The Prayer Path Labyrinth

November 7, 14, and 21 we used the stations from the Prayer Path Labyrinth.

Candy vs Vegetables

Two weeks ago, with a Sunday on Halloween, we had a dish of candy (not the cheap stuff, but good stuff) and a vegetable tray. We then had a sign that said:

When you have to make a decision how do you know what the best choice is? Can you distinguish between what is good for you and what is just a sweet treat? How often do you take what is easy (sweet) rather than what is best (good for you)?

Draw a picture of Community

This last Sunday, we asked everyone to draw a picture of what 'Community' meant to them & leave their work on the table to be seen by the others...

Behold The Man

on the 17th, we used a flash presentation called 'Ecce Homo' which means behold the man. I was turned on to it at Jonny Baker's blog (see link on left side of this blog) and you can reach the links directly at Ecce Homo. It had a modern art sort of presentation of Christ with a great track of music under it. We just kept it looping all morning at the station...

Conversation

The topic this week was 'Conversation' - from The Story We Find Ourselves In. This dealt with how God speaks to us, and in order to get conversations going, our station contained the following instructions:

Start a conversation with someone
using one of the following starters:
How does God speak to you today?
What has God been saying to you lately?
Tell me about a time God spoke to you.
Where are you in your spiritual journey?

worship ideas website

I found a great website with worship ideas. It is Emerging Minister dot Com. Really good stuff!

Blurry?

We had a sign written with a marker that had the word 'blurs' kind of scribled-in so it looked fuzzy or blurry. The sign said:

What blurs your spiritual vision? Write it down... Pray about it. Ask God to help you see clearly. Then throw the paper away.

We had a stack of papers, pens, and a trash can.

Report Card

We were on the section of 'the story we find ourselves in' that discusses chaos/crisis. We decided to have a self-graded report card with the following:

-------------------------------------------------
Effort Grade: E-Excellent, S-Satisfactory, I-Improving, N-Needs Improvement
Achievement Grad: A-Outstanding, B-Above Average, C-Average, D-Below Average, F-Unsatisfactory

For each of the catagories, give yourself an Achievement grade and an Effort Grade:

Love
Joy
Peace
Patience
Kindness
Goodness
Faithfulness
Gentleness
Self-control

Matthew 5:48 Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
During the sermon it was mentioned that we all should recognize how we fall short in these areas, but that we are a work in progress - we should not beat ourselves up or be driven to dispair, but rather Love God & Love Others & allow the Holy Spirit to continue to transform us in these areas as we walk with Him - it is a lifetime of growth... (or something like that).

What's On Your Plate?

With the new semester in full swing, we had folks think about what is going on & pray for each other. We had markers, pens, and paper plates. We meant for people to take their plates to other people & pray with one another, but we also wanted people to see a sample of a plate. We made a sample plate & left it at the table. -ends up everybody else left their plate at the table too... Oh well.

Our instruction sheet read:
What's On Your Plate? Write down or draw pictures of what you have on your plate. How you spend your day... What occupies your time... Share your plate with someone else and pray for each other.

Index card/name/creative talent

Last Sunday, to go along with the theme of Creation from The Story We Find Ourselves In, we had a corkboard, some push pins, some index cards, a few pens, and the following instructions.

Write your name on an index card. Write down something you do that is creative. Tack the card to the board.

The responses we got were:

Aaron - I draw
Scott - I pray
Garret - I write poetry
Clara - I pray for people and love them as a Christian friend
Blake - I play random guitar chords
Lindsay - I love to sing!
Ben (the chef) - I put strawberries in the OJ!
Ashlyn - I'm a writer, photographer, and like to think of myself as a motivator
Lina - I sing, dance, and teach
Joshua - I encourage
Kathleen - I play volleyball and watch Lord Of The Rings (29 times)
Sam - I mix ideas - shaken not stirred
Christine - I teach special kids
Aaron - I like to do lights
Brandi - I love to write creatively and I'm a photographer
Lauren - I love to write poetry
Keith - I play the clarinet
Chad - I paint

Jenga!

