Newsletter 18
Newsletter 18.
Contents.
Teaching Tip 4 - Ideas on teaching about Creation.
O.L. 41. The earth, sun and moon (Acting out their motions).
O.L. 42. Gravity (Demonstration with a ball and string).
O.L. 43. Can nothing turn into something? (An experiment with an empty jar).
O.L. 44. Dependence on oxygen (Holding your breath)
O.L. 45. "Made after its own kind."(An Acorn example).
Object Lesson categories. - Find the one you need!
Seven reasons why not to mess with a child.
Welcome to my first Newsletter for 2004. I always think that the beginning of a New Year is an ideal time to teach on God's wonderful Creation. My teaching tips this month are on this theme. I hope that you find something here to enhance your ministry.
Maurice Sweetsur.
Teaching Tips.
4. Creation.
I can think of no other Bible topic that lends itself to so many fun activities for children than creation. Here are a few examples that you could incorporate into your lessons on this subject.
1. (Object Lesson 41 - The earth, sun and moon). After teaching how God created the earth, sun and moon, get three children to act out their motions.
a. The sun stays still, but always shines (smiles).
b. The earth travels round the sun, rotating as it does so (365+ spins per one circuit round the sun!).
c. The moon travels round the earth, remembering to always keep its same side facing the earth.
I have always found this to be great fun for children of all ages. Usually the 'moon' finds it hard to keep up with the earth, causing great hilarity among the spectators.
You could explain that God has made the conditions on earth just right for life. Even small changes would make life, as we know it, impossible. Ask "What would it be like on earth if - - - ?
1. The earth was nearer to the sun -------- Too hot. (It has been calculated that even a 2 degree C. rise in the average surface temperature of the earth would be enough to melt the polar ice caps and cause devastating flooding).
2. The earth was further away from the sun ------ Too cold.
3. The earth didn't rotate once on its axis every 24 hours ------ One side would be day all the time and be very hot. The other would be night all the time and be very cold.
4. The earth rotated faster than now ------ Very short days and nights, and constant hurricane force winds.
5. The earth wasn't tilted on its axis ------ No seasons. Countries near the equator would be very hot. Those far from the equator would be too cold to grow food - resulting in a world-wide food shortage.
6. The diameter of the earth was (say 10%) less than its present 13,000 Kilometres ------- Because of the consequent reduction in gravity, most of the oxygen which we need to breathe would escape into outer space.
7. The diameter of the earth was 10% greater than at present ------ The increased gravity, and hence air pressure would cause the polar ice caps to melt - resulting in devastating flooding.
8. The moon was a little smaller or a little further away than at present ------ Very little tidal action, resulting in even the oceans becoming stagnant and the death of all aquatic creatures.
9. The moon was a little larger or a little nearer than at present ------ Too severe tidal action, with low lying areas being flooded twice a day!
What a wonderful Creator we have, who not only made the earth just right for us to inhabit, but He also keeps it that way year, after year, after year.
2. (Object Lesson 42 - Gravity). Get a soft, hollow ball and pierce two holes in it close to each other. Thread a piece of string through the holes and tie together. You are now ready to demonstrate the importance of having the right strength of gravity as the earth circles the sun.
Hold the end of the string, and swing the ball round your head. Explain that your head represents the sun, and the ball represents the earth travelling round it year after year at a constant speed. Also, because gravity remains the same, the earth remains the same distance from the sun.
Ask, "What would happen to the earth if God increased gravity a little?" Demonstrate the effect by letting the ball crash into your head.
Ask "What would happen if God decreased gravity a little?" Demonstrate by letting go of the string. The ball will fly off to the other side of the room!
3. (Object Lesson 43 - Can nothing turn into something?). Bring an empty jar to your class, complete with lid. Ask the children to watch the jar for you for a few weeks, and tell you if anything begins to appear on the inside.
After a few weeks, ask the children if anything has begun to grow inside the jar? No. Ask, if you left the jar in the room for a year, with the lid closed, they think something will then have begun to grow - perhaps a little ant? No. How about 10 years? 100 years? A million years? Ever? The answer is still no. Explain that if nothing cannot become something in a few weeks, there is absolutely no reason to believe that it could ever do so. (You may wish to explain that there is actually air in your jar, but if even the air could not turn into something, there is certainly no way that 'nothing' could).
Some people do believe, however, that this did happen. They call it Evolution. They say that a long time ago, there was nothing. But them this nothing, all by itself, managed to become something, and that this something kept changing and changing into all the variety of things we see today, including us! The Bible tells us, however, that in the space of six days God, through His power, created the Universe and everything in it. God not only made everything complete and perfect, He made it all for our benefit - for us to enjoy and take care of.
