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.