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Game Ideas, Object Lessons

Gummy Worm Discipleship

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Gummy Worm Discipleship
Although gummy bears were invented by German Candy maker Hans Reigel in 1922, the gummy worm is a relatively recent concept. The Gummy bear wasn’t shipped to America until around 1981 and then an American candy company extended the idea to gummy worms to give youth something fun to eat and to shock their parents. Gummy worms are one of the most popular gummy candies around. Use these games with gummy worms as an object lesson to talk about Jesus’ call to his disciples to become fishers of men.

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What You Need

Lots of Gummy Worms

Games using Gummy Worms

NOTE: The intention is for these youth games to be played with gummy worms, but if you can’t get gummy worms, you can use extra long Twizzlers, or string licorice.

  • Chicken Races – In this crazy youth game, everyone is a chicken. Place gummy worms in a shallow baking pan with crushed Oreos piled on top and place it at the opposite end of the room. You can use one pan for each team or have them all fight over the worms in a single pan. On “go”, the first team member from each team must flap their arms like wings and make clucking sounds while running to the pan to collect a worm using their mouth (beaks) only. No hands allowed. Once they retrieve a worm they can return to the team and the next youth repeats the task. Worms must still be whole to be counted. The first team to have everyone retrieve a worm wins. Variation: Instead of oreo cookies, use chocolate pudding sprinkled with oreo cookies.
  • Chicken Feed – This is similar to the chicken race, but have a deeper pan with more chocolate pudding and Oreos. Each team chooses one representative. The youth who retrieves the most worms from the pan in a designated time wins.
  • Worm Fishing – To play this game you fill a fishbowl with pretzels or goldfish crackers, and the youth use a fishing rod to get one out and eat it. The bait is gummy worms that are nice and sticky. If you don’t have a real fishing rod, use a stick and some string. You could even add a reel if you wanted to. If you don’t have a fishbowl handy, any clear, large bowl will do the trick. Use lukewarm water to wet down a gummy worm and then pat it dry so that it’s nice and sticky. Tie the worm to the end of the string on the fishing rod. Players have one minute to use the wishing rod to “hook” a pretzel/goldfish from the fishbowl by getting it to stick to the ooey-gooey gummy worm. No hands allowed. Then, once one is “caught,” it must be brought back to the player’s mouth and she must eat it before the timer runs out in order to win the game. To make it more difficult, increase the distance to the fishbowl. If a pretzel/goldfish falls off the gummy worm it must be abandoned and another one “caught” on the gummy worm. If a player touches the string or gummy worm while a pretzel is attached, that pretzel won’t count. String may not be wound around the finger during an attempt. The player(s) with the most pretzels at the end of the 60-seconds wins.
  • Worms between your toes – Fill 5 or 10-gallon buckets (or kiddie pools) about 1/4 of the way up with water and drop at least 20 gummy worms in each one. Everyone takes off their socks & shoes. The first person in line for each team will run to bucket and dip their foot in the water, pulling out a worm with their toes. They must then transfer the worm into a bowl located beside the bucket. Teams only get a point for worms dropped into the bowl. Whoever has the most worms at the end of a designated time limit wins! (If you•re indoors, have some towels on hand for participants to dry their feet. You may also want to lay tarps down to minimize the mess.) Variation: Instead of a bowl, guys lie down with their heads beside buckets. The girls feed them to the guys using only their feet. The girl and guy team who can eat the most gummy bears in 2 minutes wins.
  • Gummy Worm Rulers – Provide a list of measurements in gummy worms of various items around the youth room. Youth must find the item that matches the measurements. The team with the greatest number of correctly identified items wins. (Tip: Measure the length of a typical gummy worm and then just measure things in the room with a ruler like the length of a table, the width of a door, the height of a poster, etc. Divide the measurements by the length of a typical gummy worm to get the lengths in gummy worms – 3.5 gummy worms, etc)
  • Gummy Relay – Pair up the youth. One end of a gummy bear goes into each person’s mouth. The pairs must then navigate an obstacle course without break the gummy bear or allowing it to drop from their mouths. Fastest pair wins!
  • Gummy Worm Race – Placed a marshmallow, a pretzel, or even a donut in the middle of a gummy worm. On go, players must eat their way to be the one to finish off the marshmallow. Whoever eats the marshmallow wins the game. Variation – The team who eats the worm the fastest wins!
  • Gummy Worms Pictionary – Played like normal Pictionary where you have to draw the clues for your teams to guess the word or phrase, but in this variation, instead of drawing, lay out the gummy worms to create shapes. No numbers symbols or letters are allowed. You can do it on a cookie sheet, chopping board, or butcher paper.
  • Gummy Worm Stretch – In this game, the goal is for partners to have the most stretched-out gummy worm without breaking it. Check your results with a ruler.
  • Fishies – Take a couple fishing poles and stick gummy worms to them with string. Blindfold the youth and dangle the gummy worms around. The first person to find the gummy worm with their tongue and eat it, wins.
  • Make Dirt Cups as snacks – You’ll need 8-ounce clear plastic cups, chocolate pudding mix, milk (as specified on pudding box) chocolate sandwich cookies like Oreos (crushed) and gummy worms. Mix the pudding according to the package directions. Layer the pudding and the cookie crumbs in cups. Top the layers with more crumbs and gummy worms.
  • Gummy Worm Gulpers – Youth race against the clock to eat gummy worms hanging from the ceiling. You’ll need clothespins, strong string, and lots of gummy worms. Cut various lengths of string, attach one end to the ceiling or from a tree and one end to a clothespin, and clamp a gummy worm in each clothespin. Youth run from string to string and, using only their mouths, snatch and eat the gummy worms. The winner is whoever eats all the worms in the shortest amount of time.

