The Testimony Game

themes: Testimonies, Outreach, Witnessing, Intergenerational

the main idea: Participants will experience why it's good to "always be prepared to give a good word" and discover their own testimonies that they already know.

best time to use: Any time ... easily used as a study at any "milestone" time like New Year's, beginning/end of school, etc.

tips: After playing this game with different groups, I've noticed that it works best with a group with mixed ages. This can be youth of different ages - preferrably including adults - or it can be a mixed group of children and adults in an intergenerational event. Possibly the worst scenario would be a group of untamed 8th-graders with no one else.

preparation:

1. Examine the list of items for the "Move If You" game. Add ones especially fun for your group. Take out ones that don't make sense for you.
2. Make copies of the handout.
3. Recommended: Get a copy of the chorus for The Longer I Serve Him (1965 by Bill & Gloria Gaither). Prepare to sing the chorus yourself acapella or get someone else to sing it.
4. Several Bibles for students if they don't have them or are, ahem, shamefully forgetful.
5. Recommended: Do your own word study on the word "prepared."
6. Optional: If you include the section on personal salvation testimonies, then prepare to share your own testimony. It should bring out the four main sections. Alternatively, you could easily do a whole lesson on developing your testimony ... the things to bring out, methods for getting started, avoiding churchy jargon, etc.

opening:

Play "Move If You" 10 minutes

- 1. Everyone needs a chair/couch/whatever to sit on. Sitting on the ground doesn't work.
  2. Everyone takes off a shoe to mark where they start.
  3. As you name things, a person moves to the right if he's done the thing you said.
  4. If someone can't move, then people to his left might wind up sitting on his lap (careful ... there's a safe way to do this even if big people have to sit on little people).
  5. So, what if you call something and the person on the bottom thinks he can move? He can but only if everyone in his lap can.
  6. The person who gets back to his shoe first wins. Of course, you'll need to go for second place, etc.

Here are some things to call. Use your imagination to personalize the list. You call out each item by saying "Move if you ____."
1. Ate breakfast today * Got your vitamin C today * Played in an organized sport last year * Earned money last year * Underwear is backwards * inside out * Went caroling * Gave me a light check (i.e., on the U-Haul trailer we used to go to Centrifuge last summer) * Talked on a CB radio last year * Went out of state last year * Tried something completely new * Are having fun * Haven't lied about anything yet * Are in a group of 3 or more * Own anything "Veggie" (i.e., VeggieTales) * Had a quiet time with God last week at least 5 times * 3 times * Once * Love Jesus * Traveled outside the country last year * Can quote a Bible verse * Have led a Bible study * Served the Lord last year in any way * Got what you really wanted for Christmas * Belched in the last ___ minutes * Can play music on 7 parts of your body * Took dancing lessons as a little kid * Have taken private music lessons * Actually like fruitcake * Prefer the Whopper over the Big Mac

bible study:

15 minutes

Ask for six volunteers. You decide if you want to tell them it's for reading Bible verses. Say: We're going to look at some things the Bible has to say about being prepared.First, here are some things God has prepared.

Pass out the handouts and assign scriptures to read. When people are ready, have them read their scriptures and identify God's preparation ... write answers on the handouts. (Different Bible translations might use different words for "prepared.")

1 Corinthians 2:9 (what God has prepared for those that love Him)

Matthew 25:34 (Kingdom prepared for you)

John 14:2 (Jesus will "go there to prepare a place for you")

Psalm 23:5 (He prepares a table before me in the presence of my enemies)

Ephesians 2:10 (good works)

Ephesians 4:11-13 (prepared us for works of service)

Say: Now, let's look at ways God wants us to prepare.Get four more volunteers for these scriptures and look for ways we are to prepare ...

1 Peter 1:13-16 (prepare your minds for action)

1 Peter 3:15 (always be prepared to give an answer or defense)

2 Timothy 2:20-21 (prepare to be fit vessels, suitable to be used by God ... note that verses 22-26 talk about specific ways to prepare)

2 Timothy 4:2 (preach the Word, be prepared in season and out of season)

Discuss briefly this idea of being prepared to give a good word. Say that stories are great ways to give this word ... and the stories can be about all kinds of things. Get people to name some kinds of stories that might glorify God and lead people to a closer relationship with Him (examples: personal salvation testimony, stories about how God has taken care of you, times you felt God's presence).

personal salvation testimony:

optional - up to 10 minutes

(note: This isn't meant to be a full-blown Bible study on preparing your personal salvation testimony, but there are other good studies out there that do a good job of that.)

