1. MRS. MABLE

10-15 people sit in a circle. One starts the game with the next question to the neighbor on the right: "Is Mrs. Mable at home?" He must answer: “I don’t know, I’ll ask the neighbor.” And he asks the neighbor the same question, to which he receives the same answer. Participants get all the pleasure from how the words are pronounced. They should be spoken without showing their teeth, i.e. biting his lips.

2. ROBBIE
You need 5 or more people to play. The presenter pronounces some commands. If he says: Robbie says .... (do this), then the others follow the command. If the presenter simply says a command (to do this and that), then it is not necessary to carry it out. Whoever makes a mistake is out of the game. Commands can be as follows: close your eyes, raise your arms, lower your arms, jump up, meow, etc. The one who remains the last wins.

3. REMEMBER THINGS
15-20 different items are laid out on the table. Players are given 30 seconds to memorize them. Then the items are covered. Each participant writes what he remembered. The winner is the one who memorized the most items. The game can be made as a team, that is, it is remembered not by one person, but by the team; the team that named more items wins.

4. LOST SHEEP
Children's game on the theme: "Jesus is the Good Shepherd". Key thought: The Lord always knows where we are and can always find us as a good Shepherd. 5-50 people play. One person who wants to leave the room, at this time a "sheep" is hiding - some object. The "shepherd" enters and starts looking, and all the others help him, clapping their hands, according to the "cold-hot" principle.

5. BAG
The game is good for parsing the Bible story about the healing of the blind. The presenter invites children to imagine themselves blind and guess objects by touch. For this, a bag is taken into which a variety of objects are folded: a watch, an apple, matches, a glass, etc. If desired, everyone can reach into the bag and pull out objects one by one, guessing them.

6. Crocodile
A minimum of 4 people are required to play. The players are divided into two teams with approximately the same number of people. The first command thinks of a word, for example, "student". Then they summon any one player from the opposite team and say this hidden word to him. The task of this player is to portray this word in pantomime for his team so that she can guess it. When the player shows the hidden word, then his team starts guessing aloud. For example: are you showing the school? To which the player can respond with a nod of the head, but must not utter any words or sounds. When the word is guessed, the teams switch roles.

7. CONDUCTOR
The game requires at least 5 people. Everyone is in a circle, one player comes out. One person is selected to be the "conductor". He will show as if playing musical instruments, and repeat everything after him. The guessing player enters and everyone starts playing, repeating after the "conductor", the guessing player must find out who the "conductor" is. If he guessed in less than three attempts, then he gets into a circle, and instead of him comes the "conductor", and if he failed to guess two times, then he guesses again, only a new conductor is chosen.

8. THE RIGHT VOICE
The game is good for the topic of the lesson: how to follow Jesus. Requires at least 5 people and a playroom or space on the street, in the yard, in the forest. One player is blindfolded. Among the remaining players, one is selected, which will be the "right vote". Many different obstacles are taught in the room (yard, forest). The blindfolded player must walk a certain path between these instructed objects, and all the others at this time advise him how to go. "The right voice" always speaks the truth, all the others deceive and try to lead astray. The traveler needs to understand whose voice speaks the truth and then constantly listen to him.

9. SALAD
Although this game is very simple, it can become your favorite. Play it once and you'll love it! The game requires one fewer chairs than the players. 10-20 people play. All sit on chairs, one remains in a circle. He gives everyone the names of fruits and vegetables. For example, it turned out, 3 apples, 3 pears and 4 bananas (standing in a circle also takes the name of a fruit). The game begins. The one standing in the circle cries out one name: pear! Those who received this fruit must change their place. Again, there is one extra. He also shouts out the name of the fruit, or maybe two at once. If the word "salad" is shouted out, then all players must swap places. The game can go on indefinitely.

10. SHARE TO ANOTHER
The game requires two teams of 5-7 people. This game is similar to the Crocodile game. Only here the first team thinks not just one word, but the whole Bible story, for example, how Noah led the beasts into the ark. Then the first team calls one player from the second team and tells him what is envisioned. Unlike the game "Crocodile", the players of the second team must be in a different room at this time. They are called one at a time.

So, the first player from the second team learned his task: to depict how Noah led the animals into the ark. The second player from the second team is called, to whom the first player in a pantomime depicts a hidden story. He does this only once, and the second player only looks and does not ask anything. The task of the second player is to understand what they have in mind, so that later the story can be passed on to the third player from his team. So, the whole story is passed along a chain from one player to another. If the guessing person has learned the story, it will not be difficult for him to portray it in a pantomime, but if he has not guessed right, then he will begin to show him incomprehensible movements, from which all others will simply be delighted.

The last player of the second team, having watched the pantomime, must say what kind of story it is. It may happen that he will name a completely different story, which will cause general laughter. Then everyone begins to ask what he understood and what he portrayed. After that, the teams are swapped.

11. INTO THE COIN
Requires 10 - 20 people. All are divided into two teams, stand or sit opposite each other, hiding their hands behind the backs of neighbors. The leader is located at one end of the chains. At the other end, put some object: an apple, a matchbox, etc. The leader tosses a coin, and the outermost players of the teams watch what falls out, while everyone else should look at the apple (boxes). If "tails" falls out, then nothing happens, and the coin is thrown, if "heads" falls out, then the extreme players of the teams must shake hands with their neighbor, and he passes the signal on until he reaches the opposite end. The latter, having received the signal, must grab the apple. In the team that grabbed the apple, a movement is made: the grabber sits on the opposite end of the chain, and everyone moves. Now he watches the coin drop. The winner is the team in which the movement of all players will pass faster.

12. GUESS THE MELODY
The game involves 10-15 people. Everyone stays in the room, one goes out. Players think of a song, for example, "A Christmas tree was born in the forest." The first line of the song is taken, from which everyone gets one word. His then he will sing. The guesser enters, and everyone begins to sing only their own word. The challenge is to guess the song.

13. RING
8-20 people play. You need a thread and a ring to play. The thread is threaded into the ring and the ends are tied. Everyone stands in a circle, holding the thread in front of them with both hands. The thread should be taut. One person is in the center of the circle. He must find a ring that the rest of the players move along the string all the time. The next one goes into the circle who has a ring.

14. REMEMBER THE DETAILS
The game requires 5-15 people. The leader with one player goes out and changes some detail in the appearance of this player. For example, they unbutton one button, roll up the sleeve, or change their hairstyle. They then return to the rest of the players, who must guess what has changed.

15. SUITCASE
Memory game. 3-12 people play. The first player says, "I take a suitcase and put ... a cucumber in it." The second player continues: "I take a suitcase and put a cucumber, a tree in it." Etc. Everyone adds their word to the chain. The winner is the one who is the last to name the entire chain correctly.

16. WHITE ELEPHANT or HOW TO GIVE GIFTS
special game on New Year's Eve
Why "White Elephant", I do not know, but that is how it is called.
This game is good to play on New Year's or Christmas Eve. But this is optional.
So, each participant of the game (7-25 people) brings with him a gift wrapped so that it would be impossible to guess what is inside. All gifts are folded under the tree.
All players gather in one room and watch what is happening. The game begins. The first participant comes up to the tree and takes any gift he likes. He unfolds it in front of everyone, shows, demonstrates and sits down with a gift in his place. Then the second participant gets up and chooses a gift for himself. He can take a gift from under the tree, or he can take a gift from the first player. And so each next participant can take a gift from under the tree or pick up an already unfolded gift from one of the players. If someone has taken away a gift, then this person chooses a new gift for himself. He can again take either something from under the tree or take it from someone else. But he cannot take back the gift that was just taken from him. The game is considered over when there are no gifts left under the tree.
During the game, each person who has already received a gift should not hide it from others, but rather advertise what a wonderful present he has, take whoever wants it, I don't mind. This game teaches sacrifice.
NOTE: in order to conduct this game, you need to warn everyone in advance that there will be a "White Elephant", explaining the rules. Gifts should be such that they can be useful to both the guy and the girl.

17. CALLER
All are blindfolded, except for the presenter. He must always move around the room with a bell in hand. The rest are trying to catch the bell ringing. Sometimes they catch each other and are convinced that they are mistaken when they hear the ringing of a bell in the distance. The player who catches and recognizes the caller becomes the presenter.

18. WHO IS NOT?
Participants sit on chairs. The host leaves the room. At this time, one of the players is covered with a blanket, the other players change places. Then the host is called. He will have to find and determine as quickly as possible: who is not in the room. If the leader calls the hiding one, the latter becomes the leader. The winner is the one who quickly determined: who is not.

