Children & youth ministry

Devotional

Title: God’s Hand in Our Life’s Sand

Text: John 8:1-11

In the movie “Blue Crush” there is a group of girls that try to teach some city football players how to surf. In this, they take one of them to a secrete surf area that only the natives of the Hawaiian island know. Now this is pretty serious. The natives don’t want these stupid tourists to come in and take over this secrete.

They find this new surfer and his guide and begin questioning them and threatening them. They were outnumbered tremendously. It came to blows and they ended up limping away.

In John 8:1-11 we see this same type of situation. A woman that has been caught in adultery is brought to Jesus. There is an angry mob that wants to kill her for her sin. But instead of going through with killing her, they ask Jesus what he says to do.

He simply sits down and writes in the sand. After a moment, he stands up and says some amazing words, “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” This threw them all for a loop, and one by one they all realized they had each sinned and began walking away one by one.

What if in Blue Crush this same thing happened. Instead of the angry native surfers beating up the tourist and his guide what if they took him to the Mighty Surfing Guru. (At this point a leader will come out in ridiculous Hawaiian garb. An inner active spontaneous melodrama will be preformed.)

Characters: Angry surfer dude Jeff

Angry Surfer Chic Anna

Tourist Wally

Native Surfer Jenny

Mighty Surfing Guru

Anytime a character addresses Mighty Surfing Guru they must make the hang loose sing with both hands, make a wavy motion with hands, clap and say “Hoo, Ha!”

Angry surfer: Oh mighty surfer dude (Does ceremonial address), these dudes trespassed on the sacred surfing site. Dude, like what should we do?

Surfing Guru: (bends down and begins writing in the sand)

Native Surfer Jenny: (Does ceremonial address) Like, I was only trying to teach him our ways dude.

Angry Surfer Anna: (Doing ceremonial Address)

Yeah, but like, you don’t gotta take him Jenny! (Does ceremonial address again!) So, like yeah, mighty surfing guru, like what do we do?

Might Surfing Guru: (Continuing to write in the sand. After a moment he gets up) For thousands of years our tribe has surfed this…well...surf dudes. Our dudes and dudets have passed on the art of surfing for many generations dudes. What like, do I say about this? Well here is my answer, (Makes a hang loose sign) if you have never wiped out in any way or like, taken someone over here that wasn’t suppose to be like, here, then you can like, break their board. But other wise, dude, get lost.

Angry surfers together: (Make ceremonial sign four times with perplexed looks on their faces. One by one they leave doing the ceremonial sign.)

Tourist Wally: (Does his own funky rendition of the ceremonial sign) Thank you so, so much Mighty Surfing Guru.

Native Surfer Jenny: (Makes Ceremonial Sign) Yeah dude, thanks.

Everyone in their life will mess up. The woman in the story with Jesus, yeah, she messed up. In the goofy surfing story, yeah, Jenny messed up. But you know what, everyone who was accusing them, they had messed up as well.

We all do. So that means that we first of all have no right to judge others when they mess up. We should help them out when they wipe out and help ‘em find their board, not help them drown.

You know what, when we do mess up, Jesus has forgiveness for us just as he did that woman. The people were condemning her, just as some people are condemning you. But Jesus said that no one has the right to condemn her or us. He then forgave her and told her to leave her life of sin. That is what we are to do. After we mess up, come to Jesus, he will forgive you if you are sincere. But then you must go out and stop doing the thing that is making you sin against God. Plain and simple.

Tonight we are all standing before God. No one is here, just our sin and us. No one here can condemn us because we have all sinned. But the thing is, who is going to leave here changed? Who is going to take the forgiveness that God gives after wiping out in life and get back up on your board and continue to try and surf with out messing up? That is the question. Will you?

Works Cited

Collaborated ideas with Jaroy Carpenter and

Steven Watson and Chance Williamson.
Icebreakers and Energizers. Available at

www.kimskorner4teachertalk.com/classmanagement/ecebreakers.html. Accessed on April 17, 2003.
Icebreakers/Mixers. Available at

www.bbyo.org/bbg/ideas/mixers.html.

