Make sure the toy cars are of a type with freely turning wheels and will run down the inclined raceways.  Before the meeting, have someone cut off the car bodies leaving a 5mm rim around the chassis.  Teams will then build and glue their own cardboard car bodies onto their chassis.

Set up the raceway by building a base of bricks and incline the plank from this.  Perform a test run with a car to establish the angle needed for the cars to run smoothly down and cross the the finish line.

The cars are then raced down against other teams down the inclined plank.  Run each race using two cars each time.  A team member from two opposing teams hold their cars at the start line.  On the "Go" flag, they release their cars to race down the plank.  Any team that pushes their car will be disqualified!  Two runs are allowed for each pair of teams.

Only winning cars passing the finish line will qualify for the next heat.  Record the fastest lap time and name of the winning team.  Repeat the race for the rest of the teams.  Then run semi-finals until all but two winning teams are eliminated.  The final race is then run.

The prize giving commences with the Third and Second place winners are awarded and then the Grand Prix winner is announced with a great flourish!

Prizes could also be awarded for the "Best Looking", "Flashest" and "Most Awful Looking" cars, and a special prize for the slowest car or the one that fell of the raceway the most!  I hope you have lots of fun!

In Philippians 3:13-14, Paul said that he would forget those things that were behind him and concentrate on what is lay ahead, and press toward the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

In 1 Corinthians 9:24-25, Paul said, "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize?  Run in such a way as to get the prize.  Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training.  They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever."

Paul speaks about competing in a race.  This is like our Christian lives, which we start when we accept Jesus as our Saviour.  We then go on to run the race every day by growing as a Christian by reading our Bibles, praying and telling others about Jesus.  Finally, Jesus wants us to finish the race and welcome us into Heaven with those precious words, "Well done you good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your Lord" (Matthew 25:23).

The Apostle Paul ran his life like this and near the end he was able to say, "For I am now ready to be offered and the time of my departure is at hand.  I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course.  I have kept the faith and henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me at that day.  And not only to me, but unto all that also love Jesus' appearing" (from 2 Timothy 4:6-8).

We have run races today and now I want you to think about your lives.  Is Jesus your Saviour and are you running the Christian race like Paul says we should?  Think about it, and if you are not running, then get your self to the starting line!  Accept Jesus as your Best Friend, Saviour and Lord and then you will be in the race!

God bless.