Tag Archives: Thanksgiving

Object Lessons

Thanksgiving Object Lesson – Ten Lepers

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Description
Use this Thanksgiving Children’s sermon / Thanksgiving Object lesson to create a situation in the Sunday school classroom or Worship service to illustrate the story in Luke 17 of the healing of ten lepers and the ONE that return to Jesus and thanked him for what he had done.

Resources
10 small gifts. (You can choose any gift as long as the gifts are the same and something the participants would enjoy. A candy bar or individually wrapped piece of candy works well.)

Preparation

  1. Put all the smaller gifts inside a box and wrap it box so that it looks special! (Do no individually wrap the smaller gifts.)
  2. Write instructions on slips of paper for each youth and put them in a bowl.
    • On 1 slip of paper
      “Do not show this to anyone. Do not talk about it to anyone. Congratulations: You are the grand prize winner! Later when I announce the prize, come forward and claim your prize! But before you can claim your prize you must agree to ONE condition. If ANYONE asks you to share, you MUST give them one of the smaller prizes found inside, even if it means you will have none left for yourself!”
    • On 10 of the slips of paper, write the following instructions:
      “Do not show this to anyone. Do not talk about it to anyone. Someone will be announced as a grand prize winner. Once the person has unwrapped his prize, go to him and ask him to share it with you. When he does, do not say ANYTHING. Do NOT say thank you or anything else. Take the candy and return to your seat. If you say anything after he shares his prize with you, you will lose it”
    • On the remaining slips of paper (one for each other person participating) write:
      “Do not show this to anyone. Do not talk about it to anyone. Something interesting is going to happen today. Watch carefully. Do not do make any comments until I announce that “We are going to discuss what just happened.”

Variation
Add an additional instruction to the 10. “Leave the room and stay outside until you hear that someone has received the grand prize. Do not talk to anyone inside the room. Do not touch anyone inside the room.”

Take it to the Next Level 

To the whole group:

  • What was strange about what just happened?

To the grand prize winner:

  • How did it feel to receive the prize?
  • Did you say any words of thanks for it? why or why not?
  • How did it feel to have to give what you received away to everyone else?
  • Were you upset that no one said “thank you”?
  • Would you have felt different if someone has expressed a few words of thanks?

To the 10 who received gifts:

  • Did any of you receiving the candy feel bad about accepting it without expressing your thanks?

To all:

  • Why is thanks important?

Read the story of the ten lepers in Luke 17.

Lepers were required to keep away from people in fear that others would catch their disease. The disease is quite terrible. The cannot feel anything. No pain, nothing. Because of this they get infections and injure themselves without knowing it. Then the infection spreads and they smell like rotting meat. They often lose finger arms feet and other body parts.

Lepers were outcasts. Their condition had made them unclean in the eyes of the public and the authorities. They were not allowed to join in with the rest of society. They had to avoid ANY contact with any other people. They could not touch anyone and no one dared to touch them. They could not touch anything that others would touch. And no one dared touch anything that belonged to them. They could not stay in the same place, they could not worship with others, they could not work, could not drink the same water, could not eat the same food. They were forced to live away from everyone else – completely isolated. They were rejected. Lepers were not allowed to mingle with the public in any way.

If the lepers had tried to approach Jesus there would have been a riot. Instead, they kept their distance and shouted all together as one voice “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” In this way, Jesus was drawn to them.

By what they had heard about Jesus, they knew that had the power to heal them.

Jesus healed them, but then Jesus did something that may seem a little strange. He asked them to go to the Priests? Why? Because even though healed, people would want to have a public validation that they had been healed. Only the Priests could do that. Priests were the ones who could inspect a leper and say, “yes, you are clean now, go free. You don’t have to remain an outcast anymore”. By this, Jesus not only healed the lepers, but also brought them back into fellowship with the community.

  • How do you think the Savior felt as the lepers left?
  • How do they think it felt when the one leper returned to thank Jesus for healing him?
  • What kinds of things should we be grateful for? (Make a list on the board)
  • What are some things that have happened to you for which you should be thankful?

Action Point
Make a list of the things you are personally thankful for, then let’s offer God a prayer of thanks for what he has done in our lives.

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…

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Humor

Thanksgiving Humor

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Looking for a little wholesome Thanksgiving humor to add a some laughter to your Thanksgiving Sermon or Thanksgiving youth talk? These Thanksgiving jokes and humorous stories from the “Creative Youth Ideas” archives will add a chuckle to your talk. They are also great for a little fun around the Thanksgiving Dinner table!

Have your own humorous story to share? Heard a great Thanksgiving joke or humorous story? Why not drop me an email and I’ll share the best ones with others on the website. Or, add them as a content to this entry! I’ll make sure credit is given to the authors!

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Teaching Illustrations

Thanksgiving Illustrations

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Whether you are giving a Thanksgiving Sermon, a Thanksgiving youth talk, or just discussing things around the dinner table over Thanksgiving dinner, these stories and thoughts from the “Creative Youth Ideas” archives will provide food for thought and meaningful discussion on being thankful to God for his blessings in our lives.

