The document provides instructions for a Thanksgiving activity for youth groups. Participants will search newspaper and magazine clippings for stories of people experiencing good or bad circumstances and write thank you notes to God expressing gratitude for the situation described. Youth will then discuss how having a thankful perspective could affect one's outlook in different circumstances and share their notes. The goal is to help youth understand that being thankful changes one's perspective for both positive and negative situations.

1. Thanksgiving Ideas - In
Everything Give Thanks
Thanksgiving to God changes our
perspectives on circumstances in life.
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2. Scripture:
1 Thessalonians 5:17-18
“Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for
this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”
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3. Materials
• Several pairs of scissors
• newspapers and magazines
• blank thank you notes
• pens or pencils
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4. Preparation
Set the scissors and the pile of newspapers and
magazines in the center of the room / table.
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5. What to Do
1. “Search through the newspapers and magazines
and find one story about someone experiencing
either good or bad circumstances. Cut out the
story using the scissors for easy reference.”
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6. 2. Once everyone has a story, collect them into a
pile and shuffle them up. Walk around the room
and ask each youth to take the story on the top
of the pile.
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7. 3. Give each person a blank thank you note and a
pen or pencil.
4. “Read through the story you’ve been given and
write a thank you note to God. Express how you
would be thankful in the circumstances your story
describes.”
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8. 5. When youth have finished writing their Thank You
notes, have each youth, in turn, read his or her
thank you note aloud. (You cab do this in pairs or
small groups if you have many youth group
members).
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9. 6. Then youth to respond to each circumstance: “In
the circumstance you read about, how would
being thankful affect your perspective?”
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10. Take it to the Next Level
God wants us to be thankful in all circumstances — in
both good situations and bad ones. Being thankful
changes our perspective. It helps us take our eyes off
ourselves and the circumstances and look to God
instead.
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11. Closing
Finish the meeting by having a time of prayer where
each youth can have an opportunity to express
prayerful thanks to God for the events in their lives.
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12. Holiday Collection
Games and Activities in Celebration
of common Holidays.
Creative Holiday Ideas has over 300 pages of
ideas to help you plan your next New Year’s
Day, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s
Day, Halloween or Fall Festival, and
Thanksgiving event. If you’ve ever wondered
what you’re going to do for all these holidays
and how you’re going to do it, this resource is
for you.
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