Complete Meetings

It’s Your Thang – Your Heart

Scripture quotations are from the GOD’S WORD translation, used by permission.
GOD’S WORD is a copyrighted work of God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society. Quotations are used by permission.
Copyright 1995 by God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society. All rights reserved.

The purpose of this session is to explain that love is the key to ministry. To minister is to love. And love comes from the heart.

Activate Your Audience

Have a Heart

Purpose: To help youth understand it is better to give love than to receive it.

Materials: 10 heart-shaped pieces of pink paper for each group member, a pencil for each group member

Setup: Pass out one pencil and ten hearts to each group member.

Time: Approximately 15 minutes

Procedure: Explain: The object of this game is to give away the most hearts. Follow these rules:

1. When giving away a heart, write your initials on the heart so everyone will know you gave that heart away.
2. You may only give hearts away to a person one at a time. Before giving another heart to the same person, you must give another heart away to someone else.
3. If you receive a heart from someone, you may not then give one of your hearts back to the same person. You must give a heart away to someone else first.

Give your group exactly ten minutes (or whatever time you think best) in which to give away the hearts.

After time is up, instruct everyone to sit down and count how many initials are on each heart for each person. Then, go around the circle and ask each person for the total for each set of initials. Declare the winner.

Bring them Closer

Have a Heart (continued)

Discuss the following questions with your group.

1. What would the game have been like if the object was to get the most hearts?
Answer: Everyone would have just stood around waiting for someone else to give.

2. Each of you started with only ten hearts. How is it that most of you gave away more than ten hearts?
Answer: You had to get some hearts in order to give more away.

Transition: The hearts that you gave away represent love. Each time you give love to someone, you give part of your heart away. Most people think the object of life is to get the most love, so they just stand around waiting for someone to give. For the Christian, however, the object of life is to give love away to others. And, as God designed it, you can only give so much love away before you need more love yourself, but that shouldn’t keep you from giving in the first place.

The greatest thing you can ever do on this planet is love — and love comes from the heart. We’re going to look today/tonight at how to become great lovers — loving from the heart.

Music

Focus on music about loving God and others. If possible, sing “They Will Know We are Christians by our Love”

Communicate the Word: It’s Your Thang — Your Heart

A. Introduction

B. Review the greatest commandment (Matthew 22:38 – 40)

1. Giving God your heart in love is the greatest thing you could ever do
2. Giving others your heart in love is the second greatest thing you could ever do
3. Our “THANG” — our ministries — are nothing without this kind of love

C. Transition: Love must be given through actions in ministry — in your THANG

II. Yeah, you’ve got spiritual gifts. So what? (I Corinthians 13:1 – 3)

A. The gift of tongues is pointless without love
B. The gift of prophecy/knowledge is pointless without love
C. The gift of giving/service is pointless without love
D. Your THANG is pointless without love — totally useless

III. Love takes action — it gives from deep within the heart (I Corinthians 13:4 – 7)

A. Patience: thinks of the other first and waiting without thought of self
B. Kindness: to parents, teachers, enemies, friends, etc.
C. Doesn’t envy: celebrates the success of others without wanting a share of the profit
D. Doesn’t boast: doesn’t use the mouth to say, “Hey, look at me! Look what I can do!”
E. Isn’t proud: doesn’t walk around thinking it’s better than anyone else
F. Isn’t rude: treats authority figures and peers with the greatest respect
G. Isn’t self-seeking: isn’t always asking, “What’s in it for me?”
H. Isn’t easily angered: doesn’t fly off the handle when things don’t go my way
I. Keeps no record of wrongs: forgives and forgets on a daily basis
J. Doesn’t delight in evil: doesn’t listen to, watch, or participate in sin
K. Rejoices in the truth: wants to be totally honest about everything
L. Always protects: stands guard to defend others (helpless, less fortunate, friends, etc.)
M. Always trusts: doesn’t doubt God or others
N. Always hopes: always expects the best
O. Always perseveres: sticks do it — doesn’t just start fast and then fade

