Sunday School Lessons

Sermon preached by Chaplain Rick Brewer 07-10-13

This sermon uses a visual illustration of a tea bag. You will need: A Tea Bag, Plate, Glass of water, Lighter, something to pry out the staple.

1. Labels:

The Label tells us what kind of tea it is.

Just as we have Baptist on the sign to tell others where we stand and what we believe.

Note: Sometimes the label might say one thing and be something different.. You sometimes need to make a cup of tea to find out what it really is.

Jesus had labels too. He was called Christ, the Son of God, Messiah, and the Good Shepherd and Master to name a few.
Even at his death he was given a label the King of the Jews But all these labels were put on Him by those around him.
For Jesus did not seek the glory or fame, the riches or power of this world. But He was not concerned with titles or with labels of importance,
Instead He made himself a servant.

Luke 19:10 For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.

2. Attachments: the staple

One of the things that is difficult for people these days is attachments. People get attached to a home, cars, motor boats, and huge TVs, a bike, video game, cell phone.. While these things in themselves are not a sin.. What we do with them can be.. When we get so attached to the things of this world… that we don’t have time for God.

Jesus had no attachments. Nothing to detour Him from his purpose.

Luke 9:57 And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. [58] And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head. [59] And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. [60] Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God. [61] And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house. [62] And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.

3. The weight of sin

1 John 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

Illustration: Sin can take something clean and make it nasty…

Pour the contents into a glass and stir it.

Illustration: you must be emptied out in order for God to be able to use you

4. The Cleansed soul

Now that we are emptied out from sin we can stand tall. (open up the tea bag and place it on a plate)

Without sin you can now become a light for others.

Matthew 5:16 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. [15] Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. [16] Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

Light the bag and make the statement while the bag is burning:

Let the word of God Burn in your heart and consume you and light the way for others

 

When the flame goes out: the remnant will rise.

Just as Christ rose and went to the Father, if you live your life unconcerned about labels, unconcerned about the attachments of this world your fire will lift you up before others so that you might point others to Christ.

Daniel 1:4 Children in whom was no blemish, but well favoured, and skilful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge, and understanding science, and such as had ability in them to stand in the king’s palace, and whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans.

2 Peter 1:1 Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ:
2 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,
3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

Romans 1:20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:

1 John 5:13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.

Eph 1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,

Eph 4:30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.

Matt 19:26 But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.

John 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.
30 I and my Father are one.

Finding God in Nature:

Isaiah 55:12 For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

Romans 1:20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:

Balloon: Holy Spirit

John 3:8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

Jar is the Body: You can see through it…

Sin: Flame

Balloon puts out the flame

Seals the balloon in

Eph 4:30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.

Suitable For All Ages

Lessons From A Brown Paper Bag

Supplies Needed

• Brown paper bag

• Helper

Lesson

At the beginning of class give a child your brown paper bag and tell them to go with the helper and choose between one and three objects to fill the bag with. At the conclusion of the song service bring the child in and ask for the bag. You then have 5 minutes to “write a lesson” on the spot if you can come up with a lesson that incorperates all the items in the child’s bag. If you are unable to come up with a lesson then the child wins and is given a prize.

Tips

• If you pre-plan a general lesson most objects they come up with will easily fit into it.

• If you are at a loss for a lesson that incorporates the items that the child came up with, the story of Balaam and Balak in Numbers 22 can be used to teach that God can use anything.

Suitable for all ages

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego

Theme

Gods Protection

Supplies needed

• 1, 5, 10… Dollar bill

• Glass Bowl

• 90% Rubbing Alcohol

• Water

• Tongs

• Lighter

Setup

Mix 3/4 rubbing alcohol with 1/4 water in a glass bowl and set aside.

Lesson

As you read and explain the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego (found in Daniel 3) and how God saved them from the fire use the tongs to coat the dollar bill in the water/alcohol solution making sure that it is completely coated. When you get to the point where they are thrown in the furnace light the dollar bill on fire (the water protects the bill while the alcohol burns off leaving the bill unharmed)

Best suited for grades 3-6

 

Theme

The effects of sin on our testimonys

Text

Mathew 5:14-16, Proverbs 20:11

Supplies Needed

A flashlight with batteries, trash.

Lesson

Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout Would not take the garbage out! She’d scour the pots and scrape the pans, Candy the yams and spice the hams, And though her daddy would scream and shout, She simply would not take the garbage out. And so it piled up to the ceilings: Coffee grounds, potato peelings, Brown bananas, rotten peas, Chunks of sour cottage cheese. It filled the can, it covered the floor, It cracked the window and blocked the door With bacon rinds and chicken bones, Drippy ends of ice cream cones, Prune pits, peach pits, orange peel, Gloppy glumps of cold oatmeal, Pizza crusts and withered greens, Soggy beans and tangerines, Crusts of black burned buttered toast, Gristly bits of beefy roasts. . . The garbage rolled on down the hall, It raised the roof, it broke the wall. . . Greasy napkins, cookie crumbs, Globs of gooey bubble gum, Cellophane from green baloney, Rubbery blubbery macaroni, Peanut butter, caked and dry, Curdled milk and crusts of pie, Moldy melons, dried-up mustard, Eggshells mixed with lemon custard, Cold french fried and rancid meat, Yellow lumps of Cream of Wheat. At last the garbage reached so high That it finally touched the sky. And all the neighbors moved away, And none of her friends would come to play. And finally Sarah Cynthia Stout said, “OK, I’ll take the garbage out!” But then, of course, it was too late. . . The garbage reached across the state, From New York to the Golden Gate. And there, in the garbage she did hate, Poor Sarah met an awful fate, That I cannot now relate Because the hour is much too late. But children, remember Sarah Stout And always take the garbage out! Shel Silverstein, 1974

 

How many of you like to take the garbage out? Why not? What do you think would happen to us if we didn’t take the garbage out? Well in our lives we have some garbage, does anyone know what we call it? It’s called sin.

