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Object Lessons

Popcorn Christians

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Popcorn Christians
Popcorn is a seed that is hard and tasteless, until placed in the fire. And then the white goodness on the inside comes out for us to not only smell the aroma, but also to taste. It’s a powerful object lesson and metaphor for Christ working in us and drawing others to himself through as as Christians.

What You Need

  • Lots of popped Popcorn
  • Some unpopped popcorn
  • There are several games below that may require additional materials such as drinking straws, cups, blindfolds, and a spoon.

Preparation

Pop some popcorn, preferably in the room in which you have the meeting, so the smell of popcorn permeates the room before the youth arrive.

Popcorn Games

  • Popcorn Race: Using a drinking straw, the youth must blow a popped kernel of popcorn across a table. First to blow it from one end to the other wins.
  • Popcorn Catcher: You must stand on a chair and dropped popped kernels of popcorn into a cup. The person with the most kernels in the cup when time is up wins.
  • Popcorn Toss: Each youth tries to throw a piece of popcorn as far as possible. The farthest throw wins.
  • Popcorn Collector: Each youth is blindfolded, given a metal spoon, and placed in from of a large bowl of popcorn. They must also hold a bowl or cup on top of their head. In the time given they youth compete by using the spoon to scoop popcorn into the cups on their heads while everyone else watches. Many times, they will deliver empty spoons to their heads and many times they will miss the cup. When time is up, the youth with the most kernels of popcorn in the cup wins.
  • Popcorn on the fire: Play a game in which two teams simulate being popcorn in a pan. Explain that in the activity, everyone on a team sits on the floor and each is a piece of popcorn. The floor is a big pan on the fire. As the pan begins to heat, some kernels of corn begin to pop. A youth pops by jumping up, clapping their hands together, and saying “Pop”. Usually popcorn begins to gradually pop and builds up to become very active and loud and then eventually stops. The team that best demonstrates the making of popcorn gets a prize.

Enjoy some Popcorn

Finish off by sharing popcorn for all the youth to enjoy. First offer the un-popped kernels and then when the youth refuse, pass around the popped popcorn.

TAKE IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL

DEBRIEF

  • Ask the youth to tell you everything they know about popcorn.
  • Ask the youth to tell you the way they have experienced popcorn in the meeting

MAKE IT SPIRITUAL

  • How is a kernel of popcorn similar to a person’s heart?
  • What are some lessons and truths we can learn from a kernel of popcorn?
  • What are some of the things that heat up our situations and cause us to respond?

Touch Points

  • The seeds start as hard and tasteless, can’t be digested
  • When heated, some respond, but some do not.
  • At some point, a change occurs, and all the potential inside the kernel is released.
    • Some remain hard and tasteless and may even burn
    • Others, the sweet inside is exposed and can be enjoyed
    • We not only taste it, but there is also a pleasant aroma that attracts people
  • Everything comes from inside the kernel
  • Most people love the smell of popcorn. One small bag fills the room. with the smell. Another word for smell is aroma. God compares us to an aroma. We experience it from a distance. It attracts us. We want it. We want to taste it for ourselves. In the same way, We must live our lives in such a way that Christ in us, is noticed by others, and they want to experience Christ for themselves.
  • Human hearts can either be like a hard kernel or the soft, fluffy, fragrant popcorn.
  • God places us in the heat – circumstances so our hearts can open up (Visually express this by changing a clenched fist to an open hand)

MAKE IT PRACTICAL

  • How do circumstances change us? Why does God allow difficult circumstances? See James 1:2-4 and Romans 5:3-5
  • In what ways are Christians an aroma of Christ?
  • What are some actions, attitudes, mindsets, and other characteristics of Christians and their relationship with Christ that are attractive to the lost?

MAKE IT PERSONAL

  • Would you consider your heart hard and tightly closed up, or soft and open?
  • What are some of the circumstances God has used in your own life to bring about a pleasant change in your life?
  • If you were to do a self test on your life as a Christian, what would it reveal? Does your life express an aroma of Christ?
  • What can you personally do this week that will serve like a pleasant aroma to draw others to Christ and want to experience Christ for themselves?

