Chiquita Lady Relay Race
Materials Needed
- 2 sturdy paper plates,
- 4 bunches of bananas
- 8-10 players
How To Play
Great game for a lesson on the Fruit of the Spirit, Galatians 5:22-23.
Choose two teams of 4 players each. Players must hold the plate with two bunches of bananas on it and walk across the room and back. Players may use only one hand when walking. They must pass the plate to the next player who will do the same. If the bananas drop, the player must start over. Whichever team gets all four players across the room and back first, wins.
Jesus is our Life Saver
Key Verse
Romans 10:9
Additional Verses
Acts 16:31; Ephesians 2:8-9; John 3:16; Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38
Materials Needed
- Package of Life Savers candy.
Object Lesson
Imagine that you are out on a sailboat in the middle of the ocean. Everything is calm and beautiful and then you see some dark clouds out on the horizon rolling in. They are getting closer and closer and you see the flashes of lightning and hear the clap of the thunder. Before you know it, the boat is getting tossed and thrown by the violent waves. As you are making your way across the deck a huge wave hits the boat and carries you overboard into the cold ocean water below.
As you struggle in the water, you realize that you need help. What do you think could help you? (Wait for responses).
Maybe a life saver? I just happened to bring some with me!
(Take out the roll of life savers and show everyone.)
I heard that these can save you if you ever fall over board but I am not really sure how well they would work. Do you think these would work very well?
Well, I guess these life savers won’t work to save you from drowning in the ocean but they might save you from having bad breath! (If you want to you can hand out a life saver to everyone).
The Bible says that we all have sin in our life and that sin will result in death. We need to be saved. Now one of these life savers won’t help us very much but we have Someone who can save us from the sin that tries to drown our lives. His name is Jesus Christ.
The way we are saved from sin is by doing what it says in Romans 10:9. It says that we have to say that Jesus is Lord and believe that in our heart. That’s it. It isn’t very complicated at all. Jesus is our life saver and the only one that can save us from sin and death.
Disappearing Sin
Key Verse
1 John 1:9
Additional Verses
Isaiah 43:25; Matthew 6:12; Psalm 103:12
Materials Needed
- Magic Thumb Tip
- White tissue paper
- Magic Marker
Preparation
Make sure you practice this in advance. Using a thumb tip is easy, but it does take a little practice to master. Practice in front of a mirror to begin and then friends and family, until it becomes natural.
Object Lesson
Have you ever done anything wrong before? Maybe you told a lie, or swore? Maybe you disobeyed your parents or took something that didn’t belong to you? These things are called sins. A sin is anything that goes against what pleases God.
(Take out the tissue)
Let’s say that this nice white tissue represents your life. It is all nice and clean. But one day you tell a lie.
(Write Lie on the paper.)
What is another sin that you may have done?
(Wait for responses and then write them down on the tissue.)
As you can see this piece of paper is full of sins now. It doesn’t look very clean anymore does it? There is nothing that we can do that can make these things go away. In 1 John 1:9 it says that if we confess our sins to God he will remove the sins for us! That sounds like a pretty good deal doesn’t it? In Psalm 103:12 it says God will take our sins and move them as far as the East is from the West!
(Begin pushing the tissue of sins into your closed hand containing the thumb tip)
Although you can’t remove the sins on your own, we serve a God that is faithful to remove them for us. We just need to ask him. We need to repent of the sins we have committed and follow Jesus.
(Push the final bit in with your thumb, and remove the thumb tip from your hand and show your hands are empty)
When God removes our sins he takes them completely away so far that we can never find them again. Let us ask God to forgive our sins today!
Recharge Your Batteries
Key Verse
Joshua 1:8
Additional Verses
Psalms 119:105; Matthew 4:4; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; Hebrews 4:12; Psalms 119:18
Materials Needed
- Cell phone with charger
- Bible
Object Lesson
(Hold up the cell phone.)
Have any of you ever used one of these before? What are cell phones used for? (Wait for responses.) I remember when cell phones were used only for making phone calls! Now they are used for so many more things! You can play games, listen to music, navigate, watch movies, and so much more. It is amazing how much you can do with a cell phone.
There is a problem that all cell phones have. Have you ever used a phone for a long period of time, maybe playing a game or listening to music, and then you glance up and see that the battery indicator shows the battery is almost dead?
What a horrible feeling that is! What do you do when that happens? Do you throw the phone into the garbage? Do you toss it on the ground and stomp all over it? Do you smash it with a huge hammer? No way! Of course not.
What you need is one of these!
(Hold up the phone charger.)
You have to plug the phone into the power and recharge it. The battery will start to charge up immediately and you will soon be at full power once again.