4. (Object Lesson 44 - Dependence on oxygen). Talk about how God created the air ( or oxygen ), and then demonstrate how dependent we are on this by getting the children to see how long they can survive without it, i.e. how long they can hold their breath. If the oxygen level were a little less than its present 21%, breathing would be difficult. If it were a little higher, the fire danger would be greatly increased.
5. If you do balloon modelling, here is a good object lesson you could use. If not, it could be adapted for use with a toy animal, or even a cut out one. This was first published in Newsletter No. 8, as Object Lesson 20. I will reprint the version more suitable for younger children here. Check out my earlier Newsletter if you minister to older children e.g. nine or above.
Produce your balloon animal and ask. "How do you think this model was made? Do you think it could have been made by accident? Perhaps someone left an uninflated balloon in this room last night, and left the window open. Overnight, the wind blew through the window and into the balloon. The balloon then began twisting itself round and round until it formed the shape of this animal, which you see here now. Finally, the end of the balloon managed to tie itself in a knot to stop the air escaping. Do you think that really happened, or do you think that there is a balloon model maker somewhere who made this animal on purpose?" The children should see the absurdity of the model being able to make itself by accident, and respond. "There is a balloon model maker somewhere." Admit that you are the model maker, and then emphasise the point that everything the children see around them has to have a maker. Watches need watchmakers, shoes need shoemakers, chairs need chairmakers etc. Nothing can make itself.
You will then be able to apply the above argument to the creation of the Universe and everything in it. State "There are some people who believe that the Universe made itself by accident. But the Universe is far more wonderful and complex than a balloon animal, and if even that couldn't make itself, then how likely is it that the whole Universe made itself? No, the Bible teaches us that we have wonderful Creator who made the Universe and everything in it on purpose. And the good news is:- He made it all for our benefit.
6. Give each child a circular piece of plain cardboard (or paper). Ask them to imagine that they are the Creator, and that they are going to create a new world by drawing on their cardboard. Allow a few minutes for this, and give a few suggestions e.g. birds, flowers, animals, people.
When complete, ask the children to close their eyes and imagine the creatures in their perfect world coming alive - singing, laughing, playing etc. Everything is wonderful.
Now ask the children to imagine that something has gone wrong in their perfect world. People are arguing, fighting and killing each other. The animals are killing and eating each other. Weeds are growing among the flowers.
Explain that this is exactly what happened with God's perfect world. The question to the children is, "What should they do about their world that has gone bad?" Give them four options:-
1. Destroy their world. (You will probably find that most children will vote for this option!)
2. Send someone to teach the people how to be good.
3. Go yourself to show the people how to love each other.
4. Give the people the power to change and be good.
Conclude by explaining that God didn't choose to destroy His world, because He still loved it even after it had gone bad. Rather, He chose options 2, 3, and best of all No. 4.
7. My Object Lesson with Dandelions (No.28) on God's provision ( Newsletter No.11) is ideal for helping children to understand how much the Creator cares for all His creatures.
8. There is an excellent object lesson about "an amazing flying machine" on www.kidology.org Here is a summary.
Talk about all the money and brain power that have gone into making some marvellous flying machines, such as Concorde, the Space shuttle, Stealth bombers, etc. Then say that you are now going to talk about an amazing flying machine that is far more wonderful than all the others put together! This flying machine can take off and land sideways on a vertical wall! It has tremendous manoeuvrability, being able to instantly change direction. It can take off with amazing acceleration. It has the ability to sense danger, and can take off and be out of danger in a split second. If it develops a fault, it can often correct itself, and even has the ability to reproduce itself! "Would you children like to see a picture of this amazing flying machine? Here it is - a fly! (Produce a picture of an ordinary house fly. Note. You can download one from this web site. If you are not a member, I could send you one if you email me). God's creations are far more wonderful than people can make!"
9. Children are fascinated with dinosaurs. You may be able to purchase at reasonable cost a suitable fossil, e.g. a dinosaur tooth, or footprint and take this along to your class to talk about.
10. (Object Lesson 45 - "Made after its own kind."). God made the first of every living Biblical "kind", each with the ability to reproduce 'after it's own kind.' To explain this, take along an acorn. Explain that God created the first oak tree, with acorns (seeds) like this one contained in it. Some of those acorns would fall to the ground and grow into other oak trees, just like their parent tree, with each again containing their own acorns. Those, in turn. would fall to the ground and some would grow into more oak trees containing acorns, etc. etc. And that's how we get oak trees today. You may then wish to apply this argument to other living things, emphasising that cats always produce cats, dogs produce dogs, and people produce people etc.
