junk food or place anything in his mouth that might harm him. As Christians, especially as babes in Christ, we need to learn to feed ourselves on God’s Word and avoid those things that are unhealthy or even harmful to us.

  • What are some habits and actions you often see in babies and children that would not be acceptable in adults?
  • What are some of the marks of maturity as a baby grows into an adult?

MAKE IT PRACTICAL

  • Read Hebrews 5:11-6:1. In verse 11, the phrase “slow to learn” could be translated “too lazy to learn.” What are some ways that we are too lazy to learn?
  • What might “milk” and “solid food” represent? (See 6:1)
  • What differentiates a mature Christian from a spiritual baby (vs 14)?
  • What attitudes actions and behavior would you expect from a mature Christian?

MAKE IT PERSONAL

  • In what areas have you grown a lot? In what areas is your spiritual growth been stagnant? How would you describe yourself as a Babe in Christ / Child of God?

One way to discover what you eat is to look at the way you spend your time, especially your free time. On another piece of paper, make a list of all the things that you spend your time doing, all your hobbies, all your favorite pastimes? After you have made the list circle any items that are spiritually healthy- health food. Cross out any items that are spiritually harmful or unhealthy – junk food. Leave blank any items which are neutral.

  • What does this tell you about your spiritual diet?
  • In what ways would you like to grow in the coming year?
  • What do you need to have more of in your spiritual diet to grow more mature as a Christian for the next year?

SCRIPTURES

  • Psalm 139:15-16 – God planned all your days, all your life, before you were ever even born. He had a plan for you before you even existed.
  • Hebrews 5:11-6:1
  • II Peter 3:18

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Step up in the New Year

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Step up in the New Year
A person’s feet tell us two very important facts about someone: where one’s standing and which way someone is going. A firm stand and a consistent walk are both traits we admire in others. During the New Year we often look back at the journey that has brought us to where we are now as well as make decisions about where we want to go in the upcoming year.

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Games using Feet

  • Identify the Footprint – As the youth arrive, collect their footprints. My personal preference is to have sheets of colored paper – the type that does not leave a stain when wet. (Test it first so you don’t have permanent footprints across your carpet!). Have the participants remove their shooes and socks, then step on a damp towel and then finally step on the paper. A wet footprint will be left behind. Quickly trace it with a dark colored marker and let it dry! You might also want to number the prints and have a numbered name list so that you can correctly identify the prints later. Go through the numbered prints and have youth match the print with the person who made it. Can you even identify your own footprint? Award the person who correctly identifies the most feet! With the Incredible FEAT award!
  • Foot Tag – Two players hold hands with both hands. On “go” both players try and tap the top of their opponents foot with their own foot. First to do so wins. Winners then play winners until there is a top winner.
  • Whose feet – 5-8 members of the group sit behind a curtain. Only the bare feet are peeking out from under the curtain. Can a player (or the rest of the group) work out whose feet they are?
  • Fewest feet – Each team tries to stand on as few feet as possible. For example, 5 players have 10 feet and try to only have 3-4 feet on the ground.
  • Coaster discus – A coaster or plastic lid is clamped between the toes and is thrown like a Frisbee as far as possible. Farthest throw wins.
  • Foot relay – Divide your group into teams of 6-8. Each team then lines up and sits on the floor. The object of the game is to pass a lemon along the line and back again using only their feet. If the lemon touches the floor the team have to start again at the beginning.
  • Footsies – This game is similar to twister but without the game props. Begin the game with all players standing in a circle about a shoulder-width apart. Select one youth to be the first striker and have him or her start the game by moving one of his or her feet (this foot is called the striking foot) to touch one of the feet of the person to the left of them. Once the striker decides which foot he or she wants to move while striking foot the other foot becomes the pivot foot. The pivot foot cannot be lifted off the ground. Once the first striker has made his or her move, he or she has to freeze both feet in the position in which he or she came in contact with the other person and must remain frozen until his or her next turn. The foot of the person who was struck becomes the next person’s striking foot for his or her turn. The game progresses by going around the circle in a clockwise motion (to the left), having each player take his or her striking foot and striking the next player. As the game progresses, players will begin to find themselves in positions that make it hard to remain balanced so people will begin to be eliminated. Players are eliminated if they touch the ground with anything other than their feet, if they lose their balance, if they try to catch their balance by grabbing another person, if it is their turn and by mistake move the foot that was not touched by the previous striker’s foot or if they move their feet out of turn. If someone is eliminated, the next person in the circle continues on with the game choosing which ever foot he or she wishes to use as the striking foot. As youth are eliminated, there will be gaps in the circle making it harder for strikers to reach the foot of the person next in the circle. If while attempting to reach the foot of the person next in the circle the strikers loses his or her balance or breaks any of the other rules, he or she is eliminated. Note that strikers don’t necessarily have to lift their striking foot when striking, but also can scoot a foot across the ground in order to remain balanced; once contact is made with the other person’s foot, the striker’s feet must freeze. As the game goes on, players will find they are getting very close to each other and it becomes harder to remain balanced. Players are allowed to touch each other, but they cannot grab, push, bump or brace other players to try and make them loose their balance.
  • Foot Pictionary – This is like standard pictionary but the artist instead of drawing with their hands will draw with their feet, by having the marker tied to one of their feet with the bandana. On “Go” the player will try their best to draw the assigned picture, while the rest of their team tries to guess the picture. Keep the assigned pictures simple, as it will be difficult to even draw the simplest things and make them recognizable. Maybe even purchase and use “Junior Pictionary” for suggested words and categories.
  • Banana Foot Peel – Bring up about 4 students, have them take off their shoes and socks, and hand each of them a banana. When the leader says go, the contestants are supposed to peel the banana with their feet as quickly as they can. They can use both feet to do so. Judge the winner by speed and final condition of the banana.
  • Foot Signing Contest – Have 5 students come to the front of the room and remove their shoes and socks. Give each a felt-tipped or ball point pen. On the signal, they run out into the crowd and see who can get the most signatures on the bottom of their feet in the time limit. No one person can sign more than three feet. Can use both feet. Signatures must be legible.
  • Balancing foot balloons – Only using the feet, one or more balloons must be kept up in the air without the balloon touching the ground. This can also be timed.
  • Spell My Feet – Take 5 people and have them take off their shoes and socks. Take a marker and write a large letter on the bottom of each of their feet so if they sit facing you and hold their feet in the air, you can read the letters. On the first person put an A and an N (one letter on each foot), on the next an E and a T, then GR, OM, and SP. You will call out different words for them to spell and they have to cross legs, stretch, and situate themselves in a position so that the bottom of their feet spell the word you called. You can do this with two teams of five if you want and see who spells the word first. Use these words: master, roast, smear, togas, snore, ten proms, get spam, great son

