Creative Teaching Ideas

Fruit of the Spirit Towers

Leave a comment

Description
This is a great learning activity for youth to introduce the fruits of the Spirit and discuss the ongoing development of spiritual fruit in youth as they grow in Christ.

Materials

  • A collection of fruits: Apples, Bananas, Custard Apples, Coconuts, Dragonfruit, Durians, Grapefruits, Grapes, Lemons, Limes, Oranges, Papayas, Pears, Pineapples, Pomelos, Rambutans, Soursop, Starfruit, Strawberries.
  • You might also include toothpicks and a plastic knife so the youth can cut the fruits up and stick them together.
  • A plate on which to build the tower.
  • Optional: Plastic or rubber gloves

 

Preparation
Place the fruits and materials in a fruit basket or bowl where all the youth can see them. You should have one fruit basket for each group of youth.

Important Note: I prefer to do this activity with the youth designating a few tower builders who wear gloves so that at the end of the activity the youth can eat the fruits. You could also use the fruits for a fruit salad afterward. Just add the cream, nuts or other ingredients for your favorite fruit salad recipe and then you will have a tasty snack for the youth instead of wasting the fruit.

What to do

  1. Tell the youth or groups of youth to build towers from the fruit and other materials provided. You may choose to give all the groups of youth the same fruits and materials or give different groups different materials.
  2. Award prizes for the tallest, sturdiest, lightest, most creative, best architectural style, strangest, etc. For fun you may wish to video tape the construction of towers for a record of the event.

 

Application
While giving the following explanation, build your own tower from the fruits:
When we abide in Christ, God starts to produce the fruits of the spirit in our lives. (John 15) The fruits of the spirit are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23) And these fruits are produced in ever increasing measure. While 2 Peter 5-8, doesn’t specifically mention the phrase “fruits of the Spirit”, you’ll see some of the same qualities mentioned in the list it gives there: Faith, goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love. It also says that if we have these in every increasing measure they will prevent us from being unfruitful. Actually, there is a logical pattern to the qualities mentioned there. We begin with a faith in Christ, which leads to a desire to do the good things that we know God’s wants us to do. But as we start to live that life, we realize there is so much more that we need to know to live a life that is pleasing to Him. And the more we learn about God and his plan for us, the more we discover even more areas of our lives that we need to change. And of course, change is never easy and it requires a lot of self-control. We will struggle and fail as we seek to make these changes in our lives. Only perseverance will carry us through. As we make these changes we will show more godliness in the way that we live our lives. But Godliness is ultimately expressed in the way we treat our brothers. Brotherly kindness will ultimately be expressed as love. In fact, we are told that others will truly know that we are Christians by our love – When the love of God is expressed through us to others. (John 13:35) The gifts build upon one another in ever increasing measure leading to a life defined by the greatest commandment: Love the Lord God with all your heart soul, mind and strength and love your neighbor as yourself. (Matthew 22:36-40)

(I wonder how many of us were tempted to destroy our competition instead of building our own tower? Satan is like that too. We work hard to try to be like Jesus. We do nice things like hold our tempers (place a piece of fruit onto your tower) or tell the truth (stack another piece of fruit on top) or obey our parents / teachers (place another piece of fruit on top), and when Satan sees us trying to grow more like Christ guess what Satan tries to do? (Satan tries to knock us down. ) Yes, Satan tries to knock us down. And sometimes he succeeds. But we have to pick ourselves up and try again. Sometimes it is our own weaknesses that cause us to fail – poor choices. We may be far from perfect, but if we keep making progress, ever increasing in our gifts, our lives will be fruitful.

 


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…

Object Lessons

Fruit

Leave a comment

Materials
A large opaque cloth sack in which you can place fruits (a dark colored pillow case works fine), and a variety of fruits that can be identified by touch (and maybe smell).