11. Adam had to name all the different animals, and then he would have to have remembered their names - a remarkable memory feat. My object lesson 29 (Newsletter No.12) enables you to do your own memory feat in front of your class.
12. www.puppetresources.com have twenty puppet plays listed on the subject of Creation. I must admit I haven't checked them all out, but I found that "God made the world" by Puppet Productions was simple, fun and informative.
13. One question children sometimes ask is "Is there life somewhere else in outer space?" (In fact, if I ask a class how many of them believe there is life somewhere else, apart from earth, usually the majority will put their hands up!) I usually answer the question this way.
"The only Person who knows everything about everything is God. And God has written us a book called the Bible which tells us everything we really need to know about life. Therefore the first place we should go to find out if something is true or not is the Bible. Unfortunately, the Bible doesn't say if there is life somewhere other than on earth, so we cannot know for sure. However, if there is life somewhere else, we do know three things about it.
1. It is not important to us on earth. If it were important, the Bible would have mentioned it.
2. It is younger than life on earth, because God didn't create the sun, moon, stars, and consequently any planets that may be associated with them, until Day 5 of the Creation week.
3. It cannot be superior to us, because we humans were made in God's image - and you can't get better than the best!
The Bible makes it clear that the earth (physically insignificant as it is) is the most important place in our vast Universe. It was here that God created man, that man sinned and consequently brought the whole of creation into bondage to decay (Romans 8.21). It was here that God became a man and was crucified for our sins. And it will be to here that Jesus will return for those of us who are trusting in him."
14. People, especially children, find it difficult to comprehend the vastness of the Universe - and hence the Greatness of God who created it all. Instead of talking about trillions of stars, you could use the Voyager spaceship to help children understand how big our Universe really is.
The Voyager was launched in 1977 to explore the Universe. It travels at a speed of 1.5 million Kilometres a day. Travelling at that speed, it would take the Spaceship :-
30 minutes to travel once round the earth.
6 hours to reach the moon.
3 months to reach the sun.
26 years to reach the outer limits of the solar system (where it is now).
And a massive 40,000 years to reach our nearest star, Sirus! And, of course, there are trillions of stars in the entire Universe, all of which are much, much further away still.
"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands." Psalm 19.1.
Object Lesson - Categories.
I have now written up and shared over 40 Object Lessons - spread over 18 mailouts (Newsletters). Mainly for my own benefit, in order to make it easier to find them when needed, I have categorised these lessons. These are shared below in the hope that they may be a help to some of you. You will note that some lessons fall into more than one category. As an introduction, I have also relisted the titles of the lessons, together with brief descriptions.
If you haven't received, or haven't kept some of these lessons, you can give me an email and I will send them to you. Just quote the Object Lesson number(s) that you require.
Newsletter Object Lesson Title.
1 1 Growing to be like Christ (Fruit in bottle).
1 2 Faith (A water experiment).
2 3 Why does God allow suffering (Invisible writing).
2 4 Filled with the Holy Spirit (Baking soda)
2 5 Staying in the centre of God's will (Cork floating on water).
3 6 Defeating Giants (Optical illusion with two cards).
3 7 God's protection (Coin is blown into dish).
3 8 Receiving Jesus (Gifts must be received).
4 9 Which way? (Octagon illusion).
4 10 Walking on water (Floating pin).
4 11 We are special (Rope illusion).
5 12 Straight and crooked roads (Tearing strips of paper).
5 13 God's guidance (A balloon guidance system).
6 14 Make the right choice (Force the right card to be chosen).
6 15 Little sins grow bigger (Bursting balloon).
6 16 Break in communication with God (Restore a cut rope).
6 17 Burning bush or Fiery furnace (Flaming cloth is not
consumed).
7 18 What happened at the cross (A chemical experiment).
7 19 The meaning of the cross (Experiment with a candle, glass
and water).
8 20 Creation (Balloon modelling).
8 21 The Trinity (Food colorings)
9 22 Miracles (Large disc goes through small hole).
9 23 Standing up under pressure (Plastic tops in water)
9 24 Defeating evil with good (Paper is stronger than wood).
10 25 The Light of the world (Trick candles).
10 26 God is all knowing (Five different methods).
11 27 Needle through a balloon (Miracles/Testimony).
11 28 God's provision (Dandelions).
12 29 Memory feat (Adam's amazing memory).
12 30 The Trinity (Illusion with three ropes).
13 31 Discovering your gifts (Hidden colours).
13 32 Trials and troubles (Balloon, water and fire).
13 33 Audio and visual illusions (Test your senses).
