We are going a totally different direction for our children for this year’s treasure hunt. This is what the Lord laid on my heart for our children. We will do a quick talk in the beginning about why we do things a little differently at this time of year.
The Fruit of the Spirit
Gal 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
Candy… who can resist the sweetness of chocolate, the smoothness of caramel, the joy of Jelly Belly jelly beans! Imagine a yummy piece of chocolate… filled with rat poison. That is the Devil’s trick. He makes the poison look so good on the outside. But it isn’t until you take a bite that you realize the harm. The Devil has some junk food… only his junk food is ALWAYS harmful! But it is sooooo tempting! It looks good, feels good, tastes good, sounds good…
God has sweet treats for us that are always safe and always good. But before you feast on the sweet treats, let’s talk about another kind of sweet treat… fruit. God wants us to have fruit in our lives. Not apples and oranges, but the fruit of the Spirit. The Lord LOVES to smell the sweet aroma of the fruit of the Spirit in our lives. What are your favorite fruits to smell?
Want to know what fruit God likes to smell? Let the hunt begin.
To earn your first piece of the treasure map, you must complete your first challenge.
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The first fruit of the Spirit is LOVE. This kind of love is unconditional. That means you love no matter what the other person does… even if they treat you wrongly. What is love? It is putting the wants and needs of another person ahead of your own because of an intense concern for the other person’s well-being. It is putting others first. Sacrificing for someone else’s good. When someone is hungry, do you take the biggest piece of pizza for yourself? When someone is thirsty, do you race to be first in line at the water fountain?
Gal_5:13 For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.
Here is your first challenge.
SERVANT is the name of the game. All three of you must serve Daddy a drink. One person must hold the cup, one person must give directions, and one person must pour the drink while blindfolded. The cup must be filled to the line and then delivered to Daddy by the cupbearer to receive your treasure map piece and your next challenge.
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The second fruit of the Spirit is JOY. Joy and happiness are two very different things. Happiness depends on the circumstances. If you get pizza for dinner, you are happy. If you get lima beans for dinner you are not happy. If you get a new game you are happy. If you have to clean your room, you are not happy. BUT JOY is different. Joy comes from being content and thankful because you trust God. Even when things around you are not going the way you want them to, you can have real JOY because you know God is in control and He loves you.
Psa_5:11 But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them: let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee.
Ecc_2:26 For God giveth to a man that is good in his sight wisdom, and knowledge, and joy:
3Jn_1:4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.
Time for your next challenge:
CELEBRATE WITH JOY
Balloons are often part of a joy-filled celebration. Each of you get a different color of balloon. You must start at the end of the hall farthest away from the bathroom. The first person will blow up your balloon and then release it. The next person will step to where the balloon landed, blow up their balloon, and release it. You keep taking turns doing this until a balloon lands in the bathtub at the other end of the hallway.
When this task is complete, you will receive your next treasure map piece and your next challenge.
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The third fruit of the Spirit is PEACE. Peace is the absence of battle. It could be a battle between nations, people, or a battle in your heart. The kind of PEACE the fruit of the Spirit is referring to is inner peace… when you are not in a battle in your heart. Jesus wants us to have peace in our hearts. First, we must be Christians in order to experience real peace. Second, we must be right with those around us. That doesn’t mean that there will not be outside conflicts between you and someone else. But it does mean that your conscience is clear because you have done your best to live peaceably with all men.
Joh_14:27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
Col_3:15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.
Rom_5:1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
Rom_12:18 If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.
Your next challenge will require great skill. You will be building a castle of cards 3 levels high. The war will be against yourself… do you have a steady hand?
CASTLE BUILDER
Choose a builder. Your success all depends on this one person to have a steady hand, a calm and peaceful spirit. You must build a card castle 3 stories high… but wait! If anyone sighs or complains in any fashion during the building process, war will break out! Sighing and complaining will load ammo into a Nerf gun, which mom and dad may shoot at any time at the castle. Encouraging the builder will keep war away!
Completing this challenge earns you another treasure map piece and your next challenge!
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The fourth fruit of the Spirit is LONGSUFFERING. It means to be patient and to have endurance. We often hurry things along in life and get frustrated when we have to slow down and wait for anything. We are even impatient with God. We want trials and storms to be over quickly, instead of learning from the storm how to endure.