19. WHO WILL BE LONGER?
Find some volunteers to come out in front of the group. Everyone takes water in their mouths and begins to gurgle. It is not allowed to swallow! You can pause for a few seconds to get some air. From laughter and gurgling water splashes on the floor - then the participant is disqualified.

20. ZHMURKI IN THE LADIES
Attach a small piece of paper to the back of each player. Tie each eye with a bandage. Then give each player a pencil. The goal of the game is to scatter around the room and get to know the people with whom you are stacking, while trying to hide your own identity. This can be achieved by changing the voice, refusing to speak, changing the trajectory of movement around the room, not allowing anyone to touch you. On the back of each person he encounters, the player must write who, in his opinion, this person is. The game continues until you feel like most of the players had the opportunity to write something on each spin.

21. SHOE A FRIEND
Have all team members entering the room take off their shoes and put them in a bag. Leave the package in the next room. A runner is selected from each team, who will run after the shoes described by each of the players on his team. So, the first one describes the signs of his shoes, the runner runs after her, brings, the second says the signs of his shoes. The goal of the game is for the runner to quickly find and bring his team's shoes.

22. ENCYCLOPEDIA
This team-based intellectual game is sure to please. It is good for her to have 1-3 hours in stock, for example, if you are celebrating the New Year in a friendly company.
It takes a little preparation to play. Have the facilitator take an encyclopedic dictionary and write a few unknown words on a piece of paper. For example, such:
... LOPARI is the name of the Sami peoples used in the literature
... REVERSE is an outdated name for skim milk, which was returned from dairies to farms for feeding calves
... PERCAL - fine cotton technical fabric made from non-twisted yarns
... RECHITSA - a city in the Gomel region, a pier on the Dnieper
... SUTRA - in ancient Indian literature, a laconic and fragmentary statement
... KIMBUNDU - the language of the Bambundu people
... DYNKA - in Russian architecture of the 15-17 centuries, a decorative detail, thickening in the pillars, columns in the window frames
... GOKCHA - the former name of Lake Sevan
... SCOCIUM - (from the Greek - darkness) - asymmetric architectural bummer with a concave profile of two arcs of different radii
Then you can play. There are 4-5 teams of 1-5 people each. All teams are given the same blank sheets of paper, exactly on which the presenter wrote down the words for himself. The facilitator reads the first word without revealing its meaning. Each team writes its own meaning of this word (i.e., makes it up). Then the presenter collects all the pieces of paper, puts his piece of paper with the correct answer to them, mixes it up and begins to read. After he reads all versions (along with the correct answer), each team must guess the correct answer. If she guesses correctly, she is given one point. If the other team took her answer as correct, then she gets one more point (or two, or three, if two or three teams believed her answer).
In this game, the task of each team is not only to guess the correct answer, but to write their answer so that it looks like the truth, and everyone believed this "truth".
The team with the most points wins.

23. GLOVED GUM
This is a mini relay.

Two teams, with the same number of players, receive a pair of rubber gloves, a sealed bag containing sweets for each player. At the command of the leader, the first player from each team puts on gloves, opens the package, takes out and unfolds the candy, poisons it in his mouth, tightly closes the package, takes off his gloves and passes everything to the next player. The first team to perform this operation wins.

24. SOLD OUT SOAP
This is also a mini relay.

Each team receives a bowl of water and a bar of soap. At the command of the facilitator, each team tries to rinse off the soap using only hands and water. After a certain time, the presenter checks the soap sizes of each team. Well, of course, a little piece .....

25. WHAT DO I TAKE ABROAD?
10-15 people play. It is possible for 2-3 people to know what the essence of the game is. The host is a customs representative.
So, each in turn says: "I am going abroad and take with me .... (table, chicken, volcano, etc.). If a person names an object by the first letter of his name, then the presenter (customs officer) says: "I miss." For example: Dima - money, Tanya - TV
Otherwise, the customs officer will not let you through. The task of the players is to understand by what criterion they are allowed to go abroad.

26. ROLL
a game for those who like to laugh
A large piece of bun is thrust into a person's mouth so that he can hardly speak. Then he is given a text to read. He begins to read with expression (let it be some unfamiliar verse).
Another person writes down what he understood for him, and then reads it out loud for everyone. Its text is compared with the original.

27. BLANKET
The game requires 15-40 people. People should know at least the names of each other, and it is better to know them well. One person walks out the door. Someone from the rest is seated on a chair and covered with a blanket. The person who walked out the door enters back. His task is to guess who is under the covers. If there are a lot of people, this will not be so easy.

28. PRIZE FOR THREE
Two participants stand opposite each other - there is a prize in front of them on a chair. The presenter thinks: "One, two, three ... one hundred, one, two, three .... twelve, one, two, three ... twenty," etc. The winner is the one who is more attentive and the first to take the prize when the host says "three"

29. CUCUMBER
The players stand in a circle, in the center of which is the leader. The circle should be tight - shoulder to shoulder, and the arms should be at the back. An ordinary fresh cucumber is taken, preferably larger, and passed in a circle. The task of the presenter is to determine in whose hands this cucumber is now. And the players' task is to pass the cucumber to each other, and when the presenter is not looking, bite off a piece. You need to chew very carefully so as not to arouse the host's suspicions. If the operation was successful, and the cucumber was eaten unnoticed by the presenter, then this very victim of his own inattention will fulfill the desire of the already full congregation!

30. POWER OF THE NOSE
For the competition, a matchbox cover is taken and put on the nose (stronger). The task is to remove the cover with the help of facial movements. The best result is obtained when the box is tightly put on the nose.

31. RUSLAN AND THE HEAD
The host is chosen - Ruslan, the rest of the participants play the role of the "head". To do this, it is necessary to divide as follows: one plays the role of the left eye, the other plays the role of the right eye, the third plays the role of the nose, the fourth plays the ear, etc. Then it is necessary to compose such a mise-en-scene so that a figure resembling the head of a giant is formed. If there are many participants, then it is good in this case to give someone the role of left and right hands. Ruslan stands in front of the "head" and performs the simplest manipulations. For example, he may wink, then yawn, sneeze, scratch his ear, etc. The "Giant's Head" must accurately reproduce all these actions. You can perform the task at a slightly slower pace.

32. I HAVE A BIRD ...
A game for a laugh. 5-15 people are participating. A match is inserted into the mouth between the teeth so that the mouth cannot be closed. Then each one in turn says, “Hello! My name is ... I have a bird, her name is ... (cuckoo, nightingale, sparrow, etc.) Everyone else must guess the name of the bird.

33. NUMBERS
This game is played by 7-15 people. Each player is assigned a number from 1 to 15 (according to the number of participants). Everyone sits in a circle, the game begins. The players do the following moves: two claps, two blows with their palms on the knees. Everyone does it at the same time, this is how the rhythm of the game is kept. The first begins: "One-one (two claps), five-five! (Two blows with the palms on the knees)." The player with the number five continues: "five-five, eight-eight." So, until someone misses: misses or goes out of rhythm. Then such a player is eliminated. And its number can no longer be pronounced, otherwise it will also be considered a mistake. There should be two winners left.

34. GESTURES
The game is similar to the game "Numbers", only instead of numbers, everyone invents a gesture for themselves. For example, scratch your ear, clap your hands, show horns, etc. This is much more fun and more difficult.

35. CINDERELLA SHOE
The guests are divided into two teams. In each, a captain is chosen. The teams sit down opposite each other, everyone takes off one shoe or boot and throws it into the center in one pile: you can put extra shoes. The captains don't see it. The captain's task is to put shoes on his team. The first team to be in the shoes wins.

219. Balloons of water balls Rules of the game: You will need balls, razors, shaving cream or foam. Divide the group into pairs: girl + boy. Each boy inflates a balloon and sits down facing the girl, holding the end of the balloon in his mouth. She applies the foam to the ball. The funniest is coming ...

What changed?

What has changed The rules of the game: 10-15 postcards are laid out on the table. The players are invited, within 1-2 minutes, to remember their location, and then close their eyes. At this time, the location of several postcards changes. When everyone looks a second time, it is proposed to say which ones were made ...

Cheat sheets

Game rules: Two participants are called. They are given a roll of toilet paper. These are the cheat sheets. The task of the participants is to stuff it all in their pockets, by the collar, into trousers, into socks, etc. in small pieces (the facilitator should keep an eye on this). Who is the first is the winner. 203. Noisy ...

Encyclopedia

Game rules: This team-based intellectual game is sure to please. It is good for her to have 1-3 hours in stock, for example, if you are celebrating the New Year in a friendly company. It takes a little preparation to play. Let the host take an encyclopedic dictionary and write it down on a piece of paper ...

