Do we remember to Give to God? (Games)

Devotion: Sometimes We Forget

Our Gospel reading this week is from Matthew 22:15-22 and it talks about giving to Caesar (the government) what belongs to the Government–like taxes– but to give to God what is God's.  In the Old Testament book Malachi 3:6-12 we see that God is correcting His people because they were not giving God the portion of their things (called tithe) that God commanded them to do.  Sometimes we are like the people of God in Malachi. Sometimes we forget that everything we have is because God gave it to us. We might forget to thank God for the things we have. We might forget to follow God's commandments. 

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But why do we give tithe? Firstly, because God told us to. Secondly, because when we give back to God, we are reminded that He is the one who blessed us with the things, the talents, and the people in our lives. Thirdly, because when we give something back to God, the church has more that it can use to introduce God and Jesus to people who don't know Him yet.

What belongs to God though? Our faith, our love, our devotions, and our tithe. Tithe is the money or talents we use to bless the church. So when we give time in prayer and devotion to God each day, we are giving to God what is God's. When we give money or do something for the church we are giving God what is God's too.

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Games to remind us to give to God what is God's

• 2-4 yr old Game
• 5-8 yr old Game
• 9-12 yr old Game

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Give to Caesar, Give to God Memory Game

• Print out a couple (or more if you wish) copies of the pdf on paper or cardstock.
• Cut into square playing cards.
• Place the cards upside down and mix them up.

How to Play

• Let the players know that coins are like taxes and go to Caesar, but the other cards (hearts, prayer, bible, and gavel) are like our love for God, our faith in God, our devotion to God, and our obedience to God and belong to God.
• ​The first player chooses a card and carefully turns it over. Be sure not to bother the surrounding cards.
• The player then selects another card and turns it over. If the two cards are a matching pair for example two "Coins" then they take the two cards, declare to whom the cards belong, either Caesar or God, and start a stack. The player is awarded another turn for making a match and goes again.
• If the cards are not a match they are turned back over and it is now the next players turn.
• The next player chooses their first card and turns it over. If it is a match for one of the cards the previous player turned over then they try to remember where that matching card was and turn it. If they are successful at making a match they place the cards in their stack and choose another card.
• If the first card turned over was not a match for one previously turned over the player selects another card in an attempt of making a pair.
• If they are unsuccessful in making a match they flip the cards back over and play is passed to the next player.
• A players turn is not over until they are unable to make a matching pair.
• The game continues in this fashion until all the cards are played.

Winning the Game
Once all the cards have been played the player with the most matching pairs is the winner.

**Download the PDF**

Give to God, Give to Caesar Jenga

Materials: 

• Jenga Set (an inexpensive set can be found at the Dollar Tree)
• scotch tape
• marker
• A 6-sided Die

Preparation:

1. Put a piece of tape on a long edge and end of a Jenga block.
2. Write either tithe, taxes, love, devotion, faith, or obedience.
3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 for as many blocks as you wish.
4. Set-up the Jenga blocks as it directed on the box. The Jenga game has 54 blocks, or wooden pieces that are grouped together in threes to form 18 stories. Each story is stacked so that it lies flat and is at its thinnest vertically. The stories alternate direction by 90 degrees so that each story above and below it are perpendicular in direction to it.

Determine who goes first
The person who builds the tower goes first. In the first game, if only one person builds the tower, that’s who starts. If multiple people work together to build the tower, you can come up with some other way to determine who goes first (youngest, flip a coin, odd man out, etc). There’s no real advantage in going first, so don’t sweat it. In subsequent games, the player who knocks over the tower rebuilds it for the next game and is the first to play that game.
Remove one block from the tower
Roll the dice.  Odd numbers equal "Give to Caesar" and even numbers equal "Give to God" and, touching the tower with only one hand at a time, the player must remove one block that says "taxes" if they rolled on odd number, or "tithe, love, devotion, faith, or obedience" if they rolled an even number, from anywhere below the highest completed level, which means it will either be the 2nd level or below if the top level is complete with 3 pieces OR the 3rd level if the top level is incomplete with 1 or 2 pieces, making the 2nd level the highest completed level.
Play the pulled block atop the tower
The player must then play the block atop the tower, in a direction perpendicular to the layer below it. Players may not start a new level until the level below it is complete with 3 pieces.
Complete the turn
The player’s turn ends after they have pulled and played the block, as described above, and either:
A: 10 seconds has passed since they played their piece atop the tower
B: The next player touches any block
Continue Play Clockwise
Play continues clockwise to the next player until the end of play
End play when blocks fall
Play ends when a player knocks over any blocks on the tower other than the one they are playing.
Declare the winner
The winner of the game is the last player to successfully complete a turn before the end of play when the tower (or some blocks) are knocked over.
Set up the next game
Whoever knocked over the tower sets up play for the next game.