Here are some fruits you can use if available in your area:
Apple, Apricot, Atapi, Avocado, Breadfruit, Banana, Blackberry, Blackcurrant, Blueberry, Chempadak, Cranberry, Custard Apple, Cherry, Chiku, Clementine, Coconut, Date, Dragonfruit, Durian, Fig, Grapefruit, Grape, Guava, Jackfruit, Jambu, Kiwi, Kumquat, Lemon, Lime, Loganberry, Longan, Lychee, Mango, Mangosteen, Mulberry, Nectarine, Orange, Papaya, Passion fruit, Peach, Pear, Persimmon, Pineapple, Plum, Pomegranate, Pomelo, Rambutan, Raspberry, Quince, Satsuma, Snakefruit, Soursop, Starfruit, Strawberry, Tangelo, Tomato (yes it is a FRUIT), Wolfberry

Activity
Place all the fruits in a single bag. You should have as many fruits as possible but you can vary the number of fruits depending on the age of your group and the appropriate difficulty. If you wish to expedite this activity you might prepare several bags of identical items. Without looking inside the bag, have youth touch the items in the bag and then go back and write down all the items. Award kids who get them all correct or the most correct.

Variation
Blindfold the participants and ask them to identify and write down the various fruits according to the scent or give them a sample to identify by taste. You could also make a fruit salad and have youth identify the various fruits in the salad.

Application
Just as you identified by touch the presence of items that you could not see, we can identify the presence of God in the ways he touches our lives. Many times he uses other people to touch our lives. Even today, you may not see Jesus, but you know he is there and has other people to take care of you. Sometimes we cannot see, but we can smell or taste. Our spiritual gifts and our relationship with God can serve as a taste or smell to entice others to taste and see that the Lord is Good. (Psalm 34:8) Our lives can be the scent of life to others. (2 Corinthians 2:16)

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…

Camps

Youth Camp Checklist

1 Comment

First Draft

Form a youth camp planning committee

  • Who needs to be involved in the planning for the youth camp? (i.e. parents, youth workers, youth, pastoral staff, others?)
  • What are the roles in the planning and preparation for the youth camp and who will be responsible for each role?

 

Decide your Goals for the Youth Camp

  • What is the purpose for the youth camp.
  • Who is the Target group? Who do you want to attend the youth camp? (age group, Christians / seekers, friends of youth, etc.)
  • Write a clear description of the youth camp and its goals.

 

Plan the Details for the Youth Camp

  • What is the official name of the youth camp? Does the camp name clearly communicate the purpose and content?
  • What is the theme of the youth camp? How can the theme be incorporated into all aspects of the youth camp?
  • Do you need a youth camp curriculum?
  • When is the date and Time of the youth camp?
  • Where is the venue for the youth camp? (Camp Facility, church, community center, camp center, multiple locations?) What are the directions to the venue? Is there a map available? About how long will it take travel there? Is it difficult to find?

 

Tentative Youth Camp Schedule / Program

  • What activities will fill the time during the youth camp? OVER PLAN and have ALTERNATIVES.
    (e.g. Icebreakers, Bible study, Recreation, Outdoor games, Indoor games, Movies, Large Group Games, Sports, Discussions, Community Service, etc.) If you are using an outside venue, doing an on site inspection in advance will help you better prepare for youth camp games and activities.
  • Set a bed-time and a wake-up time. Don’t expect the teens to actually sleep when they are supposed to during a camp, but do have have a time when everyone will wind down with quiet activities and an opportunity with lights-out and no loud talking for those to sleep who might wish to do so. Also set a wake-up time, especially if you’ll be serving breakfast in the morning. Many teens usually won’t sleep the first and the last nights of a youth camp.