I was born a gardener

The rules of the game: The driver becomes a gardener, the rest choose the name of the flower and only respond to it. The game begins with the words: “I was born a gardener, I got really angry, I got tired of all the flowers except ... (called the temporary name of any of the players, for example,“ rose ”). “Rose” should be right there ...

12 games with matches

Sort (attention exercise) Cut off the heads of 54 matches with scissors. Take 18 of them and cut them in half. Divide the remaining 36 large matches into 3 piles of 12 matches. On 12 matches you will draw red stripes, on the other 12 - blue, and on the third - black. Take the first 12 ...

32 outdoor games

Ball in Basket Place the basket in the middle of the room; place 4 balls at one end of the room. Each player is given the opportunity to see how long it will take him to get all 4 balls across the room into the basket - using only his feet. Time each participant to ...

30 sedentary games

The great culinary specialist - Sent by a friend The volunteer is handed two spoons (or forks) and is blindfolded. The presenter offers to “identify” different objects by touch with the help of spoons. You can offer products (potatoes, carrots, onions, pears, etc.), or you can give a more difficult task - to identify such inedible ...

1 Prepare a list of Bible people whose activities you know. You can use the Bible Dictionary for this. Say the name, and have the person who wants to answer the question about his occupation. You can also divide the players into groups.

For example:
1. Peter (fisherman)
2. Lydia (sold clothes)
3. Paul (missionary)
4. Dmitry (silversmith)
5. Zechariah (priest)
6. David (king, shepherd)
7. Luke (doctor)
8. Habakkuk (prophet)
9. Isaiah (prophet)
10. Zacchaeus (tax collector)

2 Purpose of this game: To develop the ability to relate people to places in the Bible. What are the names of people who met in special places mentioned in the Bible? Players must name the place where these heroes met.

For example:
1. Jesus and the Samaritan woman (Jacob's well)
2. Jesus and John the Baptist (Jordan River)
3. Gabriel and Mary (her home in Nazareth)
4. Adam and Eve (Garden of Eden)
5. Two spies and Rahab (Jericho)
6. Ruth and Boaz (a field near Bethlehem)

3 Prepare a list of biblical cities that players could associate a Bible event with. After you name the city, the players must tell what event happened there.

For example: The host says: "I visited the city ..."
1. Jerusalem - Easter holiday
2. Nazareth - the hometown of Jesus
3. Bethany - Jesus resurrected Lazarus
4. Nain - Jesus raised the widow's son
5. Capernaum - Jesus healed the courtier's son
6. Bethlehem - the birth of Jesus

5 There is such a childish ball game. The child hits the ball on the ground and says: "I know five names of girls: Olya - one, Sveta - two, Katya - three ...". And so he calls five female names. It is important to say one word for each hit of the ball.

Try to remake this game in the Biblical way - "I know five Biblical female names: Mary - one, Eve - two ..." and so on. If a player gets out of rhythm, or can't think of a name, or speaks incorrectly, the ball goes to the next player.

Here's what else can be called in this game (the player always calls five given words):

• Biblical male names
• Biblical cities
• Biblical mountains
• The tribes of Israel
• Apostles of Jesus Christ
• Books of the Old Testament
• Books of the New Testament
• The Epistles of the Apostle Paul
• etc.

6 The leader on the board draws a word that appears in the Bible. Players must guess what he drew and remember all the stories where this word is mentioned.

For example, the word "serpent". It is mentioned:

• in the story of the fall of man
• the brazen serpent made by Moses, etc.

7 On nine cards are written the names of contemporaries of the patriarch Jacob: Abraham, Sarah, Lot, Hagar, Eliezer, Ishmael, Isaac, Melchizedek, Rebekah

Two players take turns drawing cards. The winner is the one who is the first to take three cards with the names of people involved in one event.

For example:

Sarah, Hagar, Ishmael ("The Expulsion of Ishmael") or Abraham, Lot, Melchizedek ("The Salvation of Lot")

Note: You can prepare cards with other names related to other events.

8This game requires preparation, but it is reusable. Take a few sheets of A4 colored cardboard. Glue 5 pockets with numbers from 1 to 5 at the bottom of each sheet. On each such sheet, write the subject of the questions: "Names", "Birds", "Animals", "Cities", "Bible Verse", etc. (see figure on the right).

Fasten the sheets together so that they hang one below the other (as shown in the figure). Put leaflets with questions in the pockets according to the topics. The larger the number on the pocket, the more difficult the question should be. You can compose the questions yourself, or you can use the section

BIBLICAL QUESTIONS. The game proceeds as follows. 2-5 teams play. Each team takes turns choosing any question. For example, she calls "Birds 3". This means that the presenter takes a question out of the pocket with the number 3 on the "Birds" page. If the team answered correctly, then it gets 3 points. If she does not answer correctly, then any other team that first raised her hand can use her question, and this team will receive 3 points for the correct answer. The game ends when all the leaves are taken out, that is, there are no questions left. Whoever has more points wins!

9 3-15 people play.
One Biblical hero is envisioned. One player must guess it,
and the rest help him. All in turn say one word that is associated with this hero.
For example, Adam is conceived. Words to it can be like this: first, sin, prohibition, etc. The next player to guess is the player on whose word the correct answer was given.

10 This is a game for children or for those who are just starting to study the Bible.
5-10 people play.
Each participant writes on a small piece of paper the name of one Biblical hero, the story of which he himself knows very well. Then the leaves are rolled up and mixed. The players pull one piece of paper and take turns talking about the Biblical hero whose name they got.
If the player is at a loss in the story, then the one who wrote the dropped name should help him.

11 Requires 3-10 people to play. One person walks out, and the rest guess some word or concept from the Bible, for example, the Star of Bethlehem. The guessing player enters and begins to ask each one in turn questions, which can only be answered "yes" or "no".
For example:

• is it alive?
• is it wooden?
• is it edible?
• did Jesus have it?
• now can we have it (see)?

When, finally, the guessing player guesses the word,
then the next one to guess is the one to whom the question was asked last.

15 themed game

Invite everyone present (5-35 people) to write 5-10 nouns that they can refer to. For example: man, woman, student, etc.

After everyone has written, ask who wrote

• about himself that he is a man
• about their belonging to the family (wife, mother, father, etc.)
• about their belonging to the profession (doctor, student)
• about your attitude towards the church and ministry

And who wrote that he was a sinner? Surely, the majority will forget about it.

CONCLUSION: You think well of yourself. There are few sinners among you. But the Bible says that Christ came to save sinners. Where will you be?

One man is sitting on a chair, his eyes are blindfolded. Candy is fixed under the chair (you can use scotch tape). Three volunteers, located at different ends of the room, try to get to the seated person and take the candy from him. The seated person tries to stop them, saying "STOP" and pointing in the direction from where, in his opinion, the noise is heard. If he showed correctly, the caught player remains in place, the rest continue their dangerous journey.

17The introduction to the lesson about the blind Bartimaeus.

One volunteer is blindfolded after having found out if he is well oriented in the room. Put an object in a hard-to-reach place, untwist a person in a bandage and send for an object.

18On the introduction to the topic: "Rom. 10:15 (And how can they preach if they are not sent? As it is written: how beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, preach the good news!)

Find the biggest foot in the group ... the smallest ... the most original ... and talk about Romans 10:15

19 The game is very simple. Its main advantage is that it helps you learn Bible verses in a fun way. It is good to play the game in the home group. From 3 to 15 people can participate.

Each person (or a team of several people, if there are many of you) receives a piece of paper with a verse written in it. After a while, the players take turns to show their verse in gestures (they come up with gestures themselves), while the verse should be spoken aloud. You can also explain how to understand this verse and why certain gestures were invented. You can also give the same verse to two commands. Their performances are compared and judged, which one is better.

For example, I will give you how you can show the verse with gestures "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, so that everyone who believes in Him would not perish, but have eternal life." (John 3:16)

For he loved so much - two punches with a fist in the region of the heart (when we are in love, our heart beats often)

God - hand points to the sky

the world - the palm is open, we show around us

what we gave - with both hands we tear off as if something from the chest

His Son - the hand seems to touch the head of a small child

so that everyone - with the index finger point at one, second, third person

believer - fold our palms, as for prayer

into Him - again we point to heaven,

did not die - first we show the index finger as "no", then we show death - crossed arms on the chest

but had life - we feel the pulse (there is a pulse - it means the person is alive)

eternal - a symbol of eternity - a vicious circle, we draw a circle in the air with our hand.

