Next Wednesday is Holocaust Memorial Day. HMD is commemorated internationally on 27th January each year. This date was chosen as it is the anniversary of the day in 1945 on which the Soviet Army liberated the largest Nazi concentration camp – Auschwitz-Birkenau.

The following youth group session is designed for church groups and can be used to explore the events of the Holocaust, while also explaining the Gospel message. It is based upon a BBC News article about a British Soldier who snuck into the notorious Auschwitz during the Second World War. Unbeknown to him, his actions saved the life of another.

Caution: This session requires the young people to understand some of the atrocities committed during the Holocaust and should therefore be handled sensitively. Background information for this session was mostly taken from this Wikipedia article. I also used certain historical images to illustrate the conditions at Auschwitz. These were taken from the official memorial website.

Take My Place
Background: Auschwitz
To understand the significance of the story, we need to know a little bit about what happened at Auschwitz. You might want to briefly cover the information below with some pictures in a powerpoint presentation.

Auschwitz-Birkenau was the largest of Nazi Germany’s concentration camps and extermination camps, operational during World War II. The three main camps were Auschwitz I, II, and III.
Auschwitz I, the original concentration camp, served as the administrative center for the whole complex, and was the site of the deaths of roughly 70,000 people, mostly ethnic Poles and Soviet prisoners of war.
Auschwitz II (Birkenau) was an extermination camp and was the site of the deaths of at least 960,000 Jews, 75,000 Poles, and some 19,000 Roma (Gypsies). This was the largest of all the Nazi extermination camps.
Auschwitz III served as a labour camp.

Most prisoners to Auschwitz arrived by train. Thousands of Jews were crammed into carriages with no food or water for hours on end until they arrived at the entrance to the camp nicknamed “The Gate of Death”. This is a transcript of the message that played to them when they got off the train:

“Gentlemen and Ladies,
“We know that you are very tired, that you had a very long and exhausting journey. Neither food nor water was plentiful. We are sorry, but this is not our fault. Now, that is behind you. We will put you into a Camp. Those who are able will work. All will live in normal conditions.
“We are sorry that we have to give you some bad news. To the Camp, where you would live and work, are some 3 km and so happen that just today we do not have transportation. Thus, we are asking now that:
“All females, mothers with their children no older than 14, all men sick or disabled to go to the left.
“The rest that are able to work, and thus able to walk to the Camp, to stay put on the right of the ramp.”

The was part of the Nazi’s infamous “selections”, where incoming Jews were tricked and divided up into 2 groups. Those deemed able to work were admitted to the camp, and those who couldn’t were immediately taken away and gassed. Less than an hour after stepping off the train, families were separated forever.

Everyone had their personal belongings taken away and were made to wear identical striped clothes. When the Soviet army eventually invaded the camp in 1945, they found 348,820 men’s suits and 836,255 women’s garments! Those who were able to work lived in terrible conditions. There are horrendous stories about what happened to those in the camp. Many died from the hard labour, lack of nutrition and terrible conditions. Many were also shot or experimented on. Most people however were killed in the gas chambers. The first gassings were carried out at Auschwitz in September 1941. People were stripped naked and crammed into empty chambers which were then pumped full of cyanide gas.

In early 1943, the Nazis decided to increase the gassing capacity of Birkenau. By June 1943 four crematoria were in use. Most victims were killed during the period afterwards. No one knows the exact amount of people killed in the camp, but estimates are around 2 million men, women and children. The bodies of these millions of people were never buried, but piled outside and burned.

At the end of the war when the Nazi’s knew they were losing, they evacuated Auschwitz and forced those who were fit enough to walk 35 miles through the snow. Of 60,000 prisoners, 15,000 died on the way.

Game: Sweetie Smuggling
In order to lighten the mood and to keep the group active and interested, you could play the following game.

Promote two people in the group to become ‘guards’ and station them outside of the room. Tell the rest of the group that they are ‘prisoners’. The aim of the game is for the prisoners to smuggle as many sweets (candy) past the guards as possible, and the guards to confiscate as many items as possible. The winning side is the one with the most items at the end.