 

Youth Camp Finances

  • What is the budget for the youth camp?
  • What’s the expected actual cost of the youth camp and activities?
    • Camp Speaker Costs (Transport, Honorarium, Accommodation, Food)
    • Camp Facility Costs (Accomodation, Meeting Rooms, Equipment)
    • Camp Staffing Costs (Volunteer accomodation and food, transport, etc)
    • Transportation of youth to the camp facility
    • Curriculum, handouts, t-shirts and other items for youth camp participants
    • Camp Craft supplies
    • Special Equipment / Recreation Equipment
  • Are there sponsors / sources of supplies or food for the youth camp?
  • What is the actual cost to of the youth camp to participants? Subsidized cost?
  • Are there scholarships available?
  • Does the cost change for early or late sign-ups?
  • Does the cost go down if youth get their friends to sign up for the camp? Are there multiple levels of discounts tied to the number of friends who sign up for the youth camp?
  • When is the first deposit due for the youth camp?
  • When is the final payment due for the youth camp?
  • Is there a cancellation Fee?

 

Youth Camp Arrangements

  • Reservation of Venue?
  • Recruit Adult chaperons / volunteers for the youth camp – A good rule of thumb is to have one chaperon (parent/youth pastor/leader) for every eight youth that attend the camp. (Some groups may require more or less supervision)
  • Are there to be Special speakers / special items or programs utilizing outside people? Select and invite guest speakers in advance.
  • Do you have someone trained in first aid or medicine on site in case of an injury.
  • What food will be available at the youth camp? Dinner? Snacks? Breakfast? Quantity? Meals and snacks should be designed to meet the needs of all attendees. Are there any special dietary requirements or restrictions? Snacks?
  • Transportation requirements for the youth camp?
  • What do participants need to bring to the youth camp? (sleeping bag, pillow, snacks, games, swim suit, towel, toothbrush and toothpaste, comfortable clothing and shoes?)
  • What contact information is available for parents of youth attending the youth camp?
  • Have you created a list of contact information for those responsible for major roles and duties at the youth camp?
  • Do you have the address and contact of nearest medical emergency aid?
  • Sleeping Arrangements for the youth camp – Provide separate rooms for guys and gals sleeping arrangements. Rooms need to have someone as a monitor.
  • What time should youth arrive at the camp or church and be picked up? Where do parents drop their kids off and pick them up?
  • What rules will be enforced at the youth camp?
  • Create an ‘Incident Report’ form for any injuries, accidents or security breaches that occur during the youth camp?

 

Youth Camp Publicity

  • Verbal Announcements
    • Announcements during services
    • Skits?
    • Pre-camp Meetings
    • Phone Calls
  • Printed Publicity
    • Promotional fliers
    • Church Bulletin
    • Church / youth Calendar or events
    • Invitations
    • Sign-up form / Permission slips
    • Postcards to invite friends
    • Posters / Bulletin Boards
    • Website / emails / Text Messages
    • Local newspaper

 

Equipment and Resources Needed for the Youth Camp

  • Are the tables and chairs available in the meeting rooms sufficient?
  • What is the capacity of the sleeping area(s)?
  • Sound system? Music?
  • Special lighting?
  • Special equipment?
  • Board games, sports equipment, materials for games?
  • Parking space? Drop off and pick-up point for parents?
  • Security?
  • Requisition forms for supplies, Checkout / return out form for any equipment or supplies that are borrowed?

 

Final Youth Camp Preparations

  • Finalise Program schedule for the camp
  • Create Camp Attendee list – Permission slips must be signed by parents / guardians before teens are allowed to attend the camp. Keep the contact information together in a folder and available at all times in case of an emergency. Make a master copy and a standby copy.
  • Create Staff / Volunteer list
  • Create a list of Emergency contacts (Fire, medical, and police department numbers)
  • What is the name, address and phone number of the nearest hospital or urgent care facility? (This information should be included on your health form/parent release.). What is the most direct route from the camp venue?
  • What are the venue management contacts?
  • Prepare a Parent’s contact list.
  • Prepare a Volunteer list with assigned roles and contact numbers?
  • What transportation arrangements are required. Contact numbers?

