Tag Archives: exercise

Procedure

Use the following script (or modify to suit your needs):

• (Start with your air dancers on a table next to each other – with a little elbow room for their soon-to-be-inflated arms. The fans should be off (but plugged in!), and the dancers should be deflated. Invite two volunteers up to the table.)
• “Hi, guys! I’m wondering if you can help me with an object lesson.”
• “Do you see these two balloon-like bags taped to these fans?”
• “Well they are actually balloon people, and they represent the two major parts of each one of us.” (Ask volunteers to each read out loud the label on the front of the air dancer in front of them – one is “Body” and the other is “Spirit.”)
• “Right! This one represents our Body, and this one represents our Spirit.”
• “Would you say that those are two pretty important parts of each one of us?”
• “Me, too!”
• “We’ve got a problem, though. Neither one of these guys is doing so good right now. They are really low on energy.”
• (Turn to the volunteer in front of the “Body” air dancer.)
• “What do you think the balloon person representing our Body needs in order to feel better?” (Take ideas, and fill in any that are missed.)
• “Right! It needs food, rest and exercise to feel good.”
• “If you don’t get enough food, how do you feel?” (Encourage response.)
• “How about if you don’t get enough rest?” (Encourage response.)
• “You feel kinda like this balloon, don’t you?”
• “Well, let’s say that this fan underneath the balloon person represents those things – food, rest and exercise.”
• “Could you turn that fan on for me?” (Allow volunteer to turn on fan. Air dancer should inflate.)
• “Wow! That’s better! When our Body gets food, rest and exercise, it feels good. It has energy.”
• “But what would happen if you stop feeding it or if you stopped getting enough rest or exercise?” (Encourage response. Then have volunteer turn off fan to demonstrate.)
• “Exactly! Our Bodies start to feel bad, and they lose energy. If you go too long without these things, your Body gets sick, right?”
• “You’ve got to give it more food, rest and exercise for it to feel good again.” (Have volunteer turn on fan.)
• (Turn to the volunteer in front of the “Spirit” air dancer.)
• “Now, how about our Spirit? It doesn’t need food or rest or exercise to feel good. What do you think it needs?” (Take ideas, and fill in any that are missed.)
• “That’s right! It needs prayer, Scripture, worship, fellowship and other good spiritual disciplines.”
• “How do you think our Spirit feels when it isn’t getting those things?” (Encourage response.)
• “Right! It feels terrible – maybe like this balloon person.”
• “How do you think it feels when it does get prayer and Scripture and worship and fellowship?” (Encourage response. Then have volunteer turn on fan to demonstrate.)
• “When it gets those things, it feels really good!”
• “But I’m a little confused. I know when my body needs food or rest (and sometimes exercise), because it tells me.”
• (Turn to the volunteer in front of the “Body” air dancer.)
• “How would you say our body tells us what it needs?” (Encourage responses like “hunger pains,” “yawning” or “sleepiness.”)
• “But how do I know when my Spirit needs prayer and Scripture and worship and fellowship? Does it tell me somehow?” (Encourage responses, but you will probably have to help with this one.)
• “This one is tougher, because we aren’t as used to paying attention to our Spirit as we are to paying attention to our Body, but here’s what I think.”
• “When our Spirit is feeling weak, we can tell because sometimes:
  • We are tempted by more bad things.
  • It is harder to say “no” to temptation.
  • We feel bad about ourselves.
  • We want to hide from God.
  • We worry a lot and are afraid.
  • We aren’t very nice to other people.”
• “Have any of you ever felt like any of these examples?” ?” (Encourage responses from the entire class.)
• “If you’re like me, sometimes you let days go by without praying or reading Gods’ Word.” (Have volunteer turn fan off.)
• “I can go for a little while on the prayer and Bible reading that I did last week, but eventually, my Spirit starts to sag.”
• “Then maybe I miss a week of going to church or do some things I know that I shouldn’t have done.”
• “Before long, my Spirit gets sick, and it becomes harder and harder for me to say “no” to the things that I am tempted to do.”
• “I’ve known people whose Spirits were really sick, because they never fed them.”
• “They knew that something was wrong in their life, but they tried to fix it by feeding their Spirit the wrong things – like money or expensive things or too much entertainment or sometimes even drugs and alcohol.”
• “But none of those things helps your Spirit to feel better.”
• (Turn to the volunteer in front of the “Spirit” air dancer.)
• “Remind me again. What does our Spirit need to stay healthy?” (Encourage responses. Then have the volunteer turn on the fan.)
• “Exactly! We need prayer, Scripture, worship, fellowship and other good spiritual disciplines.”
• “If we’re going to do good things for God, we need a healthy Spirit like this one.” (Pointing to air dancer.)
• “So, let’s all try to feed our Spirit the things it wants before it even has to ask us for them!” (Thank and dismiss volunteers.)