July 16, 2011 · 10:00 pm
Time
10-15 minutes
Audience
Children, Teens, Adults
Description
This object lesson teaches about wounds that we get when people or circumstances hurt us. These take up a place in our hearts, because our hearts are where we keep things that are very important to us (both good and bad). Wounds are very fertile places in our hearts, so both God and Satan will try to plant seeds there. God’s seeds will turn our wounds into something beautiful, but Satan’s seeds will turn them into something painful, shameful, bitter and/or destructive. (Note: You will need a break in the lesson and/or a helper to plant the flowers and the weeds in the soil.)
Scriptures
Materials
- 1 large, heart-shaped pan or container (open at the top and about 3-5 inches deep – will be used as a planter for flowers and weeds and filled with soil.)
- 2 large, over-sized “packages” of seeds (They should be really big – preferably 2 ft tall for an exaggerated effect. They could created out of flipchart paper or something else (like a large mailing envelope.)
- 1 watering can (to water the flowers)
- Thick marker
- Sheet of paper
- Tape
- Flowers (these can be real or fake – enough to fill the heart-shaped container)
- Weeds (these can be real or fake – about 10 of these)
- Soil (enough to fill the heart-shaped container)
- Seeds to go in each of the seed packages (It doesn’t matter what kind as long as they are large enough to be visible. Sunflower seeds would work well. Put several handfuls into each package.)
Preparation
- Spread the soil around the heart-shaped container.
- Fill the watering can with water, and have it ready nearby the teaching area.
- Put the flowers and weeds somewhere where they can’t be seen and where you will be able to plant them later without being seen.
- Practice the script.
- Label one package of seeds in large letters that say, “Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, Self-Control.”
- Label the other package of seeds with large letters that say, “Hate, Sadness, Fear, Impatience, Meanness, Sinfulness, Disloyalty, Harshness, Lack of Control.”
- Use the sheet of paper, marker and tape to label the watering can with a sign that says, “Living Water.”
Procedure
Use the following script (or modify to suit your needs):
- “Sometimes bad things happen to us.”
- “People mistreat us or hurt us, we have a bad experience, we make a mistake and have to suffer from the consequences…”
- “These things happen to everyone, but sometimes the experience hurts us so much that it creates a wound in our heart.”
- “A wound in your heart is a painful place; it hurts just to think about it.”
- “When you remember what happened, you feel terrible sadness or anger or jealousy or shame and embarrassment.”
- “Don’t raise your hand, but just think to yourself – do you have a wound like that in your heart?” (Allow participants a few moments to consider and remember a wound that they have suffered.)
- “I imagine that we can all think of at least on painful experience in our lives that just won’t go away.” (Ask for a volunteer to come to the front.)
- “A wound is a really fertile place in your heart; that means that it’s a place where things can grow really well.”
- “It’s really fertile because of the pain from the wound. That pain can change you – it can change you for good or change you for evil.”
- “Let’s imagine that this heart-shaped container represents a wound in your heart.” (Show the heart-shaped container, and have the volunteer put his/her fingers through the soil.)
- (To the volunteer…) “Does that look like some fertile soil to you?” (Acknowledge response.)
- “It’s really good soil, and you could grow almost anything in there.”
- “Well, there are two ‘gardeners’ who are very interested in growing things in that soil; one is God, and one is Satan.”
- “They both want to grow things in your wound, because they know how fertile the soil is.”
- “God brings His seeds.” (Hand the large package of God’s seeds (Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control) to your volunteer, and have him/her hold it up where everyone can see.)
- “God’s seeds will grow into the fruit of the Spirit, which is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” (Have volunteer shake some seeds into the soil in the heart.)
- “The Bible says in Romans 8:28 that God will use ALL things for the good of those who love Him.”
- “That means that God can even take the wounds in your heart, the worst things that you have ever experienced, and turn them into blessings for you!”
- “But Satan also brings his seeds.” (Set the God seeds aside and hand the volunteer the other package of seeds.)
- “Satan’s seeds will grow into the fruits of evil, which are the opposite of the fruit of the Spirit: Hate, Sadness, Fear, Impatience, Meanness, Sinfulness, Disloyalty, Harshness, Lack of Control.” (Have volunteer shake some seeds into the soil in the heart.)
