Newsletter 11
Newsletter 11.
Contents.
O.L. 27. Needle through a balloon (Miracles / Testimony).
O.L. 28. God's provision (Dandelions).
Puppet play - How do you get to heaven?
A points funny.
Ice Breaker - A tongue twister.
Dear Children's minister,
Well, I am still going! It is now a year since I started mailing out object lessons. I certainly never thought I would be going for so long. With each mailout, I think to myself "I have enough material for perhaps one or at the most two more newsletters", but then I keep getting fresh ideas or, more commonly, a lesson that I haven't used for some time is brought to my remembrance.
My first mailout went to about 70 recipients, but now I have almost 300 addresses on my list. However, you should all have received my full set of lessons (26 before today). If you are missing any though, please let me know.
I hope you find my latest two lessons beneficial to your ministry. I am also attaching my third puppet play "How do you get to heaven?" I was motivated to write this by the fact that many adults and children (Even those who have had Bible teaching - see my survey in Newsletter No. 10) still associate becoming a Christian and going to heaven with being good and going to church.
Once an Evangelist came to take a series of meetings at a small church. On the first night, two adults and five children responded to his alter call and received Christ. The next morning, someone asked the church Pastor and the Evangelist how the first meeting had gone. "Great," replied the Evangelist. "There were five conversions." Then he added, somewhat as an afterthought. "Oh yes, and two halves." "Don't you mean two conversions and five halves?" interrupted the Pastor. "Two adults and five children responded." "No" insisted the Evangelist. "It was five conversions and two halves. The adults have already spent half their lives, but the five children have all of their lives left to serve Christ!"
May the Lord continue to bless you as you minister to precious children. You will not know the full effects of your ministry this side of eternity.
Yours in Christ,
Maurice Sweetsur.
27. Needle through a balloon.
Punctuating an inflated balloon with a pin or needle, without it bursting, will always fascinate children. There are two ways you can achieve this :- 1. Place a small piece if clear sticking tape on the inflated balloon. You can then pierce this without the balloon bursting. 2. Pierce the balloon where the rubber is thickest i.e. near the hole and at the opposite end. In fact, by using these two locations, you should be able to pass your needle right through the balloon. Hints. Don't inflate the balloon too much. Use a sharp needle. Smear a little grease on the end of your needle.
I have used this illustration in two ways. You may be able to think of others.
1. Miracles. State that normally when you prick a balloon with a needle it will burst - Give an illustration. (If appropriate you could tell the children why it bursts, by talking about air pressure, rapid flow of air to the hole etc.). State that God can overcome or suspend the natural physical laws of the Universe. He can do miracles. Proceed with your demonstration.
2. Sharing your testimony. Inflate about four or five balloons, and write on them things which you (or others) once thought would give lasting satisfaction e.g. Sport, Job, Money, etc. On the last one write "Jesus." Keep the balloons (or at least the words) out of sight until required. Produce the balloons one at a time, and talk about how you once thought that Sport etc. would really satisfy you for life, but that in the end you found it wasn't really what you were searching for. It let you down. Burst the balloon with your pin or needle. Proceed until you are left with the "Jesus" balloon. Explain that this is what you have always been searching for, and that you have found that He will never let you down. Prick the balloon in the appropriate place to demonstrate!
28. God's Provision.
There are numerous examples in nature that can help children understand the wonderful provision of God for all of His creation. You can take along to your class such things as flowers, insects and pets, and by showing how God meets all their needs, show how He will also meet all our needs. I usually take along a few dandelions, including one which is ready to shed its seeds, and proceed as follows :-
Most people think of these flowers as weeds, but did you know that God provides for each plant everything it needs to survive, grow well, and produce more dandelions?
Petals. You probably think you are looking at just one flower, but actually what you can see is about a hundred flowers bunched together. Each single petal is a complete flower, capable of producing a perfect seed, to enable another dandelion to grow.
Stem. Now let's look at the stem of the dandelion. As I break it in two, you can see that it is hollow - just like a straw. This means that the stem is very light and flexible. When heavy rain or wind comes, the stem will bend over, but then will be able to spring up again afterwards. If the stem was solid, it would break in the heavy rain or wind.
Leaves. We will now look at the leaves. They appear to be pretty crude and ugly, but actually all these jagged edges, channels and grooves are ideal for collecting rain water and sending it down to the root where it is needed to help the dandelion to grow.