TAKE IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL

Today’s games all involved feet. A lot of our English idioms and common sayings refer to “feet”. Share a few appropriate idioms or the entire list of idoms with the group. Which of these idioms best describes you? Why?

  • Idioms referring to feet
  • back on your feet again
  • dip your toes in the water
  • drag one’s feet
  • fall at his feet
  • find your feet
  • fleet of foot
  • foot the bill
  • get a foot in the door
  • get cold feet
  • get off on the wrong foot
  • get to one’s feet
  • get your feet wet
  • has two left feet
  • have a foot in both camps
  • have feet of clay
  • have one foot in the grave
  • have your feet on the ground
  • hold someone’s feet to the fire
  • hot foot out of here
  • land on your feet
  • make an about face
  • My foot!
  • on foot
  • on your back foot
  • pussyfoot around
  • put a foot wrong
  • put your best foot forward
  • put your feet up
  • put your foot down
  • put your foot in it
  • put your foot in your mouth
  • shoot yourself in the foot
  • sit at the foot of a teacher
  • stand on your own two feet
  • step on another person’s foot
  • step on the gas
  • stop dead in your tracks
  • sweep someone off his/her feet
  • take a load off your feet
  • take a stand
  • take steps toward something
  • the ball is at your feet
  • thinking on your feet
  • throw yourself at someone’s feet
  • tiptoe through it
  • to get under foot
  • vote with your feet
  • watch your step
  • world’s at your feet

MAKE IT SPIRITUAL

  1. Sure footed – Many of the proverbs talk about making our paths straight, about stumbling, about watching our step, about our walk with God. Proverbs 4:26 – “Watch the path of your feet And all your ways will be established.”
  2. God’s Protection – “. . . unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy” (Jude 24, KJV).
    Hab 3:19; 2 Sam 22:34; Ps 18:33 – “The Lord God [is] my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds’ feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places.”
  3. Evangelism – Romans 10:15 – “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”
    Ephesians 6:15 – “And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace”
  4. Servanthood – John 13 – Jesus washing the disciples’ feet.