IV. Gifts are Tools with Which to Love(I Corinthians 13:8 – 13)

A. Again, gifts are great, but they are only tools of this present age with which to love
B. It’s time to grow up and realize that the point of the game is to give the most hearts (refer to game)

V. Conclusion (John 13:35)

Like the game with the hearts, most people think the object of the game is to get the most love. Everybody’s looking at self. But the object of the game if you are a Christian is to give away the most love. Everybody wants love, so lets start being the ones to give it. How does the Bible say that non-Christians will know Jesus is real? “They will know we are Christians by our love…”

Do Something About It

Explain: If time allows, pass out a new set of blank hearts to everyone (at least one per person). Have each person write down the name of one or more people that they need to learn to love from each of the following categories: teachers, parents, friends, enemies, siblings, etc. Have them take these hearts and place them in their Bible or at home in a place where they will see it and it will remind them of the love that they need to show for these people.

Pray and dismiss.

Do Not Be Conformed

The purpose of this study is to teach youth to avoid the habit of imitating the pattern of sin in the world, and instead look to God and be transformed into something much more exciting.

Activate Your Audience

1. CHINESE WRITING

Have your “assistant” leave the room knowing the pattern. You ask the youth to come up with a short word that you can translate into Chinese (short — because your Chinese is not that good). After the youth have chosen the word, your assistant should come back inside. You draw Chinese looking letters on the board and your assistant guesses the word immediately.

Here’s the trick. For consonants, start a sentence with that letter. For instance, if the word is “moon,” you might say, “Maybe this is it.” For vowels, draw a Chinese type character using the same number of lines as the position of the vowel in the pattern AEIOU. Still using “moon” as an example, you would say, “Maybe this is it.” Then draw two Chinese characters, each with four lines, since “o” is the fourth vowel. Then say, “Now, do you have it?”

The point? There is a pattern that you have to know to figure out the solution.

2. THREE BY THREE

Place nine hymnals or same-sized rectangular objects on the floor in a three-by-three pattern. Have your “assistant” leave the room knowing the trick. Have the youth pick one of hymnals or objects to be “it.” Then, have your assistant come back inside. Using a pointing stick, deliberately point to the wrong hymnal, but place the pointer on the hymnal in the same position as the real hymnal. For instance, if “it” is in the upper right-hand corner of the pattern of hymnals, point to the upper right-hand corner of one of the other hymnals and ask “Is this it?”

The point? There is a pattern that you have to know to figure out the solution.

Build a Bridge

LUKEWARM DRINKS

Offer refreshing drinks before you continue or when the youth first come in from other activities. Only this time, have the canned drinks be lukewarm, and the water, and whatever else you might serve. Let everyone react to the situation, then offer ice to cool them down.

The point? No one likes a lukewarm drink. God doesn’t like a lukewarm Christian who tries to follow the pattern of the world.

Communicate the Word

I. LIVING PARABLE

Tell the story of the three riddles that Indiana Jones had to overcome in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. The riddles were as follows…

1. Only the penitent man will pass. Indy had to bow his head to avoid getting it cut off.
2. In the name of God you shall walk. Indy had to step on the letters of God’s name.
3. The leap from the lion will take you there. Indy had to step off a cliff, so it seemed.

Transition: To get to where God wants you to go, you have to follow certain instructions, or the consequences will follow. If Indiana Jones had just ignored the instructions and gone on ahead his way, he’d be dead by now. We, too, have instructions to follow that will get us safely through the challenges ahead.

II. LIVING WORDS

A. The pattern of this world

1. Fame (Matthew 6:1)

Change who you are to become what other people are so you’ll feel accepted and people will like you. Look up to the popular people and get in line behind them to take their place when they are gone.

2. Fortune (Matthew 6:19 – 21)

Go to school so you can get into college, so you can get a good job, so you can make a lot of money, so you can buy a lot of stuff and save a lot of money, so you can retire when you’re old, so you can die and lose it all. What’s wrong with this pattern?

