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BACKGROUND PREPARATION
Collect paper, pens, a ball of string and a load of bricks.
RITUAL: Bring and share meal
BED SHEET BUNDLE
5 mins
Lay out a single bed sheet on the floor - it’s going to get stood on, so don’t use your favourite! The group must all stand on the sheet with no one’s feet off the bed sheet. Once they achieve this, fold the sheet in half, and get them to try again with the smaller sheet. Continue this, folding the sheet in half as many times as you can - getting them to stand on the smallest sheet possible.
THE RELATIONSHIPS WEB
15 mins
The aim of this game is to help the young people visualise the complex and varied number of relationships we all have in our lives. Hold a ball of string and get the group to stand in a circle. Holding one end of the ball of string, say the name of someone you have a relationship with and what that relationship is (e.g. mother, friend, bus driver, neighbour), then pass the string on to someone else in the circle, still keeping hold of the end of the string.
They must repeat this process, holding on to the string themselves. Once the string has been passed around the circle for a while, and you have come up with as many different relationships as possible, you will be holding between you a tangled web of string.
Once that’s done ask the group: how many people do you think you have interacted with today, either directly or indirectly?
Say: It’s probably in the hundreds, and even more if you include the people who produced, sold, or bought your food and clothes. We are connected to so many people in the world. The Bible has some stuff to say about this.
BIBLE PASSAGE
10 mins
Before reading Genesis 2:15-25, explain the context: by this point in Genesis, God has created the world (whether you believe this is literal or simply poetic doesn’t matter in this case). In this world he’s created Adam, but no Eve yet. This is the story the Bible tells of why God decided there should be lots of people. Read the passage and then ask these questions:
• What do you think God meant when he said ‘It’s not good for man to be alone’?
• How do you feel if you’re left on your own for long periods of time?
• Tell us about the time you were on your own for the longest period of time.
• Why do you think it’s important for people to have relationships?
Say: the Bible says we were created with a need to be in relationships (family, friends, colleagues, romantic partners), but it also makes really clear in passages like 1 Corinthians 13 that relationships are not just for our benefit. Relationships are not meant to be consumed for our own well-being, but instead they are the act of giving to another person. Living like that takes relational skills and practice.
WHAT MAKES A RELATIONSHIP ?
15 mins
Ask: what do you think are the most important skills to have when it comes to relationships? (Things they might come up with include communication, self-control, generosity, sexual prowess, being able to mend things!) Set out four large pieces of paper around the room, each with a different type of relationship written on it (e.g. marriage, friendship, one night stand, friends with benefits). Split them into four groups to rotate between the pieces of paper to brainstorm and write down what relational skills they think are needed to make that relationship work.
CLOSE
5 mins
To finish, give each member of the group a house brick - available very cheaply from good DIY stores. Get the young people to reflect on the skills they have written. Each should pick the skill they feel is the most essential and write that skill onto the brick. Use those bricks together to build a wall somewhere in your meeting space.
PRAYER
5 mins
Ask someone to pray for the group, that we would live lives that lead others to Jesus.
CLOSING REFLECTION
As you look at this wall, which one brick stands out to you the most? What makes that the most important brick to you?
TAKE AWAY QUESTION
How could you bring the skill you chose into one of your relationships this week?
KEY POINT #1
No man is an island. If you tried to count up all the different people you have interacted with directly or indirectly today, you’d quickly run out of fingers. From the person who made your clothes, to your mum making you breakfast, we relate to so many people. And the Bible says God intended it to be that way. When Adam was alone in the garden with just the animals, it wasn’t enough for him to live a healthy life. He needed human relationship. Relationships are essential to a healthy human life - they always have been!
KEY POINT #2
We need to build skills to have good relationships. It’s like learning to drive a car – no one expects you to be able to drive perfectly straight away. Chances are you’ll stall a few times and need to spend time learning how to steer the thing. We can enter a relationship with the expectation that we know exactly what we’re doing, when the reality is we will need to learn and keep learning a huge amount to make our relationships work - but that’s ok. Put in some time and effort to learn some skills, and you might find you’re coping a little better than before.
