Brought to you by 101 QUICK IDEAS FOR YOUTH AND CHILDREN S WORK

Transcription

1 Brought to you by 101 QUICK IDEAS FOR YOUTH AND CHILDREN S WORK

2 CONTENTS Foreword 3 Together: curriculum resource 4 Craft 74 Games 96 Discussion starters 123 Big questions 144 Movie 153 Music 164 Parable 177 Stories 190 Reflective journal 206 Biographies 214

3 FOREWORD We ve all been there. It s mere hours before a youth group or Sunday School and your plan is just missing something. Be it the perfect game to get the session started, a discussion to break the ice or a craft to round everything off, we re often left scrabbling for ideas at the last minute. Well, help is at hand; welcome to 101 quick ideas for youth and children s work. We ve collated some of the best stuff from Premier Youth and Children s Work to supplement any session you could possibly be running. Not only that but we ve included an exclusive preview of our brand new curriculum resource, Together. The first 12 of these 101 ideas are the first four sessions across our three age groups. For more of these head to youthandchildrens.work/together. And of course, if you re not a subscriber to Premier Youth and Children s Work (and why wouldn t you be?) head to youthandchildrens.work/freecopy to get a free sample. Jamie Cutteridge is editor of Premier Youth and Children s Work. Foreword 3

4 TOGETHER: CURRICULUM RESOURCE Together: curriculum resource 4

5 We re delighted to introduce you to the latest member of the Premier Youth and Children s Work family, Together our brand new curriculum resource. Together is full of sessions for all ages up to 18, suitable for Sunday schools, midweek groups, youth groups or wherever else you gather children and young people to talk about Jesus. We haven t tried to tear up the rulebook with this; we know stories are transformative and powerful so in each session we ve given you a story, told creatively in one way or another, and some ways for those you work with to respond. Get your free trial now at youthandchildrens.work/together Together: curriculum resource 5

6 Session 1 First Steps Together CREATION Meeting aims To begin to understand that God made us and loves us. Bible passage Genesis 1:1-2:4 Background The story of creation is a popular one with younger children. There are lots of opportunities for craft and construction. However, it can be easy to be swept along in a whirl of glue and tissue paper and miss the chance to help children start to think about God and how much he loves them. Given the age of the children we re working with, they will struggle to process deeper concepts of who God is, but they can become familiar with the idea that God made the whole world, and that he made them and loves them. Circle time 5 As the children arrive, sit everyone down in a circle. If you have parents, encourage them to sit with their children (but not to speak for them). Ask the children if they have done anything this week and encourage them to tell the group about it. Younger children may struggle to remember much, but listen to anything they would like to tell you. Share something that you have done this week too. Thank everyone for their stories and say a simple prayer thanking God for what you have discussed. Together: curriculum resource 6

7 Song 5 You will need: a song that is easy to learn; musicians or recorded music and the means to play it Choose a song that talks about creation and that will be easy for the children to learn. Teach the children the song and enjoy singing it together. Bible story 10 You will need: different sources of light, such as torches, lanterns and glow sticks; music and the means to play it (optional) Sit the children in a circle and tell this story. After each section, stop and do the activity in italics together, then continue with the next part of the story. The children might want to join in with the This is good! refrain. In the very beginning, God made the heavens and the Earth. But there was nothing on the earth, so God set to work. First, God said, I want a light to shine! And a light started to shine. Encourage the children to stand with their legs apart and their arms outstretched. Enjoy pretending to be lights together. Who can be the lightest?! God looked at the light and he said: This is good! Congratulate everyone on being lights, and sit everyone down again. Then God said, I m going to make some sky. And that s what he did. He made a big, wide-open sky. Pretend to be clouds, drifting across the sky. Move around your circle together, playing some drifting-style music as you do. God looked at the sky and he said: This is good! Congratulate everyone on being clouds, and sit everyone down again. Then God said: I want dry land and wet sea! So, he gathered together the water into one place. There were big seas and dry lands. Then God said: Let the ground produce all kinds of plants! And giant trees, small flowers and everything in between began to grow. Pretend to be plants growing from Together: curriculum resource 7

8 the ground. Start off small and grow together, becoming tall trees! God looked at the sea and the land. He looked at all the plants and said: This is good! Congratulate everyone on being plants and trees, and sit everyone down again. Then God said: I want lots of lights to appear in the sky! And they did! The Sun, the Moon, the stars and the planets winked and twinkled in the sky. Give out the torches and glow sticks, turn them on and dance around in a circle to some twinkly music. God looked at all the lights and said: This is good! Congratulate everyone on being stars, planets, the Sun and the Moon, and sit everyone down again. Then God said: Let s have lots of animals in the sea and in the air! So, he made creatures to live in the sea and birds to fly in the air. Encourage the children to choose a fish or a bird and to move around pretending to be that creature. They can even make the right noises if they know them! God looked at the birds and sea creatures, and said: This is good! Congratulate everyone on being fish or birds, and sit everyone down again. Then God said: I m going to make animals to live on the land. So, God made lots of animals to walk around on the dry land. Encourage the children to choose an animal and to move around pretending to be that creature. They can even make the right noises if they know them! Congratulate everyone on being animals, and sit everyone down again. And God said: Let s make people. They will be like me! They will be my best creation. So, he made people and he blessed them. God looked at the animals and said: This is good. Then he looked at the people and said: This is very good! Finally, God said: This is perfect. I m going to rest. Encourage everyone to lie on the floor and pretend to sleep. Then wake everyone up again. God made the whole world and he made you and me. We re special Together: curriculum resource 8

9 and God loves us. Chatting together 5 Ask the children these questions, making sure everyone has the chance to contribute: When you go outside, what can you see? What s your favourite animal or plant? What s your favourite part of this story? Do you want to say anything to God? Creative free play 20 You will need: a choice of four free-play options, whatever you can provide, for example art and craft resources; play dough; plastic or wooden building bricks; toy animals, fi sh and birds; picture books about space; mirrors; a sand pit and / or water play area Before the session, set up a range of free-play options around the room. Show the children the options and let them play with whatever they like. Make sure you have helpers at each station to help the children, to take part in their games and to chat to them about the story you have taken part in. Encourage the helpers to bring up ideas of God s creation, of how he created us and how he loves us. He gave us this creation to enjoy and take care of. Prayer 5 You will need: My big prayer book (Scripture Union) Sit the children in a circle and ask them if they would like to say thank you to God for anything they have discovered in the session. Say a prayer thanking God for those things, and then say one or more of the prayers from pages 12 to 17 of My big prayer book to finish. Together: curriculum resource 9

10 Session 2 First Steps Together NOAH Meeting aims To encounter a loving and just God. Bible passage Genesis 6:5-9:17 Background We sometimes approach the story of Noah from the point of view of a children s Bible. We think about the pairs of animals going in two by two, of Noah and his family safe in the ark and of the rainbow God sends as a promise to Noah. However, there are parts of this story which surprise and horrify. Exploring this story with younger children may not bring up questions about the darker parts of this story, but be ready to talk about questions the children may come up with, such as where all the other people and animals went, or what the ark was like to live in. Circle time 5 As the children arrive, sit everyone down in a circle. If you have parents, encourage them to sit with their children (but not to speak for them). Ask the children if they have done anything this week and encourage them to tell the group about it. Younger children may struggle to remember much, but listen to anything they would like to tell you. Share something that you have done this week too. Thank everyone for their stories and say a simple prayer Together: curriculum resource 10

11 thanking God for what you have discussed. Water play 10 You will need: water play equipment; cover-up and clean-up facilities (try to have a boat bath toy as part of the play equipment) Enjoy playing with water together (do this outside or cover up the floors so that nothing gets damaged). As part of your play, put the boat bath toy in a bowl of water and see if you can sink it by pouring water on it from a watering can. As you play, chat about what the children like about the water. Ask them to imagine they are in the boat bath toy: would they feel safe with the rain falling down onto the boat? Point out how the boat stays afloat. Ask if the children have ever been on a boat themselves. Bible story 10 You will need: chairs or boxes Before you start, make sure that all your props are close to hand. Sit the children down and start telling this story: A long time ago, there was a man called Noah. He was a friend of God. He loved God and wanted to please him. Noah made God very happy. But no one else in the world was like Noah. Everyone else was bad, and made God unhappy. They liked to hurt each other. They were greedy. They didn t love God. God was very sorry that he had ever made humans. God decided that he would start again with Noah and his family. He would make it rain for a long time. The whole world would be covered with water, like a giant ocean. But he told Noah to build a big boat, called an ark. This would keep Noah and his family safe. God Together: curriculum resource 11

12 also told Noah to gather up two of each kind of animal and put them into the big boat. So, that s what he did. Show the children how to gather together the boxes or chairs (or whatever else you re using) and arrange them into a boat shape. Then encourage everyone to be an animal or bird and to move around the room like that animal. Then ask one child to be Noah and to lead all the animals into the boat. Ask the children if it is crowded or spacious in the boat. Would all the animals get on with each other? Once Noah, his family and all the animals were inside, God closed the door. And it started to rain. And it rained. And it rained. For 40 days, it rained. Even when it stopped, Noah and his boat bobbed about on the waves for months! Finally, the waters went down and the boat settled on solid ground. Noah opened the door and his family and all the animals came out. Open part of your boat and let everyone out. Encourage them to run around, still pretending to be their animals. Noah and his family said: Thank you to God. And God made Noah a promise. He put a big rainbow in the sky and said: I promise that I will never send a big flood ever again. I will keep you and your family safe. Encourage everyone to cheer and to shout: Thank you, God! If the children would like to, enjoy pretending to be Noah and the animals for a few minutes more. Chatting together 5 Ask the children these questions, making sure everyone has the chance to contribute: What s your favourite part of this story? What didn t you like about the story? Why did God keep Noah and his family safe? Do you want to say anything to God? Together: curriculum resource 12

13 Rainbow response 10 You will need: a large sheet of paper with a rainbow drawn on; paper of all the colours of the rainbow (red, orange, yellow, green, light blue, dark blue, purple); glue sticks Before the session, cut the coloured paper into squares small enough to fit in the strips of your rainbow, but large enough to draw or write on. Show the children your rainbow and remind them about the promise that God made: that he would keep his people safe. Ask the children to think about what God is like. How would they describe God? They might come up with words such as big, my friend or kind. Help them to write these words on the red paper. Do the same for these other colours: Yellow: write or draw your favourite animal. Light blue: people you want to thank God for, who keep you safe. Purple: people who might need looking after. Work together to decorate the rainbow, sticking the paper squares you have written on, as well as paper squares of the other colours of the rainbow, onto the paper. Prayer 5 You will need: My big prayer book (Scripture Union) Use the prayers from pages 27 and 62 of My big prayer book to help the children reflect on God being with them and helping them, as he was with and helped Noah. If the children would like to pray about anything specific, help them to do so. Together: curriculum resource 13

14 Session 3 First Steps Together ABRAHAM Meeting aims To discover that God makes and keeps promises with his people. Bible passage Genesis 12:1-7; 15:1-6 Background The story of Abraham can seem far from the experience of younger children. However, there are elements that they can identify with: most children have been on some kind of journey and many will have been made promises by adults (some of which are kept, some not). As you journey with Abraham, help the children understand that God can be trusted to keep all the promises he makes. We have used Abraham and Sarah here, rather than Abram and Sarai, to avoid confusion in children s minds about who it is we re discussing. Circle time 5 As the children arrive, sit everyone down in a circle. If you have parents, encourage them to sit with their children (but not to speak for them). Ask the children if they have done anything this week and encourage them to tell the group about it. Younger children may struggle to remember much, but listen to anything they would like to tell you. Share something that you have done this week too. Thank everyone for their stories and say a simple prayer thanking Together: curriculum resource 14

15 God for what you have discussed. Going on a bear hunt 5 You will need: We re going on a bear hunt (Michael Rosen, Walker Books) Read the classic book We re going on a bear hunt together and do all the actions. You might also watch the recent TV version, which is available on DVD. Enjoy going on a journey together, point out that you don t know where you re going to end up! Bible story 10 You will need: a large tray (shallow enough for the children to reach in); four or fi ve smaller containers that fi t inside the tray; different landscape materials (sand, plus others eg pebbles, green playdough, blue fabric, compost, gravel, shredded paper or rice); plastic play people; play farm animals (optional) Choose a starting landscape in the tray. Gather your plastic people and animals (if you have them) there and tell this story: A long, long time ago lived a man called Abraham (hold up a plastic figure) and his wife Sarah (hold up another). They were both quite old and didn t have any children. Abraham loved God very much and wanted to serve him. One day God spoke to Abraham and told him to pack up everything. He had to take Sarah and all the people who lived with them to a new land. God promised that Abraham would have a big family. They would do great things and be a blessing to others. Abraham did as God asked. Give each child a plastic person. Ask them how that person might be feeling leaving everything they know and going to a strange place. Roleplay Abraham if the children need encouragement. Why did Together: curriculum resource 15

16 Abraham agree to leave? What would you say to Abraham if he asked you to go? Ask the children to walk their figures through the landscapes, to explore the different textures and materials you have set out. Talk about how long and difficult the journey would have been, how everyone must have been feeling and what Abraham might have said to encourage them. Encourage the children to roleplay these conversations with you, as Abraham, and each other. At last they arrived at the place God wanted them to be. He said: I give you this land for you and your family for ever. They were happy and built an altar to worship God. The altar reminded them that God keeps his promises. Help the children to make an altar from pebbles. Talk about how their characters are feeling now: what do they think about God? God also promised Abraham that he would have lots of children of his own, even though he and Sarah were old. And soon Abraham and Sarah did have a baby boy! Fill all the landscapes with plastic people. In fact, God gave him so many children and grandchildren and great grandchildren that his family was like grains of sand. Lift a handful of sand and let it trickle through your fingers showing the children how many grains there are. Ask them to guess how many, let them hold some sand and see for themselves. God kept his promises to Abraham and his family. Chatting together 5 Ask the children these questions, making sure everyone has the chance to contribute: What s your favourite part of this story? How do you think Abraham felt when God kept his promise? Have you ever made a promise to someone? Did you keep it? Together: curriculum resource 16

17 Do you want to say anything to God? Creative response 10 You will need: a large sheet of paper; felt-tip pens; crayons Before the session, write: God promises in bubble writing on the large sheet of paper. Show the children the large sheet of paper and encourage them to fill in the letters and decorate the rest of the paper. They might want to draw pictures of Abraham and Sarah walking through the desert, or of Abraham listening to God. As you work, ask the children to think about promises and when they have been kept (or not). Tell the group an appropriate story of how God made and kept a promise to you, or of biblical promises you have read and that God has kept for you. Let the children ask you any questions that they would like to. As part of your story, finish the sentence: God promises How would the children finish this sentence? Prayer 5 You will need: My big prayer book (Scripture Union) Use the prayers from pages 27, 28 and 30 of My big prayer book to help the children thank God for being with them and keeping them safe. Ask the children if they want to talk to God about anything. Help them to do so and then finish with a prayer thanking God for keeping his promises. Together: curriculum resource 17

18 Session 4 First Steps Together JOSEPH Meeting aims To understand that God has a plan. Bible passage Genesis (selections) Background Joseph s story is long, and younger children might struggle to understand quite how long it took for Joseph to go from boastful teenager to governor of Egypt. However, help the children to hear how, even though things didn t go Joseph s way for years at a time, God was with him and made it work out for good. Circle time 5 As the children arrive, sit everyone down in a circle. If you have parents, encourage them to sit with their children (but not to speak for them). Ask the children if they have done anything this week and encourage them to tell the group about it. Younger children may struggle to remember much, but listen to anything they would like to tell you. Share something that you have done this week too. Thank everyone for their stories and say a simple prayer thanking God for what you have discussed. Together: curriculum resource 18

19 Chatting about waiting 5 You will need: piece of paper; pen Chat together about what you re looking forward to. Maybe it s a holiday, a birthday or even Christmas! Make a list of everyone s birthday and see who has to wait the shortest and longest time till their special day. Talk about what it s like to wait for something good. Bible story 10 You will need: a large roll of paper (lining paper is ideal); felt-tip pens Spread out the large roll of paper and tell the children that you re going to draw a map to show God s plan. Start by drawing Joseph s home at one end of the paper and a pyramid in Egypt at the other. Next to the pyramid, add a palace and prison bars. As you tell the story draw on the characters and route - the ideas of what to draw appear in brackets. You don t have to be an expert artist, stick figures would be fine! Joseph (draw Joseph near the house) lived with his eleven brothers (draw brothers but without faces) in the land of Canaan. He was his father s favourite; his father even had a beautiful, coloured coat made especially for him. (Draw a coat on Joseph and colour it in.) This made his brothers feel jealous and angry. (Give them angry faces.) Joseph had special dreams. One day he told his brothers that he had dreamt that they had all been working in a field. They were making bundles of corn and - what a surprise - the bundles his brothers had made bowed down to Joseph s bundle. (Draw the sheaves of corn as you talk about the dream.) This made his brothers even more angry and jealous. You think you will be king and rule over us! they said. The brothers thought about killing Joseph. But instead they took Together: curriculum resource 19

20 Joseph s coat off him and threw him into a well. (Draw Joseph in a well.) Some traders came by and the brothers decided to sell Joseph to them as a slave. They took his coat, dipped it in animal blood and showed it to their father so he would think Joseph was dead. The traders took Joseph to Egypt. (Draw a dotted line to Egypt.) There Joseph worked for an important man. But the man s wife told lies about him and he ended up in prison! (Draw Joseph next to the bars.) While he was in prison he met a servant who had served drinks to the king. (Draw a glass of drink.) The man had strange dreams and Joseph offered to explain them. What Joseph described came true! The cupbearer was set free and returned to the palace. But he forgot all about Joseph. Some time later the king had a dream that made him worried. He asked lots of people what it meant but no one could explain it. The servant remembered Joseph and the king sent for him. (Draw a dotted line to the palace.) Joseph was able to explain the dream! It meant that Egypt would have plenty of food for a while, but then very little food after that. The king was so impressed he asked Joseph to take charge of putting food away for the hard times ahead. (Draw piles of grain.) People came from far away to buy the grain that Joseph had stored. Joseph s family was so hungry that ten of his brothers went to Egypt to buy grain. (Draw another dotted line to Egypt and then draw the brothers there.) Joseph recognised them straightaway but acted as though he did not know them. He gave them grain but said they must bring back their youngest brother Benjamin with them. The brothers went to fetch Benjamin. (With your finger, trace the line from Egypt to Canaan and back. Then draw an extra brother in Egypt.) When they returned, Joseph asked them to dinner. (Draw a plate of food.) While they were eating, Joseph told his servant to fill the brothers sacks with grain but to hide a silver cup in Benjamin s sack. Together: curriculum resource 20

21 (Draw a sack with a cup in it.) When the time came to leave, Joseph checked the sacks. He pretended to be very angry that Benjamin had stolen the cup. The brothers begged him not to harm Benjamin. They said their father would be very upset if Benjamin were put in prison. Joseph saw that his brothers had become better men and forgave them. He told them who he was. He explained that it was God s plan that he should come to Egypt to save many people from the famine. Chatting together 5 Ask the children these questions, making sure everyone has the chance to contribute: What s your favourite part of this story? How do you think Joseph felt when he saw his brothers again? Have you ever had to wait a long time for something to happen? Do you want to say anything to God? Creative response 10 You will need: thank you songs: live music or recorded tracks and the means to play them Talk about how God had a plan for Joseph. Read out Genesis 50:20 - Joseph says this to their brothers after they have been reunited. Sing some of your favourite thank you songs together. Thank God that he looked after Joseph. Prayer 5 You will need: My big prayer book (Scripture Union) Say that God was with Joseph all his life. Use the prayers from pages 22 and 27 of My big prayer book to help children say thank you to God for being with them too. Together: curriculum resource 21

22 Session 1 Growing Together CREATION Meeting aims To begin to understand that God made us and loves us. Bible passage Genesis 1:1-2:4 Background Many children will come to the story of creation and see the differences between this account and the evidence of scientific research into how the universe began. It s important to remember that the Bible doesn t set out how the universe was created in mechanical or scientific terms, but looks at why and explores our place in it. This passage is poetic, majestic and full of truth about God. Don t get hung up on science versus religion, but help children see the love of God that lies behind the story. Circle time 5 As the children arrive, sit everyone down in a circle. Ask the children if they have done anything this week and encourage them to tell the group about it. Share something that you have done this week too. Song 5 You will need: books and magazines about the natural world, such as space, animals, different landscapes, people, the sea Together: curriculum resource 22

23 Choose a song that talks about creation and that will be easy for the children to learn. Teach the children the song and enjoy singing it together. Creation pictures 10 Share out the books and magazines you have collected together. Ask the children to look at the different examples of the natural world and wonder together at the diversity that you can see in the different ecosystems, environments and creatures. Challenge the group to find their favourite picture. Once everyone has had a chance to choose, ask everyone to tell you why they chose the picture they did. If any children don t want to say anything, that s fine - don t force them to speak. Wonder at all the different choices. Were there any pictures that the children didn t like? Why was that? Comment that we are all different and have different likes and dislikes, we all look different, but we re all loved by God. How does that make the children feel? Bible story 20 You will need: art materials; large sheets of paper; Bibles Ask the children to find a place in your space where they can sit or lie and listen without being disturbed or without disturbing others. Explain that you re going to read the story of the creation of the Earth from the Bible. Encourage the children to close their eyes and imagine everything taking place as they hear it. Read Genesis 1:1-2:3 from a suitable translation. Once you have finished, ask the children what they imagined. Let everyone who wants to tell you what they thought. After a few minutes sharing (and if children what to compare and contrast what they imagined, then let them but don t let it get competitive!), give out large sheets of paper and encourage the children to draw something that they heard God Together: curriculum resource 23

24 creating. This could be abstract or figurative. They may wish to draw how they felt when they listened to the Bible story. If some children don t want to draw or paint, then ask them to write down words that describe God, their thoughts or creation itself. You could do a word picture or create a mind map with the children s thoughts. If you decide to do this, then have a leader available to instigate some ideas and scribe for any children who struggle with writing. As the children work, chat with them about their favourite parts of the story. Which parts of creation did they like the best? Once everyone has finished, admire the pictures, words and mind maps. Put the images and words in the order of the Bible story and read out the Bible story again. Chatting together 5 Ask the children these questions, making sure everyone has the chance to contribute: What is your favourite part of this story? What do you think this story tells us about God? Why do you think he made so many different things? The Bible tells us that God made us like him. How does that make you feel? What do you want to say to God after exploring the story of creation? Creative response You will need: pictures and words the group created in Bible 20 story or access to PowerPoint or similar and lots of images about creation; Bibles; projector and screen (optional) Explain that some people, when they hear about God s power and love in the creation story, want to praise God. Read out Psalm 146 to the Together: curriculum resource 24

