The church fall season brings tons of opportunities for friendship evangelism and a boost of momentum. It doesn’t happen automatically, though.
Ideas for youth and children's ministry in small churches. For smarter decisions, easier planning, and better results, set your foundation!
Collect the Ciphers, Run from the Guards, and Decode the Secret Message! Click on the link to watch a short 5-minute video on how to play the game: https://youtu.be/U1oc379BZRQ This printable scavenger adventure is meant to introduce players to the spiritual discipline called the Nature Walk! Players will need to hunt and find 26 different Ciphers to decode 5 different Mystery Words, all while trying to run away from the Guards. Players will also find various Power Cards scattered across the playing area which can grant them temporary powers to influence the game. The first player to decode the mystery message wins. After the game is over, the 5 Mystery Words will unlock the 5 Steps in the Nature Walk (a Spiritual Discipline that helps us connect with God while in nature). Players will then walk through this practice together and learn to connect to God in prayer in a deeper and more intentional way. This 40-Page Scavenger Hunt Kit contains the following: -26 Different Ciphers with 26 unique Hieroglyphics (clues) -5 Different Mystery Words to decode -5 Minute "How to Play” Video -72 Power Cards -Nature Walk Step by Step guide -Easy to Follow Instructions with lots of tips to guide all Players -Answer Key for the Game Master -Guide on how to adapt the activity for any difficulty level and age group Ages 5 and up recommended, tips and detailed solutions are included to help younger players and to make the game stress free. Game play is about 30-90 minutes and no internet or phones are needed! This Scavenger Hunt is not only fun, engaging and creative, but it gets players excited discover a new spiritual discipline called the Prayer of Examen. What do you need for this escape room? -Color printer -Pencils/pens -Paper -Tape (Optional): You can still hide candy and chocolate throughout the play area as well. What's included? -PDF containing 40-page Scavenger Hunt Package (Codex, Mystery Messages, Ciphers, Power Cards, Game Master's Answer Key, and Spiritual Discipline Handout) This Scavenger Hunt Kit is designed for churches of any Christian denomination. This game can be completed individually, in pairs, or in teams. Just print and play! This is a digital scavenger hunt and your adventure is only one click away! Print, Play & Run!
These tips will help youth leaders guide students into a deeper relationship with Jesus.
Are you looking for some great ideas for youth sermons you could use at youth group? We created a massive and organized list to help you pick the best youth group lesson for your youth ministry.
Youth group Lock-Ins are an incredibly fun way to connect with the kids in your youth ministry. But 12 hours is a long time to fill with interesting activities. So we've pulled together our list of the greatest Youth Lock-In Games of all time to help you make your next All-Niter the best time ever!
As teenagers, you are at a crucial stage in your faith journey. This is a time when you start to ask questions about your purpose, identity, and the Youth Group Ministry Youth Ministry Lesson on 1 Corinthians 9:16-23: Living as a Witnesses 1 Corinthians 9:16-23, bible readings, closing prayer, Discussion Questions, explanation, faith, high school, middle school, Sunday school, teenagers, Witnesses, youth group game
Here's a free youth group lesson on prayer. Use this quick lesson to help your youth ministry discover the importance of prayer.
Service projects for youth groups offer amazing benefits. Check out these 17 ideas for youth service projects.
Would You Rather? is a great game to play with kids and youth. These Would You Rather? Bible questions get them thinking and talking about Scripture.
Today at Powersource, we looked at what it means to be the body of Christ. As a warm up we played some games... Build a body relay: Each team collects body parts of a different colour and sticks them to the background. The first team to build the whole body and bring it to the leader wins! (we hadn't told the children what our subject matter was when we played this game so they had to work out what they were making!) Photo booth pictures: Use the collection of wigs, glasses and hats to make yourselves a new character! Hands, feet and mouth race: Assign roles within each team. FEET are the only ones allowed to collect pieces of memory verse from the pile at the far wall. They cannot speak or touch the pieces once they have been brought to the team base. MOUTHS are the only people allowed to speak throughout the whole game (but cannot move and must have hands behind their backs- no pointing allowed!) HANDS are the only people allowed to arrange and stick the parts of the memory verse to the sheet. The idea is that, like in a relay race, children collect pieces of memory verse one by one, being them to the team base and arrange the verse so it makes sense. The first team to complete the memory verse is the winner. This was quite frustrating for some of the children but really illustrated how the parts of the body need to work together!
Looking for cool names for church youth groups? Find the perfect youth group name that will inspire faith in teens.
Get six easy but creative lesson plan overview printables for teaching the Bible to kids. Sign up for the FREE Armor of God email series now!
