What's in the Box? Wii Remote (or other game console remote)
Its amazing how many different things kids can imagine when you put a remote control in a box. I really wish I had written down all of the different ideas they came up with. Its not too heavy, but has substantial weight enough to make their imaginations come alive!
For this lesson, after the reveal, I simply asked "What is this? What does it do?" Once we got past all of the different maneuvers from different games the controller is capable of, we simply came to the conclusion that it "controls" something. This was a key concept that I needed the girls to get to.
I would like to use the Wii remote to represent a few different things: technology, games and entertainment, and literally control in our life.
If you look at the controller literally, we use it to make things happen. I push a button and the program responds depending on which button I have pushed. If I am playing a bowling game, perhaps it is the mere flick of my wrist to create the articulated spin needed for a strike. We need to step back and think about what is controlling us. What causes us to do what we do? Who is pushing those buttons in our lives, or flicking their wrists to make us spin down a good path, or one less positive?
Also, sometimes we need to look ourselves in the mirror and think about the games we are playing with our lives. A Wii controller, a TV remote, even the control for our wireless sound systems may be providing us with some negative entertainment. We must remember what we put in our lives (music, television, movies, etc.) will find its way of coming out in our lives.
And then there's the technology aspect...
In the world today, technology is everywhere we turn. We can't even go into the woods for a hike without using a GPS watch or phone app to keep track of our whereabouts, or to track our distance.
Also, technology is better than ever. Its more convenient, more user friendly, and the part I like the most: faster. All of this is great, but too much of a good thing can make it a negative influence. Technology can be a constant flow of distraction. I can remember as a child going "riding around looking for deer." We were poor, but it was like a giant scavenger hunt through some of God's beautiful landscapes. Sadly, now when kids get in a vehicle for a long journey, they have IPADS, DVD players, and many other things to "entertain" instead of enjoying God's creation outside of the windows. The world around us is a beautiful example of God's love for us. He has blessed our lives with such complex surroundings that our wonder should never cease.
Technology can also become an over-stimulating nuisance. As I type this, the TV is on, I'm on the laptop, and my cell phone is buzzing beside me with Facebook notifications. I'm surprised I am able to even type a complete sentence with all of these distractions surrounding me, but somehow we have become accustomed to all of this "noise."
Which brings me to the point: "Do you own technology, or does technology own you?" "Are we controlling our technology, or is the technology controlling us?" This could be considered almost a servant vs. master comparison. Are we using technology like we are its master, or are we finding ourselves like a servant to technology. If we are technology's servants, it might make us miss something very important.
In Matthew 24:44-51 there is a lesson of being ready if a servant's master has put them in charge of getting food for the family. The key here is that the servant doesn't know when the master is going to check on them.
44 Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh. 45 Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? 46 Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. 47 Verily I say unto you, that he shall make him ruler over all his goods. 48 But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; 49 And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; 50 The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, 51 And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. KJV
If we aren't careful, we can be distracted by all of this technology and forget what we should really be doing. Time ticks away no matter how much we think our busy schedules control the 24 hours in a day. How much of that time are you spending spreading the good news? Praying? Reading and studying the Bible? "Be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh."
Perhaps we should put the phones, tv remotes, and controllers down, and focus more on our relationship with God. I Timothy 4:12-16 states:
12 Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity. 13 Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. 14 Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery. 15 Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all. 16 Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.
Challenge: Think about how much time you use various items of technology. Consider if you are controlling it, or if it is controlling you.
Sunday, April 6, 2014
Friday, April 4, 2014
Lesson 1: Faith
What's in the Box?
Lesson 1
Required Materials: Box
How do you explain faith to kids, especially teens who live in the "here and now," with technology constantly at their fingertips?
Sure there are lots of scriptures you can point out and study, but how do you make the concept real? How do you make them understand something you can't see or touch?
That's where the box came in...I told them there was something inside, but secretly, I knew there was only air inside the box. I listened with great joy as the girls shook the box and guessed random things. "A tissue. A paperclip. A piece of paper, yes, definitely a small piece of paper. I heard it."
With great confidence, they each shook the box and guessed. They would even encourage each other when they thought they had guessed it correctly.
But then, I let the last one open the box. "Nothing, its empty...you tricked us" she said in disbelief.
I asked them why they believed there was something inside.
"You told us there was."
Then came the kicker: "Ok, I told you there was something inside, but you hadn't seen it, touched it, or even heard it bouncing around inside that box, but you all believed there was something inside, didn't you?"
