Slide7
LeGaFo Late Night!
Lesson, Games, Food
 
Challenge Accepted

Flicks – discussion starters on faith, hope, and love; Food & Large Group Games!

6:00 Free Time, Pizza (If no Breaking Bread) Gym & Youth Center

 

6:45 The Rules,

Youth Center
  • Your cell phone is only good as a paper weight for tonight. If you can’t limit its usage turn it in. You don’t have any other friends beside the ones here tonight and your parents are glad to get rid of you. They aren’t calling. Oh yea, don’t use your phone for a light.
  • No swearing/profanity – Believe it or not this category includes inappropriate chocolaty discussions.
  • No “extra curricular” activities permitted.             For example, no sucking face with anyone.       
  • No roughhousing. Yes, this includes keeping someone else’s property from them by force, sneaky-ness or running away from them. 
  • Do not leave the Church. If the area you are in is not climate controlled you are outside the church.
  • No cheating. If you are looking for a way around a rule, you are probably about to cheat and had best not attempt any deviations until you reach saint hood.
  • Snacks and drinks are allowed in the Youth Center only.
  • Do not open locked doors. If you have to do anything to a door that is more than just gently opening it, you are probably attempting to open a locked door.
  • Stay out of the rafters, organ loft. If you have to climb to get where you want to go and then you feel yourself having to balance on a beam high above the floor, chances are you are in the rafters.
  • Go only where you are asked. No sneaking off to do your own thing. When we are playing a game and you’re just sitting and watching/talking alone with a friend or friends, it better be in the Youth Center.
  • Respect the church property. Do not touch the drums, piano, any musical instrument, spot light, or electronic equipment in the building. If it looks like it might be fun to play with and you are not in the Youth Center or Gym don’t mess with it.
  • Do not dangle, hang or jump off of anything. Why do I even have to say this… Oh yea! Because someone will do it if I don’t.

 

Expectations are as follows:

  • Participate as you can
  • Respect others and Listen
  • Clean up after yourself

 

7:00 LESSON, Youth Center

Are You Up for Faith, Hope & Love?

Don’t break up into small groups for this LeGaFo

 

SAY: Mardi Gras, In the Christian religion, (French for “Fat Tuesday) is the last day before the beginning of Lent, a period of fasting and repentance leading up to Easter, which celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Today, far less people observe Lent, but more than ever celebrate Mardi Gras because they are attracted to the party atmosphere, which includes music, food, and risqué people.

 

So, let’s get from Mardi Gras to “Challenge Accepted”. You’ve probably heard of Christmas, Lent and Easter but, I bet you don’t know how Christian “Seasons” all work together. Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Ordinary Time, Lent, Easter, Pentecost and Ordinary Time make up this cycle. Advent (4 Sundays before Christmas)is the season where we know “something special” is going to happen, then comes Christmas (the return of light) and “the twelve days of Christmas” (like the Song,) leading up to January 6th when the Wise Men “arrive” (about two years later), and while they are “here” it is the Epiphany Season (Wow! That’s God’s son). Lent (40 days, excluding Sundays) starts the Wednesday after Epiphany Ordinary Time and goes through Easter. Jesus hangs around 40 days before ascending. Then the Season of Pentecost begins fifty days after Easter celebrating the birth of the Church and represents the season of evangelism and outreach

 

BTW, the ten days between Ascension Day and Pentecost; ten is called the number of all or universal, the number 10 contains all preceding numbers as a whole contains its parts. Kind of fitting for the birth of the church, don’t you think? 

 

DISCUSS: What makes sense (or doesn’t) in this cycle?

 

SAY: To Christians the words “faith,” “hope,” and “love” convey non-material concepts, being related to the functions of the spiritual “inner person” and are pretty darn important in His Word.