MAKE IT PRACTICAL

  • What is something that you have taken a stand for in the past year? What are some things that you need to take a stronger stand on in the upcoming year?
  • What are some steps that you have taken in the right direction with your life? The wrong direction?
  • What are some areas in which you have stumbled along the way in your journey?
  • What are some ways that we can make our walk sure? How can you get back on your feet and take a new step in the right direction with your life? In what areas do you need to watch your step?
  • Taking a stand and finding your footing in life isn’t always easy – especially when you might need to step on a few toes to do so. How can you find the balance between taking a stand on things that are important to you without stepping on too many toes? Should you worry about stepping on toes? Why or why not?

MAKE IT PERSONAL

  • As a footnote to this lesson, identify at least one area of your life where you need to get back on your feet! How can you take a new step in the right direction with your life beginning today? In what areas do you need to watch your step in the journey ahead?

(As a meaningful reminder, give the participants the piece of paper with their footprint on it to write the answer to the questions above. Encourage them to place it on the door of their room as a reminder that every day they step outside that door they need to also take a step in the right direction for their life in the New Year!)

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Game Ideas, Object Lessons

Christmas Bows

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Christmas Bows
Christmas gifts almost always come with a Christmas Bow. The wrapping paper, ribbons, and the bows are used to decorate and bring attention to the gift. It’s not the bow that is important, but the gift it adorns. It is sad that so many people are enjoying all the wrappings of Christmas and the decorations, but they have forgotten about the gift – God with us – Emmanuel – the birth of Christ.