Accessed on April 17, 2003.

Johnny Wohlgemuth

Theme: Sports of Illustration.

Text: 1 Corinthians 9:24-27

Set the stage: At the beginning of the night the room will be set up with various pieces of sports equipment and hats of different sports teams. We will have a T.V set up with sports bloopers playing (no volume on though) and music at a talk conducive level. Attendance will be taken at the beginning of our game night, and name tags given to everyone including regulars and visitors. There will be 9 youth leaders in attendance for this game night because there are expected to be 45-55 Jr. Highers come. The youth pastor will begin with a short prayer to start the night and then we will more right in to our icebreakers and games. Icebreakers will be played in our Jr. High room, and all games will be played in The Rocks gym. The youth pastor really, really encourages all the kids to be respectful, to one another and to play all the games. The icebreakers will be volunteer oriented, but one person will be limited to participate in one icebreaker. This will give different people an opportunity to experience all the icebreakers. There will be a short devotion after the icebreakers and games. We will bring all the sweaty athletes back into the room where big fans will be blowing on them, and sidelines benches will be provided for them to sit on and a huge cooler of Gatorade will be waiting for them. The youth leaders will serve the kids Gatorade until they have had their fill.

Icebreakers

Starting off the night we will begin with our icebreakers. The youth pastor will have a microphone and the room will be divided up into two groups of rows with an isle down the middle. This will help our teams be divided so they know who to cheer for.

Wheaties Eaties

Materials: Two large bowls of Wheaties cereal, (mixing bowls) two large serving spoons, folding table, two folding chairs, a whistle, and referees cap.

Instructions: Say that Wheaties is the breakfast of champions and to start these two athletes off right tonight we want them to be well nourished. Bring in the mixing bowls full of Wheaties, give them the large mixing spoons, and pour on the milk. Stand back, blow the whistle and have the athletes start eating. Whoever eats the bowl of Wheaties first is the undisputed champion of the contest.

Next, an icebreaker of skill, balance, and speed.

Whack a Hat

Materials: 2 giant size fun noodles, two different ball team caps, a catchers mask or hockey goalie mask, and a whistle.

Instructions: Call up 2 people who are good baseball players and tennis players. Have them put on a ball cap of an opposing team. (This game works well for groups that are divided in their seating, two large rows or groups) After the two opposing team members put on their ball caps give them each a large fun noodle. Give them 30 seconds to “whack the hat” off the opposing players head. Have the room divided to cheer on their team member who is whacking the hat just like at a baseball game. It adds to the sports feel if the judge wears a baseball umpires mask, or a hockey goalies mask while standing by.

Midway through our icebreakers there will be a cool interlude that only the youth pastor and leaders will be allowed to run due to the danger that could be involved. Before the night began it was instructed that the youth leaders each bring a box of Little Debbie Twinkies to be launched into the crowd by a clay pigeon thrower.

Twinkie Launch

Materials: 1 clay pigeon thrower, many boxes of Twinkies, and a catchers mask, or hockey mask.

Instructions: Set up clay pigeon thrower at the front of the room or stage. This is not the kind you hold in your hand, it is the kind that mounts on a base and fires the clay pigeon with a giant spring and a catapult arm.
We will have all the kids stand in a group at the other end of the room and fire the Twinkies through the air with the clay pigeon thrower. Two youth leaders will aid in handing the Twinkies to the youth pastor to be set in the arm and fired. It will be awesome! A word of warning though, this type of clay pigeon thrower uses EXTREME spring tension. If a kid were to play around with it they could literally lose a limb if the catapult arm hit them. The youth leaders will help bring in and set up the thrower, and after we are done catapulting Twinkies for them to munch on, it will be taken off the premises and returned to the person we borrowed it from.

Now, to put all that sugar to use with a large group icebreaker.

Ameba Race

Materials: Pieces of rope or twine 18” long, masking tape, and a whistle.