TAKE IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL

  • How would you describe a gummy worm to someone who has never seen or eaten one before?
  • What are some of the characteristics of gummy worms?
  • Name some uses of real worms?
  • Has anyone ever fished with a worm?

MAKE IT SPIRITUAL

Read Matthew 4:17-22

  • Worms are attractive to fish. What are some things that are attractive to people?
  • What things does the world go fishing for?
  • What are we to fish for as Christians?
  • Is a person a fisherman if year after year he never goes fishing?
  • Is he a fisherman if he never catches a fish?
  • Is someone a true disciple of Jesus Christ if he never attempts to win a soul for Christ?

MAKE IT PRACTICAL

  • As a fisherman, do we cast our nets in our backyard or do we go to a place where fish can be found? (Jesus never suggests that the world should come to the church but commands the church to go into the world to witness. Jesus has given us the example – he goes to the people, he never waits for the people to come to Him.)
  • How is telling others about Jesus similar to fishing?
  • Lures are attractive to fish. How can you make the good news of Jesus attractive to your friends?

MAKE IT PERSONAL

  • What can you do this week to be more effective as a fisher of men?

KEY SCRIPTURE

Matthew 4:19: “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.”

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Evangelism Ideas

Lessons for Evangelism of Youth: The Samaritan Woman

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The woman at the well is probably the most incisive of the New Testament narratives of Jesus’ dealing with the spiritually lost. It is found only in the fourth chapter of John’s gospel. From it we can learn many things about personal evangelism in general that can also be applied to our evangelism to youth.

The background for this passage involves the Lord Jesus Christ, leaving Judea and and traveling through Samaria to Galilee. As he travels through Samaria, He stops at the city of Sychar, near Jacobs well, to rest and eat. At noon, he waits beside the well for a divine appointment, as his disciples go into the city to buy food.

The Master’s Classroom

 
Interestingly, John records that Jesus “had” to pass through Samaria. It was not an accident that Jesus went through Samaria. “There were several roads leading from Judea to Galilee: one near the sea coast, another through Perea, and one through Samaria.” 1 The road through Samaria was the least traveled, yet it was the road Christ “had” to travel. What the disciples saw as an uncomfortable trip, through a land of people against whom Jews had great prejudice, was actually a divine appointment. God will often put us in places of personal discomfort as a classroom for the greater teachings of the Kingdom of God. In this case He teaches the disciples that there is not room for barriers of any kind in the Kingdom of God. The gospel is a gospel for all people. Manmade barriers of prejudice, culture, and the lifestyles of people must not block the divine flow of the living water. 

The Master’s Workshop

 
The Samaritan woman came to draw water–a common act, done in common way, but this time to have uncommon results. Unknown to her, she had an appointment with the Son of God. Jacob’s well became Christ’s workshop for the repair of her soul. We too need to discover the common activities of youth that can be used as platforms from which to lead lost youth to a saving knowledge of God. Any contact with a lost youth is an opportunity for sharing the gospel if we would only look. The most effective witnessing occurs in those natural situations where youth interact. A popular theology of today says “let me live a good life, and if you ask me about God, I will take you to church.” How long would Christ have had to sit at the well before the woman would have noticed his good life? Jesus took the initiative and so should we. Think of the opportunities we pass up daily. What opportunities are you passing up to reach out to youth?

