Youth Service

Here's an idea for a short youth service we did last Sunday. We meant to do this the first Sunday of Lent, but people were snowed in!

We created a cross of fat white candles on the floor. One candle per youth and not lit. We had the kids sit in a semi circle at the foot of the cross.

I passed out a piece of paper and pen to each youth and asked them to write one attribute of God on it. Example: Holy. I told them they would not be reading their own, so please have it come from the heart. When everyone was done I collected those in a basket.

I pass out another piece of paper and asked them to write something that God has done.
Example: created puppies. Again reminding them to really think about it and they wouldn't be reading their own outloud.
I collected these in another basket

Then I had each youth draw one of the papers from the first basket. One at a time a youth would say "God you are (and then read the attribute that the paper said) As they did this we lit one candle. The whole cross was lit when they had finished reading the attributes.

Then we passed out the papers from second basket. Each youth said “God thank you for (and read from paper)

When that was done I had the youth bow their heads and silently think about how worthy God is and what they would like to do for Him this Lenten season. Once they had thought of something they quietly get up and blew out a candle.

When everyone was again sitting I closed with this prayer. “Lord, You are more than worthy to Love and Worship. Help us to grow closer to You this Lenten season and glorify You in all we do. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen."

Youth Service on Peace

Start with everyone in a circle around a lit candle. We also had lots of other lit candles scattered around the room. Otherwise the room is dark. Say:

There are different kinds of peace. There’s spiritual peace – meaning we are at peace with God. We’re believers – we’re reconciled. There’s emotional peace, which is an internal sense of well being and order. And relational peace – peace with other people.

Right before Jesus went to the cross, He said in John 14:27 “I leave behind with you peace. I give you my own peace and my gift is nothing like the peace of this world.”

It’s a gift. And it’s different. God’s peace allows us to be tranquil in the midst of trouble. In order to have this kind of peace we must obey His principles, found in the Bible. When we’re cheating on something or not getting along with someone we are not at peace at all. But, when we’re doing what’s right and know it, we can feel peaceful even when everything else is coming unglued. We need to be in harmony with God. We need to do what He tells us to do. Our life will run more smoothly if we live it according to God’s design as presented in His Word. It’s that simple.

Guilt is a peace destroyer. We need to accept that He’s forgiven our past. Only God can give us a clean conscience. In the book of Micah it says God delights in showing mercy. He is willing and waiting and likes to forgive. What we can do immediately in any stressful situation is take a deep breath, let it out and focus on God’s presence surrounding us. God says be still and know.

And then trust His purpose.

All of our questions won’t be answered in our lifetime, but God never says, “oops!” because He never makes a mistake. All He expects from us is to trust Him and acknowledge that He’s in control. If we do this He’ll direct our life. He’ll make our paths straight. The safest, most serene place to be is in the center of God’s will.

Ask the kids to close their eyes. (My husband started to play the piano softly as back ground music.) Say:

Peace does not necessarily mean a world without problems, pain, or imbalance. Peace is a state of being. While it may sometimes seem impossible, inner peace is possible despite the emotional influences from world events, media, negative people, and our own judgments. We can access this state when we cultivate peace from the inside, rather than looking for it externally.

Ask yourself, what does peace mean to me? Is it long stretches of quiet time, or just feeling less stressed? Is it a hike in the woods, a day by the ocean or perhaps time alone to enjoy a book or a movie? What would your daily life look like if it was peaceful? Think about this a minute - what does peace mean to me?

Pause

How am I inviting and embracing the wholeness and peace God intends

Pause

Peace comes with gratitude. Think about everything good in your life. Think about things you are grateful for and thank God for them.

Pause

We are called to be peacemakers. Sharing your love and your kindness is not always an easy task, but it is one of the most powerful ways to create peace. There is a great reward each time we greet another human being, or a situation, with love instead of anger, resentment, and fear. Think of ways you can spread peace this week. This Christmas season.

Pause

Now that you’ve come up with some ideas, commit to God that you will do this.

Closing Prayer:

(Girls read lightface type; guys read bold.)

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.

O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console,
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen.

How to Walk Consistently with God

My husband and I did another youth service with the kids on Sunday. We took thick white candles (lit) and formed a large cross on the floor. Then we had the kids sit at the foot of the cross.

I started with a story, which I’ve printed in this blog before: http://teachingsundayschool.blogspot.com/2007/01/trust-and-obey.html

Then said, “How do we consistently walk with God so that at the end of our lives we’ve had the kind of life God envisioned for us?

First: we seek God above all else. Let’s join together singing the hymn, Seek Ye First, the Kingdom of God

(John played it on the piano/ words were on power point)

2nd: Know that God is always present. He is with each of us all the time.

