(10 minutes, easy set-up)
Students will act out improvised scenes portraying situations that are hard to forgive.
Print one copy of the “Forgiveness Improvs” activity sheet and cut apart the topics. Fold topics and put them in a hat or bowl.
Explain that students will be able to participate in some improvisations or “improvs.” Say: You will get a simple situation that involves conflict. Fill in the details as you act out the scenes. You will not have time to confer before you begin. These improvisations can be serious or funny. Enlist two volunteers to do the first improv. Lead them to decide who will be Player A and who will be Player B before they draw a slip of paper out of the hat. Lead volunteers to silently read the situation and immediately begin improvising the scene described. Explain that they will only have one minute to develop the scene. (If two guys or two girls get a situation that calls for a guy and a girl, allow them to replace the slip and draw another.)
Begin counting time as soon as players begin reading their situation. Call time after one minute regardless of where the students are in the scene. Enlist two more volunteers and repeat the process until 5-7 minutes have lapsed.
After the last improvisation, ask: How realistic were the scenes? Were any of the scenes resolved well? (Most likely none of them were.) How often are situations in life unresolved? (Very often people stay mad at each other for a long time. People may even choose to end friendships over minor situations.) Explain that today we will discuss the role of forgiveness in our lives and Jesus' expectations for us regarding forgiveness.