14 34 Sin is serious (Two methods).
14 35 Sin spreads (Two methods).
15 36 The fair distribution of food (Involving the children).
15 37 God does things instantly (Two instant calculations).
16 38 Obedience brings success (Pencil through a hankie).
17 39 Wrestling match (Defeating Giants).
17 40 Samson pad (Defeating Giants).
18 41 The earth, sun and moon (Acting out their motions).
18 42 Gravity (Ball on string).
18 43 Can nothing turn into something? (Empty jar).
18 44 Dependence on oxygen (Holding your breath).
18 45 Made after its own kind (An Acorn
example).
Category. Object Lesson Nos.
Bible. 13.
Character 1, 3.
Christian Living 6, 13, 23, 24, 25, 31, 36, 39, 40.
Creation 20, 28, 29, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45.
Faith / Miracles 2, 10, 17, 22, 27.
God's love 8, 11.
God's omniscience 26.
God's omnipotence 37.
God's protection 7, 32.
God's provision 6, 28, 39, 40, 42, 44.
Holy Spirit 4, 13.
Obedience 5, 13, 38.
Our senses 33.
Prayer 16.
Right choices 9, 12, 14.
Sin / Forgiveness 15, 16, 18, 19, 34, 35.
Suffering 3, 23, 32.
The Trinity 21, 30.
Witnessing 9, 25, 27.
===============================
SEVEN REASONS NOT TO MESS WITH A CHILD
Reason #1:
A little girl was talking to her teacher about whales. The teacher said it
was physically impossible for a whale to swallow a human because even
though it was a very large mammal its throat was very small. The little
girl stated that Jonah was swallowed by a whale.
Irritated, the teacher reiterated that a whale could not swallow a human;
it was physically impossible.
The little girl said, "When I get to heaven I will ask Jonah."
The teacher asked, "What if Jonah went to hell?"
The little girl replied, "Then you ask him."
Reason #2:
A Kindergarten teacher was observing her classroom of children while they
were drawing. She would occasionally walk around to see each child's work.
As she got to one little girl who was working diligently, she asked what
the drawing was.
The girl replied, "I'm drawing God."
The teacher paused and said, "But no one knows what God looks like."
Without missing a beat, or looking up from her drawing, the girl replied,
"They will in a minute."
Reason #3:
A Sunday school teacher was discussing the Ten Commandments with her five
and six year olds. After explaining the commandment to honor thy Father and
thy Mother, she asked, "Is there a commandment that teaches us how to treat
our brothers and sisters?"
Without missing a beat one little boy (the oldest of a family) answered,
"Thou shall not kill."
Reason #4:
One day a little girl was sitting and watching her mother do the dishes at
the kitchen sink. She suddenly noticed that her mother has several strands
of white hair sticking out in contrast on her brunette head. She looked at
her mother and inquisitively asked, "Why are some of your hairs white, Mom?"
Her mother replied, "Well, every time that you do something wrong and make
me cry or unhappy, one of my hairs turns white."
The little girl thought about this revelation for a while and then said,
"Momma, how come ALL of grandma's hairs are white?"
Reason #5:
The children had all been photographed, and the teacher was trying to
persuade them each to buy a copy of the group picture: "Just think how nice
it will be to look at it when you are all grown up and say, 'There's
Jennifer--she's a lawyer,' or 'That's Michael--he's a doctor.'"
A small voice at the back of the room rang out, "And there's the
teacher--she's dead."
Reason #6:
A teacher was giving a lesson on the circulation of the blood. Trying to
make the matter clearer, she said, "Now, class, if I stood on my head, the
blood, as you know, would run into it, and I would turn red in the face."
"Yes," the class said.
"Then why is it that while I am standing upright in the ordinary position
the blood doesn't run into my feet?"
A little fellow shouted, "Cause your feet ain't empty."
Reason #7:
The children were lined up in the cafeteria of a Catholic elementary school
for lunch. At the head of the table was a large pile of apples. The nun
made a note, and posted on the apple tray: Take only ONE. God is watching.
Moving further along the lunch line, at the other end of the table was a
large pile of chocolate chip cookies. A child had written a note, "Take all
you want. God's watching the apples."
[forwarded by Will Penner via Mikey's Funnies).
Uncle Maurice - Children's Entertainer - Gospel Illusions, Ventriloquism, Balloon Modelling, Puppets, Stories.
- Ministering to Children through Sunday schools, Kids clubs, Hoilday programs, Uniformed organisations and Camps.
- Ministering to Teachers through monthly Email Newsletters.
Tel. 09 2961495. Email. mnmsweetsur@xtra.co.nz
Contents.
