Dogs, Frogs, Chatter  and Blogs It's Your Move Road Work and Trek Groups Gather in a corner cluster.  Welcome, & introductions, make any announcements.  Explain the Title: Dogs, Frogs, Chatter and Blogs (Loss of focus)   Which Way Are We Moving Work Zone & High Way Begin with a large group&ldots;  Needed: Lots of candles and a way to light them. Ask the group to follow you. Tell them you're going on a hunt for holy places in your church. Wander throughout your church (classrooms, bathrooms, closets, offices, and so on) and end the hunt at the alter in the sanctuary. Ask:    What were you thinking when we started out looking for holy places in our church?    What was the most holy place?    Is this a holier place than other places in the church? Why/why not?    What makes this place different than other places in the church?    Do those differences dictate that we should act differently in this place than in other places, such as home or school? Why/why not? Ask kids to gather around the alter. Have them each take a candle. Turn out the lights, and light your one candle. Read aloud Psalm 95:1-7. O come, let us sing to the LORD; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise! For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods. In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also. The sea is his, for he made it; for his hands formed the dry land. (6-7) O come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker! For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. O that today you would hearken to his voice! Pass the light to the person beside you, and have kids continue passing the light until all candles are lit. Then reread verses 6-7. Say: Let's be absolutely still. The psalmist tells us to bow down in worship and kneel before the Lord. Let's do that. (Ask everyone to get on their knees.) The psalmist says we belong to God and God takes care of us. Think of your candle as God's light reflecting on you. Ask:    Would someone please describe some additional ways how the light of the candle is like God in your relationship. When finished, ask them to sit in silence for one minute. At the end of the silence ask them to blow out their candles and return to their meeting areas.   Break into Journey Groups    Moving In Work Zone & High Way   Lost Opps Needed: a loud radio Gather in a group. Ask:    What feelings did you have during our experience in the sanctuary just now?    Do you think it was a holy time for our group? Place a radio in the center of the gathering area. Tune in some static and turn up the volume. Tell the youth to remain seated and speak to each other about how their day went. Tell them they cannot shout or move closer. After a minute or so, with the radio still going continue the lesson. Ask:   Who wants to continue the lesson with all this noise? Turn it off and continue&ldots;    What did you notice about trying to talk to people with the all the extra noise?    How would our experience in the sanctuary have been different if we'd had the radio on in there?    In what ways does this experience remind you of obstacles that keep us from having holy times with God? Read aloud Psalm 100: A Psalm for the thank offering. Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the lands! Then say:  We're told to worship the Lord with gladness, to give thanks, and to praise his name. When we do that we enter into a holy fellowship with God. That means there are lots of opportunities for holy experiences if we look for them. It's not just a worship service thing, it could even happen right here at UMYF.   Moving on Work Zone & High Way  Say: Typically, we re-evaluate our lives and set goals at the beginning of a new year. This past year Youth has experienced some cool developments. Youth have been leading discussions and Chat room. They have been somewhat successful. We could do a better job with our youth leaders. The biggest thing they need to overcome is all the extra noise in Youth sessions. Tonight we are going to try to improve our relationships with God by setting some goals that will help our leaders and youth leaders share Gods message. (Work Zone -Divide into smaller groups here.)  Say: We are going to use goal setting to start a discussion about some tentative goals. In fact, the process of modifying a tentative goal should lead to some lively debate. Here are a few tentative goals that need to be discussed, (After each goal below ask, "Is this a reasonable goal or should it be modified?"): We want 100 percent of group members to study their Bibles for 30 minutes each day, seven days a week.   We want only those who show respect to speakers to be in the group and those that don't can just leave.   We want at least 20 youth involved in Bible study Sunday evenings.   Everyone needs to bring someone new at least X times a year.   Everyone planning to go on Caravan needs to go to Youth Rockin Choir all the time.   Ask for any other suggestions&ldots;   Use kids' responses to generate discussion. Don't stop until the group has reached a consensus.   Moving up Work Zone Stay in small groups Needed: Several sets of Dominoes Read Gen 11:1-9 Gen 11:1   Now the whole earth had one language and few words.   Gen 11:2   And as men migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there.  Gen 11:3   And they said to one another, "Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly." And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar.  Gen 11:4   Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth."  Gen 11:5   And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the sons of men had built.  Gen 11:6   And the LORD said, "Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do; and nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.  Gen 11:7   Come, let us go down, and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another's speech."  Gen 11:8   So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city.  Gen 11:9   Therefore its name was called Ba'bel, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth; and from there the LORD scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.  Scatter sets of dominoes on the floor.  Say: Now we're going to see how high you can build a domino tower. Have the youth follow these rules:     The dominoes must be stacked by standing them up on one end, not by laying them flat.    Each person will take a turn by adding one domino to the tower.    