6th

The Mystery of Dinosaurs

The Mystery of Prophecy

The Mystery of the Unseen

The Mystery of God's Plan

The Mystery of Changed Lives

The Mystery of Repentance

God's Mysterious Plan through the Ages

The Mystery of Knowing God

The Mystery of Contentment

Ephesians 6:19 - Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel,

Secret Codes

Stolen Jewels

Buried Treasure

Magic Tricks

Treasure Hunt

A Year of Mysteries

Sample Team Building Activity

The Mysterious Stolen Jewels

Objective: To be the first team of detectives to solve the case. There must be supporting evidence from the suspects, the lab and the pawn shop.

Materials: 3-4 rooms, 4 women or girls prepared to play the parts, baking soda on a couple piece of jewelry, vinegar, Q-tips, a jewelry box of jewels (preferably fake ) Handouts for each team including the scenario and arrival and departure times for each suspect, (optional: detective kit for each group including Q-Tips, rubber gloves, magnifying glasses etc.)

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Scenario: Wealthy Ms. Reynolds comes home from the spa to find her family jewels missing from her bedroom and fingerprints in her freshly plastered walls. All she has is the record from the gatekeeper which includes the arrival and departure times for the baker, the plasterer and the refrigerator delivery woman. You must help her solve the mystery and retrieve her stolen jewels

There are 5 steps to solving the mystery. Review the front gate record, investigate the crime scene, interview the suspects, visit the local pawn shop and go to the lab. You may go in any order.

Front Gate Record

Name

Arrival

Departure

Plasterer Pearl

9:05 am

12:00 pm

Baker Bernice

9:55 am

2:04 pm

Deliverer Delilah 12:48 pm

1:28 pm

_____________________________________________________________________________________

The solution:

The crime scene/Ms. Reynolds bedroom: a piece of jewelry is hidden in an inconspicuous spot. The theft must have dropped. There is a white powdery substance on a couple pieces of jewelry and the table which must have been on the thefts hands (it is baking powder, but they won’t find that out unless they mix it with vinegar in the lab). Also there are fingerprints on the wall where it was freshly plastered (the girls will need to use their imaginations or you will need to be creative for this one ).

Interrogate the Suspects: Each suspect can be in a separate area for interrogation or they can be together. The girls will try to get information that will be helpful. The baker, plasterer and deliverer characters can all be woman or girls and they should have been prompted ahead of time to stick to a few important pieces of information (below). Instruct the suspects not to offer too much information unless the girls ask questions which lead them to the information.

Baker: The bakers believes that the plasterer seemed suspicious and the plasterer was at the mansion by herself for awhile. The plasterer probably saw the jewels when she was in Ms. Reynolds’s bedroom. Then she must have thought she could get away with it.

Plasterer: If I had taken those jewels I would have fled the country. I would never have made a beginners mistake like leaving fingerprints. I have been in this business for 10 years and never had a problem like this. I am innocent.

Refrigerator Deliverer: I wouldn’t have had time to find and steal the jewels. I had to put the refrigerator in place and install an ice maker in just 20 minutes. I did smell a cake starting to burn when I was getting ready to go. I didn’t see anyone the whole time I was at the house.

Visit the Pawn Shop: 4 of the Jewels are found at the pawn shop. The owner knows who brought the jewels in and describe the same clothes and hair style that the plasterer wears. However, the pawn shop owner does remember the theft commenting on his stale looking donut. She said, “You haven’t tasted a donut until you try the ones I make.” The theft seemed really excited about the 500 dollars she got for the jewels. Even though they were worth thousands of dollars. The pawn shop owner thought about keeping the jewels but figured she’d better call the police. Instruct the suspects not to offer too much information unless the girls ask questions which lead them to the information.

The Lab: a table with containers, Q-tips and vinegar, water, & other fluids to mix them with. (the girls may figure our that they should test the substance found on the jewel to see how it reacts with the other fluids.

Solution: The Baker framed the plasterer for stealing the jewelry. It may have worked, but she was in a hurry and didn’t wash the baking soda off of her hands after putting the cake into the oven, the she touched the newly plastered walls and dropped a piece of jewelry onto the floor. She had to wash the plaster off of her hands and try to fix the spot which took up so much time that she forgot about the cake she had in the oven until it had almost burned. Then at the pawn shop, she was in a disguise that made her look like the plasterer but, she slipped and made a comment about the owner’s stale donut.