One by one, the prisoners have to choose if they want to smuggle an item, then walk out of the room past the guards. If they are carrying an item, it should not be visible. This should lead to some very creative hiding items on people. The two guards are only allowed to ‘search’ half the number of people in the group. For example, if you have a group of ten prisoners, the guards can only search five of them. This way, the guards must choose carefully who they want to search.

Obviously it is not a good idea for the young people to physically search each other, so an adult should keep an eye on who has an item, and make sure they are honest when challenged by the guards. If the guards catch someone smuggling, then they confiscate the item. If a prisoner makes it through with an item, then they get to keep it. If a prisoner is accused of smuggling but is not carrying an item, then they can go free.

When the game is finished, get everyone sitting down again and tell the story of Denis Avey.

Denis
Denis Avey was a British soldier in World War II, who was captured by the Germans and imprisoned in a camp connected to Auschwitz. Even though he was a Prisoner of War, he was treated well and had relative freedom including sending and receiving letters from home.
Denis was a red head. He says: “I had red hair and a temperament to match. Nothing would stop me.”
Denis had heard rumours about what was going on inside the main camp and wanted to find out the truth about the gas chambers, so he could tell others.

After careful planning Denis built the trust of a Jewish inmate and arranged to swap places with him for one night at a time. He exchanged his uniform for the filthy, stripy garments that the inmate had to wear. For the Jewish man it meant valuable food and rest in the British camp, while for Denis it was a chance to gather facts on the inside.
Denis described the camp as “hell on earth” and says he would lie awake at night listening to the ramblings and screams of prisoners.

“It was pretty ghastly at night, you got this terrible stench,” he says.
He talked to Jewish prisoners but says they rarely spoke of their previous life. Instead they were focused on the hell they were living and the work they were forced to do in factories outside the camp.

“There were nearly three million human beings worked to death in different factories,” said Denis. “They knew at that rate they’d last about five months”.

Denis traded places twice and slept overnight in Auschwitz. He tried a third time but he was almost caught and the plan was aborted.

Discussion:
Imagine what it must have been like to sneak into somewhere like Aushwitz. Discuss in your group what you would have done in that situation.

Jesus:
The Bible tells us that Jesus did exactly what Denis did. He chose to put himself in a dangerous situation and swap places with those who were going to die. But unlike Denis, Jesus actually died on our behalf. Read the following passages:

But he took our suffering on him and felt our pain for us. We saw his suffering and thought God was punishing him.
But he was wounded for the wrong we did; he was crushed for the evil we did. The punishment, which made us well, was given to him,
and we are healed because of his wounds.
We all have wandered away like sheep; 
each of us has gone his own way. But the Lord has put on him the punishment 
for all the evil we have done. (Isaiah 53:4-6)

Christ had no sin, but God made him become sin so that in Christ we could become right with God. (2 Cor. 5:21)

Christ carried our sins in his body on the cross so we would stop living for sin and start living for what is right. And you are healed because of his wounds. (1 Peter 2:24)

Theologians call this trading of places ‘Substitutionary Atonement’. It’s a complicated way of saying something very simple: Jesus died in our place.

Ernst
Denis’ story is one of bravery, but that’s not the end… It was in the camp that Denis met Jewish prisoner Ernst Lobethall. Ernst told him he had a sister Susana who had escaped to England as a child. So back in his own camp, Denis contacted Susana via a coded letter home to his mother.
He arranged for cigarettes, chocolate and a letter from Susana to be sent to him and then he smuggled them to Ernst in the camp. Cigarettes were more valuable than gold and Ernst hoped he would be able to trade them for favours to make life easier. He traded two of those packs of cigarettes in return for getting his shoes resoled.

Denis never saw Ernst again, but did meet his sister Susana when he got home after the war. Both of them thought Ernst was dead. Miraculously though he had actually survived, thanks – in part – to the smuggled cigarettes. His new thick-soled shoes helped save his life on the notorious death march out of the camps during the winter in 1945. Where 15,000 people died in the snow, he survived.