Root. Look how long and strong this root is. It is ideal for holding the dandelion in place when the bad weather comes, and preventing it from being blown away.
Seed head. Let us now examine this dandelion which is ready to shed its seeds. If you look closely at the seed heads, you will see that they are all like tiny parachutes. This means that when a breeze comes, they don't all fall off the parent plant in the same small area and thus have to compete with each other for the same patch of earth to grow in. No, because of the way God has designed them, they are able to float long distances in the breeze, and thus have a much better chance of surviving and growing into other dandelions.
Seed. If you looked at a seed under the microscope, you would see that it is shaped like a screw. This means that after its "parachute" has carried it to a patch of earth, it is able to plant itself by screwing into the ground, thus again giving it a better chance to survive and grow.
As we have seen, God loves each little dandelion so much that He has given it everything it needs to grow well and produce more dandelions. Hands up everyone who thinks that God loves us as much as He does dandelions? (Probably most of the children will raise their hands). Those who have raised their hands are wrong. The Bible teaches that God loves each of us far, far, more than dandelions, or indeed any other of His creations. But if He gives each dandelion everything it needs, how much more will He give to us everything we need!
How do you get to heaven ? – Puppet play.
You will need four “people” puppets, one “animal” puppet (I use a sheep), a piece of plain paper and a marker.
SCRIPT.
HOST. Hello, and welcome to my show. Let me introduce you to my guests. Firstly we have Miss Know it all.
MISS KNOW IT ALL. Hi.
HOST. Next, we have Mr. Remember well.
MR. REMEMBER WELL. How are you all ?
HOST. Then we have Mr. Don’t know a lot.
MR. DON’T KNOW A LOT. Hello everybody.
HOST. And finally we have Shaun the sheep.
SHAUN. Baa. Baa.
HOST. Today’s question is “How do you get to heaven?” Actually, that’s rather an easy one. Everyone knows that if you are good, you go to heaven, but if you are bad, you don’t. So, if you do more good things than bad ones you will go to heaven.
MISS KNOW IT ALL. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. That’s not right. If we could all get to heaven by being good, there was no need for Jesus to come and die for us.
HOST. Oh ! You have a point there. So how can we get to heaven then Miss Know it all ?
MISS KNOW IT ALL. By believing. If you believe in God, you will go to heaven.
MR. REMEMBER WELL. What nonsense ! You are both wrong. Even the devil believes in God, but he’s not going to get to heaven.
HOST. Give us your answer then Mr. Remember well.
MR. REMEMBER WELL. This is a question I have studied for fifty years, but I have finally found the answer. To get to heaven you need to be - - - - - - DEAD !
HOST. Amazing. And it only took you fifty years to find that out!
MR. REMEMBER WELL. Wait, there’s more. As well as being dead, the Bible teaches that we need to be a Christian.
HOST. Now we are getting close. But how can a person become a Christian, Mr. Remember well ?
MR. REMEMBER WELL. I have no idea. It may take me another fifty years to find that out.
HOST. I am afraid that we haven’t got that long. Mr. Don’t know a lot, can you help us out ?
MR. DON’T KNOW A LOT. I certainly can. You become a Christian by going to church. It’s as simple as that.
HOST. But that can’t be right. If I went to live in my garage, that wouldn’t turn me into a Motor car would it ? So going to church wouldn’t turn me into a Christian. No, there must be another answer. Shaun, we are getting really desperate here. You are our last hope. Do you know how we can get to heaven ?
SHAUN. I can do better than that. I can give you the key that will unlock the gates of heaven.
HOST. You have a key to the gates of heaven ?
SHAUN. Yes. It’s a combination lock, so can someone write down the numbers for us ?
SELF. I can do that Shaun.
SHAUN. The numbers are 511531.
SELF. (Write down the numbers, big enough for everyone to see, but as you do, bend the tops of the first and third “1” slightly to the right. Bend the top of the second “1” slightly to the left).
HOST. You mean that’s the key that will get us into heaven ?
SHAUN. It sure is. Just turn the paper upside down, and have a look.
SELF. (Turning the paper upside down, to reveal the word “JESUS”). Shaun has given us the right answer. Jesus is the key to heaven. He said “ I am the way. Nobody comes to the Father, except by me."
A Points Funny.