Give to God, Give to Caesar Card Game

The War card game, sometimes called the “I declare war” game, is a game of chance where players flip over cards and hope to capture their opponent’s cards by playing a higher rank (number). While there is no strategy in War, there’s a reason it continues to be a classic card game and popular with kids and families.: It has simple rules, and it’s fun to capture your opponent’s cards.

Objective
The goal of the War card game is to get all of the cards in the deck. Players capture opponents cards by playing higher ranked cards throughout a number of rounds–with a twist!  

Number of Players

• 2 players for standard game

Playing Time
The average playing time in the War card game varies widely from 10-45 minutes. And it can go on much longer!!! Officially, the game isn’t over until one player has all the cards. But we recommend setting a timer to 15 minutes, at which point players complete the hand they’re on, then count the number of cards and the player with the most cards wins.
Note: Shuffling winning cards shortens the average time of a game to avoid non-randomized patterns.
What You Need / Equipment
A standard deck of playing cards. Jokers are usually removed.

HOW TO PLAY THE WAR CARD GAME
1: Gather 2 people and grab a deck of playing cards. All you need to play the game of war is 2 people and a standard deck of playing cards.
2: Assign one player the title "To Caesar" and the other "To God"
3: Set up the game by dealing half the deck face-down to each player. Shuffle a standard 52-card deck of playing cards, with the jokers removed, and deal half of the cards face down to each of the players so that each has 26 cards. Either player can deal, since there is no positional advantage and play is simultaneous.
4: Play the first round simultaneously, with each player flipping the top card from their deck. The two players will each flip over the top car of their deck face up onto the table.
4: Determine the winner of the round, by the highest card. There are two potential outcomes on each round: the players have different card ranks (normal play) or the players have matching cards (War).
Normal Play: Whoever has the highest card wins THAT IS ASSIGNED TO THEIR TITLE the round and takes the other player’s played cards. Aces are high in War, followed by King, Queen, Jack, and the numbered cards. For example, if Player 1 has a 7 and Player 2 has a 3, Player one has the highest cards and gets to take 2 cards (their card, plus their opponents card). The TWIST for our game: Odd cards are assigned to Caesar, even numbers are assigned to God.  Aces and Queen belong to God, King and Jack belong to Caesar.  When a player has a Caesar win, they put the two cards in their Caesar pile.  When a player has a God win, the cards go into to the God pile.
War: In the case of a tie, a “war” breaks out to determine the winner. Each player will play 3 additional cards face down from the top of their decks, then a 4th card face-up that determines the winner of the war. When the war cards are played, players often do a 4-count of “I-DEE-CLARE-WAR” and put down the cards on the beat with cards down-down-down-up. For example, if both players initially flip an 8, they then will play 3 cards face down to the beat of “I-DEE-CLARE-WAR” and a 4th card face-up to the “War” beat. If Player A plays a 5 and Player 2 plays a 3, Player A is the winner and will be taking 10 cards (their: 1 initial card, 3 face down war cards, and 1 up war card; as well as the opponents: 1 initial card, 3 face-down war cards, and 1 war up-card).
Double-War (and beyond): If the up-card of a war is, again, a tie, a “Double War” breaks out, with an additional 3 cards face down and 1 card face up to determine the winner. And, in the unlikely event of additional ties, a “triple war” or “quadruple war” can continue until someone has a higher up-card and wins the war. For example, in the scenario above, if the players both had an 8, then played 3 down cards and both flipped an up-card of a Jack during the War, there would be a double war. 3 additional cards would be played face down, and Player A flips over a 4 and Player B flips over a 9. Player B is the winner and collects 18 cards! (2 initial cards, 8 cards from the initial war, and 8 cards from the double war).
5: Capture the losers cards and put them in a face-up discard pile. When you win a round, take all of the cards played in the round, both yours and your opponents. You should place them face up in a discard pile that is separate from your draw deck so that you can shuffle them when your draw deck runs out.
6: Play the next round. Subsequent rounds are played in the same manner as the first. Rounds should be played at a fairly fast pace and only last a few seconds, especially when there aren’t any wars.
7: Continue playing until one player has all the cards and a winner is declared. Officially, play only ends when one of two things occur:

1. One person has all the cards and wins
2. One player is unable to complete a War and loses

If you’re playing with a timer, the game also ends when the timer runs out. When the timer goes off, players finish the round they’re playing, then count their cards. The player with more cards wins in their God pile.
If your draw deck runs out, shuffle your discard pile and then it becomes your new draw deck.

Pray Together

Dear Father in Heaven,
We are greatful for the blessings you have given us.  Sometimes we forget or choose to not follow your commandment to give some of our blessings back to you.  Please forgive us when we do this and please help us to remember that other's can be blessed when we follow your commandments and give our love, our devotion, our obedience, and our tithes to you.  We want to be closer to you.

In Jesus's name, Amen.