September 13, 2010 · 3:22 am
Time
15-20 minutes
Description
This game is a twist on the popular “Red Light – Green Light” game that kids often play. It’s high energy with a spiritual teaching point at the end.
Scriptures
- Jonah 1:1-3
- Hebrews 12:1-2
Materials
Preparation
- Select a wide-open space to play the game.
- Choose a highly-visible object or point to be the “Finish Line” and another place to be the “Start Line.”
- Practice the script.
Procedure
Use the following script (or modify to suit your needs):
- “How many of you have played a game called ‘Red Light – Green Light’ before?” (Look for a show of hands.)
- “Well, we’re going to play a game like that, but I’m going to change the rules just a little.”
- “In ‘Red Light – Green Light,’ everyone starts at a starting line, and the person who is leading is far away.”
- “The leader faces everyone and says, ‘Red Light!’ and everyone has to freeze right where they are.”
- “If the leader sees anyone moving even a little, he can send them back to the start line.”
- “But when the leader turns his back to everyone, he says, ‘Green Light!’ and everyone runs as far as they can toward him before he turns around again and says, ‘Red Light!’”
- “The first person to reach the leader and tag him wins and gets to be the new leader for another round of the game.”
- “So, those are the regular rules. Here are my new backward rules.”
- “Instead of running toward the leader, you are going to run away from the leader.”
- “The first person to reach the finish line will be the winner.” (Tell them what the finish line will be, and point out where everyone will start.)
- “Does that make sense to everyone?” (Look for questions and respond.)
- “Okay, the other rule is still the same.”
- “When I’m facing you, I’ll call out, ‘Red Light!’ and everyone has to freeze right where they are.”
- “But when I turn around, I’ll call out, ‘Green Light!’ and you can run like crazy!”
- “Any questions?” (Respond to any questions.)
- “Okay, I’ll be leader first.” (Position yourself in the middle of the “Start Line,” and have everyone line up on either side of you along the same line. Start by facing them. Then quickly turn around and yell out, “Green Light!” Don’t give them much time to run. Quickly turn back around, and yell, “Red Light!” If you see anyone still moving or even twitching (depending upon how strict you want to be with the rules), make them come back to the “Start Line.” Repeat this process until someone reaches the “Finish Line.” Then make that person the new leader. Run through several rounds of the game, and then bring everyone back for a debrief using the following questions.)
Debrief Questions & Discussion
- “What did you think of the game?”
- “Let’s pretend that the leader of the game is like God. How does the game compare to how some people act toward God?” (You are listening for someone to mention that people are often moving away from (even running away from!) God. Running away from God is the equivalent of sinning and putting distance in our relationship.)
- “That reminds me of someone in the Bible who ran from the Lord.” (Have a volunteer read Jonah 1:1-3.)
- “Jonah ran from the Lord. How did that work out for him?” (Listen for someone to mention that he was swallowed by a great fish for three days.)
- “Not so well, right?”
- “So, if the leader is God, what could the ‘Red Light!’ and ‘Green Light!’ represent for Christians?” (You are listening for someone to say that the red light is like when we feel God is watching us and we have to be on our best behavior. The green light is like when we pretend God isn’t watching and we can do whatever we want, even if it’s bad for us to do.)
- “Do you think this is the way God actually acts toward us?” (Hopefully the kids will know that it is not the way God acts toward us.)
- “So how DOES God act toward us? What’s different than the game?” (God is always watching over us. Even when we don’t feel close to Him, He hasn’t turned away from us. He never gives a “Green Light” to sin. And even though He always has a “Red Light” to sin, He isn’t trying to catch us doing something wrong. He is encouraging us to come running to Him and not away from Him.)
- “The Scriptures say that we should be running toward God.” (Have volunteer read Hebrews 12:1-2.)
10. “We should keep our eyes on Jesus and throw off anything that might slow us down as we race toward Him.”
11. “So, let’s change the rules again, and this time, everyone see how fast you can get to God with no ‘Red Lights!’” (Choose someone to be the leader/”God,” and have the kids line up at the former “Finish Line,” which will now be the new “Start Line.” When the leader/”God” says, “Green Light!” everyone should race to see how fast they can reach and tag him. Instruct the leader not to give any “Red Lights.”)
