Fightin' With Da Donkey   It's Your Move Work Zone and High Way  At 5 min. till start "All Right Now" - Free. When the song's done, welcome, & introductions, make announcements. Have prayer cards @ the tables. Spring break invite Mon 1-5, Tue 1-5, Wed 6-11, Thu 1-5, Fri lock-in, Easter Happening   Which Way Are We Moving Work Zone & High Way Begin with a large group Motives It's easy to do the right things for the wrong reasons. Adults can attend church in order to be "fine, upstanding citizens"; they can give money to church because they're motivated by guilt; they can lead ministries because of a hidden desire for attention and acclaim. Teenagers have similar struggles: They might attend youth group in order to see a "hot" guy; they might serve on a mission trip because it is exotic and exciting; they might share their faith because they fear disappointing their youth pastor; they may worship intensely because of a desire to appear more spiritual. We're going to play a game that will challenge you to be sincere. It may be easy to fool others, but you're not fooling God!   Silly Donkey! Needed: Burger King Crown Get the group in a line. Read the questions one by one. Youth who have done the thing mentioned in the questions take a step forward and say, "I may be the Donkey!"  The person who has done the most things that have been called out is crowned the 'Silly Donkey!' and is the winner of the game. Who has been silly enough to? - * call their family member or good friend by another name? * dial a phone number and forget whom he or she called? * forget to turn off his or her bedroom lights at night? * forget your wallet or purse at home while going shopping? * get tripped by his or her own clothes? * forget your underwear at home while going on a vacation? * leave their zipper open in public? * wash red clothes with whites? * lock themselves out of the house? * look for his or her glasses/jewelry/hat/etc&ldots; everywhere while wearing it? * lose a friend while shopping with them? * leave the milk out all day? * remember an appointment after it was too late? * rush to open the door while bathing but forgot to cover himself or herself properly first? * wander away from their group in a crowd? * wear clothes that are turned inside out unintentionally in public? * wear different colored socks for at least part of the day?   Break into Journey Groups   Moving In Work Zone & High Way An Unusual Messenger Needed: Balaam's Donkey handout (Work Zone divide into Boy-Girl groups) What's Motivating Your Motive? Have the youth form pairs, and ask each pair to discuss and define the word motive. When everyone has had a chance to create a definition, ask for volunteers to share their definitions with the group. Say: I really like the definitions you came up with. Today we're going to learn that God knows our motives and wants them to be pure. ASK: * What makes a motive pure or impure? Say: When our motives for doing something are impure, our actions can cause problems. We can do the right things with the wrong motives, and that can cause problems. This is what happened to Balaam. God directed him to do something, and although he was doing what he was asked, his motives were all wrong. Give each youth a "Balaam's Donkey handout and have someone read the passage aloud to the group. Balaam's Donkey (Derived from NUMBERS 22) On the Saturday morning cartoons, Beth saw a show about a bunch of animals that took over a farm. In the show, the animals were always discussing strategy and politics just like people do. After the show was over, Beth went to sit beside her mother who was doing some mending. "Mother, can animals talk?" Beth asked. "They can if God wants them to," said Beth's mother as she mended some old socks. "You know about the snake in the Garden of Eden, but I can tell you another story about a talking animal." And this is the story she told: One day God came to Balaam and said, "If the princes of Moab come to get you, get up and go with them, but only say what I tell you to say." Balaam sent the princes away after their first visit, but a few days later more princes came and requested him once again. In the morning, Balaam got up, put a saddle on his donkey, and went with the men because he was determined to get rich. This made God mad. While Balaam and two of his servants were riding their donkeys, an angel stood in the road to stop them. The angel was sent by god to convince Balaam that he must only speak what The True God Almighty says to him. The donkey saw the angel standing with a sword in the road and walked into a field to keep from running into it. Balaam hit the donkey to get her back on the road. But the angel stood in Balaam's way and there were walls to his right and left. When the donkey saw the angel, she ran into the wall and smooshed Balaam's foot against it so he hit her again. You see, the donkey could see the angel, but Balaam's faith was poor. So in a way, his eyes were closed to God and he could not see the angel who had blocked the pathway. The angel walked a bit and stood in a narrow place where the donkey wouldn't be able to turn at all. When the donkey saw the angel, she fell down. This made Balaam so mad that he hit the donkey with a stick. Then God made the donkey talk and she said, "What did I do to you to make you hit me three times?" Balaam answered, "You made me look foolish, like I don't know how to ride a donkey! I wish I had a sword so I could kill you." The donkey said, "Aren't I your donkey which you rode ever since I was yours? Have I ever done anything like this before?" "Well, no," said Balaam. Then God let Balaam see the angel standing in the road with a sword. Balaam bowed his head and fell flat on his face.  The angel said, "Why did you hit your donkey three times? Look, I was trying to stop you because you weren't going to do what God wanted you to do. Your donkey saw me and got you out of the way. If she hadn't, I would have killed you and let her live." Balaam said to the angel, "I did a bad thing. I didn't know that you were in the road. If you want, I'll go back." And the angel said to Balaam, "Go with the men, but only say what God tells you to say." And that's just what Balaam did.   