Scriptures

  • Matthew 12:35 – “A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.”
  • Luke 6:45 – “A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.”
  • Matthew 15:11 – “What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.”
  • Matthew 15:16-20 – “Are you still so dull?” Jesus asked them. “Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them.”
  • James 1:2-4 – “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
  • Romans 5:3-5 – “Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”
  • Romans 8:18 – “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”
  • 2 Corinthians 2:14-16 – “But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are an aroma that brings death; to the other, an aroma that brings life. And who is equal to such a task?”

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.

Learn More…

Game Ideas, Object Lessons

Spiritual Sponges

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Spiritual Sponges

The main purpose of a sponge is to soak things up. When you squeeze a sponge, whatever is inside comes out. Both of these characteristics of a sponge provide metaphors for our hearts. Some of us have hard hearts and unlike a sponge, things just stay on the surface and never affect us while other have receptive hearts to God. When we are under pressure, we truly get to see what is in a person’s heart. These games are great for a little wet time during the hot summer and provide a nice illustration for the condition of our hearts.

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Games Using Sponges

  • Back to Back Sponge Relay – Fill two new large large trash cans or clean buckets with water and place sponges in each. Pairs run to a trash can, grab a soaked sponge, place it between their backs, and run back to the team. If the sponge is dropped they must go back and get another one. First team to have all members complete the relay wins.
  • Bottle Fill Relay – Each team appoints one youth to lie face up on the ground with his or her head toward the starting line and hold an empty plastic soda bottle on his or her forehead. A team member from each team soaks a sponge with water, runs to the bottle, and with arms stretched straight out in front of them tries to squeeze the water into the bottle. He or she then runs back to the team and the next person goes. First team to fill the bottle wins.
  • Shaving Cream Sponge Off – Each team of youth must have one large bucket of water and one team member willing to get wet. Make a beard of shaving cream on one person from each team. Each member of the team will get one toss of a wet sponge to try and remove all the shaving cream. You will rotate the team line until all the shaving cream is removed. The first team to remove the cream is the winner.
  • Sponge Dodge Ball – Get 4-6 water buckets and arrange them in a square or circle. Get a sponge for each bucket – Car wash sponges work great and can be cut into smaller pieces. They youth leader stands outside the circle, soaks a sponge and tosses it a someone inside the circle. Anyone who gets hit joins the youth leader outside the circle. A sponge that lands inside the circle can be retrieved by anyone, but must be dipped in the water again before it can be tossed at someone. Last person inside the circle wins.
  • Sponge Shot Put – See who can toss a wet sponge the farthest. For added incentive, have a leader stand just out of reach of the players for a target.
  • Sponge Standoff – Arrange the youth in a circle and have them number themselves off. Place a sponge in a bucket of water in the center of the circle. When the leader calls out two numbers, those two youth must jump up, run around the circle back to their own place, then run through the gap where they were sitting to get the sponge. Whoever gets the sponge gets to throw it as the other person.
  • Toss up – A youth is given a wet sponge and tosses it high into the air while calling out a person’s name. Whoever is called must catch the sponge. If success he or she gets a free toss at the person who tossed the sponge.
  • Wet Sponge Hot Potato – Everyone sits in a circle. Play music or sing a song. Pass the wet sponge around the circle. When the music has ended (just play a short segment) or the song is over, the person left with the wet sponge can squeeze it over their head. They can also choose to squeeze it over another child•s head. Refill the wet sponge and play again.
  • Wet Sponge Over and Under Relay – Place a bucket in front of the first player on each team and a jar or soda bottle behind the last player. The first player fills the sponge and with two hands lifts it over his/her head to the next player. The next player takes the sponge and hands it back under their legs. Continue to hand it back over and under until you reach the last player, who squeezes it in the jar or soda bottle. Then he/she runs towards the front of the line to fill the sponge again and pass it. The first team to fill the jar or soda bottle to overflowing wins.

