YOUTH GROUP GAME ON GENEROSITY
Bible: 1 Timothy 6:18
Bottom Line: You are truly rich when you share with others.
SUPPLIES
- Painter’s or masking tape
- 2, Two-liter bottles of soda
- 100, 8-oz Styrofoam cups
GAME PREP
Create two circles out of painter’s/masking tape – one at each end of your youth space.
The circle should be about the size of a large hula hoop.
Use the tape to make two small X’s in the middle of each circle.
Place a two-liter bottle on one of the Xs in each circle.
Divide your students into two teams of equal size.
Assign each team to a circle and have the team stand near their circle.
Give each team 50 Styrofoam cups and have them distribute them equally among their teammates.
Have each team choose one person from their team that will stand on the other X in the middle of their team’s circle.
HOW TO PLAY THE GAME
Say: In life, sometimes you give and sometimes you receive.
In this game, your goal is to give more than you receive.
Each of your teams has been assigned a circle.
You have chosen one person from your team to stand in the middle of your team’s circle.
During the entire game, that person must keep one foot on the X in the middle of the circle - otherwise, they can move around as needed.
Your teams have been given 50 Styrofoam cups.
When I say, GO, your goal is to begin placing your team’s Styrofoam cups inside of the other team’s circle without being tagged by the person standing inside of the circle.
If you can place a cup in the other team's circle, you must run back to your team's circle and back again before you can try to add another cup.
The person inside the circle will try to tag the people that are placing cups in the circle.
If you are tagged, you have to run back to your team’s circle, sit down (outside of the circle) and wait for someone on your team to successfully place a cup in the other team’s circle.
Then, that person can come back and tag one person from the team (who is sitting down) to go back into the game.
Also, in each team’s circle is a 2-liter bottle.
If at any point, a team can "steal" the 2-liter bottle out of the other team's circle, here's what will happen.
You will bring the 2-liter back to your team’s circle, remove all of the cups that the other team has placed in your circle, and then put the 2-liter back in the other team’s circle.
That means that the other team is essentially starting over with no cups in the other circle.
Here are a couple of other things to note…
When you are placing cups in the other team’s circle, feel free to stack them… but remember that one person can only add one cup at a time.
The person inside the circle can’t remove cups that have been placed in their circle – they can only tag people.
There is no pushing or shoving allowed.
It is to your advantage to try and distract the person in the middle of the circle so one of your teammates can try to grab their 2-liter bottle.
You cannot have people from your team guard your team’s circle.
Instead, they should try to place cups in the other team’s circle.
At the end of the game, the team with the most cups in the other team's circle wins the game.
Play the game as long as time allows.
TEACH
Say: Sometimes people spend money on really crazy things.
Tell me something you have purchased that someone else might consider a waste of money or really extravagant.
Allow a few responses from students.
Share a personal story of an instance when you spent money on something “extravagant.”
I did a little research and found a couple of examples of extravagant spending…
Beyonce spent $100,000 on a pair of gold Balenciaga leggings – she wore them one time.
A British man grew tired of his imaginary friend, so he sold him on eBay… for $3,000.
An Australian man paid $1.3 million to have a roll of gold toilet paper made for him.
I think we can probably agree that none of those things would be considered a “necessity.”
It’s very difficult to live in our world without money.
Ask: What types of necessities do we use money for? What do we need to buy in order to survive?
Allow a few responses from students.
Practically everything requires money – it's essential in our society.
So, God has something to say in the Bible about how we use our money.
Read 1 Timothy 6:18.
Tell them to use their money to do good. They should be rich in good works and generous to those in need, always being ready to share with others.
The apostle Paul wrote the Book of 1 Timothy as a letter to a young preacher named, Timothy.
He is encouraging Timothy to instruct the people in his church in what it means to be genuinely generous.
The first thing we read in this scripture is that if God is telling us to “do good” with our money, then there must be the potential to do bad, as well.
Whether you have a lot or a little, there is always the possibility that you can become stingy, greedy, hoard what you have, or even be tempted to steal from others.
So, Paul tells Timothy one of the keys to making sure that we use our money to do good – be generous.
A generous person gives more than anyone would expect… and it isn’t just limited to money.
Generous people share their time, possessions, and even their knowledge and wisdom, with others.
Raise your hand if you are good at “sharing with others.”
If you have any younger siblings or have ever had a babysitting job, you might know that toddlers aren't very good at sharing.
In fact, toddlers think like this…
If I want it, IT'S MINE!
If I give it to you and change my mind later, IT'S MINE!
If I can take it away from you, IT'S MINE!
If it's mine, it will never belong to anybody else, No matter what.
If we are building something together, All the pieces are mine!
If it looks just like mine, IT'S MINE!
If it breaks or needs putting away, IT'S YOURS!
(Poem by Dr. Burton L. White)
Ask: None of you are toddlers, but is there anything you own that would be difficult for you to share with someone else? Why?
Allow responses from students. Be careful to encourage conversation, rather than make them feel guilty for their honesty.
We tend to love the things we own because they have meaning to us.
Maybe you own something you worked really hard for, or someone you really love gives you something priceless to you.
So, imagine how much sharing and being generous with those things that have significant meaning to you reflects the heart of God.
God gave us Jesus, His Son, who was very valuable to Him – but He held nothing back because of His love for us.
Giving and sharing with others teaches us to trust God to continue to provide for us.
If you give something away, you have to trust that God will also give and take care of you.
Ask: Can you think of a time someone was generous towards you? What did they give to you?
Allow a few responses from students.
Some of the things you mentioned were valuable, and some were not as valuable, but very sentimental.
It's not about how much you can give because even when we can't give much, God can do much with it.
When you think about what you have, it might not seem like you have a lot, but whatever you have, God can use it.
It’s more about the heart behind giving – whether it's giving to God or others.
And God wants you to be generous.
To see other’s needs and ask, “how can I help?”
To think about your needs last, and those around you first.
And to be ready to serve others generously with your time and resources.
Because of what God has done for us we know that we are truly rich when we share with others.