Power point responsive reading:

Leader: In this place
In this moment
God is present

All: A mystery of love

Leader: Around us
Within us
Above us
Beneath us
God is present

All: A mystery of love


3rd: Know the Bible. Read it every day. Memorize it! Share your favorite verses

At this point, I had had all the kids write their favorite Bible verses down and we passed around a flashlight so each read theirs. (I’ll share the verses and each kid’s age in tomorrow’s post – the variety is pretty cool.)

And 4th: The Bible tells us to pray without ceasing. To keep the channel to God open at all times, so that we can ask for His guidance and directions in everything we do all day long. So that even when we don’t understand why some things happen, we acknowledge that He’s in charge and has a plan.

Played the video song below on the big screen: Bow the Knee

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9z6l1PxsFE

We ended with each kid picking up a candle and silently saying something to God, just from his or her heart to His and blowing out the candle.

Youth Service about how to treat others

We had a dartboard set up with a construction paper target taped up over the board. We told the kids to draw a picture of someone they disliked or made them angry. Each kid taped their picture up over the target and threw 3 darts at it. When everyone was done, we removed the paper target and underneath was a picture of Jesus, with many dart holes.

We had the kids sit down and then shared:
Matthew 25:40 says, "And the King will say, 'I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!'"

I once read, that whenever we judge someone or complain about him or her to another person we are working for the devil, because that's his job. The Bible calls him the accuser and he accuses humans to God all the time.

So anytime we blame, criticize or complain about God's family we are doing Satan's work. And I don't know about you, but I don't want to do anything that makes Satan happy and God sad. Plus it hurts us spiritually.

When we judge someone else 3 things instantly happen:

1. We lose fellowship with God
2. We expose our own pride and insecurity
3. We set ourselves up to be judged by God

God wants us to not only get along, but also love each other. The New Testament gives more attention to unity and love then heaven and hell. It's important to God.

Paul says in Romans 12:17 "If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone."

The Bible also says in Proverbs 19:11, "A man's wisdom gives him patience: it is to his glory to overlook an offense." It's a sacrifice to patiently absorb the anger and mistreatment of others, especially if it's unfounded, but remember, that's exactly what Christ did for us.

He tells us in Ephesians 4:2 "Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other's faults because of your love."

People aren't always going to agree about everything. We all think differently based on our personality and circumstances, so sometimes we have to agree to disagree and show the other person we love them and want a good relationship with them inspite of some of our differences. I like what Rick Warren the author of 'The Purpose Driven Life' wrote about this: "God expects unity not uniformity and we can walk arm-in-arm without seeing eye-to-eye on every issue."

Sometimes living this way: putting others first, always giving them the benefit of the doubt, being kind to them no matter what, helping people when no one's helping you, will cost your pride and often your self-centeredness. But, maybe people will see you doing it and then they'll start doing it and we'll all live in a nicer place! But, even if they don't - our goal is to please God not the world.

We can do this if we stay focused on what matters most: learning to love each other as Christ loves us.

John and I went to Lakeview Baptist Church several weeks ago to hear Gold City, a Southern Gospel group. They were great, but the best part was they had a preacher there from Puerto Rico who gave the sermon and he was on fire! He talked about how when we become Christians, and also in order to grow as a Christian, something has to die. We have to let it go. And we have to bury it.

Or we can't become what God wants us to be.

He said anything that makes us anxious, or fearful, or angry, or worried; we need to let it go. Being judgmental of others, being unkind toward others - are things we have to let die and then bury.

Gossip is another thing to let go of. Refuse to listen to gossip. We all know it's wrong to gossip, but we shouldn't even listen to it. This makes me think about how people complain about trash magazines and movies and sensationalized newspaper headlines, but keep on reading and buying, so those kinds of things keep getting produced and printed!

When someone starts gossiping to us, we shouldn't participate. We should have courage to stand against it.

Plus you know, people who gossip to you will gossip about you. So we should just stop it! Solomon wrote in Proverbs 21:20 "Fire goes out for lack of fuel and tensions disappear when gossip stops."

God wants us to love Him first, then everyone else. To do that we have to treat each other as children of God and remember that we are all made in His image.
"And whatever we do to the least of these, we do to Him."
Sometimes it's hard to do, but He is in all believers and He gives us the power:

Then we played this from You Tube on the big screen:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N425kFh3xSI

Youth Service about Being God’s Hands and Feet

This is another youth service my husband and I did with the youth at our church last night:

There was once a baby camel, who one day asked his mother, “Mama? Why do we have these big hoof feet?” and his mother replied, “We were made to walk in the desert and our big feet keep us from sinking into the soft sand.”