Teaching Tip 4 - Ideas on teaching about Creation.
O.L. 41. The earth, sun and moon (Acting out their motions).
O.L. 42. Gravity (Demonstration with a ball and string).
O.L. 43. Can nothing turn into something? (An experiment with an empty jar).
O.L. 44. Dependence on oxygen (Holding your breath)
O.L. 45. "Made after its own kind."(An Acorn example).
Object Lesson categories. - Find the one you need!
Seven reasons why not to mess with a child.
Welcome to my first Newsletter for 2004. I always think that the beginning of a New Year is an ideal time to teach on God's wonderful Creation. My teaching tips this month are on this theme. I hope that you find something here to enhance your ministry.
Maurice Sweetsur.
Teaching Tips.
4. Creation.
I can think of no other Bible topic that lends itself to so many fun activities for children than creation. Here are a few examples that you could incorporate into your lessons on this subject.
1. (Object Lesson 41 - The earth, sun and moon). After teaching how God created the earth, sun and moon, get three children to act out their motions.
a. The sun stays still, but always shines (smiles).
b. The earth travels round the sun, rotating as it does so (365+ spins per one circuit round the sun!).
c. The moon travels round the earth, remembering to always keep its same side facing the earth.
I have always found this to be great fun for children of all ages. Usually the 'moon' finds it hard to keep up with the earth, causing great hilarity among the spectators.
You could explain that God has made the conditions on earth just right for life. Even small changes would make life, as we know it, impossible. Ask "What would it be like on earth if - - - ?
1. The earth was nearer to the sun -------- Too hot. (It has been calculated that even a 2 degree C. rise in the average surface temperature of the earth would be enough to melt the polar ice caps and cause devastating flooding).
2. The earth was further away from the sun ------ Too cold.
3. The earth didn't rotate once on its axis every 24 hours ------ One side would be day all the time and be very hot. The other would be night all the time and be very cold.
4. The earth rotated faster than now ------ Very short days and nights, and constant hurricane force winds.
5. The earth wasn't tilted on its axis ------ No seasons. Countries near the equator would be very hot. Those far from the equator would be too cold to grow food - resulting in a world-wide food shortage.
6. The diameter of the earth was (say 10%) less than its present 13,000 Kilometres ------- Because of the consequent reduction in gravity, most of the oxygen which we need to breathe would escape into outer space.
7. The diameter of the earth was 10% greater than at present ------ The increased gravity, and hence air pressure would cause the polar ice caps to melt - resulting in devastating flooding.
8. The moon was a little smaller or a little further away than at present ------ Very little tidal action, resulting in even the oceans becoming stagnant and the death of all aquatic creatures.
9. The moon was a little larger or a little nearer than at present ------ Too severe tidal action, with low lying areas being flooded twice a day!
What a wonderful Creator we have, who not only made the earth just right for us to inhabit, but He also keeps it that way year, after year, after year.
2. (Object Lesson 42 - Gravity). Get a soft, hollow ball and pierce two holes in it close to each other. Thread a piece of string through the holes and tie together. You are now ready to demonstrate the importance of having the right strength of gravity as the earth circles the sun.
Hold the end of the string, and swing the ball round your head. Explain that your head represents the sun, and the ball represents the earth travelling round it year after year at a constant speed. Also, because gravity remains the same, the earth remains the same distance from the sun.
Ask, "What would happen to the earth if God increased gravity a little?" Demonstrate the effect by letting the ball crash into your head.
Ask "What would happen if God decreased gravity a little?" Demonstrate by letting go of the string. The ball will fly off to the other side of the room!
3. (Object Lesson 43 - Can nothing turn into something?). Bring an empty jar to your class, complete with lid. Ask the children to watch the jar for you for a few weeks, and tell you if anything begins to appear on the inside.
After a few weeks, ask the children if anything has begun to grow inside the jar? No. Ask, if you left the jar in the room for a year, with the lid closed, they think something will then have begun to grow - perhaps a little ant? No. How about 10 years? 100 years? A million years? Ever? The answer is still no. Explain that if nothing cannot become something in a few weeks, there is absolutely no reason to believe that it could ever do so. (You may wish to explain that there is actually air in your jar, but if even the air could not turn into something, there is certainly no way that 'nothing' could).
Some people do believe, however, that this did happen. They call it Evolution. They say that a long time ago, there was nothing. But them this nothing, all by itself, managed to become something, and that this something kept changing and changing into all the variety of things we see today, including us! The Bible tells us, however, that in the space of six days God, through His power, created the Universe and everything in it. God not only made everything complete and perfect, He made it all for our benefit - for us to enjoy and take care of.
