Object Lesson | Dodgeball

Source (Where I saw it): Original

Supplies:  A dodgeball

Preparation: None

The object lesson & how I used it...

Main Point: We need to stay focused on God

Illustration: Come to the front and ask who has ever played dodgeball?  It is a really fun game.  Now how many of you when you go to play dodgeball just stand in the middle and face the wall?  Of course not what would happen?  Now how many of you start singing randomly and look at the ceiling?  What would happen if you do that?  What would happen if you start watching the people in the stands or another teammate?  You would get hit with the ball!  Who has ever gotten hit in the head with a ball?  It can make you dizzy and totally mess with your focus!

Explanation:  Explain that if you want to win in dodgeball, you have to be completely focused, because you don’t always know where the next ball is going to come from.  You already have to deal with that knowledge let alone allow yourself to be distracted by other things around you.  Life is the same way.  Things happen in life all the time that you have to deal with, and when you allow yourself to get distracted with video games, popularity, sports, etc you are just setting yourself up for failure.  Now not all those things are bad, its just when you start putting those things in front of your relationship with God.  god needs to be first in your life.  We all need to stay focused!

Object Lesson | Who Do You Want To Save You?

Source (Where I saw it): Original

Supplies: Sheets with pictures of heroes who you would want to be there to save you from a burning building and other things you wouldn’t want in charge of saving you like a banana or puppet.

Preparation: Create a slideshow or print of sheets of pictures

The object lesson & how I used it...

Main Point: Who do you depend on?

Illustration: Come to the front and tell the kids to imagine they are trapped in a burning building.  Smoke is all around them and there is no way out.  Just when you think all hope is lost, you hear a voice outside with someone coming to rescue you.  As I show you these pictures tell me yes or no if you would be happy to know this was the person or thing coming to save you.

Explanation:  We all have an idea of who we would depend on in certain situations, whether it is our parents or friends or someone else.  The truth is we need to depend on God in our lives first, because God never fails!

Object Lesson | Stand Up

Source (Where I saw it): Original

Supplies:  A paper box, tape, tissues, a solid step stool

Preparation: Make some random step stools from weak materials

The object lesson & how I used it...

Main Point: We need to depend on God!

Illustration: Come to the front and ask which one of these step stools would be able to hold me up?  Which would you feel comfortable holding you up?  Of course most of these would crush under the pressure of a person.  This step stool is made to support the weight and will hold up over time.

Explanation:  In life the strongest person in our life is God, and yet so many people think of something else first when situations come up in life.  When we need to get something from up high, we don’t go finding 10 tissue boxes!  Yet when we feel overwhelmed or just need someone who will never let us down people run to others who aren’t as dependable as God.  God should be our number one!  Where people, friends, and even family can fail us, God will never fail us!

Object Lesson | Sword Master

Source (Where I saw it): Original

Supplies:  A sword of some kind

Preparation: None

The object lesson & how I used it...

Main Point: We need to use our Bible!

Illustration: Come to the front and ask the kids if any of them know what fencing is.  Fencing is a sport involving sword fighting.  Now if you have never fenced before or had any training with a sword, then you would lose pretty badly to someone who does it for a living.  In fact, you could really hurt yourself by playing with a sword if you don’t know what you are doing.

Explanation:  It is the exact same way with the Bible.  In fact, the Bible is described in Hebrews as a sword!  If you never read the Bible or study it, then you have no idea how to use it.  In fact there are many people that end up believing things they shouldn’t, just because they don’t know God’s word.  Just like when Jesus was tempted he had to know that Satan was using God’s word in a bad way.  Jesus not only knew God’s word, he knew when someone else was using it incorrectly!

Object Lesson | Try To Read This!

Source (Where I saw it): Original

Supplies: Sheet of paper with the pledge of allegiance or some other well known phrase on it in a foreign language.

Preparation: Be sure to pick a language your kids won’t recognize.  I used the pledge of allegiance and google translated it to Japanese.

The object lesson & how I used it...

Main Point: We need to use the Bible!

Illustration: Come to the front and ask one of the kids to come up and read the paper.  After they can’t, try another few kids.  Finally explain to them, that this actually really easy.  In fact, most of you know what this says.  The problem is none of you can read Japanese.  Has anyone in here studied the Japanese language?  Can anyone speak Japanese or write in it?  here is what this paper says... read it.

Explanation:  The idea is if you don’t study something or practice it all the time, you won’t be able to use it.  You all don’t study Japanese or speak in it all the time, and so you couldn’t read this paper.  It is the same way with the Bible.  A lot of people say they know the basics of the Bible, or they hear things at church, but ultimately unless you read and study it on a consistent basis, you really don’t know God’s word!  We need to use the Bible!  It is one of the keys in building our relationship with God!