Here is a list of 40 ideas to implement the new Children and Youth program from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
James Coloring Page In this lesson, we will consider the power of words. They can build up or break down, and the tongue is quite a significant weapon. We Bible Lesson Plans for Kids, James, Uncategorized Tame that Tongue! (James 3:1-12) Bible Lesson for Kids
Here are three fun M&M object lessons that you can do with kids and youth to get them thinking about God's love for us and our unique gifts.
Here's a free youth group lesson on attitude. Use this lesson to teach students that they need to get rid of bad attitudes and instead have an attitude like Jesus.
Need youth group games? We have 50 of them, and they are all no prep youth group games! Perfect for groups as little as 3 and as big as 100. Check out these 50 no prep youth group games that are not dodgeball!
Use this Bible lesson, based on Jonah 4:5-11, to teach preteens that how they respond to anger is what matters.
Need youth group games? We have 50 of them, and they are all no prep youth group games! Perfect for groups as little as 3 and as big as 100. Check out these 50 no prep youth group games that are not dodgeball!
Here's a free youth group lesson for back to school. As we approach back to school time, use this lesson to help students with “priorities”.
Here are 15 high energy games to play in Sunday School.
Use this fun Bible game to teach about the Bible story of Joseph in the pit The brothers take hold of Joseph and throw him into the pit.
There are many lies the devil tells especially to teens and these are just some of them. Have you believed any of these lies or knows people
Scripture Reference: Judges 6 Suggested Emphasis: The Lord can help us do great things for Him, even if we feel we are not good enough. Memory Verse: “Yes, God is working in you to help you w…
Free printable Bible lesson on the Battle of Jericho. Learn about Rahab and Joshua through Games, Crafts, Activities, songs, lesson, worksheets and more.
46 youth group icebreakers perfect to get teens talking! These are fun and easy to do games that require little or no prep. Perfect for large or small youth groups.
Hi Friends! I wanted to share what I’ve been working on with you! You might remember that I am currently the Children’s Ministries director at my church. Well, I’ve been hard at work rearranging and reorganizing our Sunday School/Children’s church room and I wanted to share the end result with you! Just like any classroom, it’s really important that our…
These free, printable Gideon Bible activities will help kids understand that God can use weak people and give them courage to accomplish what He wants.
Fun object lesson about putting God first in our lives. Great for children's church, sunday school, and youth group. All you need is a banana!
Jesus did some unconventional actions while He was here on earth. One of those events included speaking to the Samaritan woman at the well. Why did Jesus do this? Use a glass of water to teach children about the Living Water.
Promotion Sunday is an excellent way to shine a light on the kids and youth in your church and help your church encourage them!
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Download a Free Sermon Notes Printable for Kids
“What must I do to inherit eternal life?” The rich ruler in this story came to Jesus with the wrong question. He thought that somehow if he had enough or did enough or tried enough, he could earn his way into Heaven. Yet he was not willing to do the only thing necessary in putting Christ first. Sometimes we tend to use this story as a sort of warning against the evils of riches, but that’s not entirely the point. Jesus does not say we cannot have nice things. We just don’t want to rely on them for our salvation or happiness. It’s impossible to do anything on our own, but with God anything is possible.
A list of low cost outreach projects your church can do to minister to those in your own community. Read these volunteer ideas..
VERSES: Job 1:1-42:17 MEMORY VERSE: Job 1:1 "There was man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job..." BOOK TO REMEMBER: Romans. Write "Romans" on small slips of paper and hand out to the students at the end of class. PRAYER: Pray that we not only have the patience of Job, but the integrity of Job. SPECIAL SONG: Be Patient And Kind (see April - Lesson - Joseph Meets His Brothers Who Hated Him on this blog). Click on orange circle for tune. VISUAL AID: Write "JOB" on whiteboard or chalkboard. List the troubles Job had as you tell the story. LESSON POINTS: In very ancient times, a long, long time ago, there was a man named Job. Although it is spelled like the word "job" which is a chore you would do, this man's name was pronounced "Job" which rhymes with the word "robe." He was a godly man who served God with his whole heart. The Bible calls him "perfect and upright" and a "man of integrity." He lived in a country that we have never heard of before; it was called Uz. He had seven sons and three daughters. He was, also, very rich! He had 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 donkeys, and a great number of servants. He was the most important man in all of the east. But the most important thing about Job was that he loved and served the LORD God. One day, Satan came among the sons of God to present themselves before the LORD. The LORD asked Satan, "From where did you come?" Satan said he had been going back and forth on the earth. The LORD asked Satan if he had considered His servant, Job. The Lord said that there was no man like His servant Job in all of the earth. Satan said that Job only served the LORD because Job was given much, but if all of Job's 'things' were taken away, then he would curse God. God said that everything Job had was now in Satan's power, meaning he could take anything of Job's away from him, but he could not put his hand on Job or hurt him in any way. On another day, all seven of Job's sons and all three of his daughters were eating together in the oldest son's house. While Job was at his house and not with his children, a