3. Power (Luke 9:25)

Just take over. Follow the example of all the other Hitlers and rise to the top no matter who you have to hurt and who you have to step on. Do your very best to become the most powerful person in your little world, be it school, or home, or work, or a big company, or a political organization, or a state, or a country, or the entire world. When you finally make it to the top you’ll hear a still small voice from above say, “How does it look from down there?” You know what we’re going to do tomorrow, don’t you? The same thing we do everyday — try and rule the world.

4. Pleasure (Hebrews 11:25)

It feels good, so do it. Listen to all the commercials and videos and movies and songs that tell you that there is a lot of fun stuff to do out there, especially the stuff your parents and youth ministers are telling you not to do, and enjoy the pleasure. After all, the mass media and your friends can’t be wrong, can they? It sure does feel good. As a matter of fact, it feels real good. I think I’ll throw away the rules I’ve grown up with and my reputation and my sanity so I can just enjoy these things. That’s the pleasure principle.

III. The Transformation of the Renewing of your Mind

0. Through God’s Word
1. Through Prayer
2. Through living your life the way Jesus would live it

In every situation you face in life, the world says to ask these questions…

a. What’s wrong with doing that?
b. What’s in it for me?
c. How much can I make for myself?
d. How good does it feel?
e. How good does it taste?

In the Christian life, there is only one question to ask…

Given my present situation, what would Jesus do if He were me?

Ask yourself what Jesus would do. Then do what Jesus would do under any and every circumstance regardless of the consequences to yourself or others. If you do that, then you will have broken the mold, thrown a wrench in the works, and gotten off the merry-go-round to become all that you were intended to be.

Do Something About It

Explain to the group that you cannot do what Jesus would do unless you know who Jesus is, and unless you know Him personally. To illustrate, show the video Secret Ambition by Michael W. Smith on the video cassette TwoxFour.

Sum up with specific challenges that fit your group. Discuss different practical ways that your group can do as Jesus would do: on school campuses, at home with family, in church when visitors come, etc.

God Is The Best

The purpose of this session is to teach youth some of the basic attributes of God — that He is always there, that He is all-powerful and all-knowing — and because God is like this, He wants to have a relationship with us.

Activate Your Audience

The Best Thing

Ask ten people in your group to finish the following statement (if you have less than ten, let everyone respond): “The best thing I have ever seen or heard in my life is…” Allow each person to respond, then write the responses where everyone can see them. Briefly discuss what makes each thing so great.

Bring them Closer

Set the New World Record

Break your group in half to form two distinct groups. Make sure each group is about the same size. Give each group exactly five minutes to come up with some idea that has never been done before — something that would possibly put them into the Guinness Book of World Records for being the first and best group to ever do that particular thing. It must be something that involves every member of the group. Then, at the end of the five minutes, ask each group to demonstrate what World Record they are going to set.

Transition: Explain to your group that tonight you are going to look at some of the World Records that God holds. He’s the oldest, strongest, and smartest person in the world.

Music

Lead your group to sing some songs that focus on God’s attributes. Examples include…

God is So Good

Lord, You are More Precious Than Silver

Our God is an Awesome God

Communicate the Word

I. God has always been and will always be (Psalm 90:2)

A. He had no beginning

Illustration: Draw a line segment on the board. Place a large dot at the beginning of the segment and at the end. Explain that humans have a beginning (when we are conceived by our parents) and and end (when we die). Then, in place of the large dot on the left side of the line segment, make an arrow. The arrow means that the line goes on infinitely in that direction. Explain that God has no beginning. He has always been there. Allow time for your group to ask questions about what this means.

Application: Explain that God has always been working in your life. There is never a time when He wasn’t thinking about you and planning good things for your life. When you were conceived, He was there, making sure you grew into a new baby. He was there when you experienced your most embarassing moment. He was there this morning when you woke up. He has always been there for you.

B. He has no end

Illustration: Now draw an arrow on the right side of your line segment so that both sides have arrows. God will never end because He is eternal. Allow time for your group to ask questions.

Application: Explain that God will always be there for you. When you have the greatest day of your life, God will be there. When you have the worst day of your life, He will be there to comfort you. He wants to be with you all the time. So, whenever you choose, you can talk to God because He is right there.

