“The church used to be a lightning bolt, now it’s a cruise ship. We are not marching to Zion – we are sailing there with ease. In the apostolic church it says they were all amazed – And now in our churches everybody wants to be amused. The church began in the upper room with a bunch of men agonizing, and it’s ending in the supper room with a bunch of people organizing. We mistake rattle for revival, and commotion for creation, and action for unction.”
— Leonard Ravenhill
Children’s Letters to God
Dear GOD,
In school they told us what You do. Who does it when You are on vacation?
Jane
Dear GOD,
Did you mean for the giraffe to look like that or was it an accident?
Norma
Dear GOD,
I read the Bible. What does ‘begat’ mean? Nobody will tell me.
Love, Alison
Dear GOD,
Are you really invisible or is that just a trick?
Lucy
Dear GOD,
Is it true my father won’t get in Heaven if he uses his bowling words in the house?
Anita
Dear GOD,
Instead of letting people die and having to make new ones, why don’t You just keep the ones You have now?
Jane
Dear GOD,
Who draws the lines around the countries?
Nan
Dear GOD,
I went to this wedding and they kissed right in church. Is that okay?
Neil
Dear GOD,
What does it mean You are a Jealous God? I thought You had everything.
Jane
Dear GOD,
Did you really mean “do unto others as they do unto you”? Because if you did, then I’m going to fix my brother.
Darla
Dear GOD,
Thank you for the baby brother, but what I prayed for was a puppy.
Joyce
Dear GOD,
It rained for our whole vacation and is my father mad! He said some
things about You that people are not supposed to say, but I hope You will not hurt him anyway. Your friend, (But I am not going to tell you who I am)
Dear GOD,
Why is Sunday school on Sunday? I thought it was supposed to be our day of rest.
Tom L.
Dear GOD,
Please send me a pony. I never asked for anything before, You can look it up.
Bruce
Dear GOD,
If we come back as something – please don’t let me be Jennifer Horton because I hate her.
Denise
Dear GOD,
If You give me a genie lamp like Aladdin, I will give you anything you want, except my money or my chess set.
Raphael
Dear GOD,
My brother is a rat. You should give him a tail. Ha ha.
Danny
Dear GOD,
Maybe Cain and Abel would not kill each other so much if they had their own rooms. It works with my brother.
Larry
Dear GOD,
I want to be just like my Daddy when I get big but not with so much hair all over.
Sam
Dear GOD,
You don’t have to worry about me. I always look both ways.
Dean
Dear GOD,
I think the stapler is one of your greatest inventions.
Ruth M.
Dear GOD,
I think about You sometimes even when I’m not praying.
Elliott
Dear GOD,
I bet it is very hard for You to love all of everybody in the whole world. There are only 4 people in our family and I can never do it.
Nan
Dear GOD,
Of all the people who work for You I like Noah and David the best.
Rob
Dear GOD,
My brother told me about being born but it doesn’t sound right. They’re just kidding, aren’t they?
Marsha
Dear GOD,
If You watch me in church Sunday, I’ll show You my new shoes.
Mickey D.
Dear GOD,
I would like to live 900 years like the guy in the Bible.
Love, Chris
Dear GOD,
We read Thomas Edison made light. But in Sunday school they said You did it. So I bet he stoled your idea.
Sincerely, Donna
Dear GOD:
The bad people laughed at Noah – “You made an ark on dry land you fool.” But he was smart, he stuck with You. That’s what I would do.
Eddie
Dear GOD,
I do not think anybody could be a better GOD. Well, I just want You to know but I am not just saying that because You are GOD already.
Charles
Dear GOD,
I didn’t think orange went with purple until I saw the sunset you made on Tuesday. That was cool!
Eugene
MORE IDEAS? See “Creative Object Lessons”
200 page e-book that explains everything you need to know when planning your very own object lessons. It contains 90 fully developed object lesson ideas and another 200 object lesson starter ideas based on Biblical idioms and Names / Descriptions of God.
Materials
A list of possible machines
Activity
1. Divide the youth into groups of a minimum of 5 to 10 participants (Larger groups are better).
2. Randomly assign each group a machine from your list.
3. Give each group time to prepare. Each group must act out the machine they are given. Sound effects are encouraged! Everyone in a group must be involved in the charade.
