Family Fun Challenges

Enjoy the following Family Fun Challenges and some fun Pumpkin Jokes and activities at the bottom.


Day 1 – Seek & Save

You will need: A flashlight (or a light source) and your Bible marked at Luke 19:10.

Activity

Either inside with the lights turned off or outside in the dark, play a version flashlight tag. One person has a flashlight and gives everybody three minutes to find a good hiding place. Then the seeker tries to find them. The last person found is the winner.

SAY: In the game you were trying to find people. We are going to read a Bible verse about people for whom Jesus is looking.

Read Luke 19:10 from your Bible.

Discussion

ASK: What do you think “lost” means? (Those who don’t know Jesus.)

ASK: Why do you think Jesus seeks these people? (Because He made them and loves them and wants them to have eternal life. Jesus wants them to be saved.)

SAY: When people share God‘s heart, they share this same purpose. In the game the light showed you the way to walk and where to look. In life, Jesus said that those who know Him are “the light of the world.” If you know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you can show other people the way that they can be saved too.

ASK: Who are some people you know who might not know Jesus?

Pray for your lost friends and family. Consider ways that you can reach out to them with the love of Jesus and the truth of how He died and rose again to save us.


Day 2 – Build a Fort

You will need: 

  • 1 flashlight
  • Your Bible marked at Psalm 56:3 and Psalm 18:1-2

Activity

Have your family “ransack” the house to get pillows, blankets, chairs, and whatever else they can find to build a fort. Take your time making it and let your kids be creative with it. (For example, they might want to make a tunnel entrance.) Build it big enough for everyone to fit inside. 

From inside the fort use your flashlight to read Psalm 56:3.

SAY: This time of the year, there are a lot of scary movies and stories.

ASK: What is something you’re scared of? 

SHARE: Share something you were scared of when you were a child.

ASK: What should we do when we’re scared? (Trust God.)

ASK: Why can we trust God? (He’s faithful. He’ll never let you down. He’ll always keep His Word, etc.)

Read Psalm 18:1-2 from your Bible.

ASK: How is God like a fort (fortress, stronghold) for you? (In old days people went inside a fortress to be safe. Its walls protected them from harm. God is a shield for those who follow Him and like a fort, you are safe in Him.)

ASK: Does this mean that bad things will never happen to someone who is living for Jesus? Why or why not? (Bad things still happen to good people, but there’s nothing so bad that God can’t turn it to your good.)

If they want a further answer, explain that sometimes we do wrong things and these bad choices bring “bad” things into our lives. But sometimes we do everything right and someone else does something wrong and we get hurt because of it. Even so, there’s nothing you will ever do that is so bad that God can’t forgive you and there’s nothing so bad that can happen to you that God can’t turn it to your good if you love Him and are walking with Him. (See Romans 8:28 for a great promise.)

PRAY: List prayer requests and thank God that He will always take care of you. 

CLEAN UP: After you’re done playing in the fort, feel free to have a pillow fight or time your family to see how fast they can tear the fort down and put everything away. Have fun and enjoy!


Day 3 – Trick or Treat

You will need: 3 cups. Beneath one put a prize or a “treat” (ie, a piece of Candy or a coupon for an ice cream cone, etc). Beneath the second put something that tastes nasty to your family (ie, a sour pickle, an olive, some unsweetened chocolate, a pinch of un-sugared cinnamon, etc.—something that people in your family might not enjoy tasting.) Beneath the 3rd cup, put nothing—It is empty.

NOTE: If you have a large family, you might want to have two sets of cups ready for play.

Activity

Have your family gather around the cups. 

SAY: This is a new form of trick or treat—Under one cup is a prize or a “treat”. Another has something nasty, a “trick”, and the third is empty. Whatever you choose, you have to eat. You will get the trick, the treat, or nothing at all?

ASK: Who wants to go first?

Play the game and whichever cup is chosen, use it to make the following points:

  • The “Treat” Cup – God gives us choices in life but the greatest treat in life is knowing and following Jesus Christ.
  • The “Trick” Cup – The world wants you to walk away from God. But don’t get tricked, whatever the world may give you, it can never give you real life. Real life is only found in knowing and following Jesus. 
  • The Empty Cup – People who don’t follow God will always have an empty spot in their lives. They might turn to a bunch of things to try to fill them but only Jesus can make them complete.

Read 1 John 5:12-13 from your Bible.

ASK: What does this mean that if you have Jesus, you have life, but if you don’t have Jesus, then you don’t have life? (There are a lot of people who are breathing and feeling and they think that’s life, but life is so much more. You were created for more. You were created for a relationship with God and real life is only found in Him.)

ASK: According to these verses, how certain does God want you to be that you have eternal life? (God wants you to know for sure that you have eternal life and you’ll go to heaven when you die someday. On a scale of 1 to 10, if 10 is absolutely certain, God wants you to be a solid 10!)

Talk with your family about how certain they are that they have eternal life. If anyone has questions, share with them what the Bible says about how to receive Christ or use the video HERE to show them how Jesus can save them from their sins.

PRAY and thank God for sending His Son to be the Savior of the world.


Pumpkin Activities

  • Pumpkin Jokes – Enjoy some great Pumpkin Jokes HERE.
  • Pumpkin Carve – Get a pumpkin and carve a design into it. You cut out what you didn’t want. Read Colossians 3:5-10 and talk about things that God wants you to “put off” or cut out of your life.
  • Pumpkin Paint – Get a pumpkin and paint it. Design it how you want it, then read Psalm 139:13-15 from your Bible and talk about how God designed you.
  • Pumpkin Throw – Let each person in your family choose a small pumpkin (or if you don’t want to make a mess in your backyard, use a plastic pumpkin.) See who can throw their pumpkin the furthest. How far you can throw has a limit but take a look at how far God throws our sin when He forgives us. Read Psalm 103:12 from your Bible. When God forgives our sin, He completely removes it–as far as the east from the west. In other words, it’s gone!
  • Pumpkin Toss – You better use a small pumpkin for this! See how far you can toss it back and forth before it hits the ground. There’s nothing wrong with tossing a pumpkin but God doesn’t want us to be tossed back and forth. He wants us to live in faith and stand on His Word. Read and discuss James 1:6 and Ephesians 4:14.
  • Pumpkin Scoop – Cut open a pumpkin and remove the yucky insides. Talk about how God doesn’t want us just to look good on the outside. He wants us to be clean on the inside. And just like you removed the seeds, God will remove your sins if you are willing to confess them to Him. Read and discuss 1 John 1:9.
  • Pumpkin Seeds – Take all of those nasty seeds and cook them up. (There are lots of online recipes.) See how something that looks and feels so bad can end up so good. In the same way, God can take any bad thing that happens to us and turn it to our good if we love Him and are following Him. Read and discuss Romans 8:28.

Enjoy your Fall and always follow Jesus!


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