• Living in Community
  Read Romans 12:9–13, adapted: “Here is how to live in community: care for others by showing that your love is real; hold onto what is good; love one another with affection; outdo one another in being honorable. Be energetic in spirit, serving the Lord. Be joyful and hopeful, be patient, keep praying. Help others in need; share hospitality with strangers.”

  The Enduring Principle Responsible Choices means that God gives us the ability to make choices, and hopes we will make good choices. When we do, we create more good things in the world, we have better friendships, and all of creation is healthier. Invite everyone to think of scripture stories in which good choices were made, and to retell the stories in their own words. 

  
• Comic Book Story
  Read Jesus’ parable of the talents in Matthew 25:1, 14‒29 or in the Lectionary Story Bible, Year A, pp. 240–241. Draw the story in comic book style. What was the responsible choice in this scripture? What happens if you don’t manage your money? Do you ever “bury” your money, not wanting to share it? Do you choose to share with others? Draw a comic book style story of you and your money and how you share or bury it. Share your comic books with others.
• Environmental Bullies
  Read Doctrine and Covenants 163:4b. When people destroy or disrupt God’s creation, they are not acting out of love or peace. Talk about the signs of environmental bullying—harming wetlands, polluting neighborhoods, mistreating other people or animals, creating unsafe workplaces, damaging other peoples’ belongings. Trampling on others or the Earth for personal gain often leads to unhappiness all around. How can we keep from being “butting sheep”?
  
  Talk about ways your congregation can promote God’s peaceable kingdom by speaking out against wrongdoing, teaching and showing respect, choosing to care for creation, thinking of others, and acting on behalf of those who are unable to act for themselves. On a piece of white poster board draw a fence with a gate. Write “Jesus” on the gate. Make good sheep to fill the pen. Cut out 3 in/8 cm x 5 in/12 cm sheep outlines. Draw a face with markers or crayons, use a washable ink pad and stamp your thumbprint in the middle of the body to identify yourself, glue cotton balls around the thumbprint. Glue all the sheep to the poster board and hang where everyone in the congregation can see it.
• Parable of the Sheep and Goats
  Read the parable from Matthew 25:31–46. Display a large drawing of a sheep and one of a goat. Ask the group to write on each what the differences were between the sheep and the goats, according to the parable. (Sheep: fed the hungry, gave drinks to the thirsty, gave clothes to the poor, cared for the sick. Goats: didn’t feed the hungry, or give drinks to the thirsty, clothe the poor, or cure the sick). Discuss: Which do you want to be? What do you need to do to be a sheep? Play a game of “Duck, Duck, Goose” using the words “Sheep, Sheep, Goat” instead. All participants sit in a large circle (on chairs). The leader will select the first “goat.” The “goat” walks around the outside of the circle, tapping each one on the head saying, “sheep.” Finally the “goat” taps a person and says “goat.” The tapped person jumps up and chases the existing “goat” back to the empty spot in the circle. Whoever gets there last is the next “goat.”

• Service Fair
  The responsible use of your time is an important part of the Responsible Choices principle. Set up a business fair inviting community organizations that your congregational members may be interested in supporting, either personally or as a group. Organizations could include local Girls or Boys Clubs, environmental protection groups, domestic shelters, and animal shelters. Also, set up displays for church-affiliated organizations such as Outreach International, World Service Corps, and others. Invite the community to join you.

(Personal Spiritual Practices are those that we do alone, but they can be learned and practiced in an all-ages group setting. Use an all-ages activity to learn these practices together, always encouraging participants to continue practicing individually.)

• When No One Is Watching
  Making a good choice means that you do the right thing even when no one is watching, such as cleaning your room without being asked, helping with the dishes, not cheating at work or school, or doing your own laundry. Do something nice for others when they aren’t looking. See how nice it feels to make good choices! Create an origami “chooser.” On the different openings, write what good choices you will make even when no one is watching. Enjoy watching the impact your choices have made in another’s life.
• Photo Gallery of Human Worth
  Reflect on the true worth of people in your life by creating a photo gallery. Take photographs of people in your family, neighborhood, or congregation that highlight their uniqueness, worth, or giftedness. Create a photo gallery in your congregational meeting place, community building, online community, or home. Look up the International Guild of Visual Peacemakers’ website for their photographs and videos of “the beauty and dignity of people” around the world.
• Heart to Heart Prayer
  The heart is a center of compassion, healing, and spiritual connection. This prayer allows deep awareness of the spiritual worth of another person. Pray with a partner or imagine a particular person sitting across from you. Continued...
• Chalice Prayer
  This prayer of blessing invites our care and compassion for God’s sacred people and creation. Continued...
  
