PRETEEN MINISTRY GAME: POPCORN SHAPES
Our world is always changing… and it changes pretty quickly!
As adults, we can hardly keep up, imagine how it must feel for preteens.
It’s important that students learn at a young age that God, and His Word, never change – they can depend on Him.
Use this game to remind preteens that everything changes, except for God’s promises.
-Nick Diliberto, Preteen Ministry
PRETEEN MINISTRY GAME: POPCORN SHAPES
Written by: Rob Quinn
Bible: Hebrews 13:8
Bottom Line: Everything changes, except for God’s promises.
SUPPLIES
- Note Cards with one of the following shape words on each card: heart, star, car, smiley face, dog, fish, cloud, cross, flower, dinosaur)
- Notecards with a time limit written on each: 15 seconds, 30 seconds, 45 seconds, one minute
- 2 Buckets (one for shape words and one for time limits) – given to the leader of the game
- Bowls of popcorn – one for each team
- High-energy music
HOW TO PLAY THE GAME
Have your students form teams of four people and give each team a bowl of popcorn.
SAY: Today, we’ve got an awesome game called, “Popcorn Shapes”.
Here’s what you need to know about the game:
Each of your teams has been given a bowl of popcorn.
From these buckets, I will choose a shape notecard, a time limit notecard, and then read both of them aloud.
As soon as the music starts, you will use your popcorn to create the shape that I read from the card.
Depending on which time limit card I picked, you will have as little as 15 seconds, or as much as one minute to create the shape.
When time is up, I will look at each group’s shape that you created.
If I can recognize the shape (if it looks like what it’s supposed to be), then you get to stay in the game.
If you weren’t able to create the shape, in the allotted time, then your team will sit down, and you will be eliminated from the game… so, make sure that you get your shape created in time!
Everyone that is left at the end of the game is a WINNER.
…That means that you can tell all of your friends at school that you’re really good at making shapes out of popcorn!
Play as many rounds as you want… adding more shapes, or even putting eliminated people back in the game if everyone is having a good time.
TEACH
That was a lot of fun!
How hard was it to keep up with the pace when there wasn’t a lot of time? Why?
Allow a few responses.
I agree with all of that… I mean we were changing the number and shape pretty quickly!
With the rapid pace that everything was changing, it reminded me how things in our world are constantly changing.
Let’s make a list of things that are always changing.
Here a few examples to get us started… music, clothing, cars…
Wait for students to list other examples.
Now, which of those things directly have an affect on your world as a preteen?
Wait for responses.
Some things in life change quickly, and others change a little slower, but everything changes eventually.
Well, almost everything, see the one thing that never changes is God.
God’s love and promises never change, they have always been and will always be the same.
In fact, let’s read what the Bible says about Jesus and change:
Read Hebrews 13:8.
See, it’s written pretty clearly that Jesus is the same today, tomorrow, and forever.
So, why is this a big deal to us, and why should be be excited about this?
Because of this, we know that all the promises Jesus gives us will never change and never go away.
What promises am I talking about?
Here are three promises the Jesus makes to us:
- Life
Matthew 16:24-25 says:
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it.
This may seem a little difficult to understand, but we will only find life when we quit seeking the things we think will bring us life.
Because all things change and what we chase after will constantly be changing for us.
But when we stop looking for life in this ever-changing world and look for life in Jesus, we find it!
We realize the design and purpose He has for our life – and that’s pretty awesome!
- Acceptance
John 6:37 says:
However, those the Father has given me will come to me, and I will never reject them.
Here we see that Jesus has assured us that he will NEVER send those who come to Him, away.
We see this acceptance peppered throughout his interactions in the Gospels.
If we come to him, we will always find him waiting with open arms.
Jesus’ invitation extends to everyone, and he accepts all those who follow him.
- Reward
Mark 10:29-31 says:
“Yes,” Jesus replied, “and I assure you that everyone who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or property, for my sake and for the Good News, will receive now in return a hundred times as many houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and property—along with persecution. And in the world to come that person will have eternal life. But many who are the greatest now will be least important then, and those who seem least important now will be the greatest then.”
Following Jesus requires sacrifice.
Going your own way can give you some immediate benefits.
And in the moment, it may appear those benefits outweigh the potential gains of obedience in Him.
Jesus wants you to know that your sacrifices aren’t in vain, and there’s nothing you can surrender that exceeds what’s attained in following him.
When you get down to it, there’s an element of God’s truth that one can only understand from the inside.
These are just a few of the promises that Jesus gives us that will never change… no matter what.
There are so may other promises Jesus give us and the one thing that that you can always count on is the fact none of them will change.
Jesus loves you and wants you to have a close, personal relationship with Him.
So, before you head out there is one final thing I want you to remember: Everything changes, except for God’s promises.
Close in Prayer.
About Rob Quinn, the Writer of this Lesson
Rob has nearly 10 years of experience in preteen ministry. He is married to an amazing woman Jodi, who just so happens to be the Children’s Ministry Director at his church. They have one beautiful daughter Sydni, and an 8-pound attack dog named Lilly.
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