Instructions: Tie several crowds of kids together with rope or twine around their waists and mark off lines on the carpet with masking tape. Have them race each other's group as a large "Ameba." There will only be two large groups doing this, so we will only have 2 or 3 races from one end of the room to the next. After the kids are tied in their amebas the whistle is blown and both groups will work together to keep the same speed in racing not dragging anyone down and trampling them. The amebas will race to one end of the room and back across the start/finish lines.

Lastly, a call for all golfers in the house to play this last icebreaker called safe golf.

Safe Golf

Materials: 9 iron, a bag of large jet puffed marshmallows, and an orange flag and pole to represent a green marker, a trophy made of glued together styrophome cups.

Instructions: Safe golf is the same as driving a regular golf ball. The only difference is you use marshmallows instead of golf balls. See who can hit them the furthest distance. One youth leader will be set at the other end of the room with the orange flag to represent a hole on the green. The golfer who hits the marshmallow the closest to the flag with the 9 iron will be given a Safe Golf trophy of styrophome cups (like the pros who win a Ryder cup, etc.)

After all the icebreakers are finished we will bring all the kids into the gym in the Rock. The following games will be played until we are all through them.

Games

There are a lot of athletic kids in this Jr. High youth group, this is the reasoning behind choosing the theme and games that this game night entails.

Human Foosball

Materials: 1 soccer or nerf ball, masking tape, or a bag of flour (optional)

Instructions: You play just like table game only with real people linked in rows. Split the kids into two teams, have a captain decide who goes in which rows and how many in each row. Each entire team faces one direction and has to stay that way. They link arms by holding the person's elbows next to them. The whole row has to stay within their boundaries like in the game, but they can slide back and forth left and rightWhen you play inside you can mark the boundaries with masking tape, or use the natural lines on the gym floor, or flour. If you play in a building if you need to remove pretty much everything from the room. If you play outside, it is best if you play between two buildings so that the ball stays in the game. If you play in a field have youth leaders around to toss the ball back into play. Make sure everyone is wearing shoes; it can get a little fierce with the kicking. Also, USE A BALL that is SOFT - we use a stuffed soccer ball, or you could use a really soft nerf ball.

Next game, for all the basketball players in the room

Chinese Fire Drill Basketball

Materials: Basketballs

Instructions: Divide the group into a number of teams that is one more than the number of baskets there are 2 in our gym. The extra team gets a basketball. Each of the other teams is assigned a basket to defend. When the game starts, following basic basketball rules, the team with the ball attacks one of the defended baskets. If the attacking team scores a basket they take the ball with them and attack the next basket located counterclockwise in the gym. If the defending team gains possession of the ball before the attacking team scores, the defending team becomes the attacking team and moves to the next defended basket. The team that just lost the ball stays at that basket and defends it from the next attack. Repeat this pattern until time expires. For extra mayhem, pick teams so there are initially two extra teams so that there are always two baskets being attacked. Be sure your good basketball players are spread among the teams.
Michelin Man Bumper Tube

Materials: Long piece of rope, and 2 large tractor tire intertubes.

Instructions: This is basically Sumo Wrestling for fun. Two players battle each other, each holding a tube like a belt or belly. Draw or rope off a small circle that they try to bump each other out of.
By the seat of your pants volleyball

Materials: Volleyball net, or rope 1 large beach ball

Instructions: Divide the group into two teams. Set up a volleyball net (or a rope across the room if you don’t have a net) so the top of the net is approximately 5 feet above the floor (shorter than the norm). Each player is instructed to sit down on their team’s side of the net so that his or her legs are crossed in front of them. Because of limited mobility of each player a larger number of participants is suggested (20-25 per team). Use a beach ball, serve from the center of the group and don’t worry how many hits per side. Other than that this is normal volleyball rules.
Chariot Races

Materials: 3 bed sheets or blankets, a whistle.