Ernst moved to America after the war, where he had children and lived a long and happy life. He died never even knowing the real name of the soldier who he says helped him survive Auschwitz. But before he died Ernst recorded his survival story on video. In it he spoke of his friendship with a British soldier in Auschwitz who he simply called “Ginger”. It was Denis, now aged 91.

This is a short clip of Denis watching the video that Ernst made before he died (The clip doesn’t seem to be available to download but you can view it online here).

Discussion:

• How did Denis’ actions save Ernst?
• How is it similar to Jesus’ actions on the cross? How is it different?
• What do you think Ernst would say to Denis is he were still alive?
• What would you say to someone who had done that for you?

Prayer:
Spend some time praying for those effected by the horrors of war. Thank Jesus for what he achieved on the cross and what it means for us.

Related Posts

• Values Session 11: Share (Part 2)
• Values Session 10: Share (Part 1)
• Values Session 9: Support (Part 2)

Regular reader Ralf wrote in with this game. It’s a very simple paper snowball fight that’s a lot of fun!

Numbers: 10 and over, enough for two equal teams
Suitable for: Any age
Preparation time: None!
Venue: Large room or hall
Safety First: As you will be throwing paper around the room, watch out for faces!
Equipment needed:

• Lots of scrap paper
• Optional tape
• Optional Buckets

The game:
Ralf explains:

We have two teams in a bigger room, separated by a line. Every team gets a number of crumpled up paper balls (5 per person or so…) and has to throw it over the line into the field of the other team. The other team has to clear up their field and throw it back. You can play a song or just measure the time [e.g. 2 minutes]. When the song or the time is over, you count the remaining paper balls in every teams field.

Adaptation:
Try giving each team a bucket and tell them to aim for the one on the opposite side of the room. At the end of the game, the team that gets the most snowballs in the bucket is the winner.

Photo Credit: net_efekt on Flickr

Related Posts

• Santa’s Beard
• Freezing Frenzy
• Chairball

A silly, sticky Christmas-themed game!

Numbers: Up to around 10 at a time.
Suitable for: Ages 8 and upwards.
Preparation time: 5 minutes.
Venue: A large room or small hall.
Safety First: The game involves putting a sticky product on facial skin. Check with young people if they have any allergies or skin irritations before they take part.
Equipment needed:

• A sticky spread like honey, jam or chocolate spread. Marshmallow spread can work well and fits with the theme!
• Cotton wool balls

The game:
Get your leader or young person to sit at the front of the room and explain that they will have to cover their face with the spread you have provided. Check in advance that they have no allergy to the products. Half the fun of this game is the preparation, so make a big deal of them spreading it on their face!

When this is done, nominate a number of other young people to come forwards and give them a big pile of cotton wool balls. A smaller number like three is better as it doesn’t get too out of control. Explain that their task is to try to create the best santa-style beard by throwing the cotton balls and making them stick to the volunteer’s face! Allow a bit of space so that they don’t crowd the volunteer and so that and spectators can see (you might like to mark a line on the floor).

When you say “Go”, they can start throwing! The game ends when either the beard is complete or they run out of cotton balls.

Adaptation:
Have two or more people at the front with teams competing to create the best beard in under a minute!

Image Credit: kevindooley on Flickr

Related Posts

• Paper Snowball Fight
• Freezing Frenzy
• Chairball

Image: Ice mask, C.T. Madigan / photograph by Frank Hurley on Flickr

A dressing-up game with a great twist: ice!

Numbers: 10 or under. If you have many more, play as teams where they nominate a player.
Suitable for: Ages 12 and up due to the physical nature of the game.
Preparation time: At least a day in advance (for freezing the clothing).
Venue: A large room or small hall.
Safety First: The game can involve some physical pushing and shoving, so take care and set some clear ground rules first!
Equipment needed:

• items of clothing (e.g. T-Shirts)
• a large freezer

The game:
In advance, you need to take your items of clothing, bundle them together and place them in a freezer! It is best to have all the items the same, for example 10 T-Shirts or 10 hats. When ready, this will leave you with one large ball of frozen material.