 

Youth Camp Volunteer Training

  • Screen Volunteers
  • Meet with volunteers as a group before the youth camp.
  • List responsibilities and contact numbers for each youth camp volunteer including a ‘Chain of Command’ – who reports to whom, who makes final decisions?
  • Make sure youth camp volunteers are clear on the rules.
  • Familiarize youth camp volunteers with the layout of the venue – especially exits, potential problem areas or hazards.
  • Assign people in your team to be responsible for cleaning up any spills/ broken glass as soon as it happens?
  • Trouble shoot with youth camp volunteers. What things could happen during the youth camp and how should the volunteers respond?
  • Have people and vehicles on standby to travel with youth in case of emergency.
  • Instruct youth camp volunteers in how to complete the ‘Incident Report’ form for any injuries, accidents or security breaches that occur during the youth camp and what information is needed. They need to get signatures of any eyewitnesses.
  • Go through the entire youth camp schedule. What resources are needed for each item on the schedule and who is responsible to make sure they are ready?
  • Remind Youth Camp Volunteers that they must be flexible and ready to help out as needed.

 

Youth Camp Setup

  • Have people available to arrive early and stay a little longer after the camp ends.
  • Make a list of things need to be set up in advance before the campers arrive.
  • Make a list of things need to be done after the campers leave.

 

First Day of the Youth Camp

  • Set up for games / activities
  • Delivery and storage of food and supplies if you ar epreparing your own meals.
  • Post the rules in the venue where you’re hosting the youth camp. Go over the camp rules as soon as the teens arrive. Make your expectations clear. This will help reduce conflicts that might arise during the youth camp.
  • Identify key volunteers to participants, especially the medical person.
  • Are all areas of your venue (including outdoor areas) adequately lit – especially for night time events?
  • Are floor surfaces clear of trip hazards and electrical cords?
  • Are all security, staff and volunteers easily identified with either a uniform, t-shirt, ID badge or cap?
  • Are Emergency/Fire exits clear of any obstructions and will they have adults monitoring them?
  • Are there first-aid supplies, fire extinguishers? If so, where are they located?
  • Are all exits monitored?
  • Prepare a secure area to store any valuables until they are collected at the end of the youth camp.
  • Clean up – It’s important to leave the camp facility in the same shape as you found it. Involve everyone in this process on a daily basis.

 

After the Youth Camp

  • Return rental or borrowed items
  • Thank everyone who made the youth camp possible
  • Meet with the youth camp planning committee and evaluate. Ask: What worked well? What could we have done differently? What did we learn from this process?
  • Review any incident reports completed and see what steps can be taken to prevent similar incidents happening at the next youth camp.
  • Complete and file a written event summary including any resources and suggestions for future planning of youth camps.

 

Special Cautions for a Youth Camp

  • Over-plan your activities so the teens won’t get bored during the youth camp.
  • Plan Bibles studies and spiritual discussions at the beginning of the day when people are most alert and decisions are not clouded by lack of sleep or sugar highs! Early evenings, before gets too late, are also prime time for worship and meetings.
  • Schedule recreation and fun activities during mid-day when attention is waining and people are easily distracted.
  • Be sure to have some high energy activities to help youth expend any pent up energy as well as rest times for them to relax and wind down.
  • If youth are of driving age it is recommended they not be allowed to drive home from the youth camp as they might not get enough sleep to take care on the roads.

 

This document is a guide only. It contains general information and is not intended to represent a comprehensive checklist.

Game Ideas

Scavenger Hunts for Youth, Children, and Adults

Leave a comment

Scavenger hunts are a wonderful way to spend time with your family. They are not only fun, but they can also be great opportunities for children, youth and adults to learn important life lessons and life-skills. They are great as a stand alone event or as part of the entertainment for a party or holiday celebration. Depending on the rules, they can be highly competitive or encourage cooperation and teamwork toward a common goal. Scavenger hunts can help youth learn or test their common knowledge on subjects, improve navigation skills, enhance their problem solving ability, and provide a great many other benefits and educational opportunities.

Types of Family Scavenger Hunts

When deciding what you want to do for a youth scavenger hunt the first thing you want to decide is what type of scavenger hunt you want. Scavenger hunts can involve looking for items or clues and can contain props and equipment like a compass and maps. There are also photo scavenger hunts, sound scavenger hunts, video hunts, “amazing race” type hunts, and many more variations.