Instructions: Divide youth into groups of three. Each group gets a large blanket or bed sheet (note: this is pretty tough on the linen.) Each team lines up at the starting line. Two of the youth on each team are holding onto front corners of the sheet / blanket. One youth is sitting on the other end of the blanket, soon to be hanging on for dear life. At the signal, of the whistle the teams race around a designated course (lined perimeter of gym), the two youth in front acting as horses and the sheet / blanket acting as a chariot. The race consists of three laps. At the end of each lap, the youth rotate, so one of the people riding now pulls, and one of the pullers now rides. Three laps allow each person to ride once and pull twice. If a rider is thrown from his chariot, the team must stop until the rider is firmly reseated.

Last game,

Trash ball

Materials: A trash can (not used), a large rubber ball, masking tape

Instructions: Divide into two teams. Use a trashcan that is about the same size as your ball have each team choose a trash can holder (rotate regularly, its a fun place to be) Have each one stand up on a chair and make a boundary of about 10 feet around each holder with tape or use gym floor lines. Anyone caught inside the tape must sit there indefinitely (at your discretion). For large groups, add an extra ball or two. They can only take 3 steps when they have the ball, so more are involved. This is a fun game because anyone can make a full court shot, so tell the teams the ball must touch a certain number of girls before they can shoot. This gets everybody’s hands on the ball.

All the youth leaders bring the kids back into our room; serve them Gatorade while sitting on our authentic sideline benches.

Devotion:

Text: 1 Corinthians 9:24-27

Materials: A toy crown, two 5 to 10 pound dumbbells, one of the fun noodles from our icebreakers, large wooden box and a cd player.

I am going to select a player here tonight who has shown leadership, enthusiasm, and has been a help to others in our Sports of Illustration game night. Brad can you come up here for me? I have been watching you tonight Brad and you have stood out to me tonight because you have participated in all our activities tonight, and have been a great leader. Brad, I am going to choose you as my athlete example for this message. Is that ok with you? Reply. Are you sure? Reply. Ok, here we go. Brad you are going to be my athlete, and I am going to be your trainer. Now Brad I want you to look at this crown here. Would you like to win this crown? Reply. Well this is your prize, after you finish your training you are going to run a race around this room and I am going to time you Ok. Just remember to keep your eyes on the prize here Ok. Now I am going to read to you guys our scripture tonight. Read 1 Corinthians 9:24-27. How many of you are athlete here besides Brad? Now all of you want to be winners and win a trophy, or medal whatever type of prize you win in your selected sport. But how do you do that? Reply: train. Right, you have to whip your body into shape! You can’t just sit around and eat fatty foods and never work out and expect to be a fast strong athlete right? So Brad here is your gut check man, I want you to take these two dumbbells bells and start to lift. At this time I will start to play the Rocky fight song “Eye of the Tiger.” Come on Brad Pump that iron and strengthen those guns. Now Brad remember, to keep your eyes on that crown man, it’s your prize! Ok Brad now your training is finished. I want you to run around this room 2 times as fast as you can, and I am going to time you. You have 1 minute to make it. Are you ready, set, Go! Eye of the Tiger is playing, kids are cheering Brad on. Brad makes it under 1 minute. Ok Brad, you made it man! Congratulations! Stand up on this box. Brad stands on tall wooden box. I take the toy crown and put it on his head and we all cheer him for being such a great athlete. Now guys lets look at how we just illustrated this piece of scripture. Verse 24 and 25 says that, every runner who runs, runs for a purpose. What is that purpose? Reply. Right to get the prize. In this case the prize was a crown. Now Brad, is that crown you are wearing going to last forever? No it’s not. But, the crown we will get in heaven for running the race God has marked out for us here on earth will last forever. Brad here had to train in order to win that crown that is on his head. He had to lift weights, he had to run everyday to build up his endurance, and he had to eat healthy. So, just like Paul said in verse 26 he doesn’t run aimlessly or without a purpose. The purpose for running and training is to get that crown! The prize! Verse 27 says, so I beat my body to make it my slave. Brad had to discipline his body to make it strong enough to win that crown. Guys, this example is just like real life. We have to discipline our bodies as Christians to be worthy of winning that prize that is waiting for us in heaven. Our service to Christ while we are here on this earth is to run the course and fulfill the purpose we are here for. We must avoid sin and temptation so we are not disqualified from our prize. Some ways you guys can begin training your bodies for this spiritual race is reading your Bibles on a daily basis, and keeping your prayer time with God. When you do these things it will lead you to being open to what God has for you in your lives as you grow up. Guys my challenge to you this week is to continue the training example that you learned here tonight. Keep your eyes in constant view of the prize by praying and reading your Bibles and serving others. Guys I want to pray a prayer of blessing over all of you before we go Ok.