Get your contestants to line up a few steps away from where you have placed the bundle. When you say “Go”, they must fight to be the first to separate an item from the bundle and wear it. Of course, as the clothing is frozen together, it will take much pulling, bending and effort to break them apart. This causes much amusement as the contestants struggle to thaw or break the ice and figure out which item will come free the easiest!

The winner is the person who first manages to put on the item of clothing.

Adaptation:
If you’re concerned about the physical side of this game, you could simply freeze the items separately and make it a challenge for someone to dress up in a frozen outfit. Of course, don’t let them wear it for long!

Related Posts

• Paper Snowball Fight
• Santa’s Beard
• Chairball

This post is part of a 5-session teaching series covering the first 5 chapters of the book of Acts in the New Testament. It is designed to be used in a small group environment for young people aged 11-14, but can be adapted for other purposes. The young people were encouraged to read the chapter in advance.
I originally planned on writing a 12-part series, but our groups fell behind and I didn’t continue the notes. For more youth group resources check out my page here.

Image credit: JustinLowery on Flickr

Acts Chapter 5: Sharing

Aim:
To learn about how the early church supported each other and explore how we can do the same today.

Activity: One For You, Two For Me
Don’t announce this activity to the group, instead just let it happen and see who figures out what’s gong on first!

Take a large bag of sweets and casually hand out one sweet to each person. Once everyone has got one, take two for yourself and eat them both. If someone points out that you had more than them, just gently dismiss it with an excuse. Next, hand out another round of sweets doing exactly the same thing. Keep this going as many times as you can making it more and more obvious what you are doing.

At some point, it will become a big deal and the group will loudly complain. Ask them why they think this was unfair and what they think you should have done with the sweets. Lead the discussion into Acts 5

Background:
At the very end of Acts 4 (32-37) we are told that the group of believers start to share everything that they own. In verses 36-37 they meet a man from Cyprus, Barnabas, who sells a field and places a pile of money at their feet to bless them. In Acts 5 Ananias and Sapphira also sell a piece of land in order to bless the disciples but do not give them the full amount. They choose to hold some money back for themselves. Peter challenges both Ananias and Sapphira seperately saying that they have lied to the Holy Spirit. When they hear this they drop down dead!

Reading: Acts 5
Your group should have read the chapter in advance. Take a few minutes to recap on its content for those who haven’t.

Illustration: Indiana Jones
Show the clip from Indiana Jones and the Temple Of Doom where Indy and his companions arrive in a remote Indian village after jumping out of a crashing plane [DVD Chapter 7, 0:19:00 to 0:21:40]. Although the villagers live in poverty, they offer a meal to the travellers.

Read the story of the widow’s offering in Luke 21:1-4. What did Jesus say about her? How is it similar to the film clip? This was how the first Christians lived, sharing everything they had.

Discussion:

• Have you ever given to any charity? Which one? Why?
• Do you think we should give to the work of the Church around the world? Why?
• What other ways can you share with and support the people around you?
• Which of our 5 Values (Follow, Honour, Serve, Support, Share) apply to this passage? What can you learn from it?

Prayer:

• Pray that we may be challenged by the issue of giving
• For those in Churches and Charities worldwide who are look after the money so that it goes where God wants it.
• Pray for any issues affecting the group this week.

Challenge:
This week, find an opportunity to share something worthwhile with another person. It might be food, money or simply your time. Be glad that you are able to help.

Related Posts

• Acts Chapter 4: Arrested
• Acts Chapter 3: Healing
• Acts Chapter 2: The Holy Spirit

This post is part of a 5-session teaching series covering the first 5 chapters of the book of Acts in the New Testament. It is designed to be used in a small group environment for young people aged 11-14, but can be adapted for other purposes. The young people were encouraged to read the chapter in advance. Credit must be given to Dave Johnson for co-writing this session and for posting it online previously here.
I originally planned on writing a 12-part series, but our groups fell behind and I didn’t continue the notes. For more youth group resources check out my page here.