Be sure to speak the scripture where the verse is taken from. Poems are best chosen those that are easy to show. I suggest the following:

• For I want mercy, and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings. (Hosea 6: 6)
• In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. (Genesis 1: 1)
• For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rom 6:23)
• Better is a piece of dry bread, and peace with it, than a house full of slaughtered cattle, with strife. (proverbs 17: 1)
• So, if you are raised with Christ, then seek the heavenly place where Christ sits at the right hand of God; Set your mind on things above, not on earthly things. (Col. 3: 1-2)
• Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me. (Rev. 3:20)
• God is light and there is no darkness in Him. (1 John 1: 5)
• For as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead (James 2:26)
• So, go teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. (Matt. 28:19)

Good practice can make the game harder. Let someone show a verse (only a well-known one), while others guess.

20 This game is good for young people and children who already know the basic Bible stories. There are 2-4 teams of 3-10 people each. Each team is tasked with portraying the Bible story in sounds. The other teams should listen (close their eyes everyone!) And guess what the story is. I propose to depict the following sounds:

• How animals enter the ark
• Fall of the walls of Jericho
• The parable of the lost sheep
• Construction of the Tower of Babel

21 The facilitator speaks words quickly. Children should mentally rearrange the letters of this word the other way around and immediately write them down on the blackboard with chalk or on a piece of paper "back to front." For example, the presenter says the word "pilot", the child writes the word "tolip", "salamander" - "ardnamalas". You can start with short words and replace them with longer ones. Biblical terms and words can be used. - end of cell.

22 The players are divided into two teams, you can also choose a judge to resolve controversial issues. The letter of the alphabet is randomly selected, excluding b, b, b, for this you can take the first book that comes across and the letter located in the predetermined place of the line with the agreed number on the agreed page. In the course of the game, the teams simply call the words from the Scripture in turn for the selected letter. You cannot repeat yourself, words must be common nouns in the initial form - nominative, singular, and known enough to make their existence undeniable. Who from the team will name the word is not important.

23 The players are divided into 2-5 teams of 2-7 people each. Teams are given leaflets (download) These leaflets contain a large table with many letters. You need to find the hidden words (these will be Biblical names). Words can be written horizontally (right to left and left to right), vertically (top to bottom and bottom to top), and also diagonally. whoever finds 10 hidden words faster - he won.! - end of cell ->

Several groups of children or even the whole camp can participate in this game. Each group is given a Scripture sheet (see list below). Each verse mentions one or two items. These are the items that must be found and brought to a certain place. The group that does it the fastest is the winner!

Here's a rough list. Children receive a list only with places of the Holy Scripture, and the objects described in the verses, they find themselves by opening the Bible.

• stone - Matthew 21:42
• gold - Matthew 2:11
• water - John 14: 4
• shirt or outerwear - Matthew 5:40
• chalice - Matthew 26:27
• bread or fish - John 6: 9
• hair or oil - John 12: 3
• earth - Matthew 13: 5
• needle - Matthew 19:24
• cross - Mark 8:34

24 The idea for this game is taken from the TV show "Guess the Tune". You can use this game in the youth ministry to test how well they know the Bible.

Divide the teenagers into two teams, which should stand near opposite walls of the room with the leader at the center of each team. The leader keeps a list of well-known Bible verses of ten to twelve words.

Teams are then sent one representative for the first round. The player places a "bet" on the first verse. He says "I can finish a verse after six words!" His opponent might say, "I can finish this verse after five words!" The players continue until one of them says: "Finish", In this case, he expects that the other player will not be able to finish the verse, and he can instead.

If the players stopped, for example, on two words of a verse, then the leader must say the first two words of the verse, and the player who gets the chance to try first ends that verse. If the player wins, then the team gets a point. If the player made a mistake or could not. then the opportunity is given to another player, and another word is added to the verse. If successful, his team gets a point. In other words, the one who was told "Finish" begins to guess. If the second player could not complete the verse, then the first player tries again, and one more is also achieved for the known words.

To increase the risk of players, use the following rule. If you won the chance to be the first to finish the verse, but could not remember it correctly, then the second player, in case of victory, brings the team two points. To further increase the risk, allow the second player to consult with your team before answering. This rule assures that the "bets" are made seriously. This game has a lot of fun and also a lot of learning.

Your help to the site and parish

THE GREAT POST (MATERIALS SELECTION)

Calendar - archive of entries

Site search

Site headings

Select a heading 3D excursions and panoramas (6) Uncategorized (11) To help parishioners (3 688) Audio recordings, audio lectures and conversations (309) Booklets, memos and leaflets (133) Videos, video lectures and conversations (969) Questions to the priest (413) ) Images (259) Icons (542) Icons of the Mother of God (105) Sermons (1,022) Articles (1,787) Trebi (31) Confession (15) Sacrament of Wedding (11) Sacrament of Baptism (18) St. George's Readings (17) Baptism of Rus (22) Liturgy (154) Love, Marriage, Family (76) Sunday School Materials (413) Audio (24) Videos (111) Quizzes, Questions & Riddles (43) Didactic Materials (73) Games (28) Images (43) ) Crosswords (24) Teaching materials (47) Crafts (25) Coloring pages (12) Scripts (10) Texts (98) Stories and stories (30) Fairy tales (11) Articles (18) Verses (29) Textbooks (17) Prayer ( 511) Wise thoughts, quotes, aphorisms (385) News (280) News of the Kinel diocese (105) News of the parish (52) News of the Samara Metropolitanate (13) General Church Ovny news (80) Fundamentals of Orthodoxy (3 779) Bible (785) The Law of God (798) Missionary work and catechesis (1 390) Sects (7) Orthodox Library (482) Dictionaries, reference books (51) Saints and ascetics of piety (1 769) Blessed Matrona of Moscow (4) John of Kronstadt (2) Symbol of Faith (98) Temple (160) Church singing (32) Church notes (9) Church candles (10) Church etiquette (11) Church calendar (2464) Antipascha (6) Week 3 after Easter, holy myrrh-bearing women (14) Week 3 after Pentecost (1) Week 4 after Easter, about the paralytic (7) Week 5 after Easter about the Samaritan (8) Week 6 Easter, about the blind (4) Fasting (455) Radonitsa (8) Parental Saturday (32) Holy Week (28) Church holidays (692) Annunciation (10) Introduction to the Church of the Most Holy Theotokos (10) Exaltation of the Holy Cross (14) Ascension The Lord's (17) The Lord's Entry into Jerusalem (16) The Day of the Holy Spirit (9) The Day of the Holy Trinity (35) The Icon of the Mother of God "Joy of All Who Sorrow" (1) The Kazan Icon of the Mother of God (15) The Circumcision of the Lord (4) Easter (129) The Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos (20) The Feast of the Epiphany of the Lord (44) The Feast of the Renewal of the Church of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ (1) The Feast of the Circumcision of the Lord (1) The Transfiguration of the Lord (15 ) The origin (wear) of the Honorable Trees of the Life-giving Cross of the Lord (1) Christmas (118) The Nativity of John the Baptist (9) The Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos (23) The Presentation of the Vladimir Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos (3) The Presentation of the Lord (17) The Beheading of the Head of the Baptist of the Lord John (5) Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos (27) Church and Sacraments (148) Sanctification of Oil (8) Confession (32) Anointing (5) Communion (23) Priesthood (6) Sacrament of Wedding (14) Sacrament of Baptism (19) Fundamentals of Orthodox culture (34) Pilgrimage ( 241) Athos (1) The main shrines of Montenegro (1) Shrines of Russia (16) Proverbs and sayings (9) Orthodox newspaper (35) Orthodox radio (66) Orthodox magazine (34) Orthodox music archive ( 170) Bells ringing (11) Orthodox film (95) Proverbs (102) Schedule of services (60) Recipes for Orthodox cuisine (15) Holy sources (5) Legends about the Russian land (94) Word of the Patriarch (111) Mass media about the parish (23) Superstitions (37) TV channel (373) Tests (2) Photos (25) Churches of Russia (245) Churches of the Kinel diocese (11) Churches of the Northern Kinel deanery (7) Churches of the Samara region (69) Fiction of preaching and public content and meaning (126 ) Prose (19) Poems (42) Signs and Miracles (60)

Orthodox calendar

Venerable Basil isp. (750). Schmch. Arseny, Met. Rostovsky (1772). Venerable Cassian the Roman (435) (memory postponed from February 29).

Blzh. Nicholas, Christ for the sake of the holy fool, Pskov (1576). Schmch. Proterius, Patriarch of Alexandria (457). Schmch. Nestor, Bp. Magiddian (250). Prpp. wives of Marina and Kira (about 450). Venerable John, named Barsanuphius, bishop. Damascus (V); mch. Theoktyrist (VIII) (commemorations carried over from February 29).

Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts.

At the 6th hour: Is. II, 3-11. For the evening: Gen. I, 24 - II, 3. Prov. II, 1-22.

