Laurie Polich – författare

You know them as hilarious, boisterous skits that get kids involved, whether they're hamming up front, or in the audience cheering for the good guys, hissing the bad guys, and getting nearly as animated as the onstage actors. Better yet, these no-rehearsal skits are comic takes on 24 classic Bible stories, from Babel to Zacchaeus. Use these skits to take your students into or out of your Bible lesson -- for the humor never buries the central message of the Bible passage. Inside you'll find 12 Old Testament and 12 New Testament stories -- like these: - The First Tongue Twister (the Tower of Babel) - Josephine's Dream (Joseph and his brothers) - The Young and the Hairless (Samson and Delilah) - Dave, the Wave, and the Giant Kahuna (David and Goliath) - Dances with Lions (Daniel) - World Serious: The Empire Strikes Out (the temptation of Jesus) - Good Sam, the Levis, and Judas Priest (parable of the Good Samaritan) - Showdown at Tombstone (Jesus and the demon-possessed man) Unchurched teenagers who can't tell Samson from Solomon, or long-time youth group kids -- everyone will love not merely hearing or reading Bible stories, but doing them. Welcome to more than a year's worth of slapstick, pratfalls, and melodrama. These Bible-story skits are anything but solemn, but they'll make Bible stories memorable for your students.

Okay, so they used mule mail instead of e-mail -- but they were still surprisingly modern men and women. With emotions, decisions, and dilemmas as raw and real as the students sitting in front of you every week. David and Rahab, Daniel and Ruth--even with their rough edges, they passionately loved Jehovah in a way today's adolescents can understand and emulate. Here are 12 Old Testament character studies, including-- Believe it or not -Abraham: Living by faith is not for wimps - Faith overcomes a fast past -Rahab: What you live is what you believe. Everything else is just talk. - The waiting game -Joseph: Trials and temptations can make us strong. - Benchwarmer to first string -Moses : Often God uses the least likely person to do great things. - Right woman, right place, right time -Esther : God has created each one of us for a purpose. - Keeping promises -Ruth: Commitment means more than saying the right words. - Bad days for good people -Job: Suffering may be the condition from which humans benefit the most. - The long way home -Jonah: Sometimes we simply say no to God. -- And to help you teach the lesson are clips from easy-to-get videos . . . games for mixing and games that teach . . . in-depth, ready-to-use questions guaranteed to spark small-group discussion . . . original role plays, scripts, dilemmas faced by these ancient but very human believers in their Yahweh. For youth workers, Sunday school teachers, and CE directors, Creative Bible Lessons from the Old Testament will help your students understand that the God who offered hope and courage to ancient history-makers still does the same for teenagers today.12 lessons.

So you're leading a small group? Your small group can accomplish big things in the lives of your teenagers. And in Help! I'm a Small-Group Leader! you'll find methods and approaches you can use. Foibles and minefields to avoid. Solutions and tips that will help you nurture your small group into a growing community, whatever you goals. Inside you'll discover -- How to put small groups together - How NOT to lead a small group - How to start a discussion -- and KEEP IT GOING - How to ASK QUESTIONS that get responses - Three kinds of BIBLE STUDY questions to ask - How to work with DIFFERENT personalities in a small group - How to help you kids LEARN TO PRAY - 10 ideas for BUILDING COMMUNITY in your small group . . . and to top it off are 20 pages of questions (100 questions, to be exact) that you can use in your small group Bible study, on the most common subjects discussed in junior and senior high small groups. All this in a no-frills, straight-to-the-point style -- perfect for volunteer small-group leaders, or for youth pastors or youth directors to lead their staffs through.

The lights are dim. The crowd is hushed.And a dozen teens start laughing hysterically, piling into a human "boat" that helps set up the mind-blowing miracle of Jesus walking on the stormy Sea of Galilee.Maybe you’re after a booster shot for midweek youth group meetings that feel "same old, same old." Or you’ve just been asked (last minute, of course) to run the service at the shelter during your mission trip, and you need a jolt of energy that’ll draw kids into your lesson. Whatever your creative need, Spontaneous Melodramas 2 will fill the bill. Continuing where its predecessor--Spontaneous Melodramas--left off, this volume offers another two dozen tales from the Old and New Testaments that bring the biblical accounts to life . . . with distinctive, contemporary twists!Although these no-rehearsal skits will leave your students in stitches, the humor never buries the message of Scripture. So you can be confident when bringing your kids--whether or not they’re familiar with the Bible--into sketches like:The Sumptuous Spare Rib (Adam and Eve)Touched by an Angel (Jacob’s wrestling match)Love on a Threshing Floor (Ruth and Boaz)The Wizard of Eyes (Jesus heals the blind man)The Great Pool Party (Healing at the pool)Dead Man Walking (Jesus raises Lazarus)Spontaneous Melodramas 2 is full of flexible skits that youth workers, Sunday school teachers, camp counselors, and retreat directors can use for discussion starters, icebreakers, or talk intros. And they’re natural fits for Bible study programming, all-nighters, mission trips, camps, retreats, parent meetings, and many other events.More than a year’s worth of slapstick, pratfalls, and fun, Spontaneous Melodramas 2 will make the Bible--and its unforgettable characters and adventures--extra memorable for your students.

Meet students where they are. With Small Group Strategies, you can effectively guide students in your small group toward the most important relationship they will ever have—a lifelong relationship with Christ. Respected authors Laurie Polich and Charley Scandlyn offer 30-plus years of collective youth ministry experience to these proven ideas, which offer: •a strategic approach to small group ministry •hundreds of ideas to reach students at every level •practical applications that foster spiritual growth Meet your students where they are in life. You have the heart. You have the vision. Here are the ideas you need to make it happen.

Creative, engaging Bible study questions are hard to come by … without rewriting questions for yourself. Each book of questions leads a small group through a book (or combination of books) in the Bible—helping students become more biblically literate, and allowing them to come face-to-face with God’s Word. Students will be pushed, encouraged, and challenged by these studies. But more than all this, they will be changed. Each passage of Scripture sets the topic—and the questions are constructed to help students think deeply, talk openly, and apply what they are learning to their lives. Leaders will be able to pick it up and use it immediately with kids. Volunteers are looking for good “book of the Bible studies” they can pick up and use in their groups. Grab it and go, these studies will meet your students where they are and help them see how God’s Word can speak to their world.

"The book of Romans is rich with spiritual wisdom. By studying Paul’s letter to the Romans, your students will explore everything from new life in Christ to how to live a life like Jesus. Through engaging activities and thought-provoking questions that get right to the heart of Romans, your students will see that even though Paul wrote this letter to the Romans, the instructions also apply to them. In 30 studies, your students will find practical applications for their life as they explore the concepts of: • Righteousness • Faith • Salvation • Sacrifice • Freedom • Friendships, and much more Written with the busy youth worker in mind, Studies on the Go: Romans provides Scriptural depth and substance to be tackled in a manageable time frame. The questions are real, down-to-earth, and straight to the point to get students quickly into Romans so they can hear God’s word on a practical level. Designed for Sunday school classes, youth groups, and small groups, this curriculum is guaranteed to get your students excited about and engaged with the Bible."