4. (Object Lesson 44 - Dependence on oxygen). Talk about how God created the air ( or oxygen ), and then demonstrate how dependent we are on this by getting the children to see how long they can survive without it, i.e. how long they can hold their breath. If the oxygen level were a little less than its present 21%, breathing would be difficult. If it were a little higher, the fire danger would be greatly increased.
5. If you do balloon modelling, here is a good object lesson you could use. If not, it could be adapted for use with a toy animal, or even a cut out one. This was first published in Newsletter No. 8, as Object Lesson 20. I will reprint the version more suitable for younger children here. Check out my earlier Newsletter if you minister to older children e.g. nine or above.
Produce your balloon animal and ask. "How do you think this model was made? Do you think it could have been made by accident? Perhaps someone left an uninflated balloon in this room last night, and left the window open. Overnight, the wind blew through the window and into the balloon. The balloon then began twisting itself round and round until it formed the shape of this animal, which you see here now. Finally, the end of the balloon managed to tie itself in a knot to stop the air escaping. Do you think that really happened, or do you think that there is a balloon model maker somewhere who made this animal on purpose?" The children should see the absurdity of the model being able to make itself by accident, and respond. "There is a balloon model maker somewhere." Admit that you are the model maker, and then emphasise the point that everything the children see around them has to have a maker. Watches need watchmakers, shoes need shoemakers, chairs need chairmakers etc. Nothing can make itself.
You will then be able to apply the above argument to the creation of the Universe and everything in it. State "There are some people who believe that the Universe made itself by accident. But the Universe is far more wonderful and complex than a balloon animal, and if even that couldn't make itself, then how likely is it that the whole Universe made itself? No, the Bible teaches us that we have wonderful Creator who made the Universe and everything in it on purpose. And the good news is:- He made it all for our benefit.
6. Give each child a circular piece of plain cardboard (or paper). Ask them to imagine that they are the Creator, and that they are going to create a new world by drawing on their cardboard. Allow a few minutes for this, and give a few suggestions e.g. birds, flowers, animals, people.
When complete, ask the children to close their eyes and imagine the creatures in their perfect world coming alive - singing, laughing, playing etc. Everything is wonderful.
Now ask the children to imagine that something has gone wrong in their perfect world. People are arguing, fighting and killing each other. The animals are killing and eating each other. Weeds are growing among the flowers.
Explain that this is exactly what happened with God's perfect world. The question to the children is, "What should they do about their world that has gone bad?" Give them four options:-
1. Destroy their world. (You will probably find that most children will vote for this option!)
2. Send someone to teach the people how to be good.
3. Go yourself to show the people how to love each other.
4. Give the people the power to change and be good.
Conclude by explaining that God didn't choose to destroy His world, because He still loved it even after it had gone bad. Rather, He chose options 2, 3, and best of all No. 4.
7. My Object Lesson with Dandelions (No.28) on God's provision ( Newsletter No.11) is ideal for helping children to understand how much the Creator cares for all His creatures.
8. There is an excellent object lesson about "an amazing flying machine" on www.kidology.org Here is a summary.
Talk about all the money and brain power that have gone into making some marvellous flying machines, such as Concorde, the Space shuttle, Stealth bombers, etc. Then say that you are now going to talk about an amazing flying machine that is far more wonderful than all the others put together! This flying machine can take off and land sideways on a vertical wall! It has tremendous manoeuvrability, being able to instantly change direction. It can take off with amazing acceleration. It has the ability to sense danger, and can take off and be out of danger in a split second. If it develops a fault, it can often correct itself, and even has the ability to reproduce itself! "Would you children like to see a picture of this amazing flying machine? Here it is - a fly! (Produce a picture of an ordinary house fly. Note. You can download one from this web site. If you are not a member, I could send you one if you email me). God's creations are far more wonderful than people can make!"
9. Children are fascinated with dinosaurs. You may be able to purchase at reasonable cost a suitable fossil, e.g. a dinosaur tooth, or footprint and take this along to your class to talk about.
10. (Object Lesson 45 - "Made after its own kind."). God made the first of every living Biblical "kind", each with the ability to reproduce 'after it's own kind.' To explain this, take along an acorn. Explain that God created the first oak tree, with acorns (seeds) like this one contained in it. Some of those acorns would fall to the ground and grow into other oak trees, just like their parent tree, with each again containing their own acorns. Those, in turn. would fall to the ground and some would grow into more oak trees containing acorns, etc. etc. And that's how we get oak trees today. You may then wish to apply this argument to other living things, emphasising that cats always produce cats, dogs produce dogs, and people produce people etc.