The Case of the Mysterious Stolen Jewels (Handout)

There are 5 steps to solving the mystery. Review the front gate record, investigate the crime scene, interview the suspects, visit the local pawn shop and go to the lab. You may go in any order.

Front Gate Record

Name

Arrival

Departure

Plasterer Pearl

9:05 am

12:00 pm

Baker Bernice

9:55 am

2:04 pm

Deliverer Delilah 12:48 pm

1:28 pm

Crime Scene Location _____________________________________

Crime Scene Notes:

Interrogation of Suspects:

Baker

Plasterer

Refrigerator Delivery Woman

Lab Tests

Lab Results

Pawn Shop Location__________________________________________

Pawn Shop Investigation Notes:

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Sample Bible Lesson

The Mystery of Contentment

Jeremiah 2:12-13 –

But my people have exchanged their [c] Glory

for worthless idols.

12 Be appalled at this, O heavens,

and shudder with great horror,"

declares the LORD.

13 "My people have committed two sins:

They have forsaken me,

the spring of living water,

and have dug their own cisterns,

broken cisterns that cannot hold water.

Purpose: To think about what makes us truly content.

Preparation: Pray for the Holy Spirit’s work in the lives of your girls, Cut poster board into cylinder shape, print cistern picture or bring lap top to show the girls the picture, poke holes in one bottle of water. You may want to think of a personal story-this lesson will challenge everyone.

Materials: two water bottles, two pieces of poster board, picture of cistern, Bible. 9 by 13 inch pan, 2 pitchers, copies of the quiz for everyone.

Contentment Quiz

1 Timothy 6:6 - But godliness with contentment is great gain

1. How often do you find yourself saying, “I’m bored.”

Every day

Once or Twice a week.

Rarely

2. You’re at the mall with your mom, or other parent, shopping for Christmas presents and see a shirt that you think is adorable. Which are you most likely to do.

Beg her to buy it for you now, because you can’t even wait until Christmas and grumble if she says no.

Ask to have it added to your Christmas list.

Realize that the shirt is really not important and focus on others for the day.

3. It’s the weekend and you have no plans. You…

Whine all weekend about having a boring life.

Find a good movie on TV and make brownies for a treat.

Try to make the most of the weekend with a little time for relaxing and a lot of time with family, with God, cleaning your room, and trying to be helpful around the house.

4. You feel like you just can’t survive without your…

Favorite TV Show

Phone

Stuff and Entertainment really isn’t very important.

5. The way to really have some fun is …

I can never really enjoy myself. I always feel frustrated or guilty or like I can’t relax.

I have fun all the time. That’s the purpose of my life.

I enjoy a hobby, time with friends or family, a celebration, a holiday or ...

Content- Desiring no more than what one has; satisfied. Adjective. (The American Heritage Dictionary)

This is just to get us thinking about Contentment. I’m sure that it’s pretty obvious that the a’s are a sign of serious discontentment, the b’s are a sign of continued need for growth in the area and the c’s are a sign of a pretty Biblical outlook at this time. Keep in mind that our focus can change quickly. Today we may have lost sight of what’s important, but by tomorrow we may have our eyes firmly set on Jesus and vise versa.

Activity: Pull out two water bottles or empty two liter. Place them in a 9’13 inch pan. One has holes in it that the girls probably won’t notice. Choose two volunteers. Tell them that whoever can fill up their water bottle first will win. Give them each a pitcher and say go. The girls who has the water bottle without the holes will win.

Read Jeremiah 2:11-13

Show the girls the picture of a cistern and ask them to look up the verse and put at least part of the verse into their own words.

Activity:

Take out the two pieces of poster board shapes like cisterns. Have the girls write words that represent a leaky life or things that leave us feeling empty in the end. Examples: Shopping, Candy, TV etc. It’s not that all of these things are bad, but we shouldn’t make them our life's focus. They will never make us content.

Now list words that represent a life focused on Jesus. This life will stay content and full. Examples: Bible reading, prayer, helping others, loving others, worshipping God, doing our best, using our gifts, and celebrating life with family and friends.

Acts 17:27 - God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.

SMM

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