Sunday, April 29, 2012

Object Lesson | Paper Marks

Source (Where I saw it): Original

Supplies: A marker and clean sheet of paper.

Preparation: None.

The object lesson & how I used it...

Main Point: We need to tell the truth!

Illustration: Come to the front and show the boys and girls the clean sheet of paper. Tell them to imagine that this is what other people see when they look at us. Our actions and words shape what other people see. We want what other people see to be clean like this piece of paper. Even more than being clean! We want people to see Jesus! When we lie, or cheat its like marking up this piece of paper. All of a sudden, this paper isn’t clean. If you wanted to draw a picture, you probably wouldn’t grab this sheet of paper anymore.

Explanation: It is the same way with us. When we lie, and cheat with our words and actions, we are kind of marking ourselves like this sheet. People will not be able to trust us, and we are not being a very good witness to our relationship with God either. Once we break trust with someone it is really hard to gain that trust back. Just like it would be really hard to remove this mark from the paper. That’s why we need to do our best to tell the truth and do what is right the first time! When we do mess up, we need to ask for forgiveness from God and the person.

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Object Lesson | Pepper Looking Like Salt

Source (Where I saw it): Original

Supplies: Pepper and a shaker that is not see through, but very distinguishable as a salt shaker.

Preparation: Fill the salt shaker with pepper.

The object lesson & how I used it...

Main Point: Our inside should match our outside!

Illustration: Come to the front and show the boys and girls the shaker. Who knows what this is? That’s right it is a salt shaker. You can use salt for a lot of things. It makes food taste better, you can use it preserve food, and there are many other uses for salt as well. Now if I am looking to use salt and then I pour this out (pour some out) I would expect salt to come out. Now is this salt? No! It’s pepper! But on the outside this looks like a salt shaker. The inside does not match the outside.

Explanation: We are the same way. When the pepper came out of the shaker there is no confusing what it is. Even though the shaker would want us to think it was salt, it was definitely pepper. Sometimes we tell people that we love God, and we may even come to church, listen, and participate in worship, but if we then during the week do all the things opposite of what God would want for lives then the truth is coming out. We may say we are salt, but pepper is coming out. We can’t worship God on Sunday, and then cuss at people on Monday. We can’t say God I love you on Wednesday night, and then constantly disobey our parents with no regret. Our inside and outside need to match! And when we do mess up, we apologize and do our best to be better! We worship God through our consistent actions and words!