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Games using Christmas Bows

  • Christmas Bow Pass – In this game, teams race to pass the Christmas bows from one end of the line to the other while holding hands. Divide the youth group into teams of 6 to 10 young people and have the teams line up side by side. At one end of the line place six Christmas bows and at the other end have a basket where they can drop the bows. Give them the following instruction: “With your left hand, grab the right wrist of the person on your right.” Teams must pass all the bows down to the end, and then back, without disconnecting to win. They may only touch the bows with their right hands. If a bow is dropped, the team must retrieve it while remaining connected. If the chain breaks all the bows currently being passed must move back to the beginning of the line.
  • Pass the Christmas Bow Gift Exchange – Played like “hot potato” Pass a bows around the circle while listening to Christmas Carols. When the music stops, whoever is holding the bow gets to pick a present from under the tree and places it in their lap or under their chair. The game continues until everyone gets a gift. If the music stops and someone is holding the bow who already has a gift it goes to the next person on the right who hasn’t had a gift yet.
  • Christmas Bow Hunt – This is just like an Easter egg hunt—only with Christmas Bows! Hide all the bows in a room, or all around the house and have everyone search for them.
  • Christmas Bow Fight – Place a long jumprope or string down the middle of the floor to divide the room into 2 equal halves with one team on each side. Each team starts with an equal number of bows. Set a timer for 2-3 minutes and when the game starts, participants pick up the bows and throw them to the other team’s side of the room! When the timer goes off, everyone drops all the bows and counts how many bows are on their team’s side. Whichever team has the least amount of bows wins.
  • Taboo Word – Everyone is given a Christmas bow to pin on their shirt at the beginning of the party or event. A word is chosen that everyone is not allowed to say. (e.g. Santa) If anyone says the taboo word to someone else during the event, they must give them their Christmas bow. They pin the bow on their shirt alongside any others they have collected. Everyone ends up trying to get others to say the forbidden word. At the end of the event, the person with the most Christmas bows pinned to them, wins.
  • Christmas Bow Tree Race – The youth divide into two teams of an equal number of players. One person on wach team is designated as a gift and stands on the opposite end of the room from his or her team. On go, one person at a time on each team must grab ONE bow from a basket and run to the “gift” and stick it on to his or her arms or head. Youth can only stick bows on the arms and head. The team that attaches the most bows to the gift in a given amount of time wins. Bows that fall off don’t count.
  • Christmas Bow Balance – Prepare two baskets of bows of various colors in each. The baskets should contain an equal number of bows of each color. As you call out a color, the next person on each team runs to his or her basket, and puts as many bows of the specified color on his or her head as they want and walks back to his or her team. If even one bow falls off, they have to try again. Call out the colors in random order. At some point call the game and the team with the most bows wins.
  • Christmas Bow Blow – Tape two lines on the floor at opposite ends of the room as goal lines. Teams blow the bows along the floor to the opposite goal and back. First team to complete the relay wins.
  • Christmas Bow Grab – Play like the regular game of Spoons, but substitute Christmas Bows for the spoons. In the middle of the table, place one less Bow than the number of players you have. Shuffle a standard 52-card deck and deal 4 cards to each person. Have everyone take one of their cards and discard it to their left simultaneously. The person to the right of the dealer, however, should put one of their cards down on the table to start the discard pile, while the dealer picks up a new card. Repeat this process of everyone passing to the left. Each round the dealer should pick up a new card and the person to their right should add to the discard pile, so as to have a continuous influx of new cards. The first person to have 4 of a kind (e.g. all 4 aces or all 4 nines) has to pick up a bow. Following this, all other players need to do the same, with the slowest person left without a bow and out of the game.
  • Pin the Bow on the present – In this Christmas version of the classic kids game of Pin the Tail on the Donkey, blindfolded kids try to pin the Bow where the ribbons cross on a gift wrapped box.
  • Christmas Bow Toss – Bows are tossed at wrapped Gifts boxes labeled with various point values. If it lands on top you the points. You can play with harder to hit targets which are worth more points.
  • Christmas Bow Fan – One Contestant from each team must stand behind a Christmas bow holding a gift box. When the clock starts, each contestant may start fanning the bow with the gift box. Contestants and the gift box may not touch the bow at any time or the game is over. To complete the game, contestant must get the bow in a designated end zone area (taped square on the floor) within the 60-second time limit. The bow must come to a complete stop without exiting the designated end zone.
  • Christmas Bow tennis – Youth split into two teams across from each other on opposite ends of a table. The objective is to blow the Bow off the opponent’s end for a point.
  • Christmas Bow Tag – With a glue gun or piece of adhesive tape, attach bow to a clothespin. You’ll need two for each participant. When you start the game, give every person two of the bows as they enter. When everyone has their Bows, tell them you’re giving them two minutes to get rid of their bows. The only way for participants to get rid of the bows is onto pin them to someone else. Award a prize to the person with the least number of bows. Icebreaker idea: After playing the game, each person must state one Fun Fact about themselves for each bow pinned to them. If they have no bows they only have to say ONE thing about themselves.
  • Christmas Bow Target Practice – Set up a series of rings (or wreaths) hanging from a string as targets. Have youth take turns trying to toss bows through the various size rings or hoops for points. The smaller the target the higher the points.
  • Christmas Bow Collector – Each youth is blindfolded, given a large wooded spoon, and placed in from of a large gift wrapped box with the lid off and filled with Christmas Bows. They must also hold a similar box on top of their head. In the time given the blindfolded youth compete by using the spoon to scoop bows into the box on their heads while everyone else watches. Many times, they will deliver empty spoons to their heads and many times they will miss the box. When time is up, the youth with the most bows in the box on their head wins.
  • Christmas Bow Nosedive – You’ll need small bows, Petroleum Jelly (Vaseline), and Bowls. Set up the bowls a foot apart, with the bows placed in 1 bowl. When the clock starts, each contestant may dip their nose in petroleum jelly and attempt to pick up a bow with their nose. Players may only apply petroleum jelly by dipping their nose in petroleum jelly. The player must deposit the Christmas bow into the end bowl directly from the nose without coming into contact with any other body part or object. To complete the game, a player must be the first to transport 5 bows from the start bowl to the end bowl, with all 5 Christmas bows in the bowl concurrently.
  • Christmas Bow Mind Meld – Put a Christmas Bow between two people’s foreheads and race to the finish line.
  • Christmas Bow Toothpick Relay – Each youth holds a toothpick in their teeth and they must pass a Christmas Bow down the row of youth to the end of the line. First team to pass the all the Bows to the end wins. No hands allowed.

TAKE IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL

  • Describe some of the Christmas Presents under your tree?
  • How are they wrapped? What colors are the Bows?
  • What are some of the things we need in order to wrap a Christmas Present?
  • The wrapping paper, ribbons, and the bows are used to decorate. How may of you would like to get a Bow for Christmas? Just a bow?

MAKE IT SPIRITUAL

  • What are some of the things we think about when we think about Christmas?

