Newsletter 5
Teaching on John 3.16.
Balloon guidance. See Object Lesson 13.
Newsletter 5.
Contents.
O.L. 12. Straight and crooked roads (Tearing strips of paper).
O.L. 13. God's guidance (A balloon guidance system).
John 3.16.
Story - A soldier gives up his life for his friends.
Teaching on John 3.16.
O.L. 12. Straight and crooked roads.
All you need for this illustration are a few sheets of newspaper.
Some newspapers are printed "with the grain", and some "against the grain." This means that if you hold a piece of newspaper vertically, and begin to tear strips from top to bottom, they will either come out very straight, or very ragged (despite your best efforts), depending on the way the grain is running.
Find two different newspapers which tear in opposite ways - this should be easy enough. You now have two sets of papers, which will look pretty much the same, but one tears straight, and one tears crooked. You are now ready to begin your lesson.
Proverbs 3.6. says "In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight."
We are all on a path through life, either a straight path which leads to God, or a crooked path which does not. Choose about eight volunteers. Give one half the first set of newspaper sheets, and the other half the second. Ask them to tear the sheets into strips from top to bottom as straight as they can. One set of volunteers will end up with straight strips of paper, and the other half with a big mess! You can then conclude with teaching on "straight" and "crooked" roads as appropriate.
O.L. 13. God's guidance.
"We are all on a journey through life, and God has given us two things to help us - His Word, the Bible and the Holy Spirit. If, however, we try and travel through life on our own - without calling on God to Guide us - we will make mistakes, and go off in directions that are not part of God’s plan for us."
Produce an ordinary (round) balloon. Blow it up, but do not tie it. Choose a volunteer to be your target. Have him/her stand about 6 meters away. " This balloon represents a person trying to go through life on their own. Most people do want to go the right way. Their intentions are good. Therefore I am starting off by pointing the balloon at the target, but let's see what will happen when I let go!" It will almost certainly miss the target. Repeat a few times. You may be able to obtain "Rocket" balloons. These are long, and buzz as they travel through the air. Children love them, but they will still miss their targets!
"What this balloon needs is a Guidance system - something to help it hit its target. I have one right here. Produce a 6 or 7 meter piece of string, and thread one end through a drinking straw. Have a second volunteer stand just behind the target, holding the other end. Blow up your balloon and tape it under the straw (See diagram above). Let the balloon go, and watch it hit its target. "That balloon kept right on target, because it had something to guide it. In the same way, we will stay on target in our journey through life - If we let the Bible and the Holy Spirit guide us."
John 3.16.
Following on from Object Lesson No.8 - Receiving Jesus (Newsletter 4), I thought that I would share some of the teachings that I have given at Children's groups concerning this wonderful verse.
Story - A soldier gives up his life for his friends.
This story is taken from the film "Bridge over the river Quay." I cannot vouch for the detailsbeing 100% accurate, but you will get the overall picture.During World war ll, some British soldiers were taken captive by the Japanese, and made to work very hard building a railway track through thejungle in Burma.One day, the Japanese guards discovered that an axe was missing from thestoreroom. Naturally, they thought that one of the British soldiers musthave stolen it. The camp Commander lined all the British soldiers up, andasked for the man who had stolen the axe to step forward, because they weregoing to take him away and shoot him. Nobody moved."Very well" the Commander said. "I will give you one last chance. If thesoldier who stole the axe doesn't step forward right now, I will choose onesoldier at random and shoot him instead. Then, if the guilty soldier stilldoesn't own up, I will keep on shooting other men until he does so. Will thesoldier who stole the axe step forward now." A soldier took one stepforward. He was taken away and shot.Sometime later, the guards checked on the storeroom again. To their surprisethey found that all the axes were present! They had made a mistake the firsttime they had counted. Nobody had stolen an axe.That British soldier had not stolen an axe. In fact, he had done nothingwrong. What he did do was give up his life so that his friends might live.What do you think the other British soldiers thought of their friend whenthey found out he had given his life that they might live? If, in someway, they could have communicated with him, what do you think they wouldhave said? I think they would have said something like this. "Words cannotexpress how grateful I am to you. You gave your life for me. Now I am goingto give my life over to you. Wherever you want me to go, I will go. Whateveryou want me to do, I will do." I think that would have been the naturalresponse.What a wonderful act it was for that soldier to give up his life for hisfriends. But do you know that Jesus gave up his life for you BEFORE you wereHis friends (Romans 5.8). What is your response to Jesus? Do you say "sowhat" or " who cares." I know what my response was. As soon as I realisedthat Jesus had died for me, I said to him " Words cannot express howgrateful I am to you. You gave your life for me. Now I am going to give mylife over to you. Wherever you want me to go, I will go. Whatever you want meto do I will do."
Teaching on John 3.16.
I often introduce this scripture by showing the word GOSPEL down the left of a card, explaining what it means - Good news about Jesus Christ, and then uncovering the rest of the card to show the verse in full, as shown below.
God so loved the world that he gave his
One and only
Son that whoever believes in him shall not
Perish, but have
Eternal
Life. John 3.16.
Contents.
O.L. 12. Straight and crooked roads (Tearing strips of paper).