Have a Blessed Thanksgiving!

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Food for Thought

Famous American Thanksgiving Quotes

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The roots of the American Thanksgiving holiday celebration are found in the faith of our American Founders and Forefathers. For many people, like the pilgrims and puritans, it was the quest for religious freedom that brought them to America. Yet it was their faith in God that brought them through the tests and trials of day to day life.

A fitting way to begin this November, the month in which Americans celebrate Thanksgiving, is to look at some of the words of famous Americans regarding their deep faith in God and their thanks for his blessings!

Here’s some from the Thanksgiving quotes found in the Creative Youth Ideas Website Archives:

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Game Ideas

Pumpkin Picasso

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Game Description

How well can you draw the Halloween Jack-o-Lantern?  Here is a great youth game idea for the Halloween season. You can use it to bring a fresh spiritual meaning to the holiday and allow your youth to apply it to seeking God’s plan and direction for their lives. You could even relate it to a talk about not conforming to the patterns of the world. Be creative and have a great week!  And for those completely adverse to anything associated with Halloween, see the alternative variation under the “preparation” section.

Game Materials

  • Paper
  • Colored pens or pencils
  • Several different Pumpkin Faces (Drawings or actual pumpkins)
  • One blindfold for each team

Game Preparation

Create several different pumpkin jack-o-lantern faces either by drawing them or by cutting them into actual pumpkins. The more intricate and detailed the face, the more difficult it will be for participants.

Variation: If you are adverse to having anything even remotely associated with Halloween, you can use the shapes of natural fallen leaves from various trees or simple images from a Children’s Bible Story book.

Game Play

  1. Divide your church youth group into various teams or into couples.
  2. Have each youth team choose one “Picasso” who will draw the pumpkin face.
  3. Blindfold all the Picasso’s
  4. Reveal the carved pumpkin or the sketched pumpkin Jack-O-lantern face.
  5. Teams must instruct their blindfolded “Picasso” using words only how to draw the pumpkin face on a piece of paper. (No touching is allowed).
  6. You might want to give the teams 2 or 3 minutes to complete their masterpieces.
  7. Compare the final masterpieces drawn by the youth to the actual pumpkin or original drawing and the one that is closest to the original wins!
  8. Swap roles and have a new “Picasso” to play again!

Variation

  1. Allow team members to roam about the room and try to distract or give incorrect instructions to opposing teams. But beware, this can get very noisy! (In the debrief, you can discuss the distractions and false instructions we face in life.)
  2. Give the Picasso 10 seconds one round to see the jack-o-lantern face before blindfolding them. Did it help them to better understand the instructions?
  3. Instead of judging which pumpkin is closest to the original, create a list of items to award various points:
    • 20 points for drawing a circle so that the line crossed or connected with itself
    • 10 points for each eye that was drawn INSIDE the circle.
    • 20 points for a stem that was actually on top of the pumpkin
    • 5 points for getting the mouth inside the circle
    • 5 points if the mouth was BELOW both of the eyes
    • 5 points for each eye that was the correct shape
    • 5 points for each mouth that was the correct shape
    • 5 points for getting the nose inside the circle
    • 5 points for putting the nose between the mouth and the eyes
    • 5 points for any triangle that is drawn
    • 1 point for each place that lines cross each other.
    • ETC

Take it to the Next Level

  • If you were able to see the desired result before putting on the blindfold would it have made a difference? Explain.
  • What role does “vision” play in accomplishing goals?
  • Was it more important – to focus on the big picture or the small details?
  • Did the person giving instructions do so clearly, orderly, and in a way that helped you achieve the desired results? Could any of the instructions have been clearer? How could the person giving instructions be more effective?

Make it Spiritual

  • Has God given us a pattern for life? Do we know what the end result is supposed to look like?
  • Does God focus more on the big picture or on the small steps needed to create the end result?
  • Are God’s instructions clear? Explain.
  • What can youth do to hear God more clearly?
  • Are there things in the lives of youth that obstruct God’s directions?
  • What are some of our standards for comparison for the Christian walk?

Make it Practical

  • Are there things in your life that are out of place?
  • Do you know what you are supposed to create with your life or do you feel you are struggling in the dark?
  • What are some of the references that have played the biggest role in how you have formed your own Christian life?
  • How will God judge the end results of your life?

Make it Personal

  • What is something you can do this week so that God can use you for greater results with your life?

Scripture References

“but I gave them this command: Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in obedience to all I command you, that it may go well with you.” – Jeremiah 7:23

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” – Jeremiah 29:11

“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” – John 10:27-30

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Creative Holiday Ideas has over 300 pages of ideas to help you plan your next New Year’s Day, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Halloween or Fall Festival, and Thanksgiving event. If you’ve ever wondered what you’re going to do for all these holidays and how you’re going to do it, this resource is for you.