OK, so I had it wrong... The book we're going through is not Adventures In Missing The Point! It is The Story We Find Ourselves In by Brian McLaren. This week's station was actually for a service two weeks ago, but was not used so we pulled it out for last Sunday.

Here's the setup... A Jenga tower and a sign with the following:

Pull a piece or two out of this Jenga tower & place them at the top.
Can you see how unstable it will become as it's foundation continues to be eroded?

The Look Book

We wanted to do a station about seeing the 'big picture' since we've just started a series on Adventures In Missing The Point. So, we found this website, Mystery Photos, where you see a picture, guess what it is, then see the 'big picture'. Really cool - wanted to use lots of their photos, then saw the legal note: COPYRIGHT NOTICE All photos on this site are copyrighted -- you may NOT post these images on any public forum or reproduce them in any form!

SO, we borrowed The Look Book from our local library, set it on a table and included the following guide: How well do you see the 'big picture?' Flip through this book and see if you can guess what each photo is before turning the page to reveal it... Don't peek until you give up.

Take a Band-Aid...

Today's station idea came from some guy that did a talk for my mother-in-law's church's sunday school teachers, etc... We had a few pens, a pile of band-aids, and a small trash can & the following instructions:

Take a band-aid.
Take off the wrapper and write your name on the top of the band-aid.
Find someone and tell them about a hurt that they can see (a scratch, a bruise, a bump) and how you got it.
Then tell them about a hurt that can’t be seen.
Give them the band-aid with your name on it so they can wear it.
Every-time they see it they should pray for you and your hurt.
Offer to get them a band-aid.

So I did the station, and later during the service, found myself a bit weepy/emotional about the whole thing - somehow verbalizing my current hurt brought it to the surface in a pretty big way. Not what I expected, but I hope it was as impactful for the others who participated...

The Fan

I'm not sure where we got this idea... but it wasn't ours. We had a fan on a table and the following sign. "Move across the air stream from the fan. Feel the full force of the air. Imagine this is the Holy Spirit moving in your life. Are you ready to stand at the center of God's will for you? Talk to God. Pray."

The World As A Village

For August 8th we had a sheet with "Take a Sheet. Take a guess. Take a Peek." We had a pile of sheets with "The World As A Village. If we reduced the world's population to a village of 100 people, would you recognize it? Use the percentages on the right side of the page to fill in the blanks to the left of each category." It had one column of categories, and another where you would write in the percentages you think are right, and then a selection of percentages you can choose from. The we had a closed notebook. On the outside it said, "Answer to statistics sheet under here..." Inside was the answer key with the following statistics:
Females 49%, English Speaking 9%, Children 33%, Suffering from malnutrition 50%, Over the age of 65 6%, Living in substandard housing 80%, Asians 59%, No access to drinking water 66%, Persons of color 70%, Lesbian or gay 10%, Christians 30%, College-educated 1%, Own half the village's wealth 6%.

Acrostic Community Poem

August 1st we had two sheets with Acrostics on them. One was "City On A Hill" and the other was "Community Of Hope." We had the words spelled from top to bottom and then included the following instructions: "Please add a word or phrase regarding the Church's role as a voice of HOPE in this world to one of these acrostic community poems...
Then we started one or two letters on each sheet to get it going.

St Augustine - Breathe

We had a picture with a prayer of St Augustine. Here is what it said:

Breathe in me O Holy Spirit, that my thoughts may all be holy.
Act in me O Holy Spirit, that my work too may be holy;
Draw my heart O Holy Spirit, that I will love what is holy;
Strengthen me O Holy Spirit, that I will defend all that is holy;
Guard me O Holy Spirit; that I may always be holy. Amen

Then we had another sign with:

The word "Holy" signifies being set apart for a divine use or purpose - belonging to or coming from God.
What does Augustine's prayer mean to you?