“Oh,” said the baby camel, then “Mama? Why do we have these really long eyelashes?”

“We were made to be in the desert and they are to keep the sand out of our eyes.”

“Oh,” “Mama? Why do we have these humps on our backs?”

“That’s also part of our design for living in the desert. They store water for a long time because there’s no water there.” “Oh.” “So, mama…? If we’re designed to live in the desert…why are we in a zoo?”

Forgive me in advance for comparing a church to a zoo. But, we Christians are designed to be out in the world, sharing God’s message to unbelievers and serving people who need help and hope – not just coming to church for an hour or two on Sunday mornings, maybe Sunday nights and possibly another hour or two on Wednesday nights.

We’ve heard over and over again that believers are to be God’s hands and feet. – That means we should be up on our feet and moving. But, there are a couple reasons why Christians stay in the zoo.

First - many people wait and wait for God to reveal His will for their particular life. They keep thinking they’re going to find it miraculously written on the wall or that some prophet is going to track them down with a message from God - and they spend so much time waiting for Him to show them what one “big” thing he wants them to do – that they never do anything.

The other reason they might stay in the zoo is because there is so much hurt in the world and so many problems. We’re overwhelmed. We see the pictures of starving people in third world countries, of people with awful diseases, of war-torn countries, of people who don’t know God, of people who suffer from abuse. We go to big cities and see people sleeping on sidewalks with a newspaper for a blanket or blind people begging on the side of the road. We hear about school shootings and abortions – 46 MILLION babies killed…that we know about. And we wonder how can I help all that? There’s too much suffering. I’m just one person.

So often we don’t do anything.

God’s will for us isn’t a secret. And we don’t have to wait to find out what it is. The Bible is filled with what God’s will is for all believers: - share the gospel, love God first and foremost, love others as ourselves, serve others in His name, show Jesus to the world and on and on. If we each concentrate on doing His “general” will faithfully, He will reveal more and more an individual plan for us.

We might not be the one who becomes a missionary. But, if we faithfully do God’s general will and give money to missions we can support the person who does. We may not go into the ministry, but if we teach Sunday school or help with the youth we may show Christ to a person who does become a minister. Godly parents raising their kids in a Christian home may not go out and teach the Bible to prisoners, - but their kids might.

There are many ways to be God’s hands and feet. We aren’t all called to do everything. But, we are all called to do something.

Do song “I Am Your Hands” on power point for everyone to sing.

Then tell story: There were 3 business men racing to catch the last flight on a Friday that would get them home in time for dinner. As they ran through the airport they crashed into an apple cart that a young girl was selling apples from. Apples went everywhere, but the men didn’t stop because they were so late. When they got to the gate the plane was already boarding so they got in line. Then one man couldn’t stand it and told the others, “You guys go ahead, I’ll catch a later flight.”

He went back to the apple cart and what he saw broke his heart. The girl was blind and she was on her hands and knees groping for the apples and crying. And no one was stopping to help because they were all too much in a hurry.

He got down on his knees and started picking up the apples. He saw that many were split and bruised so he set those aside and when the stand was put back together he handed her some money saying, “We wrecked a bunch of your apples. You won’t be able to sell them, so I’ll buy them.”

As the girl took the money she asked him, “Mister, are you Jesus?”

As far as I know no one has ever thought that about me. But, wouldn’t it be great if they did? What a great goal for life!

Play the song “Life Song” and tell youth that while it is playing they should decide on one thing they can do that week to be God’s hands and feet, then go up and trace theirs on the paper (already labeled “Starting Today I Promise to be God’s Hands and Feet – November 4, 2007).

Circle up – say “One last thought - There is a lot of big visible suffering in the world, but there is also a lot of silent suffering. People you may know really well who get up every morning and put on a mask to hide whatever pain they are going through. God sees every bit of suffering and He wants us to see it too.

You’ve all heard people after some huge tragedy ask, “Where was God when that happened” God was in His church, in every person who helped and cared and prayed. We can all make life a little easier for people around us by just being aware of them, seeing their needs and being quick to be the one who steps forward with a helping hand.

Last time we talked about being God’s lights and I hope you’ve remembered while out in the world to reflect His light. Lets add remembering to be His hands and feet now.”

Prayer – Lord, there are so many opportunities to serve You. Please help us to be more aware of them and to willingly and enthusiastically do everything we can to make Your Kingdom on earth as it is in Heaven. As always we come to You through Your Son Jesus Christ and it’s in His name we pray. Amen.