Treasure Hunts for the Family

One of the most popular types of scavenger hunts for youth happens to be those which use detailed maps and in which simple clues are used to find special locations. Sometimes the clues will lead you to items at the location that either are clues themselves or have clues stuck to them. Sometimes challenges will be included at some of those locations before they can receive the clue leading to the next location. Prizes can also be awarded in scavenger hunts in order to keep the interest of the participants, and keep them motivated. Prizes can include: Gift Cards, Movie Tickets, and themed gift baskets.

Setting up a “Pirate Treasure Hunt” for your Family

Here’s a simplified example of a treasure hunt using a “Pirate’s Treasure Hunt” theme. Start with a pirate map letting everyone know the boundaries of the hunt. In this example, the youth’s house is the primary location for the scavenger hunt. You will need a compass for each team of youth because compasses are what pirates used. Use descriptive language and a little creativity to bring your maps alive. The bathtub and mirror becomes a “mirrored lake” or “mirrored sea.” The hall becomes the “middle passage”. A door or window is described as a “portal.” Any place with plants becomes a “garden.” The closet becomes the “stores.” A shoe closet becomes the “foot locker.” You can also include the “North room”, a “central chamber,” “the Den”, “Next to the Sleeping Princess” and others.

Clues for a “Pirate Treasure Hunt”

First Clue: Fill your bath tub with a little water, and put a toy boat floating in the water. If you have a shower curtain, pull the shower curtain shut so that the boat is concealed. Place a clue on the wall behind the shower curtain which will be concealed unless someone opens the shower curtain to find the next clue. The hint leading to this ship should be: Find a pirate ship sailing in water or in more descriptive and thematic terms “Find the pirate ship sailing upon the mirrored sea.”

Second clue: On the wall behind the shower curtain you will to put something like: “Head west 6 feet then make your way north to the rocky road.” (This would lead the youth outside the home) “Then continue to the Green Parrot’s waterfall.”

Third Clue: The waterfall would be near a rock by a fountain outside, which is also used as a bird bath. The next clue would be something like “travel 6 feet west and through the portal to find the sea.” “When you find the sea, walk north until you hit the dead end.” This would then lead the hunters back into my home to a picture which has dolphins on my wall. When you head north you will walk directly into a broom closet.

Putting It All Together

Of course there could be many more clues and the clues could be much more difficult. Sometimes riddles are also used to make the scavenger hunt even more difficult. But in this simple example, you can imagine how much fun the youth can have as they are forced to work together and decipher the meaning of the clues.

With a little imagination, creating scavenger hunts for youth can be almost as much fun as playing them. If you are interested in creating one of these scavenger hunts cheek out my eBook below for a variety of ideas, themes and even riddles to help you get started.


scavenger_hunts_ebook_sm.jpg

Creative Scavenger Hunts: Once Lost, Now Found

is a 160 page e-book that explains everything you need to know to easily plan your very own scavenger hunt: Item Lists, Rules, Riddles, Safety Tips, Guidelines, Scoring, Tips for Facilitators and MORE! There are more than 50 complete ideas (scavenger hunts, photo hunts, video hunts, amazing race, etc.) to use at home, around the neighborhood, at the mall, in the park, on the beach, at church, and around town!

=> Tell me more about the Creative Scavenger Hunts

Devotional

Spiritual Gardening

Leave a comment

In the Beginning, the Garden

According to Genesis, life on earth started in a garden. The Bible is filled with references to gardens and gardening or farming. Psalm 1 begins with a tree planted by the water, which yields its fruit in season.  Solomon talks about the seasons of life.  Most of the parables of Jesus refer to growing things.  Jesus prayed before his arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane. Then in John 19:41 we are told the place of crucifixion on the cross, where Jesus was nailed to “a tree”, was near a garden. On Easter morning the two women mistook the resurrected Savior for the gardener.