Moving On Work Zone & High Way Open Your Eyes to the Truth Say: This is a pretty powerful story. Let's look at the motivations of the key characters in this story: the princes of Moab, Balaam, the donkey, and the angel. ASK: * What was each character's motive?  * Why was Balaam's motive impure? * Why did Balaam's motive matter to God? * After the donkey talked and Balaam saw the angel, do you think his motive was changed? Why or why not? * What can we learn from this story? Say: Sometimes God uses unusual means to open our eyes to the truth. In Balaam's case, God used an angel and made a donkey talk.   Moving Up Work Zone & High Way Twenty Questions Needed: box, one random item per student Setup: You'll need to collect a box of items from home or work-they should be random, small things. Gather enough so each group member can have one. Set out the box of items you brought with you. Ask each person to secretly get an item from the box and then find a partner. Make sure teenagers understand that their partners shouldn't see the objects they're holding. Direct teenagers to take turns playing 20 Questions as they try to guess their partners item. In this game, one person answers questions asked by his or her partner. The questioning partner can ask only questions that can be answered "yes" or "no" in seeking clues to the object his or her partner is holding. Each person can ask up to 20 questions before the game is over. ASK: * How can we relate this game to our personal lives? * Why do we need to know what everyone else has? * Why do we try to hide things? * Who do we hide things from? * How does God know our hearts? Say: We learned from Balaam's story that God always knows our hearts. And God sometimes uses unusual ways to get our attention. God knows everything about everyone-even those people who don't believe in him. We can't hide anything from God. That's why in everything we do; we should strive to have pure motives. We should seek ways to glorify God in every activity. Just as God knew Balaam's intentions, he knows our hearts!   Moving Out Work Zone  Donkey Shuffle - Game Bring the two groups together and pair off with someone in the other group and form two circles (adjust numbers as needed), one inside the other, with one partner in each circle. The outer circle -mostly boys, "Balaams" - travel clockwise while the inner - girls, the "donkeys" - goes anti-clockwise. The leader calls out a combination of body parts - ie. hand to toe; elbow to nose; head to stomach. The first part called is the anatomy part belonging to the "donkeys" on the inner circle, who must place that part on the "Balaams" body part, called out second. The last couple to "shuffle" is out. Variation: Once in their pairs, the game leader reads a question from the list below. When a few answers have been given the leader directs them to circle up and rotate again. Discussion Questions: * When was the last time that a stranger helped you? * What's something you've done that helped a stranger? * What factors prevent us from helping others? * What motivates people to perform anonymous acts of kindness? * Does good result even if someone performs an act of kindness with the wrong motivation? Why or why not? * What act of kindness could we perform right now?   Moving Out High Way Church Offers Rewards for Attendance at Youth Group Say: In 1998, World Harvest Church tried a new, controversial approach to attract teenagers to its youth group. It offered $5 to each new youth group participant and a TV and VCR to the member who brought along the most friends. While the unusual tactic made headlines, it didn't cause any debate within the church. A neighborhood mom, however, felt that church members were trying to recruit her daughter. Offering incentives was actually the teenagers' idea. Pastor John Cappetto says, "I would hope that kids don't come for the money. It was just an icing-on-the-cake thing." Critics of rewards say prizes degrade the concept of faith and a willing heart. Supporters say it doesn't matter how you get teenagers excited about spirituality.   Discussion Ideas: * Do you approve or disapprove of using rewards to boost church attendance? Explain. * Why do you attend church or youth group: because you want to grow spiritually? because your parents make you? because you enjoy hanging out with your friends? other? * Does your motivation matter, as long as you "go and grow"? Explain. * Why do you invite friends to youth group, and why do you think they accept or decline? * Do you think people come to church because they want something from God? * Have you ever done that? Is it wrong? * Do rewards cheapen the purpose of religion? Why or why not? * Do you approve of using rewards in other areas, such as school or parenting? Explain. * Does God reward our good behavior or efforts? punish our bad behavior or lack of effort? If so, how? * If you were a pastor or youth worker, how would you try to get adults and teenagers interested in attending church? * What would you do to increase the chances of them returning?   Save the last 10 minutes for closing as a large group. Come back together in The Family Life Center    Closing Work Zone & High Way The Leader Closes: Sit as youth Gather in a circle. Read the prayer cards from earlier Sum up the lesson . . .   Close In Prayer: Ask the group to stand and pray with you by repeating after you as you pray. Say: Help us, O Lord, to seek you in all that we do. (Pause.) Help us recognize the need for pure motives in every activity. (Pause.) Help us remember that we can't hide anything from you. (Pause.) You know our hearts. (Pause.) Help us be honest with you and with other people. (Pause.) Thank you, Lord, for your love. (Pause.) Make our hearts clean and holy. (Pause.) In Jesus' name, amen.   UMYF Benediction    Gather these for the Lesson: Prayer cards, Burger King Crown, 50-Balaam's Donkey handouts, 3 boxes, about 40 random items (one per student)