We had a notepad with a pen & people jotted down their thoughts about this.

Sand & Shovel

Yesterday, we had a station with a pile of sand, an old shovel, and two pieces of paper.

One said:
Exodus 2:12 After looking around to make sure no one was watching, Moses killed the Egyptian and buried him in the sand.

The other said:
Moses used sand (and likely a shovel) to hide his sin... Do you ever try to hide your sin? Why? How?
I John 1:9 But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong.

Which picture represents HOPE?

This week was about Hope. We cut a bunch of pictures from magazines & placed them at the station with a notepad, a pen, and a sign with the following:
Which of these pictures best represents HOPE to you? Why? Write down which picture and why...

4th of July

Last week for the 4th of July, we had a table with three sheets of paper on it. The three headers were Independence, Dependence, and Interdependence. Here are what they had:

Independence: The state or quality of being independent; freedom from dependence; exemption from reliance on, or control by, others; self-subsistence or maintenance; direction of one's own affairs without interference.
Romans 6:6 …knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin;
Galatians 5:1 It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.

Dependence: The state of being dependent, as for support. Subordination to someone or something needed or greatly desired. Trust; reliance. The state of being determined, influenced, or controlled by something else.
Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the LORD with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight.
Acts 17:28 for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, `For we also are His children.'
John 15:5 Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.

Interdependence: A relationship of mutual dependence characterized by mutual sensitivity and mutual vulnerability on the part of all the parties involved. Dependence of people or nations on each other; sharing of resources, skills, and problems; the idea that what one does affects others.
Galatians 5:13 For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.
Romans 12:5 We are all parts of his one body, and each of us has different work to do. And since we are all one body in Christ, we belong to each other, and each of us needs all the others.
Ephesians 5:21 And further, you will submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

The Hope Stamp

Yesterday we had a rubber stamp with the HOPE stencil logo & stamped each person's hand as they came in. The thrust of the current series is that God desires to write HOPE over our lives.

Glow in the dark star

We got this from the Discovering Jesus tin – another Group publishing package like the prayer path. We got a jar of those glow in the dark stars that some kids like to put on their bedroom ceilings. We had three signs on the table and a bowl with the stars. The signs were:

“The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.” “The Lord is my light and salvation.” “Arise, shine, for your light has come.”

A Light in the darkness. Reflect on the light of Jesus that has come into the darkness and offer your praise to God. Pick up a star and hold it near the light. Now cup it in your hands and peek inside. Light.


Take this star with you as a reminder on your journey with Jesus, the light that shines in the darkness.

Palm Sunday

For Palm Sunday, we had a cross by the table & later put a palm branch out with the following sign:

The people of Jerusalem welcomed Jesus,
hailing him as King,
laying down their coats and waving palm branches
in the air…
Six days later they called for his crucifixion.

Nailed to the cross

We had a cross with a number of papers thumb tacked to it. On the papers were the following:

Rage, Pride, Self-Reliance, Gossip, Ungratefulness, Lust, Boasting, Arrogance, Gluttony, Selfishness, Idolatry, Envy, Fear, Rebellion, Manipulation, Slander, Sexual Impurity, Corrupt Mind, Stealing, Drunkenness, and Lying.

We then had a sign on the table with:
Think about your old nature before coming to Christ.
Think about those traits that were put to death on
the Cross when you came to Him.
Think of those sins that you desire to reclaim
those habits you have fallen into again…
Ask God to help you live according to your new nature.
Ask God to help you live by His Spirit to bring Him glory.

Chinese Symbols

We used Chinese symbols for different attributes of God then mounted them on nice colored card stock with the following sign:
These cards list attributes of God.
Look through the cards and think about how God has shown Himself to be that attribute to you this past week.
Look through the cards a second time and ask yourself which of these you have not seen Him to be this past week.
Pray, asking God to show you more of Himself this week.