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Filed under acceptance, Christianity, Coping skills, Daily walk, Fear, forgiveness, Game, Games that Teach, Jonah, Obedience, self-image, Trust
Tagged as Agape Love, children's game, denial, disobedience, God watching over us, God's approval, God's disapproval, God's perspective, green light, Hebrews 12:1-2, how God sees us, Jonah 1:1-3, Love, Obedience, race, red light, running away from God, running toward God, sin, sinning, unconditional love
August 4, 2010 · 9:34 am
Time
15-20 minutes
Description
This object lesson teaches that you need to stay connected to Jesus in order to have the power to live a godly life and produce the fruit of the Spirit.
Scriptures
- John 7:37-39, 15:1-5
- Galatians 5:22
Materials
- Garden hose (long enough to reach your teaching area from the water spigot
- Short garden hose (a hose reel leader hose works well)
- Two quick connect adapters for the hose – need to have an automatic stopper so that the water doesn’t continue to flow after you disconnect it
- Water nozzle (as small as you can find so that you can use it to fill water balloons)
- Water supply that you can hook the hose to
- Nine large balloons (purple is the best color for the lesson if you can find it – you may want to have extra balloons in case any pop or have a leak)
- Posterboard – one sheet of any light color or white
- Scissors
- Tape
- Permanent marker to label nine, small signs with the name of the nine fruits of the Spirit
- Lanyard or twine
- Clear, plastic tub to hold the balloons as they fill with water
- Thin piece of plywood or piece of plastic or metal (4 ft long) with nine 3/4 in holes drilled in it about 5 inches apart and 5 inches from the end of either side of the board. (You can often find a piece of metal that has pre-drilled holes in it that will work just fine near the shelving part of your local hardware store.)
- Drill and ¾ inch drillbit (if you need to make the board mentioned above)
- Nine, large washers with a ½ inch hold in the center (the washers must be big enough that they won’t fall out of the balloon once you put them in the opening)
- Bible
Preparation
- (SEE DIAGRAMS AT END OF LESSON)
- Connect the hose to the water spigot.
- Connect the quick connect adapter (the one with the automatic stopper) to the end of the hose, and turn on the water. Use a steady stream of water but not full force – maybe about 1/4-1/2 turn.
- Connect the short hose to the quick connect adapter at the end of the longer hose.
- Connect the other quick connect adapter to the end of the short hose, and screw on the water nozzle.
- Run the hose segments and the nozzle into the teaching area.
- Make a large sign that says, “DISOBEDIENCE,” and put it on the lanyard/twine so that someone can wear it around their neck.
- Ask a volunteer to be your “DISOBEDIENCE” volunteer and to be ready when you call them. Give him/her the sign to wear when the time is right.
- Put a washer in the opening of each balloon.
- Push each balloon through one of the nine holes in your board. The opening of the balloon and the washer should be on top of the hole with the rest of the balloon below the board.
- Put the board with the balloons across the clear, plastic tub so that the balloons hang down into the tub.
- Cut out nine, small rectangles from the posterboard (each about 4 in long and 2 in tall).
- Write the nine fruits of the Spirit (Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, Self-Control) on these.
- Tape the signs to the bottom of the tub on the outside, facing the audience. Each sign should be in front of a different balloon.
- Practice
Procedure
Use the following script (or modify to suit your needs):
- “I’m going to show you why it is so important for you to stay close to God.”
- “The night before Jesus was crucified, he said something very important to his closest disciples.” (Have volunteer read John 15:1-5.)
- “Jesus was making a comparison between His relationship with His disciples and a grapevine.”
- “Jesus said that He is the grapevine. That’s the thickest part of the plant that is rooted to the ground.”
- “He said that the disciples are branches and that the branches hold the fruit.”
- “We know from Galatians 5:22 that the fruit that Jesus is talking about is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” (If the kids are not familiar with the fruit of the Spirit, you might want to take a moment to describe each one for them.)
- “And He says that if we (as the branches) don’t stay connect to Him (the vine), we won’t have any of this fruit.”
