Haysville United Methodist Church

 

Pizza in da Gym & Youth Center

 

6:30 The Rules

In the Youth Center
• Your cell phone is only good as a paper weight for this lock-in. 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 sexual 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/Activity Centers 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.

7:30 Large Group Games

Open-Minded
Say: To start this discussion I what groups to complete a toothpick puzzle. Get in groups of six find a meeting place somewhere in the Youth Center or Gym and begin.

(Don’t include any instructions. After a little while, give them one set of missing instructions and let them continue a few minutes. Repeat 3 times and changing the instructions between groups.)

Select a leader for each group and give him or her “leader sheet”.

ASK:
• How did it feel to not have directions?
• What was easy or difficult about it?
• How did you try to figure out what to do?
• What was the end result?
• How did you feel when you knew you would finally get the instructions? After receiving them?
• What other experiences or situations have you been in when you didn’t use directions, or didn’t have them?

Say: Tonight’s discussion topic is how to be teachable, focusing on the importance of following advice and instruction— especially from the Bible! Some adults today think their kids aren’t teach-able—and that they don’t want to listen. Teachable people aren’t gullible people. They’re people who seek out wisdom and truth in life. They think for themselves, check facts, and weigh evidence before buying an idea. Teachable individuals learn from all kinds of people—young and old, simple and intelligent. But most of all, teachable people are those willing to learn God’s messages and obey His commands.

Read: Karina believes what she hears on psychic infomercials and what she reads in supermarket tabloids. She’s sure she’s going to win the lottery, and she spends her afternoons watching gossip TV talk shows. She claims that she’s open-minded and teachable, while her friends think she’s simply gullible.

ASK:
• What do you think is the difference between being gullible and being teachable?
• Do you know friends or acquaintances like Karina?

Say: Do you agree or disagree with the following statement: “A gullible person is exploitable, easily led, and has blind faith. A teachable person wants to learn but is cautious enough to check out sources and to test truth.” Get some answers.

ASK:
• Which of the following do you think are the five greatest obstacles for a person who is trying to be teachable?
(Discuss the items your group chose and ask why. Which ones are larger pitfalls than others? Why? Why would each of these keep someone from being teachable? )

__ Science __ Fashion magazines __ Faith
__ Age __ The Internet __ Network newscasters
__ Youth __ Outspoken celebrities __ Stubbornness
__ Peer pressure __ Pride __ College degree
__ Scoffers __ Habit __ Success
__ Political correctness __ Wealth __ Doubt
__ Family ties __ Lack of discipline __ Tradition
__ Television __ Immorality __ Misinformed teachers

Read: Proverbs 9:9 “Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser; teach a righteous man and he will increase in learning.”
And Proverbs 10:8 “The wise of heart will heed commandments, but a chattering fool will come to ruin.”

Say: Come up with a summary of both verses in your own words.

ASK:
• Based on these verses, how teachable do you think you are?
• What do these two proverbs say about accepting commands and being eager to react to the wisdom shared by a godly teacher?

Say: Do you A (agree) or D (disagree)?
__ People can be taught by children.
__ People can learn from someone of much less intelligence.
__ People have a hard time being taught by someone who is very close to them.
__ People who are still young often think they know more than they do.
__ People who think they know more than they do are boared.
__ People learn things only in school.

ASK:
• What examples can you share about each statement above? Like, when does a child teach a lesson to an adult?
• Where do you look for Godly wisdom?
Discuss the question above: Do you agree or disagree? Why?
Say: Describe something that you’ve learned in the last few weeks that has stretched your imagination, expanded your insights, answered your questions, ignited a quest, or changed your behavior.

ASK:
• What did you find out about God or yourself? What happened and what did you learn?
• What stuck with you from this lesson?
• What questions do you have now about God or wisdom through the experience?

CLOSE
Say: Learning is a choice. Just like learning in school, you have to actively seek Godly wisdom in order to grow and learn. You can take the easy way out and accept what a doubtful person or web site says or you can look a little harder and longer at the whole picture and learn from the information shared. What can you do to stimulate learning? In the coming weeks, challenge yourself to find ways of learning and to turn television or video games off when they are just taking up time. Be encouraged to strike up conversations with others you trust, at school, during youth discussions, and at church. Include older and more mature Christians (possibly your parents!). Don’t be afraid to question askers and truth seekers.

PRAY
Say: Teach me, my Lord, to be gentle in all the events of life, in disappointments, in the thoughtlessness of those I trusted, in the unfaithfulness of those on whom I relied. Let me put myself aside. Teach me to profit by the suffering that comes across my path. Let me use it that it may make me patient, not irritable. That it may make me broad in my forgiveness, not narrowed. May no one be less good for having listened to me; no one less pure, less true, less kind, less noble for having crossed my path as we journey toward You.
Amen.

9:15 In the Dark Games

11:00 Go Home