II. God can do anything He chooses to do (Matthew 28:18, 19:26)

A. God chooses to do whatever He wants — no one tells God what to do (ultimate authority)

Discussion: Let the group discuss what they would do in one 24-hour period if no one on earth could tell them what to do. They can do anything they want, and no one will get in their way. Anything is game. Write down some of the things your group comes up with. Chances are, the things they do will be very self-centered (stealing money & cars, eating all the food & candy you wanted, etc.) Don’t interrupt them. Let them live out their dream day.

Explain that God can do whatever He wants because He is God.

Application: Go back over the list and try to find things your group wanted to do that are not selfish — things that help other people. You may find only a few or none at all. Now think about God. Explain that though God can do whatever He wants, He has not chosen to be selfish. He has chosen to give each one of us a life. He has given us all the freedom to accept or reject Him. He came to earth to die for us because He loved us. God could have chosen anything in the universe to do, and yet His greatest desire was to create you and love you.

B. God has the power to do whatever He chooses (ultimate power)

Illustration: Explain to your group that you want to see who the strongest person in the group is. Ask everyone to stand up. Announce that the strongest person in the group will be whoever can stand on one foot for the longest period of time without holding on to something/someone and without moving. Say, “Go!” and let everyone start. When the last person standing, have that person come forward. Explain that now you are going to test the strengh of the strongest person in your group. Ask this person to, in front of everyone, pick his/her up and hold it up for ten seconds without using anyone or anything else. Of course, this is impossible.

Explain that, as humans, we have limitations. We cannot do everything that we want to do. Some things are just not possible. Explain that with God, however, everything is possible. He can do whatever He chooses to do. Allow time for questions from your group. Be prepared for some crazy questions. Don’t be afraid to say, “I don’t know.”

Application: Explain if God is powerful enough to do whatever He chooses, then He is powerful enough to be your God. He can provide your every need, get you through the toughest times, take care of you through any problem, and be all that you need Him to be.

III. God knows everything (I John 3:19 – 20)

A. He knows everything about the universe

Illustration: Tell the following story. “Back in the early 1900’s, a man’s car broke down. He pulled off to the side of the road and began fiddling with the engine. He couldn’t locate the problem, and he began to be very frustrated. A few moments later, another car pulled up and a man stepped out and offered to help. He put his head under the hood and quickly found the problem. ‘How did you know what the problem was?’ asked the first man. The stranger responded, ‘Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Henry Ford. I invented this automobile. I know everything about it.'” Explain that God knows everything about the universe because He invented it — He created it.

Application: Explain that though science has made great strides in its study of the universe, we will never understand all there is to know. We can’t even predict the weather with 100% accuracy. God, however, knows everything about the universe. He created every planet, star, flower, sunset, river, mountain, and valley. This week, take the time to look around you at all of the things that God created.

B. He knows everything about you

Illustration: Ask someone to volunteer, or call on someone. Bring this person forward. Tell the person to take five steps across the room. Each step must be taken in a unique way — in a way that no one could possibly guess what the person will do. Everyone expects the person to just put one foot in front of the other, but perhaps the person could walk backwards for one step, hop one step, roll on the floor for one step, etc. The point is, no one should be able to guess what the person is going to do next. When the person has finished, explain that only God knew what this person was going to do.

Explain that God knows all about you. He knows where you have been, where you are now, and where you are going tomorrow. He knows how many hairs are on your head. He knows what you are thinking right now. He knows if you will be alive in five years or dead tomorrow.

Application: Ask your group to answer this question, “What makes a best friend?” One of the most common answers is, “Someone who knows you — someone who understands you.”

Explain that God wants to be your best friend. He knows you better than anyone else, and His whole point in creating you was to have a close relationship with you. He wants to be a part of your every waking moment.

Do Something About It

Read the following questions out loud to your group. Ask each person to listen for that one question that really hits home. Then, ask everyone to think about that one question and answer it honestly and quietly. Will it be God or the other thing?

God will be there when your parents/friends let you down. Who are you going to depend on?

God will be there when sinful pleasures don’t feel good anymore. Which one do you want?

God has more power than money, so which one do you want more of?