25 group and challenge them to create an art exhibition using the artwork they created during Bible story to illustrate the psalm. Alternatively, using laptops or tablets, ask the group to create a slide with photos and images that match some of the words in Psalm 146. As you work together, ask the children what they would want to say if they were writing the psalm. What would they want to praise God for? Would they want to praise God? Accept all answers and listen to what the children have to say. Once everyone has finished, walk around the exhibition or show the presentations. Marvel at everyone s creativity. Read out Genesis 1:26 again and remind the children that God made us like him - he is creative and so we are too! Prayer 10 You will need: risk assessment and parental / guardian permission to go outside Before the session, choose a place outside, near your church building, where you can go and see some of the natural world that s around you. This might be the church grounds or a nearby park. If you go off your premises, you ll need to do a risk assessment (taking into account the route and any risks in your destination). You ll also need to get permission from parents and carers. Take the children to your outdoor location and ask them to look around and see all the things that God has made. Ask the children to pick something they want to thank God for, then encourage them to shout it out all at once, followed by: Thank you God! Spend some time thanking God for all these different things. If there is something in God s creation that children are unhappy about (particularly that they can see), then pray for that now too, before you return to your venue. Together: curriculum resource 25

26 Session 2 Growing Together NOAH Meeting aims To understand that God is full of love, but is also just. Bible passage Genesis 6-8 Background The story of Noah is full of God s judgement and pain, as he wipes out most of the people on earth. It grieves him to see his creation gone awry, but he is also full of love and wants a relationship with us. Encouraging the children to delve deeper than the animals went in two by two will help them to develop their understanding of a just God who feels pain and loves his people. Circle time 5 As children come in and sit down, share your refreshments around and ask them to share one thing from this week that was unfair and one way they have either felt loved or loved someone else. Picture demonstration 10 You will need: large sheet of paper; felt-tip pens On a large sheet of paper, draw a masterpiece, making a show of being really pleased with it. Another leader should then interrupt and scribble over it, leaving a small corner of the picture scribble-free. Ask Together: curriculum resource 26

27 the children how they would feel if it was their picture? Tear off the small section that wasn t scribbled on. Screw up the rest of the picture, but put the small, precious section somewhere safe. Ask the children what they would do with that section. Bible story 15 You will need: a watering can; junk to make a boat: sticky tape, large cardboard box, paper and pens; paddling pool; water; a leaf Arrange the children into smaller groups. Using the materials, ask one group to make the boat, one to draw animals and birds (including a dove), one to draw Noah and his family, and one to make a mountain with the cardboard box. Tell this story: The people God had made in his perfect world had turned bad. They killed, stole and hurt each other. God looked at his world and was sad. People had made his beautiful world evil, and so he decided to destroy everything. There was only one good man and his family - Noah. Noah was God s friend. He spent time with God and listened to him. One day, God spoke with Noah: I can t look at all this ugly evil any more, said God. I am going to send a flood. All the evil will be washed away. But I want you and your family to be safe, so you ll need a boat. A boat?! asked Noah. And what about the animals? Don t worry Noah, I ve got a plan. You have to trust me! God laughed lovingly as he explained. I want you to find two of every creature and put them on the boat. It s going to have to be an enormous boat! Yes, so you need to get to work! Noah began to collect wood and build the boat. All the bad people around him laughed. Ha ha! What on earth are you doing? You stupid old man! they said. But Noah kept at it. It was tough. His three sons Together: curriculum resource 27

28 helped him too. It hurt their backs, the wood scratched them and their blisters hurt! Eventually the boat was finished. (Put the junk model boat into the paddling pool.) All the animals and birds went in. (Put the animals and birds into the boat.) Suddenly the inside of the boat became very noisy and smelly. Noah wondered how he was going to live with all the noise and stink. Animals were screeching, howling, trumpeting and pooing everywhere! (Encourage the children to make very loud animal noises!) As Noah and his family climbed aboard the boat, God shut the door and it started to rain. (Put Noah and his family into the boat. Begin to fill the paddling pool with the water from the watering can.) All the people who had been watching and laughing at Noah suddenly looked very worried. Was Noah right?! they asked. Soon Noah and his sons couldn t see the ground. The boat lurched from side to side as the water rose. The animals shouted in fear. (Make more loud animal noises.) For 40 days, the rain fell. All Noah could see was water, water, water. It had risen so high that it covered the mountains. Finally, Noah saw that it had stopped raining. It s stopped! he shouted. Everyone cheered loudly, it was so exciting! (Get everyone to do a great big cheer!) The boat was getting really whiffy by now, but the water was too high for them to get out of the boat. How will I know when there is dry land? Noah wondered. Aha! Noah had an idea He opened the window on the boat and sent a dove out. The dove flew round and round but came back to the boat because it couldn t find anywhere to land. (Take the dove out of the boat and ask one of the children to run around the room with it and then return it to the boat.) Noah knew the ground was still too wet. A week later he did it again, and the dove came back with a leaf in its mouth. (Choose another volunteer to run around the room with the dove, and return it again with a leaf.) Together: curriculum resource 28

29 Fantastic! The ground is nearly dry! A week later he sent the dove out again, and this time it didn t come back because it had found somewhere to land. (Choose another volunteer to run around with the dove and not return it. Then put the mountain into the water and land the boat on the mountain.) At last everyone could climb off the smelly boat! All the animals clambered, skipped, marched and flew off the boat and explored the dry land. Noah and his family had a party and worshipped God. They were so thankful that God had kept them safe on the boat. And as a promise that he would never flood the whole earth again, God put a rainbow in the sky. Chatting together 5 Ask the children these questions, ensuring everyone is able to contribute: What did you like about this story? Was there anything that surprised you? How do you feel when things you have made are spoilt by someone else? Why do you think God chose Noah to build the boat? Creative response 10 You will need: paper plates; pens Put children into pairs or smaller groups. Discuss how the following characters in the story would have felt: Noah, God, the people on the earth, Noah s family. On paper plates, draw emojis to sum up each character s feelings and then get feedback from the children. Together: curriculum resource 29

30 Prayer 5 You will need: different coloured paper (one for each colour of the rainbow); music Scatter the coloured paper around the room. Play a dancing song then stop the music. The children should stand on a nearby piece of paper. Shout a colour and encourage the children on that colour to say a prayer, thanking God for his love, justice and faithfulness. If there is anything that has disturbed them about the story, encourage them to explore this with God too. Together: curriculum resource 30

31 Session 3 Growing Together ABRAHAM Meeting aims To discover that God makes and keeps promises with his people. Bible passage Genesis 12:1-7; 15:1-6 Background The story of Abraham is, full of customs and cultural references that are difficult for children to grasp. God makes promises to Abraham and keeps them, however unlikely they appear. This speaks of God s faithfulness, power and love for Abraham, his descendants and, ultimately, us. Abraham is a key figure in the story of God and his people, so helping children wrestle with his story will deepen their understanding of God, helping them to explore their own faith. We have used Abraham, rather than Abram, to avoid confusion. Circle time 5 As the children arrive, sit everyone in a circle. Ask the children if they have done anything this week and encourage them to tell the group about it. Share something you have done this week too. Going on a bear hunt 5 You will need: pop songs with lyrics about promises Find some pop songs that have promises in them and print out Together: curriculum resource 31

32 the words (make sure the words are appropriate). Play the song and let the children read the lyrics or sing along. Decide together which songs are about keeping promises and which aren t. What does it feel like when someone breaks or keeps a promise? Bible story 10 You will need: bags, other luggage; cloaks / coats; cardboard boxes (shoebox-sized and larger); a large plant, infl atable tree or similar Before the session, choose a route that you can safely go on with the children in your group. This could be round the corridors of your church, or around the grounds of your building. At the end of your route, set up the plant / inflatable tree (if you re outside, use a real tree!) and put all your boxes next to the tree. Arrange the luggage, cloaks and coats at your start point. Make sure you have enough luggage for each child to carry or wear something. Gather the children at the start point, and tell this story: Thousands of years ago, there lived a man called Abraham. Abraham was a friend of God and lived in a city called Haran. He was 75 years old, but he had no children. One day, God spoke to Abraham. He said: Abraham! Leave your country, your family, and your relatives and go to the land that I will show you. I will bless you and make your descendants into a great nation. You will become famous and be a blessing to others! Ask what the children think of what God told Abraham to do. If they were Abraham, what would they have said to God? What do they think Abraham did? Abraham did what God told him to do. He, his wife Sarah, his nephew Lot and his whole household packed their belongings and set off. Encourage the children to put on a coat, pick up a bag and get Together: curriculum resource 32

33 ready to leave. As you walk, remind them that God said he would show Abraham where to go. Ask what they think was going through Abraham s mind as he walked. When you get to the end of your route, put down your bags. Finally, Abraham and his family got to a place called Shechem, where there was a precious tree. There, God said to Abraham: I m going to give this land to you and your family for ever! And there, Abraham built an altar to God to remember what God had said. Altars are places where people used to worship God. They were important memorials of what God had done. Whenever anyone saw this, they would remember God s promise. Build an altar together from the boxes. As you work, chat about what Abraham has done so far: he had obeyed God, left his home and followed God. Stand by the altar and tell the next part of the story. God made another promise. Abraham was sad that he had no family. But God promised Abraham that he would have a large family. Ask the children to close their eyes and imagine the night sky. How many stars can they see? If they know any facts about space, chat about those, then continue with the story. God promised Abraham that he would have a son. He took Abraham outside to look at the night sky. Look at the sky, said God. Can you count all the stars? That s how many descendants you will have! And Abraham believed God. He believed that God would keep this promise. And God did. Abraham had a son, called Isaac. Isaac had sons called Esau and Jacob. And Jacob had twelve sons - the start of the people of Israel. Chatting together 5 Ask the children these questions, making sure everyone has the chance to contribute: Together: curriculum resource 33

34 What is your favourite part of this story? Which part do you find surprising? What does this story tell us about God? What is he like? Has anyone ever made a promise to you and not kept it? How did you feel? What do you want to say to God after hearing this story? Creative response 10 You will need: small boxes (eg matchboxes); glue and sticky tape; building blocks; construction bricks Give children the blocks, bricks and boxes and explain that you re going to think about promises and memorials. Remind them that God made Abraham a promise and Abraham made an altar as a memorial of that promise. Play together at creating memorials and, as you work, ask if the group have kept any promises or if they know any other promises that God made his people. You might think about Jesus promise to be with his followers until the end of the age (Matthew 28:18-20). Share when God has made and kept a promise to you. Give them permission to ask you questions about it - Abraham saw the fulfilment of the first part of the promise (a son) but not the second (about the thousands of descendants). Sometimes we have to wait, but God always comes through in the end. If you have children on the autistic spectrum, explain before you start that if they use the construction toys, they won t be able to take their memorial home. Prayer 5 You will need: post-it notes; pens You will need to decide what to pray about depending on how the Together: curriculum resource 34

35 session goes. If the children are happy with the idea that God keeps his promises, then have a time of thank you prayers, where they can write things they are thankful for, and promises God has kept. If the children feel like God hasn t kept his promises, give them the space to express that by writing on a post-it what they want to say to God about it. Gather the post-its and ask God to answer our questions. Return to these next time you meet so that you can explore how Together: curriculum resource 35

36 Session 4 Growing Together JOSEPH Meeting aims To understand that God has a plan, despite what our circumstances look like. Bible passage Genesis (sections) Background The story of Joseph is a long one, but clearly demonstrates God s hand on our lives even throughout the toughest of circumstances. Digging into the story will allow the children to build in a foundation of trust in God and his plan for their lives. Circle time 5 As the children come in, share any refreshments you have and ask them about their plans for the next big event (eg Christmas, summer holidays etc). What happens when things don t go to plan? How do we feel? Blindfolded obstacle course 5 You will need: blindfolds; chairs and tables anything to make a simple obstacle course Make a simple obstacle course across the room and ask the children to find a partner. Give one of each pair a blindfold. The other one has Together: curriculum resource 36

37 to lead them across the course simply by giving them instructions (eg turn left, step over that) no touching allowed! Chat briefly afterwards about how it felt to be blindfolded and not know where they were going. Did they have to trust the other person? Bible story 10 You will need: parental photo consent; props; the scene descriptions below written onto card; children s Bible or story book Arrange the children into smaller groups. Give each group one scene description card and the appropriate props. Ask them to take selfies and photo-booth pictures for their scene using the props. (If you only have a few children, groups could do two scenes each.) Don t tell the groups what order the scenes should go in. Scene: a boy, Joseph, has lots of brothers. He s his dad s favourite son but his brothers hate him! His dad gives him a top-quality coat. One night the boy dreams that one day all his brothers will bow down to him. He makes the mistake of telling them and so they hate him even more. (Props: nice coat; pillow.) Scene: Joseph s brothers hate him so much they want to kill him. His dad gave him a top-quality coat, but didn t give them anything! One brother persuades them not to kill him but to sell him to passing traders on their way to Egypt. Joseph is sold. But the brothers take his coat and put blood on it. They show his dad and he thinks Joseph has died. (Props: nice coat; red material for blood; money; sign for Egypt.) Scene: in Egypt, the traders sell Joseph to a man called Potiphar Together: curriculum resource 37

38 to be his slave. Potiphar likes Joseph and puts him in charge of his whole house. Everything goes well until Potiphar s wife lies about him because he won t do what she asks. (Props: smiling emoji; money; fancy wig for Potiphar s wife.) Scene: thanks to the lies about him, Joseph is put in prison. Even though he s a prisoner, everyone likes him, even the guards. Two people have dreams, which he interprets correctly, making everyone like him even more. (Props: prison bars; thought bubbles with zzz on; guard s hat.) Scene: the king of Egypt has a dream and needs it interpreting. They call for Joseph. He interprets correctly there will be seven years of great crops and then seven years of famine. He advises the king to save up some food during the good years so that the people won t go hungry during the famine. The king is so impressed with Joseph that he makes him ruler over Egypt. (Props: crown; thought bubbles with zzz on; number 7 ; bags of grain or rice; posh hat for Joseph.) Scene: during the years of famine, Joseph s brothers come to Egypt to buy food. They don t recognise him. They bow down to him, just as Joseph dreamed. Joseph tests them but eventually reveals who he is. Joseph forgives them for all they ve done and makes up with them and their dad. (Props: bags of grain or rice; posh hat for Joseph; white wig for Jacob.) When all the groups have done this, transfer the photos onto a laptop. Challenge the children to put the photos into the correct order, let them use the Bible or a story book to help them if they need it. Once Together: curriculum resource 38

39 everything is in the right order, show the photos on a screen as you briefly tell the whole story. Chatting together 5 Ask the children these questions, ensuring all are able to contribute: Which character in the story is most like you? How do you think Joseph felt when he was put into prison? Do you think Joseph s brothers did the right thing? How do we feel when things don t happen the way we expect? What does this story tell us about God? Creative response 10 You will need: refl ective music and means to play it; paper; pens Play some reflective music and ask the children to find a space where they won t be disturbed or disturb others. Ask them to choose one word each which sums up this story for them. Give out pens and paper. Write this word in the middle of the paper. (You may need to give some examples eg trust, plan, love, forgive.) Make a mind map of this word. What does this word mean for them? Is there anything practical they need to do? Add all their thoughts on to their mind map and then bring to the prayer activity. Prayer 5 Continuing to play your music, arrange the children into pairs or threes. Encourage them to share with one another the words they have written down. Ask them to pray for one another if they feel confident. If not, have your helpers join the groups and pray for them. Together: curriculum resource 39

40 Session 1 Journeying Together CREATION Meeting aims To reflect on what the story of creation tells us about God. Bible passage Genesis 1:1-2:4 Background If young people have grown up in church, the creation story from Genesis 1 will be very familiar. Yet, those with no church background might find it strange, when compared to scientific accounts. Help both of these groups see beyond the words to the creative intentions of God. By exploring the passage we can discover fundamental things about God, ourselves and the relationship we can have with him. Gathering time 10 You will need: refreshments; a comfortable place to sit and chat As the young people arrive, serve them the refreshments you have provided. Try to have something a bit more interesting than biscuits and squash - is there someone in your congregation who could make cake? Do you have the facilities to make toast and tea? As you eat and drink together, chat about the young people s lives - do they have anything to share? Any triumphs? Any disasters?! Share stories from your life too, if appropriate. Together: curriculum Growing together resource 40

41 The meaning of poetry 5 You will need: each line of the poetry below written on A4 paper Choose a song that talks about creation and that will be easy for the children to learn. Teach the children the song and enjoy singing it together. Creation pictures 5 Stick the lines of poetry on the wall. Ask the young people to look at the poetry and work out what it is trying to say. Bring the group together and discuss what they think each line means. Allow any subjective opinions. Poetry is as much for the reader as the author. To be or not to be: that is the question. Is it better to live and face troubles or die and be rid of them? Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. Even love that is painfully lost is better than no love at all. Tread softly because you tread on my dreams. Be careful, this is all that I have. Two roads diverged in a wood, and I - I took the road less travelled by. Choose an unconventional path in life, or make an unusual choice. Water, water, everywhere, nor any drop to drink. The crew of a ship suffer extreme thirst, surrounded by an ocean of undrinkable water. Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness. Imagery of autumn. I wandered lonely as a cloud. Wordsworth talks about walking alone, but it isn t negative, as the rest of the poem shows the joy found in nature. Bible exploration (part one) 5 You will need: refl ective music; these sections of the Bible each printed on a different piece of paper: day one - Genesis Together: curriculum Growing together resource 41

42 1:1-5, day two - Genesis 1:6-8, day three - Genesis 1:9-13, day four - Genesis 1:14-19, day fi ve - Genesis 1:20-23, day six - Genesis 1:24-31, day seven - Genesis 2:1-4 Lay out the Bible passages in front of the group, or stick them to the wall. Start your music and ask the young people to read them through, one at a time. Start with day one and work your way through the week. Chatting together (part one) 5 Ask the following questions. There are no right or wrong answers. Try not to see this as a question and answer session but a discussion and meditation around the questions: What marks a day? How is a day calculated? What is the connection between day one and day four? What is the connection between day two and day five? What is the connection between day three and day six? Why is day seven included here? Try not to contradict what they say, but encourage the group to think freely. If they seem to be straying off topic, gently coax them back. Add any other questions that you feel are relevant Bible exploration (part two) 5 Explain that the majority of scientists, who study the origins of all things, believe everything began at, and from, a single point. From this single point (singularity) everything expanded, stars were formed, planets around them and life began on the Earth and now we have animals and humans. This is known as the Big Bang theory. The Big Bang theory is not a poem. It is not poetic. It is a reasoned, scientific argument. Genesis 1 is written as a poem. It is poetic. Genesis Together: curriculum Growing together resource 42

43 1 is not a reasoned, scientific argument. Rather it shows us different things about God, who he is and why he created the world. You could see the Big Bang as the how and Genesis 1 as the why. Read through the Bible story again, using the print-outs from earlier. This time, however, read the story out loud. Ask the group to think about the why, rather than the how as they listen to the account once more. Creative response 20 You will need: materials for your chosen artistic medium Prompted by the seven-day account in Genesis 1, paint, draw, collage or sing your interpretation of the events. Let the young people s imagination explore the poetic beauty of creation and everything contained within. You could point the group to the book of Psalms, for some ideas, or read Psalm 104 as they work. Chat together about creation as you yourselves create. Share the work and see how each of us interpret this awesome event. Prayer 5 Genesis 1 reveals a seven-step creative process. Explain to the group that they will now have a seven-step prayer process. Taking each day in reverse, thank God. Ask for a volunteer for each day. If your group is small some may need to do more than one day. You can also include yourself. Give each volunteer a day. Have the volunteers silently read the Bible passages that were printed earlier. When that is done, pray. The first person to pray takes day seven and thanks God for something relating to that day. Next is day six and so on to day one. Finish by saying Amen together. Together: curriculum Growing together resource 43

44 Session 2 Journeying Together NOAH Meeting aims To encounter a loving and just God. Bible passage Genesis 6:5-9:17 Background Whether you have young people in your group who have grown up in a church, or who have come recently to your community, there is likely to be some awareness of the story of Noah. Any understanding may well be limited to two-by-two and a happy Noah on the deck of a lovely boat, but the story is much darker than that. As you encounter the whole story in this session, help the young people wrestle with what it shows us about God s love and justice. Gathering time 10 You will need: refreshments; a comfortable place to sit and chat As the young people arrive, serve them the refreshments you have provided. Try to have something a bit more interesting than biscuits and squash - is there someone in your congregation who could make cake? Do you have the facilities to make toast and tea? As you eat and drink together, chat about the young people s lives - do they have anything to share? Any triumphs? Any disasters?! Share stories from your life too, if appropriate. Together: curriculum Growing together resource 44

45 What s the worst? 5 Start the session by asking the group: What s the worst thing you have ever seen / heard / smelt? You could ask about a song, smell, excuse or embarrassing moment. Bible exploration (part one) 10 You will need: a sheets, blankets and anything that can be used to make a den ; torches Gather the young people together and say that you re going to explore a passage from the very beginning of the Bible: Thousands of years ago, there lived a man called Noah. Noah and his family loved God, but they were the only people who did. The rest of humanity lied, stole, murdered, abused and tortured. In fact, they did creation and was heartbroken. The people he had made to be in relationship with him had turned their back on him. Only Noah remained his friend. Sadly, God decided to start again. Noah, God said, I am going to bring a great flood to destroy the world. Build a boat and fill it with every kind of animal. When the floods come, you and your family should get into the boat, so that you ll be safe. Noah and his family built the boat, filled it with animals and made sure there was enough food for themselves and the animals. Soon after, the skies opened and water burst out from the earth. The flood had come, and Noah s family boarded their boat - the boat that would be their home for more than a year. Show the group the den-building resources that you have brought. Challenge them to build the inside of the boat, big enough for everyone to fit inside. When you have finished, make sure it s safe before inviting everyone to go inside. Sit inside the ark, turn on your torches and do the Together: curriculum Growing together resource 45

46 Chatting together questions. Chatting together (part one) 5 Ask the young people these questions, making sure everyone has the chance to contribute: How do you think Noah and his family felt inside the boat? What do you think about what God has done? What does the story so far tell us about God? What is he like? Bible exploration (part two) 5 You will need: small boxes Still sitting in your ark, tell the second part of the story: It rained for 40 days without stopping. The constant drumming of the rain on the roof was infuriating. The boat pitched and rolled in the wind, the animals cried and shrieked and growled and moaned. The boat was full of noise and terrible smells. Noah and his family were pushed to their limits. The rain stopped, but for 150 days the boat drifted on the water. Nothing was left, just the boat. But God had not forgotten about Noah. The waters slowly started going down, but it took another 150 days before the boat came to rest on a mountain. Finally, the land dried out enough for them to leave the boat. Noah opened the doors and the animals and birds streamed out. Noah and his family staggered blinking into the day light, free at last from the noise and the smell. (Open up and leave your boat.) The world outside looked brand new. But here and there, there were the remains of settlements, destroyed by the flood. Noah took some stones and built an altar to thank God for keeping them safe. (Build an altar with the boxes and anything else you have.) Together: curriculum Growing together resource 46

47 God placed a rainbow in the sky and said: I m giving you my blessing. Go and have large families, so my people will live all over the earth. And I m giving you the rainbow as a sign. I promise that the world will not be destroyed by flood again. Chatting together (part two) 5 Ask the young people these questions, making sure everyone has the chance to contribute: How do you think Noah and his family felt when they left the boat? What do you think about what God has done? Having heard the story, how would you describe God? Creative response 10 You will need: art materials; Show the group the art materials and ask them to use whatever they want to make a response to the story and the discussion you have had. The young people may have questions about God s love and sense of justice. Be ready to chat with anyone who wants to. At the end of the response time, if anyone wants to share what they have done and why, then allow some time for this. It doesn t matter if the young people have produced anything at the end of the time or not, the process is more important than the end product. This time of doing will help young people think, ask questions and start to create theology. Prayer 5 Finish with a time of quiet, giving the group some space to talk to God and ask him the questions they need to ask. If you can, play some reflective music as the group does business with God. Together: curriculum Growing together resource 47