Father God, I thank you for the great time of games and fun we had tonight. I thank you that you kept all of us safe. Jesus, I thank you for your word. I thank you that it gives us instruction for living and getting closer to you. Lord bless each and every one of my kids here in this room. Bless them with encouragement and strength to run their race, the race you have marked out for them. Watch over them and keep them safe till our next meeting in you name I pray, Amen. Ok, guys I love you and I hope you had a great time, visitor’s thanks for coming. See you next week.

Bibliography

Crowd Breakers and Mixers For Youth Groups. (Grand Rapids, Michigan:

Youth Specialties/Zondervan Publishing House), 1997.

McCollam, Dan & Keith Betts. Junior High Game Nights. (Grand Rapids, Michigan:

Youth Specialties/Zondervan Publishing House), 1991.

The Source for Youth Ministry.com Internet source.
Zondervan NIV Study Bible. (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House,

1997.

John Wolfe

CREATION NIGHT

ICEBREAKERS:

1. 
   Boggle Mixer – Split up into smaller groups of four or five. Have printout grids and pencils and give them to each person. They write out each person’s name one below the other. Then they see how many three letter or more words they can make. The letters have to be adjacent to each other and no letter can be used more than once in a single word. It is a combination of boggle and a word find. Give a three-minute time limit and the person with the most words wins. Have a dictionary available in case there are strange words used (Rice & Yaconelli, 47).
   
2. 
   Play-dough Molding – Split up into groups of two according to the first letters of first names (try not to have siblings together). Have each person find out the other’s name and then take turns trying to mold the other person’s favorite activity, favorite food, and a place they would like to visit (like the Grand Canyon, or the Eiffel Tower, etc. Let them be creative in how they want to portray these places). For a slight change up of this game, each person can mold their own favorite food, favorite subject, and house and have the other guess what they are molding. Then they can put the play-dough on a piece of paper with the name above it and set it on a display table in the room. This way everyone can learn a little more about each other (John Wolfe).
   
3. 
   Silent Dates – Have each person take a chair and put it in a semi-circle. Then tell them that in this game they need to get in order from left to right according to their birthday. However, they cannot talk and they cannot mouth anything or write anything down. They have to sign or find some other way to figure it out. If they do talk add that they now have to go from oldest to youngest (Jon Boye). (Try to be lenient if they are getting very frustrated and allow them to use paper if they don’t get it within five minutes.)
   
4. 
   Statue Making – Divide people into groups of two. Have each pair take turns, go to the center of the room, and one at a time form the other person into some kind of activity that they like to do. After each person has been formed have the others guess what it is (Eskew, 42-43). (If you want to add a bonus, after everyone is done, ask if anyone can name each person’s activity. Whoever names the most right gets a candy bar and a soft drink afterwards.)
   