TAKE IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL

MAKE IT SPIRITUAL

  • What is the purpose of a sponge?
  • What are some things sponges are used for?
  • What comes out of a sponge when it’s squeezed?
  • How is a sponge different from a rock?

MAKE IT PRACTICAL

  • Do we ever get “squeezed” in life? If so, how?
  • In what ways are our minds and hearts like a sponge?
  • What are some negative things / positive things we may be soaking up?
  • When you get “squeezed”, what comes out?
  • How can we soak up what is good and so that we are full good things and less likely to soak up what’s bad?
  • In what ways can our minds and hearts be like a rock, what the Bible calls a hardened heart?
  • If we have a hardened heart, how can we become more receptive to God?

MAKE IT PERSONAL

  • What comes out of me when the “squeeze” is on – clean, pure thoughts & actions that please God or something not so clean & pure?
  • How can I soften my heart toward God this week?
  • How can I fill my heart with the things of God this week so when the pressure comes, I spill good things over into the lives of others?

Finish the lesson by giving each youth a sponge to take with them and to place somewhere they will see it so that it will remind them of the need to not have a hardened heart, but to allow God’s Word to fill them.

SCRIPTURE

  • Romans 5:1-5 (NIV) – “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.”
  • Psalm 119:11 – “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.”
  • Philippians 1:9-11 – “And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ–to the glory and praise of God.”

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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.

Learn More…

Object Lessons

Easter Treasure

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One of the most common Easter activities is the easter Egg Hunt. This creative youth idea isn’t a treasure hunt, but an object lesson related to our pursuit of earthly treasures. Sometimes in the quest to grab all the things we want in life, we fail to remember that when we seek him first, all things will be added unto us.

Resources

  • A large number of coins, preferrable of the same denomination.
  • An opaque Jumbo-sized plastic Easter egg with the letters God written on it but stretched around the egg so that they don’t easily notice it unless it is pointed out to them.
  • A $20 bill placed inside the large plastic egg.
  • A stopwatch

NOTE: This game can also be played as a competition between two teams. Just double up the number of coins and add a second Jumbo-sized Easter egg with the $20 note inside.

What to Do

  1. Ask for a youth to volunteer to play the game.
  2. Scatter the coins across the top of the table.
  3. Tell the volunteer, or if you are doing this as a competition, the team repesentatives that they can keep all the money they are holding until the time ends. But there is a condition they must agree to before they can play the game.
  4. Explain the condition: They can only use ONE hand (Youth can choose to use their left or right hand but not both) All coins must be kept in the hand they start with and they cannot lay down any coins for any reason.
  5. Get the youth to agree to the condition and then add another catch. Since it is near to Easter, they must pick up the coins while holding a plastic Easter egg in in the same hand used to pick up the coins. If anyone asks about the plastic egg, just tell them it is to make it more of a challenge.
  6. Yell out “Go” and start the stopwatch. Don’t worry about the time, but as soon as the egg is dropped by all participants, call time.
  7. Reveal that the word “God” is written on the plastic then open it to reveal the $20 bill.
  8. Of course if they had just held on to God, they would have received more than the small coins collected from the table.

Take It to the Next Level

 

Make it Spiritual

  • Ask the youth what made the game difficult?
  • How is this game similar to life?
  • What are some of the things we try to grab and hold on to in life?
  • How does our pursuit and holding on to these things affect our relationship with God?
  • What are the consequences? What do we miss out on?
  • How does this relate to the words of Jesus “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Luke 12:34)

Make it Practical

Of course, most of the time we don’t consciously let our relationship with God drop. We simply fill our lives with too many other things. Sometimes we are trying to pursue things never realising that he has already promised them to us and they already belong to us.

  • What are some of the things that God promises us?
  • What are some things you have allowed to drop in your spiritual life? Why?
  • How can a person be focused on Christ?

