Bring it together: about 7:15pm

"Hey, glad to see you all here. Welcome to ??????

Introduce new people: give them a blow-pop, skittles, or snickers bar, etc.

Announcements: upcoming activities, events

Games: Choose from Game List

Discussion Starter:

Tape a piece of paper to everyone's back.
Have everyone write a compliment on the back of 5 different people.
Make the compliments serious!
"If you don't know a person, you can comment on how they dress, their hair color, thier eyes . . ."
Once a person has received 5 compliments and given 5 compliments, they sit down.
Wait until everyone has finished to proceed.

Discussion questions:

Was it easy or hard to write compliments?
Is it easier to compliment or put down?
Do you disagree with any of the compliments you received? Why?
Do you find it hard to receive compliments? Why?
What is self esteem?
Where do most teens get their self esteem?
Why do so many teens have low self esteem?
Is your esteem (value) based on what other people think about you? Should it be?
If someone has low self esteem, what can they do about it?

Wrap up:

"How many of you can draw?(few hands will go up) How many of you can sing?(few hands will go up) How many of you can run really fast?" (few hands will go up)

" I've gone into a kindergarten class and asked the same thing and every hand goes up every time. All the kids are excited about their drawings- they want them up on the fridge for all to see. They all sing and as loud as possible in all different key. They are all confident in all they do".

"You guys don't seem to be as confident. As a matter of fact... only a few hands went up all together. What I want to know is- What happened between then and now? Why is it that we were confident then and aren't now? Why is it that we had a good self image then and don't now?"

Do you know that we receive 19 insults before we receive even 1 compliment. Therapists say that we need 5 compliments to make up for every one insult. If that's true then most of us are getting one/ninety-sixth of the complements we need. That's why everyone has such a terrible self image.

Did you see the news when they blew up the remains of the bombed Federal building in Oklahoma? How long did it take to destroy that building? About 3 seconds. You know, it took 5 years to build that building. It is much easier to destroy something than to build it- That is why so many people tear others down.

Don't buy into the lie that you're not valuable- you are. God holds us valuable. In the Bible it says (Romans 5:8) that "God demonstrated his own love for us so much, that while we rejected him and did things the way we thought were best, Christ died for us. We are valuable and God provides forgiveness and redemption for our sin.

If you want to talk to one of us about how you can know God better and feel better about yourself- talk to one of our staff- they are here for you.