Image credit: JustinLowery on Flickr

Acts Chapter 4: Arrested

Aim:
To learn about Christians who are persecuted for their faith and understand how God encourages and inspires us in difficult situations.

Activity: Survivor
Give everyone a pen and paper, then ask them to write down (or draw) their three most important possessions. Once everyone has decided, explain that there has been an huge earthquake and their houses have been destroyed. They have a few minutes to grab ONE of their items to carry with them. Which one would they take and why?

When everyone has shared, tell the group about the underground churches in places like China and North Korea. In these places, God’s word is their most treasured possession with people risking their lives to smuggle Bibles and share the good news with others.

How does this make them feel? Did anyone think of taking their Bible with them?

Background:
Following Peter and John’s healing of the crippled man at the Temple (Acts 3:1-10) they were arrested for preaching about the good news of Jesus. The Jewish leaders believed that the disciples were committing blasphemy (speaking untrue things about God) and they were thrown in prison overnight. Even though the believers were scared of what might happen to them, their numbers grew from 3,000 to around 5,000 men (Acts 4:4)!

Reading: Acts 4
Your group should have read the chapter in advance. Take a few minutes to recap on its content for those who haven’t.

Illustration: Brother Yun
Take a few minutes to look at the life of Brother Yun (author of The Heavenly Man) whose story represents an example of the persecuted Christians in China. From Wikipedia:

Seen as a rebel among some Chinese for not joining the ‘official’ government-controlled Christian organization, Brother Yun was imprisoned and tortured by the government authorities. He was finally arrested and sentenced to many years in prison. However, Yun continued his ministry while in prison, with miraculous results. As a result, many prisoners and even some prison officials became born-again.

Apparently, while he gained increasing favor from some officials, he also became a target of increased persecutions by others. He was repeatedly beaten and became severely malnourished. After many years, he escaped from Zhengzhou Maximum Security prison. He described how he heard the voice of the Hoy Spirit, telling him to simply walk out the heavily guarded prison gate. Risking being shot to death on the spot, he wrote later that he obeyed the voice, and walked straight through several prison doors that were somehow left open in front of many prison guards, across the prison yard and finally out of the main gate. Yun stated that it was as if he had become invisible to the guards who stared straight through him. Although many expressed doubts that such a thing could happen, some prison guards had apparently lost their jobs for this ‘embarrassing mishap.’ It is reported that the official investigation by the Chinese Government concluded that “Yun received no human help in his escape.” It is claimed that these reports have been also confirmed by numerous prisoners who occupied the same prison cell as Yun. Apparently, he remains the only person to have escaped from this notorious maximum security prison!

You can watch a 10 minute testimony by Brother Yun on YouTube:

Discussion:

• How would you react to being arrested for what you believed? Would it effect your faith and beliefs?
• What would you do if it was illegal to be a Christian? Why?
• Do you think that you could praise God in difficult situations? How would you do it?
• Which of our 5 Values (Follow, Honour, Serve, Support, Share) apply to this passage? What can you learn from it?

Prayer:

• Pray for the persecuted Church around the world
• Pray for boldness within the group that they can share the message amongst their friends (and family) without fear
• Pray for any issues affecting the group this week.

Challenge:
This week, you should try to overcome your own fears and share the good news of Jesus with some friends! Ask God to give you boldness even when people are rude to you because of your faith. Remember, if people laugh at you because of Jesus, you are in great company!

Further Reading: Genesis 39:20-23

Joseph’s master took him and put him in prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined. But while Joseph was there in the prison, the Lord was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden. So the warden put Joseph in charge of all those held in the prison, and he was made responsible for all that was done there. The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph’s care, because the Lord was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did. (New Century Version)

Related Posts

• Acts Chapter 5: Sharing
• Acts Chapter 3: Healing
• Acts Chapter 2: The Holy Spirit

This post is part of a 5-session teaching series covering the first 5 chapters of the book of Acts in the New Testament. It is designed to be used in a small group environment for young people aged 11-14, but can be adapted for other purposes. The young people were encouraged to read the chapter in advance.
I originally planned on writing a 12-part series, but our groups fell behind and I didn’t continue the notes. For more youth group resources check out my page here.