Christmas is not about the decorations. It is about the gift. With Christmas comes a lot of decorations – There are the Christmas trees; there are Christmas lights, Christmas carols, Candy Canes, Angels, Nativity Scenes, Christmas Cards, Christmas Bows, Wrapping paper, and even Santa Claus and elves. But these, like a Christmas bow are only the decorations. They aren’t the most important thing about Christmas. Christmas is about the greatest gift – It is about Jesus.

It is sad that so many people are enjoying all the wrappings of Christmas and the decorations, but they have forgotten about the gift.

Read the Christmas story from the Bible:
Matthew 1:18-25; Matthew 2:1-12; Luke 1:26-38; Luke 2:1-20.

MAKE IT PERSONAL

How many of you never open your gifts at Christmas? You just leave them with all the wrappings on them under the tree, never to find out what is inside. Many people enjoy all the wonderful things about Christmas, but they have missed the Christ in Christmas. The gift of Jesus, of peace with God, of salvation is never received and remains just something to look at or just another decoration.

Unless Jesus is received in our hearts the gift might as well remain like an unopened gift under the tree.

Let your light so shine that people will know the true gift of Christmas isn’t in all the decorations, but in Jesus.

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Game Ideas, Object Lessons

Christmas Ornament Gospel

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Christmas Ornament Gospel
The first Christmas ornaments were fruits and nuts that were placed on Christmas trees and later eaten from the branches as part of the Christmas feasting. Over time other ornaments were added that brightened up the tree and added additional meaning and significance such as a star or an angel. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SHARE CHRISTMAS ORNAMENT GOSPEL ON FACEBOOK

Games using Christmas Ornaments

NOTE: For these games the term Christmas Ornament refers to the round ball type ornaments that are usually painted to look metallic and made of plastic. Originally they were made of blown glass but do not use the glass ones for these games as they will most definitely get broken.

  • Chopstick Christmas Tree – You’ll need ornaments and one pair of chopsticks per player. Players must use the chopsticks to pick up and place as many ornaments as they can on a tree in one minute.
  • Christmas Ball Conveyor – Each team chooses two people to compete in this challenge. They stand, facing each other, at a distance to be determined by how difficult you wish the challenge to be. A ribbon is wrapped around both players’ waists, creating a loop surrounding them both. The first player has a bowl with Christmas ornaments on hooks as well as a small Christmas tree beside him. To play the game, the first player hooks an ornament on the ribbon. The two players must then spin in tandem in order to move the ornament all the way around the ribbon, ending up back with the first player, who must then hang it on the tree.
  • Christmas In The Balance – (Adapted from Minute to Win It) When the clock starts, two youth from each team must first place a yardstick on a vertically standing wrapping paper tube. When the yardstick is balanced on the tube, the youth on each team may then start hanging 5 ornaments of equal size and weight, one at a time for each person, simultaneously on each end of the yardstick. Once a youth has placed the first ornament onto the yardstick and released hands from the ornament, neither person is allowed to touch the tube or yardstick or the game is over. To complete the game, the yardstick, tube and ornaments must be freestanding within the 60-second time limit and must remain that way for 3 seconds.
  • Christmas Ornament Count – Before you place your ornaments on a Christmas tree, count them. The person who correctly guesses the number of ornaments on the tree wins a prize.
  • Deck the Balls – (adapted from Minute to Win It) Two persons on each team are given a wrapping paper tube. When the clock starts, the first person with the tube on each team uses his or her tube to suck the first ornament from the start bowl and transfer it to his or her partner. That person then hangs it on a tree (or on a string that has been strung across the room between two ladders). If an ornament falls to the floor or is touched with anything other than the tube, that ornament is out of play. To complete the game, 3 ornaments must be successfully transferred and hung on the tree (or string) within the 60-second time limit. All 3 ornaments must remain hanging on the tree (or string) together for 3 seconds.
  • Find the Christmas Ornaments – Collect a variety of Christmas Tree ornaments. Before you place them on the tree, take a photo of each. Place the photos on separate cards. Players must draw a card, and run to the tree and collect the ornament on the card. First team to complete a certain number of cards wins. As a variation, have the next person on each team search for the SAME ornament. First to find it and retrieve it gets the points. First team to certain number of points wins.
  • Holiday Kiss – (Adapted from Minute to Win It) a string is hunh horizontally across the room on each end of the room. When the clock starts, each pair of contestants must use only their lips to pick up an ornament from the start string and transfer it to the second string. If an ornament falls, contestants may start with another from the start string. To complete the game, contestants must transfer 3 ornaments, using only their lips, and have them hanging together on the end string for at least 3 seconds. They have one minute to complete the task.
  • Hot Christmas Ornament – With everyone seated in a circle, pass around a Christmas ornament. When the music stops, whoever holds it is out of the game. Continue until there is only one winner.
  • Ornament Catch – You’ll need an 8-foot-high ladder, (next to a Christmas Tree makes nice photo opportunities), a Christmas stocking that has heavy wire in the top rim to keep it open and Round Christmas Ornaments (plastic). Set up the ladder in the middle of your meeting area and place the stocking on the floor in front of it. Line up the round Christmas ornaments on the top of the ladder. (Have some spotters to brace the ladder and make sure no one falls off.) Split the youth group into pairs. The first pair has one partner kneel facing the ladder and holding the stocking in his or her mouth. The other partner must climb the ladder so that his or her face is even with the top of the ladder where the five ornaments are lined up. Make sure they hold on firmly to the ladder. The person on the ladder blows the ornaments, one at a time, off the ladder. The partner with the stocking may freely move about to catch the balls but must remain kneeling and continue holding the stocking in his/her mouth. The use of hands is NOT allowed. The partners switch positions and repeat the process. Keep score. Give all the pairs a turn. The winning pair is the one who gets the most ornaments into the stocking. If there’s a tie, have your runners-up repeat the process.
  • Ornament Pass – This is a classic game that has been around for ages. In the original game, participants must pass an orange down a line of participants using only their chins. In our version we replace the orange with a round Christmas Ornament.
  • Ornament Race – Players race on hands and knees while pushing ornaments with their noses to the finish line.
  • Ornament Roll – One Contestant from each team must stand behind a tree ornament holding a gift box. When the clock starts, each contestant may start fanning the tree ornament with the gift box. Contestant and gift box may not touch the tree ornament at any time or the game is over. To complete the game, contestant must get the tree ornament in the designated end zone area within the 60-second time limit. The tree ornament must come to a complete stop without exiting the designated end zone.

