Time
20-25 minutes
Description
This object lesson teaches about the sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross and helps children to recognize that He did it for all of us – even those of us who choose not to accept His gift. (It’s called “Mr. Bobby’s Sacrifice in honor of the big man with a bigger heart who always volunteers for this strenuous activity.)
This activity works best with a larger group of kids. However, if you have a small group, try having each child make several trips up to put their rocks in the bucket. Only on the last trip can they get the incentive.
Materials
- Two buckets with strong handles
- A place where children can pick up at least two rocks each
- Some type of incentive for the children (I’ve used individually wrapped packages of fruit snacks and candy before.) If you can get something that most of the kids will like but that a few will not, you will have more success with the activity. (In this case, be sure to have another incentive hidden that these children can choose at the end of the activity.)
- Two signs that say, “SIN.”
- Tape
Preparation
· Find a strong volunteer, and explain the object lesson to him.
· Put your incentives in a place where they will be easily seen by the children and where they have easy access to them.
· Put tape of your “SIN” signs, and lay them close to the teaching area
· Ask the children to each grab at least two rocks for a special activity in class. They can grab more than two rocks if they want, but they must have at least two. Rocks can be the size of a small egg or larger.
· Practice the script.
Procedure
Use the following script (or modify to suit your needs):
· “Hey, everyone! Did each of you grab at least two rocks before you came in here?” (Have the children hold them up so that you can see them.)
· “Fantastic! Hey, I’ve got great news! Mr. (supply the name of your volunteer) wants to buy everyone some (supply the name of your incentive)!”
· “How many of you want some (incentive)?”
· “Okay, Mr. (volunteer) is going to earn those for you by showing us how strong he is.”
· “Everyone who wants (incentive) has to line up with your rocks right here.”
· “When I tell you to, you will trade your rocks for the (incentive) by putting at least one in each of Mr. (volunteer’s) buckets.”
· “He will earn the incentive for you by carrying your rocks.”
· “Isn’t Mr. (volunteer) great!” (Encourage enthusiastic responses.)
· (Have Mr. (volunteer) stand at the front of the room with a bucket in each hand. As well as he is able, he should stretch his arms wide like Jesus on the cross. It’s important for the kids to be able to tell that this is challenging and painful to the volunteer. Have the children line up with their rocks.)
· (Ask the first child.) “Do you want a (incentive)? Okay, then divide all your rocks between the two buckets.”
· (After the child puts his/her rocks into the two buckets, allow him/her to get the incentive and then return to his/her seat. Keep working your way through the children, occasionally pointing out your volunteer’s straining or facial expressions.)
· (If a child says, “no” to the incentive, he or she should lay his or her rocks down on the floor and return to his/her seat. Your volunteer should then set down the buckets, pick up the rocks and divide them between the two buckets. Then, he should resume his former position. This typically doesn’t happen until later in the object lesson, and it usually requires some prodding to get the first child to lay down his/her rocks.)
· “Did you notice that he still picked up the rocks? You see, Mr. (volunteer) already agreed to pay for everyone. Even if you don’t want your (incentive), he will still pay for it for you.”
· (Continue having children put their rocks in and take their incentives. If you get three-fourths of the way through the children without one of them laying down his or her rocks, you will need to do some prodding using the following script.)
o “Wow! Mr. (volunteer) is really sweating! It looks like a real struggle holding up those buckets?”
o “How do you feel about that?”
o “Mr. (volunteer), how are you feeling?” (Have him be honest about the pain and struggle.)
o “If it’s that difficult, why are you doing it?” (Have him share about his love for the children.)
o (Back to the children) “Is it okay with you that he is having to work so hard for you to you’re your (incentive)?”
o “Do you think it is fair that he is having to go through so much pain?”
o “Are you sure, you want to put your rocks into his buckets”
· (After all have made (or not made) the trade, allow your volunteer to put the buckets down.)
· “Kids we did this activity to give you a picture of how much Jesus loves you. Just like Mr. (volunteer) loves you enough to pay for your (incentive), Jesus loves you enough to pay for you to join Him in heaven.”
· “The rocks you brought today represent your sin, the bad things you’ve done.” (Label both buckets with the “Sin” signs.)
· “You may have noticed that some of you brought small “sins,” and some of you brought big “sins.” Some of you brought just two “sins,” and some of you brought several handfuls!”
· “When we go before God, some of us will just have a few sins compared to the others. And our sins might not seem that bad compared to theirs, but to God, sin is sin – no matter how small and no matter how few.”
· “The Bible says that the payment, the punishment for sin is death. It’s what we owe to pay for our sins.” (Romans 6:23)
· “Unfortunately, none of us can pay for our sins. We owe too much.”
· “The only One who could pay was someone who didn’t owe anything of his own.”
· “And the only Person who has ever lived and not sinned is Jesus. He’s the only One who could pay what we owed for our sin.”
· “Just like Mr. (volunteer) spread his arms to pay for your (incentive), Jesus spread His arms on the cross to pay for your sins and mine.”
· “But do you remember that not everyone wanted their (incentive), but Mr. (volunteer) paid for them anyway?”
· “You see, Jesus paid for everyone’s sins – even those of us who don’t want to believe in Him.”
· “And isn’t that a shame? To leave something that is already paid for on the table?”
· “Shouldn’t we enjoy it if Jesus went to so much trouble to get it for us?”
· “Jesus paid for it! He didn’t just die for a few. He died for ALL of us!”
· “But Jesus loves us so much that He won’t force us to take what He bought for us. He still lets us choose.”
· “You have to want it and accept it, but you don’t have to do anything to earn it.”
· “If you want what Jesus has bought for you on the cross… if you want life with Him forever in heaven, all you have to do is tell him in your prayers.”
· “Tell Him that you want what He bought. Tell Him you want to follow Him and to go to heaven.”
· “And then, tell all of us so that we can celebrate with you!”
· “I know that some of you who didn’t take your (incentive) did it out of your love for Mr. (volunteer).”
· “If you are one of those people, Mr. (volunteer) wants to see you after we finish.” (Have your volunteer tell these children how much he appreciates the sacrifice they made for him and that they really helped with the lesson. Then, he can give them the choice of taking the incentive – no rocks this time.)
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