Spiritual Lessons from the Garden

Biblical metaphors reference planting and harvesting, seeds and soil, vines and plants, fruitfulness and barrenness.  All of these carried meaningful and profound truths easily understood by people whose day-to-day relationship with growing things was fundamental to their existence. Even though many of us may be city-slickers today, most of us still have some connection to the garden and the nature beyond our doorsteps.  And those same truths are easily grasped today.  There are many lessons to be learned from the cycle of life in a garden or gardening on a farm.

Personal Truths I’ve Learned from Gardening

  • You must sow if you want to harvest.
  • You reap what you sow.
  • The life is in the seed.  You can create the right conditions for growth, but you cannot guarantee that it will sprout or that growth will occur.
  • There is a time for planting and a time for harvest.
  • There are seasons of life.
  • A plant always reaches for the light.
  • Roots sunk deep can sustain the plant through times of drought.
  • There are weeds and pests that seek to use the plant for their own ends and may destroy it in the process if we are not diligent in our care.
  • That which is left behind, which dies can be used again as nourishing soil for new growth.
  • A gardener cares for his plants and at times cuts off and prunes so that maximum fruitfulness can take place.
  • Sometimes we can get so caught up in the tending of the plants that we fail to smell, taste, and enjoy the fruits of our labors.
  • From a single seed can spring forth and abundance.
  • You sometimes you have to let some of the fields rest (lie fallow) so that that they can be more fruitful later.

Spiritual Lessons from Jesus Related to Gardening

  • Jesus knew how to prepare soil for planting – Luke 14:35
  • Jesus understood that location and the type of soil was important – Matthew 13:8
  • Jesus understood that a seed must be planted and die before new life can come forth from it – John 12:24
  • Jesus understood that the farm was often a group effort and that different people had different roles  – John 4:38
  • Jesus knew that the life was in the vine – John 15: 1-4
  • Jesus knew that the plant must be pruned to become more fruitful – John 15:1-4
  • Jesus knew that some plants might produce fruit a little slower and sometimes you had to wait before the harvest – Luke 13:6-9
  • Jesus knew that some plants, regardless of how long you waited would never produce fruit and were best removed to make way for others – Matthew 21:18-19
  • Jesus knew that even the smallest of seeds, with proper care can become a great canopy to shelter others through the storms of life – Matthew 13:31–32
  • Jesus knew that sometimes we need to simply sit back and enjoy the time God has given us, rather than worry and toil our life away – Matthew 6:27-30

Applying Spiritual Lessons from Gardening

Seeds of truth sprout in our hearts, are nourished and grow in maturity and fruitfulness.  Like the vine, we stretch ourselves toward the light and bask in the warmth of the sun.  We sink our roots deep in the Word and draw vital sustenance as branches attached to the vine and thus producing abundant fruit.  There are times for planting and times for harvest, times of quick growth and times of strengthening, times of lush active life and times of dormancy and waiting, times of morning glories and night fragrances.  The cycle of the harvest is the cycle of life – the rhythm of God’s timing and God’s care.  It is God’s timing and all our busyness and frantic activity will not hasten the ripening of the fruit or produce the sweet taste of the harvest.  We can create, and must create, the conditions and make sure all the right things are in place, but only God can make us grow and then make us fruitful.  There will be storms and blights and famine, but the same storms bring life nourishing water.  The blights and the famines make the times of abundant harvest so much more delightful.  Then, there are those delightful times, when the Spirit flows from the source into all the areas of our life and fruit is produced in ever increasing measure.

Spiritual growth takes time. Spiritual maturity is not instant. It’s a slow gradual process of growth that will continue all your years. There are no shortcuts. And even if there is life and growth, fruitfulness is not guaranteed.  Fruit appears in season when the conditions are right.  When you try to ripen fruit quickly it loses it flavor.  The same is true with us.