48 Session 3 Journeying Together ABRAHAM Meeting aims To explore the promises God made to Abraham and how he trusted God to keep them. Bible passage Genesis 12:1-7; 15:1-6 Background Abraham s story is a huge challenge. God asks him to leave his comfortable life for an unknown destination and he just goes. God promises him something that seems unlikely and he trusts God. What does that say to us about God? Us? Our relationship with God? Help young people explore these issues for their own life as they discover Abraham s story We ve used Abraham rather than Abram to avoid confusion. Gathering time 10 You will need: refreshments; a comfortable place to sit and chat As the young people arrive, serve them refreshments. As you eat and drink together, chat about the young people s lives - do they have anything to share? Any triumphs? Any disasters?! Share stories from your life too, if appropriate. Together: curriculum Growing together resource 48

49 Letter from my future self 10 You will need: pens and paper Invite the group to write a letter to themselves from ten years in the future. What will they be doing in ten years? Who will they be with? Will they be happy, sad or something else? Encourage them to use their imagination. Ask for some volunteers to read out their letters. Bible exploration 10 You will need: props or costumes for the drama; Bibles Use this drama as a fun but silly retelling of the Bible passage. Cast: Eliezer (head servant), camel, servant, posh sheep, not posh goat. Scene one Eliezer: OK, OK, listen up. You ve probably heard by now that we re on the move. Camel: On the move? Don t I know it. Have you seen the size of the packs I have to carry? It s enough to make you spit. (Camel spits.) Sheep: I wish you wouldn t do that, it s so common. And that only just missed me, it s a nightmare getting out of my wool. Goat: Oh, you and your wool (Imitates the sheep.) Look at me, look at my wool, it s so nice and proppah! Servant: Yes, stop spitting, I m the one who has to clear it up, and I have enough to do already with the move. Eliezer: Yes, Yes, it s a lot of work. But the master thinks No, he believes that this is the right thing to do. Camel: Right thing to do? He doesn t have to carry the tents, food and other possessions that he has. He s not poor you know! He s got a lot. Sheep: Yes, including me and my gorgeous woollen coat. Together: curriculum Growing together resource 49

50 Goat: Well, I know who I d like to leave behind if we re taking too much. (Looks pointedly at the sheep.) Servant: I m just sure I m going to forget to pack something. I tried listing everything in my papyrus journal, but I ran out of space. Eliezer: Don t you worry, we ll remember everything. Now let s get the packing finished and get going. It s a long, long journey but the future is looking bright, I see good things ahead for me, I mean us. Scene two Servant: So, not so happy about the future now, eh Eliezer? Camel: And after such a successful, long trip too. Not that I believe a word of it. To be honest I think the old fella has gone off the deep end. He s one hump short of a Bactrian. Sheep: It s not natural you know. I mean the master isn t a spring chicken anymore Goat: Good on the old fella, I say. If he wants and thinks he s going to have kids, then good on im. Eliezer: It s no concern of mine. The master does what the master pleases. Servant: Yes, but you thought you were going to get all that the master has. And then you d be the pleased master. Without children, you ll inherit everything, that s the way of the world. But Camel: It s always the way, the ones who do the hard work, and I m talking all the heavy lifting here, get nuffin. Sheep: I think it s a stupid thing, why should Eliezer get it all? I mean us sheep are very intelligent and we look so cute in our coats. Goat: Oh my, does anyone have the shears? I m sure it s that time of year already Eliezer: Abraham believes in his God. His God told him he would Together: curriculum Growing together resource 50

51 have a child and that his descendants would be many. What Abraham believes is down to him. If he wants to trust in God, then that s fine by me. Until he has a child, I ll do my best to keep things going. Servant: It was this God that brought us here in the first place. I mean why? What was the point? We had just as much there as we do here. What s so important about this piece of land? Camel: I m just glad God said this was our destination. My knees are killing me after walking all that way from Haran. Sheep: Yes, and my woollen coat, though gorgeous, was a little warm on the trip. Goat: What, something negative about the sheep s wool? Quick, post it to Twitter, hashtag sheep shocker sad face tear emoji. Eliezer: (To servant.) You know we sometimes think Abraham s a little crazy for all that he has done and what he believes but we don t question talking camels, sheep and goats! After you have performed the drama, read: Genesis 12:1-7; 15:1-6. Chatting together 5 Ask the young people these questions, making sure everyone has the chance to contribute: If you were Abraham, what would you have done? What do you think of the promises God made Abraham? What has God promised to us? What does this story tell you about God? Together: curriculum Growing together resource 51

52 Creative response 10 You will need: A4 paper; felt-tip pens Give an A4 piece of paper to each young person. Show them how to draw a venn diagram of three interconnecting circles. Label the circles God, Me and Others. In each section, ask the group to write their answers to this question: what do you trust each of these people with or for? Referring to the Bible passage, would Abraham fill in the diagram differently?if you have children on the autistic spectrum, explain before you start that if they use the construction toys, they won t be able to take their memorial home. Prayer 5 Finish by saying this prayer. Ask the group to think about what they want to say to God in the pauses. Dear Lord, I believe help me with my unbelief. (Pause.) Help me grow in faith and trust like Abraham. (Pause.) Show me where you want me to be and your promises for me. (Pause.) Help me overcome the obstacles in my life. (Pause.) Amen Together: curriculum Growing together resource 52

53 Session 4 Journeying Together JOSEPH Meeting aims To understand that God has a plan. Bible passage Genesis 37, Background Joseph s story is one that is packed with drama, danger and dilemmas. Although the action took place thousands of years ago, many of the issues are still current for our young people. Trouble with family, misplaced blame and wrongful arrest, being forgotten by the authorities, even slavery are all continuing issues. We need to help young people interrogate the story to explore the issues within and what God is saying about them. Through Joseph s story, we also discover the fact that God doesn t solve everything immediately: Joseph s redemption and the family s reunion is decades in the making. Gathering time 10 You will need: refreshments; a comfortable place to sit and chat As the young people arrive, serve them the refreshments you have provided. Try to have something a bit more interesting than biscuits and squash - is there someone in your congregation who could make cake? Do you have the facilities to make toast and tea? As you eat Together: curriculum Growing together resource 53

54 and drink together, chat about the young people s lives - do they have anything to share? Any triumphs? Any disasters?! Share stories from your life too, if appropriate. Film chat 10 Ask the young people what films they have seen recently. What plotlines did they have? Were there any in which a character had to put up with great hardship before things resolved themselves? What makes these stories so enjoyable? Anything from Hacksaw ridge to Frozen would be good sources of story! Bible exploration 15 You will need: Bibles; emojis (printed off from the internet); paper; marker pens Review the story of Genesis so far. Remind the young people of the beginnings - of creation and of the story of Noah. Say in session three, we looked at the story of Abraham and the promise God made that Abraham s family would be a huge nation. Jacob was the grandson of Abraham, and his sons would turn into the nation of Israel - God s people. Explain that you re going to explore the story of Jacob s sons, in particular Joseph, Jacob s favourite son. Spread out the emojis in front of the young people and have some fun trying to identify all of them. Ask the group if any are missing, and encourage the group to draw any more that they d like to add. If you think there are any gaps in the emotions expressed, then write those emotions on the paper and add them to the emojis. Tell the group that you are going to read out or retell sections of the story of Joseph. If you re reading from the Bible, give out Bibles so that the group can follow along. Ask the young people to think about which Together: curriculum Growing together resource 54

55 emojis might best describe the action and emotions of the characters. Read Genesis 37 or retell the story of Joseph and his brothers. Once you have finished, ask the group to choose an emoji or word that you feel best describes one of the characters. Encourage people to share who they chose and why they chose the emoji to go with them. Go on to do the same thing with Genesis 41:1-36, 42:1-24, 44 and 45:1-15, filling in the gaps between the different episodes. If you re short on time, miss out chapter 42, but stress the fact that a lot of time has passed. At the end of your encounter with the story of Joseph, ask the group to give their immediate reaction to it by choosing one or two emojis that best describe their own thoughts, and to say why, if they would like to. When all the groups have done this, transfer the photos onto a laptop. Challenge the children to put the photos into the correct order, let them use the Bible or a story book to help them if they need it. Once everything is in the right order, show the photos on a screen as you briefly tell the whole story. Chatting together 5 Ask the young people these questions, making sure everyone has the chance to contribute: What is your favourite part of this story? When Joseph looked back on his life, how do you think he felt about God? What does this story tell us about God? What is he like? Can you see yourself in this story? What do you want to say to God after hearing this story? Together: curriculum Growing together resource 55

56 Creative response 10 You will need: pens and paper; felt-tip pens or pencil crayons Remind everyone that God didn t resolve many issues in Joseph s life for a long time. It was only at the end of his life that Joseph could see God making it turn out for the best (Genesis 50:20). Ask the group to think back on their life so far. Can they see God at work? To help the young people understand a bit more, give an example from your own life, where you didn t understand what was happening at the time, but when you looked back you could see God s plan in action. Ask the group to think about such a time in their own lives and to write about it or draw a cartoon strip of the events. As everyone is working, make sure you re available to chat with any young people who might want to talk about anything, or those who don t feel like God has been at work. Be ready to sit with young people in their sadness or frustration. Once everyone has finished, encourage people to share their stories, if they would like to. Prayer 5 You will need: a Bible Comment that, during his life, Joseph must have prayed to God to change things (when he was in the well or in prison, for example) and been frustrated that God didn t seem to be answering. Ask the group to share anything that they have prayed about but that God doesn t seem to have answered. Have a time of prayer for those longstanding prayer requests. Read Luke 18:1-8 and / or Ephesians 6:18 to the group and talk about the need to keep on praying. Be ready to chat with young people who feel that God doesn t listen or who prayed for something (eg a family member to be healed) that didn t happen. Together: curriculum Growing together resource 56

57 Session 1 Journeying Together CREATION Meeting aims To reflect on what the story of creation tells us about God. Bible passage Genesis 1:1-2:4 Background If young people have grown up in church, the creation story from Genesis 1 will be very familiar. Yet, those with no church background might find it strange, when compared to scientific accounts. Help both of these groups see beyond the words to the creative intentions of God. By exploring the passage we can discover fundamental things about God, ourselves and the relationship we can have with him. Gathering time 10 You will need: refreshments; a comfortable place to sit and chat As the young people arrive, serve them the refreshments you have provided. Try to have something a bit more interesting than biscuits and squash - is there someone in your congregation who could make cake? Do you have the facilities to make toast and tea? As you eat and drink together, chat about the young people s lives - do they have anything to share? Any triumphs? Any disasters?! Share stories from your life too, if appropriate. Together: curriculum resource 57

58 The meaning of poetry 5 You will need: each line of the poetry below written on A4 paper Choose a song that talks about creation and that will be easy for the children to learn. Teach the children the song and enjoy singing it together. Creation pictures 5 Stick the lines of poetry on the wall. Ask the young people to look at the poetry and work out what it is trying to say. Bring the group together and discuss what they think each line means. Allow any subjective opinions. Poetry is as much for the reader as the author. To be or not to be: that is the question. Is it better to live and face troubles or die and be rid of them? Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. Even love that is painfully lost is better than no love at all. Tread softly because you tread on my dreams. Be careful, this is all that I have. Two roads diverged in a wood, and I - I took the road less travelled by. Choose an unconventional path in life, or make an unusual choice. Water, water, everywhere, nor any drop to drink. The crew of a ship suffer extreme thirst, surrounded by an ocean of undrinkable water. Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness. Imagery of autumn. I wandered lonely as a cloud. Wordsworth talks about walking alone, but it isn t negative, as the rest of the poem shows the joy found in nature. Bible exploration (part one) 5 You will need: refl ective music; these sections of the Bible each printed on a different piece of paper: day one - Genesis Together: curriculum resource 58

59 1:1-5, day two - Genesis 1:6-8, day three - Genesis 1:9-13, day four - Genesis 1:14-19, day fi ve - Genesis 1:20-23, day six - Genesis 1:24-31, day seven - Genesis 2:1-4 Lay out the Bible passages in front of the group, or stick them to the wall. Start your music and ask the young people to read them through, one at a time. Start with day one and work your way through the week. Chatting together (part one) 5 Ask the following questions. There are no right or wrong answers. Try not to see this as a question and answer session but a discussion and meditation around the questions: What marks a day? How is a day calculated? What is the connection between day one and day four? What is the connection between day two and day five? What is the connection between day three and day six? Why is day seven included here? Try not to contradict what they say, but encourage the group to think freely. If they seem to be straying off topic, gently coax them back. Add any other questions that you feel are relevant Bible exploration (part two) 5 Explain that the majority of scientists, who study the origins of all things, believe everything began at, and from, a single point. From this single point (singularity) everything expanded, stars were formed, planets around them and life began on the Earth and now we have animals and humans. This is known as the Big Bang theory. The Big Bang theory is not a poem. It is not poetic. It is a reasoned, scientific argument. Genesis 1 is written as a poem. It is poetic. Genesis Together: curriculum resource 59

60 1 is not a reasoned, scientific argument. Rather it shows us different things about God, who he is and why he created the world. You could see the Big Bang as the how and Genesis 1 as the why. Read through the Bible story again, using the print-outs from earlier. This time, however, read the story out loud. Ask the group to think about the why, rather than the how as they listen to the account once more. Creative response 20 You will need: materials for your chosen artistic medium Prompted by the seven-day account in Genesis 1, paint, draw, collage or sing your interpretation of the events. Let the young people s imagination explore the poetic beauty of creation and everything contained within. You could point the group to the book of Psalms, for some ideas, or read Psalm 104 as they work. Chat together about creation as you yourselves create. Share the work and see how each of us interpret this awesome event. Prayer 5 Genesis 1 reveals a seven-step creative process. Explain to the group that they will now have a seven-step prayer process. Taking each day in reverse, thank God. Ask for a volunteer for each day. If your group is small some may need to do more than one day. You can also include yourself. Give each volunteer a day. Have the volunteers silently read the Bible passages that were printed earlier. When that is done, pray. The first person to pray takes day seven and thanks God for something relating to that day. Next is day six and so on to day one. Finish by saying Amen together. Together: curriculum resource 60

61 Session 2 Journeying Together NOAH Meeting aims To encounter a loving and just God. Bible passage Genesis 6:5-9:17 Background Whether you have young people in your group who have grown up in a church, or who have come recently to your community, there is likely to be some awareness of the story of Noah. Any understanding may well be limited to two-by-two and a happy Noah on the deck of a lovely boat, but the story is much darker than that. As you encounter the whole story in this session, help the young people wrestle with what it shows us about God s love and justice. Gathering time 10 You will need: refreshments; a comfortable place to sit and chat As the young people arrive, serve them the refreshments you have provided. Try to have something a bit more interesting than biscuits and squash - is there someone in your congregation who could make cake? Do you have the facilities to make toast and tea? As you eat and drink together, chat about the young people s lives - do they have anything to share? Any triumphs? Any disasters?! Share stories from your life too, if appropriate. Together: curriculum resource 61

62 What s the worst? 5 Start the session by asking the group: What s the worst thing you have ever seen / heard / smelt? You could ask about a song, smell, excuse or embarrassing moment. Bible exploration (part one) 10 You will need: a sheets, blankets and anything that can be used to make a den ; torches Gather the young people together and say that you re going to explore a passage from the very beginning of the Bible: Thousands of years ago, there lived a man called Noah. Noah and his family loved God, but they were the only people who did. The rest of humanity lied, stole, murdered, abused and tortured. In fact, they did creation and was heartbroken. The people he had made to be in relationship with him had turned their back on him. Only Noah remained his friend. Sadly, God decided to start again. Noah, God said, I am going to bring a great flood to destroy the world. Build a boat and fill it with every kind of animal. When the floods come, you and your family should get into the boat, so that you ll be safe. Noah and his family built the boat, filled it with animals and made sure there was enough food for themselves and the animals. Soon after, the skies opened and water burst out from the earth. The flood had come, and Noah s family boarded their boat - the boat that would be their home for more than a year. Show the group the den-building resources that you have brought. Challenge them to build the inside of the boat, big enough for everyone to fit inside. When you have finished, make sure it s safe before inviting everyone to go inside. Sit inside the ark, turn on your torches and do the Together: curriculum resource 62

63 Chatting together questions. Chatting together (part one) 5 Ask the young people these questions, making sure everyone has the chance to contribute: How do you think Noah and his family felt inside the boat? What do you think about what God has done? What does the story so far tell us about God? What is he like? Bible exploration (part two) 5 You will need: small boxes Still sitting in your ark, tell the second part of the story: It rained for 40 days without stopping. The constant drumming of the rain on the roof was infuriating. The boat pitched and rolled in the wind, the animals cried and shrieked and growled and moaned. The boat was full of noise and terrible smells. Noah and his family were pushed to their limits. The rain stopped, but for 150 days the boat drifted on the water. Nothing was left, just the boat. But God had not forgotten about Noah. The waters slowly started going down, but it took another 150 days before the boat came to rest on a mountain. Finally, the land dried out enough for them to leave the boat. Noah opened the doors and the animals and birds streamed out. Noah and his family staggered blinking into the day light, free at last from the noise and the smell. (Open up and leave your boat.) The world outside looked brand new. But here and there, there were the remains of settlements, destroyed by the flood. Noah took some stones and built an altar to thank God for keeping them safe. (Build an altar with the boxes and anything else you have.) Together: curriculum resource 63

64 God placed a rainbow in the sky and said: I m giving you my blessing. Go and have large families, so my people will live all over the earth. And I m giving you the rainbow as a sign. I promise that the world will not be destroyed by flood again. Chatting together (part two) 5 Ask the young people these questions, making sure everyone has the chance to contribute: How do you think Noah and his family felt when they left the boat? What do you think about what God has done? Having heard the story, how would you describe God? Creative response 10 You will need: art materials; Show the group the art materials and ask them to use whatever they want to make a response to the story and the discussion you have had. The young people may have questions about God s love and sense of justice. Be ready to chat with anyone who wants to. At the end of the response time, if anyone wants to share what they have done and why, then allow some time for this. It doesn t matter if the young people have produced anything at the end of the time or not, the process is more important than the end product. This time of doing will help young people think, ask questions and start to create theology. Prayer 5 Finish with a time of quiet, giving the group some space to talk to God and ask him the questions they need to ask. If you can, play some reflective music as the group does business with God. Together: curriculum resource 64

65 Session 3 Journeying Together ABRAHAM Meeting aims To explore the promises God made to Abraham and how he trusted God to keep them. Bible passage Genesis 12:1-7; 15:1-6 Background Abraham s story is a huge challenge. God asks him to leave his comfortable life for an unknown destination and he just goes. God promises him something that seems unlikely and he trusts God. What does that say to us about God? Us? Our relationship with God? Help young people explore these issues for their own life as they discover Abraham s story We ve used Abraham rather than Abram to avoid confusion. Gathering time 10 You will need: refreshments; a comfortable place to sit and chat As the young people arrive, serve them refreshments. As you eat and drink together, chat about the young people s lives - do they have anything to share? Any triumphs? Any disasters?! Share stories from your life too, if appropriate. Together: curriculum resource 65

66 Letter from my future self 10 You will need: pens and paper Invite the group to write a letter to themselves from ten years in the future. What will they be doing in ten years? Who will they be with? Will they be happy, sad or something else? Encourage them to use their imagination. Ask for some volunteers to read out their letters. Bible exploration 10 You will need: props or costumes for the drama; Bibles Use this drama as a fun but silly retelling of the Bible passage. Cast: Eliezer (head servant), camel, servant, posh sheep, not posh goat. Scene one Eliezer: OK, OK, listen up. You ve probably heard by now that we re on the move. Camel: On the move? Don t I know it. Have you seen the size of the packs I have to carry? It s enough to make you spit. (Camel spits.) Sheep: I wish you wouldn t do that, it s so common. And that only just missed me, it s a nightmare getting out of my wool. Goat: Oh, you and your wool (Imitates the sheep.) Look at me, look at my wool, it s so nice and proppah! Servant: Yes, stop spitting, I m the one who has to clear it up, and I have enough to do already with the move. Eliezer: Yes, Yes, it s a lot of work. But the master thinks No, he believes that this is the right thing to do. Camel: Right thing to do? He doesn t have to carry the tents, food and other possessions that he has. He s not poor you know! He s got a lot. Sheep: Yes, including me and my gorgeous woollen coat. Together: curriculum resource 66

67 Goat: Well, I know who I d like to leave behind if we re taking too much. (Looks pointedly at the sheep.) Servant: I m just sure I m going to forget to pack something. I tried listing everything in my papyrus journal, but I ran out of space. Eliezer: Don t you worry, we ll remember everything. Now let s get the packing finished and get going. It s a long, long journey but the future is looking bright, I see good things ahead for me, I mean us. Scene two Servant: So, not so happy about the future now, eh Eliezer? Camel: And after such a successful, long trip too. Not that I believe a word of it. To be honest I think the old fella has gone off the deep end. He s one hump short of a Bactrian. Sheep: It s not natural you know. I mean the master isn t a spring chicken anymore Goat: Good on the old fella, I say. If he wants and thinks he s going to have kids, then good on im. Eliezer: It s no concern of mine. The master does what the master pleases. Servant: Yes, but you thought you were going to get all that the master has. And then you d be the pleased master. Without children, you ll inherit everything, that s the way of the world. But Camel: It s always the way, the ones who do the hard work, and I m talking all the heavy lifting here, get nuffin. Sheep: I think it s a stupid thing, why should Eliezer get it all? I mean us sheep are very intelligent and we look so cute in our coats. Goat: Oh my, does anyone have the shears? I m sure it s that time of year already Eliezer: Abraham believes in his God. His God told him he would Together: curriculum resource 67

68 have a child and that his descendants would be many. What Abraham believes is down to him. If he wants to trust in God, then that s fine by me. Until he has a child, I ll do my best to keep things going. Servant: It was this God that brought us here in the first place. I mean why? What was the point? We had just as much there as we do here. What s so important about this piece of land? Camel: I m just glad God said this was our destination. My knees are killing me after walking all that way from Haran. Sheep: Yes, and my woollen coat, though gorgeous, was a little warm on the trip. Goat: What, something negative about the sheep s wool? Quick, post it to Twitter, hashtag sheep shocker sad face tear emoji. Eliezer: (To servant.) You know we sometimes think Abraham s a little crazy for all that he has done and what he believes but we don t question talking camels, sheep and goats! After you have performed the drama, read: Genesis 12:1-7; 15:1-6. Chatting together 5 Ask the young people these questions, making sure everyone has the chance to contribute: If you were Abraham, what would you have done? What do you think of the promises God made Abraham? What has God promised to us? What does this story tell you about God? Together: curriculum resource 68

