The Verse: “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings” (
Prep Work: You can choose any type of icebreaker/game from the list below or use some of your own. Be sure to have all the supplies in advance for the activities you select. You also will need to contact a small group of your teens before the meeting. You are going to ask these teens to be the Saboteur in each group. Their role will be to pretend they are helping their group toward victory, but subtly to destroy the group’s chances of winning. For example, if the activity was to build a tower out of cards, the Saboteur might accidently cough and knock the whole thing to the ground. Another form of Sabotage would be to distract the group from doing the activity by joking around too much or telling a long story. Carefully choose the teens who will play this role. You want to select people who are normally leaders in your group, who won’t be too obvious about what they are doing, and who will have a lot of fun with the activity.
The Game: Divide your youth into several teams. Choose one or a couple of the activities below. Have a great prize for the group who finishes first. You will want to place one Saboteur in each group. Go about the activities you have planned. When the activity is finished, award the prizes. Follow up by asking the groups to each share what helped them or hindered them in their victory. After each group has shared, ask the Saboteurs to come to the front of the room and share about his or her role in the activity.
A Few Icebreaker Suggestions:
– Make towers/houses out of a deck of cards.
– Line up in height order while blindfolded.
– Line up from oldest to youngest or in order of birthdays without talking.
– Relay races (running, wheelbarrow, etc.)
The Talk: Use this to lead into the teaching you will be giving. Use the verse from 1 Peter or another verse that demonstrates how the devil is out to sabotage our plans. Many times, we may be completely unaware of how the devil is out to destroy and devour our plans; but as Scripture says, we need to be alert. Provide your youth with strategies for remaining alert. Having a prayer time and reading the Bible regularly will help them build awareness of what is going on in their lives. Being a part of youth group and a church community will give them a support system to help them see when they are under attack and help them pray through it. Give your youth some practical tips they can use in their daily lives. Many teens today are unaware of how evil can sneak into their lives. We must encourage them through this verse and others to be firm in their faith and not give in to temptation.
The Discussion: Take time to let the teens discuss the verse, the activity and the teaching. Some questions you may want to start with include:
1) Looking back on your life, can you see times when the devil may have influenced you, ruined your plans or deceived you in some way that you were unaware of at the time it happened?
2) What are some of the things you do in your own life to grow in your faith?
3) How can we as a youth group help protect one another from the deception of the devil?
