Worship Caravan Friends 4 Ever
It's Your Move
Work Zone and High Way
Set Up: Before the meal set up the LCD projector, and then show the DV8 clips & slides to start the lesson. (15 min)
Announcements: (Included in the DV8 slides) Regular Youth next week, May 8th we will go to All Star Sports then to Aldersgate UMC's Saturday night service, out for a nice dinner then overnight at WHUMC
After the DV8 portion&ldots;
THERE FOR YOU
Say: Friendships are the heart and soul of the teenager years. As friendships become more and more important, you are learning what creates and sustains valuable and lasting friendships. Tonight we'll explore what kind of friendships to cultivate as well as what kind of friendships to avoid-and what kind of friend you need to become. Tonight's lesson will help you discover that friends can be one of the greatest gifts that God gives us.
Break into small groups. Have the youth line up by age - youngest to oldest. Divide them in to like age groups, as many as there are sponsors.
Moving In
Work Zone & High Way
Make it or Break it
ASK:
"Is it easy or hard to make friends?
"What is the process of making and keeping friends?
"Is it easy or hard to keep friends for a long time?
"Discuss what might cause friendships to dissolve and what can make friendships last a long time.
"Is it easy or hard to break apart a friendship?
"Why do people shift and change friendships? Is this a good thing or a bad thing?
"When do friendships change the most in a person's life? Why or why not?
Moving Up
Work Zone & High Way
Friendship Download
Needed: Qualities Sheets
Pass out a qualities sheet to everyone in your group.
Say: If you were able to download the perfect friend by selecting qualities on a Web site that are important to a friendship, which five of the following would you pick? (Discuss with the "ASK" questions after everyone has selected 5)
Similar interests Loyal Funny
Smart Athletic Able to keep secrets
Musical Popular Truthful
Trustworthy Spiritual Honest
Good-looking Wealthy Same race
Same age Outgoing Christian
Creative Humble Easygoing
Witty Patient Responsible
Generous Clean Courageous
Cheerful Kind Industrious
ASK:
"Which qualities are the most desirable to have and why?
"What makes a friend a true friend?
"Do any of you have any friends that have all these qualities?
Moving On
Work Zone & High Way
The Verses
Check out the following four Bible passages. What does each passage say about friendship?
Proverbs 17:17 A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.
(A friend loves at all times)
Proverbs 18:24 There are friends who pretend to be friends, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.
(Loyalty is important)
Proverbs 27:6 Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy.
(A friend telling you bad news is better than flattery from an enemy)
Proverbs 27:10 Your friend, and your father's friend, do not forsake; and do not go to your brother's house in the day of your calamity. Better is a neighbor who is near than a brother who is far away.
(You don't run out on your friends)
ASK:
"Is there any difference between society's views of friendship versus God's views of friendship?
"What is the value of friendship?
Moving Out
Work Zone & High Way
A Friend
True or False & Discuss
A friend will never tell you what you don't want to hear.
A friend will stick with you no matter what.
A friend can be closer to you than a relative.
A friend will try to prevent another friend from making a bad choice.
Two friends will like the very same things.
A friendship can be worn out by too much togetherness.
A Christian would be sure to tell his or her friends about Christ.
A Christian should only have Christian friends.
Say: Let's brainstorm some ways that you can work on your friendships.
(After a few are discovered, continue)
If you were to predict what these changes would do, how would the friendship change or grow from your efforts?
Moving Out 2
Work Zone & High Way
Tribute
If you were to write a short sentence in an article as a tribute about your best friend, what would you say?
What would you want said about you by your best friends and how does this compare with what they'd want said about them?
ASK:
"What's hard about doing this activity? Why or why not?
"How often do you let your friends know that you value and appreciate them?
"How would your friends react if you told them how much your friendship meant?
"Is it easy to work on friendships? Why or why not?
Return to the gym for the closing
Closing
Work Zone & High Way
Gather in a closing circle.
Say: Friendships take work, patience, and wisdom if they are going to last. Everyone is different. Some people are better at making friends than others and some people will have more friends than others. Some people are happy with a few close friends while others like to have lots of friends.
I don't pretend to know what friendship is for everyone, but I can tell you what it is for me; friendship is knowing all about someone, and still wanting to be with them more than any other person, friendship is trusting them enough to tell them everything about yourself, including the things you might be ashamed of, friendship is feeling comfortable and safe with someone and always cracking a smile when they walk into a room.
Even though you will change and find your own place in the world, we all know that when the tears fall or a smile spreads across our face, our memories will come to each other because no matter where this crazy world takes us, nothing will ever change so much to the point where we're not all still friends.
This week I challenge you to encourage a lost friendship or two - send a friend you've grown away from for no good reason an e-mail, text or note, hang out with them, just do something.
Close in Prayer:
I got down on my knees today and said a prayer for you. You are always in my heart and I often think of you. I ask the Lord to send his angels to protect my dearest friend. I pray that all the joy and happiness you have will never end, I ask the Lord to comfort you when you are feeling blue. And when you have a tear he'll wipe away that too. I ask the Lord to bless our friendship, so our ways will never part. True friends always stick together because we're in each other's hearts.
Amen
Say the UMYF Benediction and turn out into the world.
Gather for this lesson: DV8 stuff, 40 Qualities Sheets
