Let's Make a Deal!

Hello Friends!

Today's lesson idea is based off of the difficult decision that Abraham had to make regarding following God's directions to sacrifice Isaac in Genesis 22. 

Introduction:

To get the conversation going, I prepared 6 "gifts":

• a shirt box that had a dollar store musical recorder inside
• a small pretty red gift box that had an apple inside
• a small Christmas gift bag that had a roll of dental floss & a bar of soap
• two brown paper bag that each had a dollar store game inside
• a store bag with a package of oatmeal

Depending on the size of your group, you'll need to adjust and prepare gag gifts accordingly. All of the items were things that I had laying around the house for random times such as this.

To begin, I had half of the gifts out on the counter top. I let the youngest student have first choice of the gifts and the rest of the students followed with their choices. They could not look inside.

After everyone had a gift, I brought out the other gifts and this time started with the oldest student. I had only him look inside his gift without showing it to the others. He could either keep what he had originally chosen, "steal" from another student, or choose a new gift - he could NOT look at what it was. We continued this process for each student. (We have a small group, so it didn't take very long. If you have a larger group, you'll want to modify the procedure.)

Once all had settled on their final gift choice, they were allowed to look inside and see what they had "won".

To debrief this activity I asked:

1. What choices were involved in the process?
2. What decisions went into choosing the first gift and then deciding what to do with the second chance?
3. What choices do you make on a daily basis that are pretty easy? Which ones are more difficult to make?
4. How do you handle the times when you know what you should do, but really want to do something else?
5. Who are the authorities in your lives to whom you are obedient?
6. Have you had to be obedient at a time when it didn’t make any sense? How did you handle that situation?
7. How often are you tempted to do your own thing rather than following someone else’s directions?

THE WHAT:

Read Genesis 22:1-19

1. What are your observations?
2. What does this make you think?

THE SO WHAT:

1. What do you think it must have been like for Abraham to choose to be obedient to God when he was directed to sacrifice his only son?
2. How tempting do you think it was for Abraham to consider not sacrificing Isaac?
3. How was Abraham able to make that tough choice and go through with the sacrificing of his son up until God stopped him at the last minute?
4. What lesson is there in this for us?
5. Why is it best to avoid making a tempting choice and instead follow God’s path for our life?

THE NOW WHAT:

1. Think about the choices you will most likely have to make this upcoming week. How will you know what is the right thing to do? If it’s a tough choice, how will you decide what to do?
2. What are the benefits of making Godly decisions on a daily basis? What might be some of the consequences of making poor choices?

Close:

• Share with students the key verse of the week:
• Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Galatians 6:7
• Remind students that even when we are tempted to make choices that are more appealing to us, it is always best to be obedient to God. We will be blessed because we do so.

Thanks for taking the time to read about how we studied the time in Abraham's life and how it applies to our daily living.

Abram's Call Obstacle Course

Hello Friends! 

Today I'm sharing a youth Bible lesson and activity that I used while teaching about Abram's call and promise from God. 

Introduction:

Prior to class beginning, I had set out approximately 15 large plastic cups in our lawn. This was hidden from view as students walked into the youth room. The cups were arranged into a make-shift obstacle course. 

Before we exited the room, I asked the students who felt like going on an adventure? Once the student was selected, he was blind folded and led by another student out to the course. 

When the student was set up at the randomly selected "start" line, I began giving him instructions to move along the course. For example:

• take 3 steps forward
• turn to your left
• STOP! Whew, that was close (not really, but I wanted to emphasis the importance of listening to me...meanwhile the other students were trying really hard not to bust out laughing)
• get down and start crawling, make sure you don't hit your head on the pole (there wasn't really a pole, but he didn't know that)
• keep moving forward
• you're going to have to take a big hop to get over the next obstacle (again, there wasn't anything there)

Once he got to the "finish" line, he turned around to see the course. I should have given our friend a prize for completing the obstacle course, but I didn't think about it until much later.

