Cereal Night

Welcome / announcements

Pray for Alask

Pittsburgh mission trip

Scene 75

No meeting next wednesday

Games

Loops on a Line: Have three contestants come up and stand by the three Fruit Loops. When told, the students must use only their breath to blow the three Fruit Loops to the other end of their line.

Put down a piece of painter’s tape or electrical tape at the starting point and the finishing spot. Have the fruit loops hanging just behind the starting spot and the winner is determined once all three Fruit Loops have been blown past the finishing spot.

Cereal Eating contest: Dump multiple cereals into a large bowl mix in some chocolate milk and see who can eat their bowl of cereal the quickest.

Slogan Showdown: Have two contestants come to the front of the game area. Have a table in-between the two with a cereal box standing up in the middle of the table.

Use the cereal slogans that are listed below to test how well the contestants know their cereal slogans.

Start with two players and read one of the slogans. The first person to grab the cereal box (it can be any type of cereal box - you decide) gets to answer first. If they are right, they win. If they are incorrect, the other contestant has a chance to answer.

Bring up three new contestants for each round. Have a cereal-themed prize for each round to give to the winner.

They’re G-r-r-reat Frosted Flakes

They’re Magically Delicious Lucky Charms

Snap! Crackle! Pop! Rice Krispies

Stays crunchy, even in milk! Cap’n Crunch

Gotta have my Pops! Corn Pops

The Taste you can see Cinnamon Toast Crunch

Follow my nose. It always Knows Fruit Loops

Bee Happy, Bee Healthy Honey Nut Cheerios

Guess that cereal (Secret Squares): Have a cereal box start fuzzed out and as it uncovers the first team to correctly guess the cereal gets a point.

Message

How many of you here like cereal? Almost everyone does. And because there are so many types of cereal on the market, it’s easy to have a favorite that’s different from someone else.

Let’s hear from some of you. What is your favorite cereal of all time?

My Favorite cereal of all time is probably Lucky Charms.

Everyone has an opinion

Today we rank everything, and with social media being the way that it is, anybody can tell the whole world what their opinion is, however that opinion may not match up to everyone elses. For example, in December 2022, USA Today ranked Cinnamon Life as the best cereal. I’m not even sure I have ever even seen that cereal.

In March of 2019, Rhett & Link from Good Mythical Morning (a popular YouTube channel) took part in a March Madness cereal bracket and unanimously decided that the champion of all breakfast cereals was Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Thats at least a cereal Ive heard of.

I’ve also seen Frosted Flakes, Lucky Charms, and Fruit Loops show up as number one on different ranking charts. Again, all pretty good and classic cereals.

Can anybody guess when the first cereal was ever created? 1863

Who could have imagined almost two hundred years ago would be todays most popular breakfast item. Fifty percent of Americans start their day with a bowl of cereal. How many of you had cereal for breakfast today?

And around the world, cereal consumption is popular. According to Post, which is one of the leading cereal companies, the top four countries in the world that consume the most cereal are:

4th place - United States

3rd place - Australia

2nd place - Canada

1st place - United Kingdom (UK)

We can’t deny that cereal is a quick, easy, and tasty choice for breakfast or anytime really. I’m a sucker for a bowl of cereal as a late-night snack. Anyone else?

Experience the cereal

But here’s an important fact about cereal: to fully experience what a cereal tastes like, you have to do something. You have to eat it. Just by looking at a cereal box, it’s very difficult, if not impossible, to know exactly how that cereal will taste.

It’s not until you add some milk and take a nice spoonful that you get the full flavor and texture of the cereal. Until you try it, you’re not able to determine whether it’s a good cereal or not.

When I was a kid, I would beg my mom to buy me different cereals all the time. But here’s the thing, I didn’t actually like them. I thought they were disgusting. The only reason I wanted her to buy that particular cereal was because of the amazing toys in their cereal boxes.

Anyone that grew up in the 80s and even into the 90s will all agree that cereal prizes back then were so good. So many of those cereal toys are worth a lot of money. Believe it or not, some cereal prizes sell for well over $100.

So I wasnt wanting a toy, I was just trying to make a good investment decision at the age of 8… yeah lets be honest I just wanted the toy.

I used to absolutely hate all different types of Cheerios. Plain, honey nut, it didnt matter if it said cheerio on the box I was not interested. It actually wasnt until about 10 years ago when I was working at summer camp that I tried honey nut cheerios again, and to be honest the only reason I tried them, was because all the “good” cereals were taken. But you know what after trying them again after so many years, I didnt hate it. In fact I kind of realized that I liked them, and I would be willing to buy them again and eat them today.

