Children & youth ministry

Theme

The Theme for the night is Garbage Party. Have the night filled with different things that relate to garbage. Instead of having your group meet in a church, maybe have them meet in a garage, or a messy room. Use old furniture with holes in it (maybe found on the street or in the basement. Have the kids and sponsors wear old ratty clothes. Make it a fun night where there is a table filled with different junk food, nothing healthy. Make fruit punch and put it in a new clean garbage can.

Ice Breakers

1. 
   Garbage scavenger hunt.
   

Make a list of things people throw in the garbage. Create a points system for size value of the garbage. Break kids off into small groups with garbage bags and gloves. Have the groups fill the bags with garbage and bring it back. Give them 5-10 minutes to find the garbage. The team with the best garbage wins.

2. 
   Junk food favorites.
   

Have the kids individually disassemble and find 5 different people with 5 different favorite junk foods. A person with the same favorite as you doesn’t count.

3. 
   Garbage for brains.
   

Have groups of ten people list 7 different things that are thrown away everyday. Have the kids spell the word G A R B A G E with all the things they threw away.

Example G would be old gum.

4. 
   Name that garbage.
   

Break the kids off into groups of 5 people. You (the leader, pastor, ect) give clues as to what the garbage might be. The team that guesses the garbage wins. Give the kids whistles to blow when the want to guess. After each round kids exchange whistles and they get to guess.

5. 
   Garbage charades
   

Play charades with words that deal with garbage.

6. 
   Sin = garbage
   

Break kids off into groups give them a verse in the bible that deals with sin. Have a sheet of poster board with garbage on it. Give them a verse has them find it and guess what piece of garbage it says on the poster board.

Games

1. 
   Junk food relay.
   

Set up a table with warm root beer and a cup full of skittles. Have two teams run to the table and chug a half can of root beer and run back. The next person has to eat and swallow all the skittles in the cup and run back to the next person until every one has gone. The first team done wins.

2. 
   Junk food or Junk food
   

Play some music and toss a ball around. Like musical chairs have the group get into a circle and stop the music whenever. The person with the ball has to pick a food object out of a bag. The food could be something good, or something you would rather throw in the garbage. Play for about 10 minutes. Make sure to have a garbage can and a camera.

3. 
   Snicker bar on a string.
   

Pick four players. Tie a snickers or other candy bar on a string. Have two-team members hold the string standing on a chair the other two team members on their knees eat the snickers with out their hands. The first one done wins.

4. 
   Who’s the poor man?
   

Pick two players. Get some kind of junk food like moon pies or Twinkies and hide a dollar in them. The player who finds the dollar wins. Make sure the take a bite of each one.

5. 
   Oreo sink and eat relay.
   

Pick 3 players for each team. Give the first person in line on each team a glass of milk and 3 Oreos. The first person puts one Oreo in the glass of milk and passes to the next person. That person takes a spoon and dunks the Oreo and then passes the glass with the spoon and the Oreo in it to the last player. That person takes the Oreo and eats it. When they are done eating their Oreo, they will pass the glass with the spoon back down the line. Each team will continue this process until all the Oreos are eaten. The first team done is the winner.

Sermon

Tonight we have talked about, and played games regarding garbage. In our eyes garbage is disgusting and we don’t want to go anywhere near it. Touching garbage makes us feel dirty, gross and when we touch it we want to take a shower. However, like garbage, God sees sin as we see garbage. Lets read Isaiah 64:6 For all of us have become like one who is unclean, ^R2655 And all our righteous ^R2656 deeds are like a filthy garment; And all of us wither ^R2657 like a leaf, And our iniquities, ^R2658 like the wind, take us away (Crosswalk.com). This passage basically says we are all filthy even the righteous, or good people. God unlike us will love and come near the filthy things, or garbage to make them clean, even if He gets His hands dirty. Lets read Zechariah 3:3-4 Now Joshua was clothed with filthy ^R73 garments and standing before the angel. He spoke and said to those who were standing before him, saying, " ^R74 Remove the filthy garments from him." Again he said to him, "See, I have taken ^R75 your iniquity away from you and will ^F14 clothe ^R76 you with festal robes."(Crosswalk.com). In our filth Jesus gives us new clean robes, or clothes. We don’t earn them, or deserve them it is a free gift. Romans 3:10 says “There is no one righteous, not even one”. Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. The only way to receive forgiveness, and new clean clothes is to ask Jesus into your heart and ask for forgiveness of sins. So we are like these garbage cans and we are full of garbage but we think we are clean. Jesus was the only garbage man who can take our sins away. John 14:6 Jesus said to him, "I am the ^R912 way, and the ^R913 truth, and the ^R914 life; no one comes to the Father but through Me (Crosswalk.com). Have altar call Good night.

Bibliography

1. 
   Google.com
   
2. 
   Youthpastor.com
   
3. 
   Crosswalk.com
   
4. 
   Trentham, Jeff. Fun Games 4 Kid’s Ministry
   

(Packet from Children’s ministry class)

Noe Escamilla

LATINO Night (Like To Know You)

Submitted by: Tony D. Baker