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'Get Up, Stand Up" Opener Interactive Opener

The General Idea
This opener introduces the theme of a worship service or teaching, involves the audience, gets them up and moving, and helps the audience members become better acquainted. Here is how. With everyone seated, read each question below one at a time (but do not explain it). All of the questions relate to the topic. Those who can answer “yes” to the question should stand up briefly, and then sit back down. Repeat this process until you have read all of the questions.

When finished, go back and explain each question’s relevance to the topic. For example, you might introduce a series on the book of Romans with the following questions:

Questions for Activity
This is a sample of questions to introduce a study in the book of Romans.
  • How many of you have visited the city of Rome, Italy? (Rome is the location of the recipients of Romans.)
  • How many of you grew up attending a Methodist church? (The founder of Methodism, John Wesley, was converted while listening to someone read from Romans.)
  • How many of you have written someone a letter in the past year? (Romans is a letter as opposed to other types of Biblical literature.)
  • How many of you have never been to a bar or bat mitzvah? (This is a special ceremony for a Jewish son (bar) or daughter (bat) who turns 13 years old. Jewish people were a significant part of the church in Rome.)
  • How many of you have been to Israel? (Romans addresses national Israel in chapters 9-11.)
  • How many of you have gotten a ticket for a traffic violation in the past six months? (Romans 13 tells us police officers are God’s “ministers.”)
  • How many of you called your father “Daddy” even after you were an adult? (Romans 8:15 says Christians receive the Spirit of adoption and can then call God “Abba Father.”)
  • How many of you have the same first or middle name as someone mentioned in Romans? (Most will not know, but it gives you a chance to tell them over forty people are mentioned by name in Romans, mostly in chapter 16.)
  • How many of you think you pay too much in homeowner taxes? (Romans 13 says we should pay our debts.)
  •  How many of you wake up and fall back to sleep multiple times before you get up (Romans 13:11 says, “The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber . . ."
  • How many of you were baptized as an infant and as an adult? (Romans 6 explains that baptism is a picture of Christ’s resurrection.)
  • How many of you would say you have beautiful feet? (A few people will actually stand up for this! Romans 10:15 says our feet are beautiful if we share the good news.)
Debrief the Questions
When finished, re-read each question and debrief them by explaining how each one relates to Romans (as indicated after each question above in the parenthetical statements). Your audience should now be engaged and ready for the teaching.

Tips for This Activity
Create customized questions based on the content you are teaching.
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