Pick a book

One week we had a sign that said something along the lines of, “Pick out a book. Read a page. How do you feel? What are your thoughts? Ask God to speak to you… ” We then had three books with a brief description of each.

They were, “A Bag of Noodles – A thought provoking book of random ideas from 1973 (Jesus Hippy Movement)” “The Psalm Book – A replica of the handmade psalm book – Charles Knowles (died at age 18 in 1958) – Hand-carved woodcuts handset type” “Praying with the Celts – translations of traditional Gaelic poems, prayers, praises, and blessings”

Relax, Open, Engage, Prepare

We had a spare station ready to go for any week we might miss… We pulled it out a few weeks ago – now we need to come up with a few more easy spare ones to keep in the wings… This is what it was:
Relax your body… Open your mind… Engage your spirit… This is the house of God. Prepare to Worship.

Santa Jesus?

For one of the weeks right before Christmas, we had this crazy picture of Jesus on the cross with shopping bags and presents. I had found it at some site dealing with an art exhibit that seemed somewhat anti-Christmas… I would properly credit it, but I tried googling for it again & came up empty.

We had a notepad & pens & the following guidance:
What do you think this picture is trying to say?
How do you feel about that?
Write down your thoughts…
This time of year, we remember Christ coming as a baby to die for the sins of the world.
However, in our culture it’s too easy to be caught up in materialism.
What can you do to maintain proper perspective this season?
Write down your thoughts…

Forsaken?

We put out a pad of paper, a few pens, and the following instructions:

Have you ever been: Left Behind? Left Out? Abandoned? Neglected? Forgotten? Forsaken? Rejected? Jilted?
Disowned? Discarded? Isolated?

When you read in Hebrews that God will never Leave you nor Forsake you, never Desert you, never Fail you, never Abandon you, never let you down or walk off and leave you, never Forget you…
How does that make you feel?
Write down your thoughts & ideas…

MOSAIC

We got a small wooden tray and filled it with rock salt (smaller than you use for making ice cream but larger than table salt). We were going to use sand, but wanted something much brighter white for contrast. We also had a bowl with small colored pieces of broken glass. We laid out a few pieces of glass in the salt and had the following instructions:

Mosaic-decorated with small pieces of
colored glass or stone fitted together
Please take a piece of colored glass.
Place it in the tray with the others.
Note how it stands out on its own,
but also how it fits together with the rest of the pieces
to make something beautiful.
Ask God to show you how you fit
within the body of Christ.

Landmines dot Org

We made a 5 by 5 grid from crepe paper, with each square being 18 inches. We then played a “game” where we told participants there were three ‘landmines’ in the ‘minefield’ and had them try to cross it. We had a sheet with the layout of where the mines where hidden. Few were able to successfully cross it. We actually did have one person ask if we would tell them where the mines were, and we obliged – allowing them to easily cross. As it turned out, that was quite appropriate as the pastor’s sermon was to be on David’s plea in the Psalms that God would order his steps that he might avoid evil. Most of the folks failed to cross successfully because they tried crossing on their own instead of seeking guidance from someone who could order their steps.

We did hand out a sheet from Landmines.Org
reminding them that while we played this game in a lighthearted way, landmines really are a global problem maiming or killing an estimated 10,000 civilians each year.

The Shredder

One week we had a pad of paper, a few pens, and a shredder. We then had a sign with the following:

Ask God to show you anything that may hinder your Worship of Him…
As things come to mind, write them down…
Ask God to help you overcome these distractions…
when you are ready…
Put the paper in the shredder and leave those things behind…

Nestle Tollhouse Cookies & The Church?

A few weeks ago we made a couple batches of homemade Nestle Tollhouse Chocolate Chip cookies & had the following on a sheet at the table:


Look at the collection of ingredients before you:

Flour, Baking Soda, Salt, Margarine, White Sugar, Brown Sugar, Eggs, Chocolate Chips…

Individually, some of these are tasty and some are not. Together they form something very good –

Likewise, each of us has our own set of strengths.
Together we blend to become something much greater…

Enjoy a cookie and think about how you are needed.

