Jesus used familiar objects to teach spiritual truths in his parables. You can use the same method with your children with these 4 zowie, wowie object lessons!
That is, you can find all sorts of object lessons to teach kids spiritual truths just by walking down your grocery store aisles. We have a chain of grocery stores in our area called Safeway. Thus, the “safe way” to do object lessons!
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Here are some ideas to get you started.
A BUNCH OF GROWTH
Object: A stalk of fresh broccoli
Show kids a large stalk of broccoli. Take a knife and cut the broccoli in half lengthwise. Start your object lesson from the bottom of the stalk.
Say: This is a mature Christian. See how the large stalk has a branch coming off it. That branch represents a person who heard about Jesus and decided to follow him. Now follow that large branch to a smaller branch. Here are two more people who’ve decided to follow Jesus because of the first person’s life. Now we have four Christians instead of just one. And the process goes on until you get to the head where the little buds are tightly packed and bountiful-these are even more people whom the others have brought to Christ.
This is how God means for his work to be done. One on one! One won by one who was won! When someone decides to follow Jesus Christ, he or she needs a Christian to support and help him or her grow into a fruitful disciple who’ll reach out to others.
ALL DRIED UP
Object: A dry sponge and a shallow pan of water
Theme: New life in Christ
Place a dried-up sponge in a shallow pan of water and watch what happens.
Say: See how the water seems to disappear and the sponge changes from a hard, dull, dry object into a moist, shiny, flexible object. Our lives are like dry sponges without Jesus. When Jesus Christ comes into our life, a change takes place. We become new inside, and it shows up on the outside.
In Matthew 5:6, Jesus says “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness; for they shall be filled.” If you are as dry as an old sponge, you can be filled with living water if you’ll come to the source-Jesus!
Object: Jelly beans in a package
According to this ingredients label, these jelly beans are all made of the same stuff, at the same place, and by the same process. But they’re different colors-red, yellow, black, white, and even green. (Slice several jelly beans in half.)
See how these jelly beans are the same on the inside and only different on the outside. God makes people like this, too. We’re all made of the same stuff on the inside, but we look different on the outside. We have different personalities, shapes, and colors. And God wants us to look at the inside of people.
(Extra Bonus: This is an edible object lesson!)
THE KLEENEX-BOX CHURCH Object: A box of Kleenex brand tissues Theme: The church Watch what happens when I pull a tissue out of this box. See how the next tissue pops right up. Did the tissue that came out pull up the next tissue, or are the tissues that are still in the box holding it up?
The answer is both. Our churches should be like boxes of Kleenex. When people need to be helped physically, emotionally, or spiritually, we can pull them up. At the same time, others can hold them up so they don’t fall back.
The church is like this box of tissues. When there’s a job to do in the church, several people can work together (pull several tissues) and make quick work of it. When someone is hurting or grieving, we can be as soft as a tissue.
Be a tissue Christian. Pull up or lift up your brothers and sisters in Christ.
Clay Cooper is a Gospel magician and Sunday school teacher in Colorado.