Prayer experience in a bag
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Posted under: Featured, Freebies, Girls Ministry, Girls Ministry Activities
Every year for the past 8 years, our girls ministry takes a weekend retreat. We always have a leadership team that is comprised of high school girls and adult leaders. I work with the adult leaders to develop a theme and direction for the weekend and then I bring our girls and leaders together for a vision casting and brainstorming planning time. In the planning meeting we come up with as many fellowship ideas, worship planning ideas, and prayer experiences that go along with our scripture focus and theme.
From there, the girls are assigned a leader to help develop and make these ideas come to reality. It’s always exciting to see what our teams come up with and I love working together with them to bring their ideas to life. I am knee deep in planning for our retreat this year and as I was putting together materials and ideas to help guide and direct our brainstorming time, I remembered that I had never shared one of our prayer experiences that was created by our Snowball lead team last year.
One of the ideas that came to life at our girls retreat was a prayer experience in a baggie that helped reinforce our theme that we are “complete in Christ”. We were studying about relationships in our small groups utilizing Hayley Dimarco’s PB&J dating book, but during our worship times we focused on how the only relationship that completes us is our relationship with Christ.
The prayer experience in a baggie contained 5 cards that guided each girl individually through an interactive and meditative scripture study to prepare her heart for worship that evening.
Each baggie also contained a pen, a stick of gum, a blank nametag, and an additional card that contained words that God could write about us on our nametag.
We had music softly playing from our worship leader, and as the prayer experience drew to a close, we moved into our time of worship without a break or a word. It was a powerful time for us sisters in Christ to read His word and then respond to Him in worship. If this prayer experience can be utilized by your girls ministry, then we are thankful for the opportunity to share. Please take the opportunity to paste the bottom creative commons use sentence onto the prayer experience so credit can be retained as this freebie is distributed. Thanks!
Special thanks to the girls who helped write it from Brentwood Baptist Church and to Liz Gregory who designed the template and compiled the written prayers. Thanks to Jean Crosby, JoEllen Taylor, Amber Echols, Kathy Alwahab, and Chris Veca for serving on the leadership team that helped make Snowball a special weekend once again.
Easter Prayer Experience Freebie
Two years ago I had the opportunity to create an Easter Prayer Experience for our student ministry to use in a family friendly worship service on Easter. We utilized this again last year and wanted to pass it along to you if you are looking for a prayer experience…even for perhaps tonight *GASP*. I know sometimes there are weeks that necessitate some last minute planning. No worries—you’re forgiven 
Enjoy. easter prayer experience
11 verses to share with girls to guard their hearts from The Deceiver
I was deceived yesterday. It’s an awful feeling. I had begun to build some hopes and plans on this “opportunity” I was inquiring about. See, we are trying to sell our home and after almost 5 months of having to be ready at a moment’s notice to get out and let strangers walk through to see if they want to buy the home, I started realizing how stressed it was making me. That’s when I saw this amazing deal on craigslist that offered a luxury apartment for 1/2 price very close to our church that was pretty snazzy as well. I thought we could move there and wait for our home to sell. I contacted the landlord and she was very nice. She emailed me that someone had tried to move in but something fell through so we were the 2nd in line. All we needed to do was fill out a credit report. Well, we didn’t lose any money but we realized yesterday that she had scammed us so that she would get paid for referrals to this credit report site. There was no apartment for sale. OUCH! I was so hurt. I was angry too because I thought I should have seen this coming. But then I grieved a little over the plan I had figured out in my mind. I had been deceived.
As I was going home, I spoke with a mother who was concerned that her daughter was having a problem recognizing her worth and value. As I heard some of what the daughter was saying about herself, I realized that both this daughter and I bumped into the Deceiver. The definition for DECEIVER is: to cause to accept as true or valid what is false or invalid.
You realize that’s what Satan is called in scripture right?
Genesis 3:13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” • The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
Just like Eve, It was obvious to me that I had been deceived but I started to wonder how often I am deceived.
So let’s look a little bit more into that. What was the lie that Satan told Eve?
Genesis 3:4-5 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not die. ?For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.
What lies am I buying into that I’ve allowed Satan to whisper into my heart? What lies have taken root and caused insecurities and hurt…some that I may not even be able to see?
Satan’s attack was first to get Eve to question God’s truth. As you read what Satan says, it’s sounds very similar in nature to the “How far is too far” question. Second, Satan Denied God’s truth about death. And finally, Satan told Eve something that she didn’t even know she wanted but then before long, she took a bite.
Here is a list of “I AM” statements that remind us of God’s truth. As you read through them, think through lies your girls and leaders may hear from The Deceiver. Which one of these truths is Satan trying to attack and get them to buy into one of his lies?