• Body Prayer of Blessing
  Learn the Body Prayer from Learning to Recognize God, Day 27. Watch the video and fill out the journal page. This practice is a prayer of blessing for your body as you open it to feel God’s presence. Place your hands over your eyes. Ask God to help you lovingly see the world. Put your hands on your head. Ask for your mind to stay focused. Place your hands over your ears. Pray that you may pay attention to the sounds around you. Put your hands on your throat and ask God to guide your words. Put your hands over your heart. Ask to receive and share God’s love and peace. Close with an “amen.” Say this prayer often to help you make responsible choices.
• Stone Reflection
  God gives humans the ability to make choices. Pick up a stone and hold it in the palm of your hand. Feel its size and shape. Feel how time has left its mark on the stone. Think about how long this stone has been on the Earth. Drop it into a container or body of water. Watch the ripples it makes. The falling stone causes a reaction in the water. How long does it take until the water is still again? What ripples have your choices made in your life, the lives of others, and the world? The ripples of your actions go on and on. Your choices contribute to good or evil in our lives and in the world.

• Impact of Quick Decisions
  Present a drama within a drama at your congregation. (Note: Before you begin, ask someone to help you. They will raise their hand after each question you ask to make sure at least one person responds to “yes” and “no”.) As the “drama” opens, announce that instead of having a drama today, you will present a drama about choices next month. To get started tell everyone you need them to think about whether they will help with it. Tell them you need a “yes” or “no” answer right now. Ask the “yes” people to raise their hands. Thank them and tell them to put their hands down. Ask them why they volunteered to help with the drama and if that decision would have any immediate impact on their lives. Will they have to rearrange schedules? Will they need a ride? How would they feel if you said there will be no drama? Ask the “no” people to raise their hands. (Hands down.) Ask why they did not volunteer to help with the drama and if that decision could have any immediate impact on their lives. Did they regret their decision? Would they say “yes” next time if asked? What if someone else asked them to reconsider? What if 10 people asked them to join in? Thank everyone for taking part in today’s drama. Tell them to think about the difficulty of making quick decisions. How can we make choices that contribute to the purposes of God?
  

• Owl Tree by R. A. Montgomery Chooseco, 2010 ISBN: 9781933390802

  Choose Your Own Adventure
  To explore choices and their effects read part of a choose-your-own-adventure-book. For example, Owl Tree by R. A. Montgomery. The story is interrupted often for the reader to decide which of two choices the characters should take. Let the group vote on choices by raising their hands. Then present the story of Mary and Martha from Luke 10:38–42 in the same format. The first decision the group must vote on is what to do when Jesus arrives. Another decision is how to respond to Mary’s choice. At the end of the Bible story, analyze how we make and live with our choices.

