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Game Ideas

Christmas: An Unexpected Gift

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We are attracted by extravagantly wrapped gifts with red bows and colorful paper. In this game, participants will try to guess the objects that have been wrapped up as Christmas gifts. But the gifts are probably not what they will expect – they are simply things that are very ordinary. The gift of the first Christmas was not wrapped the way the world expected either. The Jews wanted a mighty warrior with a sword in one hand and King’s crown in the other. But instead, God sent an innocent, defenceless, vulnerable baby – just a seemingly ordinary baby boy.

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What You Need

  • Wrap up several Christmas gifts that are ordinary objects. Some ideas are toilet paper roll, box of tissue, toothpaste, a pencil, a comb, a bar of soap, an ordinary drinking glass, an ice cube tray, a battery, a can of food, etc.)

Preparation

  1. Get the gifts and wrap them up nicely. Wrap them well, maybe in more than one layer of paper so that they are not easily opened and so that the youth cannot easily take a peak.
  2. Place a tag with a number on each gift.

What to Do

  1. Give everyone a piece of paper and pass the gifts around.
  2. Have them write down what they thing each gift is according the numbers on each one.
  3. The youth who correctly guesses the most objects is the winner.
  4. You might choose to award the gifts to the winner.

TAKE IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL

MAKE IT SPIRITUAL

Unfortunately, because of the world’s expectations, the gift of God was unnoticed by most! There was no special welcome, no special preparations, no grand entrance and in fact there wasn’t even room for him in the inn nor a real bed to sleep in.

This is still true today. We welcome the excitement, the expectation of wonderful gifts, the idea of Christmas cheer and celebrations, but most people are unwilling to welcome the Christ Child into their hearts. He’s not really what most people are looking for during the Christmas season.

The people God first told about the birth were shepherds. In general, the shepherds were the poor, the jobless, the powerless, the less educated, the uncultured, maybe even the outcasts. Often when we buy gifts for others, we reserve the best gifts for the special people, the ones who will surely give us something in return, the ones who are our favorites. But the gift of Jesus was first announced to the shepherds, those without titles, those who could return little.

God had given the world a gift it didn’t think it wanted or needed, and certainly not as expected, and he presented the gift to a group of people who weren’t the powerful, the rulers, or those most looked up to. It was a seemingly ordinary gift, in an ordinary wrapper, given to ordinary people.

MAKE IT PRACTICAL

The Shepherds
Read Luke 2:1-20

  • Why do you think the angels appeared to the shepherds and not someone else?
  • Could the shepherds have chosen to accept or decline the angels invitation? What did they choose to do?
  • How long do you think it took them to decide?
  • Why do you think it was important to them to see the Baby Jesus first hand?
  • Why did the shepherds drop everything to go find out about some baby? Why were they so excited?
  • What does this baby mean to them?
  • What does this baby mean to us?
  • Why was the birth of Christ Good News?
  • What are some lessons, truths, attitudes, and responses can we learn from the shepherds?

MAKE IT PERSONAL

  • Do you still find a sense of wonder when you consider God’s gift to the world, or has it lost its luster?
  • What are you hoping for this Christmas?
  • How can you have a deeper first hand experience with Christ this Christmas?
  • What can you do to help others see the true gift of Christmas this year?

SCRIPTURES

  • Luke 2:1-20

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