4. Have groups take turns presenting their machine while other groups guess the identity of the machines.
Some machines that are very effective are:
washing machine
vacuum cleaner
car engine
elevator
escalator
typewriter
pinball machine
jack-hammer
bus
blender
toilet
jacuzzi
lawnmower
building crane
pipe organ
MAKE UP YOUR OWN
Application
After each group has demonstrated their machines,discuss how each machine had specific parts. And while some of the youth may not understand how all the parts work, the person who originally invented / created each machine thought of every part and understood every piece. In the same way God created us and knows how we all fit together. He knows how everything works. And we can only discover our part by going to him as our Creator.
Alternate Application
After each group has demonstrated their machines, tell them that we discovered the machines by their actions. Tell them that the most important way that other people discover love / Christianity is through our actions!
MORE IDEAS? See “Creative Object Lessons”
200 page e-book that explains everything you need to know when planning your very own object lessons. It contains 90 fully developed object lesson ideas and another 200 object lesson starter ideas based on Biblical idioms and Names / Descriptions of God.
A young lady working in a factory became frustrated with the immorality around her. She went to her pastor for counseling one day and began to tell him how difficult it was to work in a factory with so many non-Christians. “Pastor,” she said, “You Just don’t know how hard it is to go to work on Monday morning and hear all the stories about the partying that took place the weekend before.” Her pastor replied, “Where do you place lights?” the girl, barely hearing the question, rushed on saying, “And you can’t imagine how terrible it is to work with people who smoke and curse all day!” “Where do you place lights?” he questioned again. This time the girls hesitated with a puzzled look on her face and continued on. “Pastor, you couldn’t possibly know how hard it is to work with a bunch of men and women who come in after the weekend and talk about their sexual exploits and affairs.” Again the pastor challenged the girl, ‘Where do you put lights?”
The conversation continued on until the girl stopped in frustration and responded to the question. “Well, I don’t know where you place lights–in dark places I guess!” When the words had barely left her lips, it was as if a light had come on, for the girl understood the point her pastor was making. She was to be God’s light in the factory where she worked. She left her church that day with a vision in her heart for what she could do to reach her coworkers for the Lord. In the next several months she led several of them to the Lord.
If we are going to win our friends to Christ we are going to have to start sharing with more of them outside the four walls of the church. If we refuse to tell them about Jesus on their own ground, in the work place and in homes, many of them will never hear the good news of salvation.
Read Matthew 5:14-16; and I Peter 2:12.
* What common theme is there in these verses?
* How do these verses apply to daily life?
* Is your life a light on a hill? Do you live a life that causes others to glorify God?
MORE IDEAS? See “Creative Object Lessons”
200 page e-book that explains everything you need to know when planning your very own object lessons. It contains 90 fully developed object lesson ideas and another 200 object lesson starter ideas based on Biblical idioms and Names / Descriptions of God.
Preparation
1. Arrange nine people into a 3 X 3 grid of chairs.
2. Prepare a series of questions related to your topic. Give the questions to the nine people in advance.
3. Divide the rest of the group into two teams. Designate one team as X and the other as O.
4. Large printed X and O for each of the nine people sitting in the tic-tac-toe grid
Game Play
1. The team chooses a square
2. A moderator, Game Host, asks the next question to the person in the desired square.
3. This person may answer the question truthfully or create an answer that sounds truthful i.e. bluff. (The people in the squares are provided correct answers to factual questions, but are not obligated to use them)
4) The team member decides to agree or disagree with the answer given. The team must then correctly decide whether it is a bluff or the person is giving the correct answer to get control of that square. Team members may not talk to each other and must take turns.
5) If the team member’s decision is correct s/he receives the team’s X or O in the square. If incorrect the opponent teams X or O is placed into the square.
6) Teams alternate
7) First team to get tic – tac – toe is the winner of this round.
Have enough questions for multiple rounds. Team that wins the most rounds is the voerall winner.
One SONG can spark a moment
One FLOWER can wake the dream
One TREE can start a forest
One BIRD can herald spring
One SMILE begins a friendship
One HANDCLASP lifts a soul
One STAR can guide a ship at sea
One WORD can frame the goal
One VOTE can change a nation
One SUNBEAM lights a room
One CANDLE wipes out darkness
One LAUGH will conquer gloom
One STEP must start each journey
One WORD must start a prayer
One HOPE will raise our spirits
One TOUCH can show you care
One VOICE can speak with wisdom
One HEART can know what is true
One LIFE can make a difference
you see it’s up to YOU!
-Author Unknown
MORE IDEAS? See “Creative Object Lessons”
200 page e-book that explains everything you need to know when planning your very own object lessons. It contains 90 fully developed object lesson ideas and another 200 object lesson starter ideas based on Biblical idioms and Names / Descriptions of God.
