Tag Archives: trials

Time

10 minutes
Description

This object lesson shows how God uses both good and bad things in our life to make us into the person we are.  It uses the analogy of baking a cake with all its ingredients.

Scriptures

• Romans 8:28

Materials

• Flour (about half a cup)
• Baking soda (about half a cup)
• Salt (about half a cup)
• Vinegar (about half a cup)
• Baking powder (about half a cup)
• Unsweetened cocoa powder (about half a cup)
• Sugar (about half a cup)
• Eggs (2)
• Milk (about half a cup)
• Vegetable oil (about half a cup)
• Plastic spoons (10)
• Snack cakes (10 – chocolate flavor – something from Little Debbie’s or something similar)
• Table (1)
• Chef costume (optional – apron, chef’s hat wooden spoon, etc.)
• Slip of paper with Romans 8:28 written on it.
• Bible

Preparation

• Line your ingredients up in small containers on a table in the front of the room.
• Place a spoon in front of each ingredient.
• Write the Scripture on the slip of paper, and put the slip of paper in your chef’s hat or somewhere else you can easily get to it during the lesson.
• Hide the snack cakes somewhere that no one will be able to see them.
• Practice the script.

Procedure

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

• “How many of you like cake?”  (Acknowledge responses.)
• “Me, too!  I love it!”
• “Hey, if you like cake, maybe you can help me with something!”
• “Can I get ten volunteers to come up front?” (Select 10 volunteers.  Have each one take up a position behind one of the ingredients.  If you don’t have enough participants, have some of them taste more than one ingredient in the upcoming demonstration.)
• “So, I like cake a lot, and you like cake a lot, right?”
• “Then, let’s make some cake!”
• “I have this recipe.”  (Hold up a sheet of paper to represent your recipe.)
• “It says we need flour, baking soda, salt, vinegar, baking powder, cocoa, sugar, eggs, milk, and vegetable oil.”  (Point out the different ingredients as you mention them.)
• “That’s why I need you guys.  Each one of you is responsible for one of these ingredients.”
• “So, let’s see…the recipe says, ‘Preheat oven to 350 degrees.’”
• “Oops, I forgot to do that part.”
• “’Grease and flour two, nine-inch cake pans.’”
• “Uh-oh…I didn’t do that, either.”
  “’Mix all the ingredients for three minutes.  Then pour into cake pans and bake in over for 35 minutes…’”
• “35 minutes!  That’s WAY too long!  We don’t have that kind of time.”
• “I’ve got a better idea!”
• “Let’s just eat the ingredients one at a time.”
• “They are all going to the same place anyway, right?”
• “When they get to our bellies, they will mix together to make a cake!”
• “So, here’s where I need your help!”
• “I need each of you to take one spoonful of your ingredient and tell us how it tastes.” (Most won’t want to try their ingredient, but urge them a few times.  If they still don’t want to do it, say, “Oh, all right!  I’ll try it.” Then, make a big show of how bad it tastes.  Gag, sputter, buckle your knees, gasp, whatever…  Even if they try their ingredient first, you should also try it.  The only exception would be the eggs, because eating raw eggs might make you sick.)
• “That was absolutely terrible!”
• “Only the sugar and milk tasted good.”
• “I love cake, and it always tastes soooooo good!  Why do the ingredients taste soooooo bad?” (Acknowledge responses.)
• “Oh!  You mean they only taste good when you mix them all together?”
• “That reminds me of a Bible verse!”  (Take off your hat, and pull out the slip of paper with the Scripture on it.  Ask one of your volunteers to read it aloud.)
• “This Scripture means that God uses ALL THINGS for our good – good things and bad things – good ingredients like the sugar and milk and bad ingredients like the baking soda and vinegar.”
• “God mixes them all together in our lives to help make us into the people He wants us to become.”
• “This won’t happen right away…it will take time.”
• “Many times in life, we have to go through tings that are really bitter and unpleasant.”
• “At the time, they seem terrible, but God has a recipe, and He will take that bad thing and make something good out of it if we will just be patient and wait for Him to work.”
• “But if we will trust God with even the bitter stuff in our lives, He will bring the sweetness out – just like in these cakes that I forgot I bought this weekend!!!”  (Give each volunteer one of the snack cakes.)
• “How do those taste?”  (Acknowledge responses.  Then thank and dismiss your volunteers.  Use the Debriefing Questions and the Rhyme Time below to reinforce the learning.)

Debriefing Questions

1. Why do you think God allows us to go through the bitter and difficult things in our lives?
2. Have you ever been through something terrible but then seen later how God used it to help you?  (Allow one or two to share their examples.)
3. Based on what you’ve learned, how will you handle those bitter and difficult times in the future?

Rhyme Time

Sometimes we’ve got to wait

For God to make it great!