Gifts to Serve Game

This past weekend we had a 7th grade confirmation retreat.  As part of this event, we spent some talking about the marks of discipleship, including service.  To get students thinking creatively about ways they might use their gifts to serve the church, I created a game called Gifts to Serve.  You may recognize the format follows a popular fruit to fruit game. 

Here's how it works.  I created green cards with service opportunities using the pdf you will find below.  I tried to keep them fairly generic so they can be used by a variety of contexts.  If any don't fit your context, feel free to toss them out.  

I then made a big stack of red cards, enough for each student to have 5 each.  As a group, brainstorm a list of adjectives to describe people and gifts they might have.  Things like loud, tall, young, funny, musical, coordinated, organized, smart, etc.  I encouraged them to not go negative, but honestly a couple on the slightly negative side did make for comical pairings.  

In groups of 5-10, have one person be designated at the judge for that round and select a green service card.  Each student chooses a red "gifts" card of theirs to pair with the green "service" card and tosses it into a pile face down.  After all red cards are laid, the judge flips the red cards over and picks the pairing they like best.  They might pick a funny one, a serious one, or the one that is the most unlikely.  It us up to the judge!  The person who laid the selected red card, keeps the green card.  The laid red cards are mixed up and redistributed at random to the players.  The round 1 winner becomes the round 2 judge and play continues!

Get the PDF of game cards here!

I hope you have as much fun with the game as we did.  We are already looking forward to playing it again.

Shine

This little light of mine,  I'm going to let it shine!

We are all familiar with the song of our childhood and it all seems so simple when we are young.  Jesus is the light of the world and we shine with his love when we do good things: when we take turns,  share,  be a good friend,  listen to our parents.  Those are all ways children will tell you they can shine.  They seem simple,  easy for the most part. The last few days,  I've been reflecting on this idea of shine and as easy as it is tackle this idea with kids, it amazes me how complicated we make it as adults.  Allow me to prove my point.  Take a minute,  close your eyes and make a mental list of 5 ways YOU shine.

Maybe you are better at this than some, but I’d wager a Caribou or two that the majority of people can't do this.  I don't believe this isn't because we shine less as we get older.  I believe it had more to do with our not recognizing the light when it's right there in our faces.  It's almost like we become desensitized to the light.  In a world where only the Instagram worthy moments are celebrated or acknowledged,  we pass by the thousands of other moments of light that fill up our lives.

Allow me to take a few minutes and shine a flashlight on some of the lights I've noticed since I start intentionally searching for them.

I see a dad who shines in the night when he  forgoes his bed half the night to sleep upright in a recliner so his sick baby can breathe.

I see a friend who shines when she makes a special effort with gluten free snacks so another child feels included at a birthday party.

I see a thirteen year old boy who shines when he gives up time on his electronics to help his little brother build a snowman.

I see a grandpa who shines by giving a ride to a kiddo who didn't make the bus.

I see friends who shine by bringing another family dinners because sometimes life throws a lot at us.

I see a neighbor who shines by making a special trip back home when he gets a call that a neighbor needs help getting her groceries inside.

I see a co-worker who shines when she brings a coffee to someone who's had a tough week.

I see a mom who shines when she passes on a shower because the 10 minute she should have had is used helping her child with a project.

I see a patient cook who shines when she takes the extra time to let a child shine by cracking the eggs,  even if it means fishing shells out.

None of these moments in and of themselves are huge tasks.  If we did share them on social media,  they certainly wouldn't go viral,  but they are the moments that make our lives,  our world, shine a little brighter collectively.  

Maybe when we look for light,  we spend too much energy focusing on the searchlights and don't pay enough attention to the collective flickering flames all around us. My challenge to you this Epiphany season is to close your eyes every now and then and think about light.  Maybe a moment or two with our eyes closed is what we need to better see the light shining around us. And while we're at it, maybe we need to add another verse to our childhood shining song.

Don't let adulting whoooo it out, I'm gonna let it shine!

Let it shine! Let it shine! Let it shine!

Martin Luther Game

In celebration of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, we are doing a rotation unit on Martin Luther for Sunday School.  Here is the lesson plan I created for our games rotation.  I hope it can be helpful to some.  I'd love to hear how it worked for you if you use it at all.

Bible Zone-Games Rotation

Main Goal – The students will read a book and play a game to get a good overview of the life of Martin Luther

Prayer

Begin with this or a similar prayer – “Dear God, thank you for your Word, which we have come to study this morning. We thank you for people of all times and places who are willing to stand up and preach the good news of your love for us. Help us to learn more about the Reformation during our class today. In Jesus’s name we pray, Amen.”