69 Creative response 10 You will need: A4 paper; felt-tip pens Give an A4 piece of paper to each young person. Show them how to draw a venn diagram of three interconnecting circles. Label the circles God, Me and Others. In each section, ask the group to write their answers to this question: what do you trust each of these people with or for? Referring to the Bible passage, would Abraham fill in the diagram differently?if you have children on the autistic spectrum, explain before you start that if they use the construction toys, they won t be able to take their memorial home. Prayer 5 Finish by saying this prayer. Ask the group to think about what they want to say to God in the pauses. Dear Lord, I believe help me with my unbelief. (Pause.) Help me grow in faith and trust like Abraham. (Pause.) Show me where you want me to be and your promises for me. (Pause.) Help me overcome the obstacles in my life. (Pause.) Amen Together: curriculum resource 69

70 Session 4 Journeying Together JOSEPH Meeting aims To understand that God has a plan. Bible passage Genesis 37, Background Joseph s story is one that is packed with drama, danger and dilemmas. Although the action took place thousands of years ago, many of the issues are still current for our young people. Trouble with family, misplaced blame and wrongful arrest, being forgotten by the authorities, even slavery are all continuing issues. We need to help young people interrogate the story to explore the issues within and what God is saying about them. Through Joseph s story, we also discover the fact that God doesn t solve everything immediately: Joseph s redemption and the family s reunion is decades in the making. Gathering time 10 You will need: refreshments; a comfortable place to sit and chat As the young people arrive, serve them the refreshments you have provided. Try to have something a bit more interesting than biscuits and squash - is there someone in your congregation who could make cake? Do you have the facilities to make toast and tea? As you eat Together: curriculum resource 70

71 and drink together, chat about the young people s lives - do they have anything to share? Any triumphs? Any disasters?! Share stories from your life too, if appropriate. Film chat 10 Ask the young people what films they have seen recently. What plotlines did they have? Were there any in which a character had to put up with great hardship before things resolved themselves? What makes these stories so enjoyable? Anything from Hacksaw ridge to Frozen would be good sources of story! Bible exploration 15 You will need: Bibles; emojis (printed off from the internet); paper; marker pens Review the story of Genesis so far. Remind the young people of the beginnings - of creation and of the story of Noah. Say in session three, we looked at the story of Abraham and the promise God made that Abraham s family would be a huge nation. Jacob was the grandson of Abraham, and his sons would turn into the nation of Israel - God s people. Explain that you re going to explore the story of Jacob s sons, in particular Joseph, Jacob s favourite son. Spread out the emojis in front of the young people and have some fun trying to identify all of them. Ask the group if any are missing, and encourage the group to draw any more that they d like to add. If you think there are any gaps in the emotions expressed, then write those emotions on the paper and add them to the emojis. Tell the group that you are going to read out or retell sections of the story of Joseph. If you re reading from the Bible, give out Bibles so that the group can follow along. Ask the young people to think about which Together: curriculum resource 71

72 emojis might best describe the action and emotions of the characters. Read Genesis 37 or retell the story of Joseph and his brothers. Once you have finished, ask the group to choose an emoji or word that you feel best describes one of the characters. Encourage people to share who they chose and why they chose the emoji to go with them. Go on to do the same thing with Genesis 41:1-36, 42:1-24, 44 and 45:1-15, filling in the gaps between the different episodes. If you re short on time, miss out chapter 42, but stress the fact that a lot of time has passed. At the end of your encounter with the story of Joseph, ask the group to give their immediate reaction to it by choosing one or two emojis that best describe their own thoughts, and to say why, if they would like to. When all the groups have done this, transfer the photos onto a laptop. Challenge the children to put the photos into the correct order, let them use the Bible or a story book to help them if they need it. Once everything is in the right order, show the photos on a screen as you briefly tell the whole story. Chatting together 5 Ask the young people these questions, making sure everyone has the chance to contribute: What is your favourite part of this story? When Joseph looked back on his life, how do you think he felt about God? What does this story tell us about God? What is he like? Can you see yourself in this story? What do you want to say to God after hearing this story? Creative response Together: curriculum resource 72

73 10 You will need: pens and paper; felt-tip pens or pencil crayons Remind everyone that God didn t resolve many issues in Joseph s life for a long time. It was only at the end of his life that Joseph could see God making it turn out for the best (Genesis 50:20). Ask the group to think back on their life so far. Can they see God at work? To help the young people understand a bit more, give an example from your own life, where you didn t understand what was happening at the time, but when you looked back you could see God s plan in action. Ask the group to think about such a time in their own lives and to write about it or draw a cartoon strip of the events. As everyone is working, make sure you re available to chat with any young people who might want to talk about anything, or those who don t feel like God has been at work. Be ready to sit with young people in their sadness or frustration. Once everyone has finished, encourage people to share their stories, if they would like to. Prayer 5 You will need: a Bible Comment that, during his life, Joseph must have prayed to God to change things (when he was in the well or in prison, for example) and been frustrated that God didn t seem to be answering. Ask the group to share anything that they have prayed about but that God doesn t seem to have answered. Have a time of prayer for those longstanding prayer requests. Read Luke 18:1-8 and / or Ephesians 6:18 to the group and talk about the need to keep on praying. Be ready to chat with young people who feel that God doesn t listen or who prayed for something (eg a family member to be healed) that didn t happen. Together: curriculum resource 73

74 CRAFT A selection of craft activities for children around biblical themes. For more, visit youthandchildrens.work/resources/craft Craft 74

75 LOST AND FOUND PICTURES You will need: white paper or card, white crayons or white wax candles, and water colours or watered-down paint. This is a helpful way to explore the story s theme of lost and found. The wax design is uncovered or found when it is painted over. Encourage the children to use white crayons or candles to draw designs on the paper or card. The designs could be simple patterns or something very personal to them, reflecting parts of their personalities. The designs will be very hard to see as white is being drawn onto white and this emphasises the lost theme of the story. Children can now paint over the wax and, as they do, the white design will be revealed. It s very effective if children swap papers before the painting stage because then they are able to find someone else s designs. MM Craft 75

76 NATURE PAINTINGS You will need: paint, natural objects, paper. Lay out tubs of paint and the natural objects and give children free reign to explore ways of using them to create paintings no paintbrushes allowed! It is amazing how inventive children can be with this activity and how much they enjoy using the different shapes and textures. It will get very messy, so be ready with table coverings and aprons! Use the time to discuss with the children the natural world that God has made, linking it to the creation story in Genesis chapter one. What are their favourite items to paint with? What do they most like the feel of? This craft could be a jumping off point for prayers thanking God for nature and the rest of creation. MM Craft 76

77 LEGO LABYRINTHS You will need: Lego; Lego baseboards. Ask children to create a pathway on the baseboard. This could either be a spiral or more of a maze, as long as there is a way through to the end point! They might want to use colours or pathways to express events from their life so far. When the labyrinths are finished, use them as a tool to help children reflect on where God has been with them on their journey and where they might continue to journey together in the future. There is a real theme of journey in Psalm 139, so as the children trace their finger around the labyrinth, help them to reflect on God s presence with them in the past and ask him to stay with them in their future. MM Craft 77

78 GIANT GOLIATH You will need: Large cardboard boxes, silver and gold spray paint, bubble wrap, tubes from wrapping paper, pizza package bases (optional), paper plates, small foil cake cases, silver foil, parcel tape, glue sticks, coloured card or felt-tip pens, scissors. To make Goliath s body, open out a large cardboard box and spray one side silver. Attach wide strips of card behind the body as arms and legs. Attach a large circle of card or a polystyrene pizza base as the head. Goliath s helmet is half a paper plate sprayed gold and decorated with silver foil and coloured card; use whatever you have to hand. The top part of his armour is decorated with small foil pie cases that have been squashed (children love doing that) and stuck on. Glue sticks work best on the spray paint. The lower half of the armour is bubble wrap sprayed silver and the belt is a strip of parcel tape with a cardboard buckle. The shield is a polystyrene pizza base decorated with card, and the spear (or you could make a sword) is two cardboard tubes taped together with a foil covered spearhead taped to the top. At our Messy Church we fired marshmallows at Goliath I ll leave that up to you! JG Craft 78

79 ZACCHAEUS The story of Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-10) is rich with meaning for children and this craft should give them space to process their thoughts about this story. Litmus-paper changed hearts You will need: litmus paper strips (available cheaply online), paper hearts, various liquids and wet things that are safe for children to touch such as liquid soap, washing-up liquid, lemon juice, squash, water, cold tea, cut fruit. This craft helps children to explore the idea of change (Zacchaeus was changed by his encounter with Jesus) and also the concept that Jesus can see things in people that the rest of us can t on the surface. Talk about the fact that litmus paper reveals the PH (acid / alkaline) level of a substance, which can t be seen just by looking at the item. Let children experiment with touching one of the strips to a certain liquid. Each liquid will have a different PH level and that will turn the strip a corresponding colour. You don t know what colour you will get until you test it! You can t judge just by what you see on the surface. Hopefully there will be some element of surprise for the children (they could predict the colour before testing). When the children have experimented with several strips, ask them to arrange them inside a heart shape or any other shape they want. Use the opportunity to talk about Zacchaeus change of heart and what Jesus could see about him that others couldn t. MM Craft 79

80 THE LOST SON You will need: wooden spoons, pieces of fancy and plain fabric, brown, black, yellow or orange wool for hair, googly eyes (optional), glue sticks, scissors, felt tips, lengths of narrow ribbon. These spoon people are very easy to make and can be used to act out lots of different Bible stories. Draw a face onto the back of the wooden spoon. We have given the father a happy face, the son a sad face and the brother an expression somewhere in-between. Cut lengths of wool to stick on as hair - glue sticks work fine for doing this. Each puppet has a robe which is just a piece of fabric about 20cm wide and the length of the spoon handle. On top we have put a cloak made from a smaller piece of fabric. Use plain fabric for the son to make him look a bit ragged. The robe and cloak are fastened just by bunching them up at the top and tying a piece of ribbon or wool around the top. Maybe your group would like to act out the story as you read it, using the figures. JG Craft 80

81 JACOB S LADDER Based on the story of Jacob s ladder in Genesis 28: You will need: paper, newspapers, lolly sticks, sticky tape, scissors, matchsticks, boxes, straws, collage materials. This is a construction activity to reflect Jacob s dream of the ladder that stretches between heaven and Earth. Give the children free reign and see what happens! Present children with the materials and ask them to build a ladder that reflects what they think the ladder in Jacob s dream looked like. It might help if you show them ways they can roll the paper to make sticks, though some will choose to do something entirely different! Use the time to chat to them about their ideas about heaven, the differences between heaven and Earth and what a connecting ladder would look like. You could do this as a whole group activity or children could make individual ladders. Craft 81

82 FINDING STRENGTH DOOR HANGERS Based on the character of Esther. You will need: wool, PVA glue, greaseproof or waxed paper, string and at least 24 hours! This craft is very messy, requires some patience and is very effective for exploring the strength Esther needs and that God can give. The wool is given strength to hold its shape by the PVA glue. Cut lengths of wool and dip them in PVA. Cover the strands quite thickly. Arrange the wool in patterns on top of the greaseproof paper. You might wish to make crosses or any other symbol that resonates with the children. Make sure that each strand of wool connects with at least one other so that they will stick together when the glue dries. Now wait at least 24 hours for your artwork to dry. The wool will stiffen and be fixed in the design you created. After a day s drying time, carefully pull the wool off the paper and thread some string through the top of the design so that they can be hung in windows or from door handles. MM Craft 82

83 FIZZY PAINTINGS You will need: bicarbonate of soda, white vinegar, droppers (e.g. eye droppers readily available and cheap from chemist shops), thick paper or paper plates, food colouring. This is great for either individual pieces or as a group piece. There is a lot of liquid involved so it might take some time to dry. Pour some of the vinegar into individual cups and add a different food colouring to each cup. Mix well to make the paint. Scatter some bicarbonate of soda so that there is a thin layer over the surface of the paper and then use droppers to drop the vinegar paint on top. Give the children time to experiment and watch the fizzy eruptions! This is a great craft to help children reflect on the power of the Holy Spirit welling up inside the disciples and spilling over into their lives. Let the children share their own responses about what is happening. MM Craft 83

84 DARKEST VALLEY: REFLECTION BOTTLE You will need: empty drinks bottles with the labels removed, food colouring, vegetable oil or baby oil, water. Use this craft to reflect on elements of Psalm 23. This craft is a visual way to help children reflect on the idea that God will help us and bring us through difficult times. Fill two-thirds of the drinks bottles with water. Get the children to add drops of different food colouring to the water until it becomes murky, reflecting some of the difficulties we go through in our lives. Fill the other third of the bottle with vegetable oil and then securely screw on the lid. Allow the children to experiment with shaking the bottles, seeing how the oil mixes with the murky water and then, when left to settle, separates out. The separated oil is brought out of the dark water, just as God can bring us through hard times. MM Craft 84

85 RAIN MAN You could use this polystyrene cup man to teach the children in your group about sheltering in God s care, as in Psalm 46:1. You will need: Polystyrene cups (these work better than plastic ones for sticking, drawing on and piercing); bendy straws; small foil pie cases; muffi n cases; dark buttons; cardboard; red marker pens; PVA glue; sticky tape; scissors. Cut the straw in half. Push the straw through the upside down cup to make the arms. Bend one part of the straw up. Draw a mouth onto the cup and colour it red. Glue the buttons in place as eyes. (Alternatively googly eyes can be bought from craft shops or you could simply draw the eyes on.) The rain man s hat is a foil pie case. His boots are cut from card there is a template at childrenswork. co.uk. Flatten the muffin case (you could use an ordinary cake case but it will be on the small side) then fold it in half across its diameter and again in the opposite direction. Folding it like this will help create the umbrella shape. Gently poke the bent up tip of the straw through the centre of the case and secure with a small piece of sticky tape. JG Craft 85

86 DANIEL IN THE LIONS DEN Painted praise toast You will need: white bread, new paintbrushes (or cotton buds), milk, food colouring, a toaster. One of the key themes in the story of Daniel is that of praising God; both through Daniel s own prayers and, at the end of the story, in the decision of the king to worship Daniel s God. Here is a craft to help children express praise though colour and taste. Divide the milk into dishes and mix each dishful with a different food colouring to make paint. Encourage the children to paint the bread with the brushes or cotton buds, using colour to express praise for the things God has done or given them, or for who God is. They might want to paint pictures of things they are thankful for, or just make bright and colourful decorations. When they have finished painting, toast the bread very lightly. The colours will intensify when the bread is toasted. Say grace to thank God for the food and eat! Craft 86

87 Lost coins You will need: plain biscuits, writing icing and other pre-made icing, assorted cake decorations. Coins usually have someone s portrait on. Invite the children to ice a self-portrait onto the biscuit to help them identify with the lost coin which was so important that it just had to be found. Alternatively they could use sugar letters to spell their name. We have also iced a pound sign onto each of ours and small lines around the edge like the lines on the side of a pound coin. Tubes of ready-made icing and blocks of premade fondant icing can be used to create the decorations. JG Craft 87

88 SPECIAL PEOPLE You will need: a shallow tray or plate, shaving foam, paint, cocktail sticks, lolly sticks and people shapes cut from coloured card. This can be a bit messy but helps children explore the theme of uniqueness and importance to God. Each finished picture will be entirely different and personal. Let children choose a colour of card that most reflects them (eg their favourite colour from the selection) and cut a person shape from it to represent themselves. Spread shaving foam across the bottom of the tray or plate, making sure there is enough to completely match the size of the card person they have cut out. Drop small drops of paint into the shaving foam and use a cocktail stick to make swirling patterns. Again children can choose the colours they like best. Press the person shape down on top of the paint swirls and carefully lift it off. Use a lolly stick to scrape away the shaving foam and paint, and see the unique artwork revealed underneath! MM Craft 88

89 STORM PICTURES You could use this activity alongside teaching about Jesus calming the storm on the Sea of Galilee: Mark 6: You will need: A large piece of background paper; black paint; cotton wool; bubble wrap; strips of silver foil (we have used lametta from Christmas but strips cut from aluminium foil will work); yellow card; glue. For the boat: a polystyrene fruit box or similar; an old pencil or a straw; sails cut from card or craft foam. This gets very messy! Protect your work surfaces, have loads of wipes and, ideally, something to protect your group s clothing ready. We have used bubble wrap for the stormy sea and have cut some wave crests at the top. To make the storm clouds, pour black poster paint into old saucers or similar. Dip a ball of cotton wool in the paint. Use this to daub the sky area with black paint then turn the cotton wool ball over and press it into the paint. When the paint dries the cotton wool will stick to it. Glue the lametta or strips of foil below the clouds. You don t need to stick them all the way down, just at the top. Cut a streak of lightning from yellow card and stick this onto the picture. To make the boat, push the pencil or straw through the bottom of the polystyrene container. Remove it and glue the triangular sails to the straw or pencil. When they have set, pop the end of the mast back into the hole you have made and position the boat in the picture. If you are going to put the picture up then glue the boat on. JG Craft 89

90 WONDERFULLY MADE! You will need: large strawberries; lolly sticks; chocolate; sprinkles to decorate; somewhere to stand the strawberry lollies while they are drying (a jam jar is good for this); access to a sink; a microwave. Look at Psalm 139 together, particularly focusing on verses Wash the strawberries and hull them, dry them out (if you don t do this, the chocolate won t stick properly) and stick a lolly stick into the tops of each one. Melt the chocolate carefully in the microwave and dip the strawberries in chocolate once it has melted. Sprinkle on the decoration and place the strawberry pops into the jar to allow the chocolate to set. The idea is that the children will have the chance to make something that involves a lot of intricate processes, but is wonderful as a result. Talk to the children about the intricate way they have been made by God and that he knows what makes up every part of us, on the inside and the outside. Think about the amazing things your body can do and thank God for them. MM Craft 90

91 MELTED CRAYON ART You will need: canvas, strong glue (eg from a glue gun or superglue), wax crayons with paper wrappers removed, hairdryer, a protective sheet. This activity is exciting and helps, in a very visual way, to illustrate the power of the Holy Spirit. Please ensure that there is adult supervision at all times as the hot wax can splatter. It is also advisable for an adult to glue the crayons to the canvas beforehand as strong glue is needed. Glue the crayons to the top of the canvas and wait until the glue has set firmly. Prop the canvas up against a wall and cover the floor with a protective cloth. It s a good idea to do this activity outside if you have an extension cable for the hairdryer! Set the hairdryer to the highest level and heat the bottom ends of the crayons until they start to melt (this takes a while). When they have begun to melt, switch the heat down a notch and move the hairdryer over the crayons as they drip down the canvas. The children absolutely love this process and really seem to enjoy taking it in turns to hold the hairdryer and decide where to direct the heat to produce different effects. This craft is very helpful in stimulating discussion about the powerful gifts the Spirit can release inside us, mirroring the release of colour from the crayons through the power of the heat. Let the children reflect and let them lead the direction of the discussion. MM Craft 91

92 CELEBRATION CAKES You will need: play dough, birthday cake candles, cupcake cases, pipe cleaners, sequins. This is a very simple, open-ended craft that will help younger children to engage with the themes of joy, celebration and specialness surrounding occasions such as Jesus birth, his resurrection, Palm Sunday and Pentecost. Re-tell the biblical story that you want to focus on and then talk to the children about celebrations they have experienced, and how they felt. Let them use the play dough and extras to create cakes and other things that symbolise celebration and specialness to them. Depending on the age of the children, you may need to remind them that their cakes aren t edible! While they are creating, talk to them about what they are making and be prepared to get some really surprising insights! MM Craft 92

93 REMEMBRANCE CUPS You will need: plastic cups / goblets, permanent or multi-surface markers, tissue paper, sequins, foil, PVA glue. Think about the elements of remembrance in the Last Supper story and in Holy Communion. Ask each child to use the markers and / or collage materials to decorate one of the cups as a reflection of remembering Jesus. Children will have their own ideas on how to reflect who Jesus is to them and may decide to use symbols of their own or they might opt for more conventional Christian symbols. It may be useful to talk about the symbols you might find in church such as doves, fire, crosses and shells before you start, but the children will probably amaze you with symbols of their own making. Allow time at the end of the activity for children to share what they have done. MM Craft 93

94 EASTER DECORATIONS You will need: One cup of plain fl our and one cup of table salt will make enough dough for about six crosses and six eggs. You will also need spare fl our, rolling pins, poster paint, paintbrushes, dessert spoons, knives, plastic drinking straws, cord to hang the craft up, lots of newspaper, baking trays and hand wipes. Children often make salt dough decorations at Christmas, using cookie cutters to make stars, trees and snowmen. These Easter shapes are made by cutting round a template of a cross (which you can draw on paper or trace from an existing design) or, for the eggs, pressing the shape out of the dough with the scoop of a dessert spoon, and then tidying the edges. To make the dough, mix the flour and salt and gradually add water to make a soft dough that isn t too sticky. Roll the dough out onto a floured surface, but don t roll it too thin about 5mm thick is best. Cut out the shapes and a make a hole to hang the decorations up by pressing through the dough with a plastic straw. Bake the shapes for two to three hours at about 100 C. They don t spread out too much while cooking so you can put them quite close together on the trays. If you can, do the mixing and cutting with the children one week and take the shapes home to bake yourself, so they are ready to be decorated next time. Since ownership rights are very important to young children, make sure that each child s initials are scratched onto the reverse of their decoration. If it s not practical for you to mix the dough with the children and take it home, you can make the shapes yourself and ask your group to decorate them. If you want to do this craft with a few groups, the salt dough mixture will keep for several weeks in an airtight container in the fridge. JG Craft 94

95 CHRISTMAS CARD JIGSAWS You will need: old Christmas cards showing scenes from the Nativity story, scissors. After talking about the Nativity story, ask children to choose a card from the collection and get them to cut it into eight to ten pieces that they should jumble up. Children can then spend time reassembling the picture like a jigsaw puzzle, perhaps swapping with someone else. This sounds incredibly simple and easy, but actually opens up amazing reflections from children about the Nativity story. What does the card show? Is anything missing? Why do you like this card? Would you have used these colours? How would you have drawn this part of the story? As with the previous craft, this piecing together takes time and patience for the full picture to be revealed and children can become quite engrossed! MM Craft 95

96 GAMES A selection of games to use with children and young people. For more, visit youthandchildrens.work/resources/games Games 96

97 HUNGRY HIPPOS 10 minutes You will need: four skateboards; bungee cords; ball-pit balls and four buckets; cycling / skating helmets; arm protectors. The aim of the game is to collect as many balls for your team. First, split the group up into four teams and allocate them a corner of the room. Each corner should have a skate board with a bungee cord attached to the back. The balls should be placed in the centre of the room and the young people should then take it in turns to lie on their front on the skate board, holding a bucket, and be pushed into the centre of the room. Using the bucket, they should try to trap the balls, before the bungee cord drags them back to the corner. Repeat this until no balls are left. The balls in each corner are then counted and one team is declared the winner. If this is too easy, you could task them with only collecting a certain colour ball and deduct points for collecting other teams colours. LR Games 97

98 MARSHMALLOW SNOWMEN 20 mins Given the slim possibility of a decent snowfall before Christmas (unless you mainly do youth work in Switzerland / Alaska / Victorian Christmas cards) the idea of making a snowman for Christmas may have always been just a dream. Well any budding Raymond Brigges out there can begin to get excited, because here s a way of making that into a reality. Divide your group into small teams of four or five, and give each team a pot of toothpicks and a big bag of white marshmallows (the big fluffy kind). Explain that their task is to use these things to construct the biggest and best snowman that they can. Allow 15 minutes for the construction, and be prepared to help with some guidance. If possible find some food pens (that can draw on food and still leave it edible) to allow the groups to draw faces / buttons / noses etc onto the snowmen. Once your time limit is up, judge the various efforts, before consuming any marshmallows that either remain unused, or that are in a suitable condition for eating! You could make a load of hot chocolate while they are doing this, and let them add their own marshmallows at the end. Of course if it snows, you can just go outside and build a real snowman. JY Games 98

