Wednesday's Word of The Week - the Dove Evolution

Today I bring you a devotion that you can run with your youth.

Main Point of Discussion: Our perception of beauty has been completely distorted by the media and modern technology, which is why we need to go back to God’s definition of beauty from the Bible.

Introducing the Clip:
Today I want to show you a clip from You Tube called ‘Dove Evolution’. As you watch it, think about how you define beauty.

Let’s take a look.

Show the You Tube clip ‘Dove Evolution’

Transitional Statement:
This clip does an excellent job of showing the incredible distortion tactics that go in to making people ‘beautiful’ and setting up unattainable standards- especially for women.

Divide into Small Groups:
Let’s go ahead and split up into our discussion groups, and then afterward we’ll come back together for a final word.

Discussion Questions:

AROUND THE CIRCLE: Before we begin, name some actors/actresses you might consider ‘hot.’
AROUND THE CIRCLE: Do you think these people really look like the way they do on the big screen? Why or why not?
AROUND THE CIRCLE: Why do advertisers and Hollywood feel they can’t put up a real person as an example of beauty?
ASK A FEW: How would you define ‘beauty’?

Read the following passage:
1 Peter 3:3-4 (NLT)
Don’t be concerned about the outward beauty of fancy hairstyles, expensive jewelry, or beautiful clothes. You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God.

ASK A FEW: What does the verse tell us “don’t be concerned” with? What are some examples of how kids at your school become “concerned” with stuff like this?
ASK A FEW: Do you ever become concerned with this stuff?
ASK A FEW: What does the verse say to instead “clothe ourselves with?” Describe someone that you know that has some of these “unfading” qualities?
ASK A FEW: Would anyone describe you as having any of these “unfading” qualities? Why or why not? Would you like to have some of these?
ASK A FEW: How does this passage relate to the Dove video?
ASK A FEW: What’s the downside to constantly being concerned about just outward beauty?
ASK A FEW: What does inner beauty look like?
AROUND THE CIRCLE: What positives come out of focusing on inner beauty?
ASK A FEW: How would focusing on inner beauty help us not get so hung up on outer beauty?
ASK A FEW: In the clip we saw the female version of focusing on outward beauty, what do you think the male version of this would look like?
ASK A FEW: What’s the connection between a distorted sense of beauty and low self-esteem?
AROUND THE CIRCLE: How does our distorted view of real beauty show up in negative behaviors? (i.e. pornography, anorexia, etc.)
AROUND THE CIRCLE: Name one way that you could focus on your inner beauty instead of your outer beauty this week.

Wrap Up:
Tonight we’ve been discussing the whole area of distorted vs. real beauty. Isn’t it amazing that Peter gave us a warning against focusing too much on external beauty almost 2000 years ago? What that tells us is that God is highly concerned that we don’t get caught in the ‘photoshop’ trap of judging our worth and value with how we measure up to what is really unattainable. Tonight I want to challenge you to think about how much time and emotional energy is put into trying to match society’s distorted definition of beauty, and how you can bring balance to your life by focusing on inner beauty. One great way to do this is to remember that because you have a relationship with Jesus, you have the power through Him to become more like Him every day- and that is the greatest inner beauty possible!

Close in Prayer – (give invitation)
Right now I want everyone to close their eyes and think about themselves and not those around you. If you are sitting here and you’re thinking, “I can’t try to be more like Jesus because I don’t know if I have a relationship with Him.”

If you’d like that relationship with God, tell Him. Ask Him to forgive your sins. If you’re willing to truly trust in Him, tell Him that you’re ready to turn away from the world’s obsession with outer beauty and focus on being like Christ..

There may also be Christians here who are really struggling with the things we’ve talked about. Tonight give your struggles to Christ, and let Him make you beautiful from the inside out.

For more ideas like this for youth ministry go to The Source for Youth Ministry

Motivation Monday - Youth

Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind; it is not a matter of rosy cheeks, red lips and supple knees; it is a matter of will, a quality of the imagination, a vigour of the emotions; it is the freshness of the deep springs of life.  Youth means predominance of courage over timidity, of adventure over the love of ease.  This often exists in a man of sixty more than a boy of twenty.  Nobody grows old merely by a number of years.  We grow old by deserting our ideals.  Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul.  Worry, doubt, self-distrust, fear and despair - these bow the heart and turn the spirit back to dust.  You are as young as your faith, as old as your doubt; as young as your self confidence, as old as your fear; as young as your hopes; as old as your despair.

Samuel Ullman

Youth Olympics

With summer starting late this year we are blessed with beautiful nights for Girls' Brigade. Lets get out there and make the most of it. Being the year of Olympics, this has inspired us to hold our own.

Girls could name their teams and make banners/flags for their countries.  Idea is to have some combined events (all girls together in their teams) and separate events (teams separate rotating around activities) each night.

Ideas so far:

• Discus - with a paper plate or frisbee
• Shotput - with a peanut or cotton wool or rolled up toilet paper
• Javelin - with a plastic straw
• Long jump - standing jump i.e. no run up
• Running - 3 legged race
• Volleyball -  Blind!  Set up the net and put the sheet over it so each team cannot see the other team and tell the kids to play volley ball. Pretty funny to see the reactions as the ball comes over the net. Also, you can have the kids stay on their knees or make them sit down to play. if inside you can use different types of balls like nerf stuff but I would not recomend balloons it does not move fast enough.
• Ideas are endless for any type of Relay's - since its summer a water transfer relay would go down well
• Frisbee golf
• Archery -  Tie up the toilet seat on a beam or a tree so that it will move if it is hit with something. Have the "athletes" stand pretty far away and try and make as many "bulls eyes", which would be throwing the toilet paper through the hole of the toilet seat as many times as they can during a certain time slot.

Traditional games that you can play without getting silly:

• Petanque / bowls
• Hockey
• Soccer
• All swimming events (try your local schools pools)
• Cycling / BMX
• Tennis

Some foodie categories that would be fun that could be run at any event:

• Blender of Doom - a bunch of gross food pureed together and each team have to eat it - play that one outside! 
• Grapes and Onions - make a large tray of jello and drop in peeled grapes and baby onions before it sets. Kids run across the yard, stick their face into the tray, grab one of the balls of food with their mouth then come back to the team and spit it into the appropriate bucket labeled onion or grape. Hilarious to see the reactions.

Devotions - discuss the values held by the Olympics
The Olympic motto is "Citius, Altius, Fortius." These Latin words mean "Swifter, Higher, Stronger." Again these can be admirable goals. A similar motto of the Christian faith would be "Faith, Hope, Love".

“Run the race with your eyes fixed on Jesus.” (Hebrews 12:1-2)

Should it rain:

Bible trivia quiz

Name that song - with Christian songs

+ some of the above activities can be done inside if need be