Hearing God’s Voice
Key Verse
John 10:27
Additional Verses
John 8:47; Jeremiah 33:3; Romans 8:14; Luke 11:28; Hebrews 2:1; 1 Kings 19:12
Materials Needed
- Radio. Any kind of radio would work, but this works best with the older analog radio dials.
Object Lesson
Has God ever spoken to you before? A lot of people claim that God talks to them and tells them things, sometimes it is true and sometimes it might be something the just made up. God does speak to us though! He usually speaks to us through His Word, the Bible, and He speaks to us in a “still small voice.”
When God speaks to us usually the clouds don’t roll back and we hear this loud booming voice from the sky. It is a quiet voice that we hear inside of our soul, however it is not always easy to hear. We have to really tune in and listen to hear from God.
(Take out the radio.)
Have you ever used a radio before? Sometimes it is nice to listen to the radio because there are all kinds of music and shows on the radio, but what do you have to do to listen to it? You have to tune in!
(Turn the radio on and start to roll through the channels. You can make comments on it as you go. Once you have done this for a few moments, turn the radio off.)
As you see there are many different voices on the radio, some are good and some are not so good. You have to tune in to the good voices, the ones that you want to hear.
We all want to hear from God, but a lot of the times we are actually listening to the wrong voices. There is so much noise in our life, and so much static that it is really hard to hear what God is trying to say to us. What do we need to do? We need to tune our lives to God and be quiet so we can actually hear Him.
In John 10:27 it says that God’s sheep know His voice. That means we are tuned to hear it. Just like a sheep can know their shepherd’s voice we can learn God’s voice. If a stranger comes up and tries to lead the sheep somewhere bad do you think they will follow? No! Because they know their shepherd’s voice.
How do we tune in and start hearing God’s voice? We learn God’s voice by reading the Bible, memorizing and meditating on it. When God speaks to us it will usually be through His Word, and it will never go against what it says in the Bible. The more we learn about God’s Word the more we learn to hear His voice.
Control Your Tongue
Key Verse
James 1:26
Additional Verses
James 3:3-5; Psalm 39:1; Proverbs 18:21; Philippians 4:8
Materials Needed
- Horse bit and bridle.
Object Lesson
(Hold up the bit and bridle.)
Do any of you know what this is? (Wait for a response.) This is a bridle for a horse, and this metal piece here is the bit. Do you know where the bit goes? It goes in the horse’s mouth! Then you hold on to the reigns and when you pull on one side it causes the bit to tug on one side of the horse’s mouth and he will turn in that direction. When you pull on the other side, then she will turn that way. Do you know what happens when you pull them both at the same time? The horse should stop!
In the book of James it talks a lot about learning how to control our tongue. In James 3:3 it says that a bit is very small but it can control the entire horse. That means that if you want to control a gigantic horse all you need to do is control the bit in its mouth.
In James 1:26 it tells us that we may try to act religious, but if we cannot control our tongue then our religion is worthless. If we learn how to control this tiny bit then we can control a huge horse. If we learn how to control our tongue we can control our whole body.
We control our tongue by only speaking good and honorable things. When we gossip or when we tell lies or say bad things about people we are not controlling our tongues at all, and the Bible says that our religion is worthless.
Let us learn how to control our tongues. If you are tempted to say something that you shouldn’t maybe you should walk away for a few minutes. Maybe you should bite your tongue! Maybe you should think of something nice to say instead.
Submit to God’s Control
Key Verse
James 4:7
Additional Verses
Psalm 37:23; Isaiah 14:27; Hebrew 2:8; Proverbs 19:21; Romans 12:2
Materials Needed
- Radio control toy (car, boat, helicopter, whatever)
Object Lesson
(Take out the radio controlled car and show it to everyone.)