- “Now, these two sets of seeds are going to compete to grow in the soil of your heart.”
- “Since the wound is so fertile, they are definitely going to grow, but you get to decide which type of seeds fill up your heart.”
- “Do you want the seeds that grow into the fruit of the Spirit to fill your heart, or do you want the seeds of evil to grow there?” (Acknowledge responses.)
- “If you want the fruit of the Spirit to grow, you’ve got to water those seeds every day with Living Water.” (Hand your volunteer the watering can, making sure that the audience can see the “Living Water” label. Have the volunteer sprinkle some water over the soil.)
- “Living Water is the Word of God – the Bible.”
- “When you water with Living Water every day, the seeds that turn into the fruit of the Spirit are going to grow.”
- “But if you do nothing, the weeds of evil will grow instead.”
- “They don’t need any help to grow, because they grow naturally all by themselves.”
- “The fruit of the Spirit, on the other hand, only grows when you spend time getting closer to God each day by studying His Word, praying and doing your best to follow what His Word says to do.”
- “Let’s give these some time to grow and see what happens.” (Hand the heart-shaped container to a helper (or take a break) to take away and plant the flowers and weeds. Thank and dismiss your volunteer. Plant the flowers all around the heart, and insert weeds at different places. Then, bring the container back into the teaching area to finish the lesson.)
- “Let’s pretend that some time has passed.”
- “Our flowers that represent the fruit of the Spirit (Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, Self-Control) have grown up, because we have been watering them every day with Living Water by spending time praying, reading God’s Word and doing what it says to do.”
- “Unfortunately, some weeds of evil (Hate, Sadness, Fear, Impatience, Meanness, Sinfulness, Disloyalty, Harshness, Lack of Control) have also grown up in our heart.”
- “That’s the way Satan works. He never gives up.”
- “Even when we are working really hard to let God use the wound to bless us and those around us, Satan will still plant seeds of evil around God’s seeds.”
- “You will have forgiven the person who hurt you, but every once in awhile, feelings of hate or mean thoughts will spring up in your heart.”
- “You may have trusted God with the mistake you made, but every once in awhile, feelings of deep sadness or sinful thoughts or actions might spring up.”
- “Don’t be surprised when this happens…it’s normal.”
- “What you have to do is pull those weeds.” (Ask for volunteer to come up and carefully pull the weeds out without uprooting the flowers.)
- “The way you get those weeds out of your heart is by giving them to God whenever you notice them in your heart.”
- “Pray to God, and ask Him to take away your bad feelings and your bad thoughts. Ask Him to help you stay away from bad actions.”
- “Keep the garden of your heart clean from weeds so that the fruit of the Spirit can really grow and make your heart beautiful.”
- “In that way, God will take a wound in your heart and make it into something beautiful for you and everyone God puts in your life.” (Thank and dismiss your volunteer.)
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Filed under blessing, Bullying, Challenges, Fruit of the Spirit, God's Protection, God's Will, Healing, heart, Object Lesson, Overcoming obstacles, purity
Tagged as All things, bad experiences, bad seeds, bitterness, blessings, consequences, curses, destruction, faithfulness, fertile, flowers, Fruit of the Spirit, gardener, gardening, gentleness, God's children, good seeds, goodness, grow, growth, hurt, hurts, inflict, joy, Kindness, Love, pain, painful, patience, peace, Romans 8:28, Satan, self-control, shame, soil of your heart, weeds, wounds
July 14, 2011 · 6:26 pm
Time
10-15 minutes
Audience
Children, Teens, Adults
Description
This object lesson teaches about how God brings good things out of bad and uses the metaphor of turning lemons into lemonade.
Scriptures
- Romans 8:28
- Galatians 5:22
Materials
- Several cow patties if you can find them. If you can’t, use a bag of fertilizer and just explain that many fertilizers include animal waste.
- A pot of fragrant flowers
- A piece of fruit that most people would enjoy eating
Preparation
- Lay out materials for the lesson.
- Practice the script.
Procedure
Use the following script (or modify to suit your needs):
- “Who knows what this is?” (Hold up dry cow patty.)
- “Right? It’s a cow patty.” (Pass it around to kids.)
- “Now, it doesn’t smell too bad right now, but who has ever smelled a fresh one?” (Acknowledge responses.)