99 CHAIN TAG Where: Large hall or outdoor. Space needed: Loads! Number of children: 10+ Equipment: Cones. Tag is always a great game to get children running around and here s a version that s ideal for a large space. You do need some boundaries, so if you re playing outside, mark out a large playing area with cones. Line everyone up at one end of the area and place two catchers in the middle. When you say, go the players have to run to the other end without getting caught by a catcher. If someone is caught, they have to join hands with their catcher and then that chain has to try and catch another person and so on. Say at the start that the chain has to run as fast as its slowest member. You don t want faster children dragging slower ones behind them or yanking their arms off! Once a chain reaches five people, split it into two separate chains. After a few goes, the chains will start to realise that they can block off the entire area if they get organised, but it s surprising how often they fail to do this properly! SM Games 99

100 JUST A MINUTE 5 minutes You will need: a stop watch. Invite a member of the group to the front to speak on a topic of your choice for one minute. There must be no hesitation or repetition within that minute. If there is, other people can challenge them and the clock stops. If the person has correctly challenged they can take over at the front and the clock starts again. If they are still speaking when the minute alarm goes they win! Optional rule no deviation from the topic. This raises the stakes but is more difficult to referee. However, it is often amusing to challenge the group to bring up the same things in various topics: figure skating, Hungary, another leader s bald patch etc. LR Games 100

101 WATER CUP GAME 5 minutes Water, a cup and useless general knowledge is brilliant for this game. One person stands in the middle of a circle and is given a theme, for example, Justin Bieber songs. They think of one in particular (obviously Love yourself ) and that is their trump. They will be given a cup containing an inch of water. Everyone else is given the topic and has one aim, to not name the trump choice. Those in the circle have to name their Bieber anthems but if they hesitate, repeat one that has already been said or name the trump, they get the water in their face. The splashed victim goes in the middle of the circle for the next round. Top tip: you can increase the intensity by adding more water every time. LR Games 101

102 SPOONS Where: Indoors. Space needed: Enough to sit down. Number of children: 3+ Equipment: Pack of cards (or any cards containing sets of four, such as happy families), spoons (one fewer than the number of children). Sit all the players in a circle and place the spoons in the centre. Shuffle the cards, deal four cards face down to each player and then place the rest of the cards beside the dealer. Each player picks up their cards and looks at them without showing them to anyone else. The players have to get four of a kind. You start with the dealer taking one card from the rest of the deck, looking at their cards and then discarding one to their left so they have four cards again. The person on the dealer s left picks up the discarded card, looks at it and discards a card to their left. The person on their left picks it up and so on until you come round to the person to the right of the dealer who discards their cards in a separate discard pile. The game is played at speed so the dealer takes a new card as soon as they have discarded their old card, and so on. As soon as any player gets four of a kind, they grab a spoon in the middle. Once a player grabs a spoon the other players must also grab a spoon. The last person who doesn t have a spoon loses. You don t have to eliminate them from the game, as it s usually more fun to keep playing with everyone. SM Games 102

103 TURN THE RAFT You will need some form of floor covering that is both sturdy and large enough for your group to stand on; a tarpaulin, ground sheet or large rug would work. Lay your sheet out flat on the ground and get your group to stand on it. Explain that they are actually standing on a raft in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, surrounded by shark-infested water. For some reason (that has temporarily escaped your mind) they need to turn the raft over so that they are all standing on the other side of it. Explain that no one is allowed to touch the water, and if anyone is lost overboard they need to restart the process. Allow them to work out suitable techniques for supporting each other and keeping them all on-board. If they find it too easy, try reducing the size of the raft available. JY Games 103

104 UMM BOP! Where: indoors. Space needed: enough to sit in a wide circle. Number of children: 5+ Equipment: a long balloon. By now you should know each other s names fairly well, so it s time to up the jeopardy. If you can t remember a person s name in this game you re going to get whacked with a balloon. Get everyone to sit in a large circle and have one person stand in the middle with a long balloon. A leader will start the game by calling out the name of someone in the circle. The person in the middle begins walking towards that person to bop them on the head with the balloon. The person whose name was called needs to shout out the name of someone else in the circle before they get bopped. If they do, the person with the balloon has to try and bop that person before they can shout out a third person s name. Keep playing until the person with the balloon manages to bop someone before they can shout out a name. If they do, the bopped person becomes the person in the middle with the balloon and a leader starts the next round by calling out another name. At the start, encourage the person with the balloon to walk around, and make the circle large enough to give everyone a chance to call out a name before being bopped. As they get better at the game, the person with the balloon may need to run just to stand any chance of keeping up! SM Games 104

105 HUMAN BATTLESHIPS You will need: a soft ball and some trestle tables (or something else to divide the room to waist height). 10 mins Halve the room and lie the trestle tables sideways across the centre, forming a small wall. Split the young people into two teams and get them to lie on the floor hidden from the other team on either side of the room. Some can choose to curl up into a small ball and some can lie full length to represent different sizes of ships. The aim of each team is to throw the ball and hit as many ships of the opposing teams which are then sunk. The winning team will have sunk all the other team s boats. If a bigger ship is hit they can have curl up to form a smaller ship and remain in the game. LR Games 105

106 PAPER PLANE HANG-TIME 5 mins The challenge in this game is to construct a paper plane that will stay in the air the longest. Once everyone has made their planes, divide them into groups of about eight and explain that these are the qualifying groups. One group at a time. They will all have to throw their paper planes, ensuring that they throw at the same time, and the planes that stay in the air the longest will qualify for the timing rounds. Make sure you have plenty of leaders and helpers to keep track of the planes that are the last to land. Dependent on how many players you have overall, you might want to adjust how many planes qualify out of each group. The intention should be to arrive at a final group of about eight who have qualified, so adjust your qualification bar accordingly! Once you have your final eight, time their flights individually to find the best two, and then set them to fly head-to-head in a final hang-time battle. Get them to throw at exactly the same time. The one whose plane remains in the air the longest wins. JY Games 106

107 SING SONG PING PONG 10 mins Split your group into two and pick a team to start. The group, or a member of it, must sing a line from a well-known song. The opposing team then has ten seconds to respond with another wellknown line from a song, but it must contain an identical key word to the song the other team sung. So if the first team sung, Whoa-oh, we re living on a prayer, they could respond with When you call my name, it s like a little prayer, but I m on a boat (shout-out to T-Pain) would not be acceptable. The game continues until a team fails to come up with a response, and the other team gets a point. JC Games 107

108 MYSTERY BOX Where: Indoors. Space needed: Enough to sit down. Number of children: 2+ Equipment: A box with something inside. This is a version of the game 20 questions. Before the session, get an object and place it in a box. For younger children, choose a common object such as a banana or a cricket bat. For older children, try something more obscure such as fairy lights or a birdhouse. Show the box to the children. The children have to guess what s inside the box in 20 questions or fewer, otherwise you win. They can only ask yes / no questions. Give clues as needed. For example, you could allow the kids to shake the box first and then get them to guess what it is. And if you re one of those people blessed with a large group, you can have two boxes with a different object in each. Then split your group into two teams and the first team to guess correctly wins. SM Games 108

109 PARACHUTE CAT AND MOUSE Get everyone to sit around the outside of the parachute holding on to a handle (perhaps after a mushroom flap.) Choose one child to be the cat and another child to be the mouse and, unsurprisingly, the aim is for the cat to catch the mouse. The mouse goes underneath the parachute and crawls around while the other children flap the parachute to hide where the mouse is. Give the mouse a few seconds to get lost among the waves and ripples before releasing the cat. Ask the cat to take off their shoes as they will go on top of the parachute. They move around on top and when they think they know where the mouse is they have to put their hand on the mouse s back. It s harder than it sounds, particularly if you tell the other children that their job is to try and keep the mouse hidden for as long as possible. Give everyone a go at being either the cat or the mouse. SM Games 109

110 GPS ARTIST The 21st Century equivalent of Neil Buchanan s big Art Attacks. This game requires a heap of space and gives young people the chance to express some digital creativity. Find a large outdoor area and tell everyone to get their phone and download an app that will track their movements (something like Strava will do the trick). If you don t have enough phones or apps, the young people can work in groups. Tell the young people that they have 30 minutes to create a beautiful picture on the mapping app. As they move around the space, the app will track their journey, creating some kind of wonderful image. After the time is up, judge the pictures and announce a winner. JC Games 110

111 EUROWORSHIP You will need: paper, pens, brilliant pre-found YouTube clips and a spare worship leader. 10 minutes Many of our churches are incredibly blessed to have brilliant worship songs and leaders. I also fall into the category of people who feels blessed to have Eurovision in my life. On reflection, some Eurovision songs and some Christian songs can have similarities. Play sections of a mix of them and get the young people to write down whether they think they are listening to a worship or Eurovision song. It sometimes takes slightly longer to find the clips, so be prepared (the 2013 Eurovision winner is a personal favourite)! This game is best played with a real-life worship leader present to perform / join in. Top tip: This is also fun to play in any Christian offi ce! Games 111

112 HUMAN BINGO 5 minutes You will need: bespoke bingo cards; pens. The aim of the game is to be the first person to complete their bingo card and to shout, bingo! by walking around and gaining information from other young people. Before the session, make up your bingo card with random facts that you may know about the young people, for example, has been to America in the past week, but also some general, less specific facts, such as has blue eyes. Everyone gets a card and should complete it by filling in the name of the person that matches the fact. This is a great chance for the group to mingle. LR Games 112

113 LAND, SEA, AIR You will need: walls; signs: a crash mat. 15 minutes All you really need is space to run around in but you can also add a few twists to spice it up even further. In its simplest form, one end of the hall is land, one end is air and in the middle is sea. If you shout land everyone has to run and touch the land wall, if you shout air they run and touch the air wall. If you shout sea everyone runs to the middle and sits down. The last person to get to the right place is eliminated. You want to keep the game moving fairly quickly so nobody is out for too long and you can bring everyone in to start again. Once everyone is used to the game, mix things up by shouting a few places in quick succession. This doesn t just have to be land, sea, air. If a Bible passage has two or three places in it and ideally some water you can easily adapt it for your session. SM Games 113

114 HEAD, SHOULDERS, KNEES, TOES, SHOE You will need: shoes. 10 mins Ask the young people to get into pairs and face one another standing slightly apart. One person should take off their shoe and places it in between them. Begin by shouting out head, shoulders, knees, toes or even ankles, elbows, ears, neck etc. Everyone must respond by touching the relevant bit. When you shout: Shoe! it is a race to grab the shoe. The winner then goes through to the next round to play against a fellow winner. You must keep eye contact with your partner at all times and remain standing up straight until the grab for the shoe. LR Games 114

115 HOT AIR BALLOON A game requiring young people to be awake and aware of what s going on. Good luck 10 mins The simplest of these games are the ones without any kind of equipment or setup required. This is one of those games requiring nothing but your brains and guile. Get your group sitting in a circle and explain that you are going to go on an imaginary hot air balloon ride and that as a group you need to decide what you are going to take with you. Get them to use the phrase On my hot air balloon trip I will take... and suggest one thing they would take.the leader then tells them whether or not what they have decided to take is acceptable. The simple rule is that you take things with double letters in the word (e.g. rabbit, kitten, balloon, etc.). So you could start with, On my hot air balloon trip I will take a kitten. Proceed around the circle giving everyone a chance to suggest what they might like to take - confirming when they pack something acceptable, and telling them when they get it wrong. As this progresses, they will hopefully work out that you are using a specific rule to decide, and their challenge is to try and work out what this rule might be. Make sure they know that they shouldn t blurt out the rule if they think they ve worked it out, but test it with their next go to give everyone a chance to work it out. If your group is struggling to figure it out, when it gets to your turn in the circle make your examples really extreme and unconnected so they can see which elements of what you say are important. JY Games 115

116 TRAY BASH 15 minutes You will need: four trays; four old newspapers or magazines, made into batons. Split the group into four equal teams and number them from one to however many are in each group. Create a square arena with a group on each side. When their number is called a member from each group must come into the middle. They must bow to one another and take a baton and a tray, balancing the tray on one hand. The aim of the game is to hit the trays off other people s hands with the baton, while defending yourself. The tray must lie flat on the hand - no holding on! The last person with the tray still balanced wins that round. The game continues until everyone has had a go and the team with the most tray bash victors wins. LR Games 116

117 CARD SORT You will need: several photos or cards cut into four to eight pieces. 5 minutes This is a very simple game that s great for smaller groups with limited space. Before the session, find some cards (eg leftover Christmas cards), postcards or printed photos and cut them into four to eight pieces (fewer pieces work better for younger children, for young people, you can cut them into ten or more pieces, depending on how cruel you re feeling). Hide the pieces of all the cards around your space. Split the group into teams, or if numbers are low, people can work on their own. The aim is to find and complete as many of the pictures as possible by finding the pieces and putting them together. Each person or team must complete the card they are working on before they go onto another card. The team who get the most complete cards is the winner. You could make the pictures they find fit into the story or theme of the session. SM Games 117

118 SPIDER S WEB A really simple exercise of group work and ingenuity (and that s just the setting-up among the leaders). You ll want to work with groups of about half-a-dozen to complete this exercise. In advance, tie pieces of wool or string across some form of passage or doorway (though not a fire-escape!) at differing heights and angles - leaving enough space to fit a body through. Explain to your group that their task is to get the whole team through the door, without touching any of the threads (think Catherine Zeta- Jones in Entrapment if you want a reference point that will show your age and make young people look confused) with the added complication that each gap can only be used by the team once. Encourage them to think and discuss how they might help each other get through. If any of the team touches a thread explain that they have awakened some form of giant spider and the whole team has to start again from the beginning. If you ve got the time and space, you could construct a 3D version. As ever, if an element of competitiveness would aid your group in completing the task you could time how long each team takes - but the real challenge in this task is completing it as a team and not being better at it than anyone else. JY Games 118

119 HUMAN CLUEDO You will need: paper; pens; three buckets. This normally works best at the beginning of a session or when on a residential. Give each person a piece of paper to rip into three. On the first piece of paper they should write their own name, on the second a random object that can be found easily and on the final piece a specific location within the building or area the game is taking place, for example: Dan; pen; kitchen. Label each bucket name, object, location and tell the young people to put their pieces of paper into the respective buckets. Once everyone has done this, everyone must take a piece of paper from each bucket, making sure not to get their own name. The challenge for the session or weekend is to target the person whose name they have picked out and to give them the random object in the location they have been given. That person is then dead and hands over their three pieces of paper to the person who killed them, who then has a new target. The winner is the last person standing! LR Games 119

120 THREE-LEGGED FIVE-A-SIDE This is a game that can be used to celebrate any sort of football tournament. But not everyone likes The Beautiful Game, so let s mix it up a bit. Turn your hall into a five-a-side arena by placing tables on their sides around the edges of the room with a gap at each end for goals, and get your group into randomly allocated pairs. Tie the pairs together at the ankle (like in three-legged races) and then get the pairs into teams. Depending on the size of your playing arena you ll probably want three pairs per team. Get the teams to play each other in short matches of two minutes, allowing no goalies, or above head-height passes / shots. JY Games 120

121 POLO RELAY Other mints are available, but they don t really work for this game. The natural opposite of a toothpick is a Polo mint it s edible, circular with a hole and no pointy bit. Clearly then, we must combine the two in a game. Get your group into two equal teams, give each member a toothpick and get them to stand in a line, one behind the other. At the front of each line place a full pack of Polo mints, and at the end of the line place an empty dessert bowl. Explain to the group that it s a team race, where they compete to be the first team to transfer all the Polos from the packet at the front to the bowl at the end of the line. The rules are simply that the Polos can only be moved, one at a time, by toothpick, that those toothpicks must be held in the mouth (no hands allowed), and the Polo must be passed along by every member of the team before being deposited in the bowl. The person at the front is allowed to hold the Polo packet in their hands, and open it - but the Polo must be placed onto the toothpick without being touched, and it must then be passed onto the toothpick of the person behind them without any touching it, and so on. Once the person at the back has deposited the Polo in the bowl (still without touching it) they shout out Polo, so the person at the front knows to start another Polo on its journey. Once the final mint is in the bowl the team sits down and shouts out We ve got the (w)hole packet in the bowl. Any dropped Polos have to continue their journey, being picked up from the ground still without any hands being used! If the journey of the Polo to the back of the teams is taking too long you could allow a new Polo to be passed once the previous one passes the midpoint of the line. JY Games 121

122 SCAVENGER HUNT 10 minutes Split your group into equal teams of between three and eight. Put the teams around your meeting space and place a hula hoop in the centre. The teams should line up in their area. Then the leader in the centre will call out something (eg a ball) and one child from each team (the one at the front of each line) has to run, find that object and bring it to the hoop in the centre. The first team to place a correct object in the hula hoop gets the point. This game works better if you ve written a list of things to scavenge beforehand and, if need be, scattered some objects around the hall for the children to find. Some examples could be a ball, a sock, something you d wear on your head, something red, something that starts with the letter T, the oldest person on your team. SM Games 122

123 DISCUSSION STARTERS A selection of discussion starters to get young people thinking about topical, biblical or apologetics questions. For more, visit youthandchildrens.work/resources/discussions Discussion 123

124 GO AWAY (IN A MANGER) By far the worst Christmas carol of them all is also the most familiar: Away in a manger. This may sound controversial, and be greeted with a steely glare and a sharp intake of breath, but it s true. The tune is far too high-pitched for any male over the age of seven to make any serious attempt to sing, but that s far from the most problematic aspect. The lyrics of Away in a manger aren t just twee nonsense, they seem to completely change the Christmas story. Just look at these: The cattle are lowing, The baby awakes, But little Lord Jesus, No crying he makes. What do you think about these lyrics? Is there a problem with them? Which is your favourite Christmas carol? Do you pay much attention to their lyrics? These lyrics portray Jesus as an angelic baby who causes his parents no stress and is a delight to be around. That misses the point. The Christmas story tells us something amazing about Jesus: he became fully human, not part-human, part-perfect child fully human. This means that he most certainly would have cried. More than that, he d have pooed, he d have wet the bed, he d have kept Mary and Joseph up at night and done all those things that real, actual human babies do. The miracle of Christmas isn t that a perfect child was born, but that God became any kind of child! This isn t just one Christmas carol, so many of them present a slightly skewed version. Perhaps the reality of the Christmas story Discussion 124

125 just isn t exciting enough to take a week off work for Are you comfortable with Jesus being fully human? Does this change the way you think of the Christmas story? Why do you think Christmas carols present this idealised depiction of the story? What is the real Christmas story like? Read Luke 2:1 21 and then discuss these questions: How does this differ with the accounts of the story that we sing about? What is the same? Where is the emphasis different between the two versions? What impact do you think this has on people who may only hear the Christmas story via the medium of Christmas carols? JC Discussion 125

126 WINNING The summer always brings sporting celebrations and commiserations, people winning and failing, teams working together and falling apart. But what does the Bible say about winning? Does trying hard matter? Where does grace fit in? Ask your young people if they have any highlights from the summer s sporting activities. Were they surprised by any of the results? Were they cheering for obvious winners or for underdogs? Read this quote from Donald Trump: My whole life is about winning. I don t lose often. I almost never lose. Ask: How important is winning to you? How do you feel if you lose? How do you think this attitude compares with Jesus? Discuss whether there is more to life than winning. Share London 2012 Olympic gold medalist (for shooting) Peter Wilson s thoughts: Once you ve won the Olympics you feel bizarrely empty. You feel you ve won all your life s ambitions in one go. The goal was always to win the Olympics and I was fortunate enough to do it at 25 so what the hell do I do with the rest of my life? Read 1 Corinthians 9:24-7 and ask: What do you think Paul is saying here? Do you agree with him? What do you think this means in practice? Pierre de Coubertin founded the International Olympic Committee and is considered the father of the modern Olympic Games said this; The Discussion 126

127 most important thing in the Olympic Games is not winning but taking part; the essential thing in life is not conquering but fighting well. Ask: Do you agree? What does fighting well look like? As Christians, Jesus calls us to lay down our lives. If we are putting God first and trying to prioritise the needs of other people, does that mean that we should sacrifice winning? Read Philippians 2:3-4 and ask: How do you feel if a friend does well? How could we be more encouraging of others? What does godly competition look like? If your young people are happy to, ask them to share a time when they lost at something. Ask them how they felt. Was it made worse or better by the people around them? Did they feel closer or further away from God at the time? Did they learn anything through the process? Share the words of Austrian actor-turned-politician Arnold Schwarzenegger and discuss; Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength. Great sporting achievement, acting prowess and musical talent is often rewarded with silverware. Does God reward us in the same way as the world or does the kingdom of God operate under a different currency? Define grace for your young people and then read Ephesians 2:8-9 together. End by praying for your young people that they will be gracious in both wins and losses, putting others first and helping to point people to God. Pray also that they will be strengthened in trials and draw close to the God of comfort. RJ Discussion 127

128 FAME Everybody wants to be famous, nobody wants to be nameless, goes the Dizzee Rascal lyric. It seems this sums up the attitude of so much our culture. Every other TV show is some kind of talent contest at the moment, with people trying to show that they re the best singer, dancer, baker or gymnast in the world. For those of us who eat dinner in front of the television, they are moderately entertaining. But they also reveal something about our culture as a whole: people are desperate to be famous. It s not just on TV that we see this; vlogging seems to take up half of YouTube right now. Vlogs (video blogs), via the democracy of the internet, offer everyone the opportunity to have a platform - to become web-famous. Some of them, the best and most creative of them, become actually famous as YouTubers, and start genuine careers off the back of some videos filmed in their bedroom. Have you ever entered some form of talent show? Do you enjoy watching them? Do you, or anyone you know, vlog or have a YouTube channel? Our culture is addicted to fame. The news is dominated by famous people, and a whole heap of our TV shows are about people who want to be famous. This phenomenon isn t reserved for TV shows and vlogs. Someone once said that Twitter is the ultimate computer game; replies, retweets and favourites all accrue points, and if you re clever or funny enough, you can get famous just through social media. Discussion 128

129 Do you want to be famous? Why or why not? Why are people so desperate to be famous? The Bible doesn t seem overly concerned about fame and it certainly doesn t suggest that people should make the pursuit of it a priority. At one point during his life, Jesus was presented with the opportunity to gain fame and power for himself. What he did in response seems the complete opposite of all that the world tells us to do. Read Luke 4:5-8. Are you surprised by Jesus reaction here? What would you have done in that situation? Do you think we face similar temptations today? What might they be? JC Discussion 129