A man dies and goes to Heaven. Of course, St. Peter meets him at the Pearly Gates.
St. Peter says, "Here's how it works. You need 100 points to make it into heaven. You tell me all the good things you've done, and I give you a certain number of points for each item, depending on how good it was. When you reach 100 points, you get in."
"Okay," the man says, "I was married to the same woman for 50 years and never cheated on her, even in my heart."
"That's wonderful," says St. Peter, "that's worth three points!"
"Three points?" he says, slightly concerned. "Well, I attended church all my life and supported its ministry with my tithe and service."
"Terrific!" says St. Peter. "That's certainly worth a point."
"One point!?!" he moans, now really getting worried. "Well, I started a soup kitchen in my city and worked in a shelter for homeless veterans."
"Fantastic, that's good for two more points," he says.
"Two points!" the man cries. "At this rate the only way I get into Heaven is by the grace of God!"
St. Peter nods and says, "Bingo! 100 points! Come on in my son!"
[forwarded by Gabe Combs via. Mikey's funnies]
Ice Breaker.
Write out the words below on slips of paper. Choose children to come out and read the words aloud. The idea is to get the other children to guess what is being said. Get each volunteer to read the words slowly at first, but then faster and faster to make it easier for the others to guess. You will probably have to give clues to the younger groups to help.
1. SAND TACKLE LAWS. (Clue: A fictional character)
2. AISLE OH VIEW. (Clue: A phrase)
3. BUCK SPUN HE (Clue: A fictional character)
4.THESE HOUND DOVE MOO SICK (Clue: A film)
5. TIGHT AN HICK (Clue: A thing)
6. THUMB ILL KEY WAKE OWL LICKS HE (Clue: A place)
Answers. (Just in case someone hasn't worked them out). 1. Santa Claus. 2. I love you. 3. Bugs Bunny. 4. The Sound of music. 5. Titanic.6. The Milky Way Galaxy.
Use a similar procedure to let children try to guess what the following Japanese Phrases mean.
Wa Shing Ka (Cleaning an automobile)
Na Pah King (This is a tow-away zone)
Ai Bang Mai Ni (I bumped into a table)
Tai Ni Po Ni (Small horse)
Contents.
O.L. 27. Needle through a balloon (Miracles / Testimony).
O.L. 28. God's provision (Dandelions).
Puppet play - How do you get to heaven?
A points funny.
Ice Breaker - A tongue twister.
Dear Children's minister,
Well, I am still going! It is now a year since I started mailing out object lessons. I certainly never thought I would be going for so long. With each mailout, I think to myself "I have enough material for perhaps one or at the most two more newsletters", but then I keep getting fresh ideas or, more commonly, a lesson that I haven't used for some time is brought to my remembrance.
My first mailout went to about 70 recipients, but now I have almost 300 addresses on my list. However, you should all have received my full set of lessons (26 before today). If you are missing any though, please let me know.
I hope you find my latest two lessons beneficial to your ministry. I am also attaching my third puppet play "How do you get to heaven?" I was motivated to write this by the fact that many adults and children (Even those who have had Bible teaching - see my survey in Newsletter No. 10) still associate becoming a Christian and going to heaven with being good and going to church.
Once an Evangelist came to take a series of meetings at a small church. On the first night, two adults and five children responded to his alter call and received Christ. The next morning, someone asked the church Pastor and the Evangelist how the first meeting had gone. "Great," replied the Evangelist. "There were five conversions." Then he added, somewhat as an afterthought. "Oh yes, and two halves." "Don't you mean two conversions and five halves?" interrupted the Pastor. "Two adults and five children responded." "No" insisted the Evangelist. "It was five conversions and two halves. The adults have already spent half their lives, but the five children have all of their lives left to serve Christ!"
May the Lord continue to bless you as you minister to precious children. You will not know the full effects of your ministry this side of eternity.
Yours in Christ,
Maurice Sweetsur.
27. Needle through a balloon.
Punctuating an inflated balloon with a pin or needle, without it bursting, will always fascinate children. There are two ways you can achieve this :- 1. Place a small piece if clear sticking tape on the inflated balloon. You can then pierce this without the balloon bursting. 2. Pierce the balloon where the rubber is thickest i.e. near the hole and at the opposite end. In fact, by using these two locations, you should be able to pass your needle right through the balloon. Hints. Don't inflate the balloon too much. Use a sharp needle. Smear a little grease on the end of your needle.