Just like with the girl in our story the sin starts out as something little maybe a candy wraper or a old toy in the trashcan but eventually it gets bigger   and bigger. The garbage in our lives affects our testimony or our reputation. Does anyone know what a testimony is? It is what comes into peoples minds when they think about us.

If I asked you to describe the pator for me what would you say ( give a couple of kids a chance to answer.) that is his testimony. there a lot of different things you can be know for some of them good and some bad. Turn to Mathew 5:14-16. as christians we are supposed to let our lights Shine . What do you think this means?  It means that we are supposed to do the things that God would want us to do so we can have a good reputation or testimony that would lead people to Christ. (take out your flashlight) This flashlight represents us and the batteries represent God. W hen we are filled with Christ what does our light do (turn on the flashlight and off the overhead lights) when we allow Christ to take over our life we are able to  Shine  through the dark (turn on the light and begin removing the batteries) but often we will let a little sin in ( replace a battery with trash) it will start as something small, maybe when mom told you to clean your room you shoved everything under the bed (keep adding trash). Instead of taking out the trash we act like sarah did and we just keep letting our lives fill up with the garbage (turn out the lights) and our light cannot Shine anymore.

Just like with Sarah our daddy is begging us to take out the garbage from our lives. Who is our daddy? God is and he knows that the more the garbage piles up the more it is going to hurt us. And before we know it it is to late. No matter how bad we sin God will always forgive us so what is it to late for? Our testimonies, what people see in us. Once someone makes a decision about how you are it is almost impossible to change their minds for example if you are known as a liar and you tell the truth do you think someone will trust you? NO! because you are known for lying.

Turn to Proverbs 20:11. Is it only adults that people judge? This verse says even a child is known by his doings. It is just as important for you to have a good testimony as for me. When you tell someone you are a christian they start watching you to see if what you say matches with what you do and if they don’t see you being a light but instead see someone that has a garbage can that is  overflowing  why would they want anything to do with God? Once you become an adult it is heard to fix the bad testimony from not taking out the garbage but you guys are still young and it is not  to late. I am going to read our story one more time and I want you to think about what we talked about as you listen to it.

Suited for kids of all ages!

Theme

Teach children a guideline for praying.

Lesson:

In the example the Jesus gives we find that this is a guide, not a pat prayer to be vainly repeated. Learning a good structure to out prayer will help us pray more effectively.

Luke 11:1  And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.

When you are doing something you are not familiar with you will do one of 3 things:

  1. Read an instruction manual (Bible)
  2. Try to figure it out
  3. Watch or ask others

So many people try to do the same thing about spiritual things. They simply try to figure it out or just follow the crowd RATHER than reading the instruction manual.

Prayer is just talking to God

So the question is: “How do I pray?” and God answers this question by FIRST telling you “How NOT to pray”

Matthew 6:5 And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.

8 Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.

Matthew 6:9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

11 Give us this day our daily bread.

12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

Thumb

Your thumb is the closest finger to you, therefore when you look at your thumb you can remember to pray for those who are closest to you such as Jesus (a friend that sticketh closer that a brother) your parents, siblings and friends.

Pointer finger

The next finger we see is our pointer finger. When we see this finger we can remember to pray for those who point us in the right direction such as our Pastor, Sunday School Teachers and Preachers.

Middle finger

The next finger we see is the middle finger. What is so special about the middle finger? It is the tallest of our fingers! With this finger we can remember to pray for those who are over us such as our government.

Ring finger

Next we see the ring finger. What makes this finger unique is that it is the weakest finger, try pushing your 2 ring fingers together. What happened? They bent because this finger is not strong enough to stand on its own. With this finger we pray for those who are feeling weak such as the sick and the elderly.

Pinkie

Now that we have looked at all the other fingers there is just one left. What do you think that this finger represents? That’s right it represents you. There are two special things about the pinkie: it is both the shortest finger and the farthest one away. When we put ourselves last on the prayer list it allows us to see things in a different light because once we have prayed for all these other people and problems our problems don’t seem so bad anymore.

Conclusion

So next time you fold your hands to pray and can’t think of anything to say remember your 5 finger prayer list. Remember the pattern of putting God and others first and being thankful.

 

Suitable for kids of all ages!  

Supplies Needed

  • Giant Ice cubes

Preparation

Even out your sides and arrange your children where they sit 2 in a seat with no empty seats between.

Gameplay

Give the first child on each side an ice cube and have the children pass it to the back of the bus and forward again. The team that melts their cube first wins.

Tips

  • This game is best suited for a summer day
  • I would recommend saying that the cube must make it into the hands of everyone on the team before it melts otherwise one person will keep it and just try to melt it alone.