Story

The story for today will be presented by reading the book, MartinLuther: A Man Who Changed the World by Paul Maier. The story will be read in segments as they students play along with the accompanying game.

Lesson

Print the game board, laminate strips and lay out the board (in numbered order, but arrangement you like).  Have the class work as one team, but allow them to take turns navigating the Martin Luther Playmobil figure to move along the game board.  Begin by rolling a die with the options of 1 2 or 3 only.  (Create one by taping over the sides of existing die.  Consider using a large version.  For extra interest use printed out LutherRose seals in lieu of dots.)  When Luther lands on a square with words, read the square aloud and move the figure accordingly.  Each time Luther lands on a “Story Square” read the accompanying pages in the book, Martin Luther: A Man Who Changed the World Iand.   After reading the listed page(s), re-roll the die to resume play. 

Wrap-up

When the students have finished the game, discuss what they learned, found surprising, etc.   Review the pages of the books, looking at the illustrations to guide you.

Closing

Close with a prayer thanking God for sending brave people who will preach God’s message of love even when it is difficult for them. 

October Prayer Station

Autumn leaves are falling down and covering the ground.  God's love covers us with hope, comfort and grace.  Lift a handful of leaves and say a prayer asking God to cover you with love.

Children of ALL ages love sifting their hands through the leaves and watching them float downward.  What a beautiful, relaxing way to pray!  This may be one of my favorite prayer stations and I know it is popular with many from toddler to adults.

September Prayer Stations

We just began a midweek worship service in my context.  To try and give the service a different feel than the Sunday morning worship services, we decided to plant a few prayer stations throughout the sanctuary space.  Seeing as the month of September come with changing leaves, back to school and lots of other changes, I decided to make the first set of prayer stations centered around the idea of transitions.  At one station, participants are invited to choose and apple or leaf shape and write about a transition they would like God's guidance on.  A big bulletin board is then available for the prayer requests to be hung on.  We also encourage participants to respond to one another's prayers through the board as well.

A second transition themed-prayer station has a series of fall themed mazes available.  Participants are encouraged to focus on a transition they would like God's guidance on as they work their way through the maze.

Pairing Up

A week or two back, the text was about the mission of the seventy.  I decided to focus in on the idea of Jesus instructing the disciples to pair up as they set out to share the Good News.  In my children's sermon, I talked about pairs, where we find pairs, etc. After telling them that this was how Jesus wanted them to go, we wondered why.  The kids had lots of great ideas (safety, courage, easier, friendship, and so on).  We then paired up and took a short little journey of our own to the Prayground, specifically the sensory table.  Inside the sensory table, I had a mix of socks from big to little in all sorts of colors and fabrics.  I invited each child to find a pair of socks and put them on their hands.  We pretended the socks we puppets and practiced sharing the Good News of God's love with others.

Little Green Men

This coming Sunday we begin the long green season of Ordinary Time.  As I was prepping for this week's readings, I found it very timely that our Gospel reading involved Centurions given that it is Memorial Weekend.  This gave me a springboard for a great sensory table and Children's Sermon idea that I hope will not prove too controversial.

Let's begin with the color green.  Ordinary Times is marked with the color green and I think it is great to explain to our youngest worshipers that this helps remember this is a growing time.  We don't have the fanfare or excitement of some other celebratory weeks, but we know we are growing in our faith and understanding.  For this reason, I filled the sensory table with lots of piece of green ribbons, fabric, rick rack and the like.  I have found adding lots of soft material like this helps keep the noise level low.  When there is too much clinky stuff in the sensory table, we have more volume issues.

Now to connect this week's Gospel reading and Memorial Weekend.  Given that this week's reading is about a Centurion, or soldier, and it is also Memorial Weekend, I decided to add little green army men to the bins.  In an effort to keep the violence level low, I did sort through and remove any of the guys with big machine guns.  I hung onto the ones with the metal detectors and walkie talkies.  I was able to cut the guns out of the few fellows as well.

Students will be invited to search through the green bins to hunt for the  soldiers and when they find one, they are encouraged to say a prayer for our soldiers.  They will also be invited to take home one soldier as reminder to continue to pray for our soldiers.

Here are the activity directions:

 We are now in the “Ordinary Season” part of the church year.  This is a season where we hear stories to help us grow in our faith.

Today’s story involves centurions.  Centurion is an old word for soldiers.  A centurion asked Jesus to heal his servant, and Jesus did!

This weekend we celebrate Memorial Weekend.  It is a time when we remember people who have died, especially soldiers.

Look through the green in the bin to find a solider.  Think about how Jesus helped the solider in today’s story.  Pray for our soldiers.

Take home a solider to remind you to keep praying for our soldiers.