130 MOVING ON Can you make an omelette? How about a stirfry? Ever tried to bleed a radiator? What about paying a gas bill? Like it or not, the future is coming. Life moves on far quicker than we expect, and we ve got to be ready. At some point you re going to strike out on your own, and the easiest way to move on is if you re ready and prepared for it. The internet is full of (often bad) advice to help you move on. No matter what you want to move on from - a relationship, a job, a house, a pet squirrel - there s always a self-help guide somewhere to ease your transition into a better, brighter, future. But some of the advice out there is just plain odd, and leads to weird occurrences. There are stories of ex-lovers burning everything that their former partner has ever touched and ex-employees removing all contact they could have with a former job. Others still taking it even further and physically expunge all evidence of former connections with a colonic irrigation! One thing is for sure: humanity has yet to master the art of moving on, which is weird because we spend so much time having to move on. Even before you hit 20 years old you ll have moved on from two schools, possibly a college, and in many cases the house and family you ve grown up in. So if we re going to be doing all this moving on, you should probably figure out how best to do it. Ask the group: Do you feel ready to leave home? What about school or college? Do you feel nervous about moving on? Which bits of those are most worrisome? What things have you had to move on from? Discussion 130

131 How easy have you found it to do so? What has been difficult about moving on? What s the best bit of advice you ve heard about moving on? The Bible talks about moving on. It talks about life as a journey, and there being different times and seasons for everything. Read Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 and Philippians 3:12-14 as a group and then discuss these questions: What stands out to you from these passages? Do these passages contradict each other? How do you think these passages relate to what we ve been talking about? Do you think we should move on, or hold things tightly? Can accepting the need for change make it easier? JC Discussion 131

132 DEPRESSION This session needs to be dealt with sensitively. You may want to encourage your young people to privately write their answers rather than engaging in group discussions. According to a new book, the number of young people struggling with mental health issues has steadily increased over the last 80 years. Generation Me suggests that demographic shifts toward more independent, less family-oriented lives has led to the upswing in unhappiness. Its author, sociologist Jean Twenge, believes that our current preoccupations with money, fame and image are likely to be contributing to our sense of malaise. A recent World Health Organisation report found that 15-yearolds in England and Wales were among the least satisfied in European and Western groups. Ask your young people to rate their current satisfaction levels from one (unsatisfied) to ten (completely satisfied). Ask: Are there any situations that raise or lower your satisfaction levels? Is there a person or activity that makes you feel happier? A 13-year-old recently told an NSPCC counsellor: I hate myself. When I look at other girls online posting photos of themselves it makes me feel really worthless and ugly. I m struggling to cope with these feelings and stay in my bedroom most of the time. Ask your young people if they identify with this or whether they know anyone who may feel like this. Ask: Does social media make us more aware of our own flaws? Discussion 132

133 Do you struggle with feelings of jealousy / insecurity? How can you feel more comfortable in your own skin? According to the Association of School and College Leaders and the National Children s Burea, 79 per cent of teachers have seen a rise in self-harm or suicidal thoughts among pupils. Share this statistic and sensitively ask: At your lowest moments, have you ever considered hurting yourself? Is there anything that could stop you feeling like that? How could other people help? Read Zephaniah 3:17 to your young people and ask: Have you ever considered God singing over you? Does hearing how God feels about you make you feel any different about yourself? What can you do to make yourself believe these words? Is there anyone else you need to share these words with? Take some time to pray for your young people particularly for those who are struggling with these issues. You could also encourage the group to pray for any friends who are suffering in this area. RJ Discussion 133

134 SABBATH Hooray for holidays! What a great opportunity to relax, re-evaluate, have a lot of fun and prepare for next term. Ask your young people what they re most looking forward to over the summer. Are you most excited about the people? The activities? The place? What will be most restful? How many lie-ins are you planning? Discuss what rest means for each young person. For some it will involve resting their brain, others will prefer physical relaxation, while others will find strenuous physical activity restful because it is fun and different from normal life. Read Exodus 20:8-11 and ask: Does anyone ever have one day off a week where they do nothing? What s the reason behind observing a Sabbath? Is it as important as all the other Ten Commandments? Read Mark 2:23-28 Is the idea of a Sabbath out-dated? Is Jesus implying we don t need to rest? Why is it so hard to do nothing one day a week? Say that Jews observe the Sabbath is on a Saturday. In Biblical times there were extra laws in place to stop people accidently working on the Sabbath and therefore breaking the commandment. Christians tend to celebrate the Sabbath on Sundays. There were a Discussion 134

135 number of reasons for this change but it would also have reminded early Christians of Jesus rising from the dead (Sunday is the day most commonly attributed to the resurrection). Ask: Is it important which day we celebrate the Sabbath? Should we be better at protecting our rest time? Explain that doctors have found connections with stress and many medical conditions. Relaxing even lowers your risk of catching a cold and can boost your memory! Discuss: What is a perfect day off? What makes you feel most relaxed? Will you be able to do any of these things over the summer? Can you build any of this in to your normal term-time routine? Read Psalm 127:2 and discuss how important sleep is to each of your young people. According to the Great British Sleep Survey 2012, most people are kept awake by a racing mind at some point in their lives. Ask your group: Do you resonate with this? Do you think you get enough sleep? If not, how can you ensure you get more? Pray for good rest over the summer holidays so that they can come back refreshed excited about the new term. RJ Discussion 135

136 SELFIES Remember when people used to take photos of other things? You might go on safari and take sweeping photos of majestic beasts, cavalcading through the Serengeti. You could go to a concert and snap the singer at that exact moment they hit the ludicrously high note. Now, it s a very different world. If you see a lion, you need to get your face AND the hairy beast in the picture. If you re at the football there are three key photographic components: the pitch, the players and your own daft face. Ladies and gentlemen, the plague on modern photography: the selfie. The humble photo of oneself has a long and varied history, but really took off during the MySpace boom of the mid-2000s when photos taken at bizarre angles with an arm in shot were de jour. It s weird isn t it? We ve got this whole world to look at and we re too busy gawping into our own cameras is this what humanity has become? The most technologically advanced society in the history of the planet and we re using all that innovation to check out our fringes. What do you think of selfies? Do you take many of them? Why do you think we take so many of them? Does it say something about us as a society? Some might argue that the rise of the selfie is indicative of wider problems within our society as if people taking photos of themselves reflects the epidemic of self-interest that seems to plague our 21st Century existence. On the other side of the coin, Discussion 136

137 it s just a bit of fun, a way for people to show they were present with people and at places and events. Do we just need to get over ourselves a bit? Does our society focus on ourselves more than others? Is that a good thing? What can we do about it? The Church is called to be different to society, and one way it can do that is by caring more about others than ourselves. William Temple once said, The Church is the only organisation that does not exist for itself, but for those who live outside of it. We see this backed up in the Bible; the early Jewish community was called to be different and to bless the rest of the world through who they were. Read Genesis 12:2-3: What do you think this passage is talking about? It s often surmised as blessed to be a blessing. What do you think that means? Do you think the Church lives up to William Temple s quote? What does it need to do better? What can you do in the next week to put others first? JC Discussion 137

138 THE PERSECUTED CHURCH According to Open Doors, 100 million Christians around the world face persecution. Share some of these stories with your young people there are videos and country profiles on the Open Doors youth website. Ask: How does their suffering make you feel? If you were in their position, how would you respond? How would it make you feel about God? Discuss some of the ways your youth group could help persecuted Christians. Perhaps use the youth leader resources on Open Doors youth website. Read Matthew 25:35-40 and discuss: Are there any practical ways we can help persecuted Christians? How can we raise awareness? How can we pray for them? Read Mark 8:34-35 and ask: Does Jesus mean this literally? Did he expect people to die for their faith? If we were to take Jesus words metaphorically, what ways could / should we deny ourselves? What did Jesus mean by the gospel? Read 1 Peter 3:18: Christ suffered for our sins once for all time. He never sinned, but he died for sinners to bring you safely home to God. Does the gospel make any difference in your life? Discussion 138

139 Is the gospel worth denying some of your greatest desires for? Is the gospel worth physically dying for? Discuss the people who are most important to your group as well as their priorities in life. Ask: How important is your faith to you? Would you admit to being a Christian if you knew you would be killed for it? Do you think we are living too comfortably? Ask your young people to think of some radical Christians then discuss: How can you live out your faith more radically? If you thought you only had one week left to live, what would you do? What would your priorities be? What one thing can you do this week to share your faith? Take some time to pray for the persecuted church and try to put into practice some of the young people s suggestions about how your youth group could practically help suffering Christians abroad. Pray for your young people to be more radical and bold in their own faith. RJ Discussion 139

140 A REAL RESURRECTION Everyone loves a comeback. We love stories where somehow, out of nowhere, the hero manages to reign victorious. It could be a football team, a battle, a pop star s career or all six Rocky fi lms we can t get enough of them. Darrell was a mess, a junkie, an offender, a problem. At 11 he was stealing car parts, by 16 he was selling class A drugs to feed a 300- aday heroin addiction. Before long, things got even worse. The need for money to secure his drugs kept building and eventually he got involved with some serious stuff. He played the part of a getaway driver in an armed robbery, but was caught by the police and sentenced to years in prison. It wasn t like this was a surprise, Darrell said: I genuinely felt dead on the inside and didn t feel anything apart from hate and anger and guilt. Where I was knocking about and the people I was hanging round, crime was everywhere and everybody was doing it, so it was only a matter of time before I got involved. Prison didn t seem to make an impact on Darrell, and it certainly didn t stop him getting into trouble. Darrell said: I would go looking for opportunities to cement my reputation. I would do violent things for no reason - I put a lad in hospital after setting about him with a snooker ball in a sock because I thought he looked at me in the wrong way. Yet in prison, something changed. Darrell met a person who changed his life. Somehow, moment by moment, inch by inch, he turned his life around. He saw out his sentence and got out of prison, settled down with a wife and kids and got himself a real, Discussion 140

141 honest job, where he can help the lives of others. What do you think of Darrell s story? Do you think it s possible to turn things around? Do you think stories like this are common, or once you ve started off down a bad road, is it too difficult to turn around? What s your favourite comeback story? Have you ever tried to make a big change in your life? What was difficult about it? The people who changed Darrell s life were Christians; they told him about Jesus, and Darrell decided to leave his old life behind and become a Christian. Darrell now leads a church and tries to have a similar impact on others. At the heart of the Christian story is the ultimate comeback, a comeback for the ages, a comeback so big it s changed the very history of mankind. Read Luke 24:1-12. What do you think of this story? Do you think Jesus came back to life? Why? If Jesus did come back to life, what difference does it make to the world? What difference does it make to your life? JC Discussion 141

142 SANTA CLAUS Even without the sneaking-into-your- house-late-at-night thing, Santa Claus is pretty creepy, right? You better watch out, you better not cry, you better not pout, I m telling you why, Santa Claus is coming to town. He s making a list, and checking it twice; he s gonna find out who s naughty or nice, Santa Claus is coming to town. He sees you when you re sleeping, he knows when you re awake, he knows if you ve been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake! Either read out those lyrics from the Christmas song Santa Claus is coming to town or play your favourite version (we like The Jackson 5 version). Ask the young people to imagine they are Father Christmas. Who goes on your naughty list and who goes on your nice list? On what basis do you put people on each list? What level of niceness does a child have to achieve before you give them a brand new Xbox or PlayStation? Do you actively punish the naughty child? What s the worst present you can give them? (e.g. a broken Playstation 1 in a Playstation 4 box.) Tell the young people they have the option to accept the judgement of Santa Claus. If he deems them nice they will get a great present, naughty and they will lose any presents they were due to get at Christmas. Would they take Santa s judgement? Ask them if they would change their minds if Santa produced a report with a list of naughty and nice things they d done in the last year and made Discussion 142

143 it publicly available? Would the world be a better or worse place if Santa Claus was real and handed out presents on the basis of naughty or niceness? Either read out the first lines from Joy to the world or play your favourite version (we like Sufjan Steven s version on Songs for Christmas, Vol. 4). Joy to the world! The Lord is come, let earth receive her King! Let every heart prepare him room, and heaven and nature sing. Ask your young people: Why do you think the world should be happy that Jesus has come? Does Jesus give himself to the world based on people s behaviour? Read Luke 5:30-32: And the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying, Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners? And Jesus answered them, Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance. How is Jesus different from Father Christmas? Does Jesus care about our behaviour? And if so, how is this different from how Father Christmas views our behaviour? MW Discussion 143

144 BIG QUESTION There are many questions that stop young people wanting to know more about God. Big Question tries to tackle some of these issues. Big Question 144

145 WHY DOES GOD HATE MY GAY FRIEND? It s tragic that many LGBT+ teenagers think they would not be welcome in a church or a Christian s home. For any part that we as youth workers, or the Church have played in giving that impression, we re sorry. We re sorry because it is utterly heart-breaking but also because it isn t true. In fact, this anti-welcome couldn t be further from the truth. The Church isn t, nor was ever meant to be, a museum of saints (thank God!), but a place where broken people (all of us) get to come and meet with a God who loves them unconditionally. The message of Christianity is that God loves everyone, whether or not they have ever set foot in a church. The Bible says that God is love. It s not just something God does, it s something God is! God cannot hate your gay friend because he loves them. But what does God think of your gay friend s sexual activity? Traditionally, the Church has held a conservative view about sex, believing it to be a precious act, reserved solely for lifelong marriage between a man and a woman. This has ruled out sex before marriage, as well as homosexual relationships. While differentiating between an inclination and acting upon that feeling, Christians who hold to this view would not approve of a gay relationship (but would, of course, still welcome a gay person into their Christian community and home). Other Christians have moved away from this traditional position, arguing that God affirms and encourages committed gay marriages. Big Question 145

146 All of us must welcome and support our gay friends but we must also ensure that we look past the labels that are often placed on them. Would your gay friend describe you as their straight friend or would they describe you just as their friend? You and your friend are not defined by your sexuality - nor by anything else for that matter. You are so much more than your grades, your desires, your family background. Our identity does not come from our sexual encounters but from knowing that God loves us. All of us. God doesn t look at us and see who we fancy. He looks at us (L,G,B,T,+, or otherwise) and sees one of his precious children who he s looking forward to hanging out with. Questions to ask Do you think God hates your gay friend? Why? What do you think God thinks of you? What one word would you use to sum up your identity? How could you best support your LGBT+ friend? How could your youth group or the Church support them? For helpful resources, stories and advice visit livingout.org. For help supporting LGBT young people, check out diversechurch. website. RJ Big Question 146

147 IF GOD FORGIVES EVERYTHING, DOES IT MATTER WHAT I DO? Why do we need forgiveness? Christians talk about sin, which is a bit of a confusing, old-fashioned word. It makes more sense if we look at its original meaning: the Greek word for sin came from an archery term meaning to miss the mark. Sin isn t just the obvious stuff like murder or stealing, it s anything that misses the mark, that falls short of God s perfect standard. A standard none of us can meet. When we do something bad, there are consequences (especially if we re caught!). But the message of Christianity is that God has forgiven our sin, taking the punishment and consequences on himself so that we can be free. To be forgiven, all we have to do is say sorry or repent (another word that is chucked around a lot by Christians!) Repent translates as to change your mind or to do an about-turn. If you ask for forgiveness and repent, you actively turn away from sin. When people experience God s forgiveness for the first time, it often results in a life change. This is true of some characters in the Bible and there are lots of modern day examples (see greatcommission.co.uk or iamsecond.com). Experiencing God s forgiveness changes everything. Look at Romans 6:1 3 (The Message s puts it well). Through God s forgiveness we are given a new life and our old life dies. We will, of course, still miss the mark but God s forgiveness isn t just a one-time thing. It s never too late to say sorry. Big Question 147

148 Because God forgives everything, we can, in theory, do whatever we want. However, in order to ask for forgiveness, we need to actually be sorry and if we keep deliberately sinning, we re probably not that sorry and maybe don t actually want to be forgiven! Moreover, if we re in a relationship with God, we probably won t want to do whatever we fancy. Think of your mum (if you re on good terms with her). She provides everything you need, is super kind to you, sacrifices her own desires to put you first and loves you no matter what. If there were certain things she asked you not to do, you would probably try to avoid those things. If you did do something she asked you not to, it might put a barrier between you and it would hurt her feelings. You love your mum and want to be close to her so you wouldn t intentionally do stuff that would make you feel far away from her. It s the same with God nothing we do can make him love us more (or less), but as we draw close to him, we will want to live in a way that pleases him. Questions to ask: Is there any sin which can t be forgiven? Do you think forgiveness is fair? Will God love you more if you do lots of good things? RJ Big Question 148

149 WILL MY MUSLIM FRIEND GO TO HELL? Let s start by looking at what Muslims themselves think: one of Islam s six articles of faith states that Muslims believe in the Day of judgement when everyone s deeds will be weighed on scales, deciding their fate: Then those whose scales are heavy [with good deeds] - it is they who are the successful. But those whose scales are light are the ones who have lost their souls. In hell, will they abide Q23:102-3 (English translation of the Qur an). Even if the good things a Muslim has done outweigh the bad, they still can t be 100 per cent sure of avoiding hell because they believe Allah has the final say and can decide against the balance of the scales: [Allah] forgives whom He wills, and He punishes whom He wills Q5.18. The Christian understanding of judgement is that only perfect people will avoid hell - it doesn t matter how many good things outweigh bad - however, it also recognises that no such person exists. The Bible says that everyone has messed up and is destined for destruction, but it speaks of a way out through Jesus. When we break stuff there are consequences. If I borrow my sister s shoes and ruin them, she has two options: to make me pay for a new pair (fair enough) or to forgive me. If she chooses to forgive, she takes on the cost of new shoes, paying from her own pocket. Likewise, when God forgives us for messing up, there is a cost that needs to be paid - something is still broken. Christians believe that one of the things that happened at the cross is that Jesus paid the cost that we should have paid and, in return, we are given eternal life (slightly better than new Jimmy Big Question 149

150 Choos!). Muslims believe Jesus was an important prophet but that he did not die and was not God. Central to the Christian faith is the belief that Jesus - fully God and fully man - died on the cross to pay for our mess and ensure we receive eternal life. We can be 100 per cent sure of avoiding hell. Some Christians would argue that because a Muslim hasn t accepted Jesus sacrifice, they cannot be sure of avoiding hell. While the Bible is clear that Jesus is the only way to eternal life, we must also factor in God s grace. Grace is getting something we don t deserve. If my sister forgives me for the shoes and buys me a new pair as well as replacing her own, that s grace. God, in choosing to forgive and pay the cost for our mistakes, demonstrates incredible grace. God s grace extends much further than we can imagine - there may well be many surprises in heaven! Questions to ask: Do you believe in hell? Why? Why not? Do you think your actions affect your eternal destiny? Does the idea of hell fit with a loving god? Further reading: Seeking Allah, fi nding Jesus by Nabeel Qureshi. RJ Big Question 150

151 IF THE BIBLE IS TRUE, WHAT ABOUT DINOSAURS? Some Christians think that the Earth isn t old enough to support the existence of dinosaurs. Using various Biblical family trees, they trace the start of the world to around 6,000-12,000 years ago. Dinosaur fossils however suggest they existed billions of years ago, making the world and its inhabitants much older. Christians who believe in this young Earth may either argue that dinosaurs never existed or that they existed more recently and the dating of fossils is unreliable. Many Christians however think the Bible can support an older Earth. Perhaps the ancient system of charting generations was different from today or maybe they only included significant families or individuals rather than complete family What about dinosaurs? trees. If so, there s no issue with dinosaurs existing billions of years ago. There are many other things the Bible doesn t mention - particularly in the creation accounts - that doesn t mean they didn t exist. Their exclusion may also prove that dinosaurs and animals never co-existed. Some think there are references to dinosaurs in the Bible, particularly in Job, (consided the oldest book in the Bible) which mentions a fearsome Leviathan in chapter 41 and a Behemoth in chapter 40 (whose tail looks similar to a brontosaurus or brachiosaurus). Some Christians believe the world was created in seven literal days. According to Genesis, the first book of the Bible, God made animals and humans on the same day. This doesn t allow Big Question 151

152 for the 60 million year gap between dinosaurs and humans that palaeontologists (fossil experts) generally think occurred after dinosaurs became extinct. Christians who read Genesis in a more literal way might argue that dinosaurs never existed or maybe they simply existed at the same time as people. They might point to cave drawings of dinosaurs, which may imply that humans lived alongside them in order to be able to draw them. There are many Christians who don t think biblical creation accounts need to be read literally. They would look at their genre (type of writing) and argue that these parts of Genesis weren t meant to be read as historical documents or scientific textbooks but are a poetic celebration of God s handiwork in creation. Some Christians view the seven days in the creation accounts as seven periods of time, which could still allow for dinosaurs being created way before humans. There are also Christians who think the order of creation follows the order of evolution and therefore think Godcentred evolution is compatible with the Bible. Questions to ask: What s your favourite dinosaur? Do you think God created the world? How do you think humanity came about? Big Question 152

153 READY TO USE MOVIE A selection of movies to use with children and young people. For more, visit youthandchildrens.work/resources/movie Ready to use movie 153

154 HUNT FOR THE WILDERPEOPLE Clip: The clip starts at 15:00 and lasts until 20:28. Rating: 12A Session suitable for: 13+ Synopsis Ricky Baker, a juvenile delinquent who was abandoned by his mother, is taken to live in a remote farm with foster mother Bella and her husband, the cantankerous Hec. When Bella suddenly passes away and Hec tells Ricky that child services will take him back, Ricky ineptly fakes his suicide by burning a barn and runs away into the bush, where he is completely unable to cope and gets lost. Hec finds him easily but injures his leg in a fall, forcing the two to camp for a while. The authorities meanwhile find the house empty and the barn burnt down, and conclude that the bereaved and mentally unstable Hec has abducted Ricky. A national manhunt ensues, and the two slowly bond while working together to escape arrest. Essentially a coming-of-age-story crossed with a buddy movie, set in New Zealand, this is not the sort of film that immediately jumps off the shelf, but it s a quite fabulous piece of cinema. Hunt for the wilderpeople is also fearless when it comes to tackling tough issues from a comedic perspective, so whether it s Ricky adapting to a new foster family, grieving the death of Bella or trying to survive in the bush, everything is done with a sense of fun and wonder. This clip takes place early in the film. After a few nights staying Ready to use movie 154

155 with Bella, this clip sees Ricky receiving emotional support for the first time in his life. However, Bella dies leaving Ricky and Hec bereaved. A funeral then sees an unconventional sermon delivered by the minister. Discuss At the start of the clip, how would you describe the relationship between Ricky and Bella? Can you plot the different emotions felt by Ricky in the clip? What are your thoughts on the minister s sermon during the funeral? Did his message make sense? Is there a correct way to respond to bereavement? Read Psalm 34 together. (It would be worth reading about the context and background of this passage before presenting it, in particular 1 Samuel 21:10 15.) After reading the passage, explore the following questions: What benefits are mentioned in verses 1 to 10 that come to those who seek God s help? Is it right to fear God? What do you think the meaning of verse 8 is? If being righteous doesn t guarantee a pain-free life, what assurances of comfort do Christians have in times of trouble? TW Ready to use movie 155