We congratulate the birthday people on Angel Day!

Icon of the day

Venerable Martyry Zelenetsky

Venerable Martyry Zelenetsky , in the world of Mina, came from the city of Velikiye Luki. His parents, Cosmas and Stephanides, died when he was not yet ten years old. He was brought up by his spiritual father, a priest of the city's Annunciation Church, and the boy more and more clenched his soul to God.

Widowed, his mentor accepted monasticism with the name Bogolep in Velikie Luki Trinity-Sergius Monastery. Mina often visited him at the monastery, and then he himself was tonsured there with the name Martyrius. For seven years the teacher and the student worked unremittingly for the Lord in one cell, competing with each other in the exploits of labor and prayer. Monk Martyrius bore the obedience of a cellar, treasurer and sexton.

At this time, the Mother of God for the first time showed Her special care for the Monk Martyria. At noon, he dozed off in the bell tower and saw on the pillar of fire the image of the Most Holy Theotokos Hodegetria. The monk kissed him with trepidation, hot from the pillar of fire, and waking up, he still felt this heat on his forehead.

On the spiritual advice of the Monk Martyrius, the seriously ill monk Abramy went to worship the miraculous Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God and was healed. The monk was imbued with fervent faith in the intercession of the Mother of God. He began to pray to the Heavenly Queen to point out where to hide for him to undergo the feat of perfect silence, to which his soul was striving. The monk secretly withdrew to a desolate place 60 versts from Velikiye Luki. As the monk himself writes in his notes, "in that wilderness I accepted great fears from demons, but I prayed to God, and the demons were put to shame." In a letter to the elder Bogolep, the monk asked for blessing to live in the wilderness, but the confessor advised Martyrius to return to the hostel, where he was useful to the brethren. Not daring to disobey and not knowing what to do, Saint Martyrius set off for Smolensk to worship the miraculous icon of the Mother of God Hodegetria and the miracle worker Abraham (Comm. 21 August). In Smolensk, the monks Abraham and Ephraim appeared to the saint in a dream and reassured him with a proclamation that the Lord had appointed him to live in the wilderness, "where God will bless and the Most Holy Theotokos will instruct."

Then the monk went to the Tikhvin monastery, hoping that there the Mother of God would finally resolve his bewilderment. Indeed, the monk Abramiy, who, in gratitude to the Mother of God for his healing, remained forever in that monastery, told him about the hidden desert, over which he had a vision of the shining Cross of the Lord. This time, having received the blessing of the elder, the Monk Martyrius took with him two small icons of the same size - the Life-Giving Trinity and the Most Holy Theotokos of Tikhvin - and set off for the desert called Green, for it rose as a beautiful green island among the wooded swamps.

The life of the monk in this wilderness was cruel and painful, but neither cold, nor deprivation, nor wild animals, nor the intrigues of the enemy could shake his resolve to endure the trials to the end. He set up a chapel in glorification and thanksgiving to the Lord and the Most Pure Theotokos, in which he again deigned to see the image of the Mother of God in a dream, this time floating on the sea. The Archangel Gabriel appeared to the right of the icon and invited the monk to venerate the image. After hesitation, the Monk Martyrius entered the water, but the image began to sink into the sea. Then the monk prayed, and immediately the wave carried him from the image to the shore.

The wilderness was sanctified by the life of a hermit, and many began to come to it, not only to be edified by the word and example of the monk, but also to settle with him. The multiplying brotherhood of his disciples prompted the monk to build a church in the Name of the Life-Giving Trinity, where he also placed his prayer icons. As a testimony to the grace of God, who rested at the monastery of the Monk Martyrios, the monk Guriy was honored to see the Cross shining in heaven above the church cross.

This was the beginning of the Trinity Zelenetsky Monastery - "The Green Martyrian Hermitage". The Lord blessed the labors of the monk, and the grace of God apparently shone on him. The fame of his clairvoyance and gift of healings spread far. Many eminent Novgorodians began to send offerings to the monastery. At the expense of the pious boyar Fyodor Syrkov, a warm church was built, consecrated in honor of the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos in memory of the first church in Velikiye Luki, from where he began his journey to God as a boy.

The monk continued to receive blessed reinforcements from the Most Pure Theotokos. Once, in a subtle dream, the Mother of God herself appeared to him in his cell, on a bench, in a large corner where the icons stood. "I looked, without looking up, at Her holy face, at eyes filled with tears ready to fall on Her pure face. I got up from sleep and was terrified. I lit a candle from the lamp to see if the Most Pure Virgin was sitting still, where I saw Her in a dream. I approached the image of Hodegetria and was convinced that the Mother of God appeared to me in the image that She was depicted in my icon, "the monk recalled.

Soon after this (about 1570) the Monk Martyrius received the priesthood in Novgorod from the archbishop (Alexander or Leonidas). It is known that in 1582 he was already abbot.

Later, the Lord gave the Green Desert an even richer benefactor. In 1595, in Tver, Saint Martyrius healed the dying son of the former Tsar of Kasimov, Simeon Bekbulagovich, praying before his icons of the Life-Giving Trinity and the Tikhvin Mother of God and placing the image of the Most Holy Theotokos on the patient's chest. With donations from the grateful Simeon, churches were built in honor of the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God and St. John Chrysostom - the Heavenly patron saint of the healed Tsarevich John.

In 1595, Tsar Theodore Ioannovich gave the monastery a letter of gratitude, approving the monastery founded by the monk.

Having reached a ripe old age and preparing for death, the Monk Martyrius dug his own grave, placed in it a coffin made with his own hands, and wept there a lot. Feeling an imminent departure, the monk summoned the brethren and begged his children in the Lord to have unshakable hope in the Most Holy Life-Giving Trinity and to place their trust entirely in the Mother of God, as he always trusted in Her. Having partaken of the Holy Mysteries of Christ, he gave the brethren a blessing and with the words: "Peace to all Orthodox," - in spiritual joy he rested in the Lord on March 1, 1603.

The monk was buried in a grave he himself had dug near the Church of Our Lady, and then his holy relics rested under a berth in the Church of the Most Holy Trinity, under the basement church in honor of St. John the Theologian. The former monk of the Zelenetsky monastery, Metropolitan Korniliy of Kazan and Novgorod (+ 1698), compiled a service and wrote the life of the Monk Martyrius, using personal notes and the will of the monk.

Troparion to the Monk Martyry Zelenetsky

From youth, God-beloved, having loved Christ, / the fatherland left asi / and, having deviated from all worldly rebellions, / into the quietly honorable inhabited God-founding, delighted, found he dwelt in it, / gathered the monstrous ones, / and took these by your teachings, as a ladder ascending to Heaven, / diligently tried to erect to God, / I prayed to Him, God-beloved Martyr.

Translation: From your youth, blissful in God, having loved Christ, you left your Fatherland and retired from all the bustle of the world, in the quiet refuge of the venerable monastery of the Mother of God, you found yourself, from there, seeing an impenetrable desert, indicated by a cruciform dawn, found it suitable, and settling in it, gathered the monastics and Through their teaching, like a ladder ascending to Heaven, in tireless work you tried to lead to God, but pray to Him, God-wise Martyrius, to grant our souls great mercy.

Kontakion to the Monk Martyry Zelenetsky

Fatherland, venerable, and all the worldly rebellion, you have longed to deviate, / and, having entered the desert, / thats in the blessedness of silence, cruel life showed you / even pray, God-blessed, for us, your own chadeh, and you gathered together, / and for all the faithful, so we call you: // rejoice, father Martyrie, the silence of the desert lover.

Translation: Fatherland, reverend, and all worldly vanity you wished to leave and settled in the wilderness, there, in blissful silence, you showed a difficult life and brought up children of obedience and humility [monks] in it. Because of this, I have acquired the boldness [courage, resolute aspiration] to pray to the Holy Trinity for us, your children, whom you have gathered, and for all believers, we call on you: rejoice, Father Martyrius, lover of the wilderness of silence.

Prayer to the Monk Martyry Zelenetsky

Oh, good pastor, our master, reverend father Martyrie! Hear the prayer that we are bringing to you now. We are bo, as in the spirit you abide with us. You, reverend, as having boldness towards the Sovereign, Jesus Christ, our God, and to the Most Honorable God of God, be a walk and a warm prayer for the dwellers, who have rewarded her slaves, have not rewarded and the chief, to your God-chosen brotherhood, an assistant and intercessor, since by your representation and prayers we will remain unharmed in this place; but from demons and wicked people we are not inspired, and from all troubles and misfortunes we will be saved. But to all who come to your holy abode from everywhere and who pray to you with faith and worship your rats, pray for your prayers, for him to get rid of all sorrows, sickness and happiness; and for all of us a warm representative to the Lord and a helper to our souls will be, he also will be released to our sins and your prayers, holy, reward us with much torment and mercy to the mercy of all the sacredness to the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and forever, and forever and ever. Amen.

