Hook! (10-15 mins)
play a short guessing game!
you can do the one as described in the leaders' guide on page 24, or alternatively you can do something similar!the point of the game to for them to guess the "trick" and to be able to successfully guess the correct answer!
if you do decide to play the 'crossed or uncrossed' game as mentioned in the book,you do not have to limit yourself to scissors..you can cross your fingers to distract them, or your arms, etc..
caution: don't cross your eyes for too long - you don't want to end up looking like him over there -->
if not, you can try playing:
> fuzzy wuzzy
fuzzy wuzzy loves words with repeated alphabets appearing consecutively
e.g. fuzzy wuzzy likes rebecca but not joshua
> mrt game
the gamemaster tells them 3 mrt stops, and they have to guess the next one!
trick? guessing the mrt is a farce, to win, you have to start with 'errrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr..'
followed by 'is it blahblah mrt station?' or some variation..
> bang bang, who died?
this is probably the most annoying game
but its simple - basically, the first person (after the gamemaster has spoken) to speak, dies.
you might want to consider other variation too..i.e. the first person to say 'who', etc..
> number game
you don't need any maths talent to play this game, just need to be able to count!
basically, they have to solve a maths equation.
but you're not looking for the conventional answer..
instead, you're counting the number of circles on the left side of the equation!
e.g. 1 + 0 = ? ans = 1
8 + 0 = ? ans = 3
of course, if you feel like, you can use up to as many digits as you want..but don't overdo it=.=
to make the game more exciting, the last person to discover the trick would have to do a forfeit! :D
After the game,
ask them these few questions:
1. how did this game make you feel?
those who didn't catch on fast would probably say 'frustrating' (since there was the real threat of a forfeit)..
2. the game played can be rather frustrating until you get it. then the whole thing seems so easy that you can't believe it took you so long to get the trick.
is the christian life like that?
yes! how so? no matter how hard we try, we can never find the "trick" to breeze through life..
3. why is it difficult for us to find out the "trick" to being a good christian?
because we just can't see it / distracted by the other things of the world
4. would it help if you saw a vision of God or heard His voice?
5. How do you think you would respond if you saw God for how He really is (the Almighty King) ?
there are so many possible responses we can have when this happens..
if fact, some of us might even be sceptical as to whether God would reveal Himself to us..
Next, go through page 26 (leaders guide), on how people respond to encounters.
the question for the day is - how should we respond to God when He reveals Himself to us?
Book! (30-35 mins)
Read Isaiah 6 : 1 - 10
1) What happened in the passage?
ans: God spoke to the prophet Isaiah!
what significance does it have for us?
God speaks to His followers!
elaborate: God may not have spoken to us the way He spoke to the prophet Isaiah, but He connects with His people in a variety of ways:
[Cover point 3] God speaks to us through (1) His Word, (2) prayer, (3) other people & (4) circumstances.
However, it would be prudent to note that we need to be grounded (or experienced) in the Bible (ultimate truth source) to recognize His voice.
2) How did Isaiah behave when he encountered God?
ans: overwhelmed
ask: are there any among you who would feel differently from the prophet Isaiah if God shows up at your front door?
while most of us would think that we would feel excited when God shows up in front of us,
we can find in the scriptures that the consistent testimony of Scripture is that when God reveals His glory, people are overwhelmed.
[if time permits, you may want them to flip to these verses of the instances mentioned in the book (moses, elijah, habakkuk, etc). ]
elaborate: so why was everyone overwhelmed? well, God is holy and perfect, and we're just the exact opposite. God cannot tolerate sin - an unholy creature like us cannot survive in His holy presence!
Seeing God is all His majesty and splendor was too much for Isaiah and it would also be the same for us.
Would we be able to stand tall if God showed up today? Or would we be ashamed to present our lives to Him?
3) what did God do to do to Isaiah (since Isaiah is unclean) ?
ans: burning coal treatment
elaboration: even though we thoroughly deserve to pay for our heinous sins, God gives us life.
He sent His one and only son, Jesus, to die for our sins.
We are now born again, having gone through this life-changing experience!
4) What happened next? (after Isaiah was cleansed from his sins)
ans: God sent Isaiah on a mission!
elaboration: [cover point 6]
there's a certain pattern that God uses to reach into lives that He's going to use for His purposes:
we encounter him, we're humbled, we're forgiven and restored, and then we're given a mission and a purpose!
interestingly, when God called out, "who will go for us?", he didn't mention anything about the place.
are we genuinely changed and humbled by our encounters with God?
will we trust Him to send us even if He doesn't tell us up front the exact location He is leading us to?
Took! (10-15 mins)
Qns: Do you believe God wants to help you understand? If not, why? If so, how might He choose to speak to you? [Leaders' Guide page 30 point 4]
Application: How can i have very real encounters with Him that would change my priorities and the way i live?
1) Commit to seek God with all your heart. You know you have met the living God when you are blown away by your encounter with Him and your life is changed forever!
2) Focus on consistent Bible study that reveals the true nature of God. The Bible is God's primary means of "revelation" of truth to us.
3) Learn to respond consistently to God's work in your life. God wants us to give Him our hopes, our dreams and our plans - to surrender all to Him.
Challenge your students to seek an encounter with God.
they shouldn't keep asking, but they should learn to listen too!
Close in prayer!
Don't forget to keep your kids in prayer, and pray that as they learn more, they would discover God for who He really is, and be transformed by Him, and one day be God's instruments to the lost.
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