Our summer focus is on the Books of the Bible. We hope to meet about ten minutes after church each Sunday night and plan to cover six books each week. We pray that the youth will learn more about the Bible with a short summary of each book and work sheet. Our challenge is that they will also learn the order of the books of the Bible and we will be giving them six new study cards weekly. Each person will be given a folder for the notes and work pages and a sandwich bag for their study cards. We will check worksheets and hand out the new study sheets at other times for those who miss a Sunday night service. In addition to the short weekly meetings we hope to have a few meetings for fun, food, and fellowship. Books Of The Bible Introduction
Getting Acquainted:
Books of the Bible -- What Book Am I?
For this game you will need a list of Bible books in order (Old Testament or New Testament) and pencil for each guest. You will also need a set of cards with the same books. Give each person a list of the books and pencil, and then tape a card to the back of each person (be careful not to damage clothes). The object of the game is to discover which book you are. Since a book is used only once, each person may cross through the books that they see on the backs of other guests. While comparing the books of others, they are allowed to ask this question... "Do I come before 'Ashley' or after 'Ashley'? Make sure they know to ask the question of specific people in the room, and not "Do I come before Exodus?" because they could go down the list and mark off each one. As they mark through the books they see on the backs of their friends and ask each other this question they should eventually be able to narrow their list down and guess which book they are. This game will provide a familiarity with the order of the Bible books and get the guests moving and talking together. You may choose to use Old Testament books at one meeting and later use the same activity with New Testament books. Use a consecutive group of books or allow them to ask more questions about their books to avoid gapsin which they don't have enough information to guess their books.
Door Prize:
For youth meetings I like to give out several door prizes to involve more guests. A fun way to do that and also emphasize our study of Bible Books is to play Bible Books Bingo. Give each guest a Books of the Bible Bingo sheet and ask them to write the name of one of the 66 books of the Bible in each blank. They do not have to spell them correctly and may even abbreviate, but the books need to be specific as "John, I John, II John, and III John" could be 4 separate entries. Encourage them to help each other as needed. After everyone has filled in the 24 squares, play Bingo by drawing the Bible Books from a bowl. We usually keep our markers (dried lima beans) on the page and keep playing until we run out of prizes. Some may win more than once on the same card.
Refreshments:
This will be a good meeting to serve only foods that are found in the Bible. Give each person an index card with these instructions written on one side. "Please bring a food that is found in the Bible and print the verse on the other side of this card. We will put the verses on the table with the food. Thanks!" Here are a few examples of foods found in the Bible for those who need help... Proverbs 25:11 (apples) Genesis 43:11 (honey, spices, nuts and almonds) I Samuel 30:12 (fig cakes and raisins) Numbers 13:23 (grapes, pomegranates and figs) Numbers 11:5 (fish, cucumbers and melons) Job 10:10 (milk and cheese) II Samuel 17:28 (beans and lentils) Matthew 6:11 (bread) Job 6:6 (salt and eggs) Genesis 45:23 (corn, bread, and meat)
Devotions:
"And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works." II Timothy 3:15-17
Our focus is on the Bible and these verses are a good foundation about the Holy Scriptures. Here are some points that you could talk about: (1) Even children can learn Bible verses (2) The Bible gives us wisdom (3) The Bible opens the door of salvation through faith in Christ Jesus (4) The Bible is given by the inspiration of God and is the living Word of God (5) The Bible is our foundation for doctrine and what we believe (6) The Bible is also our basis for how we are to live.
Out Reach:
I have heard of church youth groups who have competition in Bible drills. The leader calls out a scripture and each person raises his or her hand when the verse is found. The leader then calls on the first person to stand and read the verse. We have not had this type of competition at our church, but we do have a time of fellowship and worship with other churches through our Youth Jubilee in July each year. We invite many churches to come together and worship at the High Point Camp Meeting grounds in North Carolina. It is great to see Christian young people from different churches come together and worship. It is wonderful to see our youth groups invite their friends, and see some of them be saved and come to know the Lord.
Projects:
Ask the youth group if any would want to make posters about the Books of the Bible study. These could be put in the Sunday school classrooms and may get others interested in joining your Bible study.