5. 
   Fractured Names – This game is a variation of Fractured Proverbs. Give each person a slip of paper and something to write with. Have them print their first name leave some space and then print their last name (no cursive, it’s too hard to read sometimes). Then they will put their first names in a bucket and keep their last names in their hand. After that each person will draw one slip from the bucket (cannot be their own name). They have to find the person who has that name and when they do they switch last names and link arms. If the person they find is already linked they link arms with them but switch last names with the person in front that is still looking for their person. The game is over when everyone is linked in a circle. Then each person can take turns saying the full name of the person on their slips of paper (Eskew, 157)
   

GAMES:

1. 
   Paper War – Divide the group into two teams. Have two barriers (these can be made out of chairs, tables that are tipped sideways, netting, etc.) that are about 15 to 20 feet apart with two small trashcans in the middle (one for each team). Each team gets behind a barrier and designates one person from their team as the crawler. When the leader says go each team is given a stack of newspapers and one minute to make as many snowballs, airplanes, etc. as they can while their crawler crawls to the other side in front of the other teams barrier. After a minute, the leader says fire and each team can start throwing paper to the other teams side or in the trashcans. The crawlers can only pick up whatever paper is in the middle and throw it on the other team’s side (nothing else). They are given four minutes to try and get as much paper on the other team’s side or in their trashcan as they can. The leader calls out when there is ten seconds left and the crawlers have to get back to their side (if they are still out when time is called it’s minus 10 pts for their team). When time is called everyone stops throwing (whoever throws paper after time is called gets minus 10 pts). One point is given for each paper on the other teams side, two points for each paper in their trashcan. The team with the most points wins (Eskew, 82).
   
2. 
   Egg Drop – Divide the group up into teams of four or five. Give each team a roll of masking tape, several pages of a newspaper, and a raw egg. Each team has to try and make a carrier that will keep the egg from breaking when it is dropped. They will be given twenty minutes to make their carriers and then all teams have to bring their creations to a drop off point (this can be a balcony, a roof, or on top a ladder). A plastic sheet is laid down below with an x in the middle. Each team drops its egg on the x and sees if it breaks or not (Eskew, 65).
   
3. 
   Poetry in Motion – Have the whole group sit in a circle. Give each person a paper and something to write with. Each person writes one line of a poem and then passes it to the right. Then that person writes down a second line, folds the first line back so that only his/her line is showing, and passes it to the right. This continues with each person always folding back so that only his/her line is showing until the paper runs out of room. Once that happens, everyone unfolds their poems and takes turns reading them (“Poetry in Motion”, 1).
   
4. 
   Bubble Gum Sculpture – Divide people into groups of 15 or so. Then get two volunteers from each group (do not tell them what they are volunteering for). Set a plate or cookie sheet on a table in front of each volunteer. Give the rest of the group gum and have them chew it until it is soft. Then they give it to the volunteers and start chewing the next piece. The volunteers need to take the gum as they get it and make an object such as a piece of pizza, a turtle, etc (they can use plastic gloves if they want to). Once the group is done chewing all the gum they can step back and watch. When the volunteers are done, the group then judges which one is best. The winner, or both volunteers if possible, gets a prize like a Christian CD or something. [Note: buy gumballs, not stick gum; Bazooka instead of Wrigley. It is cheaper and better for the sculpting.] (Sapp, 1)
   
5. 
   Human Blob – Divide everyone into two teams. Have each team stand close together to form a solid circle or dot. The leader calls out a shape like a square or a triangle and each teams races to form that solid shape by lying on the floor. After each shape or object, the team goes back to its original spot. Start out easy and then go on to numbers and letters. Finally, do complex shapes like a dog or North America (“Human Blob”, 1).
   
6. 
   Human Knots Mixer – Everyone gets in a circle close together. If there is a lot of people there may need to be more than one group. Each person has to grab the hands of two other people in the circle (they cannot be the person on their left or their right). Then the group has to try to untangle themselves without letting go of their hands. This is possible every time if everyone has followed the rules right (“Human Knots Mixer”, 1).
   