I have used this illustration in two ways. You may be able to think of others.
1. Miracles. State that normally when you prick a balloon with a needle it will burst - Give an illustration. (If appropriate you could tell the children why it bursts, by talking about air pressure, rapid flow of air to the hole etc.). State that God can overcome or suspend the natural physical laws of the Universe. He can do miracles. Proceed with your demonstration.
2. Sharing your testimony. Inflate about four or five balloons, and write on them things which you (or others) once thought would give lasting satisfaction e.g. Sport, Job, Money, etc. On the last one write "Jesus." Keep the balloons (or at least the words) out of sight until required. Produce the balloons one at a time, and talk about how you once thought that Sport etc. would really satisfy you for life, but that in the end you found it wasn't really what you were searching for. It let you down. Burst the balloon with your pin or needle. Proceed until you are left with the "Jesus" balloon. Explain that this is what you have always been searching for, and that you have found that He will never let you down. Prick the balloon in the appropriate place to demonstrate!
28. God's Provision.
There are numerous examples in nature that can help children understand the wonderful provision of God for all of His creation. You can take along to your class such things as flowers, insects and pets, and by showing how God meets all their needs, show how He will also meet all our needs. I usually take along a few dandelions, including one which is ready to shed its seeds, and proceed as follows :-
Most people think of these flowers as weeds, but did you know that God provides for each plant everything it needs to survive, grow well, and produce more dandelions?
Petals. You probably think you are looking at just one flower, but actually what you can see is about a hundred flowers bunched together. Each single petal is a complete flower, capable of producing a perfect seed, to enable another dandelion to grow.
Stem. Now let's look at the stem of the dandelion. As I break it in two, you can see that it is hollow - just like a straw. This means that the stem is very light and flexible. When heavy rain or wind comes, the stem will bend over, but then will be able to spring up again afterwards. If the stem was solid, it would break in the heavy rain or wind.
Leaves. We will now look at the leaves. They appear to be pretty crude and ugly, but actually all these jagged edges, channels and grooves are ideal for collecting rain water and sending it down to the root where it is needed to help the dandelion to grow.
Root. Look how long and strong this root is. It is ideal for holding the dandelion in place when the bad weather comes, and preventing it from being blown away.
Seed head. Let us now examine this dandelion which is ready to shed its seeds. If you look closely at the seed heads, you will see that they are all like tiny parachutes. This means that when a breeze comes, they don't all fall off the parent plant in the same small area and thus have to compete with each other for the same patch of earth to grow in. No, because of the way God has designed them, they are able to float long distances in the breeze, and thus have a much better chance of surviving and growing into other dandelions.
Seed. If you looked at a seed under the microscope, you would see that it is shaped like a screw. This means that after its "parachute" has carried it to a patch of earth, it is able to plant itself by screwing into the ground, thus again giving it a better chance to survive and grow.
As we have seen, God loves each little dandelion so much that He has given it everything it needs to grow well and produce more dandelions. Hands up everyone who thinks that God loves us as much as He does dandelions? (Probably most of the children will raise their hands). Those who have raised their hands are wrong. The Bible teaches that God loves each of us far, far, more than dandelions, or indeed any other of His creations. But if He gives each dandelion everything it needs, how much more will He give to us everything we need!
How do you get to heaven ? – Puppet play.
You will need four “people” puppets, one “animal” puppet (I use a sheep), a piece of plain paper and a marker.
SCRIPT.
HOST. Hello, and welcome to my show. Let me introduce you to my guests. Firstly we have Miss Know it all.
MISS KNOW IT ALL. Hi.
HOST. Next, we have Mr. Remember well.
MR. REMEMBER WELL. How are you all ?
HOST. Then we have Mr. Don’t know a lot.
MR. DON’T KNOW A LOT. Hello everybody.
HOST. And finally we have Shaun the sheep.
SHAUN. Baa. Baa.
HOST. Today’s question is “How do you get to heaven?” Actually, that’s rather an easy one. Everyone knows that if you are good, you go to heaven, but if you are bad, you don’t. So, if you do more good things than bad ones you will go to heaven.
MISS KNOW IT ALL. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. That’s not right. If we could all get to heaven by being good, there was no need for Jesus to come and die for us.