156 FINDING DORY Clip: The clip starts at 1:02:17 and lasts until 1:10:37. Synopsis The sequel to Finding Nemo, Finding Dory focuses on Dory, a blue tang fish who suffers from memory loss. The one thing she can remember is that she somehow became separated from her parents as a child. With help from Nemo and Marlin, Dory embarks on an adventure to find them. Her journey brings her to the Marine Life Institute, a conservatory which houses diverse ocean species. Once there, Dory discovers that her family reunion will only happen if she can save her Mum and Dad from captivity. Pixar don t really make average films (I know, except Cars!) so it s a pretty safe bet that when a Pixar film comes out it s going to be fun for everyone of all ages and have some deep content that is perfect for discussion and exploration. Finding Dory explores the challenges and joys of raising, living with, or being someone with special needs. A reoccurring theme is that it s possible to have a world where we care for one another. Dory herself is a unique main character in film - she has a condition that makes her different to other characters, but she is front and centre and not just a comedy sidekick. Dory begins to learn that her perspective on life makes the world a better place for everyone. At one point Marlin says to Dory: You ve shown me how to do stuff I never dreamed of doing, crazy things you made all that happen. Slowly, a mantra of what would Dory do? begins to shine through Ready to use movie 156

157 in the film. As someone who purchased a WWJD band in his younger years at a Christian festival, it s an inspirational message. In this clip, Dory is finally reunited with her parents. After searching for most of the film, Dory finally finds them, after seeing shells that her parents had left out to guide her home. Once reunited, she discovers that they ve been waiting for her ever since she got lost. Younger group: Was the clip a happy or sad one? Why? 9-to-12-year-olds: What themes were covered in the clip? What sort of emotional journey did Dory go on? 12+: Is your youth group an inclusive one for all young people to be part of? How could it be better? Any: What is it about Dory that makes her such an appealing character? Read Luke 15:11-32 and discuss: Younger group: Can you think of a time that you waited for a long time for something? What happened? How did you feel when you got what you d been waiting for? 9-to-12-year-olds: How do you think the father felt when he saw his son return home? Why? 12+: What do you think the meaning of the parable is? Any: How can we use this parable in our relationship with God? TW Ready to use movie 157

158 IT S A WONDERFUL LIFE Clip: The clip starts at 1:27:03 and lasts until 1:39:09. Synopsis George Bailey has spent his entire life giving himself to the people of Bedford Falls. He has always longed to travel but never had the opportunity, instead staying in order to prevent rich mean Mr Potter from taking over the entire town. All that prevents Potter from doing so is George s modest building and loan company, which was founded by his generous father. But on Christmas Eve, George s Uncle Billy loses the business $8,000 while intending to deposit it in the bank. Potter finds the misplaced money and hides it. George realises that when the bank discovers the shortage he will be held responsible and sent to jail and the company will collapse, finally allowing Potter to take over the town. Thinking that his wife, their young children, and others will be better off with him dead, he contemplates suicide. But the prayers of his loved ones result in an angel named Clarence coming to earth to help George. Christmas is the perfect time to pull out the greatest Christmas film of all time (no debate). With the film celebrating its 70th (!) anniversary this year it s the perfect time to show your young people that films in black and white can be magical and that everyone has the opportunity to change. By the end of the film, the philosophical question of whether a life that is morally good can also make you happy is answered positively. George Bailey achieves the life he craves by sacrificing his own plans and ambitions for the sake of his family and the poorer members of his community. What s good about the morally good life is the way it connects you to people. Ready to use movie 158

159 In this clip, George Bailey s world crumbles around him on Christmas Eve. He considers suicide as his only option. It s a far cry from the town hero George has been until this point, and it shows how one man s greed can have a negative impact on others. He finds himself praying to God to ask for guidance. (If you re worried the clip ends on a bit depressing note, skip to 2:01:34 and play the clip to the end of the film.) Discuss: Do you think George Bailey s kindness has been his downfall - can we sometimes be too generous? How do George Bailey and Mr Potter s worldviews differ in this clip? Have you ever prayed for guidance when feeling defeated and lost? Did anything happen? What do you think really makes people happy at Christmas? Read Matthew 6:19-24 and discuss: Does this mean we shouldn t have any possessions at all? Why? Can you think of a time where you have been materialistic? Is that a bad thing? If we were to apply these verses to our lives this Christmas, how might our lives and those around us be different? Do you agree with the idea of not being able to serve two masters in verse 24? Why? It s a Wonderful Life is a truly magical film. Last year I showed it to a difficult group of young people with great trepidation, but it managed to hold their attention for the whole film - and that may well be the power of Christmas! Ready to use movie 159

160 INSIDE OUT Clip: The clip starts at 26:48 minutes and lasts until 32:22 minutes. Growing up can be a bumpy road, and it s no exception for Riley, who is uprooted from her Midwestern life when her father starts a new job in San Francisco. Like all of us, Riley is guided by her emotions - Joy, Fear, Anger, Disgust and Sadness. The emotions live in headquarters, the control centre inside Riley s mind, where they help advise her through everyday life. As Riley and her emotions struggle to adjust to a new life in San Francisco, turmoil ensues in headquarters. Although Joy, Riley s main and most important emotion, tries to keep things positive, the emotions conflict on how best to navigate a new city, house and school. Set inside the head of Riley, Inside Out explores the developing emotions of a young girl. The main characters are Riley s emotions. All of them work in perfect harmony at the beginning of the film, but when Riley s parents decide to move and Riley is suddenly without the security of her friends and home, Joy is suddenly overrun by the others. After a desperate bid to stop the changes, Joy and Sadness are lost in Riley s head as the other emotions take charge. The film follows Joy and Sadness journey back towards the control centre of Riley, as well as demonstrating the importance of acknowledging all of our feelings. In this clip, Riley is having dinner with her parents. With Joy and Sadness gone, Jealousy, Fear and Anger are left in charge. Rather than embracing their own emotions, they decide to try and act like Ready to use movie 160

161 Joy. What follows is both amusing and poignant as Riley struggles to understand what is going on inside her. An amusing side plot in this clip is seeing inside Riley s parents heads and their emotional reaction. After showing the clip, break into small groups and discuss: Is anger only a bad emotion? Do you ever feel like you have different emotions fighting to be in charge? Which ones do you let win most often? Do you think it s true that teenagers have more trouble understanding their emotions? Have you ever had an experience where you ve felt one emotion dominate for a long time? How did you allow other emotions back in? Read Ephesians 4:25-32 and discuss: What does this passage imply about anger? What do you think are the key qualities we should be striving towards, according to the passage? Is this passage setting unrealistic expectations for Christians? What could verse 32 look like practically? Inside Out is a superb film that deserves to be seen by anyone. If you have an opportunity, why not watch the whole film together? Ready to use movie 161

162 FROZEN The clip starts at 53:54 and lasts until 58:44 Disney princesses are usually romantic fodder for Prince Charming to sweep off their feet - but not Anna. Anna is a princess, but also a fearless optimist, and when her soon to be coronated sister Elsa inadvertently traps the kingdom of Arendelle in an eternal winter, she sets off to rescue her. Putting aside her love at first sight meeting with Prince Hans, she joins up with mountain man Kristoff, his loyal reindeer Sven, and talking snowman Olaf to battle against the elements and save her sister. Frozen arrived without much fanfare, with most assuming it would be another Disney CGI film that would fail to recapture the magic of 2D, drawn Disney; how wrong they were. Frozen is now the most successful animated film of all time, having toppled the mighty Toy Story 3 from its perch. Whilst perhaps not quite as good as the Pixar classic, Frozen has certainly captivated the public s imagination and with an Oscar for best animated film and best song, it doesn t appear to be going anywhere soon. No doubt you ve already organised an evening of watching and (shudder) singing along to the (admittedly catchy) tunes, but Frozen also has a lot to offer in the form of discussion starters and prompts for further reflection. The clip that we are looking at in this session takes place at the mid-point of the film. Anna has battled her way to Elsa and attempts to persuade her to return home, while at the same time trying to remove the winter that has beset Arendelle. Anna is Ready to use movie 162

163 surprised when Elsa is not willing to be saved, and after their argument turns heated, Anna is struck and her life put at risk. After showing the clip as a stimulus, break into groups and explore the following questions: Are you an optimist or a pessimist - what are the positives and negatives of being one or the other? Is it right to try and save people - or should we let them find their own way? What things do you love in your life - and why? Do you think that Disney films give people unrealistic expectations of love? After discussing the first set of questions, read through John 15:9-17 together (you may wish to give some context to this passage) and return to your groups to discuss these questions: How does this idea of love differ to the Disney version of love in their films? How could someone live out the commandment put forward here in their life? What do you think that verse 13 is referring to? Are we meant to apply this love to everyone - or are there exceptions? Ready to use movie 163

164 READY TO USE MUSIC A selection of different songs and albums to use with children and young people. For more, visit youthandchildrens.work/resources/music Ready to use music 164

165 PURPOSE Artist: Justin Bieber (2015, Island Records) Synopsis An autobiographical album from the former child star whose public fall from grace is well documented. This album speaks of remorse and a renewed sense of purpose. Introduction Many of the tracks included on this album tell a story of reaching a low point, seeking forgiveness and a sense of starting again. You could use each of the four tracks below, as you explore these themes in parallel with the story of Zacchaeus, or simply focus on one or two key elements. The session As your young people arrive, set the scene by displaying headlines, newspaper cuttings and other images of Justin Bieber taken from the last few years. This is not to encourage a sense of gossiping, but rather to set the scene and demonstrate how Zacchaeus, and his story, would have been as well known in his local area as the singer s story is to us today. Track 2: I ll show you Talk about how it might feel to live your life in the public eye. Explain that although none of us are known in such a public way, we, just like Ready to use music 165

166 Beiber and Zacchaeus, are all judged by those around us for the things we do and say. Some of us may wish we hadn t said or done particular things, andwould very much like to go back and start again. It may be helpful to think about that through the course of this session. Read the story of Zacchaeus together (Luke 19:1-10) and explain how Zacchaeus had become a much-hated figure who was given the chance to start again. Track 13: Purpose Ask your young people how they think Zacchaeus may have felt when he encountered Jesus. What was it about this encounter that challenged Zacchaeus? What was it about Jesus that challenged Zacchaeus lifestyle? What gave him a new sense of purpose? How does an encounter with Jesus challenge our own sense of purpose? Track 4: Sorry Remind your group that, in order for it to mean anything, Zacchaeus transformation had to be worked out in practical ways, beginning with a genuine apology for the hurt he had caused to others, and demonstrated through practical actions. Use this as an opportunity to discuss themes relating to forgiveness and any questions that this raises. You may wish to use this time to pray with your young people. Track 10: Life is worth living As you draw to a close, use this track to celebrate the transformation in Zacchaeus life and how we too are offered the same reason for living. As you close the session, challenge your young people to consider how they live this principal out in their daily lives, and pray for the group. Ready to use music 166

167 1989 Album: Taylor Swift // (2014 VIRGIN EMI) Synopsis The first pure-pop album from this artist, with a title that pays tribute to the year of her birth as well as the decade that influenced these tracks. Introduction This session explores the story of the Prodigal Son from the perspective of the minor characters : the father and the older brother. It provides an opportunity for your young people to consider how they might respond to the challenge this offers. The session Begin the session by explaining that we all have different experiences of family, but for each of us our families will encounter good times and difficult times. In this session, we will explore a story about a family that experienced separation and the pain this brought each member. Provide Bibles and ask someone to read Luke 15: Tell your young people that this is a story they may already be familiar with, but that we are going to explore the story from the perspective of the father and the older brother, rather than the central character of the younger son. As they hear the story, what do they notice? Is there anything they can relate to? What surprises them most about the story? Track 5: All you had to do was stay Play the track and ask how the song can help us understand how the older brother may have felt when his sibling returned home. What Ready to use music 167

168 might he have experienced in his brother s absence? Why is he so angry and lacking in understanding at his father s joy? Track 7: I wish you would Introduce this track, explaining how in some ways it gives a glimpse of how the father may have felt while his son was away, waiting and hoping that he would return. How does this contrast with the bitterness of the brother? Why do you think the father threw his arms open to his returning son? Explain to the group that, when Jesus first told this parable, those listening were surprised that the father welcomed home the son who had shamed him and would have understood the feelings of the older brother. But God, our loving father, welcomes all those who come back to him with love and grace, regardless of their past. The challenge for us is to consider whether we act like the brother in the story, resenting God s grace to those we see as living in a way that causes God pain, or whether we can share the love that we have experienced as members of God s family with those who don t yet know how loved they are. As you bring the session to a close, reread the passage to them, pausing to allow your young people to reflect upon the interactions between the father and each of his sons. Pray for your young people that they will find practical opportunities to share God s love with those who are far from him in the week to come. BM Ready to use music 168

169 THIS IS ACTING Artist: Sia Synopsis The latest offering from the highly prolific, yet enigmatic, Australian singer songwriter. Introduction This track echoes the poem of the same name ( Footprints ). This session is designed to move beyond sentimentality to explore what it means to never be left to walk alone. The Session Before the session, set up a sandpit or tarpaulin covered in sand at the entrance of the room, for your young people to walk through as they arrive. By the time you are ready to begin the session, you should have a sandpit full of overlapping footprints, which you can refer to later. Track 9: Footprints Ask your young people whether they have come across the poem before. Are the words something they can relate to? Play the track, providing copies of the lyrics and a copy of the poem and invite them to find similarities and differences between the poem and the song. Say that this poem has been used all over the world on greeting cards, mugs and posters and is held in high regard for the comforting message it holds. The fact that it has been used in many Ready to use music 169

170 songs, including this one, confirms that this message is still one that we like to hear. But do these words really hold any value? What does it mean to walk this Christian lifestyle? How does God carry us? Ask your young people to look up some of the following verses: Deuteronomy 1:31 Isaiah 43:1-4 Isaiah 46:4 Hebrews 13:5 Ask the group to discuss what these verses have to say about the promises God makes to always be with us, and how these relate to the song. Are these verses simply there to make us feel warm inside, or is there something more to these promises? Invite your group to share their own stories about how they have experienced God carrying them through difficult circumstances. Were they aware of God s hand in their life in the midst of difficulty, or was it something they could only see with hindsight? You could also invite one of your leaders to share a relevant testimony. As you draw the session to a close, refer the group back to the sandpit and point out the way that the footprints interlock and overlap. What does this say about the way we live? Remind your group that our journey through life is not a solitary affair; we were not created to be alone. God has put us in community to challenge, support and love one another in both good times and bad. God is always there for us and will never let us down, and we too can hold one another up when we face difficulties. Stand together in the sandpit and pray for one another, specifically for any particular issues raised this session. BM Ready to use music 170

171 CHRISTMAS NUMBER ONES Artist: Various The Christmas number one spot has long been the goal of many a musician, and a great opportunity to unpack what takes the top spot in our own lives. The session Before the session, gather a selection of hit singles that have seized the Christmas top spot. Compilation albums already do this for you, or you may prefer to select some of your own favourites. Play a selection of them, perhaps inviting different leaders to introduce their favourites to the group. Play a game of spot the cliché, challenging the group to see how many of the following (or others they can identify) can be found in each track: Recorded for charity Talent show winner Comeback single Jingle bells featured Full orchestra Various celebrities featured on the track You could have a vote for the group s favourite track and even for the worst Christmas number one ever (the classic Mr Blobby vs Cliff Richard debate). Arrange your young people into smaller groups and provide a selection of costumes, musical instruments and props. Challenge Ready to use music 171

172 them all to create their own most clichéd Christmas song to perform back to the rest of the group. Allow plenty of time for them to create and rehearse their song. If you have more time available, you could challenge them to create a music video which you can record, ready to play back to the whole group. Spend time enjoying the various performances and make it clear that this is just a bit of fun as, so often, is the fight for the Christmas top spot. Ask the group why they think this iconic status matters so much to musicians and the buying public. Why do we care who gets that much-coveted position? Provide Bibles and ask someone to read John 1:1-18. Explain to the group that for us as Christians, Christmas begins with Jesus. This passage in John helps to draw out some important ideas about this. Firstly, that Jesus was there in the beginning - he has the ultimate top spot! But also, Jesus came into the world in such a quiet, unassuming way. The circumstances of his birth are undoubtedly unusual, but there were no great fanfares, no social media campaigns and no big publicity machine! Challenge the group to consider how this contrasts with the singers we have looked at during this session. They arrive in a blaze of publicity and attention, but their fame lasts for a moment, whereas Jesus arrived in the quiet of night, yet people s lives are still transformed by him today. As you draw the session to a close, challenge your young people to take some time to consider what it would mean for them to put Jesus in the top spot, not just this Christmas, but in their whole lives. BM Ready to use music 172

173 YOU RE NOT THERE Band: Lukas Graham Session suitable for: 13+ Introduction This track explores some of the feelings of injustice, pain and emptiness lead singer Lukas Forchhammer has experienced, following the death of his father. This session could be used to talk about issues surrounding grief and bereavement at any time, but may also be helpful in the case of a particular bereavement. The session The circumstances surrounding your group at the time you choose to run this session will affect the way you choose to carry it out, and how you introduce the session. Explain to the group that throughout this session, you are creating a safe space where they can explore some of their feelings and the questions they may have. Track: You re not there Introduce the song, perhaps playing the music video. Invite the group to share their initial thoughts after hearing the song, and discuss any issues raised, as appropriate. Provide Bibles and ask someone to read each of the following passages aloud, perhaps taking turns to volunteer: Psalm 73:26 Psalm 147:3 Matthew 5:4 Romans 8:28 Ready to use music 173

174 Revelation 21:4 As appropriate, invite your group to share their thoughts, discussing any questions. You may find it helpful to use one or more of the following reflective activities to create time and space for the young people to explore grief safely: Invite the group to bring photographs of loved ones who have passed away and create a memory wall, where young people can display their photographs together. Provide tea lights and a safe area where young people can light a candle in memory of their loved one. Set up a graffiti wall, and give total freedom to encourage your young people to write their thoughts, questions and messages to God about their grief and their feelings about their loss. Provide paper and pens and invite the young people to write a letter to their loved one. Provide envelopes for young people to seal their letter privately. Create a prayer tree, where young people can write their prayers on paper leaves, before hanging them on an artificial tree. Throughout the session, ensure that young people are given the opportunity to opt in and out as they wish, and ensure that you follow the lead of the young people. As you draw the session to a close, it may be appropriate to signpost your group to further sources of support, such as a local bereavement counselling service. Pray for your young people, that God would comfort those who mourn. BM Ready to use music 174

175 GET BACK UP AGAIN Band: Anna Kendrick Session suitable for: Under-10s Introduction This song is taken from the hit movie, Trolls. The ever-optimistic Princess Poppy sets out to save her fellow trolls, determined that nothing will knock her down, and she will always get back up again! This session explores what it means for us to be resilient, not in our own strength but because of Jesus. The session Begin the session with a particularly tricky obstacle course, perhaps organised as a team relay; award a prize to the winners. Talk about what happened in the race: the trickiest obstacle, the number of times they had to get back up again, their determination to finish the race, no matter how hard etc. Invite the children to comment on their own experiences. Explain that life is sometimes described as being like a race, or a journey with obstacles along the way. There are always things that are hard to get over or knock us down. The question is what do we do about it? Track: Get back up again Introduce the song and check that the children know the film and the part of the story that this song comes from. You may prefer to show this song as a film clip, as it better demonstrates Ready to use music 175

176 Poppy s eternal optimism, no matter what she faces. Discuss these questions as a group: Why do you think Poppy is always ready to get back up again, no matter what? Are you more like Poppy, or Branch (a more negative character in the film)? An optimist or a pessimist? What sorts of things knock us back? Distribute Bibles and together, look at 2 Corinthians 4, using an age-appropriate translation, such as the CEV or GNB. Explain any aspects that are more difficult to understand, welcoming questions from the children as you do so. Draw attention to verses eight and nine and talk about what it means to be badly hurt at times, but not destroyed (GNB). Explain that Poppy s optimistic attitude appears foolish, bouncing back no matter what, but for us, we have a real and concrete reason to know we can face any difficulty, as described in this passage; we are not relying on our own strength, but on Jesus who can do all things! Ask one of your leaders to share a time when they have been knocked down, but not destroyed, being under pressure because of their faith, as described in the passage, rather than simply going through a rough time. Welcome questions from the children. As you draw the session to a close, pray together for the challenges you all face, that you will have resilience in Christ to get back up again. Ready to use music 176

177 READY TO USE PARABLE Here are a number of modern retellings of biblical parables to use with children and young people. For more, visit youthandchildrens.work/resources/parable Parable 177

178 THE BIKE PROJECT Jack and Jamie were keen volunteers at the bike recycling project. They loved getting an old bike in and giving it a new lease of life. There was nothing better for them than giving a new bike to someone who needed it. As the project grew, more volunteers were recruited. Lucy asked if she could come and help out once a month. Lucy especially loved working on the BMX bikes. Then a few months later lots more people came to help Morgan, James, Kieran, Kelly. They each come for a bit and then get a bit bored. But every week, Jack and Jamie came without fail. At Christmas, it was suggested that an auction would be a good thing to raise the profile of the project. So, the team fixed up ten bikes and auctioned them off at the Christmas fair. Unexpectedly they raised 500. The group were overwhelmed. They agreed together that they would give half the profits to a local children s charity and the other half would be split equally between the group. They counted it out, and everyone got 35. But Jack and Jamie started to grumble: We did so much more work than the others; Lucy only worked on BMXs, and Kieran only came twice. We should get a bigger share of that 250. This was never about the money, said the project worker. You came each week for the love of repairing a clapped-out bike and finding it a new rider. Discussion questions Ask the young people these questions. Try to let the discussion flow Parable 178

179 as much as possible, without interjecting too many of your own ideas. Did Jack and Jamie have a point? Should they have got more of the money? How do you think Kieran is feeling? How would you share the money out in this situation? What would be fair? Did the project worker have a point was it money that got in the way or something else? What is God s idea of being fair? Why is it that sometimes we want to be treated the same as others and sometimes we want to be treated differently? There are parallels between this story and Matthew 20:1 16. You could read this with the young people and start to draw similarities and differences between the two stories. What do the group make of Jesus words? DB Parable 179

180 KIERON AND THE BUSH (MEGA) DEATH Kieron glanced in the mirror. His faded black T-shirt was just the right shade of grey. An angry-looking tattoo peaked out from beneath the sleeve, the skull and serpent just visible on his upper arm. His hair hung long over his shoulders and his beard was coming on impressively. No one would ever know he was only 16. A quick check that the rips in his jeans were in just the right place, and he left the house. As he approached the street where the concert venue was, he could hear the music clearly: the beat of the bass, the crash of the drums, the thrash of the guitar. It was all there. This was going to be a night made in thrash-metal heaven. Or hell, depending on how hard core you wanted to be. The bouncers on the door looked suspiciously at him, but when he produced his ID (name: Elliott Taylor; age: 23) they let him in. He ducked into the toilets, before the bouncers asked for a closer look at his driving licence and almost fell over a figure, slumped against the wash basin. Kieron stopped and stared. The lad was almost his mirror image - same hair, same jeans, same T-shirt - but had a deep cut across his eye and was clutching his side in pain. He d obviously been in a fight. He knew he ought to help, but if he did, he d miss the start of the gig. And if he went back to the bouncers, they might twig how old he was. He stood and dithered. The lad groaned and tried to grasp Kieron s hand. Without a word, Kieron left. Parable 180

181 Discussion questions This is a partial retelling of the parable of the good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37). Young people may have been in similar situations and might be able to identify with Kieron. Use the following questions to help young people explore this further: What do you think of Kieron s actions in not helping? What about his reasons? Introduce the idea of loving your neighbour as you love yourself. Who was Kieron s neighbour in the story? What kind of person might have helped the lad in the toilets? If you were in Kieron s situation, what would you have done? What might stop you from helping? Who are your neighbours? Do you help them when they need it? Or, like Kieron, do you leave them to it? AT Parable 181