 

Here’s a couple of examples:

1 Corinthians 13:11-13, 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now (I leave the fantasies of the unexplained behind knowing You will make it clear in Your time.) 13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

 

1st Thessalonians 1:3 Constantly bearing in mind your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

In the cycle of Christian seasons, Marti Gras is just one part. Think of these seasons as an electrical circuit with Faith, Hope and Love as non-material elements that create the “Light”. The motivating potential (“faith”) and the current (“love”) flows from the great Power Source (God the Father) into the light bulbs (spirits and souls of people “in Christ”) to transmit the Gospel to others on earth today. In the physical analogy – get ready for this- the force of voltage multiplied by the current equals the power developed in the load. Similarly, in God’s spiritual circuit, “faith” multiplied by “love” equals the spiritual power of “hope” developed in the souls of those who receive the “Light”. The whole cycle is needed to produce the desired result. Without all the parts, it’s only potential. Our accepted challenge is to produce LIGHT!

 

WATCH:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxNUxlWOgZE  Why Young Christians Are Leaving Church (1.53)

 

SAY: Are you sure, really sure? Confidence often fades in the face of an attack, and doubt can steal a Christians’ joy. Faith is important to accomplishing goals and building confidence. Spiritual confidence only comes when moments of confusion and weakness don’t lose sight of our Christian goals.

 

Discussion Questions:

  • Why are young Christians losing confidence in the Church?
  • What kinds of questions can cause us to waver in our faith?
  • How can we answer these questions?

Read Aloud: Hebrews 10:22-25 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

ASK:

  • Have you ever wavered in your faith? What happened? How did you recover?

 

  • How has God proven Himself faithful to you?

 

  • What are some practical ways we can build confidence in our faith?

WATCH:

http://www.godtube.com/watch/?v=WDLGDGNX   Life On a Balance Beam (3.52)

SAY: In God’s spiritual circuit, “faith” multiplied by “love” equals the spiritual power of “hope”. We can all be strengthened by physically working out with things that we can see. What happens to our bodies, because of those workouts, in time, can be seen. What happens to our bodies because of spiritual workouts can be seen as well.   

 

Discussion Questions:

  • Why is it so hard to let go of our balance beam and work out spiritually, the results can be seen?

 

  • What are some things people can’t see that they believe in?

 

  • Why is it difficult to believe in an invisible God when we believe in other invisible things?

Read Aloud: 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 16 May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, 17 encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.

ASK:

  • How does someone know if they truly “believe”?

 

  • Why do you hope to act like Jesus?

 

  • Do you think living like Jesus can be an immediate experience or a slow process?

WATCH:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcFMGKLTI5k   Francis Meets Some Jehovah’s Witnesses (5.11)

SAY: In any society the has ever existed on our planet, the way people treat each other hasn’t ever been close to the way God loves each of us. God has given us something to strive for, a goal, called the Golden Rule. “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” It isn’t easy to follow this rule because we must being willing to step out of our comfort zones to show God’s love to everyone. Followers of Christ must love all those around them, not just people we are friends with.

 

Discussion Questions:

  • Who are the “others” in the Golden Rule that you should treat as you want to be treated yourself?
  • How do you typically react when someone is mean to you? Are you generally a jerk, a push-over, cool and collected, or ready to rumble?
  • Why do you think people are often so mean to each other, trying to hurt one another?

Read Aloud: Luke 6:31-36, 31 Do to others as you would have them do to you. 32 “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. 35 But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. 36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

ASK:

  • Why does God want us to love our enemies? Is it possible?
  • Who is someone you know you could treat better? How can you show love to that person this week?

CLOSE

Tonight we’ve talked about cycles and how they rely on each other for dependable results.  Some of you are the expectant “Advent”, some willingly share their gifts with all -“Christmas”, “Epiphany” people are on the journey to that moment of realization, “Lent” people are sacrificial, “Easter” people do not fear adversity , and “Pentecost” people are a friend to all living and reaching out in God’s name. The challenge we’ve all accepted as Christians is to act as one body. It’s not Mardi Gras all the time. We must learn to use faith, hope, and love to let the current of Christ shine through us.

 

PRAYER

Holy Spirit, open my eyes and calm my mind. Give me the knowledge to see the world as God’s world and of your own presence within me. Holy Spirit, give me Faith and reveal to me the truth of the Father’s unfailing purposes; the truth about myself – sinner yet child of God. Holy Spirit, give me Hope and Peace; peace with God and peace with all people. Kindle my desire for You. Strengthen my will to live, Love and serve

. Teach me and lead me where you will. Holy Spirit, open my eyes. Amen

 

8:00 LARGE GROUP GAMES

Underground Church, Slender, Grog

 

Underground Church

Needed: pool noodles, note paper or white board to make a list of who is next in line to be the church, a cape like blanket or big bright t-shirt

The players are: Christians, Church, Emperor, and Guards.