HOST. Oh ! You have a point there. So how can we get to heaven then Miss Know it all ?
MISS KNOW IT ALL. By believing. If you believe in God, you will go to heaven.
MR. REMEMBER WELL. What nonsense ! You are both wrong. Even the devil believes in God, but he’s not going to get to heaven.
HOST. Give us your answer then Mr. Remember well.
MR. REMEMBER WELL. This is a question I have studied for fifty years, but I have finally found the answer. To get to heaven you need to be - - - - - - DEAD !
HOST. Amazing. And it only took you fifty years to find that out!
MR. REMEMBER WELL. Wait, there’s more. As well as being dead, the Bible teaches that we need to be a Christian.
HOST. Now we are getting close. But how can a person become a Christian, Mr. Remember well ?
MR. REMEMBER WELL. I have no idea. It may take me another fifty years to find that out.
HOST. I am afraid that we haven’t got that long. Mr. Don’t know a lot, can you help us out ?
MR. DON’T KNOW A LOT. I certainly can. You become a Christian by going to church. It’s as simple as that.
HOST. But that can’t be right. If I went to live in my garage, that wouldn’t turn me into a Motor car would it ? So going to church wouldn’t turn me into a Christian. No, there must be another answer. Shaun, we are getting really desperate here. You are our last hope. Do you know how we can get to heaven ?
SHAUN. I can do better than that. I can give you the key that will unlock the gates of heaven.
HOST. You have a key to the gates of heaven ?
SHAUN. Yes. It’s a combination lock, so can someone write down the numbers for us ?
SELF. I can do that Shaun.
SHAUN. The numbers are 511531.
SELF. (Write down the numbers, big enough for everyone to see, but as you do, bend the tops of the first and third “1” slightly to the right. Bend the top of the second “1” slightly to the left).
HOST. You mean that’s the key that will get us into heaven ?
SHAUN. It sure is. Just turn the paper upside down, and have a look.
SELF. (Turning the paper upside down, to reveal the word “JESUS”). Shaun has given us the right answer. Jesus is the key to heaven. He said “ I am the way. Nobody comes to the Father, except by me."
A Points Funny.
A man dies and goes to Heaven. Of course, St. Peter meets him at the Pearly Gates.
St. Peter says, "Here's how it works. You need 100 points to make it into heaven. You tell me all the good things you've done, and I give you a certain number of points for each item, depending on how good it was. When you reach 100 points, you get in."
"Okay," the man says, "I was married to the same woman for 50 years and never cheated on her, even in my heart."
"That's wonderful," says St. Peter, "that's worth three points!"
"Three points?" he says, slightly concerned. "Well, I attended church all my life and supported its ministry with my tithe and service."
"Terrific!" says St. Peter. "That's certainly worth a point."
"One point!?!" he moans, now really getting worried. "Well, I started a soup kitchen in my city and worked in a shelter for homeless veterans."
"Fantastic, that's good for two more points," he says.
"Two points!" the man cries. "At this rate the only way I get into Heaven is by the grace of God!"
St. Peter nods and says, "Bingo! 100 points! Come on in my son!"
[forwarded by Gabe Combs via. Mikey's funnies]
Ice Breaker.
Write out the words below on slips of paper. Choose children to come out and read the words aloud. The idea is to get the other children to guess what is being said. Get each volunteer to read the words slowly at first, but then faster and faster to make it easier for the others to guess. You will probably have to give clues to the younger groups to help.
1. SAND TACKLE LAWS. (Clue: A fictional character)
2. AISLE OH VIEW. (Clue: A phrase)
3. BUCK SPUN HE (Clue: A fictional character)
4.THESE HOUND DOVE MOO SICK (Clue: A film)
5. TIGHT AN HICK (Clue: A thing)
6. THUMB ILL KEY WAKE OWL LICKS HE (Clue: A place)
Answers. (Just in case someone hasn't worked them out). 1. Santa Claus. 2. I love you. 3. Bugs Bunny. 4. The Sound of music. 5. Titanic.6. The Milky Way Galaxy.
Use a similar procedure to let children try to guess what the following Japanese Phrases mean.
Wa Shing Ka (Cleaning an automobile)
Na Pah King (This is a tow-away zone)
Ai Bang Mai Ni (I bumped into a table)
Tai Ni Po Ni (Small horse)
posted by Maurice Sweetsur @ 4:07 PM
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