Choose Five - Teach Them



Time

10-15 minutes

Description

This object lesson teaches that Jesus purchased a gift for everyone who has ever lived or ever will live. It was the gift of eternal life. But even though He paid a tremendous price for it, He still allows us to choose whether or not we will receive it.

Audience

• Children, Youth, Adults

Scriptures

• Romans 3:23

• Romans 6:23

Materials

• Small gift bags for each person. (They should be nicely decorated, and each gift should have someone’s name on it. For children, I recommend some snacks and maybe a few small toys or giveaway items. For youth and adults, you might want to buy something a little more substantial or symbolically meaningful.)

• A sheet or table cloth to cover the gift bags.

• Signs for “SIN,” “GOD,” “US” with a string looped across the top so that volunteers can wear them around their necks.

• A large cross made from cardboard or some other material. (4 ft tall or so)

• Bible

Preparation

• Arrange the gift bags at the back of the room, and cover them so that you can reveal them later.

• Have your other props somewhere accessible to the front of the room.

• Practice the script.

Procedure

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

• “The Bible tells us that ‘all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.’” (Romans 3:23)

• “The word, ‘sin,’ in the language that Jesus spoke (Aramaic) was an archery term.”

• “It was what the scorekeeper yelled when an arrow missed the target.”

• “He would shout, ‘SIN!’ to give feedback to the archer, because he was often too far away from the target to see if he hit it or not.”

• “’Sin’ means ‘to miss the mark’ – to miss the goal.”

• “When we sin, we are missing the target that God has set for us.”

• “That target is holiness – to be like God by being morally and spiritually excellent.”

• “The place where the arrow landed was called ‘evil.’”

• “Evil is the opposite of holiness.”

• “If you have ever lied, cheated, stole something, hurt someone on purpose, disrespected your parents, said something mean, pretended to be something that you were not, refused to forgive someone…you have sinned.”

• “You’ve missed the mark, the target, of holiness.”

• “Your arrow has landed in evil.”

• “The Bible says we have all done it, and because we have sinned, our arrow falls short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23)

• “And there is a penalty for missing the mark.”

• “Romans 6:23 tells us that the ‘wages of sin is death.’”

• “Wages are what you earn for your work.”

• “So what you earn for the work of sin is death.”

• “This verse is talking about two kinds of death.

• “First, unless Jesus comes again before it happens, we will all die someday.”

• “Second, sin brings death to our relationship with God – it separates us from Him.”

• “Our God is so holy that He can’t have sinfulness in His presence.”

• “He is 100% holy, and His holiness is so pure it would destroy sinfulness and evil in His presence.”

• “For that reason, our sin separates us from God.” (Ask for three volunteers to come up to the front. Hand one the sign that says, “SIN.” Hand another the sign that says, “GOD.” Hand the third the sign that says, “US.” Have them put the signs around their necks.)

• “It used to look like this.” (Put the volunteer with the “US” sign and the volunteer with the “GOD” sign together.)

• “God and human beings were together in the Garden of Eden.”

• “Adam and Eve were in God’s presence, and they had a wonderful, meaningful relationship with Him.”

• “But then Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, which God had told them not to do.”

• “This was sin. They fell short of the glory of God.”

• “That sin separated Adam and Eve from God.” (Put the “SIN” volunteer between the “GOD” and “US” volunteers, and have her push them away from each other with her arms.)

• “SIN created a giant chasm (or never-ending pit) between US and GOD, and no human being could cross it to the other side.”

• “Of course, God still loved Adam and Eve, but He had to send them out of the Garden.”

• “They could no longer be in His presence.”

• “Since that day, we have all been separated from God because of sin.”

• “But God wasn’t surprised when Adam and Eve sinned.”

• “He knew the exact moment that it would happen….and He already had a plan!!” (Ask volunteer to read all of Romans 6:23.)

• “The wages of sin is death – we earned it, we deserve it…BUT….the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord!”

• “God had a plan – He’s given us a gift!”

• “And it’s a pretty awesome gift – eternal life!”

• “We earned death, but He gave us life as a gift.”

• “We can live forever with Jesus!”

• “But how did this happen? Sin was separating us from God.” (Point to your volunteers.)

• “Jesus came to earth as a baby and lived a perfect life without ever sinning.”

• “None of his arrows missed the mark.”

• “Everyone made a bull’s-eye in the center of holiness.”

• “But just like God’s holiness can destroy evil, evil does it’s best to destroy holiness.”

• “There were people in authority who didn’t like Jesus at all, and they convinced the Roman governor to crucify Jesus, which means that they nailed his body to a cross to kill him.”

• “Satan thought that he had destroyed holiness by nailing Jesus to the cross, but he didn’t understand God’s plan.”

• “Three days later, Jesus rose from the dead. He defeated death for all of us who believe in Him.”

• “By dying on the cross, Jesus paid our sin debt, what we earned for sinning.”

• “He knew that we could never pay our debt by ourselves, so He did it for us.”

• “This is a little like if you were a criminal and went before the judge to be sentenced to death for your crimes but were saved when someone in the courtroom jumped up and said they would take your punishment for you.”

• “So Jesus paid the price, He died, but because He is God, He was able to defeat death and come back to life!”

• “And here’s the coolest part! That cross that God’s enemies used to punish Jesus actually became a bridge that connects US back to GOD over the giant chasm of SIN.” (Ask for another volunteer, and hand her the cross. Have him stand in front of SIN and push her back while he uses the cross to connect GOD and US.)

• “Now, even though the chasm of our SIN is still there, the cross bridges over the top of it to connect US to GOD so that we can come into His presence again.”

• “I told you God had a plan!” (Thank your volunteers and let them have a seat.)

• “Here’s something else you should know. God doesn’t make anyone go across that bridge.”

• “He let’s you choose.”

• “You can stay on the other side of SIN if you want.”

• “He does that because He loves you enough to give you a choice.”

• “He won’t make you come into His presence, because He didn’t create robots; He created human beings, and He wants a relationship with us.”

• “You can’t have a relationship with a robot.”

• “Romans 6:23 says that this is a gift – ‘The wages of sin is death, but the GIFT of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.’”

• “A gift is something that is free. You can’t do anything to earn it, and you don’t have to take it if you don’t want to.”

• “But I’m going to tell you….you SHOULD want to!”

• “If you accept this gift from God, you get eternal life with Jesus in heaven!”

• “That’s the most incredible gift anyone will ever give you.”

• “Let’s think of it another way.”

• “What if I told you that I had prepared a gift for you, and that I had it ready for you at the back of the room?”

• “And what if I told you that the gift is really great and has YOUR name on it? It’s not for anyone else. It’s just for you!”

• “Would you walk out the door after this lesson and just leave that gift laying there?”

• “No one else can take it, because it was purchased just for you.”

• “If you don’t take it, it will be wasted, and I’ll be sad, because I really wanted to bless you with it.”

• “Would you just leave it there?” (Listen for responses.)

• “Right! Neither would I. If someone loves me enough to buy me a gift, I’m going to accept it!”

• “So to help you remember that the GIFT of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord, I really do have a gift with your name on it at the back of the room!!”

• “It’s free. You don’t have to do anything to earn it. And you don’t have to take it if you don’t want to….but I hope you will!”

• “Please accept this gift from me as a reminder of God’s incredible love for you and of the gift that Jesus bought for you when He died on the cross.” (Allow them to receive their gift.)

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download