11. Adam had to name all the different animals, and then he would have to have remembered their names - a remarkable memory feat. My object lesson 29 (Newsletter No.12) enables you to do your own memory feat in front of your class.
12. www.puppetresources.com have twenty puppet plays listed on the subject of Creation. I must admit I haven't checked them all out, but I found that "God made the world" by Puppet Productions was simple, fun and informative.
13. One question children sometimes ask is "Is there life somewhere else in outer space?" (In fact, if I ask a class how many of them believe there is life somewhere else, apart from earth, usually the majority will put their hands up!) I usually answer the question this way.
"The only Person who knows everything about everything is God. And God has written us a book called the Bible which tells us everything we really need to know about life. Therefore the first place we should go to find out if something is true or not is the Bible. Unfortunately, the Bible doesn't say if there is life somewhere other than on earth, so we cannot know for sure. However, if there is life somewhere else, we do know three things about it.
1. It is not important to us on earth. If it were important, the Bible would have mentioned it.
2. It is younger than life on earth, because God didn't create the sun, moon, stars, and consequently any planets that may be associated with them, until Day 5 of the Creation week.
3. It cannot be superior to us, because we humans were made in God's image - and you can't get better than the best!
The Bible makes it clear that the earth (physically insignificant as it is) is the most important place in our vast Universe. It was here that God created man, that man sinned and consequently brought the whole of creation into bondage to decay (Romans 8.21). It was here that God became a man and was crucified for our sins. And it will be to here that Jesus will return for those of us who are trusting in him."
14. People, especially children, find it difficult to comprehend the vastness of the Universe - and hence the Greatness of God who created it all. Instead of talking about trillions of stars, you could use the Voyager spaceship to help children understand how big our Universe really is.
The Voyager was launched in 1977 to explore the Universe. It travels at a speed of 1.5 million Kilometres a day. Travelling at that speed, it would take the Spaceship :-
30 minutes to travel once round the earth.
6 hours to reach the moon.
3 months to reach the sun.
26 years to reach the outer limits of the solar system (where it is now).
And a massive 40,000 years to reach our nearest star, Sirus! And, of course, there are trillions of stars in the entire Universe, all of which are much, much further away still.
"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands." Psalm 19.1.
Object Lesson - Categories.
I have now written up and shared over 40 Object Lessons - spread over 18 mailouts (Newsletters). Mainly for my own benefit, in order to make it easier to find them when needed, I have categorised these lessons. These are shared below in the hope that they may be a help to some of you. You will note that some lessons fall into more than one category. As an introduction, I have also relisted the titles of the lessons, together with brief descriptions.
If you haven't received, or haven't kept some of these lessons, you can give me an email and I will send them to you. Just quote the Object Lesson number(s) that you require.
Newsletter Object Lesson Title.
1 1 Growing to be like Christ (Fruit in bottle).
1 2 Faith (A water experiment).
2 3 Why does God allow suffering (Invisible writing).
2 4 Filled with the Holy Spirit (Baking soda)
2 5 Staying in the centre of God's will (Cork floating on water).
3 6 Defeating Giants (Optical illusion with two cards).
3 7 God's protection (Coin is blown into dish).
3 8 Receiving Jesus (Gifts must be received).
4 9 Which way? (Octagon illusion).
4 10 Walking on water (Floating pin).
4 11 We are special (Rope illusion).
5 12 Straight and crooked roads (Tearing strips of paper).
5 13 God's guidance (A balloon guidance system).
6 14 Make the right choice (Force the right card to be chosen).
6 15 Little sins grow bigger (Bursting balloon).
6 16 Break in communication with God (Restore a cut rope).
6 17 Burning bush or Fiery furnace (Flaming cloth is not
consumed).
7 18 What happened at the cross (A chemical experiment).
7 19 The meaning of the cross (Experiment with a candle, glass
and water).
8 20 Creation (Balloon modelling).
8 21 The Trinity (Food colorings)
9 22 Miracles (Large disc goes through small hole).
9 23 Standing up under pressure (Plastic tops in water)
9 24 Defeating evil with good (Paper is stronger than wood).
10 25 The Light of the world (Trick candles).
10 26 God is all knowing (Five different methods).
11 27 Needle through a balloon (Miracles/Testimony).
11 28 God's provision (Dandelions).
12 29 Memory feat (Adam's amazing memory).
12 30 The Trinity (Illusion with three ropes).
13 31 Discovering your gifts (Hidden colours).
13 32 Trials and troubles (Balloon, water and fire).
13 33 Audio and visual illusions (Test your senses).
14 34 Sin is serious (Two methods).