The Master’s Methods

 

Get Acquainted

Jesus seeks to “draw” the woman into a conversation by asking her to “draw” Him a drink of water. She recognizes Him as merely a Jew and wonders about his request. ”‘Never speak to a woman in the street, even if she be thy wife’; ‘Burn the words of the law rather than teach them to a woman,’ were the great maxims in Jewish society.” 2  Even so, Christ’s greatest concern was the condition of the woman’s soul. Because of this, he would reach out to her, even if it violated custom. Manmade barriers must not hinder the gospel. In the customs of the day there is another interesting meaning to Christ’s request for a drink. In the East, “the giving and receiving of a drink of water is the seeking and making of a covenant of hospitality, with all that that covenant implies… it is like the covenant of bread-sharing, which makes a truce, for the time being, between deadliest enemies.” 3 By asking for water, Christ was not only drawing the woman into conversation, but disarming any defense that she might put up concerning his identity as a Jew. He was showing an interest in her as an individual. “The woman, the Samaritan, the sinner, is placed over against the Rabbi, the ruler of the Jews, the Pharisee.” 4 Her birth, her sex, and her lifestyle were all barriers, but the gospel knows no barriers. The gospel sees only the need of the individual. We should also see the individual needs of our youth!

Arouse Interest

Christ offered the “gift” of living water to the Samaritan woman. Notice that the living water is a “gift” received by “asking.” The reason men do not ask, is because they do not know that it exists. 5  The Samaritan woman did not know the gift of God because her sight was focused on her earthly condition and her physical thirsts. Too often, people miss the spiritual because they are focused on the physical. Like Christ, we must use their physical needs and perceptions to lead lost youth to a knowledge of the spiritual.

The Samaritan woman then calls Christ “Sir.” She no longer sees Him as merely a Jew, but a Jew who deserves her respect. She still does not understand that Christ is speaking of the spiritual, but proceeds with a question about the method by which Jesus could obtain living water. “Jesus is speaking of the water of life; the woman is thinking of flowing water, so much more desirable than the flat water of cisterns.” 6 Jacob had to dig a well for water. Did Christ know a way of obtaining running water? “‘Canst thou do more than dig a well?’ was the meaning of the woman’s question to Jesus.” 7 Indeed He could! Abraham left them a well of stagnant water, but Jesus would give her a spring of living water. To the Samaritans, Abraham left a religion, but Jesus promised a growing relationship with God. Jesus “does not say He is greater than Jacob, but suggests that He has better water to give than that which was in Jacob’s well.” 8 The well of Jacob was so deep that it had already lasted 1500 years and was still being used. It still exists today, though much of it has been filled. How much deeper then is the love of God for this woman. (Ephesians 3:18-19) 

The Samaritan Woman’s religion was only a dry well, but Christ offered a living relationship. The Samaritan woman “identified herself with a religion which,… instead of leading her to God, only supplied a substitute for Him.” 9 “The gift of God is not dry doctrine, but a living Being.” 10 Dry doctrine creates a thirst, but Christ quenches the thirst. Dry doctrine becomes foul and corrupt over time, but a relationship with Christ refreshes and takes away foulness and corruption. Dry doctrine is stagnant, but a relationship with Christ is active. Dry doctrine evaporates, but the living water is a spring to ourselves as well as to others. “Most men draw their supplies from without; they are rich, happy, and strong, only when externals minister to their strength, happiness, and riches.”11 Christians draw their supplies from their relationship with God. From which do we drink? Do we drink from our religious practices and doctrines or do we continually seek refreshment from a vital relationship with the Savior. When we present the gospel to youth, do we present a religion and a system of beliefs or do we introduce the Savior?

Gently Confront Sin

When a river becomes obstructed the water stagnates and foul and decaying things are collected. One solution is to clear away the obstructions, but the same would only reoccur in a matter of time. The best solution is clear away the obstructions and then increase the water flow. When Jesus asks about her husband, He is seeking to clear away the obstructions. The woman says that she has no husband. “Instead of wringing the rest of the confession from the woman, Jesus makes it for her. It is a touch of His gentleness with the sinner.” 12  “The conversation had passed from the small-talk to the personal.”  13 Notice that Christ made the most of an ignorant sinner’s words instead of attacking. We would be wise to do the same with youth. We must allow the confrontation of the sinner to be with Christ and the gospel, not anything else.

