Our Challenge Setting the Stage Road Work and Trek Groups   Gather in the center of the gym, welcome, introduction of guests, make announcements. Tonight's goals: 1. To develop greater community and strengthen existing relationships in the youth group. 2. To learn how to better minister and serve one another. 3. To renew our passion, love and service for Jesus.  Activity Road Work & Trek Knots Break into three smaller groups. Have each group form a tight clump. Each person then grabs the right hand of another person in the circle (Not the person next to him or her) with his or her right hand. The task for the group is to untangle themselves without letting go of hands. Group Juggle Needed: Twenty objects that can be tossed. Form groups of not more than eight. The group leader starts the process by throwing an object to someone in the circle not standing next to them. As the object is tossed they say the name of the one receiving the toss. This continues until everyone in the circle has tossed and said the name of another in the circle. No one can receive twice in until the cycle has been completed. Continue to add objects. Then join groups. Bring Them Closer Find the Dough Needed: One five-dollar bill and five ones. Before the youth arrive, hide the five-dollar bill and the ones somewhere in the park across from the church.  Make them hard to find, but not impossible.  Youth will almost always understand a biblical principle better if they experience the emotions involved in that principle.  .  Explain that somewhere in the park is a five-dollar bill and five ones.  They are lost souls.  Whoever finds them may keep them.  You have ten minutes to find it.  Watch the youth as they search for the prize.  Return to the Family Life Center Transition: Those of you who participated in the search for the prize just became more godly.  How? Because God is a God who is looking for something that is lost.  God is searching for us and he will go to many lengths to find us. You experienced frustration, anticipation, hope and finally victory or dejection -- all feelings God has when He searches for the lost.  The Scripture Road Work & Trek  POPLE ARE LIKE LOST SHEEP  Illustration: Ask: What's the dumbest thing you have ever seen an animal do? Allow for responses.  Share your own story if you have one.  Say: This will be an exercise in metaphor. The sheep will do nicely for the following lesson.   Explain: Sheep, by most standards, are just plain stupid.  If they see what they think to be better grass for grazing, they will sometimes stray from the herd for it.  Then, the herd moves on and the sheep returns to find that it is lost.  A sheep by itself, without a shepherd or a herd, is an easy target for wolves and other predators.  Some sheep do not wander very far from the herd, but they still become lost.  They step just off the path of the shepherd and the rest of the herd looking for something interesting, intending to get right back.  But, before the sheep knows what has happened, it's thick wool has become entangled in the bushes and it cannot move.  The rest of the herd moves on, and now the sheep is lost.  Finally, some sheep do not realize the danger of a moving stream of water.  A thirsty sheep may head for a stream that the shepherd has deliberately avoided.  When the sheep wades out into the water to get a drink, the water weighs down the wool and then it is carried downstream.  If it is not found soon, it will drown.  The sheep needed the water, but he tried to find it on his own instead of going where the Shepherd led Him.  The Shepherd would have led His sheep to still waters, where there was no danger of drowning.  Application: Some people are like these sheep.  Ask for an example for each of the three examples above. Connecting to the Scripture Road Work & Trek HOW DO WE GET UNLOST? REALIZE WE ARE LOST! Explain: The sheep may be stupid, but it knows when it is lost.  It knew it didn't belong by itself, or caught in a bush, or drowning in the stream. A lost sheep will cry out for the shepherd. People, on the other hand, seem to have a difficult time asking for help. We can receive help from God and our neighbors. All we need is the willingness to want the help.  Expanding on the Challenge Road Work & Trek Two by Two Arrange nine youth standing in a three-by-three pattern.  Have your "assistant" leave the room knowing the trick.  Have another youth pick one of the nine to be "it." Then, have your assistant come back inside.  Using your well placed body, deliberately stand next to the wrong youth first, but position yourself in the same position as the real "it."  For instance, if "it" is in the upper right-hand corner of the pattern, Stand just behind and to the right of the first youth, and ask "Is this it?" If "It" is in the center, simply hold a hand above the head of the first youth. The point?  A clear relationship between two makes even the mysterious seem easy. Summing it all up Road Work & Trek As we gather together we grow in fellowship and faith, each bit of knowledge becomes important in our lives. As we meet others, we pass on our own information, even that which we have gathered from others.  We each will have a turn to be the ones sharing or the ones receiving. The whole idea is to be open to challenges and continue to learn while having fun. We gather information good and bad then live our lives following Christ's example. Closing Road Work & Trek God will never force you to be found.  If you want to be found, you have to know you are lost. You've got to know that God is searching for you. God is always calling your name.  He left His home in heaven to come down to earth and crawl with humans, Challenging them to listen to Him.  He won't take you home if you're not ready.  When you are ready, when you really know God, when you make a logical clear decision and accept his challenge, He will find you, He will pick you up and take you where you need to be. Prayer Road Work & Trek  Pray for acceptance of challenges and thanks for the support of our neighbors Dismissal Sanctuary UMYF Benediction