Have you ever seen one of these before? What is it? (Wait for a response.) Do you have anything that is radio controlled? (Allow them to respond.) Radio controlled cars, trucks, boats and airplanes are so much because because you actually get to control it. You might have other toy cars that you can look at or push around, but when it has a radio control you can do all kinds of cool things with it!
(Put the car on the floor and stare at it.)
Does anyone know what this car is doing? (Wait for a response.) Absolutely nothing!! This car is in control of itself right now and it isn’t going anywhere! Watch what happens when I take control of it! (Drive the car around.)
We are just like this car. When we try to control ourselves we don’t really go anywhere. Instead we should let God have the control and he can lead us, guide us, and direct us where He wants us to go.
In James 4:7 the Bible says that we should submit to God, that means that we let Him control us. (Hold out the radio control and hand it to someone.) That’s like taking this control and giving it to someone and saying, “I want YOU to control the car.” What we are doing when we give God the control is we are saying that we want HIM to control our lives.
When God is controlling our lives through his Holy Spirit then we can know that He will lead us in the best path for our life. Let us give the control of our life over to God today.
Stay Charged Up
Key Verse
Ephesians 6:10
Additional Verses
Psalms 118:14; Colossians 3:16; Proverbs 4:20-22; John 15:7; Philippians 4:6; Hebrews 10:25
Materials Needed
- Dead rechargeable batteries
- Flashlight or something to show that the batteries don’t work
- Battery recharger
Object Lesson
(Show the flashlight or whatever you have.)
Does anyone here know what this is? (Wait for responses.) That’s right it is a flashlight! Do you know what it is used for? (Allow a response.) That’s right it helps you to see when it is dark. (Switch the light on, but it shouldn’t come on or it should be very dim.) Uh oh! Something isn’t right here! Does anyone know why this flashlight is not working properly? (Wait for a response.) You think the batteries are dead?
(Take out the batteries and read the side.)
This says that these batteries are “rechargeable.” Do you know what that means? That means that once the battery dies you can charge it back up again. (Pull out the battery charger and show it.) Do any of you have anything that takes rechargeable batteries?
I was in such a hurry to show you my flashlight that I forgot to put these batteries on the charger and now these batteries don’t have any power.
In Ephesians 6:10 it says that we should be strong in the Lord’s mighty power! How do we get strong in His power? By staying charged up, just like these batteries. We read his Word, we pray, we go to church and learn about Him. When we do these things our faith and strength grow.
But, if we stop doing these things our charge will slowly drain just like these batteries lost all of their strength. We need to stay strong in God’s power and keep seeking Him with our whole heart. When we do these things He will give us His strength.
Long Hair
A teenage boy had just gotten his driving permit. He asked his dad, who was a pastor, if he could start using the car. His dad took him to his study and said to him, “I’ll make a deal with you. If you bring your grades up, study your Bible a little and get your hair cut and we’ll talk about it.”
A month later the boy came back and asked his dad about the car again. The dad took him to his study again and said, “Son, I am really proud of you. You have brought your grades up, you have studied your Bible some, but you didn’t get your hair cut, you started using castor oil for hair growth!”
The young man waited and then replied, “You know Dad, I’ve been thinking about that. Samson had long hair, Moses had long hair, Noah had long hair, and even Jesus had long hair!”
His dad quickly cut him off and responded, “Yes, and they WALKED everywhere they went!”
The Dried Leaf
A young boy opened the big and old family Bible with amazement, and studied the old pages as he slowly turned them. As he was turning the pages something fell out of the Bible, and he picked it up and looked at it closely. It was an old leaf from a tree that had been pressed between the pages.
“Mom, look what I found,” the boy yelled.
“What do you have, sweetie?” his mother asked.
In total shock the young boy answered: “I think it’s Adam’s suit!”
The Rare Bible
A rare book collector ran into an old friend who told him he had just thrown away an old Bible that he found in an old box in his attic. He happened to mention that Guten-somebody-or-other had printed it.
“Not Gutenberg?” gasped the collector.
“Yes, that was it!”