DEVOTIONAL:

(HOOK) We have created words, food, shapes, a knot, egg holders, and more. Some of our creations were great, like the gum sculptures. Others were simple like the crumpled paper for the paper wars, but they got the job done. In this country that we live in there are also many creations. People make cars, bikes, skateboards, food; you name it, someone has probably made it. When things are made, we have been taught to want the best thing. We want the fastest, most dynamic car, the tastiest foods, or the best working skateboards. Or if it is a sport, we are always trying to find a way to play it better. Whenever someone is about to beat a record, I am just like, “Come on, you can do it, one more basket. Come on, five more yards. You still have five seconds to beat that mile record. Show me a cool dunk that I’ve never seen before.” We want our creations that we buy or that we make to be the best and reach their fullest potential. There is another who wants the same. This brings us to our Scripture for tonight.

(BOOK) In Jeremiah 18, God told Jeremiah to go to a potter’s house. In verses 3-4 we find out what Jeremiah saw: “So I went down to the potter's house, and I saw him working at the wheel. But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him. (NIV) When Jeremiah saw this God told him that that was what he wanted to do with all the people of Israel.

(LOOK) This reminds me of an illustration I heard on the radio. It was about a Potter and some clay. The Potter had a lump of clay on the wheel and was forming the pot. The clay was being molded beautifully until something happened. A lump formed. As the Potter began applying water and pushing on the lump to smooth it out, the clay resisted. It hurt and the clay cried out, “Stop!” The Potter told the clay, “You have a lump and I have to smooth it out in order to make you into a beautiful vase.” But the clay would not agree to that, so reluctantly, the Potter took the clay of the wheel and set it on a shelf to the side. While on the side the clay felt a lot better because nothing was hurting anymore and no one bothered it. However, it was never used for anything either. The clay noticed other vases and pots below it that had amazing shapes to them. The Potter had just made an extravagant vase and was putting some roses in it. The clay looked at itself and its disfigured shape and longed to be made like one of the other vases. Finally, it cried out to the Potter, “I want to be made into a vase.” The Potter was waiting and hoping the clay would want to be molded again. He told the clay, “It’s going to hurt at first when I smooth out the lump, but in the end you will be a beautiful vase. Are you willing?” This time the clay was.

(TOOK) God is a lot like this Potter. He told Jeremiah that he knew him and set him apart before he even formed him in the womb and before he was born. God knows each and every one here tonight. He has created you for a purpose. He wants to shape you into something great. Just like how we made all the different things tonight, God wants to make all of us into what He has intended us to be.

I just want everyone to repeat this after me: “God loves me, and he made me special.” Now, during your prayer time at home tonight and throughout the week, I want you to think about this lesson. Ask God to show you what His purposes are for your life. Ask Him to show you what He created you to be. Ask Him to help you see yourself how He sees you. I also want you to do this. Think of two things that you are really good at and really like doing. This month give those things to God and use them for Him. If you are good at art, try making some Christian pictures that you can put up in church or school or that you can give to others. If you are good at sports and you are on the basketball team, make a commitment to dedicate every game to God and play every game to please Him. Whatever it is that you are good at or like doing, see how you can please God through that.

Bibliography

Eskew, Lane, Ed. Quick Crowdbreakers and Games for Youth Groups. Loveland, CO: Group Publishing, Inc., 1988.

“Human Blob.” YouthPastor.Com: Games: Letter H. Online. June 2000: 1. http://www.youthpastor.com/games/index.cfm?G=265. 17 April 2003.

“Human Knots Mixer”-submitted by Young Life. The Source for youth ministry: Games and Icebreakers: Anywhere Games. Online. 2002: 1. http://www.thesourcefym.com/games/anywhere.asp. 17 April 2003.

“Poetry in Motion.” YouthPastor.Com: Games: Letter P. Online. June 2000: 1. http://www.youthpastor.com/games/index.cfm?G=269. 17 April 2003.

Rice, Wayne & Mike Yaconelli. Incredible Ideas for Youth Groups. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1982.

Sapp, Rebecca. “Bubble Gum Sculpture.” The Source for youth ministry: Games and Icebreakers: Sick and Twisted Games. Online. 2002: 1. http://www.thesourcefym.com/games/sick.asp. 17 April 2003.

Joy Wolfert

All in the Family Night