- “But….if we stay connected to Jesus, we will have LOTS of fruit.” (Ask for a volunteer to come to the front, and allow him/her to help you in the following demonstration.)
- “I don’t have a grapevine here today, and even if I did, we don’t have an entire season to watch the grapes grow on the vine.”
- “So, instead of using a real grapevine, I’m going to use this hose, this nozzle and these balloons to demonstrate what Jesus is talking about.” (Ask volunteer to hold the nozzle at the end of the hose.)
- “Imagine that this hose represents Jesus as the vine.”
- “Through Him comes a steady flow of living water, which the Bible tells us is the Holy Spirit according to John 7:39.” (Turn on the nozzle (if it isn’t already) and have the volunteer point it into the tub. Have another volunteer read John 7:37-39.)
- “This nozzle represents us as the branches, and these nine balloons represent the fruit of the spirit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. They are like the grapes on the vine.”
- “Now, the goal is to produce fruit and lots of it.”
- “We produce fruit by filling the balloons with the water. This is like the Holy Spirit flowing through us (the nozzle) to do the good works that the fruit represents.” (Allow your volunteer to begin to fill one of the balloons. Turn off the nozzle when the balloon is full enough that the water doesn’t come shooting back out the top – over half-way.)
- “But by itself, this nozzle is pretty useless. It has no water of its own to share.”
- “We can’t connect just the nozzle to a balloon and fill it.” (Disconnect the nozzle from the hose and give it to the volunteer. Ask them to try to fill the balloons with just the nozzle.)
- “That’s what it’s like if we try to do God’s work without God.”
- “There is just no power in it.”
- “So we have to stay connected to the hose if we want to have the power to do the work that God has given us to do.” (Reconnect the nozzle, and let the volunteer continue filling the first balloon. When it gets about full, start filling up another balloon.)
- “What does it mean to be connected to the hose? In other words, how can we stay connected to Jesus so that His Spirit flows through us and produces fruit?”
- “There are two things we need to do in order to stay connected to the hose/to Jesus.”
- “We need to spend time with God, and we need to obey God.”
- “If we do these two things, we will stay connected to Jesus, and His power will flow through us and produce lots of fruit.” (Allow volunteer to keep filling balloons slowly. Don’t allow them to fill all the balloons before you finish the next part.)
- “How can we spend time with God?” (Listen to answers. You are looking for things like, “Go to church, worship, praise, pray, read your Bible…”)
- “Excellent! During those times, God will tell us what He wants us to do in our lives.”
- “But spending time with Him is not enough. We have to also do what He says.”
- “Sometimes, we know what God wants us to do, but we don’t want to do it.”
- “That’s called ‘DISOBEDIENCE’ (bring your “DISOBEDIENCE” volunteer forward), and it’s disconnecting the hose so that the living water won’t pass through.” (Have “DISOBEDIENCE” volunteer disconnect the hose so that the water stops.)
- “Disobedience stops the flow of the living water coming through your nozzle.”
- “Another word for ‘disobedience’ is ‘sin.’”
- “Sin stops the flow of God’s power, which He sends through His Holy Spirit, through you.”
- “But it’s easy to get the living water flowing again. What do you think you have to do?” (Listen to responses. You are looking for someone to say, “obey.”)
- “That’s right! Obey, and living water flows through you again to create more fruit.” (Have “DISOBEDIENCE” volunteer reconnect hose, and allow volunteer to fill in the rest of the balloons. Then dismiss the volunteer.)
- “So what are the two things we need to do to stay connected to God?” (Listen for the answers, “spend time with Him” and “obey Him.”)
- “Fantastic! Let’s all go and produce lots of fruit!”
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Filed under Annointing, Daily walk, Fruit of the Spirit, Hands-on, Listening to God, Obedience, Object Lesson, sanctification, spiritual disciplines, Spiritual Growth, Spiritual Health, Transformation
Tagged as abide, abiding, balloons, branches, connected, disobedience, faithfulness, Fruit of the Spirit, Galatians 5:22, gentleness, goodness, John 15:1-5, John 7:37-39, joy, Kindness, Living Water, Love, Obedience, patience, peace, self-control, tapped in, time with God, vine
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