“You idiot! You’ve thrown away one of the first books ever printed. A copy recently sold at auction for half a million dollars!”
“Oh, I don’t think this book would have been worth anything close to that much,” replied the man. “It was scribbled all over in the margins by some guy named Martin Luther.”
Make Your Sins Disappear
Key Verse
1 John 1:9
Additional Verses
Romans 3:23; Ephesians 4:32; Matthew 6:15; Acts 2:38; Matthew 6:12
Materials Needed
- Flash Paper. You can purchase it online or at a local magic shop or it you are daring you can try to make it yourself.
- Pen or pencil
Preparation
Practice this beforehand so that you understand how quickly the flash paper will burn! What you will do is hold a sheet and light the bottom corner and as it burns higher up let it go and it will completely vanish.
Object Lesson
Have any of you ever committed a sin? Have you ever done anything wrong before? What is something that you have done that is wrong? (Let the kids answer and write their answers on the piece of flash paper).
Now this paper doesn’t look very clean does it? How many of you have ever felt like this paper, dirty all over and covered in sin? Some people try to hide the fact that they have sinned. (Crumple up the paper and hold it in your closed hand). The Bible tells us in Romans 3:23 that we have all sinned and fallen short of God’s glorious standard. Just ignoring the sin didn’t make it go away did it?
God wants to completely forgive you of your sins and make you a brand new person inside. Doesn’t that sound great? Jesus promises us in 1 John 1:9 that He will forgive us of every wrong thing that we have done if we will apologize and ask Jesus to forgive us. We need to accept His free gift. Then God promises that He will completely take our sins away.
(Light the paper on fire, and it will instantly burn up with no residue or ash).
Just like those sins on that paper are gone Jesus wants to make your sins disappear too if you will let Him come and forgive you.
We Are All One
Key Verse
Galatians 3:28
Additional Verses
Colossians 3:11; 1 Corinthians 12:12-30; Ephesians 4:2-5; Acts 17:26-28; 1 Corinthians 9:20
Materials Needed
- Several varieties of apples (different colors and sizes)
Object Lesson
(Hold up one of the apples.)
Does anyone know what kind of fruit this is? (Wait for a response.) That’s right this is an apple. What color is it? (Wait for response.)
(Show a different apple.)
Do you know what type of fruit this is? (Allow for a response.) Yes, it is also an apple.
(Continue showing all the apples.)
Tell me what is different about these pieces of fruit? (Wait for a response.) They are different colors. Some are different shapes. Some are big. Some are little. I have several varieties here.
(Can you tell me what is the same about this fruit that I have? (Wait for a response.) They are all apples! They all have a stem. They all have a peel. They all have seeds inside. And they all taste delicious!
This reminds me about how God created people equally. We may look different on the outside. Some of us may be African, Hispanic, white, Eskimo, Indian, or a variety of other nationalities. Some of us may be thin, or some of us may be chubby. Some of us are boys while others are girls.
The Scriptures tell us in Galatians 3:28 that we are all one in Christ. This means that we are equal. So if we are all one in Christ we should treat each others the same way we want to be treated regardless of how they look.
We should not look down on someone because they are not the same as us. If we are going to be a Church that reaches others we will need to work together.
Walk on the Water
A priest, an evangelist, and a pastor were fishing in a boat in the middle of a pond. None of them had caught anything all morning.
Then the evangelist stands up and says he needs to go to the bathroom so he climbs out of the boat and walks on the water to shore. He comes back ten minutes later the same way.
Then the pastor decides he needs to go to the bathroom too, so he climbs out of the boat and walks on the water to shore. A few minutes later he comes back the same way.
The priest looks at both of them and decides that his faith is just as strong as his fishing buddies and that he can walk on water too. He stands up and excuses himself. As he steps out, he makes a big splash down into the water.
The evangelist looks at the pastor and says,”I suppose we should have told him where the rocks were.”
D5 Creation