But I had to taste them again. If I just went on memory from when I was a kid, I wouldn’t have even bothered to give them a shot.

Missing out

I wonder if there’s anything else in our lives that we can put that theory to the test? Are there things that we just brush off, or walk away from, and because of that, we miss out on something amazing, if only we took a moment and experienced that thing for ourselves?

In the Bible, a guy named David wrote a bunch of songs and poems. These songs and poems along with many others written by other authors were compiled and formed into a book called Psalms. This book is found in the Old Testament and tonight, we’re going to look at one verse together.

And yes if you havent heard much about David this is the same David that you may have heard Bible stories about him killing the giant, Goliath when he was just a teenager, similar to yall.

However this David also eventually went on to become the King of Israel.

But before David became King, he had a very complicated relationship with the first King of Israel. His name was King Saul. The relationship between King Saul and David can be found in another Old Testament book called 1 Samuel, but for time’s sake, we’re not going to dive too deep into it. Essentially, David fled from King Saul because the King wanted to kill David.

During David’s time fleeing from King Saul and his army, he spent time with God. This time in his life brought forth many of these songs and poems that we read in the Book of Psalms.

God is good

Check out what David wrote in

Psalm 34:8 NIV

Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.

In a time when David was fleeing for his life, not knowing if or when the King’s army would find him, he wrote this. In a time where most people would be scared, living in fear, and constantly looking over their shoulders, David was focused on God.

David encourages us to taste God’s goodness. Now, it is obvious that we can’t ‘taste’ God. That’s ridiculous. But David wasn’t talking literally. To taste and see means to try and experience.

As humans, we can know of God. We can read about Him, attend a church service, or even listen to songs that are sung about Him. All of that is great and can be very valuable. But until we experience God for ourselves, we will never truly understand how good He is.

God is a good God. What does that mean? It means He loves you. It means that He has a plan and purpose for you. Everyone here in this room right now was created by God, in His image, for a purpose.

When we say that God is good, it means that God will never turn His back on you. The Bible is very clear when it says

Romans 8:39 NIV

neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

I realize that for some of you, this may not make any sense right now. Maybe you were invited here, and this is the first time you’re hearing about a God who loves you.

Gospel

I can tell you that this is true. In fact, it goes so much deeper than this. God sent His only son Jesus to be born to this world as a baby, and to grow up to be a man only for one purpose: to be a sacrifice for the sins of the world. We celebrate Christmas because of His birth, and we celebrate Easter because of His death and resurrection.

Jesus’ death on the cross was on purpose. And that purpose was to give people the opportunity to try and experience His love. To taste and see how good He is. To have unlimited access to Him.

The last part of that Psalm we read says this: “blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.” (Psalm 34:8b NIV). When we choose to give our life to Jesus, we are blessed. Again, you might be here thinking to yourself “what on Earth does it mean to be blessed?” It means we receive His love, His strength, His grace, His forgiveness, and we get to experience His joy, His power, His kindness, His faithfulness, and His goodness.

In a little while, we’re going to fill our faces at our all-you-can-eat cereal buffet. We have all kinds of cereal options for you to try. Earlier, I made the point that just by looking at a cereal box, it is impossible to know exactly how that cereal will taste. And maybe tonight, there may be a cereal that you’ve never had, and you want to give it a try. Well, go right ahead. Have a party.

But beyond cereal, are you willing to give God a try? Are you open to experiencing His love for yourself? Jesus loves you and His love is unconditional. It doesn’t matter what you’ve done, or what may have been done to you, He loves you no matter what.

As we wrap everything up, I want to give you an opportunity to respond, maybe you have never heard the Gospel before, or maybe it just never made sense to you in this way before.

Everyone close your eyes and bow your heads If you would like to make Jesus the leader of your life, Pray a prayer similar to this quietly in your heart.

“Lord Jesus, I realize that I need you in my life. Please forgive me of my sins and come into my heart as my Lord and Savior. Take complete control of my life and help me to walk in Your footsteps daily by the power of the Holy Spirit. Thank you, Lord, for saving me, for loving me no matter what, and for answering my prayer. Amen.”

If you have heard for the first time and would like to talk to someone about how to make Jesus the leader of you life. Just raise hand, and a small group leader will try to reach out to you before you leave tonight.