Use balloons to distribute questions about the upcoming year to your group members.
Tami Rudkin
Write the following incomplete sentences on small slips of paper and place them in balloons. (Duplicate as needed to make sure there is one per person.) Put the inflated balloons in the middle of your circle. On the count of three have your group jump up and pop a balloon. They are to complete the sentences in their balloon.
Participate in an activity and responsive reading that reminds us that Jesus is our rock.
Tami Rudkin
What you need:
Index card for each person
The largest rock you can bring in or a huge drawing of a rock.
Copies of the reading
READ Joshua 3:14-4:7
Say something like: We, by our remembrances and thanksgiving, are going to build a monument of praise.Like it was for Joshua, it is imperative to recognize and remember the awesome things God has done in our lives.
Bring as many playing cards as you have people in your group. Using only the 2, 3, 4, and 5 cards, pass out a card to each group member. Ask them to think about the future for a minute. What are some things they would like to do before they die?
After they've thought for a minute, go around the circle and have each person tell the number of future dreams that matches the number on their card. For example, ...
Take turns sharing what you worry about and hope for.
Tami Rudkin
Have a bead necklace and a cross. (Any set of beads will do, even costume jewelry. You can make a cross out of two small tree branches tied or nailed together.) Explain that the cross symbolizes hope and that the beads represent our worries. Pass the cross in one direction and the beads in another. As they are passed from person to person have those holding the cross explain that for which they hope. ...
Group members list five things that give meaning to their lives.
Tami Rudkin
Give each person an index card and have them write 5 words that would complete this statement: ____________ give meaning to my life. For example: "My children give meaning to my life". Or, "My job gives meaning to my life".
Then have everyone share their words with the group.
Engage and challenge young children to get more from their movie-watching experience.
This 13-session course contains discussion guides on a variety of popular fantasy movies. This resource will help you think about these movies from a Christian perspective, and how they do—or do not—illustrate biblical principles. This quarterly pack can be used for a Sunday school class or small group, or to host a film festival.
Session 1
Big FishBig Fish takes us into the vivid imagination ...
What can we learn from people who are down and out find a way to bring themselves, or have someone deliver them, back to glory?
Each of the stories in this Course shows how people who are down and out find a way to bring themselves, or have someone deliver them, back to glory. What can we learn from these powerful stories?
Session 1
Signs This thriller depicts one man's journey as he questions his faith and the providence of God.
Session 2
The Shawshank Redemption "Fear can hold you prisoner. Hope can set you free."
What you will need: 5 candles and matches. If possible: A CD or tape of Christmas carols and the lyrics printed out for each person.
The following readings come from the texts of traditional Christmas carols. Assign each reading to those in your group who feel comfortable reading out loud. Give each narrator an unlit candle. Begin with a fairly dark room.
Pray. And then light the first narrator's candle, ...
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