Youth Group Discussion: Prodigal son

Game:  Indoor Bobsledding

Bible Verse 1: Luke 15:1-10

         

Video:  Holy Moly video Prodigal Son

Five Questions:

1.     Tell me the story as best you know it of the Prodigal Son.  Was the video different from your memory?

2.     The two stories we read from the Bible are the other famous “lost” parables that Jesus tells.  What do you think these stories are really about?

3.     Have you ever lost something very precious to you, then found it or somehow got it back?  How did it make you feel?

4.     Jesus used stories to get people to understand that God loves them, wants them, and wants them to “find” Him.  Do any of you have a story about finding God?

5.     Does knowing that God wants you to be with Him help you to trust Him every day?

Close in prayer and ask for prayer requests.

Youth Group Discussion: Esther

Bible Verse 1: show the video first (it give a nice overview of the whole story)

         

Video:  Story of Esther http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGQ3oSJ_xbc

Bible Verse- Esther 7: 1-7

Five Questions:

1.     The story of Esther is like a novel.  The story of a powerful King, a pretty but poor girl and a relative to put them together.  Then a bad guy comes along to mess things up.  But they defeat him in the end.

Where is God in all of this?

2.     Why won’t Mordecai bow down to Haman in the streets?  

3.     In the story Mordecai isn’t just a relative of Esther’s; he’s an advisor, a friend and maybe even a father figure.  He gets the info on the plot to kill the king and tells Esther to tell him.  Why isn’t it the book of Mordecai in the Bible?

4.     Esther learns to trust Mordecai but she also learns to trust that the King, her Husband will do the right thing.  Her plan to tell the king about Haman at just the right time is brilliant.  Mordecai didn’t come up with this plan. Do you think it came from God? Why?

5.     Esther’s trust in Mordecai is powerful but she (and God) come up with the perfect plan.  How would you ask God to help you in times of trouble?

Close in prayer and ask for prayer requests.

Youth Group Discussion Naomi and Ruth

Courtesy of Michael Walden

Bible Verse 1: Ruth 1:16-22

         

Video:  Story of Naomi and Ruth (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_5mHxRwkhI)

Bible Verse 2: Ruth 4: 16-22

Five Questions:

1.     The story of Naomi and Ruth is a wonderful story of love and faithfulness.  Reread Ruth 1:16&17.  How does this speech make you feel about Ruth?

2.     Ruth is a Moabite not an Israelite. She wants, in fact she begs, to go with Naomi.  She vows to follow Naomi’s God.  What qualities do you think she’s seen in her mother-in-law that make her want to follow God?

3.     Ruth works hard for Naomi and impresses a relative Boaz who she eventually marries.  She has a baby.  The baby is named Obed.  Do any of you know whose grandfather Obed becomes?   (King David)

4.     So Ruth from Moab becomes part of the big Christian story.  Because she trusted her mother-in-law, she learned to trust God and God made her the great-grandmother of King David and from his family she is connected to Jesus.  She was offered the choice of staying in her own country, but she chose to follow Naomi and God. Do you think she was afraid when she chose to follow Naomi? Why?

5.     Ruth learned to trust God and sometimes that can be scary, very scary.

How does Ruth’s trusting God help you overcome your fears and  trust God?

Close in prayer and ask for prayer requests.

Youth Group Discussion: Deborah

Game:  In honor of  Super  Bowl: Teddy Bear Football,  two hand touch below the waist  

Bible Verse 1: Judges 4:1-16

         

Video:  Holy Moly dvd- “Deborah”

Five Questions:

1.     This week again we have a powerful woman from the Bible.  But this time she’s not just a wife or familial influence but a “judge”, a respected leader of her people.  She also becomes a leader of armies, a general if you will.  How does this make you think of her?

2.     The other women in this series have trusted in the Lord to lead them or give them children or to show them who to marry.  Deborah has wisdom from God and He tells her to tell others to go to battle.  Does this make her power, her connection to God stronger? Why or Why not?

3.     In the video the power of God is shown as a light around the characters.  When the Jewish army is about to attack the Canaanites they are in black and white, then God’s power encompasses them and they become colored and grow in stature.  After the battle the warriors return to their normal size but they are still in color.  What do you think this says about God’s power? 

