OPTION 1: TIME TO GRADUATE

This is the time of year when may graduations take place. This includes kindergarten, 8^th grade, and high school/academy. These are graduations most youth can relate to, especially if they are about to experience one of them soon.

Use the handout for individuals to respond to the questions or do it as a group. After filling it out, have individuals share their responses and what they mean to them. This can have some emotional weight associated with it.

This can be a springboard to talking about graduation plans, what it took to get to this point, how to celebrate, and what happens next. Is this all about the graduate(s) or does God have his hand in all of this as well?

OPTION 2: TASTE TEST

Create your own taste test for the start of Youth Sabbath School. You can choose to blindfold a few volunteers or have them close their eyes (but it’s better if you blindfold them). When the Israelites received the manna they asked, “What is it?” when they first saw it and first tasted it (Exodus 16:15). Provide a similar experience with this activity.

NOTE: Please be aware of any food allergies or intolerances before beginning this activity. You will also want to respect special diets such as vegan, gluten-free, etc. by providing substitutions as needed.

Here are four examples of taste test items. You can substitute or start from scratch or just use these. It takes a small bit of prep before Youth Sabbath School.

1. Saltine crackers
2. Celery cut into small squares
3. Radish
4. Graham cracker

If you’d like to try another combination of four items, here’s another option:

1. Sweet pickle
2. Uncooked potato cube
3. Oreo cookie
4. Dried apricot

Don’t have people say the answers aloud. Instead, have them taste all four, one at a time, and then write down their answers on a sheet of paper. Compare results.

TRANSITION

As we consider Unhappy Campers today, point out that following an extremely dramatic experience like the crossing of the Red Sea and the elimination of Pharaoh and his army (last week’s lesson), life can seem boring by comparison. The obvious intervention of God may not seem so obvious on other days. Sure, the cloud was still guiding them, but when you’re running out of food and water, who cares about a cloud that isn’t guiding you to what you want/need?

This is a short video clip and an idea to help you create your own video on this week’s topic, plus a few follow-up questions to spark discussion afterwards.

OPTION 1

Create a video clip that illustrates either: 1) Not hearing from God when you want an answer; or 2) Sabbath as a gift. These are two very different topics, but both of them are part of the lesson this week (just a few chapters in Exodus). Ask someone in advance to create follow up questions based on these video clips.

OPTION 2

1. What was the most ridiculous complaint in this video?
2. Is it ever okay to complain? If no, why not? If so, when and where and to whom?
3. On a scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high), where would you put yourself on the complainer continuum?
4. What does it take to make a complainer humble?