Reading the Gospel with the Church

Hello dear brothers and sisters.

In the last program, it was about the gospel of Zechariah in the Jerusalem temple about the birth of John the Baptist.

Today we will consider the text of the same Evangelist Luke, which tells about the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary.

1.26. In the sixth month the Angel Gabriel was sent from God to the city of Galilee, called Nazareth,

1.27. to the Virgin, betrothed to a husband named Joseph, from the house of David; the name of the Virgin: Mary.

1.28. The Angel, coming in to Her, said: Rejoice, Blessed One! The Lord is with You; blessed are you between wives.

1.29. She, seeing him, was embarrassed by his words and wondered what kind of greeting it would be.

1.30. And the angel said to her: do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found grace with God;

1.31. and behold, you will conceive in your womb, and you will bear a Son, and you will call His name Jesus.

1.32. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David;

1.33. and he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and his kingdom will have no end.

1.34. Mary said to the Angel: How will it be when I do not know my husband?

1.35. The Angel answered Her: The Holy Spirit will come upon You, and the power of the Most High will overshadow You; therefore, the Holy One being born will be called the Son of God.

1.36. Here is also Elisabeth, your relative, who is called barren, and she conceived a son in her old age, and she is already six months old.

1.37. for with God no word will remain powerless.

1.38. Then Mary said: behold, the Servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word. And the Angel departed from Her.

(Luke 1, 26-38)

Both stories about the appearance of the Archangel Gabriel are built according to the same scheme: the appearance of an angel, his prediction about the miraculous birth of a child, a story about the coming greatness, the name he should be named; doubt of the interlocutor of the angel and the granting of a sign confirming the words of the messenger of Heaven. But still, there are also many differences in these narratives.

If Zechariah meets the messenger of God at the most magnificent moment of his life and this happens in the house of God, in Jerusalem, during the divine service, then the scene of the appearance of the same angel to a young girl is emphatically simple and devoid of any external solemnity. It takes place in Nazareth, a run-down provincial town in the Galilee.

And if the righteousness of Zechariah and Elizabeth was emphasized from the very beginning and the news of the birth of a son was given in response to intensified prayers, then practically nothing is said about young Mary: neither about her moral qualities, nor about any kind of religious zeal.

However, all human stereotypes are overturned, for the one whose birth was announced in the clubs of incense will be just a forerunner, herald of the coming of the One about whom it was told so modestly.

The Evangelist Luke points out that Elizabeth was six months pregnant when the angel appeared in Nazareth with the good news to the Virgin Mary. In Elisabeth's case, the barriers to birth were her infertility and old age; for Mary, her virginity.

We know that Mary was betrothed to Joseph. According to Jewish marriage law, girls were betrothed to future husbands very early, usually at the age of twelve or thirteen. The engagement lasted for about a year, but the bride and groom were considered husband and wife from the moment of the engagement. This year the bride stayed in the home of her parents or guardians. In fact, the girl became a wife when her husband took her to his house.

Joseph, as we remember, came from the family of King David, which was extremely important, because through Joseph and Jesus he became legally a descendant of David. Indeed, in ancient times, legal relationship was considered more important than blood.

Greetings: Rejoice, Blessed One! The Lord is with You(Luke 1, 28), - the angel addresses the Virgin Mary. The author writes in Greek. It is quite possible that the Greek word "haire" ("rejoice") in Hebrew could have sounded like "shalom", that is, a wish for peace.

Like Zechariah, Mary is confused and full of confusion caused by the appearance of the angel and his words. The messenger tries to explain to Mary and calm her down with the words: do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found grace with God(Luke 1:30). He then explains what is about to happen. And he does it through three basic verbs: conceive, give birth, name.

Usually the father gave the name to the child as a sign that he recognizes him as his own, but here this honor belongs to the mother. Jesus is the Hellenized form of the Hebrew name Yeshua, which is most likely translated as "Yahweh - salvation."

Hearing from an angel how great her Son will be, Mary asks a natural question: how will it be when I don't know my husband?(Luke 1:34).

This question, dear brothers and sisters, is both simple and difficult to understand. Mary cannot understand the words of the angel, since she is not yet married (in the actual sense, although in the legal sense she already had a husband). But Mary will soon enter into conjugal intercourse, why is she so surprised?

There are several attempts to explain this issue, and they are built on the words “I don’t know my husband”. Thus, some people believe that the verb “know” should be understood in the past tense, that is, “I have not yet known my husband”. From which it follows that Mary understood the angel's words as a proclamation to her of her actual state of pregnancy.

According to another point of view, the verb "know" comes from the word "know", that is, to enter into conjugal communication. The patristic tradition indicates to us that the Virgin Mary made a vow of eternal virginity and her words should be understood only as "I will not know my husband." But some scholars argue that this was impossible, since in the Jewish tradition of that time, marriage and childbearing were not only honorable, but also obligatory. And if there were communities where people led a virgin life, then they were mostly men. And such statements seem logical. But let's not forget that God does not act according to human logic - He is above everything and can put a virtuous thought on the heart of a pure person and strengthen even a young girl in her godly desire to preserve her integrity.

A clear confirmation that God does not act within the framework of the physical laws of nature is the answer of the angel Mary: The Holy Spirit will come upon You, and the power of the Most High will overshadow You; therefore, the Holy One who is born will be called the Son of God(Luke 1:35). One often hears a distorted understanding of this moment in the gospel story. People try to explain the Virgin Mary's immaculate conception of the Son of God as a literary device taken from Greek myths, where the gods descended from Olympus and entered into relationships with women, from whom the so-called "sons of God" were born. But in this text we see nothing of the kind. Yes, and in the Holy Spirit there is no masculine principle, which is even emphasized by the grammatical gender: the Hebrew "ruach" ("spirit") is feminine, and the Greek "pneuma" is neuter.

The Jewish Talmud also tries to challenge the integrity of the Savior's conception, arguing that Jesus was the illegitimate son of a fugitive soldier named Panther, hence the Talmudic name for Christ - Ben-Panther. But some scholars believe that "panther" is a distorted Greek word "parthenos", which translates as "virgin", which means that the Talmudic expression should be understood as "Son of the Virgin."

The Annunciation scene ends with Mary's response to Gabriel's message: behold, the Servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word(Luke 1:38).

These words contain the great humility of a young girl who is ready to fulfill any will of God. There is no slavish fear, but only a sincere readiness to serve the Lord. No one has ever succeeded, and it is unlikely that they will be able to express their faith the way the Virgin Mary did. But this is what we, dear brothers and sisters, need to strive for.

Help us in this, the Lord.

Hieromonk Pimen (Shevchenko),
inhabitant of the Holy Trinity Alexander Nevsky Lavra

Multicalender

Orthodox educational courses

OLD BUT NOT LONELY WITH CHRIST: A Word at the Meeting of the Lord

WITH imeon and Anna - two old people - did not see themselves alone, because they lived by God and for God. We do not know what life sorrows and old age ailments they had, but for a person who loves God, who is grateful to God, such trials and temptations will never replace the most important thing - the joy of the Meeting of Christ ...

Download
(MP3 file. Duration 9:07 min. Size 8.34 Mb)

Hieromonk Nikon (Parimanchuk)

Preparation for the sacrament of Holy Baptism

V section " Preparing for Baptism"site "Sunday school: on-line courses " Archpriest Andrei Fedosov, the head of the department of education and catechesis of the Kinelsk Diocese, has collected information that will be useful to those who are going to be baptized themselves, or who want to baptize their child or become a godparent.

R The section consists of five catechumens, in which the content of the Orthodox doctrine within the Symbol of Faith is revealed, the sequence and meaning of the rituals performed at Baptism are explained and answers to common questions related to this Sacrament are given. Each conversation is accompanied by additional materials, links to sources, recommended literature and Internet resources.

O Course openings are presented in the form of texts, audio files and videos.

Course Topics:

• Conversation number 1 Preliminary concepts
• Conversation No. 2 Sacred Bible Story
• Conversation number 3 Church of Christ
• Conversation number 4 Christian morality
• Conversation No. 5 The Sacrament of Holy Baptism

Applications:

• FAQ
• Orthodox saints

Reading the lives of the saints Dmitry of Rostov for every day

Recent Entries

Radio "Vera"

Radio "VERA" is a new radio station that talks about the eternal truths of the Orthodox faith.

The need for play is laid down by God in the nature of a child, adolescent, young person and persists even in adulthood.