182 THE TEN CHEERLEADERS The kingdom is like ten cheerleaders, who took their pom poms and went to support their marathon runner. They took up their position and started cheering. Five of the cheerleaders were disorganised and brought nothing to drink for the event, and the other five took some bottles of water. When the runner was delayed the cheerleaders started to get thirsty so stopped cheering so loudly. After a while the crowd got excited and the cheerleaders knew the athletes were nearby. Share your water with us so we can all keep on cheering, said the disorganised cheerleaders to the others. But the others said: No, we need this water so that we can keeping going, go and find some of your own. While the disorganised cheerleaders went off looking for water, the runner approached. The prepared cheerleaders shook their pom poms and cheered the runner on, all the way over the finish line. The runner was so pleased with those who had cheered that they were invited to the after race party. The five disorganised cheerleaders tried to go along too, but the marathon runner said them: You were no use, you didn t cheer for me when it counted, so you don t get to join in the celebrations now! Discussion questions This is a retelling of Matthew 25:1-13, the parable of the ten virgins. Here, young people might be able to identify with cheering on and supporting their friends. Use the following questions to help young people and children explore the story further: Which kind of cheerleader might you be? Parable 182

183 Who are you cheering? What does this story tell you about God s kingdom? The cheerleaders in the story were distracted; what distracts you from things you need to focus on? Should the cheerleaders with water have shared the water they had? What might the water in the story represent? The marathon runner didn t let some of the cheerleaders into the party, was that fair? DB Parable 183

184 THE PERFECT LIFE Rachel and Erin both loved spending time putting together photos for Instagram and Snapchatting their friends. They had a bit of a competition going to see who could get the longest streak and the most followers. Erin quickly built up loads of followers; the things she was posting looked amazing! She always seemed to be going to interesting places and doing exciting things; everything about her posts was picture perfect. Rachel s profile grew much more slowly. She wasn t able to post as regularly and she often wondered where Erin found the time to visit all those beautiful places while her own time was taken up with the routines of school, friends and family. As the school year drew to a close and the pressure of completing UCAS applications and studying for exams built up, both girls were feeling out of their depth. Rachel found herself really looking forward to an evening with her friends. They weren t planning to do anything special, just watch a DVD and talk. She knew these girls so well she wasn t even going to put makeup on - who needs another Instagram to prove where they ve been? Erin was finding life tougher. She wasn t sure how she could find the time to keep her profile looking good and keep up with everything else that was going on. If only she could really live in the world her photos showed. This is a retelling of Matthew 7:24-27: the wise and the foolish builders. While building your own house might be something that very few people do, we all construct an online identity and young people will be able to identify with this. Parable 184

185 Here are some questions you might like to explore with your young people: How do you select a photo to go online / share? Do you use the first photo that you take? Do you apply filters to your photos and how do you choose those filters? Is the person you create online the true you? Maybe you can say things online that you can t say face to face, so is your online profile the truest you? If someone you had never met had to describe you from your online comments and pictures, what would they say? What would God say? If Jesus created a Facebook account and asked you to keep it updated what would you post for him? DB Parable 185

186 THE BIN FIRE THAT WOULDN T GO OUT Moe was drifting through town, looking for something to do. Unexpectedly, he found himself in a part of town he had never been to before. There, at the end of a shady alleyway, on the edge of an empty park, he found a bin fire, engulfed in wild flames and thick smoke. The flames shot up high, litter spat into the air, and there was a stench of burning plastic. As he watched, Moe noticed that the bin didn t burn, and that the fire didn t affect it. This is weird, thought Moe, why doesn t this bin burn up? So he went over to look inside, and a voice called out to him: Moe! Moe! A bit confused, Moe mumbled something back. Don t come any closer, said the voice, pull down your hood and take off your bag - you re on my turf. Feeling spooked, Moe jumped back and covered his face. Embarrassed by his own surprise, he looked around to see if anyone was watching, then put down his bag and pulled back his hood. The voice in the fire continued: I have seen the unhappiness and boredom of my people on this estate. I have heard them moaning about their home. Their complaint has reached me, and I have seen how they are treated. I am worried that they are all asleep. So I am here to wake you up, to give you a fire that burns for change. So go! Get on your bike! I am sending you to spark life into the estate! Getting angry, maybe even a bit scared; Moe yelled, Who the hell are you? Where are you hiding? I am the fire that never goes out, replied the voice, I have always burned, and I will always burn. I am the fire of your family. The fire that has burned for your Parable 186

187 parents and grandparents; aunts and uncles; brothers and sisters. And I burn for you. What do you want with me? What can I do? Moe shouted back. Gather your friends - tell them that the fire that never goes out has sent you to spark life into the estate. They will listen to you. Work with them to put an end to your boredom and unhappiness, to change the way you are treated. Sensing the importance of the moment, Moe calmed himself, and asked carefully: What if they call me a liar or tell me I m imagining it? Show me what is in your pocket, demanded the fire. So Moe pulled out his lighter. Throw it on the ground, said the fire. As Moe threw the lighter to the ground, a great flame erupted from it, scorching the grass and surrounding bushes. In this lighter, said the fire, is all my power. Take it with you to remind you of what I can do. But Moe protested, Can t you send someone else? Anyone is better than me! The fire in the bin raged. I am sending you! And I will burn for you - so go now! Moe reluctantly put his lighter back in his pocket, picked up his bag, and returned home without looking back. Discussion questions: How does God get your attention? How does God direct you to your calling? What spark has God asked you to take and where will you take it? What do you think Moe did next? DB Parable 187

188 BACK OF THE BUS It was the end of term and for all the students hard work, the school had decided to run a trip to the local theme park. Everyone was going; well, almost everyone. Jasmine and Charlie were in the same tutor group, but not really friends. Jasmine s parents couldn t afford the ticket and said she d have to pay for the trip herself. Jasmine was part of the popular group and so asked her friends if they could lend her the money. But they all wanted to keep hold of their cash, as there would be lots of food, drink and other things to buy there. Even Beth, her best friend, refused to give her anything. Jasmine was pretty annoyed with her friends, but hid it well. Charlie had overheard what was going on and had just enough money from washing his aunt s car at the weekend for a second ticket. He saw Jasmine on the way to class and offered to lend her the money. She thanked him and ran off to tell her friends that she was going after all. When the day came, the coach pulled up and everyone piled on. Everyone knew that the back of the bus would be where Jasmine and her group would sit. Sure enough, Jasmine took the seat right in the middle and her friends piled in around her. Charlie was one of the last to get on and there weren t many seats left. He went to sit down somewhere near the front; he didn t mind - he d probably just play a few games on his phone and chat to whoever was around him. Jasmine saw him looking for a seat and shouted for him to come to the back and sit with them. Then she turned to Beth and said: You re in the wrong seat. This is Charlie s seat. Beth stood up and didn t know what to do. Charlie came to the back and sat down next Parable 188

189 to Jasmine. Beth slowly walked down the bus and ended up having to sit next to a teacher. Discussion questions Ask the young people these questions. Try to let the discussion flow as much as possible, without interjecting too many of your own ideas. Which character might represent God in this story and who do you identify with? What do you do to try and impress people? Society seems to be made up of different groups; some are considered cooler than others. What do you need to do, wear or have to be part of the cool group? What does it mean to be humble? Who was humble in this story? Why does God see being humble as a good thing? This parable is a retelling of Luke 14:7-14. For this tale and more like it, go to talesretold.org. DB Parable 189

190 READY TO USE STORIES Here are some stories from veteran story teller Bob Hartman for you to tell at home or with a group of children. For more, visit youthandchildrens.work/faith-at-home Stories 190

191 NAAMAN S INCREDIBLE ADVENTURE Here is a story for you to tell at home, perhaps at bedtime or as part of a God-time during your day. Enjoy doing the actions and sound effects together. You could also use this story in a children s session, perhaps splitting the children into two groups: one doing the strong actions and one the weak. Naaman was powerful. (Make a strong man action and roar.) He was commander of the army of Syria, a brave and victorious soldier. And his life would have been perfect, apart from one thing. He had a disease called leprosy. It made his skin rough and sore. And it made him unhappy. Naaman had a slave girl. She had no power, at all. (Hang your heads and sigh.) She was stolen from her family during one of Naaman s raids into Israel. We don t even know her name, but one day she spoke to Naaman s wife: If my master could go to the prophet in Israel, he would surely be able to heal him of his leprosy. When Naaman heard, he went to see the king of Syria. A man who was more powerful than Naaman. (Make another strong man action and roar.) The king did not want Naaman to be sick and unhappy. And when he heard about the prophet, he sent Naaman to the king of Israel, with 30,000 pieces of silver, 6,000 pieces of gold, and ten changes of the finest clothing. Oh, and a letter that said the following: I am sending my servant, Naaman, to you. I want you to Stories 191

192 cure him of his leprosy. The king of Israel was actually quite weak. (Hang your heads again and sigh.) The army of Syria had beaten him in battle, time and again. And when he received the letter from the Syrian king, he trembled with fear and tore his clothes. It s a trap! he cried. Am I God? Can I heal a man of leprosy? Of course not. The king of Syria has only set me this task because he knows I will fail. And when I do, it will give him yet another excuse to invade! The prophet, Elisha, had no power of his own. But he served a God who was more powerful than any man. (Make a strong man action and roar.) When he heard what happened, he told the king of Israel to send Naaman to him. There s no need to be upset, he assured the king. I will show him that, in Israel, there truly lives one of God s prophets. And so Naaman came to the house of Elisha. He was in his chariot. His wagons were loaded with gold and silver and fine clothes. But, before him, in front of the prophet s house, stood only Elisha s humble messenger. (Hang your heads and sigh.) Wash yourself seven times, in the Jordan river, the messenger told Naaman, and you will be healed. Then he turned and walked away. Naaman was furious! (Make a strong man action and roar.) What is the meaning of this? he shouted at his men and at his servants and at the air. I come all this way to be greeted by a lowly messenger? I thought that the prophet himself would come out to greet me. And that he would wave his hand or something, and I would be healed. But now he wants me to bathe in a river. And not even a beautiful river like the Pharpar or the Abana, back home in Stories 192

193 Damascus. No, he wants me to wash myself in some filthy Israelite stream! Then he stamped away in a huff. Naaman s servants didn t have any power at all. (Hang your heads and sigh.) But they went after him, anyway. Master! they said. The prophet s offer is amazing. If all you have to do is to wash yourself in a river, then why not, at least, give it a go? So Naaman did. He washed himself in the River Jordan. Seven times he went down. And when he came up that seventh time, his leprosy was gone, replaced by skin as fresh as a child s. So Naaman returned to Elisha s house. And, this time, the prophet came out to meet him. I am so thankful for what your God has done for me, said Naaman. Here are 30,000 pieces of silver, 6,000 pieces of gold, and ten changes of the finest clothing. Please accept them, with my thanks. Elisha knew that he hadn t healed Naaman by his own power. (Make a strong man action and roar.) It was God who had done it. So he told Naaman: Thank you. But no. Then let me show my gratitude, in another way, Naaman insisted. Allow me to take two mule-loads of dirt from this place. I will carry it home, and spread it on the ground, and worship your God upon it. And that is how the powerful soldier (make a strong man action and roar) who was made weak by disease (hang your heads and sigh) gave thanks to God, who was way more powerful still. (Make a strong man action and roar.) BH Stories 193

194 JESUS CALLS HIS DISCIPLES Here is a story for you to tell at home, perhaps at bedtime or as part of a God-time during your day. Try to teach the actions ahead of time. It is fun to see if the children can guess the story based on the actions, and it rehearses the story before you tell it. You could also use this story during a children s session, using the actions as they are written here, with everyone sitting down, or making the actions bigger, standing and / or walking around the room as you do them. Jesus was walking along the shore, Jesus was walking along the shore, Jesus was walking along the shore, Of the Sea of Galilee, (make wavy motion with hands.) Of the Sea of Galilee, (make wavy motion with hands.) Of the Sea of Galilee. (Make wavy motion with hands.) Peter and Andrew were standing there, Peter and Andrew were standing there, Peter and Andrew were standing there, Casting their nets in the sea, (pretend to throw fishing nets.) Casting their nets in the sea, (pretend to throw fishing nets.) Casting their nets in the sea. (Pretend to throw fishing nets.) Jesus said: I ve got a job for you. Jesus said: I ve got a job for you. Jesus said: I ve got a job for you. So come and follow me. (Point to yourself.) So come and follow me. (Point to yourself.) Stories 194

195 So come and follow me. (Point to yourself.) You ll be casting your nets for people. You ll be casting your nets for people. You ll be casting your nets for people. And fishers of men you will be. (Repeat net-throwing motion.) And fishers of men you will be. (Repeat net-throwing motion.) And fishers of men you will be. (Repeat net-throwing motion.) So Peter and Andrew followed him, So Peter and Andrew followed him, So Peter and Andrew followed him, Along the shore of the sea, (repeat wavy-arm motion.) Along the shore of the sea, (repeat wavy-arm motion.) Along the shore of the sea. (Repeat wavy-arm motion.) That s when they bumped into James and John, That s when they bumped into James and John, That s when they bumped into James and John, And their father, Zebedee, (point finger in air and say: that s me! in an old man s voice.) And their father, Zebedee, (point finger in air and say: that s me! in an old man s voice.) And their father, Zebedee. (Point finger in air and say: that s me! in an old man s voice.) They were mending the holes in their fishing nets, They were mending the holes in their fishing nets, They were mending the holes in their fishing nest, So the fish couldn t squeeze out and flee, ( flap your fins and shout: Wee-hee! ) So the fish couldn t squeeze out and flee, ( flap your fins and shout: Wee-hee! ) Stories 195

196 So the fish couldn t squeeze out and flee. (Flap your fins and shout: Wee-hee! ) But Jesus had different plans for them, But Jesus had different plans for them, But Jesus had different plans for them, And he said: Come and follow me. (Point to yourself.) And he said: Come and follow me. (Point to yourself.) And he said: Come and follow me. (Point to yourself.) So they followed Jesus and left their nets, So they followed Jesus and left their nets, So they followed Jesus and left their nets, And their father, Zebedee, (point finger in air and say: That s me! in an old man s voice.) And their father, Zebedee, (point finger in air and say: That s me! in an old man s voice.) And their father, Zebedee. (Point finger in air and say: That s me! in an old man s voice.) BH Stories 196

197 ELIJAH MEETS WITH GOD Here is a story for you to tell at home, perhaps at bedtime or part of a God-time during your day. Enjoy pulling the different faces and making the sound effects together. You could also use this story during a children s session, using the actions as they are written here, with everyone sitting down, or making the actions bigger, standing and / or walking around the room as you do them. King Ahab was angry with Elijah the prophet. (Make an angry face and growl.) And his wife, Queen Jezebel, was angrier still, (make an even angrier face and growl even louder) for he had defeated the prophets of her false god, Baal. So she sent a message to Elijah: You killed my prophets, and now I intend to do the same to you. Elijah was terrified! (Make a frightened face and scream.) He ran for his life to a place called Beersheba, where he left his servant, and then carried on, alone, a day s journey into the wilderness. By then, he was exhausted (wipe your forehead and sigh a deep, exhausted sigh) so he collapsed in the shade of a broom tree. Kill me now, Lord, he prayed. For I m going to die, anyway, like so many prophets before me. Then Elijah fell asleep. (Make a snoring sound.) And, while he slept, an angel appeared and baked him a cake and fetched him a jug of water. (Do your best Mary Berry and pretend to mix a cake in a bowl.) Dinner time! said the angel, and tapped him on the shoulder. (Say: Dinner time! and tap each other on the shoulder.) Elijah woke up and ate the cake and drank the water, then fell right back to sleep again. So the angel tapped him again. (Repeat the previous action and Stories 197

198 words.) Wake up! Eat! You ll need all your strength for the journey ahead! So Elijah woke up and ate. And set off for Horeb, the mountain of God. That must have been one amazing angel food cake (rub your tummy and go: Mmmmm! ) because with the energy he got from that cake, Elijah walked for 40 days and 40 nights! Finally, Elijah came to Horeb and spent the night in a cave, on the side of the mountain. (Flap your wings and make a bat sound: Eeee eeeee.) Then the word of the Lord came to him and said: What are you doing here, Elijah? I have tried very hard to serve you, Lord, Elijah said. I really have. But your people have turned away from you, and torn down your altars, and killed your prophets. And now I m the only one left, and they want to kill me, too! Stand on the side of the mountain, said the Lord, and I will come to you. At first there was a mighty wind. (Wave your arms and make a big blowy noise.) It split mountains and busted boulders into bits. But the Lord was not in the wind. Then there was an earthquake. (Shake your bodies and make a big rumbling sound.) But the Lord was not in the earthquake. Then there was a fire. (Make a whooshing sound.) But the Lord was not in the fire. Then everything went quiet. (See how quiet everyone can get.) So Elijah wrapped his cloak around his face, and stood at the entrance of the cave, ready to meet the Lord. The voice came again: What are you doing here, Elijah? And, again, Elijah replied: I have tried very hard to serve you, Lord, I really have. But your people have turned away from you, and torn down your altars, and killed your prophets. And now I m the Stories 198

199 only one left, and they want to kill me, too! You re not the only one left, Elijah, said the Lord. There are 700 other people in Israel who are faithful to me too. So have courage. Find Jehu. Anoint him as king, to replace evil Ahab. Now, go! (Point your finger and say: Go! ) So Elijah went. And, encouraged by the Lord s quiet, confident voice, did what he told him to do. BH Stories 199

200 THE WOMAN AND THE GIRL Here is a story for you to tell at home, perhaps at bedtime or as part of a God-time during your day. Enjoy pulling the different faces and making the sound effects together. You could also use this story during a children s session, using the actions as they are written here, with everyone sitting down, or making the actions bigger, standing and / or walking around the room as you do them. There was a woman. A woman who was ill. (Have everyone hold their stomach and groan.) A woman who was very ill. (Groan louder.) A woman who had been ill for twelve long years. (Groan longer and louder.) A woman who had spent all her money on doctors, and still had not been healed. (Groan louder still.) There was a crowd. (Have everyone make a murmuring crowd noise.) A big crowd. (Make a louder crowd noise.) A crowd that filled the whole of the street. (Make an even louder crowd noise.) And in the middle of that crowd walked Jesus. Beside him there walked a man. An important man. A man named Jairus. A man whose daughter was also very ill. (Groan.) And so, the woman who was ill (groan) pushed her way through the crowd (crowd noise) towards Jesus. And, reaching out her hand, she touched the fringe of the robe that Stories 200

201 Jesus was wearing. And as soon as she did, she knew it. She was healed! (Shout, hooray! ) Jesus turned to the crowd. (Crowd noise.) Who touched me? he asked. Peter, one of his disciples, grinned. We re in the middle of a crowd, he said. (Crowd noise.) Everybody is touching you! No, this was different, said Jesus. I felt the power going out of me. And that s when the woman who had been ill, (groan) the woman who had been very ill, ( louder groan) the woman who had been ill for twelve long years, (even longer, louder groan) the woman who had spent all her money on doctors and still had not been healed ( loudest groan) fell to her knees before him. It was me, she said. I touched you, and now I m healed. (Shout, hooray! ) And when Jesus heard her story, he smiled and said: You trusted me. That s what s important. Now go in peace. And as soon as he d said it, someone else pushed through the crowd. He had a message for the man. The important man. The man called Jairus. The man who s 12-year-old daughter was also very ill. (Groan.) I m sorry, Jairus, he said. Your daughter is dead. Jesus turned to Jairus. Don t worry. he said. Trust me, he said. And all will be well. So, just like the woman, Jairus trusted Jesus. Stories 201

202 And they went to Jairus house. And Jesus took the girl s hand. And he whispered in her ear and told her to get up. And she did! (Shout, hooray! ) And that is how the twelve-year-old girl who was so ill she died, (groan.) and the woman who had been ill for twelve long years, (groan.) were both made well on the very same day. (Shout, hooray! ) BH Stories 202

203 PLAYALONG CREATION Here is a story for you to tell at home, perhaps at bedtime or as part of a Godtime during your day. Enjoy pulling the different faces and making the sound effects together. You could also use this story during a children s session, using the actions as they are written here, with everyone sitting down, or making the actions bigger, standing and / or walking around the room as you do them. There is an action at the end of most of the lines. Read the line, then tell your child or children what action they should do or noise they should make. Then do it with them. Playfully, of course! Everything was dark, at first. (Put your hands over your eyes. Shut them tight!) You couldn t see a thing. Then God said: Light! (Say: Light! ) And it wasn t dark anymore, it was bright! (Open your eyes!) Then God separated the dark from the light. He called the light day (Shout: Day! ) and the darkness night. (Whisper: Night. ) And that was the end of the first day. (Shout: Hooray! ) Then God said: Sea! (Can you make a wavy motion with your hands? Or pretend that you re surfing on the waves and go: Wee! ) He said: Sky! (Look up and draw the shape of a cloud with your finger.) And then he said: Heavens! (Why not pretend that you re looking through a telescope?) And that was the end of the second day. (Shout: Hooray! ) Stories 203

204 Next God said: Earth! And mountains pushed their way up through the seas. (Make a mountain shape with your hands.) God said: Plants! And trees and grass and flowers wiggled up out of the ground. (Can you wiggle? Can you make wavy branches with your arms?) Then God said: Fruit! And flowers sprouted from stems and fruit from wavy branches. (Can you pretend to smell the flowers? Can you take a bite of pretend fruit?) And that was the end of the third day. (Shout: Hooray! ) God called for the Sun, next. (Make a great big sunny smile.) Then he called for the Moon. (Say: Moooooon! ) And he finished off the night sky with a chorus of shining stars. (Wiggle your fingers. Sing Twinkle, twinkle little star.) And that was the end of the fourth day. (Shout: Hooray! ) God said: Fish! (Make a fish face!) And there was loads of splashing and swimming and whatever it is that octopuses do. (Pretend you re a fish, whichever one you like!) Then God said: Birds! And they came to him, flapping (can you flap your arms?) and tweeting (can you make a tweeting sound?) and squawking. (Go on, make a sound like a parrot!) And that was the end of the fifth day. (Shout: Hooray! ) God said: Animals! And there were wild animals. (Make a wild animal sound.) And there were farm animals. (Make a farm animal sound.) And there were creepy crawly animals, too. (Move your hand like a spider or a snake.) Then, finally, and best of all, God said: People! Stories 204

205 And there was a man. (Point to a man or a boy.) And there was a woman. (Point to a girl or a woman.) Made in God s image - to talk with him and take care of the world he had made. And that was the end of the sixth day. (Shout: Hooray! ) Then God looked at everything he had made. It s all good, he said. (Hold one thumb up.) Really good! (Hold a second thumb up.) And so, on the seventh day he did what anyone would do when six good days work was done. He rested. (Pretend to go to sleep. Make a little snoring sound.) And that was the end of the seventh day. (Shout: Hooray! ) Stories 205

206 REFLECTIVE JOURNAL These are creative resources based around themes and biblical passages that can be used with your children and young people to. They don t really work in an E Book format but we ve included a few to give you a flavour of how they could work. For more, visit youthandchildrens.work/resources/reflective Reflective Journal 206