Did you know that your life is a lot like this cell phone. You may play games, watch movies and talk with your friends, but soon your spiritual battery begins to drain. You need to get recharged! You need to take time to read God’s Word on daily daily basis like it says to do in Joshua 1:8.
As you read God’s Word your faith and power will begin to increase and you will be able to do great things for the Kingdom of God. If you don’t take time to recharge your spirit will be weak and not able to do great things.
Just like you always remember to recharge the batteries in your cell phone make sure that you recharge your spiritual batteries each day also.
Stars and Stripes
Key Verse
Galatians 5:1
Additional Verses
1 Corinthians 7:23; Galatians 5:13; John 3:16
Materials Needed
- American Flag
Object Lesson
(Show the American Flag).
Do any of you know what this is? Yes! This is the flag of the United States of America. This flag reminds us of the freedom citizens of America enjoy but it also helps me to remember what Jesus did for me.
On June 14, 1777 the founding fathers of America decided that the flag should have stripes with red, white and blue. When I look at these things is reminds me of Jesus.
The stars that are on the flag reminds me of the very first verse in the Bible, Genesis 1:1. It says that in the very Beginning God created everything. Even the stars. Can you imagine how big and powerful God must be to be able to create the stars!
The stripes and the red color remind me about the stripes from the whip that Jesus had on his back. He bled and died for me. He wanted to take my sin upon him and he gives me forgiveness. He was beaten and whipped so that I could have healing.
The white stripes remind me that once Jesus died and rose again he cleaned my heart. The Bible says in Psalm 51:7 that God will clean us and make us whiter than snow.
The last color of the flag is the Blue. Blue is a very royal color that kings and queens wear. This reminds me that Jesus is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords and He rules everything from His throne is Heaven.
When we see the flag let is remind us of the great country that we live in, but also let it remind us of the sacrifice that Jesus made and the love that He has for us.
Memorial Day
Key Verse
Deuteronomy 6:12
Additional Verses
1 Corinthians 7:23; Galatians 5:1; Galatians 5:13
Materials Needed
- American Flag
Object Lesson
Do you of you know what holiday we are celebrating this weekend? (Wait for responses.) That’s right we are celebrating Memorial Day. Do you know what memorial means? It means that we are supposed to remember something. But I can’t seem to remember, what we are supposed to remember.
(Take out the American Flag).
Maybe this will help me to remember. This is the flag of the United States of America, and it does help me to remember. On Memorial Day we remember the soldiers who fought and died so that we can live in a free country. Many of them sacrificed their lives so that we could gather together and worship Christ without being afraid of being punished.
There are many countries around the world that cannot worship God freely. They have to meet in secret so that no one can find them. If they were caught they would get throw into prison and sometimes even killed.
On this day we remember the men and women who fought for our freedom. But we also remember Jesus Christ who fought for our freedom. He died so that we could have freedom from our sins.
As we remember the patriots that died for our country, let us also remember our Savior who died for us. But the great thing is that Jesus did not stay dead! He rose from the dead on the third day!
He Took Away Our Sin
Key Verse
1 Peter 2:24
Additional Verses
2 Corinthians 5:21; Isaiah 53:4-6; Hebrews 9:28; Matthew 8:17; Galatians 3:13
Materials Needed
- Large shirt that you don’t mind ruining. A button up shirt will probably work the best as it is easiest to put on and off.
- Black washable marker (In case it should bleed through)
Object Lesson
(Call up a volunteer and have them put the large shirt on.)
Here is my friend and just like you they have sinned against God at times. The Bible says in Romans 3:23 that we have all sinned, so let us think of some different sins that this person may have committed. (You can ask for sins if you want, or you can just write down the ones that you want to.)
Stealing. Maybe this person was at a store and really wanted a pack of candy and instead of paying for it they just snuck it into their pocket. That is a sin, and we will write it down. (White “stealing” on the shirt in permanent marker.)
Maybe this person told a lie also, so let’s write that down as well. (Write “lying” somewhere else on the shirt.
Perhaps they were taking a test and they decided to cheat, do you think that would please God? No! Let’s write down “cheating” as well.
Maybe they were playing ball with some friends and they all started bullying someone else who wasn’t playing the game as well. Let’s write down “bullying” too.
(Feel free to write down as many as you want to.)
Wow! Look at this person! They are covered in sin, aren’t they? Do you think that they can wipe all these sins off?
(Instruct the helper to try to wipe all the sins off of the shirt.)
They may scrub and wipe and struggle, but there is nothing that they can do to remove these sins that we have written down. There is no way to make themselves clean again.
(Have another volunteer come out and play Jesus, or you can play it.)
What Jesus did when he went and died on Calvary was he took the sins away from us. God could not be near sin and since we were covered with sin God could not be near us. So Jesus took our sins and put them on himself.