2Ti_2:3 Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
2Th_1:4 So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure:
This next challenge is going take a LOT of patience.
FACE THE COOKIE
You must place a cookie on your forehead and move it from your forehead to your mouth WITHOUT using your hands… only your facial muscles! This task is complete when one person successfully gets the cookie to their mouth.
When this task is complete, you will receive your next piece to the treasure map and the next challenge.
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The fifth fruit of the Spirit is GENTLENESS. Have you ever seen an egg in a bird’s nest? It is very delicate and breakable. If you were to hold it, you would have to be very gentle so that you would not break it. There is something even more breakable than a bird’s egg. It’s the human heart. The human heart is very breakable. It is so fragile that it can be damaged very easily with words or actions that are not gentle.
Tit_3:2 To speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, shewing all meekness unto all men.
GENTLE HAND
Your next challenge will require a very gentle hand. Choose one person to complete this task. You must balance an egg on a plate held in one hand, walk the length of the kitchen without dropping the egg, and gently drop the egg onto a pillow. If the egg drops or breaks, you must start over.
When this task is complete, you will receive your next piece to the treasure map and the next challenge.
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The sixth fruit of the Spirit is GOODNESS. Goodness is moral excellence… choosing right, loving righteousness. Sometimes it is hard to choose what is right because sometimes choosing what is right will cost us what we want. Are you willing to choose right even when it costs you something?
This next challenge will be all about choices… we hope you make the right choices!
Jas_4:17 Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.
Gal_6:10 As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.
PICK A CARD
For this challenge, you will start by standing at one end of the hallway. You will take turns choosing cards. I will hold 3 cards in my hand. If you choose a red card, you take one step forward. If you choose a black card, you will take one step backward. If you choose a face card, you will take two steps forward, no matter the color. If you choose a Joker… you have to go back to the beginning. This task is complete when all three of you make it across the finish line at the other end of the hallway.
When this task is complete, you will receive your next piece to the treasure map and the next challenge.
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The seventh fruit of the Spirit is FAITH. FAITH is believing what God said. It is trusting Him, even when things appear differently. If you have faith, your behavior will change. You will be walking according to God’s Word instead of by what you see.
Heb_11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Your next challenge will require you to trust what someone is telling you.
FAITH WALK
Choose two people to be blindfolded. The third person will give directions. Your goal is to get the blindfolded people to pick up two balls from two different baskets, exchange balls, and put the balls back in the baskets… all while being directed by the person without the blindfold. When both balls are exchanged and returned to the opposite baskets, your challenge is complete.
When this task is complete, you will receive your next piece to the treasure map and the next challenge.
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The eighth fruit of the Spirit is MEEKNESS. Meekness is humility. It is hard to humble ourselves and to put others before ourselves. It is hard to see our own faults and to admit we are fallible (able to fail.) It is easy to point out the faults of others. But God wants us to put Him first… and to put others before ourselves.
Gal_6:1 Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.
Eph_4:2 With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;
Jas_4:6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
BREAKFAST SCRAMBLE
You each have a puzzle to put together made from cereal boxes. When all three puzzles are complete, your challenge is finished.
When this task is complete, you will receive your next piece to the treasure map and the next challenge.
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The ninth fruit of the Spirit is TEMPERANCE. Temperance is self control. We live in a world that has no self control. We spend more money than we have. We eat more food than we need. We get more stuff… we take things that are not ours. We allow our lusts to lead us. And our commercials on TV promote a lack of self control. “Just Do It!” “You Deserve It” “All You Can Eat” We are never content. We do not tell our lusts NO. But God calls us to submit to Him, to be controlled by the Spirit and not by our lusts. He calls us to tell our flesh NO. If God says it is wrong, don’t do it!
Gal_5:16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
1Jn_2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
Your final challenge will take a lot of self control.
MEASURING DICE
Two of you will hold a ruler in your mouth between you. The third person will stack 5 dice on top of each other. When the 5 dice are stacked and stand for 3 seconds, you have completed your final challenge. Receive your final piece of your treasure map.
Our AWOA book called for use of sculpey clay for making our Nile project, but the budget just wouldn’t handle that, so we opted to make salt dough to use instead. I sure hope it doesn’t fall apart….
jmccumbers