Image credit: JustinLowery on Flickr

Acts Chapter 3: Healing

Aim:
To learn about how God worked through the disciples and understand that He can perform miracles today.

Activity: Begging Bowl
Get the group involved in a bit of drama by asking them to act out a small scene. Choose one of them to be a beggar on the street selling the Big Issue magazine. One by one, the rest of the group should walk past and each act out a different response to the beggar. Most of the group will have seen this happen in real life so should be able to relate to it well and invent their own ideas. The response given will depend on the character of the individual. Some may be humorous or silly, while others may be more thoughtful.
Once finished, discuss the responses. How did the groups’ responses compare to Jesus’ parable of The Good Samaritan in Luke 10:30-37? What did Peter and John do in the same situation in Acts 3?

Background:
The Temple, where Peter and John were going to pray (Acts 3:1), was really important in Jewish culture. It would have been like a busy town centre with people coming and going to offer sacrifices. The ‘Beautiful Gate’ where the crippled man was laying was one of 13 entrances and was a large, 18 metre (60 feet) wide structure said to be covered in Corinthian brass which made it shine in the sun. It was a good place to beg as people going in to worship God would feel guilty and give money. When the crippled man asked Peter and John for money, the Holy Spirit guided them to give him the gift of healing through Jesus instead.

Reading: Acts 3
Your group should have read the chapter in advance. Take a few minutes to recap on its content for those who haven’t.

Illustration: Modern Miracle?
Read the BBC News story of Frances Finn. She broke her leg skiing when she was 13 years old and the accident has led to having limbs of different lengths. However, at a Christian Conference in April 2008 an audience of over 100 people witnessed her shorter leg grow. You can view a video the healing taking place and Frances’ reaction on YouTube here:

Peter commanded the man to walk in Jesus’ name even though he had never walked since he was born! Peter clearly states that the man was made well through his faith in Jesus (Acts 3:16).

Discussion:

• Have you ever met anyone who has been healed by God?
• Do you believe miracles and healings still happen today? Why or why not?
• If Peter and John healed a non-believer, should we as Christians be healing non-believers on the streets too?
• Which of our 5 Values (Follow, Honour, Serve, Support, Share) apply to this passage? What can you learn from it?

Prayer:

• Pray that we can have faith to see miracles happen
• Pray for anyone that needs healing
• Pray for any issues affecting the group this week.

Challenge:
This week you should pray that God will heal someone. This may sound like a difficult task, but all of us know someone who is sick or unwell and needs God’s healing. If you are confident, you should pray with that person as Peter and John did. If not, why not pray for them in your quiet time each day, asking God to make them well. Remember to be guided in your prayers by the Holy Spirit, having faith that God will answer.

Further Reading: James 5:13-16

Anyone who is having troubles should pray. Anyone who is happy should sing praises. Anyone who is sick should call the church’s elders. They should pray for and pour oil on the person in the name of the Lord. And the prayer that is said with faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will heal that person. And if the person has sinned, the sins will be forgiven. Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so God can heal you. When a believing person prays, great things happen. (New Century Version)

Related Posts

• Acts Chapter 5: Sharing
• Acts Chapter 4: Arrested
• Acts Chapter 2: The Holy Spirit

This post is part of a 5-session teaching series covering the first 5 chapters of the book of Acts in the New Testament. It is designed to be used in a small group environment for young people aged 11-14, but can be adapted for other purposes. The young people were encouraged to read the chapter in advance.
I originally planned on writing a 12-part series, but our groups fell behind and I didn’t continue the notes. For more youth group resources check out my page here.

Image credit: JustinLowery on Flickr

Acts Chapter 2: The Holy Spirit

Aim:
To learn what happened to the disciples at Pentecost, and to understand the importance of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

Background:
The disciples were waiting in Jerusalem as Jesus had told them to (Acts 1:4) when the Holy Spirit came upon them. It was the day of Pentecost; a major Jewish festival celebrating the day God had given His written word to Moses, and there were Jews staying in the city from every country in the world. This gave Peter and the disciples a fantastic opportunity to spread the good news of Jesus when they were filled with God’s Spirit.