After just a few years of marriage filled with constant arguments, a young man and his wife decided the only way to save their marriage was to try counseling. They had been at each other’s throats for some time and felt that this was their last straw.
When they arrived at the counselors’s office, the counselor jumped right in and opened the floor for discussion. “What seems to be the problem?” Immediately, the husband held his long face down without anything to say. In contrast, the wife began talking 90 miles an hour, describing all the wrongs within their marriage.
After 15 minutes of listening to the wife, the counselor went over to her, picked her up by her shoulders, kissed her passionately and sat her back down. Afterwards, the wife sat speechless.
The marriage counselor looked over at the husband, who stared in disbelief. The counselor said to the husband, “Your wife NEEDS that at least twice a week!”
The husband scratched his head and replied, “I can have her here on Tuesdays and Thursdays.”
MORE IDEAS? See “Creative Object Lessons”
200 page e-book that explains everything you need to know when planning your very own object lessons. It contains 90 fully developed object lesson ideas and another 200 object lesson starter ideas based on Biblical idioms and Names / Descriptions of God.
Materials
1 balloon for each expected participant.
Activity
Everyone must write one piece of information about themselves on a small strip of paper and place it in a balloon. They then blow up the balloon and throw the balloon in the center of the circle of participants. One by one, participants select a balloon, pop it, and try to guess which participant matches the piece of information.
Icebreakers Ahead: Take It To the Next LevelThis 170 page resource not only provides 52 of the world’s most popular group icebreaker activities and games, but also includes lesson ideas and discussion questions to smoothly transition into conversations about the issues common to most groups.
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A group of students were asked to list what they thought were the present Seven Wonders of the World. Though there was some disagreement, the following got the most votes:
1. Egypt’s Great Pyramids
2. Taj Mahal
3. Grand Canyon
4. Panama Canal
5. Empire State Building
6. St. Peter’s Basilica
7. China’s Great Wall
While gathering the votes, the teacher noted that one quiet student hadn’t turned in her paper yet. So she asked the girl if she was having trouble with her list. The girl replied, “Yes, a little. I couldn’t quite make up my mind because there were so many.” The teacher said, “Well, tell us what you have, and maybe we can help.” The girl hesitated, then read, “I think the Seven Wonders of the World are:
1. to touch
2. to taste
3. to see
4. to hear
She hesitated a little, and then added
5. to feel
6. to laugh
7. and to love
The room was so full of silence you could have heard a pin drop. Those things we overlook as simple and “ordinary” are truly wondrous. A gentle reminder that the most precious things in life cannot be bought.
– Author Unknown
MORE IDEAS? See “Creative Object Lessons”
200 page e-book that explains everything you need to know when planning your very own object lessons. It contains 90 fully developed object lesson ideas and another 200 object lesson starter ideas based on Biblical idioms and Names / Descriptions of God.
John D. Rockefeller, the man who built the great Standard Oil Empire, was a person who demanded high performance from his company executives. Then, one day, one of those highly paid supervisors made a two million dollar mistake.
The report of the man’s enormous error quickly spread throughout the executive offices, and his colleagues began to make themselves scarce. Afraid of Rockefeller’s reaction, they didn’t even want to cross his path.
One individual didn’t have any choice, however, since he had an appointment with the boss. The guilty culprit worked for this man making him accountable to Rockefeller for his subordinate’s costly blunder. So he straightened his tie, threw back his shoulders, tightened his belt and walked into Rockefeller’s office struggling to hold his head up high.
As he approached the oil monarch’s desk, Rockefeller looked up from the piece of paper upon which he was writing.
“I guess you’ve heard about the two million dollar mistake our friend made,” he said abruptly.
“Yes,” the executive said, expecting Rockefeller to explode.
“Well, I’ve been sitting here listing all of our friend’s good qualities on this sheet of paper, and I’ve discovered in the past he has made us many more times the amount he lost for us by his one mistake. His good points far outweigh this one human error. So I think we ought to forgive him, don’t you?”
When Rockefeller thought about this executive who cost him millions, he chose to dwell on how this person had been a blessing to his company. He made a decision to affirm him instead of tearing him down.
When someone offends you, is your tendency to tabulate how he or she wronged you on other occasions, or do you concentrate on their value to your life?
From You Can Win with Love by Dale Galloway.
MORE IDEAS? See “Creative Object Lessons”
200 page e-book that explains everything you need to know when planning your very own object lessons. It contains 90 fully developed object lesson ideas and another 200 object lesson starter ideas based on Biblical idioms and Names / Descriptions of God.