messenger came up to Job and said that the oxen were plowing in the field and the donkeys were feeding close by. The Sabeans or a nation around Uz stole the animals and killed all of the servants, except the messenger who was telling Job the news. While that messenger was still talking, another messenger came up to Job and told him that fire from the sky had come down and burned up all of Job's sheep and the servants who were watching them. They all died, except the messenger who was telling Job the news. While the second messenger was still talking, there came another messenger up to Job and told him that another nation, the Chaldeans, came up in three groups and stole the camels and killed all of the servants, except the messenger who was telling Job the news. While the third messenger was still talking, there came another messenger up to Job and told him that while his children were eating together in one house that a great wind blew in from the wilderness and struck all four corners of the house and when the roof caved in on them, they all died, except the messenger who was telling Job the news. When all the messengers stopped talking, Job got up, tore his coat, shaved his head, fell down on the ground and worshiped the LORD. Job said that he came into this world with nothing, and he would go out of this world with nothing. The Bible says that in all of the things that happened to Job, he did not sin or say that it was God's fault all the bad things had happened. Another day, Satan came again with the sons of God and the LORD asked Satan, "From where did you come?" Satan again said that he had been going back and forth on the earth. The LORD asked Satan again if he had considered His servant, Job. The Lord said that there was still no man like His servant Job in all of the earth. Satan said that Job only served the LORD because he was healthy, but if his bone and flesh were touched, then he would curse God. God said that Job had was now in Satan's power, meaning he could do anything to Job, but he could not take Job's life. So Satan struck Job with boils from his head to his toes. Job was in such pain and misery. He took a piece of pottery and scraped his boils and then went and sat in a pile of ashes. They did not have medicines like we have today, but ashes were clean and helped ease the pain a bit. While, in his pain, Job's wife was very discouraging. She said that Job should curse God and die! Is that what Job should have done? NO! Job said she spoke as one of the foolish women. Job asked her if they should only receive good things all the time and not bad? In all that was said during this time, Job did not sin or blame God for his troubles. Job was very patient. Job had three friends who had heard of all the bad times Job was going through and they all came by to visit him at the same time. Job was in such bad condition and looked so badly that his friends did not even know Job until they were very close to him! When they saw Job, they cried, tore their clothes and put dirt on their own heads because they were grieved that Job was going through so much pain and suffering. So the three friends did what many friends would not do. They sat with Job for seven days without saying a word. They gave him comfort by just being there with him because they could tell that he was hurting a great deal. Then Job and his three friends had very long discussions. They talked for a while and listened for a while, they scolded Job because they thought that he must have done something very wrong, but the story of Job teaches that bad things happen to good people. We just must learn to be patient and never blame God. Finally, the LORD talked to Job, Job answered some of God's questions and Job listened to God. Job humbled himself before God and recognized the fact that the LORD could do anything! God was powerful and had--and has--control over all things on the earth and in heaven. In the end, the LORD restored Job's health, his riches, his servants, and Job even had seven more sons and three daughters. The only thing different than in the beginning of the story of Job is that the LORD blessed him with twice as much as he had before! All of Job's friends came to see him and brought him gifts. Everyone brought him a piece of money and an earring of gold. So everything was better for Job in the end compared to the beginning. The Bible mentions that Job's daughters were more beautiful than any in the land. Job lived 140 more years and saw his children, his grandchildren, his great-grandchildren and his great-great-grandchildren grow up. Then Job died being old and full of days. What can we learn from Job? We learn to be very patient and longsuffering. We learn that bad things happen to good people. We learn that through the silence of the scriptures, God never told Job why all of this happened, or at least it was not written in the book of Job. "Older Student" Tips: Discuss what it means, "Bad things happen to good people." Talk about the meaning of "God allows trials to take place." Read 1 Corinthians 10:13. ACTIVITY: Job's Patience Materials needed: 6" x 12" piece of construction paper (any light color), marker, crayons. Hand out paper. Fold paper in thirds, so that the two edges meet in the middle. See picture. On the outside, folded paper, write "Bad Things Happen To Good People Like Job", writing the word "JOB" is beautiful letters. Write "Job 1-42" on the outside of the folded paper. Open up paper completely. Draw two lines down the folds of the paper. In the middle section, write "We need to be patient like Job and never blame God." On right section, write "BEFORE" at the top and then list what Job possessed, for example, write "Rich," "7,000 (draw a sheep)", "3,000 (draw a camel)", "500 yoke of (draw an ox)", "500 (draw a donkey)", and many servants. On left side, write "AFTER" at the top and then list what Job possessed, for example, "very rich", "14,00 sheep", "6,000 camels", "1,000 yoke of oxen", "1,000 donkeys", "many servants", "10 children", "lived 140 more years". Color pictures of animal and decorate the middle section without covering up the words.