They all stared at me like they had just been told Santa Clause wasn't real.
I asked them "So what is it called when you can't see or touch something, but you believe it's there?"
"FAITH!" one of the girls screamed out with excitement. With that one word, they all realized I hadn't really lied to them. They all realized exactly what faith meant. I pointed out how they listened intensely when they shook the box, how they used all the reason they could to deduce a logical guess. How they even compared their guesses with each others, but in the end, all that was in the box was their belief that there was something inside.
Faith is usually defined as a belief in things unseen.
We have to have faith in lots of "things" in our lives. I can't actually see the money in my bank account, but I have to have faith that the bank is keeping an accurate watch on it. I can't see the level of gasoline in my Jeep, but I have to have faith in the gage that tells me when my tank is full or getting low. Faith is everywhere around us.
But why is faith important?
In the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible, the word "faith" appears 231 different times, not counting the different variations of the word "faith" like "faithful, faithfully, faithless." Out of those 231 different times, only two are in the Old Testament, once in Deuteronomy and once in Habakkuk. I guess you could say faith is more of a New Testament concept.
No, "faith" is not the most often reoccurring word, but it is considerably one of the most important. Where would we be without faith? Just contemplate that for a moment...
The phases I hear most often quoted from scriptures are "O ye of little faith" and "have faith." But its hard to have faith if you don't believe, and its hard to have a lot of faith if you don't really understand what faith really means.
Plain and simple, faith is a lot about trust. If you trust someone or something is true, then you can have faith in that person, statement, or object.
In Mark 11:22, it is written:
"And Jesus answering saith unto them, 'Have faith in God.'" KJV
It can be as simple as that. Simply believing, even though we can't see or touch Him.
Challenge:
Look up other verses that include the word "faith" and see how important having faith is for a Christian.
Lesson 1
Required Materials: Box
How do you explain faith to kids, especially teens who live in the "here and now," with technology constantly at their fingertips?
Sure there are lots of scriptures you can point out and study, but how do you make the concept real? How do you make them understand something you can't see or touch?
That's where the box came in...I told them there was something inside, but secretly, I knew there was only air inside the box. I listened with great joy as the girls shook the box and guessed random things. "A tissue. A paperclip. A piece of paper, yes, definitely a small piece of paper. I heard it."
With great confidence, they each shook the box and guessed. They would even encourage each other when they thought they had guessed it correctly.
But then, I let the last one open the box. "Nothing, its empty...you tricked us" she said in disbelief.
I asked them why they believed there was something inside.
"You told us there was."
Then came the kicker: "Ok, I told you there was something inside, but you hadn't seen it, touched it, or even heard it bouncing around inside that box, but you all believed there was something inside, didn't you?"
They all stared at me like they had just been told Santa Clause wasn't real.
I asked them "So what is it called when you can't see or touch something, but you believe it's there?"
"FAITH!" one of the girls screamed out with excitement. With that one word, they all realized I hadn't really lied to them. They all realized exactly what faith meant. I pointed out how they listened intensely when they shook the box, how they used all the reason they could to deduce a logical guess. How they even compared their guesses with each others, but in the end, all that was in the box was their belief that there was something inside.
Faith is usually defined as a belief in things unseen.
We have to have faith in lots of "things" in our lives. I can't actually see the money in my bank account, but I have to have faith that the bank is keeping an accurate watch on it. I can't see the level of gasoline in my Jeep, but I have to have faith in the gage that tells me when my tank is full or getting low. Faith is everywhere around us.
But why is faith important?
In the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible, the word "faith" appears 231 different times, not counting the different variations of the word "faith" like "faithful, faithfully, faithless." Out of those 231 different times, only two are in the Old Testament, once in Deuteronomy and once in Habakkuk. I guess you could say faith is more of a New Testament concept.
No, "faith" is not the most often reoccurring word, but it is considerably one of the most important. Where would we be without faith? Just contemplate that for a moment...
The phases I hear most often quoted from scriptures are "O ye of little faith" and "have faith." But its hard to have faith if you don't believe, and its hard to have a lot of faith if you don't really understand what faith really means.
Plain and simple, faith is a lot about trust. If you trust someone or something is true, then you can have faith in that person, statement, or object.
In Mark 11:22, it is written:
"And Jesus answering saith unto them, 'Have faith in God.'" KJV
It can be as simple as that. Simply believing, even though we can't see or touch Him.