1 Corinthians 6:20 (You are not your own. you were bought with a price)
Colossians 3:3 (you died and your life is hidden with Christ)
Phil. 1:6 (God will complete the good work He started in me)
Ephesians 1:5 (I am adopted as His Child)
Ephesians 2:10 (We are God’s workmanship created in christ Jesus to do good works…)
Ephesians 2:19 (we are fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household)
Ephesians 3:12 (We may approach God with freedom and confidence)
Ephesians 2:22 (I am a dwelling in which God lives)
Gal. 2:20 (I am crucified with Christ)
2 Cor. 5:17 ( I am a new creation)
Romans 8:2 (set free from sin)
Now I want to hear from you. Why do you think a particular scripture above is key in guarding the hearts of ours and the girls we work with? What lies do you see being conquered as a result of girls truly leaning into the truth of God’s word above?
2010 Girls Ministry Forum for leaders and girls
I’m excited to be leading a conference for the Girls Ministry Forum at Lifeway in February 26-27. I would love to take some students and leaders from our church with me. If you are interested in attending, let me know. If you don’t go to Brentwood Baptist and are interested—you need to be there. I know Shelley Johnson is a great worship leader—not to mention there are some other great conference leaders to help facilitate some great conversations if you are wanting encouragement as a leader who works with girls or if you are a student leader. That’s the neat thing about this event—it’s for both adult leaders and girls who are leaders to their peers. So I hope that you will make it a priority to be in Nashville for this event. Click on the link below to register or if you are a Brentwood Baptist leader…send me an email or reply to this post and we’ll see if we can get a group together.
Mentoring in a flash card #2: mirror conversations
Girlsminister.com has created a new resource called Mentoring in a flash(card) to help moms have some special moments in the margins of life with their daughter. Several of you have said you would be interested in receiving some additional “Mentoring-in-a-flash-cards” to distribute to moms, or to use for yourself. Click on the picture to below to download the pdf. All we ask is that you make sure and credit where you found it if you reprint or repost. If you missed the first one, click here.
From the girlsminister.com mailbag: FREEBIE girl nite idea
Jennifer Grether, Girls Ministry director from FBC Orlando, contacted me last week to share what they did with the L.Y.L.A.S Girl night idea that we posted here: L.Y.L.A.S Girl night idea
I asked if I could pass it along to the rest of our girlsminister.com community and she was glad to share. Thanks Jennifer for letting us know what you did with the L.Y.L.A.S night and it looks like it turned out beautiful! Your pictures are amazing. Thanks for sharing Jennifer! And if you have ideas or you have used something that has worked out well…PLEASE let us know. We’d love to share with the girlsminister.com community. Also there are about 45 girls ministers, moms, and leaders starting to connect at www.mygirlsministry.com “The social network for girlsminister.com”. So feel free to join and start some conversations there. We have some great blogs that are featured on there as well. Pam Gibbs from Lifeway.com/girlsministry is on there as well as some girls ministers from Texas—come see what you are missing out on!
FROM THE MAILBAG:
Thanks to your idea (at girlsminister.com), we just hosted a LYLAS girls night about two weeks ago and it was great! We had about 100 girls and over 20 volunteers show up! We changed some of the stations around, so I wanted to share those with you. Jennifer Grethan FBC Girls Ministry Director
Stations:
1. L – “Love” – Love one another – At this station, we will focus on selflessness and humility as the key to love. Jesus showed his disciples selfless love by washing their feet, so at this station we will wash each other’s feet and paint toenails.
2. Y – “You” – You are unique – At this station, we will highlight the truth that God has given us individual gifts and has made us uniquely wonderful through a teambuilding exercise (human knot).
3. L – “Life” – Do life together – At this station, we will teach girls to make a simple and easy snack, enjoy some refreshments and ask some getting to know you questions.
4. A – “Ask” — Bring each other’s burdens to the Lord – At this station, girls will break down into groups of two or three, share prayer requests, and pray with each other.
Getting her tribal paint
human knot fbc orlando
human knot2 FBC orlando
LOVE station
hanging out in between stations
sportin her L.Y.L.A.S tribal mark
Mentoring in a flash(card) freebie for moms.
MENTORING IN A FLASH(CARD)
Today we are releasing free some mentoring helps for moms. Girlsminister.com has created a new resource called Mentoring in a flash(card) to help moms have some special moments in the margins of life with their daughter. Let us know if you like them and we’ll keep them coming. Click on the picture to the left to download the pdf. All we ask is that you make sure and credit where you found it if you reprint or repost.
FREEBIE: An encouragement activity
Here’s an idea for you to do with your girls if they are needing some help with encouraging one another.
For the script that is used in this video go to: LYLAS Girls Night
FREEBIE biblestudy: we love Jesus…yes we do…
I just got back from a brief vacation after serving 2 weeks at summercamp. Imagine my surprise to find out that we had booked our relaxing vacation at the same hotel that a large teen dance competition was occurring. The bedazzled outfits, the up-do’s, the screeches and screams were 24-7. It reminded me of the wonderful teen tradition that took place back in my large state Christian youth event days. It never failed to happen that while we waited for the programming to start, either the wave or another tradition would begin—The “WE LOVE JESUS CHEER COMPETITION”. Those students would now be in their 30′s and as the thousands that screamed out that they loved Jesus more—you would think that much would be happening as a result of their self-proclaimed love of Christ. However, sometimes we become Cheer-leaders and forget to be God-life livers. Below is a freebie biblestudy to use with your teen girls to begin talking to them about not just been a cheerleader for Jesus but truly living it out.–Amy-Jo
CONNECT ACTIVITY:
Have students dream up a new kind of olympic sport, then have them come up with a cheer for that new sport.