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Teaching Illustrations

William Bradford on Thanksgiving

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William Bradford was governor of the Plymouth colony at the first American thanksgiving in 1621.

He wrote the following in “Of Plimoth Plantation”

“They begane now to gather in ye small harvest they had, and to fitte up their houses and dwellings against winter, being all well recovered in health & strenght, and had all things in good plenty; fFor as some were thus imployed in affairs abroad, others were excersised in fishing, aboute codd, & bass, & other fish, of which yey tooke good store, of which every family had their portion. All ye somer ther was no want. And now begane to come in store of foule, as winter approached, of which this place did abound when they came first (but afterward decreased by degrees). And besids water foule, ther was great store of wild Turkies, of which they tooke many, besids venison, &c. Besids, they had about a peck a meale a weeke to a person, or now since harvest, Indean corn to yt proportion. Which made many afterwards write so largly of their plenty hear to their freinds in England, which were not fained, but true reports.”

More Thanksgiving Quotes

 

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Creative Teaching Ideas

Kernel Cornucopia

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kernel.jpgIntroduction
The cornucopia, also known in English as the Horn of Plenty, is a symbol of prosperity and affluence, dating back to the 5th century BC. It was often filled with the fruits of the harvest which included corn, fruits, and other vegetables. Corn itself was one of the staple foods of the early settlers. Here are a variety of games using corn kernels… you can get dried feed corn like that sold for bird feeders or unpopped popcorn will also work.

Game Materials

  • Dried Corn Kernels or popcorn
  • Candy Corn
  • Bowls

Game Description

  • Turkey Feed – Turkeys are often fed corn to prepare them as guests at Thanksgiving.
  • Corn Pitching – How accurately can you toss corn kernels into bowls
  • Odds and Evens – Can you guess if there are odd or even numbers of kernels are in your partners hand?

Game Play

Turkey Feed

  1. Fill a bowl with dried corn kernels and add several pieces of candy corn.
  2. Blindfolded players and have them retrieve the candy corn from the bowl within a designate amount of time. (As a gross out variation, have them retrieve it with their bare feet then eat it.
  3. The player that retrieves the most candy corn in the designated time limit wins.

Corn Pitching

  1. Players takes turns pitching ten corn kernels, one at a time, into a bowl from a set distance. You might choose to have various bowls of different sizes and at different distances. Display the points based upon difficulty.
  2. Keep score of how many kernels end up in the various bowls.
  3. The winner is the one with the highest score after three rounds.

Odds or Evens

  1. Each player starts out with the same number of corn kernels.
  2. Players rotate about the room pairing up with others.
  3. When they find a partner, one player hides a few kernels of in his hand.
  4. The other player must guess if the number of corn kernels is odd or even. If guessed correctly, the player can add the kernels to his own collection.
  5. Players take turns hiding and guessing, until one player has all the corn or until a specified time limit!

Discussion

  • In these games are you someone who plays it safe or shoots for the moon?
  • Was the voyage to the new world by the pilgrims a safe bet or a big risk?
  • What were some of the potential risks? Potential rewards?
  • What were some of your strategies in these games?

Application
Some people play it safe in life. Others take risks. Most of the time we evaluate if the potential reward is worth the risk. For the Pilgrims, coming to America was a great risk. But the lure of religious freedom was worth the risk. Many of them lost their lives in pursuit of the opportunity to freely worship God as their conscience dictated. After the first year of the Plymouth colony, only half of the 102 settlers were still alive. Times were hard. Later during a particularly tough winter is was said that each person had only 5 kernels of corn to live on each day.

Yet in spite of their hardships, they gave thanks to God. Eternal blessings outweighed the physical ones. There may be times when we do not have much, but to have a relationship with God is worth any cost and any hardship! They made a choice, a decision to pursue God at any cost.

Conclusion

  • Has God called you to do something out of the ordinary?
  • To what has God called you?
  • What risks are worth the reward of knowing Jesus as Lord and living for him?

Just as a single grain of corn has the potential for an abundant harvest, even one decision for God can lead to a harvest of blessings in your life. What choice is God calling you to make today? Take a kernel of corn home as a reminder of a decision God has called you to make for him regardless of the risk.

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Games and Activities in Celebration of common Holidays.

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Online Activities

Thanksgiving Quiz

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Take this online quiz to find out how much you know about Thanksgiving, the foods we eat on Thanksgiving, the Pilgrims and other things associated with the holiday. There are 66 Questions… can you get them all correct?

Click here to take the quiz

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Games and Activities in Celebration of common Holidays.

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Food for Thought

Thankful Shakespeare

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“O Lord, that lends me life, lend me a heart replete with thankfulness.”
–William Shakespeare

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Games and Activities in Celebration of common Holidays.

Creative Holiday Ideas has over 300 pages of ideas to help you plan your next Thanksgiving celebration as well as activities for other familiar holidays. If you’ve ever wondered what you’re going to do for all these holidays and how you’re going to do it, this resource is for you.

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