As we debriefed, I asked:

• What was it like to move only following my directions?
• Did you ever want to take off the blindfold to see where you were going?
• Did you ever just want to stop and give up? 
• If I had given him a prize, I would have asked, Was the prize worth sticking it out to the very end? 

THE WHAT:

Read Genesis 12:1-8

• What are your observations?
• What does this make you think?

THE SO WHAT:

• The best that you can, describe Abram's current situation. 
• Why do you think Abram was so willing to just get up and go? What was he promised?
• How did Abram know where to go?
• What obstacles did he have to get past so that he could move on?
• It seems like Abram didn't hesitate in following God's directions. How easy is it for you to do what God is asking you to do?
• Once Abram entered the place where God wanted for him to be, he had to decide how he was going to conduct himself, was he going to live like the Canaanites or would he continue to be obedient to God. What was that like for Abram, do you think? How do you handle peer pressure? 

THE NOW WHAT:

• Think about your week that's coming up. What are you going to be involved in and how might you get prepared to do what God asks you to do?
• God promised Abram that he would be made into a great nation and that he would be blessed. Has God started to speak to you a big message? How might you use the things you enjoy doing or have a special ability for to serve God's people? 
• What obstacles might you face along the way? How are you going to remain determined to stick to the plan, even when you don't know for sure what the next step is supposed to be?

Close:

• Share with students the key verse for the week:
• I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great and you will be a blessing. Genesis 12:2
• Remind students that following God in life will never be dull and boring, but rather, an adventure, with great and wonderful rewards along the way if we remain determined to stay the course. 

Around the World in 80 Minutes

Hello Friends!

I am excited to share with you a youth event that we held that was a smashing success - Around the World in 80 Minutes. Ideas for this event came from this blog post, and various other pins from Pinterest about group activities and games. One of the cool things about all of these activities is that there are great for junior and senior high students and for littles too with some adult assistance.

The winners of each challenge received raffle tickets. At the conclusion of the evening, raffle tickets were drawn for gift cards to the local yogurt shop.

As students entered the room this is what they saw. The flags from each country were hints for what was to take place. 

Our first stop was Egypt: The Mummy Wrap

In teams of two, one partner had to unravel an entire roll of toilet paper around the other partner. 

Russia: The Ice Block Stack

Teams of two work together to stack 12 ice cubes to make a single tower.

Ireland: Pass the Blarney Stone

Teams work together to carry medium sized stones on little tiny tea spoons (that I found at the Dollar Store) across the lawn and back.

England: Tea Party

Teams of two have their wrists tied together and must unwrap two Ding Dongs cakes and eat them and also drink two Capri Suns. 

France: Balloon Eiffel Tower Challenge

Teams work together to build the tallest stack of balloons (free standing) possible.

Australia: Kangaroo Hop

Individuals potato sack hop across the lawn and back. 

China: Chop Stick Pick Up

Teams of two work together using chop sticks to transfer marshmallows from one container to another.

Mexico: Tortilla Toss

Individuals toss tortillas through a hula hoop that has been strung up on a tree (just like a pinata!) 

Italy: Noodle Racer

Students race across the lawn and their partner races back balancing a pool noodle standing on its end upon their hand.

Spain: Bulls Eye

Students take turns tossing lawn darts into the ring.

Getting Serious...

We ended the evening with a call to action to pray for these countries. As a reminder, students were also given a little globe. The Prayer Challenge (CLICK HERE FOR THE PDF) also provided information from Operation World. This website invites people to take part in a 60 day prayer challenge.  

So if you've make it this far, I will confess that we took a bit longer than 80 minutes...it was more like 2 hours. So if you're wanting/needing to have a stricter time line, you'll need to skip a couple of the activities. 

I believe that I've shared all that I can think of that went into planning this evening. If you have questions or want to share something that you've done with your youth group, please comment below. 

Have a great day!

-bethany.

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