4.     Deborah from the beginning of the story trusts in God.  Barak the commander trusts in Deborah.  By the end of the battle do you think that Barak has changed? How?

5.     Once again this story has God “speaking” to those who trust Him. But

Barak didn’t hear God, he trusted in Deborah who was close to God. How can the story of Deborah help you learn to trust God?

Close in prayer and ask for prayer requests. 

Youth Group Discussion: Issac and Rebekah

Game:  In honor of  Superbowl: Teddy Bear Football,  two hand touch below the waist  

Bible Verse 1: Genesis 24:1-5, 9-28

         

Video:  Isaac and Rebekah https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrwZrMzX09o

Bible Verse: Genesis 24:50-59, 63-67

Five Questions:

1.     In the Bible reading Abraham’s servant is told he must travel to get Isaac a wife.  What a task!  How would you feel if someone told you “Hey I need you to go find my son a wife.”?

2.     In the video it shows the servant traveling alone, but he would have travelled in a caravan with other people.  When he arrives at the community well what’s the first thing he does?  (Prays to God for help.)

3.     When Rebekah shows up she answers his prayer by her actions.  What else do her actions tell us about this beautiful young woman?

4.     Rebekah was young and beautiful and yet she felt led by God to go with this man she doesn’t know. What does this tell you about her?

5.     Rebekah married Isaac and became a great woman of the Bible.  Her faith and trust in God was amazing.  Do these stories help you learn to trust God’s promises?

Close in prayer and ask for prayer requests.

Children's Church Lesson: Jacob

Story

Say: Have you ever wrestled someone before?  What sounds to wrestlers make when they are wrestling?  (Let the children make wrestling noises/grunts).  In today’s story there is a wrestling match.  When I get to the wrestling part I need you to make those noises.  We are not going to wrestle each other, just make the sounds ok? 

Read  story of Jacob in any children's story bible.  Pause during the wrestling scene. 

Lesson

Jacob made a bad choice didn't he?  What bad choice did Jacob make? (Tricked his father, took what belonged to his brother).  Did God give up on Jacob? (No) What did God do for Jacob? (God blessed him after they wrestled).

A blessing is a special gift.  God has given us all a special gift to, through his son Jesus.  The bible tells us that our bad choices separate us from God.  God has blessed us because Jesus takes away the bad things that we have so we can we with God forever!  If you want to know more about how Jesus did that, ask your parents, or pastor, or Mr. Chad and Mrs. Laura.   

Memory Verse

God loved the world so much, he gave his only son so that anyone who believes in him will live forever. – John 3:16.    

Big Idea

God blessed Jacob even after he made bad choices.  God blesses us through Jesus, in spite of our bad choices. 

Prayer- Ask for Joys and Requests

Take a minute to see if the children have any prayer requests of joys.  Say short prayer thanking God for forgiving us when we make bad choices.  

Craft

Children will decorate their very own wrestling and wrestling uniform: http://www.dltk-kids.com/world/mexico/mpaperdoll-luchalibra.htm

Youth Group Discussion: Jacob and Rachel

From Michael Walden
Director of Youth Ministries
Rockford United Methodist Church

Bible Verse 1: Genesis 29: 9-14

         

Video:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_Auc1x5MII    Straight up story of the text.

Bible Verse: Genesis29: 15-35

Five Questions:

1.     Who is this guy Jacob?  Tell me all you can about him.

2.     So Abraham’s son Jacob has fallen in love with a beautiful woman, Rachel. He has been working for his relative Laban and for pay he asks for Laban’s daughter Rachel as payment.  How does that sound to you?

3.     Have you ever wanted something so badly it consumed your life?  Would you have work 14 years or even 7 years to get what it was you wanted?

4.     Jacob gets “tricked” by Laban into marrying Leah, he was angry but remained married to her and worked another 7 years to get Rachel. Do you think he was wise and faithful or just stubborn?

5.     Jacob was the “trust” child of Abraham and Sarah.  He knows God’s promise to his father to create a whole people from him. He learns to trust God even though Laban tricks him.  Rachel his wife will also learn to trust God.  Do these stories help you learn to trust God’s promises?