Activity: Chatterbox
Ask the group to think about a time when they were really excited about something, and just had to tell other people! It may have been recently, or maybe when they were younger, but it should be something that they weren’t able to keep quiet about. Get them to try and recall how they felt.
When they are ready, get the whole group to start talking about that one exciting thing. They should all talk for about 1 minute and try to drown each other out so that they can get their message across louder than the others! At the end of that minute, see if anyone managed to share his or her excitement with the others. Talk about who was most animated and why they could get so worked up over their experience.

Reading: Acts 2
Your group should have read the chapter in advance. Take a few minutes to recap on its content for those who haven’t.

Illustration: The Trinity
There are loads of different analogies for the Holy Trinity that you could use to try and illustrate the Godhead and how the Holy Spirit works with the Father and Son in unity. A common example is in the three different states of water; liquid, solid (ice) and gas (steam). Why not get the group to come up with their own metaphor that can help them understand the different attributes and characteristics of God?
When doing this, please be aware and explain that analogies are helpful tools for our understanding but do not fully explain the awesome complexity of the Trinity. Our God cannot easily be described or categorised.

More Info:
The Holy Spirit is a person but is also part of God and has always been present in creation. He is mentioned right at the beginning of the Bible in Genesis 1:2. When the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost, God sent Him to permanently live in and be with His followers. As Christians we carry the Spirit of God with us!

Discussion:

• What do you think it was like for the disciples to be filled with the Holy Spirit?
• Have you ever had an experience of the Holy Spirit in your life? If so, when and where?
• Which of our 5 Values (Follow, Honour, Serve, Support, Share) apply to this passage? What can you learn from it?

Prayer:

• Pray for the Holy Spirit to be more obvious in our lives. Ask for God to reveal Himself in us through the Spirit.
• Pray for any issues affecting the group this week.

Challenge:
Start expecting God to work in you each day as the Holy Spirit guides you. Ask Him to transform you by the renewing of your mind (Romans 12:2) and be open to what he may tell you to do!

Further Reading: Galatians 5:16-25

So I tell you: Live by following the Spirit. Then you will not do what your sinful selves want. Our sinful selves want what is against the Spirit, and the Spirit wants what is against our sinful selves. The two are against each other, so you cannot do just what you please. But if the Spirit is leading you, you are not under the law.
The wrong things the sinful self does are clear: being sexually unfaithful, not being pure, taking part in sexual sins, worshiping gods, doing witchcraft, hating, making trouble, being jealous, being angry, being selfish, making people angry with each other, causing divisions among people, feeling envy, being drunk, having wild and wasteful parties, and doing other things like these. I warn you now as I warned you before: Those who do these things will not inherit God’s kingdom.
But the Spirit produces the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. There is no law that says these things are wrong. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified their own sinful selves. They have given up their old selfish feelings and the evil things they wanted to do. We get our new life from the Spirit, so we should follow the Spirit. We must not be proud or make trouble with each other or be jealous of each other. (New Century Version)

Related Posts

• Acts Chapter 5: Sharing
• Acts Chapter 4: Arrested
• Acts Chapter 3: Healing

This post is part of a 5-session teaching series covering the first 5 chapters of the book of Acts in the New Testament. It is designed to be used in a small group environment for young people aged 11-14, but can be adapted for other purposes. The young people were encouraged to read the chapter in advance.
I originally planned on writing a 12-part series, but our groups fell behind and I didn’t continue the notes. For more youth group resources check out my page here.

Image credit: JustinLowery on Flickr

Acts Chapter 1: Patience

Aim:
To set the scene of the book and to explore the idea of patience.

Background:
The book of Acts was written by Luke and follows on from where his gospel finished (Acts 1:1-2). Jesus had died, risen, and appeared to his disciples telling them to wait in Jerusalem for the Holy Spirit from God (Luke 24:49, Acts 1:4).