Sport contributes to the development of a child's character, teaches children to be loyal to their team to act together, to learn to solve problems together, to be together in both joy and sadness. Sports and games teach honesty, as the question is often asked: "Tell the truth or lie?"

There are many games that perform various functions:

1. Games for getting to know each other. (develop memory, intelligence, relationships)
2. Games - icebreakers: "Know your neighbor on the right", "Where is your neighbor from?" (memory, speed, attention)
3. Trust games: "lunch of the blind", "falling confidence" (trust in God, courage, coordination of movements
4. Games with a problematic task: "Leader", "Zhmurki" (attention, ingenuity, leadership qualities).

Number of participants in games also can be different:

1. Individual games ("Tetris" ...)
2. For two (chess, checkers ...)
3. For a group ("Leader", "Stone, scissors, paper" ..)
4. For several groups (more than 10-20 people: football, volleyball, basketball, "zone")
5. Special games (trampoline, bows ..)

In the children's Christian camp, 3-4 hours are given to games daily. Children love to play, they have a lot of energy, and it needs to be put somewhere. And games contribute to this.

The sports program makes it possible to instill in children:

1. Love for sports and sports games.
2. Master different sports.
3. Be more physically healthy and strong.
4. Learning the basics of Christianity in practice.
5. Develops self-confidence, organization, attention, patience, dexterity, memory, ingenuity, collectivism, love of God.

Intergroup games and tournaments help:

1. Unite the group into a single team.
2. Strengthen relationships between team members.

General recommendations: Play so as to enjoy the game and delight each other. Do not get carried away with the game so much that you lose control of the situation and relationships. Your goal as a mentor is to use sport as a vehicle and opportunity to create Christ's redemptive relationship. Plato said: "I learn more about a person in one hour of playing together than in one year of talking together."

Before starting the game, ask the following questions:

1. Do I have people?
2. Is there enough time?
3. Is there a suitable place?
4. Is there inventory available?

Training in sports games:

1. Learn the game yourself before teaching others.
2. Don't play games that don't please you (they won't please others).
3. Study the description of the game and play it according to the "description".
4. Choose a safe place (safety must come first).
5. Give instructions verbally, make sure everyone understands you.
6. Follow the path: from simple to complex.
7. Stop unfriendly and dangerous behavior.
8. Encourage and involve everyone in the game.
9. Evaluate the situation constantly (ask yourself: "What is the response of the participants?")
10. Be considerate of children and their mood (do not impose more on them than they can accept).
11. After the game, take stock and let the participants express their impressions.

What if the kids don't want to play?

1. Cheer them up. Pay special attention to them.
2. Play it out before the game starts.
3. Children can be carried away by the very excitement of games.
4. Use rewards (prizes, tokens, candies) to attract children.

What if the kids are fighting?

1. Separate the fighters, do not ignore the fights.
2. Take a break from the game, talk about what happened.
3. Use the help of the director or coordinator at the camp, if necessary.
4. Emphasize group cohesion before playing.
5. It doesn't matter who won and who lost, we play for fun (“… we’re not losing a cow”).
6. 6. Use the "Penalty Bench" for disciplinary offenders.

1. The game should be appropriate for the age of the children.
2. Consider how many games you will play in advance.
3. Think about what time you will play the game.
4. Prepare your playground and props.
5. Remember the feelings of children, do not upset them. (incentive prizes).
6. Consider the physical condition of the children (ailments, headaches)
7. Reward the losers as well (solve the problem of competition).
8. Alternate mental games with physical ones.
9. Let the more capable children help the less capable.
10. Summarize and the meaning of the game, discuss it with the children.

It is not at all necessary to include in the lesson plan all the games offered in the manuals, on the contrary, you should carefully select games based on the following criteria:

• Are the objectives of the competition consistent with the objectives of Bible teaching? Does the competition have a teaching purpose? Is the competition in line with your long-term goals?
• Is it worth spending money, time and effort on this competition?
• After the competition, the kids are excited. Will this excitement interfere with the objectives of the lesson?
• Do you have enough awards and prizes to encourage participation in the competition? What is the price of the prizes? Can you buy enough of them?
• Will the kids get used to the prizes? Will they expect prizes and awards every time they succeed in some business?

Games help children study the Bible, learn each other's names, “burn off” excess energy, and learn to work as a team. Good age-appropriate play is a lot of fun. The next time you plan to have a class competition, consider all the factors and pray. Choose methods that fit the purpose of your lesson, motivate the children to learn, and create an atmosphere of collaboration and joy.

Think about the philosophy behind some of the games. For example, a game such as musical chairs teaches children to be first in order to take what others want to take. The game "janitor" teaches that you need to heat up so much that it is more than others.

"Stop playing, it's time to get down to serious business!"

This is absolutely the wrong approach to children. Play is a serious business for children. Play is self-expression and entertainment, this is the so-called combination of "business with pleasure", where both body and mind are involved. Through play, the child learns the world and learns relationships. The Swiss psychologist Piaget said that through play, the child transforms the world in order to meet his needs.

Teachers can facilitate play by giving children the opportunity to play, space, and materials. Why should a teacher contribute to the game? Play is an activity in which the child's entire being is actively involved, and this is what learning should be. By organizing games, keeping in mind the goals of the lesson and inserting the right words on time, the teacher can direct the course of the game towards a specific goal.

Games can be used in all areas of children's ministry. For example, playing hide and seek with a teacher, a child learns to trust an adult, because he will still appear, even if he disappeared for a few seconds. The smallest can recognize God through sensory play, such as playing with objects of different materials, colors, shapes, and sounds. When a child squeezes a rubber duck and hears it quacking, the baby is affirmed in its capabilities.

Older children learn a lot by playing adults.

To enable children to do this, the classroom should be equipped with a “house” with doll beds, cupboards and a table with chairs. ...

If there is not enough room in the room, the teacher should reconsider the purpose of the space occupied by the piano, the teacher's table, or find out if there are free classrooms. The freed up space can be used to set up a "house" for various activities: music, theater, painting, cubes, mosaics, etc. If you can spend time outdoors, then the possibilities for games are significantly expanded.

Social skills develop rapidly in games. In such games, the teacher has the opportunity to attract a shy and uncommunicative child to the team. Later, children can learn to cooperate by playing with each other in small groups. Children, old enough to cooperate with classmates, get skills in the game that they will carry through their whole lives: “Wait your turn”, “Play fair”, “Follow the rules”, “Be able to lose with dignity”.

The more abilities children have (long-term attention, literacy, communication skills), the wider the range of educational games that employees can use. Through individual play, a child can learn a Bible verse, but the meaning of the verse is easier to understand by applying it in life.

All items must be durable and washable, must not have sharp corners, debris or overly tight doors and lids, otherwise small fingers may be hurt. All equipment can be bought or made by hand. But in any case, it must be safe and appropriate for the age of the children. Care should be taken when trusting children to play with hats, combs and massage brushes to avoid the spread of psoriasis. To maintain interest, doll clothes should be constantly changed.

You can expand the horizons of role-playing games and discover new ways of applying Bible truths in life situations if, along with playing "houses", teach children to play "shop", "hospital", "school", "bank", "post office", "Office", "library", "airport", etc.

Teachers should avoid sexual orientation in such role play.

There are tons of all kinds of games out there. For example,

*** Communication games

1. "Acquaintance"

Depending on how familiar the gathered children are with each other, two variants of the acquaintance game are offered:

For children who are less familiar with each other. The course of the game. You need to choose the leader of the game. Everyone is facing each other. One minute is given to everyone to find out the name of the neighbor on the right and left. Then the leader begins to walk in a circle behind the players' backs. To the person whom he chooses, he puts his hand on his shoulder and says: "right" or "left", or "right - left", or "left - right". The selected child must give the names of their neighbors in the correct sequence. If the specified child cannot do this, then his neighbors themselves say their names in the necessary sequence, and the loser becomes the leader. The former leader takes his place. You can change places in the circle every time (in this case, the game becomes more difficult). Game variant. A circle or several circles are made, depending on the number of children. The first child tells the group his name: "I am Katya." The next one says: "Katya, and I am Vasya." The next one says: "Katya, Vasya, and I - Larissa." And so it continues until the last child in the circle, who tries to name the names of all the players. If the child cannot repeat, then the other children in the circle help him.

For children who are more familiar with each other. Required: a pre-made manual "Acquaintance". The course of the game: choose the leader of the game. All children are divided into 2 teams. Each member of one team finds a mate from the other team. On a signal, within 2-3 minutes, couples will find out from each other the answers to the questions that are written on the special “Acquaintance” manual (age, name, is there a pet, hobby, is there a close friend). After 3 minutes, everyone returns to their teams very quickly. Then the leader chooses any of the team. The selected player finds his pair in the neighboring team and talks about him according to the questions proposed at the stand, then vice versa. Etc. It would be nice to keep everyone involved in the game. If someone fails to answer the question, then the player in question answers the question himself.