TAKE IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL

  • What are your favorite ornaments on a Christmas Tree?
  • If you had to describe yourself as a a Christmas ornament, what would you choose and why?

MAKE IT SPIRITUAL Use this as a presentation of the plan of salvation for a Christmas Children’s sermon or as a Christmas Object Lesson. For the object lesson portion of this lesson you will need:

  • Christmas Tree
  • gold, red, white, and blue bulbs.
  • A string of Christmas lights
  • A star for the top of the tree

Place the items on the Christmas tree according to the following order and give the explanations for each as you go along. Gold Christmas Bulb The Gold Christmas bulb reminds us of Heaven which is filled with the glory of God. The Bible tells us that in Heaven, the streets of the city are pure, clear gold-like glass (Rev.21:21). God wants you to be with Him in Heaven someday. Have you ever seen a BLACK Christmas Bulb? THERE IS NO Black Christmas Bulb. Just like there is no black Christmas bulb, there is one thing that can never be in Heaven. That is sin. Doing, or saying, or thinking bad things is called sin. Sin is anything that displeases God. Sin has caused sorrow and sadness in our world. God tells us in the Bible that all have sinned (Romans 3:23). But just like there is no black Christmas bulb, God doesn’t allow sin in heaven. Red Christmas Bulb The Red Christmas Bulb shows the way God made for you to have your sins forgiven-taken away. God loves you. He sent His own Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, from Heaven to take the punishment for your sin (John 3:16). Jesus came into the world to save us from punishment for sin. He is called our Savior! “…the blood of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, cleanses us from all sin” (I John 1:7). White Christmas Bulb The white Christmas bulb reminds us that you can be made clean from sin. When we sin, we can tell god about our sin, and ask for rogiveness and when we do his blood washes away our sin and makes us white as snow! (I John 1:9). Christmas Tree The green Christmas tree reminds us of the new life, everlasting life, we can receive from God. The Bible tells us to “grow in grace in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ” (II Peter 3:18). The Blue Christmas Bulb The blue bulb is the same color as water. Jesus, to show he was giving his life to God was baptized in water. Christmas Lights Jesus was born as a light of the world. He came to bring us out of darkness and into the light. Do you want to walk in the light of Jesus this Christmas? A Silver or Gold Star You can add a star at the top of the Christmas tree as a reminder that the wisemen followed the star looking for Jesus. Will you seek Jesus this Christmas? PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SHARE CHRISTMAS ORNAMENT GOSPEL ON FACEBOOK

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