14 35 Sin spreads (Two methods).
15 36 The fair distribution of food (Involving the children).
15 37 God does things instantly (Two instant calculations).
16 38 Obedience brings success (Pencil through a hankie).
17 39 Wrestling match (Defeating Giants).
17 40 Samson pad (Defeating Giants).
18 41 The earth, sun and moon (Acting out their motions).
18 42 Gravity (Ball on string).
18 43 Can nothing turn into something? (Empty jar).
18 44 Dependence on oxygen (Holding your breath).
18 45 Made after its own kind (An Acorn
example).
Category. Object Lesson Nos.
Bible. 13.
Character 1, 3.
Christian Living 6, 13, 23, 24, 25, 31, 36, 39, 40.
Creation 20, 28, 29, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45.
Faith / Miracles 2, 10, 17, 22, 27.
God's love 8, 11.
God's omniscience 26.
God's omnipotence 37.
God's protection 7, 32.
God's provision 6, 28, 39, 40, 42, 44.
Holy Spirit 4, 13.
Obedience 5, 13, 38.
Our senses 33.
Prayer 16.
Right choices 9, 12, 14.
Sin / Forgiveness 15, 16, 18, 19, 34, 35.
Suffering 3, 23, 32.
The Trinity 21, 30.
Witnessing 9, 25, 27.
===============================
SEVEN REASONS NOT TO MESS WITH A CHILD
Reason #1:
A little girl was talking to her teacher about whales. The teacher said it
was physically impossible for a whale to swallow a human because even
though it was a very large mammal its throat was very small. The little
girl stated that Jonah was swallowed by a whale.
Irritated, the teacher reiterated that a whale could not swallow a human;
it was physically impossible.
The little girl said, "When I get to heaven I will ask Jonah."
The teacher asked, "What if Jonah went to hell?"
The little girl replied, "Then you ask him."
Reason #2:
A Kindergarten teacher was observing her classroom of children while they
were drawing. She would occasionally walk around to see each child's work.
As she got to one little girl who was working diligently, she asked what
the drawing was.
The girl replied, "I'm drawing God."
The teacher paused and said, "But no one knows what God looks like."
Without missing a beat, or looking up from her drawing, the girl replied,
"They will in a minute."
Reason #3:
A Sunday school teacher was discussing the Ten Commandments with her five
and six year olds. After explaining the commandment to honor thy Father and
thy Mother, she asked, "Is there a commandment that teaches us how to treat
our brothers and sisters?"
Without missing a beat one little boy (the oldest of a family) answered,
"Thou shall not kill."
Reason #4:
One day a little girl was sitting and watching her mother do the dishes at
the kitchen sink. She suddenly noticed that her mother has several strands
of white hair sticking out in contrast on her brunette head. She looked at
her mother and inquisitively asked, "Why are some of your hairs white, Mom?"
Her mother replied, "Well, every time that you do something wrong and make
me cry or unhappy, one of my hairs turns white."
The little girl thought about this revelation for a while and then said,
"Momma, how come ALL of grandma's hairs are white?"
Reason #5:
The children had all been photographed, and the teacher was trying to
persuade them each to buy a copy of the group picture: "Just think how nice
it will be to look at it when you are all grown up and say, 'There's
Jennifer--she's a lawyer,' or 'That's Michael--he's a doctor.'"
A small voice at the back of the room rang out, "And there's the
teacher--she's dead."
Reason #6:
A teacher was giving a lesson on the circulation of the blood. Trying to
make the matter clearer, she said, "Now, class, if I stood on my head, the
blood, as you know, would run into it, and I would turn red in the face."
"Yes," the class said.
"Then why is it that while I am standing upright in the ordinary position
the blood doesn't run into my feet?"
A little fellow shouted, "Cause your feet ain't empty."
Reason #7:
The children were lined up in the cafeteria of a Catholic elementary school
for lunch. At the head of the table was a large pile of apples. The nun
made a note, and posted on the apple tray: Take only ONE. God is watching.
Moving further along the lunch line, at the other end of the table was a
large pile of chocolate chip cookies. A child had written a note, "Take all
you want. God's watching the apples."
[forwarded by Will Penner via Mikey's Funnies).
Uncle Maurice - Children's Entertainer - Gospel Illusions, Ventriloquism, Balloon Modelling, Puppets, Stories.
- Ministering to Children through Sunday schools, Kids clubs, Hoilday programs, Uniformed organisations and Camps.
- Ministering to Teachers through monthly Email Newsletters.
Tel. 09 2961495. Email. mnmsweetsur@xtra.co.nz
posted by Maurice Sweetsur @ 1:23 AM
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