Children & youth ministry

Ice Breaker # 5

Common Sheet

On a Piece of paper will be different likes and dislikes that will help students to learn about each other. Students initial on each others sheets as they find someone with that characteristic.

Doesn’t like chocolate Ice cream.	Eats ice cream at least twice a week.	Loves to eat ice cream right out of the carton.
Rocky road is their favorite ice cream.	Doesn’t like ice-cream at all.	Would rather have a hamburger than ice cream.
Thinks Strawberry ice cream is nasty.	Would rather eat ice cream than a meal.	Can eat at least three bowls of ice cream at one setting.

Notes from Children’s and Youth Ministry class, Icebreakers, Professor: Garland Owensby

DEVOTION

You are the Salt of the Earth Matthew 5:13

How many of you have ever made ice cream? What ingredients are key to making ice cream? You have to have rock salt. What is the importance of salt?

Do you guys realize you are the Salt of the Earth.

Text: Matthew 5: 13 "You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses it saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men."(Holy Bible, NIV)

Salt in those days was not as pure and refined as it is today. So it could look like salt but not be salt. Salt was as much a part of life for them 2000 years ago as it is for us today. Salt is necessary for life. ("The Work of a Witness")

There are three purposes of salt:

To Preserve: In the age before refrigeration, they would pack meat in salt and as long as it really penetrated the meat it could last indefinitely. ("The Work of a Witness")

To add flavor: Not only do we use salt to help us make the ice cream it also helps it taste better.

To make Thirsty: Chinese girl (parable, the King offered money for anyone who could make a horse drink water. Lead a horse to water but you can't make them drink. - Her solution: feed it enough salt it will be thirsty and want to drink.)

What do you think it means when someone is the salt of the earth? What does it mean to be the salt of the earth?

Someone who is honest, trustworthy, dependable, especially in the rough times is "the salt of the earth". "Salt of the earth" are people who are those that remain stable in spite of everything. We as Christians are called to be preservers of the earth because we are representatives of the One who is "the true salt of the earth." Just like they used salt to preserve meat we are to preserve the earth. Also, salt must be used in order to keep ice cream cold. But in order for the salt to work right and to preserve the meat it had to penetrate the meat. We also won't preserve right if we don't get in there and penetrate the world by the way we live; we can have enough influence to prevent the natural decay and corruption of sin. (The Work of Witness)

What happens when salt loses its saltiness? It doesn't taste good does it? What the Britannica says is that salt or sodium chloride is a mineral substance of great importance. Salt is essential to health. (Encyclopedia Britannica) Salt is a very stable compound. What happens to make salt lose it saltiness is that it gets mixed with something impure. In order for it to do what it is supposed to do being mixed with substances that are impure must not compromise it.

We as Christians have to be careful. The second part of the verse says "but if salt loses it saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled by men". We as Christians are salt of the earth so we are called to preserve the earth. We must be careful not to let anything stand between our purpose and us. If we are mixed with impure things and are compromised we lose our meaning. If Christ's people lose their character, their loyalty to God, their purpose, then the world is on the road to spiritual decay. We must be clear about God's call and vision for our lives to be salt of the earth. You are salt of the earth, BUT if it loses it saltiness-what good is that.

Bibliography

EncyclopediaBritannica.com. "salt (NaCl)" April 14, 2003. http://www.britannica.com.

Holy Bible. NIV. Red Letter. New Scofield Study System. Oxford University Press:

New York, NY, 1967.

"Human Lines." April 14, 2003. www.youthworker.org.

Newby, Vicky. Crowd Breakers for the Youth Group. Zondervan Publishing House:

Grand Rapids Michigan, 1997.

Newby, Vicky. Games for the Youth Group. Zondervan Publishing House: Grand

Rapids Michigan, 1997.

Owensby, Garland. "Class Notes on Common Sheets."

Straub, Tammy. "Banana Splits in the Mouth." Games. The Source for Youth Ministry.

April 14, 2003. www.thesourcefym.com/games/sick.asp.

"Take as Much as You Need." April 14, 2003. www.youthworker.org.

"Work of Witness: Being Salt and Light." June 27, 2002. WeeklySermons.com.

"Yeah or Nah." April 14, 2003. www.youthworker.org

Gabe Jones

Theme: Movies “Let’s All Go To the Movies”

Set Up: The room will be decorated with movie posters all over the walls and cardboard stand-ups everywhere. There will be giant rolls of fake movie film hung and strung around the room. Any other movie paraphernalia can be used to create the fun movie atmosphere. There can even be a couple of screens in the back of the room playing various appropriate movie scenes. Popcorn and cokes will be available.