And for each of us there is some area of our life where you are not yielding all you could, places where you might prefer the rocks and be content to tolerate the thorns.  Tilling the soil in our hearts, pulling the weeds, breaking of the tough ground can be hard work. But God is the divine Garner and wants to produce a life of joyful harvest in you if you will simply allow Him into the garden of your life.  Invite Him in.  There is work to be done, but there will also be times to taste and see that the Lord is good. – time to enjoy the harvest of His work in your life.

Spiritual Gardening 101

Need a little help in getting started with spiritual gardening?  Need a manual on spiritual gardening?  Check out the many lessons on the website Creative Youth Ideas about spiritual growth and spiritual fruit.  There is also a youth camp / youth Bible study series shown below.

 

Need a Youth Camp/ Bible Study Series on
“Fruit of the Spirit”?
Live the Fruitful, Abundant Life Jesus Promised. This Bible Study and Camp Curriculum covers, in 7 1-hour sessions, what it takes to grow spiritually in Christ, the goal of which is to be fruitful in our Christian walk – to live a life worthy of God’s calling.
Learn More…

Food for Thought

A Garden is like a Church

Leave a comment

“A garden is so much like a church. So much care and feeding. Such competitiveness among the plants — some of them literally choke each other to death if you don’t get out there and put a stop to it. The big gorgeous ones get lots of attention, but then one comes along that looks almost dead all season and suddenly, almost overnight, blooms splendidly forth. Never write anybody off completely. You just don’t know. ”

— Barbara Cawthorne Crafton in Let Us Bless the Lord, Year One

Children's Sermon

Checkerboard Faith

Leave a comment

Introduction
Use wheat kernels and a chessboard to teach the idea of a little faith growing into something very big.

Materials Needed
Wheat kernels. If you can’t find wheat, sunflower seeds, peas, or just about any other seeds will substitute. The volume would still be significant.
A checkerboard or chess board

Description
Seeds and doubling or used to show how faith, though it starts out small can grow to be very large.

Preparation
Set up a checker board with grains of wheat according to the story

What to Do
With the checkerboard on display ith the grains of wheat, tell the children this story:
Some time ago there was a display at the museum of Science and industry in Chicago. It featured a checkerboard with 1 grain of wheat on the first square, 2 on the second, 4 on the third, and 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, etc. A few squares down the board there were so many grains of wheat they couldn’t fit on one square. Above the display was this question: “At this rate of doubling every square, how much grain would you have on the checkerboard by the time you reached the 64th square?”

Ask children how much grain they think that would be?

After they provide a few ideas, give them the answer: “Enough grain to cover the entire subcontinent of
India 50 feet deep.”

Application
Our faith may start out small, but as God uses it, the end result can be very large! The boy’s small lunch offered to Jesus fed a Multitude. Elijah use a small jar of flour and oil to feel a woman and her son through a famine. David, a small boy, was used by God to defeat a giant. The Bible is full of stories in which God used a little faith in Him to do great things!

 


Get "Creative Sermon Ideas" eBook

Get Help on Your Youth Sermons

Creative Sermon Ideas
This 100 Page e-Book Includes All The Help You Need To Prepare Powerful, Life-Changing Youth Sermons That Will Turn Your Preaching Around And Make Your Youth Sit Up And Listen! Includes 7 Complete Sermons.
–> I want More Youth Sermon Ideas…

Food for Thought

Prayer and the Parable of the Sower

Leave a comment

The Parable of the Sower is a notable study of preaching, showing its differing effects and describing the diversity of hearers. The wayside hearers are legion. The soil lies all unprepared either by previous thought or prayer; as a consequence, the devil easily takes away the seed (which is the Word of God) and dissipating all good impressions, renders the work of the sower futile. No one for a moment believes, that so much of present-day sowing would go fruitless if only the hearers would prepare the ground of their hearts beforehand by prayer and meditation.