Challenge:
Look up other verses that include the word "faith" and see how important having faith is for a Christian.
The First Class of Teenage Girls: Establishing a Routine and Taking Notes
1. Prayer
2. Song
3. What's in the Box?
I always start class off by walking in the room and asking the girls "Who do we need to pray for?" I wanted to start with a routine for class, so we always start with the prayer. That way as soon as the girls get in the classroom at church, they know exactly what I'm going to say first, so they are already thinking of who we should pray for.
We then discuss the people that are sick, tests coming up, and other various things like school assignments and ball games that the kids are concerned about. Then I ask for a volunteer to lead us in prayer...sometimes it takes a little prying, but the girls will usually volunteer, or volunteer each other (this is an all girls class)...sometimes no one is in a talking mood, so I'll lead us. We've found they are more willing to lead the prayer if someone keeps a list while we are discussing who to remember in prayer. This is a good opportunity for them to learn how to pray, and how other people pray too!
Next on the agenda is a song. I wanted to make sure these girls were caught up to speed on some of the Youth Songs I had learned when I was their age. This church is a very small church, and they didn't know many of the youth songs when I first started attending there. Going to a large congregation when I was their age definitely had its perks, like having a Youth Minister, going on Youth Retreats, and attending various other activities that helped prepare me to be able to teach youth at church. We take our youth to the Challenge Youth Conference, and I wanted to make sure the girls knew the songs for worship there.
After prayer and song, I knew I wanted to teach the girls how to take notes during a sermon. So many times our minds drift off into "La La Land" and we lose focus of what we are listening to. I find that taking notes during worship allows me to stay focused and actively learning. I gave each of the girls a composition book to take notes, and we even decorated the fronts (after wrapping with contact paper.) Being young, not all of the girls were used to taking notes, so I walked them through some tips for taking notes:
1. DON'T WRITE EVERYTHING DOWN!!! Short, concise, main ideas
2. Date and title each page
3. Just write down the verse number, not the entire verse, unless its something you want to make sure you remember, or a theme verse that is really important to the lesson
4. Star important points, or number them
5. Write down words you don't know at the top or in the column so you know to look them up later
6. Highlight or put a box around sections to make it "pop" off the page
7. Use different color highlighters if that's your thing
8. Scribble out instead of erasing (because that takes too much time)
9. If a question comes up in your head, write it in the side column so you can ask it later, or look it up
10. Write down people's names and what they did so you can remember better
Then came the first "What's in the box?" experiment. I wasn't sure if the girls would like the activity, but they loved it.
I told them I had put something in the box before church, and I wanted to see if they could guess what was in it. We begin passing the box around. Each girl shook the box, listening fervently, and guessed what they believed was in the box. Then we would reveal what was actually in the box, and begin my lesson.
2. Song
3. What's in the Box?
I always start class off by walking in the room and asking the girls "Who do we need to pray for?" I wanted to start with a routine for class, so we always start with the prayer. That way as soon as the girls get in the classroom at church, they know exactly what I'm going to say first, so they are already thinking of who we should pray for.
We then discuss the people that are sick, tests coming up, and other various things like school assignments and ball games that the kids are concerned about. Then I ask for a volunteer to lead us in prayer...sometimes it takes a little prying, but the girls will usually volunteer, or volunteer each other (this is an all girls class)...sometimes no one is in a talking mood, so I'll lead us. We've found they are more willing to lead the prayer if someone keeps a list while we are discussing who to remember in prayer. This is a good opportunity for them to learn how to pray, and how other people pray too!
Next on the agenda is a song. I wanted to make sure these girls were caught up to speed on some of the Youth Songs I had learned when I was their age. This church is a very small church, and they didn't know many of the youth songs when I first started attending there. Going to a large congregation when I was their age definitely had its perks, like having a Youth Minister, going on Youth Retreats, and attending various other activities that helped prepare me to be able to teach youth at church. We take our youth to the Challenge Youth Conference, and I wanted to make sure the girls knew the songs for worship there.
