With this activity, from Ephesians: Seeing Ourselves in Jesus, you'll learn the importance of honoring your parents—your earthly ones, and your spiritual ones.

For this activity, you’ll need:

• Cups and glasses for everyone in the group
• Paper plates for each person in the group
• A variety of items that could have symbolic meaning for group members—such as rocks, leaves, CDs or DVDs, spice jars, alarm clocks, cell phones, stuffed animals, or candles
• A stick of modeling clay or small can of Play-Doh for each person in the group

Read Ephesians 6:1-4.

Leader: Bring out your supplies at this time.

Think about the following: If you could construct a trophy for a parent, or someone who was like a parent to you, what would it be like? What qualities or acts would it honor? (If you had a tough relationship with your parents, don’t get wrapped up in that right now—either find something about them you can honor, or choose someone who was a surrogate parent to you to honor instead.)

Using the items supplied—or other items you have with you—create a simple trophy that conveys what you want to honor about this person. For instance, you might place a rock on an upside-down cup base to honor a parent who was a "steadying rock" in your life. You can also use the modeling clay supplied to sculpt something else, or to attach items together.

Take five minutes to create your trophies. When you’re done, show the group your trophies, then answer the following questions:

• What’s one thing your trophy says about the person you’re honoring?
• What things came to your mind while you were making your trophy?
• Look again at Ephesians 6:2-3. What’s significant to you about the fact that the command to honor father and mother includes a promise? What other benefits are there to honoring others?