Activity: Fruit Pastille Patience
Give everyone in the group a Fruit Pastille (or other mouth watering sweet) to put in their mouth. Tell them that they are not allowed to chew or swallow the sweet until the person on their left has finished theirs. Then get the first person to start chewing. Obviously the people towards the end of the queue will have to wait the longest with the pastille in their mouth. See who manages to cope best and then try it the other way around.

Reading: Acts 1
Your group should have read the chapter in advance. Take a few minutes to recap on its content for those who haven’t.

Illustration: Heinz Ketchup
Use the famous Heinz commercial where the guy rests a ketchup bottle on top of a building, then goes to the street, buys a hotdog and catches the ketchup as it falls. The strap line is “The best things come to those who wait!”

You may find other videos with similar themes. There are many commercials for Guinness that use the same strap line.

More Info: Being Prepared
One definition of waiting is to “remain in readiness for some purpose”. Waiting is not about sitting around being bored, it’s about excitedly preparing for something that’s about to happen so you’ll be ready when it does, just like in the commercial. Jesus told a parable about waiting in Matthew 25:1-13. He was talking about being prepared for when He returns.

Discussion:

• Do you find it difficult to wait for things? What have you ever had to wait for?
• What would it have been like for the disciples waiting for the Holy Spirit? Did they know what to expect?
• Has God ever told you to wait for something? Do you have dreams for the future that God has promised you?
• Which of our 5 Values (Follow, Honour, Serve, Support, Share) apply to this passage? What can you learn from it?

Prayer:

• Pray for specific dreams God has given each person, and that God will reveal plans to those who have none.
• Pray that the group will understand what it means to be patient and that God helps them to wait in anticipation.
• Pray for any issues affecting the group this week.

Challenge:
In your personal quiet time with God this week, make space to just ‘wait’ on God. Get rid of other distractions and ask God to speak to you while you listen. You may find this difficult at first so try to get into a habit of doing it regularly.

Further Reading: Romans 5:3-5

We also have joy with our troubles, because we know that these troubles produce patience. And patience produces character, and character produces hope. And this hope will never disappoint us, because God has poured out his love to fill our hearts. He gave us his love through the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to us. (New Century Version)

Related Posts

• Acts Chapter 5: Sharing
• Acts Chapter 4: Arrested
• Acts Chapter 3: Healing

This is a silly adaptation of the classic volleyball game except players must remain on their knees at all times!

Numbers: groups of around 10 or over (2 teams of equal numbers are needed).
Suitable for: ages 7 and up!
Preparation time: under 5 minutes.
Venue: large room or small hall.
Safety First: As participants are all sitting on the floor, the only risk is from over-enthusiastic individuals waving their arms around too much. Try and encourage the team to spread out and cover the court between them to avoid injury.
Equipment needed:

• An Inflatable Beach Ball
• Tape, cones, or some other way of marking the court
• An optional net set-up across the court

The game:
Set up the court by marking out two equal sized squares divided by a central line. If you have a tennis or badminton court already marked out, that is the perfect size. If you have a net, set it up between the two squares. If you don’t have a net, clearly mark a line of tape down the centre between the two.

Organise the group into two teams and have them spread out across their side of the court. The more people you have on a team, the more silly the game becomes as everyone tries to get a touch on the ball! Have every team member kneel down on the floor and explain that they are not allowed to get up. That means no running, jumping or diving – everyone must remain with their knees on the floor at all times!

You then play volleyball! The obvious aim is to get the ball to touch the floor on the opposition’s side. Every time this happens, the team gains a point. A point is also given if the opposition team knock the ball out of the court (just like in tennis).

To start, throw the beach ball onto the court and watch as the team passes it around and tries to knock it over to their opponent’s side. With large groups it is best to allow them as many touches on the ball as they want rather than the usual three-per-team. You can play until a certain score is reached, or until a given time limit is up. The winning team is the one with the most points.

Adaptation: To make it even more difficult, you can get the teams to sit on their bottoms instead of kneeling!

Related Posts

• Tail Grab
• Hopping Sumos
• Paper Snowball Fight