No More Room

How to Play

Divide into teams of 4 to 10 players.
Ideally, each team should have the same number of players.
As this game involves physical contact, we suggest same-gender teams.

Give each team 1 sheet of newspaper.
All team members must stand on the piece of newspaper, with no parts of their bodies touching the floor or surrounding objects or walls. Remain standing for 5 seconds.
Teams that succeed in doing this progress to the next round; other teams are eliminated.

For the next round, fold the newspaper in half and repeat.

Keep doing this until only one team remains – this is the winning team.

Bible Lesson – Birth of Jesus

Discuss
1. Did you enjoy this game?
2. How do you feel when you had to squeeze onto a piece of newspaper with so many other people?
3. Does this game remind you of any Bible stories?

Read
Luke 2:1-3

Discuss
4. Who was Caesar Augustus?
5. What is a decree?
6. Why did everyone have to return to their own town?
7. Which country and town were you born in? Are you still staying in that same country and town right now?

Say
Caesar Augustus was the emperor of the Roman Empire at that time. He wanted to count the number of people there were, so he issued an official order for everyone to return to their hometown to be counted.

Read
Luke 2:4-7

Discuss
8. Where did Joseph and Mary live at that time?
9. Why did they have to travel to Bethlehem?
10. Have you ever travelled away from your home for a short time, to go to a different town or country? Where did you go? Where did you stay while you were there?
11. Where did Joseph and Mary stay at Bethlehem?
12. What happened while Joseph and Mary were staying at Bethlehem?
13. Describe the place where Jesus was born.

Say
Even though Joseph and Mary lived in Nazareth at that time, they had to travel to Joseph’s hometown in Bethlehem to be counted.
Joseph did not live in Bethlehem anymore, so he did not have a home there. So Joseph and Mary had to stay with his relatives. But because all his other relatives also had to travel back to Bethlehem for the same reason, the place was overcrowded. Joseph and Mary had to stay in a room that was also used to keep some animals. Jesus was born there.

Continue with this section for a lesson with believers. Alternatively, if you are having a lesson with pre-believers, skip this section and go to the next section.

Read
John 3:16; Micah 5:2; Isaiah 9:6-7

Discuss
14. Who is Jesus?
15. Are you surprised that Jesus, being the Son of God, was born in such a humble place? Why or why not?

Conclude
1. Jesus is the Son of God. Jesus, to come to the earth to die on the cross so that all of our sins can be forgiven. And on the third day, Jesus became alive again!
Because our sins can be forgiven, we can be with God and have a relationship with him. We can become his children and will one day be with him in heaven.
2. Even though Jesus is the Son of God, he was born in humble place. Even though Jesus is the King of kings, he chose to come as a Servant King. He did not come to be served by us, but as our Savior.
3. God is in control. Even though Joseph and Mary did not live in Bethlehem at that time, God arranged for things to happen in such a way that the prophecy in Micah 5:2 would be fulfilled.
4. God does not always work in expected ways. Even when things don’t seem to be going well and we don’t understand what’s happening, we can continue to trust God.

Use this section for an evangelistic lesson with pre-believers. Alternatively, if you are having a lesson with believers, you may skip this section.

Discuss
14. Do you know who Jesus is?

Say
Jesus is the Son of God.

Read
John 3:16

Discuss
15. Are you surprised that Jesus, being the Son of God, was born in such a humble place? Why or why not?
16. According to John 3:16, why did God send Jesus to be born on Earth?

Say
Even though Jesus is the Son of God, he was born in a humble place.
Even though Jesus is the King of kings, he chose to come as a Servant King.
He did not come to be served by us, but he came to save us.
The Bible tells us that God loves us so much that he wants to be with us forever and ever!
But we cannot be with God because we have all sinned.

Discuss
17. Do you know what “sin” means?

Say
Sins are things that we do that make God unhappy.

Discuss
18. Do you think you have sinned?
19. What are some of the things you have done that may have made God unhappy?

Say
We have all done things that are wrong. Telling lies, fighting and stealing are examples of sins.
God sent his Son, Jesus, to come to earth to die on the cross so that all of our sins can be forgiven.
And on the third day, Jesus became alive again!

Jesus is God’s perfect Christmas gift to us!

If you choose to accept the perfect Christmas gift of Jesus, you can be with God forever and ever.

Discuss
20. Have you already accepted the gift of Jesus?
21. Would you like to accept this gift?

You can accept Jesus by:
1. Admitting that you have sinned and asking God to forgive you,
2. Believing that Jesus died on the cross to be punished instead of you, and
3. Inviting Jesus into your life to help you turn away from sin.

You can talk to Jesus about this right now:

Dear Jesus, I know that I have sinned. I believe that you died on the cross to take the punishment for my sins. Please forgive all of my sins. Please come into my life and help me turn away from doing wrong. Thank you that because you took the punishment for my sins, I can have a relationship with you now and will one day be with you in heaven. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen

Conclude

Once you choose to accept the perfect Christmas gift of Jesus, you can be with God forever and ever!

Bible Lesson – Getting Along

Discuss
1. Did you enjoy this game?
2. How do you feel when you had to squeeze onto a piece of newspaper with so many other people?
3. Did you fall or step on each other’s toes? How did you feel about that?
4. Have you ever been in a situation in real life where you had to squeeze with many other people? Tell us more.
5. Were you ever annoyed by or had disagreements with people around you? Tell us more.

Say
None of us live alone. We are surrounded by people – family, neighbors, school-mates, colleagues, etc. It is inevitable that we sometimes step on each other’s toes. As Christians, how do we handle these situations?

Read
Proverbs 12:16

Discuss
6. How does this verse describe a person who is quick to show annoyance?
7. How does this verse describe a person who overlooks an insult?

Read
Romans 12:18; 14:19; Proverbs 19:11; Hebrews 12:14; Colossians 3:8-10,15

Discuss
8. What advice do these Bible verses give us?
9. Why do you think it is important that we learn to get along with others?

Say
God wants us to live in peace with one another.

Discuss
10. Have you ever had a “fight” (or quarrel) with someone? What was the fight or quarrel about? Tell us more.

Read
Galatians 5:15-26

Discuss
11. According to this passage, what causes us to fight or quarrel?
12. What will happen to us if we continue to gratify our sinful nature?
13. What should we do instead of gratifying our sinful nature?
14. What will happen if we yield to the Holy Spirit instead of our sinful nature?

Conclude
It is not easy for us to always live in peace with one another all the time.
But God wants us to try.
The Bible tells us that if we yield to our sinful desires, it will result in sinful acts that displease God, like fighting or quarreling.
But for those who believe in Jesus, we have the Holy Spirit living inside us.
And when we follow and yield to the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit produces these nine attributes in our lives – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.