- “They’re stinky, aren’t they?”
- “So, you probably wouldn’t go around smelling them, would you?”
- “But would you smell this?” (Hold up flowers in a pot.)
- “Sure, because it smells good, right?”
- “Did you know that this (hold up another cow patty) was used to make this (hold up flowers) smell so good?”
- “How did that happen?” (Take responses until someone mentions fertilizer.)
- “Right! Cow manure is one of the most common ways to fertilize plants and flowers.”
- “How many of you would eat this?” (Hold up cow patty.)
- “But would you eat this?” (Hold up fruit.)
- “Believe it or not, there’s some of this (hold up cow patty) in this (hold up fruit).”
- “God made it so that plants and flowers take the nutrients out of the manure and reuse them to help the fruit and the flowers grow.”
- “God doesn’t waste anything. He even takes bad stuff (hold up cow patty) and turns it into good stuff (hold up or point to fruit and flowers).”
- “If God can do that with cow poop, He can do that with the bad stuff in your life, too.”
- “Some of the stuff that happens to us really stinks, but God will use it to do good stuff in our lives so that we come out smelling like a rose.”
- “He can use those bad things to create fruit in our lives like the fruit He talks about in the Bible.” (Have volunteer read Galatians 5:22).
- “So, whatever bad stuff happens in your life, give it to God to use as fertilizer, and He will bring good fruit out of it.” (Have volunteer read Romans 8:28.)
- “God will use everything to bless you if you trust Him with it!” (You can use the Rhyme Time below to reinforce the lesson.)
Rhyme Time
If we trust Him and obey, God makes bad things go OUR way!
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Filed under blessing, Challenges, Change, Choices, Conflict Resolution, Fruit of the Spirit, God's Plan, Healing, Hope, Object Lesson, Problem solving, Solutions, test, tool, Training
Tagged as All things, bad things, cow pattie, cow patties, cow patty, faithfulness, fertilizer, flowers, fruit, Fruit of the Spirit, Galatians 5:22, gentleness, God, God's children, good, good things, goodness, grow, joy, Kindness, Love, nourish, nutrients, patience, peace, Rhyme Time, Romans 8:28, self-control, turn-around, waste
January 26, 2011 · 7:56 am
Audience
Children, Teens, Adults
Time
10-15 minutes
Description
This game helps participants to understand how important it is to step our of our comfort zones in order to grow. You can use the story of Abraham (Abram at the time) leaving his country and his family and everything he knew as a reinforcement of the lesson.
Scriptures
o Genesis 12:1-9
Materials
o Rope (about 30 feet or more) or a garden hose
o Balls (about 5 – alternatively, you can just wad up scrap pieces of paper)
o Laundry basket or trash can
o Bible
Preparation
o Tie the rope or garden hose into a loop.
o Use the rope or garden hose to make a small circle on the ground (about 1 ft – 1 ½ ft in diameter).
o Coil the excess rope or garden hose on top of this circle so that you have only one circle.
o Set up the trashcan or laundry basket about 20 ft away from the circle (further if you want to increase the difficulty).
o Practice the script.
Procedure
Use the following script (or modify to suit your needs):
- “How many of you know what a comfort zone is?” (Acknowledge responses.)
- “A comfort zone is a place or situation where you feel safe, comfortable.”
- “When you are in your comfort zone, you don’t take risks.”
- “Those are uncomfortable, so they can’t be in the zone.”
- “In your comfort zone, there is no progress or growth, because progress and growth only occur when you take risks and step out of your comfort zone.”
- “God asked Abraham (Abram at the time) to leave his comfort zone.” (Have a volunteer read Genesis 12:1-9.)
- “Abraham had to leave everything that he knew (his family, his friends, his country, his home….) in order to follow God’s leading into a strange country.”
- “The trip would take months, and it would be full of risk to Abraham, his wife, his nephew, Lot, and their servants.”
- “They would face dangers from animals, thieves, foreign kings, fatigue, potential starvation and other threats.”
- “But Abraham could not experience God’s blessing from inside his comfort zone in his home in Haran.”
- “To experience God’s blessing, Abraham had to take a risk.”
- “Let me show you a demonstration that will help you understand comfort zones better.”
