GAME IDEAS:
1. Bear, Lady, Hunter or James Bond. (Start back to back and must turn around and try and beat the other player by doing different actions, each character beats one of the others – kind of like rock, paper, scissors)
2. Broom Relay game. Kids take turns to go up to a broom stick and put their head on it, turn and walk back to tag the next person. (8-11s game)
3. Blind Man’s Bluff. Keys under the chair, person has a blindfold and must stop the others from grabbing his keys by touching them with his folded up newspaper.
4. Famous families. Use some pictures of Disney or Disney Channel characters and see if the children can guess who belongs to whose family. You could use this as a screen Powerpoint game or by putting pictures around the room and having the children collect them in a relay or single contestants racing against one another.
BIG VERSE: For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost. Luke 19:10.
(regular/widescreen)
SPOT the Simple Meaning:
1) OBJECT LESSON: I CAN TURN TO GOD: GOD ALWAYS ALLOWS U TURNS
Arrows and moving left to right.
In the Prodigal Son Jesus was telling the story to help us understand what happens when we turn our back on God. The Father is supposed to remind us of our Heavenly Father. The son could be you and me.
A U Turn is when someone is driving a car one way and then they realize they need to turn to face the other direction. Instead of turning down a road they are able to switch directions straight away so that the car is traveling down the same road in the different direction (on the other side of the road of course).U Turns are not legal everywhere. In some places they are banned because they can be dangerous.
The same can be true in our relationship with Jesus. Imagine that Jesus is stood in front of me. What are the things that bring me closer to him? (Reading the Bible, talking to Him) What are some of the things that might send me in the wrong direction [Turn your back to where ‘Jesus’ was, as a visual aid]. Sometimes we can realise that we’ve been traveling in the wrong direction; away from Jesus. The prodigal son realized this. He left his father and went to a distant land. He turned his back on his father, and sometimes we turn our back on God.
The amazing thing is that the son came to his senses and came back home. He turned back to his father. We can always turn back to God too. God always allows U Turns! So even if we have been moving away from God for a very long time, we can always turn back to Him.
2) OBJECT LESSON: NO MATTER WHAT TIME IT IS
Hold a big wall clock while you talk. You could always pass the clock around too. You could even have this Clock Loop video playing in the background.
Did you know that we can turn to God at any part of our day?! Whether it is early in the morning, at lunch time, or even in the middle of the night. He is always there to help and to listen! What time of the day do you usually or could you talk to God? [any time they say is correct]. So no matter what time it is we can always talk to God, listen to God and praise Him and ask Him to help us. He is always available to us.
3) OBJECT LESSON: NO MATTER WHO YOU ARE
An unexpected time that you turned to God or how you or someone in the team came back to God
I want to tell you a time when I turned to God [share your own personal story]. My story shows that just like I turned to Jesus, anyone else can turn to Jesus too. He is there. He cares. Never be afraid to turn to him. He loves you and is ready for you to return to him.
Someone following you wherever you go
The bible talks about being lost as being away from God. Have you ever been out shopping and lost your mum or dad or whoever was looking after you? You searched everywhere but you couldn’t find them. Maybe you didn’t even look for them, you decided to have a play until they found you. It can be scary when we get lost.
SEARCH the Scriptures:
1. Think of some other people in the bible that turned their backs on God – what happened to them? (Many of the kings in the Old Testament had short reigns – and lives – because they turned their backs on God, King Herod in the New Testament (got eaten by worms – yikes! ((Acts 12:23)) Judas, Jonah when he didn’t go to Ninevah all had times when they turned their back on God)
2. Which of those people turned back to God and what happened when they did?
SENSE How You Feel:
Imagine you are the son that had left his father and brother.
How would it feel to see your father running towards you with a big smile, after all you had done to him?
- Ask the children to re-enact the ‘homecoming’ scene of the story and to show on their faces how they think a) the father would react b) the son would feel. Make sure you do this several times with different children, to see how the reactions and expressions of feelings change. Link this to how the Father reacts and feels towards us and how we can feel coming to Jesus.
- Craft Idea: Have a picture of the lost son and turn it to when he was found…
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
- What does it mean to be lost?
- Why did the Father run to the son?
- What does this parable teach us about God and us?
SEEK God:
ENCOUNTER:
One of the ways we can turn to God is by giving him our whole lives. It’s by saying Jesus I want you to be in control, I want you to be my closest friend. I know that you are my Savior and my Lord.
Response: does anyone want to turn to God today? Perhaps for the first time?
Click here for ‘The Lost Son’ Powerpoint image