How to split commands:

1. stand in a circle and, on command, put one leg forward. Those who stick out their right foot will be one command, and those who stick out their left foot will be another;
2. on command, you need to throw out several fingers on your hand. Everyone with a larger number is one team, a smaller one is another; or an even number is one command, an odd number is another.

2. "Acquaintance"

Required: A ball made by the Acquaintance stand.

The course of the game. The presenter puts the questionnaire on his chest and throws a ball to someone. The player catches the ball, looks at the presenter's questionnaire and answers the questions, talking about himself. Then the presenter puts the questionnaire on the player with the ball and the game is repeated.

3. "Say the name"

The course of the game. The players sit (stand) in a circle. Everyone does three claps on command: hands, knees, hands. One player loudly calls out the name of the neighbor on the right and his own ("Lena - Slava"). More claps, and the next one in a clockwise direction calls names ("Glory - Tanya"). Until it's full circle. Option. You can speed up, slow down the pace of the game, change the movement clockwise and counterclockwise, stop the game and swap players in random order.

4. "Trust"

Choose two guys at will. Invite one of them to stand with his back to the presenter: "You can fall with your back to me, and I will catch you." The child trustingly falls into the hands of the leader. You can ask the children to pair up and try to do the same with each other. Everyone's task: to be faithful in what he does - catches or falls. (If time is limited, do this with only one child.) After the game, you need to ask: “How did you feel? Have you been obedient and trusting? " We trust a lot of people in our life: drivers when we travel in transport, doctors who serve us, etc. But the most important thing is to trust God always in our life, in all circumstances. When we find ourselves in difficult circumstances, then our trust in God and our faithfulness are tested. And at this time, God looks at how we relate to the difficulties that we face. Are we always patient and obedient.

5. "I want to know"

Required: ball Everyone is in a circle. The host starts the game: "I want to know your name?" and throws the ball to whoever he asks. The child catches the ball and says: "Sasha" and returns the ball to the presenter. Then the child continues: “I want to know how old you are” and throws the ball to another child, who answers and returns the ball to the presenter. Once the children have a good understanding of the rules of the game, they can start playing with each other by asking and answering similar questions. Give every child the opportunity to participate in the game. If the children get lost, what question to ask each other, the presenter himself continues to play with the children. The questions can be very different, but they are aimed at getting to know each other better, to learn more about each other. We need to pay more attention to the children who came for the first time.

6. "Find the treasure"

Required: paper box or small toy. The leader of the game is selected from among the children. He has to leave the room. The presenter hides a box from someone of their children, after which the leader of the game returns. The presenter makes the following introduction: “Imagine that you are in a foreign country. You must find the treasure. It is hidden in a person you know, but you are given one clue: this person ... and the leader tells him only one clue. This may be some kind of distinguishing feature of the child who has a hidden box. It's good if this feature is not striking, and it takes some time to find it. For example, blue eyes, a mole on the right cheek, a birthmark on the arm, light blond hair, shoes with black laces, etc. The player who is looking can be given 1 minute (count to 60) to guess. If he manages to guess, then the child who had the box becomes the new leader of the game and leaves the room. And the one who was the leader before, hides the box. (As a treasure, you can use a small box that contains the pieces of paper with God's promises written on them.)

Children sit (stand) in a circle. The task of each player is to make two claps and quickly, in one sentence, say about a joyful moment in your life: "I was glad when ..." or "I am glad because ..." After that, everyone sitting in the circle at the same time clap their neighbors left and right and say "Hallelujah!" or "Thank God!" (The presenter can talk about the meaning of the word "Hallelujah!"

8. "Questions of friendship"

Children join hands in a circle; the leader stands in the center of the circle. At the signal, the children begin to squeeze the hand of their neighbor in a chain (transmit signals). The presenter must guess where, through which hands the signal passes and have time to put his hand on the one who received this signal. If the leader manages to do this before the signal goes further, then he has the right to ask this child a question. After that, the game continues. For a change, you can make it so that the child who was stopped by the presenter himself asked a question to his neighbor (instead of transmitting a signal to his neighbor, he asks him a question). After the neighbor answers the asked question, the game continues from that neighbor.

9. "Welcome"

An exchange of greetings is an exchange of human warmth. When we meet a person, we, first of all, meet his gaze and express in one form or another that we are glad that this person exists, that we are glad that he is among us. Let's try different forms of greeting and determine the most effective ones for you. To do this, we divide into two groups and stand opposite each other at a distance of several steps in 2 ranks. Please (gong). Now, at the signal of the leader, the partners approach each other and exchange various greetings. These can be handshakes, hugs, curtsies, pats, enthusiastic exclamations, and quiet, meaningful glances. Exchanging greetings, partners change - they make a shawl to the right. Please exchange greetings! (Gong). And now, in each line, the participants must change partners. Please! (Gong) Now continue the greeting with a new partner, in a new form. Consider how best to greet a new partner so that the greeting is right for that person. Please! (Gong) You can run a competition for the longest greeting. Who will win? Take action! (Gong) Let's summarize and end the game.

10. "Smiles"

Ask each group member to smile and measure their smile with a ruler. Add up all the values. Then ask everyone to think about how many times a day they smile. Calculate on a calculator by multiplying the values. What is the distance?

11. "Exception"(Open each other)

Ask everyone in the room to stand up. Read the list slowly and ask people to sit down if this statement applies to them.

• Squeezing toothpaste from the middle of the tube
• Scared of the big dog
• I have friends in Australia
• Caught for a traffic violation
• Talked to the trees
• Read the newspaper at breakfast
• I watch TV regularly after 11 p.m.
• I'm on a diet
• I drop my towel on the bathroom floor
• Been to Hawaii
• Late for this week's home group If someone is left standing after everything they have read, they should be given a prize for doing absolutely nothing.

12. "Back to back"

Ask two people to stand back to back so that they cannot see their partner. Ask each: n What color is your partner's clothes? n what color is his hair? n is he wearing a T-shirt? n is he tall?

13. "Hand"

Prepare paper and pencils. Ask everyone to put their hand on a piece of paper and circle it. Then have five people write their names on each finger. During prayer, each person prays for those people whose names are written on his hand.

14. "How do you feel?"

Ask each person to draw a face that reflects their feelings. If a person cannot draw, he can write a word. Place all the pieces of paper in a basket. Then one person takes out the sheet and comments on it or speaks words of encouragement.

15. "We all come from childhood"

Tell or write about the most vivid memory of your childhood. Have you been a member? A witness? Have you been told something? How did you feel about this? Joy, surprise, fear, resentment, etc.? What is your favorite toy? Who gave it to you? Do you have any favorite toys today? Is it a memory or an object of today's life?

16. "Relay of genres"

Each of the participants does what he likes best, what he does best - reads poetry, stands on one leg, shows pantomime, etc. The order is set at the request of the presenter or by the players themselves.

17. "The Cinema of My Childhood"

What episode of your life would you like to film? Will it be a popular science or feature film? What actors and directors would you invite to work in this film? Who would you entrust to play you?

18. "Letter to yourself"

Write the letter you would like to receive. Tip for the teacher: note what kind of letter this is - a request, advice, an outpouring of joy or sadness, agreement, etc.

19. "Draw ourselves"

The child is invited to draw himself now and in the past. Discuss the details of the drawing with him, how are they different? Ask your child what he likes and dislikes about himself. To the teacher: this exercise is aimed at realizing oneself as an individual, becoming aware of its various sides. This is useful for identifying what has changed in the child from the past and what would like to change.

20. "Who am I?"

Children take turns trying to name as many reports as possible to the question: "Who am I?" Characteristics, traits, interests and feelings are used to describe oneself, and each sentence begins with the pronoun "I". For example: "I am a girl", "I am an athlete", "I am a good person", etc. The facilitator makes sure that the children do not repeat what the previous children said, but describe themselves personally. For the teacher: this game gives children the opportunity to look at themselves from different angles, expand their self-image.

21. "Basket of walnuts"

Children "throw" into the basket (they say one after the other, passing the basket or going up to it) painful insoluble situations or cases, relationships or desires, their own qualities or traits of other people that are incomprehensible to them.

22. "Invitation to tea"

The tea cup is passed from hand to hand. n Who, of all those present here, would you like to invite to tea? n What would you like to talk about? n What can you tell him? n What would you like to hear in response?

Edited by V.I. Fedorova