Make it Personal

  • Where is your treasure? What are your treasures?
  • What are some of the things that crowd out Christ in your daily life? How can you make God more a priority?
  • If Jesus told you, “One thing you lack” (like he told the rich young ruler in Luke 18), what would he say to you?

Scripture References

Matthew 6:33 [See Matthew 6:19-34]
“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

Luke 12:33-34
“Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Haggai 1:9
“You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why?” declares the Lord Almighty. “Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with your own house.

Luke 18:24-25
“Jesus looked at him and said, ‘How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.'”

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Icebreakers

Tee Freeze Icebreaker

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Description

Beat the hot days of summer with a frozen T-shirt contest for your youth. The objective is simple – Unfold a frozen t-shirt and wear it. But it’s not quite as easy as it sounds. It can be played as a team effort or you can have one frozen tee for each youth.

Resources

  • Gallon Freezer Bags
  • You’ll need one t-shirt for each team or participant. Larger shirts are best and if possible you want them all to be the same size. Sometimes t-Shirts can be torn or stretched in the process.
  • Water
  • Freezer

Preparation

  1. Soak each t-shirt in about 2 cups of water then wring it out. If there is too much water it will take too long to thaw.
  2. Once the shirt has been wrung out, nicely fold each one into a square that will fit inside the freezer bag. Once you have folded it flat, press it down again to try to remove even more water.
  3. Seal each bag, and place each t-shirt in the freezer so that each lies flat.
  4. Let them freeze for a couple of days for best results.
  5. If you need to transport the shirts to another venue, place them in a cooler filled with ice so they stay frozen.
  6. Want to play on the theme a little? Have “Iced Tea” for refreshments.

What to do

  1. Tell the youth you are going to have a real icebreaker game.
  2. If you play by teams, don’t tell the youth what you are going to do and instead ask for a volunteer from each team. (You don’t want more than 4 or 5 on a team or it gets too crowded and some youth end up sitting on the sideline and watching.)
  3. Give each youth (or team) a frozen tee.
  4. The objective is to use whatever means possible to thaw the t-shirt enough so that it they can put it on. (They’ll sit on them like hatching an egg, throw them on the ground, rub them with hands, roll them, stick them on bare arms and legs to use their body heat to warm them up enough to unfold them and put them on.) They’ll be worn out trying to get them unfolded enough to wear.
  5. The first person to get the t-shirt on wins! Heads and arms must be completely in the t-shirt for normal wear to be declared the winner.

Rules of the Game

You might want to set some rules such as:

  • You cannot place the t-shirt in water or any other liquids
  • You cannot microwave it or use any appliance or machinery to heat it up.
  • You cannot leave the game area
  • You are not allowed to use any sharp object on the t-shirt

Take It to the Next Level

Like many things in life, this game takes a lot of effort. It’s the same with building relationships. If you want to have relationships that aren’t so cold and are more warm and friendly, it takes work. “Cold hearted” and “Hard – hearted” are terms we commonly use to describe how youth relate to others. We also often talk about the warmth of friendship.

Take It Spiritual

In the Bible, Cold and Hot are used to describe the relationship of a person with God. But God’s greatest criticism is not to a person is either hot or cold, but to someone that is lukewarm. In Revelation, God refers to the church of Laodicia in the same terms.

“I know your works; you are neither cold nor hot”. “Would that you were cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of my mouth” (Revelation 3:15-16).

Laodicia had no water supply of its own, so an aqueduct was built to bring water to the city from hot springs. By the time the water reached Laodicia is was neither therapeutically hot nor refreshingly cold. And because of it, one of the strongest words in Revelation is used, emesai, meaning to vomit.

Take it Personal

  • What actions of a Christian might be described as Hot? Cold? Lukewarm?
  • How does a lukewarm Christian behave?
  • Why is lukewarm worse than being either hot or cold?
  • What is an area of your devotion to God that could be described as Lukewarm?
  • If we are cold or lukewarm, how can we become “On Fire” in our devotion for God?

Take Action

  • What can you do this week to become more fired up about your relationship with God?
  • What can you do this week to share the warmth of Christ with someone?

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