After prayer and song, I knew I wanted to teach the girls how to take notes during a sermon. So many times our minds drift off into "La La Land" and we lose focus of what we are listening to. I find that taking notes during worship allows me to stay focused and actively learning. I gave each of the girls a composition book to take notes, and we even decorated the fronts (after wrapping with contact paper.) Being young, not all of the girls were used to taking notes, so I walked them through some tips for taking notes:
1. DON'T WRITE EVERYTHING DOWN!!! Short, concise, main ideas
2. Date and title each page
3. Just write down the verse number, not the entire verse, unless its something you want to make sure you remember, or a theme verse that is really important to the lesson
4. Star important points, or number them
5. Write down words you don't know at the top or in the column so you know to look them up later
6. Highlight or put a box around sections to make it "pop" off the page
7. Use different color highlighters if that's your thing
8. Scribble out instead of erasing (because that takes too much time)
9. If a question comes up in your head, write it in the side column so you can ask it later, or look it up
10. Write down people's names and what they did so you can remember better
Then came the first "What's in the box?" experiment. I wasn't sure if the girls would like the activity, but they loved it.
I told them I had put something in the box before church, and I wanted to see if they could guess what was in it. We begin passing the box around. Each girl shook the box, listening fervently, and guessed what they believed was in the box. Then we would reveal what was actually in the box, and begin my lesson.
How it all started
When I started teaching this class, I wanted to do something different. I didn't want to just go through a regular book with these girls...I wanted to teach them to think outside of the box. That's when it hit me. Maybe I can think outside of the box by having the girls think about what's inside a box. That's where it all started...
Everyday we touch hundreds, if not thousands of things. That's not even counting all of the people we come in contact with each day. What about a week's worth of time? How about a year? A lifetime? Do any of the items catch our eye?
It's been said we live in a material world, so I decided to use some of these "materials" to teach my girls' class at church about Jesus and the Bible. So far, it's been eye opening for me, and a fun challenge for my girls to guess what's in the box each week, and guess how that item shows us Jesus's love and law.
Almost every week there is a new object in the box (some items take two weeks to discuss.) We pass the box around, and the girls shake it trying to guess what is inside...sometimes shaking a little too hard. They have began to ask regularly "Is it breakable?" before they shake violently. Their guesses are always unique. One of my girls started guessing "toe nail clippers" every week, just hoping I would put them in the box. Sometimes they guess correctly, but more often, they are completely wrong. That's what makes it magical. They are trying to guess about something they can't see or touch...just shaking around a medium sized gift box trying to use their senses to guess what class will be about each night...and that's what makes it so fun. After the item is passes around, and all have had a chance to guess, one person removes the lid of the box and shows what is inside. The girls began coming up with phrases like "Clipping your toes to Heaven" or "Trimming your nails for Christ" once the item is revealed (for the toenail clippers.)
Everything in the box can be turned into a biblical lesson...I just have to figure out how to relate it. Finding what to put in the box is the fun part for me. Sometimes it's something that catches my eye, sometimes it's something that relates to something I want to teach about. Sometimes it's something I find under the seat of my Jeep when I clean out the papers and trash. Each item is different, and each item can show the girls a different way to relate things we see each and every day to the teachings of Jesus.
Everyday we touch hundreds, if not thousands of things. That's not even counting all of the people we come in contact with each day. What about a week's worth of time? How about a year? A lifetime? Do any of the items catch our eye?
It's been said we live in a material world, so I decided to use some of these "materials" to teach my girls' class at church about Jesus and the Bible. So far, it's been eye opening for me, and a fun challenge for my girls to guess what's in the box each week, and guess how that item shows us Jesus's love and law.
Almost every week there is a new object in the box (some items take two weeks to discuss.) We pass the box around, and the girls shake it trying to guess what is inside...sometimes shaking a little too hard. They have began to ask regularly "Is it breakable?" before they shake violently. Their guesses are always unique. One of my girls started guessing "toe nail clippers" every week, just hoping I would put them in the box. Sometimes they guess correctly, but more often, they are completely wrong. That's what makes it magical. They are trying to guess about something they can't see or touch...just shaking around a medium sized gift box trying to use their senses to guess what class will be about each night...and that's what makes it so fun. After the item is passes around, and all have had a chance to guess, one person removes the lid of the box and shows what is inside. The girls began coming up with phrases like "Clipping your toes to Heaven" or "Trimming your nails for Christ" once the item is revealed (for the toenail clippers.)
Everything in the box can be turned into a biblical lesson...I just have to figure out how to relate it. Finding what to put in the box is the fun part for me. Sometimes it's something that catches my eye, sometimes it's something that relates to something I want to teach about. Sometimes it's something I find under the seat of my Jeep when I clean out the papers and trash. Each item is different, and each item can show the girls a different way to relate things we see each and every day to the teachings of Jesus.
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