Introduce the idea that your own personal salvation testimony is powerful. No matter whom you're talking to, your testimony glorifies God and points people to Him.

Share your own testimony. (It should bring out the four main sections shown below.)

Then point out four sections of the testimony:

Your life and attitudes before following Christ

How you realized God was speaking to you

How you became a Christian

What God has done since - what being a Christian means to you now

If you have time, examine the Apostle Paul's testimony. Read Acts 22:1-15 and/or Acts 26:9-20. Involve participants for the reading possible. As you go, identify when Paul describes each section.

Ask people to fill in their own personal salvation testimonies with brief phrases. (See caution to the right.) Full verbiage isn't needed. Give them only 30 seconds per section to think of the answer and write it down. If you have four people that have already written their testimonies and feel comfortable, then use them as a human stopwatch (stand them up, and sit one down every 30 seconds). Ask two or three people to share what they wrote. People will get a chance to share more during the Game that comes next!

play the testimony game (finally!)

time: as long as you want, but leave 5-10 minutes at the end

Introduce the game: So we know that the stories we can tell can be useful. In fact, the Bible tells us always to be prepared to give a good word. I'd like to play a little game to see how fast you can remember the things that God has done in your life.

Split into manageable groups. Hopefully, no more than eight people per group. If you have more than three groups, then consider splitting up the whole mega-group into two games. Ideally you'll have some adults spread out in all this.

Appoint someone to keep score.

Review the rules:

1. I'll describe a situation ... like "A time God provided and you were thankful."
2. Each group needs to send one person up to tell a brief story that fits the situation.
3. The story has to point out how God was involved.
4. You earn points ...
  - 10 points ... just for sharing a suitable story
  - 10 points more ... if you're the first one up
  - 10 points more ... if it's your own story (yes, you can tell someone else's story still)
  - 0-10 points more ... depending on how specific and accurate the story is
  - 0-10 points more ... depending on how current the story is
  - But that total gets cut by 2 if the story teller has been up once already
  - ... or by 4 if up twice already
  - ... or by 8 if up three times already ... so involve as many people as possible

Have a practice round with the first situation, then go through other ones in the order that makes sense to you. Repeat parts that make sense to repeat depending on time.

1. A time when God provided and you were thankful
2. A time when you especially felt God's presence in your daily walk
3. ... you felt God's presence during worship
4. ... God led you or helped you make a decision
5. ... rescued you from danger or peril (OK, OK, for youth, doomed tests count)
6. ... you had righteous fun!
7. ... God revealed a cool/great verse to you
8. ... God comforted you
9. ... you were used by God
10. ... you failed and God forgave you
11. The day you met Jesus!

wrap up and debrief

5-10 minutes

Was the game Easy? in what ways?

... Hard? in what ways?

How can you do better next time? And remember, next time might be later today or this week when you need to give that Good Word that someone needs. (Ideas for doing better next time: Things like remembering, experience with God, just plain doing it).

Ask: Do you think that older Christians have an easier time playing the Testimony Game? (Of course. Hopefully, adults in your group helped bring that home.) This is a wonderful thing to look forward to.

Optional:

If you have the words for The Longer I Serve Him, then you might sing that now, acapella. At this point, I can tell this story about Ruby Feeler (you might use it or, ideally, share a similar one from your own life).

"When I was in college, I sang in the church choir. One lady in the choir was Ruby Feeler ... and she was like the most wonderful grandmother to most of us college students. A great example of a Godly woman. I remember one choir musical we did where we needed someone to sing the part of an "older Christian," and Ruby sang that for us. She sang The Longer I Serve Him ..." (and at this point you sing it for your group).

(For copyright reasons, I can't provide the words here, but you might have your own copy somewhere: The Longer I Serve Him, words and music by William J. Gaither, 1965.)

closing

Read Psalm 51:10,12 (or sing it yourself): Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. Restore to me the joy of Thy salvation, And sustain me with a willing spirit. (NASB)

Close in prayer ... repeat this verse as part of the prayer.

Tip: When I ask for people to read the Bible, I try to ask for people who just want to read some verses. It doesn't matter who's good at reading, just who feels like reading right now. If I get only one, or zero, then that person and I do all the reading without any guilt trips. This helps take the pressure off. In my group, many marginal readers have offered to read knowing that the Word is the important part, not the pronunciation.

Caution: Hopefully you have people in your class that don't know Christ ... yet. Be sensitive to them. Prevent a situation where they have to describe an event that hasn't happened yet in their lives.

And pray for the Spirit to speak to them during this time. You should be sensitive to the Spirit leading you to follow up with these poeple later.

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