We are all parts of His one body, and each of us has different work to do.
And since we are all one body in Christ, we belong to each other,
and each of us needs all the others. (Romans 12:5 NLT)

Worship Tricks - Jonny Baker Blog

So, someone passed along a great link that I MUST promote! It is Jonny Baker's blog. Part of his blog is a list of Worship Tricks - stuff that they've been doing at Grace, an alternative worship community in West London. WoW. Talk about a great resource... Anyway, you have to check it out!

Worship with Legos?

My mother-in-law works with Northwest Community Church , here in Phoenix. She had been at some sort of conference for children workers or something. Anyway, they had a guest speaker from some children’s ministry magazine & he had walked them through several spiritual experiences. We heard about this one & used the idea at The Bridge. I really have no idea who it was or what magazine he was from, but I have a nagging suspicion that he was from Group Publishing … Anyhow, we laid out some off-brand Lego wannabes (what can I say – I’m cheap) and put out a sign with the following:

“Pick up a Lego. Feel the rough bumps. Imagine that those bumps are things that God wants to smooth out & remove from your life – what are they? Feel the side with the holes in it. Imagine that these holes represent needs in your life that God desires to fill – things that God wants to put into your life… What might those be? Connect your Lego to the others – notice how they fit together to make something bigger and better than themselves – in what way are you connected to the lives of those around you?”

Mother's Day

For Mother's Day we had a lamp, a sign, a notepad, and a pen. For nice motherly props we had a teapot & teacup. The sign had the Proverbs blurb about "her children rise up and call her blessed" and asked, "In what way has God blessed you through your mother? Write it down." and we allowed everyone to think about how they have been blessed & share it with others.

I Am Loved

This week's activity was inspired by the I Am Loved buttons that are available from Helzberg Diamonds.
We had folks use blank adhesive name tags & colored markers to make a tag that said, "I Am Loved" and challenged them to wear it proudly. We then asked, "Do you live in such a way that others KNOW you are loved by God?"

He Loves Me, He Loves Me, He Loves Me

Last Sunday instead of having our normal interactive station that you pass by on your way to your seat, we had something for everyone to participate in during the service.

I picked up a bucket of daisies & passed one out to each person in church. Our pastor then reminded us of the old game of “He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not” & had us pull the petals off the flower. So many of us remember at least seeing that on TV or in a movie. But it seems like we approach God in the same way. When things are going well, He Loves Me. When things aren’t going well, He Loves Me Not. {in addition: In Christ, we should say, He Loves Me, He Loves Me, He Loves Me. (Romans 8:38-39)}
The flowers were inexpensive. It was hands on. Everyone saw it, touched it, smelled it, pulled the petals, remembered something in the past… it seemed to go really well.

Our pastor went on to say that it isn’t only an issue of feeling God’s love or not, but that scripture actually mentions the wrath of God as well. John 3:16 mentions that whoever believes in Christ, SHOULD NOT PERISH… It is not just being saved to eternal life, but being saved from wrath.

This Blog

Here goes... My wife & I have been putting together interactive stations each week for our church for a while now. It started out as borrowing ideas from the Prayer Path Labyrinth & ended up with us borrowing other ideas & coming up with some of our own. I’ve been trying to see if others are doing the same thing & documenting what they do so I’d have more resources & I’m just not finding it. SO, I’m documenting what we’re doing at The Bridge and maybe you might find it useful or inspiring...

The Big Move

Well, I had started this blog out at Spymac since they had offered a 1 gig mailbox, free webhosting, blogging, etc. I've had regular problems with the blog - the archiving is very annoying (you must know the date of the archived post you wish to view) and the built in comments do not have a field for a vistor to leave their name. SO, it's being copied over here & I'll post one last blog over there to forward everyone over here...