If the tower falls over, the next person must begin building again. Allow youth to continue trying to build a tower until it has fallen down several times. Then stop the building and collect the dominoes. Say: Like the people in Genesis 11, we often attempt to live our lives our way and ignore God. This attitude may work for a while, but sooner or later it will end in failure. If you have been thinking to your self, "Why would God not want them to build a tower?" them here is an answer. The "Tower" represents a distraction from God. The people began to do only what they wanted and forgot their focus. Now all of this was taking place just after the "Great Flood", so God wasn't in a particularly good mood to see his people messing up again. It was apparent to God that when people were allowed do what they wanted freely, temptation became too great for focus. He then had to make a new rule &ldots; (Like Kris does when you aren't playing a game correctly or you have taken the liberty to make your own exemptions). God protected his people by spreading them out and making them speak in different languages. They then had a better chance to focus on their lives with God. Ask:    How did you feel during this exercise?    Were you tempted to modify the rules?    How is this like what we sometimes do in our own lives?    How is this like distractions in UMYF? Come back together as a large Work Zone group then proceed&ldots; Say: Now I'd like each of your to take back a domino and hold it in your hand. Then close your eyes, and silently ask God to show you an area of your life in which your attitudes or actions ignore God. Let the domino you're holding represent that attitude or action. Give students a few moments to think and pray silently.  Read: Deuteronomy 6:5 "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength." Say: Now, if you're willing to turn that area of your life over to God and live the life he wants you to live, I'd like you to, one at a time, place your domino back in the pile/stack and say, "I choose to love the Lord my God with all my heart and all my soul and with all my strength."   Moving up High Way Focus - Rules Needed: Paper and pens Read: Matthew 18:15-20 (below) Say: In this chapter of Matthew, Jesus talks to his disciples about their relationships with one another. He moves from words of warning for those who make others stumble to teachings on forgiveness. Mat 18:15-18"If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.   Mat 18:19-20 Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them." In Matthew 18 verses 19-20, Jesus states if two people on earth agree about what they ask, it will be given to them by God in heaven. Jesus carries this teaching one step further by promising that when two or three are gathered together in his name, he will be in the midst of them. Break into (Yes! Have then move) at least 4 small groups, have 2 develop a list of rules for a Christians. Design the rules along the lines of the values held by Christians, but not formally expressed. Here are some examples:    You should not watch movies filled with violence    You should not watch sexually explicit soap operas    You should not eat junk food   Have the other 2 prepare a list of dangerous rules, which govern a "cult" group. For example:    You will be totally obedient to the leader    You will handle no money    You will do anything for the good of the group." After preparing the lists bring the groups back together and discuss all the lists.   Moving out Work Zone FlingSock Stomp Needed: FlingSocks & duct tape Say: Let's see if everyone can follow the rules of this next game, it's called "FlingSock Stomp. We'll begin by attaching a FlingSock everyone's leg. In this game everyone is IT. The object is to stomp someone else's FlingSock loose while keeping yours from being stomped. When you get separated from your FlingSock you become an obstacle and must sit on the floor where you were tagged until there is a single winner. Play a few rounds to see who cheats&ldots;If you have time, play the next game. Jump the FlingSock  Needed: FlingSock and rope Attach a rope to a FlingSock that will be long enough to swing for people to jump over. A person should swing the FlingSock in a circle horizontally, no higher than most knees. Once the swinger has the Flingsock moving the group should move in around the swinger and try to jump over the FlingSock. Anyone hit by the FlingSock is out of the game and movement of the FlingSock should continue until there is a winner. Please never swing above the waist or overhead.   Moving out High Way Broaden the discussion Refer to the list of rules that govern a cult.    What if the cult leaders would respond to criticisms by saying that they had met in prayer (with Christ present) and made these prohibitions?    How do we know which rules are God's rules and which are man's? Continue by saying: "People are at different stages of faith development. Some need to be told what is right and wrong at every point (childlike) and others can love God with less guidance (faith maturity)." How does this scripture speak to this idea?   Come back together   Closing Work Zone & High Way The Leader Closes: Sit in a corner cluster and use candlelight.  Read the poem: Shhh&ldots; Be Quiet   Shhh&ldots;Be quiet.  Listen to her closely,  hear what he means,  learn what they need;  talk less, listen more.  Understand.    What you will learn  is what we can do.  Work together, tear down  this tower of babble,  saying less, knowing more;  doing the good we can.    Resist being superior;  Throw away judgments.  Don't control or be insensitive.  Practice more acceptance  and seek less certainty;  Convey freedom and equality.    Together we can grow  And do what is good,  From all we learn,  From all our listening;  Saying less and knowing more.  Then what's said gets done.   Say: In this coming week explore the rules governing your lives (at work, home, school, grocery store, among friends, on the playing field, etc.). What rules are acceptable and what rules are not? How does the Christian life fit into your routine? Remember the light of Christ and how easy it is to loose sight of your single flame. Ask: Does anyone have a thought from tonight they can share with the group? Wait for some examples. Say: Here is our closing scripture: Hbr 2:1  Therefore we must pay the closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.   UMYF Benediction and turn out in to the world!   Ski Trip, Caravan Planning Retreat, Caravan Chili Dinner, Souper Bowl Extravaganza???