She then calls Jesus a prophet and sidesteps the conversation from herself to the location of worship. It is very natural for someone to cover their eyes when a bright light is flashed. It is natural for a person walking from darkness into the brilliant light of the Son of God to shade their eyes. The Samaritan woman was no different. Her pain is too great not to shade the eyes of her heart lest it be blinded. Yet Jesus is too compassionate to leave her in such a state. He answers her diversionary question then returns to crux of the conversation–the gospel.

Answer Legitimate Questions but Confront Sinners with who Christ is

Christ answers her question, but instead of giving her religion Christ confronts the woman with who He is and thus opens the door for a personal relationship. “‘Jesus’ words are, literally: ‘I am, who speak to you.'”14 Jesus is literally saying that He is God using a term the woman would be familiar with from Exodus 3:14. Notice the progressing realization of the woman concerning the identity of Christ. He first was a Jew, then was to be compared with Jacob, then he was a prophet, and then he was the Messiah, and finally he became her Messiah.

When she realized Christ was the Messiah, she left her water pot and went to tell everyone of Him. When Christ truly becomes Lord, He becomes our first priority. John does not say the woman “forgot” the water pot nor does he say that she “purposely” left it. Either way, now that she had come face to face with Christ, the water pot was of little or no importance to her. Her focus was no longer on the physical, but instead was on the spiritual. As the woman went to tell others, “the living water which the woman received from Jesus had certainly become an overflowing fountain in her life, and others were coming to share the refreshment that she had begun to enjoy.” 15 John points out that many believed because they had heard for themselves through the testimony of the Samaritan woman. We must also bring youth to a personal knowledge of Jesus Christ.

The Master’s Message

 
If Christ had began with her sin, her heart would have been hardened, had he began announcing Himself as the Christ she would have been skeptical, had He approached her as Nicodemus she would have been puzzled. Instead he uses that which she knows well to lead her to a deeper spiritual understanding. “He takes ‘water’ for his text to this water-carrier. In a picture lesson unfolds the truth. Ours are blind eyes if they do not see texts in the commonest things, where from we may preach the gospel of the kingdom.” 16  “Christ did not preach sensational sermons, but sermons which created a sensation.”17 Christ’s objective was the person, not the method or the message. The message was aimed at reaching the person. Do we deliver sensational messages to youth or do we deliver messages to reach youth. Are the words we speak our focus, or the youths to which we speak? Do we care for lost youth as Christ cared for the lost?

 

End Notes

1 William Hendrickson, New Testament Commentary: Exposition of the Gospel According to John (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1981), 155.

2 Joseph S. Exell, The Biblical Illustrator: John I (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1953) 299.

3 Ibid., 317.

4 Ibid., 313.

5 Ibid., 314

6 Raymond E. Brown, The Anchor Bible, vol. 4, The Gospel According to John (i-xii) (New York: Doubleday and Co., Inc., 1966), 170.]

7 Exell, 311.

8 David Thomas, The Gospel of John (Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 1980), 87.

9 Exell, 345.

10 Ibid., 321.

11 Ibid., 332.

12 R.C.H. Lenski, The Interpretation of St. John’s Gospel (Ohio: The Wartburg Press, 1942), 317.

13 Frank E, Gaebelein, ed., Expositor’s Bible Commentary (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1981), vol. 9, John, by Merrill C. Tenney, 55.

14 Barnabus Lindars, The New Century Bible Commentary: The Gospel of John (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1987), 191.

15 F.F. Bruce, The Gospel of John (Grand Rapids: Eerdman’s Publishing Co., 1983), 115.]1@

16 Exell, 307.

17 Ibid., 309.

 

Bibliography

Brown, Raymond E. The Anchor Bible, vol. 4, The Gospel According to John (i-xii). New York: Doubleday and Co., Inc., 1966.

Bruce, F.F. The Gospel of John. Grand Rapids: Eerdman’s Publishing Co., 1983.

Exell, Joseph S.  The Biblical Illustrator: John I Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1953.

Gaebelein, Frank E, ed., Expositor’s Bible Commentary, vol. 9, John, by Merrill C. Tenney, Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1981.

Hendrickson,William New Testament Commentary: Exposition of the Gospel According to John. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1981.

Lenski, R.C.H. The Interpretation of St. John’s Gospel. Ohio: The Wartburg Press, 1942.

Lindars, Barnabus The New Century Bible Commentary: The Gospel of John. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1987.

Thomas, David The Gospel of John. Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 1980.

© Kenneth Sapp, 26 April 1991