God is more powerful than the crowd, so who are you going to please?

God is more powerful than you, so which one are you going to spend more time with?

God knows who you are going to marry, so why not ask Him to help you find him/her?

God knows what you’ll do after high school, so why not ask Him to show you what to do?

God understands your deepest fears, so why not trust Him to take care of you?

God knows everything about you, so why not give everything you have to Him?

Pray that everyone in your group would recognize that God, because he is always present, all powerful, and all knowing, wants to be a part of everyone’s life on a daily basis.

Just Give It Up!

The purpose of this study is to help young Christians realize that following Jesus doesn’t require a few changes — it causes drastic changes.

Activate Your Audience

VIDEO GOSSIP

Set up a video camera in a private room to record each young person making a statement. The statement will be what was whispered to them by the previous participant. The statement is whispered only once, and the person on camera must attempt to repeat what she/he heard. This is just like sharing gossip in a circle, only you get to see how the message deteriorates with each person. There will be a drastic change from the original message to the final one, illustrating the point.

If you don’t have a video camera, play the game in a circle with each person simply whispering to the next.

Sample message: Henry Barfinsnickel, with flaming sword in hand, soundly defeated the Great Fugi monster atop Mt. Carmel before receiving his much-deserved dessert: a hot fudge sundae.

Discuss with the group how the message deteriorated and why. Then, shift gears by talking about how drastic the change was from the original to the final. Explain that this drastic change is the same kind of change Jesus is looking for in his followers.

Build a Bridge

Ask people to share what it would be like if they were suddenly blind/deaf/paralyzed for the rest of their lives. What changes would have to be made? Are those changes simple or drastic?

Constructive Communication

I. The followers of Jesus did not follow a list of rules (Like the Rich Young Ruler – Matthew 19:16 – 22)

A. They did not follow Him because they were supposed to
B. They did not follow Him because they were forced to
C. They followed Jesus because they wanted to

II. The folowers of Jesus did not become religious (Like the Pharisees – Luke 11:42)

A. They did not change their appearance
B. They did not change their language
C. They became imitators of Jesus

III. The followers of Jesus made drastic changes in their lives to follow Jesus

A. They didn’t just adjust their daily schedule — they left their jobs, homes, & families
B. They didn’t just drop a bad habit or two — they became a separate entity on earth
C. They didn’t devote a few hours a week — they lived and died for the name of Jesus

IV. What made them follow Jesus

A. He always saw good in them. He always sees good in you (Psalm 139).
B. He loved them in spite of their sin. He loves you in spite of yours (I John 1:9 – 10).
C. He was patient when they fell. He’ll be patient when you fall (Psalm 23).
D. He offered the best life of all. He offers you the best life of all (John 10:10).

V. Don’t follow Jesus for the wrong reasons

A. Duty (I’m supposed to or God will get me)
B. Force (My parents make me)
C. Habit (I just grew up in church — Christianity is my religion)

VI. Follow Jesus because you want to

A. Spend some time with him
B. Read the four gospels — listen to the message
C. No one who actually spent real time with Jesus ever stopped following him (The Pharisees and other outsiders knew about him, but his disciples knew him personally).

Do Something About It

7. Spend time with Jesus before school starts. Read the gospels. Listen to what he has to say and watch what he does. Then make your decision. You won’t be disappointed.

8. Make some drastic changes. Don’t let your Christian life be boiled down to church attendance, a cool Bible, and a few Christian T-shirts. Devote your life to him if you choose to follow him and leave everything else behind.

Great message for the new year…

How many of you make New Year’s resolutions? People make them because they feel like the new year is a new start, a fresh beginning to start over again.

But with God everything and every day is new!

Read Titus 3:3-7

‘Washing of Rebirth’ – NEW CREATION

Humans are a 3 part being…spirit, soul, and body.
Let’s examine this through the eyes of a computer geek. I’ll explain it in computer terms…
The outer case of the computer is the body.
The hard drive is our soul.
The operating system is our spirit.