All gather in one spot to begin the game. The Church is picked (two people) and is given a set amount of time to go and hide. The Guards will become the Church for the next round. No other light sources from anyone are allowed

(No electronic device glowing light).

 

The Guards, (2 people) must carry visible pool noodles at all times. The Guards primary job is to catch Christians. If a Guard tags a Christian with a pool noodle, the Guards take him or her and tosses them into “Jail”. The Youth Center is the Jail; keep only 3 captives at a time. When the 4

th is caught and brought to jail the 1st

gets out. If a Guard happens to stumble on the Church or guards the Church the round is over and the Christians win. If the Guards catch ½ of the total number of Christian players, the Guards win. Multiple catches still count toward the goal of catches.

 

The Emperor is randomly chosen each round. The Emperor’s only job is to find the church ending the game. Emperor wins. The Emperor wears a cape made from a blanket at all times and can be tagged by a group of 2 or more Christians. Only 2 Christians need take the Emperor to Jail. (Jail rotation works the same with the Emperor, he or she is just one of the captives.)

 

The Christians try to secretly find the Church keeping its location hidden from the Emperor. Once the Christians find the Church, they need to inform and gather at least 1/3 of the Christians (Think Flash Mob – all of a sudden they’re there) at the Church while evading the Guards and the Emperor. If they are successful, the round is over, the Church has survived, and the Christians win!

 

Grog

Needed: A flashlight that can be taken apart into 4 pieces, about 30 Fusion Bucks

One person usually the Youth Director is the Game Captain (GC) and is in charge of overseeing the game. The GC takes the flashlight apart into 4 pieces – the barrel, the batteries, and the lens – and hides these pieces throughout the play area. Since the environment is somewhat dark, hide them in places that are not too hard to find. Once that is done, the GC goes back to the group and selects the GROG.

The GROG is a creature of the dark, and goes into the dim play area to hide. The GROG’s goal is to tag the other players, (like freeze tag) rendering them inactive and collect their Fusion Buck. There is no base. GROG wins if it freezes all of the players, collects 75% of all possible Fusion Bucks or if GROG can touch the player holding the reassembled flashlight before the light is shined on GROG.

Each player receives one Fusion Buck. If a player is tagged by GROG they are frozen, sit right where they were tagged and turn over their Fusion Buck to GROG. Since they are FROZEN, they can’t even speak/call out. They can become active players again if someone touches them with either battery from the flashlight that is part of the game. Anyone holding one of those batteries is only frozen for 30 seconds if they are tagged by the GROG. The official batteries can be passed from person to person keeping GROG from “Targeting” battery holders.

The players’ objective is to find the flashlight and assemble it. Only the light of the flashlight will put an end to the GROG’s existence. Once the players find the pieces of the flashlight and get it working, they go on a GROG hunt. Shining the light on the GROG within 10 feet ends the game and Grog looses.

 

Slender

Needed: Slender notes, Life cards (about 300)

SAY:You’ll compete to stay alive in this nightmare based game. Everyone starts with 10 life cards and then roams the church to find notes left by Slender. This is a timed game. Slender will leave notes in obvious places dimly lit and then stalk/wait to catch youth as they try to get notes. If “Slender” pops out at you, you and anyone near loses one life and any note they were picking up (If it’s not around a note, it’s just a life). You may not run when “Slender” steps out of the shadows while catching you, you have to surrender a life.  

How it’s scored: Win the game by having the most notes from slender and losing the least amount of lives. Lives count for 5 point, notes count for 20 points. 

The 13 Slender NOTES: (Use a full 8 ½ x 11 for each)

BEHIND YOU | HELP ME | DON’T LOOK OR HE TAKES YOU | LEAVE ME ALONE | BE AFRAID…. BE VERY AFRAID | IT’S YOUR TURN | YOU CAN’T HIDE | YOU’RE NEXT | YOU CAN’T RUN | YOU HAVENT EVEN FOUND FRIGHT YET | DO YOU HEAR WISPERS | I SEE YOU | DON”T TURN AROUND