O.L. 13. God's guidance (A balloon guidance system).
John 3.16.
Story - A soldier gives up his life for his friends.
Teaching on John 3.16.
O.L. 12. Straight and crooked roads.
All you need for this illustration are a few sheets of newspaper.
Some newspapers are printed "with the grain", and some "against the grain." This means that if you hold a piece of newspaper vertically, and begin to tear strips from top to bottom, they will either come out very straight, or very ragged (despite your best efforts), depending on the way the grain is running.
Find two different newspapers which tear in opposite ways - this should be easy enough. You now have two sets of papers, which will look pretty much the same, but one tears straight, and one tears crooked. You are now ready to begin your lesson.
Proverbs 3.6. says "In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight."
We are all on a path through life, either a straight path which leads to God, or a crooked path which does not. Choose about eight volunteers. Give one half the first set of newspaper sheets, and the other half the second. Ask them to tear the sheets into strips from top to bottom as straight as they can. One set of volunteers will end up with straight strips of paper, and the other half with a big mess! You can then conclude with teaching on "straight" and "crooked" roads as appropriate.
O.L. 13. God's guidance.
"We are all on a journey through life, and God has given us two things to help us - His Word, the Bible and the Holy Spirit. If, however, we try and travel through life on our own - without calling on God to Guide us - we will make mistakes, and go off in directions that are not part of God’s plan for us."
Produce an ordinary (round) balloon. Blow it up, but do not tie it. Choose a volunteer to be your target. Have him/her stand about 6 meters away. " This balloon represents a person trying to go through life on their own. Most people do want to go the right way. Their intentions are good. Therefore I am starting off by pointing the balloon at the target, but let's see what will happen when I let go!" It will almost certainly miss the target. Repeat a few times. You may be able to obtain "Rocket" balloons. These are long, and buzz as they travel through the air. Children love them, but they will still miss their targets!
"What this balloon needs is a Guidance system - something to help it hit its target. I have one right here. Produce a 6 or 7 meter piece of string, and thread one end through a drinking straw. Have a second volunteer stand just behind the target, holding the other end. Blow up your balloon and tape it under the straw (See diagram above). Let the balloon go, and watch it hit its target. "That balloon kept right on target, because it had something to guide it. In the same way, we will stay on target in our journey through life - If we let the Bible and the Holy Spirit guide us."
John 3.16.
Following on from Object Lesson No.8 - Receiving Jesus (Newsletter 4), I thought that I would share some of the teachings that I have given at Children's groups concerning this wonderful verse.
Story - A soldier gives up his life for his friends.
This story is taken from the film "Bridge over the river Quay." I cannot vouch for the detailsbeing 100% accurate, but you will get the overall picture.During World war ll, some British soldiers were taken captive by the Japanese, and made to work very hard building a railway track through thejungle in Burma.One day, the Japanese guards discovered that an axe was missing from thestoreroom. Naturally, they thought that one of the British soldiers musthave stolen it. The camp Commander lined all the British soldiers up, andasked for the man who had stolen the axe to step forward, because they weregoing to take him away and shoot him. Nobody moved."Very well" the Commander said. "I will give you one last chance. If thesoldier who stole the axe doesn't step forward right now, I will choose onesoldier at random and shoot him instead. Then, if the guilty soldier stilldoesn't own up, I will keep on shooting other men until he does so. Will thesoldier who stole the axe step forward now." A soldier took one stepforward. He was taken away and shot.Sometime later, the guards checked on the storeroom again. To their surprisethey found that all the axes were present! They had made a mistake the firsttime they had counted. Nobody had stolen an axe.That British soldier had not stolen an axe. In fact, he had done nothingwrong. What he did do was give up his life so that his friends might live.What do you think the other British soldiers thought of their friend whenthey found out he had given his life that they might live? If, in someway, they could have communicated with him, what do you think they wouldhave said? I think they would have said something like this. "Words cannotexpress how grateful I am to you. You gave your life for me. Now I am goingto give my life over to you. Wherever you want me to go, I will go. Whateveryou want me to do, I will do." I think that would have been the naturalresponse.What a wonderful act it was for that soldier to give up his life for hisfriends. But do you know that Jesus gave up his life for you BEFORE you wereHis friends (Romans 5.8). What is your response to Jesus? Do you say "sowhat" or " who cares." I know what my response was. As soon as I realisedthat Jesus had died for me, I said to him " Words cannot express howgrateful I am to you. You gave your life for me. Now I am going to give mylife over to you. Wherever you want me to go, I will go. Whatever you want meto do I will do."
Teaching on John 3.16.
I often introduce this scripture by showing the word GOSPEL down the left of a card, explaining what it means - Good news about Jesus Christ, and then uncovering the rest of the card to show the verse in full, as shown below.
God so loved the world that he gave his
One and only
Son that whoever believes in him shall not
Perish, but have
Eternal
Life. John 3.16.
Having got the children to repeat the verse a few times, I then get them to make it more personal by replacing "the world" and "whoever" with their own names, and then repeating a few more times.
Another way of teaching this verse is to explain each part as you read it - as per the illustration above. I then often conclude by getting the children to do the illustrated word search (see above).
posted by Maurice Sweetsur @ 7:49 PM
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