- “I’m going to need a volunteer.” (Select a volunteer from the group.)
- “Let’s pretend that this is your comfort zone.” (Position volunteer inside the coil of ropes or garden hose.)
- “Don’t you feel all comfy in there?”
- “Now, let’s pretend that you have a goal that you want to achieve.”
- “Your goal is to get five (or more if you like) shots in a row in that basket/trash can.”
- “You can take shots only from inside your comfort zone this first time.”
- “How many shots do you think you will make?” (Listen to response, and share it with the audience if it was too quiet for them to hear.)
- “Well, let’s try. Take your shots.” (Allow volunteer to take all his/her shots. Share the score with the audience.)
- “Not so good.”
- (Ask volunteer…) “What do you think would help you to be more successful?” (Listen to response, and shear it with the audience if it was too quiet for them to hear. If the volunteer doesn’t mention stepping out of their comfort zone, prompt them.)
- “Let’s try that.” (Allow volunteer to take one step, as big as they can, out of their comfort zone.)
- “But wait. That wasn’t very scary. Stepping out of your comfort zone has to have some risk involved.”
- “Otherwise, every place on earth would be your comfort zone.”
“Let’s make it more scary.”
- “Can I get another volunteer?” (Select another volunteer. Make him (or her) stand five feet away from the first volunteer.)
- “This person represents the risk of stepping out of your comfort zone.”
- “He (or she) has to stand right here and count to ten slowly (“one, one thousand, two, one thousand, three, one thousand….”).”
- “When he gets to ten, he can try to tag our first volunteer, the shooter, as long as he is out of his comfort zone.”
- “But if the shooter goes back into his comfort zone, he can’t be tagged there.”
- “However, he still has to make all five shots, either from within the comfort zone if he hasn’t don’t it already or out of his comfort zone if he is brave enough to come out one step.”
- “Do both my volunteers understand how this works?” (Answer any questions they have. Then, let your shooter try to make the shots, stepping no more than one step out of the comfort zone. If the risk person tags the shooter, the shooter can’t shoot anymore shots.)
- “That looked challenging.”
- “But something interesting happens when you step out of your comfort zone.” (Uncoil the rope or garden hose to make it twice as big as it was.)
- “Your comfort zone grows!”
- “Now you feel comfortable going further than you went before.”
- “So, let’s try it again.”
- “Our risk person will count to ten slowly before he tries to tag our shooter.”
- “Our shooter can step one, big step outside of his comfort zone and take five shots without getting tagged.” (Allow them to try this.)
- “It’s getting easier. Let’s do it again!”
- “The comfort zone increases, because our shooter took a step out of it during the last round.” (Uncoil the rope or garden hose another loop or even two (depending on how fast you want to finish the exercise) to make it bigger. Then let the shooter try to make his shots again. If the shooter makes all his shots, you’re done. If he doesn’t, you might want to run the exercise a time or two again. When you are finished, thank and dismiss your volunteers and close with the following comments.)
- “So, you can see how a comfort zone works.”
- “Whenever you take a risk and step out of it, it grows.”
- “The more you do it, the easier it will be to accomplish your goals.”
- “Remember our story about Abraham?”
- “He took a huge risk, but every step out of his comfort zone helped him to grow in his faith in the Lord.”
- “By the time Abraham reached the Promised Land, he had learned to put his complete faith in the Lord.”
- “He needed that faith to help him wait the 25 years for God’s promise of a son to come true.”
- “He would need it again to pass the test of almost offering Isaac as a sacrifice to the Lord.”
- “Abraham could never have the faith to do those things if he had stayed in Haran.”
- “If you want to experience God’s greatest blessings, you’ve got to follow Him out of your comfort zone.”
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Filed under Abraham, Abram, Belief, blessing, Challenges, Character, Comfort Zone, courage, faith, God's Plan, God's Will, Obedience, Object Lesson, Sarah, test, Trust
Tagged as Abraham, Abram, achievement, afraid, comfort zone, danger, development, faith, Fear, Genesis 12:1-9, goal setting, goals, God's blessing, God's promise, grow, growth, Israel, lot, maturity, Object Lesson, promise, Promised Land, reward, risk, Sarah, Sarai, scary, shoot, shooter, shots, step out, stretch goals, tag, target, travel, Trust
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