DISCUSSION: If you put a group of teenagers together who are attending a Christian event with other teenagers, it usually doesn’t take long before you run into a bunch of people who will try to start the wave or begin chanting across the crowd to say this cheer: We love Jesus Yes we do, we love Jesus How bout you?
Whoever they point at has to quickly take up the challenge by repeating the cheer even more obnoxiously and louder to prove their love in the Christ they follow.
It makes me smile smugly to think about how easy it is to stand in a Christian concert or event and yell to a group of people that believe the same way as you that “You love Jesus” so boldly. Then the cheer ends with a group that will yell “WE LOVE HIM MORE. WE LOVE HIM MORE.”
TURN IN YOUR BIBLES TO JEREMIAH 1.
Let’s transition into the day of Jeremiah the prophet. A time when no such rallies or concerts would have been welcome, because the people of God had turned away from worshipping Him and were fixing their attention on other things. So God called Jeremiah to tell His people they had stopped loving Him. He called Jeremiah to tell them the consequences of their actions. He called Jeremiah to tell them what He wanted to do in their lives if they would return to Him. He called Jeremiah to a difficult 49 years of constantly communicating the messages of God that would have sounded like bad news at times. I think Jeremiah would have rolled over laughing if he saw the way we boldly claim our love for God in youth group meetings, Christian concerts, and rallies but I think he would ask us if we would still proclaim those messages if no one else around us wanted to hear it. How long would you still stand and say what God had done in your lives if everyone was anti-God?
QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER WITH YOUR TEEN GIRLS:
How do verses 4-10 help shape Jeremiah’s calling and identity?
What are Jeremiah’s fears and how does God respond to the excuses Jeremiah offers for not being able to answer God’s call?
If you were Jeremiah and you knew the hardships associated with being God’s megaphone, how would God’s promise in verse 19 be helpful?
Read aloud Jeremiah 1:4-5, and replace YOU with your own name. God has appointed His children to be a Holy Priesthood in some pretty dark places—what is your response to God’s call to declare a God-life in the places you are living? How does Jeremiah’s experience challenge you and/or your excuses?
Girlsminister.com features last freebie song from Sara Beth.
Today is our last time to feature a new song from Sara Beth Geoghegan . Sara Beth thanks so much for sharing these songs with us. If you have enjoyed them on here but want to have them to take with you, then you will rejoice in knowing Sara Beth is on itunes. Click here to launch her itunes page .
Here is Sara Beth one final time to share her heart about one of her new songs:
Other Side of the Cloud: I was taking a walk with a good friend in New
Orleans at Audubon Park. It is a beautiful park across the street from my
grandparents house, so it feels like home to me. However, I had just
broken off an engagement and was having a severe crisis of faith and
identity. I asked my friend Toy if I would ever emerge from the heavy
darkness I had recently entered into. She told me the story a mentor had
told her when she had been in her own intense darkness, doubting that she
would ever be “normal” again. There was a bird in the middle of a stormy
cloud. She was lost. She was fumbling around for light. She felt
oppressed by the dark cloud. She spent some time in the cloud, learning
how to navigate when there wasn’t much visually to see. Everything felt
confusing and hard, but she kept going. When she finally reached the end
of the cloud, she burst out into the light. And the sky was more
beautiful for the time she was in the dark cloud. She flew higher and the
sun felt warmer, she was ABLE to really experience life as a result of the
dark. After Toy told me the story, we continued to walk, and I began to
BELIEVE I would emerge on the other side of the cloud…
Thanks Sara Beth! I know there are times when it is hard to imagine that the cloud will pass in our lives. I know that in my life the cloud was darkest when my father passed away. In the midst of the cloud, I think I even felt like God had cut Himself off from me even though I knew that was not possible. Still I just began to get angry with Him and numb towards everything else, until the day the cloud began to have rays of sunshine break through. It was almost 5 months of the cloud, and then I simply spoke to God about how angry I was. That was the first step. Then the healing began. The warmth of better days called to me and I knew there was still life to be lived. And now looking back, this side of the cloud is much brighter, more vivid, and my understanding of God’s love and healing more felt—more real—more needed. Thanks Sara Beth for helping put music to a powerful picture of healing and moving forward in life. You are a blessing.
Go get Adobe Flash Player!
Click on the player to hear Sara Beth Geoghegan’s song “Other Side of The Cloud”.
- Girardier 2.0 update: we're having a boy! Technology was so good we could even see black rimmed glasses and converse shoes:). #fb
- RT @mikeglenn: New Post by @amyjogirardier - girls minister of @brentwoodbc on Self Esteem - http://ow.ly/6IErg #truthfulconversations
- Proud of the students I prayed with this morning at their school flagpole. Now I'm moving to breakfast. See you at the Puffy Muffin;).
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