Similarly with the stony-ground hearers, and the thorny-ground hearers. Although the word lodges in their hearts and begins to sprout, yet all is lost, chiefly because there is no prayer or watchfulness or cultivation following. The good-ground hearers are profited by the sowing, simply because their minds have been prepared for the reception of the seed, and that, after hearing, they have cultivated the seed sown in their hearts, by the exercise of prayer. All this gives peculiar emphasis to the conclusion of this striking parable: “Take heed, therefore, how ye hear.” And in order that we may take heed how we hear, it is needful to give ourselves continually to prayer.

Source: E.M. Bounds in the Necessity of Prayer

Food for Thought

Conduct and Character

Leave a comment

PRAYER governs conduct and conduct makes character. Conduct, is what we do; character, is what we are. Conduct is the outward life. Character is the life unseen, hidden within, yet evidenced by that which is seen. Conduct is external, seen from without; character is internal — operating within. In the economy of grace conduct is the offspring of character. Character is the state of the heart, conduct its outward expression. Character is the root of the tree, conduct, the fruit it bears.

E.M. Bounds in “The Necessity of Prayer”

Announcements, Camps

Fruit of the Spirit – Camp Curriculum / Bible Study Series

Leave a comment

Announcing…

Fruit of the Spirit

We hope you’ve had a great start to your summer vacation, I know we have! We’ve been working hard to see how we can support you during this season. We know you’ll probably have your hands full with upcoming camps and planning how you can fill the hearts and minds of your youth with activities that will engage them physically and spiritually to truly enable them to worship God with all their heart, mind, soul and strength!

As you may know, we have a whole range of Bible study and Camp curricula that you may have already discovered while browsing our site – “The Great Adventure”, “Jonah: A Whale of a Tale”, and “Who Do You Say That I Am?”.

Today, we’ll be launching a brand new Bible Study series and Camp Curriculum that we’re totally excited about. It features a brand new full color Teacher and Student Guides with a brand new format that we’re sure you will have a blast using.

Introducing, “The Fruit of the Spirit”
Fruit of the Spirit Bible Study Series for Youth Camp or Youth Bible Study

This Bible Study and Camp Curriculum covers, in 7 1-hour sessions, what it takes to grow spiritually in Christ, the goal of which is to be fruitful in our Christian walk – to live a life worthy of God’s calling.

Your youth will learn about:

  • Heart Preparation – “The Good Soil”
    (Matthew 13: 3-9, 18-23; Luke 8:5-15; Mark 4:3-20)
  • Sin & Confession “Pulling Weeds”
    (Matthew 13:22; James 1:13-18; I John 1:9-10)
  • The Seeds You Sow Determine the Harvest You Reap – “Planting Seeds”
    (Galatians 6:6-9)
  • Abiding in Christ – “Drawing from the Source”
    (John 15:1-17)
  • Cultivating Spiritual Fruit – “The Fruitful Life”
    (II Peter 1:2-8)
  • Deciding Between Good and Best – “Pruning”
    (Matthew 22:25-29; I Cor 13:4-7)
  • Your Spiritual His-tree and Destiny – “Tree-mendous Fruit”
    (Matthew 22:25-29; I Cor 13:4-7)

If you’ve already worked out what your summer youth camp theme and topics will be, don’t worry! This curriculum is designed to be used not only for camps but for your Bible Studies, Sunday School or Small Groups.

However you choose to use it, our hope is that through this series, your youth will gain a fresh understanding of walking along this spiritual journey and grow into believers who will impact their families, schools, communities, country, and world for God’s glory!

To find out more about how can nurture the Fruit of the Spirit in the life of your students, click on the link below:
Fruit of the Spirit Bible Study Series for Youth Camp or Youth Bible Study

This will be the first of our Bible Study Curricula that will feature this new format, and so, we warmly welcome any feedback you can give us on how you liked using it or how it can be further improved. Our wish is to better serve you in your work with the next generation of committed believers in the spirit of excellence.

with YOUth on my Heart
Ken

Creative Youth ideas: 1700+ Resources for youth leaders, pastors, ministers to help plan camps, retreats, and meetings using games, illustrations, Children's Worship, Bible Studies, object lessons, sermons, creative ideas,creative activities