Try this one

Group, Sep/Oct 2002

We printed and sold tickets to both congregation members and the community for $15 each. The restaurant collected $3.50 per ticket, charged for beverages, and used the event as a tax write-off. We netted $4,000, with little preparation! The restaurant enjoyed the publicity and news coverage, and the congregation enjoyed a great lunch and interaction with the community.

Jim Miller

Honolulu, Hawaii

LASER BIBLE

Don't let your next laser tag outing go by without adding a teachable moment!

You'll need Bibles with concordances, paper, and pens or pencils.

Form small groups, and have each group list words related to laser tag. For example, "fast-paced," "fear," "mission," "darkness," "hiding," or "teams." Ask groups to choose one word from their list that might also relate to the Christian life. Have groups look up that word in a concordance and write the Scripture references next to their chosen word. Then have each group member look up one of the listed Scripture references and write a few L thoughts on how the laser tag word also relates to his or her faith.

Your group might come up with ideas like these:

* Darkness (Psalm 18:28)-God is with us in good times (light) as well as bad (dark).

* Light (Psalm 5:14-16---God will light our lives if we allow him to rule our hearts.

* Hidden (Matthew 5:14-16)-We should never hide our faith from the world.

After teams have shared their ideas, discuss these -questions: How is a game of laser tag like your walk of faith? Which of the Scriptures we read is the most encouraging to you? Explain. How can you use the Bible as your "weapon" against sin and evil?

Debra Brauner

Pottstown, Pennsylvania

ARE THE STARS OUT TONIGHT?

A stardom role-play teaches teenagers why God deserves our praise above all others.

Before your meeting, purchase magazines that have large photos of current pop culture icons. They can be movie stars, musicians, sports figures, TV stars, or even cartoon characters. Cut out the photos of the pop stars and glue each of them on cardboard. Then attach the pop stars to craft sticks to create stick puppets.

Tell your group that there are many famous people who compete for our praise and attention, and you've brought a few of them with you so the group can explore what makes them so special. Hand out the stick puppets, and ask teenagers to take turns holding up their icons and "performing" like that star might in real life. You can have more than one person act out the same pop star or even allow kids to have the pop stars interact with one another in conversation. Have each person tell why his or her pop star is most special. Then take a vote-by applause--on which pop star really deserves the most praise.

After the activity, have pairs discuss these -questions: When it comes to famous people today, whom do you admire the most? Explain. Why do people worship pop stars like those we discussed? What is worship? Why do we worship God?

Close by talking about why God is the one who deserves our worship above all others.

John Pape