Last month I did a post on 10 Bible Books. 10 Themes.
Well – here are 10 more Bible books and 10 more themes.
Grumble Not Night – Philippians 4:4. Talk about joy – Joy does not translate into daily happiness and a magical life. God never promises us that we won’t face tough times, but we can rejoice that He is with us through good times and bad times.
What to do: For fun, ask clubbers to share their pet peeve (make a rule that they can’t talk about another person), or you could have leaders share their pet peeves. Even this can be a lesson – what should we do when we get upset over little annoyances?
Or play the “I-can-make-you-laugh” game. Kids sit in a circle. Choose one of them to be “it.” “It” kneels down in front of another clubber and attempts to get her to laugh without saying a word. (Put a time limit on this: 15-30 seconds.) If “it” gets the other clubber to laugh, that clubber becomes “it.” If not, “it” moves on to someone else.
Kindness Night – Colossians 3:12. Your lesson could be on kindness.
What to do: A few weeks before Kindness Night, ask the clubbers for service project suggestions. You might be surprised what they come up with. You could collect Bibles for a mission, toys for a homeless shelter, gently-worn winter jackets or loose change for a GO project.
Do What I Do Night – 1 Thessalonians 1:6. Many verses in the Bible talk about imitating good. Other verses talk about following a pattern of good words (God’s truths). Teach your clubbers the importance of following that which is good. Emphasize that we must surround ourselves with friends who make godly choices.
What to do: Play games such as Simon says or Follow the Leader. (Yes, we think of Follow the Leader as a little kids’ game, but an enthusiastic leader, who takes the clubbers through some funny and challenging antics, can easily turn this into an activity for older kids.)
GO Night – 2 Thessalonians 3:1. Do you participate in GO? If not, take some time to look over the resources we have available on the Awana GO page https://www.awana.org/go Get involved in reaching kids around the world.
What to do: Choose a country and focus on that country for a week or two. You could play games from that country, eat a snack common to the country … maybe even have someone who is from the country visit your club. Talk about the Awana clubs in the country and pray for the leaders and clubbers.
Honor the Pastor Night (or any church staff member) – I Timothy 2. Paul details the characteristics of a church leader in 1 Timothy. Why not invite your pastor to club that night? He could do the Large Group lesson or the clubbers could ask him questions about the Bible … or about his role as pastor. Honor him with a special snack and a gift – a poster or something on which kids could write their names and a message.
Church kids probably know the pastor, but might not understand what he does when he isn’t at church. Non-churched kids have no idea what a pastor does. This is a great opportunity for them to get to meet him. The pastor can express his willingness to answer their questions and be available to them at any time.
Strength Night – 2 Timothy 2:1. Large Group lesson could be about the strength we find in Christ. Many of the clubbers in your church face tough situations in their homes. Understanding that they face these hard times with spiritual strength can be a comfort and help them get through difficult situations. (You could also refer back to the armor of God listed in Ephesians 6)
Does one of your leaders lift weights? He could put on a demonstration for the kids. During Game Time, play games where clubbers have to carry something around the circle (not too heavy, of course).
King Night – Titus 3:1. Large Group lesson could be about King David, Solomon or any other king. Talk about Christ being the King of kings. (1 Timothy 6:12 is a verse that addresses this.) You could also sing King of kings (easy to find on the web).
For older kids, you could discuss what to do when we don’t agree with our government. Again, the emphasis should be that Christ is King of Kings.
If you have a suitable climate and outside space, you could play king of the mountain.
Forgiveness Night – Philemon. (can also use Ephesians 4:32). For your Large Group Lesson, dramatically tell the story of Onesimus and Philemon. We neglect this story of forgiveness and kids often aren’t that familiar with Philemon. You can also challenge them to forgive friends who have hurt them.
What to do: We assume that Onesimus stole from Philemon, an offence that often meant death at that time. Have kids sit in a circle. You will need a piece of string that reaches around the circle. Put a ring of some sort on the string and tie the string together so that you have an unbroken circle. Clubbers put their hands together on the string. As the person who is “it” comes back in the room, the clubbers begin secretly moving the ring around the circle by moving their hands back and forth on the string (touching hands with the person next to them) Person who is “it” has three guesses as to who has the ring.
Claim to Fame Night – Hebrews 11. Talk about the Bible characters listed in Hebrews 11 or choose two or three of them to focus on in your lesson. Talk about fame and how many people today are famous for less-than-admirable reasons.
What to do: Tell each of your leaders to think of a talent or interesting aspect of their lives that the kids wouldn’t know. Then put each of them “center stage.” (You could even arrange a red carpet and spotlight) to share the talent/fact with the clubbers. For instance, a leader might play a solo on an instrument she played in their high school band, display his talent with a yo-yo or share with the clubbers how he’s related to a famous baseball player. Have fun with this activity.
Word Night – James 2. Talk about the tongue and how words can either hurt or help those around us.
What to do: You can do lots of things with this theme. A great object lesson is asking a child to squeeze all the toothpaste out of a tube. As the child is doing so, tell the other clubbers that the toothpaste represents our angry words. Then have the child attempt to put the toothpaste back in the tube. He won’t have much success. Explain that once we say our words, we cannot take them back so we must choose our words carefully.
You could do crosswords puzzles, word finds or play “hangman” as a group.
Or, have the clubbers sit in a circle. The first clubber says, “I’m going to my aunt’s house and I’m taking … (something that starts with an A).” The next clubber says, I’m going to my aunt’s house and I’m taking (the A object said by first clubber) and (something that starts with a B). Continue around the circle. You could play until someone forgets an item.