When we are born again (rebirth, new creation), we still have the same case (body) we still have the same hard drive (soul) with all the mess on it, but God wipes out the old operating system and gives us a new one. This new operating system works far better than the old one. If we follow the manual that comes with our new operating system (the Bible) we can start to clean up our messy hard drive and get things straightened out. And the cool part is that we have 24-hour, on-site tech support!

Read Ezekiel 36:26 and 2 Corinthians 5:17

The word in the Greek that is used here for ‘new’ does not mean ‘new’ as in something new in time like, “I bought a new car, it’s a ’95.” The word means new as in new in nature, something completely different and far better. Like a caterpillar becomes something new when it becomes a butterfly. Before the metamorphosis, it was a slow moving caterpillar that was bound by gravity to walk on the ground. If it wanted to travel 1 mile it could take weeks, even months for it to get to it’s destination. But after its ‘rebirth’, it comes out a completely new creature. No longer bound to walk on the ground. It has a new freedom like it’s never had before. It can fly! It can soar high about the ground that once held it captive. If it wants to travel that same mile, it can probably do it in less than an hour. Its whole life has completely changed.

‘Renewal’ – NEW THINGS EACH DAY

God is not like a video game that you buy for your computer, play it for a while, beat the game and then just kinda get bored with it. He has a new expansion pack ready for you to download every day! He has new things to share with you every day to help you face whatever may be ahead.

Read Matthew 13:52 and Romans 12:2

The important thing to remember about this expansion pack is that you don’t just wake up with the expansion pack ready to play. You have to be willing to set aside the time to go on to the Internet and download the expansion pack.

Well, the same thing with God, you don’t just wake up renewed everyday. It takes some work and discipline on your part. You need to set aside that time with God every day to read, pray and just talk with God, and as you do that, He will show you new things, teach you new things, and help you in whatever way you need.

Mercy – NEW MERCIES EACH DAY

Another cool thing is that God has given us a reset button. If our computer crashes because of all the junk on our hard drive, God has shown us how to reboot our computer, run a scan disk to find the problem and then he’ll tell us how to fix it.

Read 1 John 1:9 and Lamentations 3:22-23

End by giving an invitation for salvation, rededication, or just a general renewed commitment…

We are having a “Hillbilly Hangout” for our young adults class. (please excuse the reinforced stereotypes throughout, but it’s all done in good fun!) We made up a flyer beforehand and handed it out. It went something like this:

Hilbily Hangowt!

Place:
Time:

Onli Hilbilys aloud. That meens thet no won can com unles thay ar a bon I fiid hilbily an LOOK lak won!

all hb’s nid to bring a can a soup an a frend to cher it.

hilbilys ownly!

The kids need to dress as a hillbilly and bring a can of soup. All of the cans of soup will be mixed in a big pot and served as hillbilly stew. (its usually quite good believe it or not!). You may want to add biscuits or cornbread to the menu.

Games:

Apple Dance: Download and burn some free bluegrass music off of MP3.com. This will be the music used for the apple dance. Object of the game is to get two people to dance with an apple held between their foreheads. A “caller” (the person that says “swing your partner” and “two steps left”) can spice the competition up a bit by calling out feats that may be difficult. Last couple with an undropped apple is the winner.

Potato Game: Team relay game where players must pick up potatoes from a chair using their lower extremities (no hands) and carry it to a bucket and drop it. a team member can place the potato on a chair for them, but thats all the help they get. Make up rules accordingly

Mountain Dew Drinking Contest: Most or fastest. You pick.

Greased Pig: If you can obtain live piglet and grease it down with solid Crisco vegetable oil this one would be CLASSIC to get on video.

Challenge Outline:

Title- God Used Hillbillies

Purpose – God uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things.

1. God used a farmer. David. 1Samuel 16:19
2. God used fishermen. Peter/James. Matthew 4:18.
3. God used a carpenter. Jesus. Matthew 13:55

Closing Verse and thoughts

1Corinthians 1:27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;

Adapt to your own group!

Here’s some of the things you may need or want to complete the evening:

Apples
Potatoes
Buckets
Mountain Dew
Decorations – Hay Bales, Section for photos
Burner for the Hillbilly stew
Prizes
Certificates of award