Purpose: To teach teens about their Christ-worth (as opposed to self-worth)
Materials: Old and new magazines and newspapers
Tape or glue stick
Scissors
Lunch size paper bags
Instruct each of the young people to think about how others view them, and how they see themselves.
On the outside of the bag, have them cut out words and pictures that show how others see them. Let them affix them to the bag for all to see.
On the inside of the bag, have them cut out words and pictures that show how they see themselves. These are placed inside the bag.
After about a fifteen minute time for making the bags, put everyone in an open circle, and start with someone who is friendly, or outgoing.
Going around the circle, let everyone show the outside of their bag, and tell why they think others think of them in the way they have represented. Then, they can share how they feel about themselves by showing the contents of their bag.
After everyone has shared "their bag" the leader can share passages from God's word, that show how much we are worth to Him... The fact that we are wondrously made, and the fact that He would send His Son to die for us, shows us that we are worth so much to Him.
Close the meeting with a prayer.
This can be an encouraging time for the teens, in realising that their worth to God is not based on outward or inward features or qualities. He loves us because He made us! And when one realises the extent of God's love, in sending His only Son, they can become a new creation in Christ.
For those who are not saved, it can be a time to receive and trust in Christ, and for those who are saved, it can be a time to renew and reaffirm their faith in Christ.
posted by, Skip Brown
Catacombs
This game is based on the story of the Christians in Bible times, hiding in the Catacombs because they were being persecuted by the Romans.
Here's how it goes. You need at least 12 players, you choose 2 players to be Romans and one player to be God, and you play inside the church, at night (preferably in the dark). Once you have chosen a location to be a jail, the Romans leave the room and go away so they can't hear what is being discussed. The rest of the group make smaller groups of at least three per group. They all then arrange areas of the church which will be church meeting spots; pick about five areas. The kids decide on a verse of scripture and a hymn/chorus to be sung, all groups use the same scripture and hymn/chorus.
Now the point of the game. Each group is to meet in each of the five areas, when they meet they must recite the verse of scripture, sing their chorus and recite the Lord's prayer, they must do this audibly. Whilst the groups are running around in the dark from meeting spot to meeting spot, the Romans are also running around catching Christians and bringing them to Jail, God is in the Jail and whenever God wants He calls "Act of God" and all the Christians escape and find their group. All group members must be present to have a meeting. The first group to have its entire group, do a service in each allocated spot wins.
We have had a lot of fun with this and usually we play too, a lot of non church kids in our area found out we were playing this and would come out just to play......
P.S. we have the rule with this that if a Roman touches you, then you are caught: this prevents any tackling...
posted by, Sharon
Scavenger hunt Variant
Divide into teams, then give them a list with a few things on it like this:
Find a hill that looks the most like Calvary, then gather at the foot of it and sing "Were you there when they crucified my Lord" (or anysong the young people know)
Go to public restaurant/pub and sing "Go tell it on the mountain" (or any song the young people know)(ask first)
Go to public shopping center and tell 20 people in 10 seconds"Merry Christmas, Jesus is the reason for the season" (did that at Christmas time)
Go to a rest home and share a personal testimony with an elderly person. *** BONUS: Find someone in need and help them!
If you can give each team a camcorder to record all their things. Then watch the tapes at the next youth group and talk about the original and creative way they did things.
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