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To use the topic of family strife as a springboard to talk about a “loving father” who will always be there for you. Supplies: 1. Youth Challenge or game props 2. React Cards (blank 3x5 cards) and pens or pencils for everyone 3. A lot of newspaper and several roles of tape Students Arrive:
Bring it Together: (about 15 minutes after start time) "Hey, glad to see you all here. Welcome to INSERT NAME OF YOUTH GROUP!” Introduce New People: Give students a Blow-pop, Skittles, or Snickers bar, etc. Youth Challenge: Choose an upfront game from our “Up-front Games” list (CLICK HERE) Invite two students to volunteer and challenge one another. (Soda Slam, Surgical Glove Blow-up, Joust, or just a burp contest. Be creative!) Announcements: Upcoming activities, events Games: You can choose games from the game list (CLICK HERE) and/or use this game. The Big Bad Wolf Divide into groups of three. Give each group a small stack of newspapers and some tape. They must build a newspaper shelter of some kind. It must be big enough to get all three team members inside. The wolf or wolves (staff) then attempt to blow the shelter down. Afterwards, have a giant paper fight. If you want, you can talk about how many American homes are falling apart- not structurally, but as a family unit. Discussion Starter: Get some students who can come up to represent family members in a typical American family. (No acting is required here, they will just hold signs as you explain.) " I need 5 volunteers to help me be the average American family- Dad, Mom and 3 kids- Tim, you would be a good Dad... " Have a paper labeled “Dad” ready to stick on him. Do the same for the whole family, labeling 4 more volunteers. Have a helper with a marker, tape and 3x5 cards ready to write down responsibilities of each family members. Ask, "So what does a Dad do?" You could get answers like "Nothing!", "Beats his kids!", "Goes to Work!" Try to filter the joke answers and encourage the truthful ones. "So, would everybody agree that the average family has Dad as the primary wage-earner? Write “$” on a piece of paper and stick it on Dad (with tape) if they say he is the wage earner. “Cool, is he also the one who handles discipline?” Write “discipline” on a piece of paper and stick it on Dad when they agree that he is the discipliner. Repeat the steps for each family member until each has several pieces of paper stuck on them. Family members might have the following words stuck to them: Dad- Discipline, money, yard care Mom- money, nurture, clean house Oldest bro- chores, beat up kid brother Middle child- babysit, fun Little sis- no responsibilities "Now if this is the typical home in America- let's say that Dad leaves." Tear up the Dad sign, pull off Dad's responsibilities (that were taped onto him), and sit Dad down. "Now we have to transfer Dad's responsibilities to the rest of the family. (Holding up the $ piece of paper) Who is going to replace the income?" You could get answers like "A boyfriend!”, "Alimony!” "Well might some of this financial responsibility fall on mom? Well she is already working some now; she will have to increase hours and we'll give some of the responsibility to older brother." Tear $ in half, tape half on Mom and half on older brother. Divide the rest of the responsibilities and adjust everyone else's responsibility so it balances (those little pieces of paper being switched from person to person and the adding of more responsibilities on each family member really demonstrates the drastic affect of divorce in a very visual way). "Now what if a step-dad shows up? Bring guy in from audience and put “Step-Dad” sign on him. "What responsibilities does he take? Does he marry the mom or the whole family?" (This question will affect whether the rest of the family will rely on him to take responsibilities. If there is no trust- then there probably won't be any transfer except from the mom.) Continue discussion and switching as desired. Wrap Up: Use the video clip from Step-Mom from our video clips page. (CLICK HERE) Then tell a rehearsed modern day story of the prodigal son. Conclude by telling them that it was a modern retelling of a story Jesus told in the Bible. “Jesus told this story so we could get a glimpse of what God is like. God is a loving father who doesn’t care about your past, but he cares about your future. He’s waiting for us with his arms wide open, waiting to say, ‘Welcome home my son, welcome home my daughter.’” Don’t whip up this story 5 minutes before you do it. Rehearse this. The responses you ask for are going to be based on this story. You want a clear picture of a loving father who’s willing to forgive the past and welcome us home. Pass out blank 3x5 cards- I call them “React Cards” because they allow students to write down their reaction to the discussion. Have everyone follow these instructions: “Everyone write your name and phone # on the card.” “Now Write #1 on the card and answer this question: How many of you would like a forgiving, loving father like that?” “If you are interested in a relationship with God, write down a #2 and write ‘yes.’ Now fold your card in half and hold it in the air and we'll pick it up. Please ask us if you have any questions about tonight's subject, we'll be happy to answer them. Have a good night, we'll see you next week.” |
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