(Have the helper remove the shirt. Have “Jesus” put it on himself, or put it on yourself.)
Then when God saw Jesus all he could see was the sin. Jesus died on the cross wearing all of our sin on his back. When Jesus died sin and death could not hold him any longer. (Take the shirt off and throw it far from you.) Jesus came back alive and left the sin in the grave. He is now alive and offers us freedom from the sin that once held us captive.
Triumphal Entry
Key Verse
John 12:13
Additional Verses
John 12:9-19; Matthew 21:5; Mark 11:1-11
Materials Needed
- Palm branches
- Coats
Object Lesson
Do you know what today is? It is Palm Sunday! This is the day that we celebrate when Jesus rode into Jerusalem shortly before He was crucified. They call it His Triumphal Entry. That mean he rode in victoriously! Like a king!
(Show the palm branch)
One day Jesus was going into Jerusalem. He was riding in on a donkey which no one had ever ridden on before. As he rode into Jerusalem people started cutting down palm branches and throwing them on the road in front of him. Some people even took off their coats and threw them on the road for the donkey to walk on.
(Throw the branches and coats on the ground and walk across them)
Jesus rode over the coats and palm branches and as he did the crowd starting shouting. They said “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” Let’s say that together!
When a king would come riding into town everyone would gather around for the great parade. Even though Jesus was not the earthly king, people realized that He was the King of Kings.
Book of Life
Key Verse
Luke 10:20
Additional Verses
Revelation 13:8; Revelation 20:12; Revelation 20:15; Revelation 3:5; Revelation 21:27
Materials Needed
- Guest Book. Even a plain notebook will do.
Object Lesson
Have you ever been to a really nice restaurant before? When you go to a nice restaurant you don’t just barge in and sit down wherever you want. You usually have to go up to a counter and they ask for your name. Some really nice restaurants even want you to call in a reservation before you come.
(Show the guest book.)
The receptionist will write your name down in the book and let you know when they will seat you. Once they are ready with a table for you they will call you and let you come and sit down and enjoy your delicious meal.
If you just came running in do you think they would give you a table? No! Because you do not have a reservation.
Did you know that Heaven has a reservation list too? It is called the Lamb’s Book of Life. The Bible teaches us that anyone who believes that Jesus is Lord gets their name written in that Book. Once day when we get to Heaven before they let us in they will check to make sure that our name is in the Book of Life.
If your name is in the Book because you gave your life to Jesus then they will let you in. But the Bible says that if your name is not in the list you will be cast out of Heaven and will not be allowed to enter.
If your name in the Book of Life? When we believe that Jesus is Lord and say that with our mouth then God puts our name in the book and makes our reservation for our home in Heaven.
Don’t Be a Glutton
Key Verse
1 Corinthians 9:27
Additional Verses
Galatians 5:22-23; Titus 2:12; Philippians 3:19
Materials Needed
- Bag of potato chips (Lay’s is best because the slogan is “bet you can’t eat just one.”
Object Lesson
(Take out the bag of potato chips.)
Do any of you like potato chips? What is your favorite kind? (Allow for some responses.) I love potato chips too.
(Open the bag of potato chips and start eating them as you talk).
The problem that I have is when I open up the bag and start eating them, I want to keep eating and eating them until the whole bag is gone. Have you ever done that before? Maybe you are sitting watching a movie and you don’t even realize that you keep eating them and eating them, talking about movies, do you know how much netflix costs overseas? it it crazy to know that some countries have more options in Netflix than other, the good thing is that you could also get a subscription internationally, that way you keep on eating your chips.
Do you know what the Bible calls that? Gluttony! Being a glutton is when you are not able to control how much you eat.
(Hand out a chip to everyone.)
I am going to give you all a chip, but I do NOT want you to eat it. This is going to take some self-control. Do you know what the slogan of Lay’s potato chips is? “Bet you can’t eat just one.”
(Eat a chip.) Man they are right! It is so hard to eat just one! They are so salty and crispy and taste so good. I just want to eat the entire bag right now! Would you like to eat your chip? (Wait for a response). Nope! Not yet.
In 1 Corinthians 9:27 it says that we should discipline our bodies and keep them under control. It is ok to eat a chip or some good food, but when we get out of control it turns into sin. Are you ready to eat the chip? Not yet!
We need to control ourselves. That means being able to say “NO” to certain things. Maybe it’s food, maybe it is something else that you need to say “NO” to. God wants us to have self-control. It is one of the fruits of the spirit.
Are you ready to eat the chip? OK, let’s see if you can really just eat one.
(Let everyone eat the chip.)
Great job! You only ate one and you practiced self-control!
D5 Creation