• Opposite Roles
  Role play with children acting as parents and adults acting as children. For example: The “child” wants to go outside and play with kids who live around the corner. What questions will the adult ask? How will the child respond? What if last week the child said he or she was going one place, but went to another? Why is it important to talk with one another?
• Weaving My Timeline
  Tape a string or yarn to a mural-length piece of paper or newsprint and tape the paper to a wall. At the beginning of the string, write your birthdate. Along the line, mark and identify other important events in your life. If you want to add the calendar year you may, but it’s not required. To show someone being with you along your life journey, weave another thread or piece of yarn with yours. When did your lives begin to weave together? Weave a string for every significant person for you, even if you were only “woven together” for a short time. Write a journal entry about the threads and patterns of your life. What design do you see? How does your timeline show the importance of others in your life? With whom is God calling you to weave new patterns? Look for new people in your life with whom you can weave your life and share God’s rich pattern with others.
• Solving Conflicts Jesus’ Way
  In Matthew 18:15–20, Jesus provides one guide on how to responsibly deal with disagreements in our relationships. What steps does he suggest? Read this scripture passage as a group, and then write the steps on a large sheet of poster board or newsprint. Divide the group into smaller groups of two to six people, challenging each to develop a skit on (1) how NOT to resolve conflicts and (2) how to resolve conflict following the guide Jesus gave. Share your skits with one another and discuss.
• Responsible Use
  Invite each person in the group to place on a large table one object they own. The objects can be anything from cell phones to car keys, library cards, and money—whatever they have at the moment. Have paper and markers or crayons available for people to draw something they own that can’t be placed on the table. Blindfold each person in turn, turn them around, mix up the table objects, and have them pick up the first object they touch on the table. Have them identify the object, and with the blindfold off, describe an irresponsible use of that object in relation to another person (such as lending your car keys to an underage driver), and then a responsible use of that object. After everyone has had a chance, discuss responsible choices in relationships.

• Yes or No?
  Our choices, whether simple or complex, can make an impact on our lives and the world. Joshua 24:15 states: “…choose this day whom you will serve … as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” Attach two large signs to opposite ends of your gathering place. One sign should have the word yes; the other has the word no. Ask your group several simple “yes or no” questions. For example, “Should you eat healthy foods?” “Should you leave garbage outside after a picnic?” “Should you help people when they ask?” Have group members stand under the sign that answers each question. Ask: do your choices about these questions impact you? Would they impact others? How? Now ask questions that don’t have clear “yes” or “no” answers. For example, “Should you stay up late?” “Should you walk instead of ride in a car?” “Should you engage in social media while at work or school?” Again ask: do your choices about these questions impact you? Would they impact others? How? Allow time for everyone to discuss the more challenging questions.
• Responsible Choices Workshop
  As a congregation, discuss congregational or community needs to make more responsible choices. The need may be for young parents—balancing family, work, and school. Or, health needs with training and information on wellness, health resources, and nutritional choices. Or the need may be for an anti-bullying workshop. Plan and host a workshop led by community or congregational leaders who are specialists in that field.

• Their Choice, Your Choice
  Have you ever come upon someone making a poor choice? What was someone doing? What did you do? Tell others about the other person’s choice, and your choice. The group may choose to dramatize the bad choice they saw, and what they would do instead, or if they tried to make the bad choice a good one. The group may also choose to draw a comic strip version of an incident in which someone made a bad choice, and how they might have responded in the same situation to be shared with the whole group. Even when people have made bad choices that hurt others or the Earth, we can work with God to make things better.

• Support Unconditionally
  Support those who make responsible choices and those who choose badly or struggle with decisions. Encourage teens to resist peer pressure and abstain from unhealthy or illegal activities. Help children make responsible choices about how they spend their time, what they eat, how they behave in various circumstances. Set a good example for others.

• Plan Your Discipleship
  Download the following resources and make copies for everyone in the group. Follow these steps to help each make a plan for discipleship growth:
  
  
  1. Practices of Discipleship (PDF)—Discuss the practices of discipleship using this downloadable file. Brainstorm what those practices mean by writing each practice on a separate sheet of poster board displayed around the room. Ensure that everyone understands what the practices are.
  2. Disciple Profile—Have each participant fill out a profile for his or her specific age group based on how actively each engages in the Practices of Discipleship. Before doing so, you may wish to show the How-to-Use the Disciple Profile video.
  3. Share the Disciple Formation Growth Plan so each participant can now write their personal plan for bringing the practices into tangible goals.
     
     
     
     
     
  4. Check back with the group in one to three months for updates on how people are growing in their discipleship.
• Forever Mine
  Imagine that every material item you buy, receive, or that ends up in your possession, has to stay with you forever. What would your space be like if you still had every non-food item you ever had? Start a list. Think about what you recently got. Did you absolutely need every item? Before you buy or receive more things, consider the long-term implications. Is it something you will use right away or is it an investment? Is it recyclable or will it eventually be discarded? Does this activity help you to make responsible choices on future purchases?