Row, Row, Row Your Boat

…faith without good works is dead. James 2:26 (NIrV) 

Props: office chair (with wheels), 2 oars (or something that could act as oars)

Set up the chair on the stage or floor of the room with the 2 oars beside it.   

            I’ve often seen people in rowboats, rowing peacefully down a river.  I thought I might try it, but it’s probably safer to try it on land first.  If I can get the hang of it on land, it will be easier once I do try it in the water.  Okay, let’s see.  (Sit down in chair).  First things first: I have to get in the boat.  (Pick up “oars”).  Now I have to pick up the oars and get ready to (sing) “row, row, row my boat, gently down the stream.”  Oh, nevermind.  Okay, here I go.  (Begin “rowing”).

            Wow, this is harder than I thought.  I think I’ll just give one of my arms a break.  (Continue rowing with just one oar).  What’s wrong?  Why am I going in circles?  I guess I need to row with both oars.  Otherwise, I’m not going to get anywhere. 

            The Bible says that faith without good works is dead.  That means faith is just part of the process.  You have to get involved.  It’s not always enough to just believe.  You have to do something.  (Demonstrate moving forward with both oars and going in circles with just one oar).  When you’re praying in faith for something, God will do His part.  But you also have to do your part.  If you don’t, you’re going to go in circles in your walk with the Lord. 

            You can’t row a boat with one oar; you’d go in circles.  And you can’t have faith without good works.  Faith means getting involved.  Get involved by doing good works for the Lord!

Praying for Rain (skit)

We walk by faith, not by sight.  2 Corinthians 5:7

           Teacher: As we learn about faith today, it is important to understand that faith is more than believing: faith means taking action. 

           Narrator: There is a story about a small town that went weeks without rain.  The weeks went on and became months.  There was still no rain.  The ground began to dry up.  The crops were dying.  The water sources were getting lower.  There wasn’t a cloud in the sky.  Finally, someone suggested that the people of the town get together and pray, asking God to send rain.   

            (Man and woman enter.)

            Man: Good afternoon.

            Woman: Good afternoon.  Are you here to pray? 

            Man: Oh, yes.  And just look, here come others to join us.  It’s so good to be in a community where people believe in God.

            Woman: Yes, it is.  I do believe.  Do you believe?

            Man: Absolutely.  God is the creator of the universe.  He can do anything. 

            Woman: I believe He can make it rain. 

            (Pastor enters). 

            Pastor: Good afternoon.

            Man and Woman: Good afternoon, Pastor.

            Pastor: We have gathered here to pray for rain.  Do you believe God can send the rain?

            Man and Woman: We believe.

            (Girl enters wearing rain coat and holding umbrella).

            Woman: (to girl) Little girl, why are you wearing a raincoat and holding an umbrella?

            Girl: We are praying for rain, so I though I’d better come prepared. 

            Pastor: We may have believed, but this little girl has real faith. 

            (All exit). 

            Teacher: Faith is more than just believing in God.  Faith means taking action.  If you really believe what God says is true, you will live by it.  You will obey Him and His Word.  2 Corinthians 5:7 says, “We walk by faith, not by sight.” Choose to walk by faith and put your faith to action.

Power Pull

I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, Ephesians 1:18-19 (NIV)

Prop: plasma ball

            I brought a fun toy with me today.  (Turn on plasma ball).  This is called a plasma ball.  Do you see all the cool light beams shooting out from the center?  There is a lot of electricity flowing in there. 

            The power of God is all over the universe.  His power holds the universe together. (Hebrews 1:3)  He keeps the sun, moon and stars in the sky.  His power moves all over the earth like these light beams are moving all over this ball.  He keeps the oceans moving and the birds flying.  And the greatest miracle of all: He is still forgiving people for their sins and bringing salvation to the lost.  His power is everywhere.

            (Touch the plasma ball).  But watch what happens when I touch the ball: the power is attracted to my hand.  There is something in my hand that is attracting that power.  Your faith will bring God’s power into action.  Ephesians 1:19 mentions God’s “incomparably great power for us who believe.”  If you want God’s power to touch you, touch Him with your faith.  Reach out to Him: Ask for your miracle and believe that He will do it for you. 

            Faith: It doesn’t take much, just one touch.

No One Can Snatch You Away

I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day. 2 Timothy 1:12

“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” John 10:27-30

Prop: a small, but valuable object such as a gold necklace

Hold the necklace in your hand with your fist tightly balled.  Call forward a volunteer and offer to give her the necklace if she can “snatch it away” from you.  Allow her ample opportunity to snatch it away.  When she is unable to, thank her and allow her to return to her seat.  Continue with the lesson.

            When you give God your life, you can trust Him to guard it until the end.  When Jesus was on the earth, he was teaching one day and he was explaining how he took care of his followers.  He said, “…no one can snatch them out of my hand.” He also said, “…no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.”  (John 10:27-30).  When you give your soul and spirit to God, He holds you in His hand more tightly than I was holding this necklace.  No one can snatch you out of God’s hand.  You are secure and safe there.  You can trust God to keep you, both now and for all eternity.  Your life and eternity are safe with God.  No one can ever snatch you away from Him.  Trust God with your life!

With Whom Do You Trust Your Soul?

Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day. 2 Timothy 1:12 (NIV)

 Props: dissolving packing peanuts (available at Uhaul stores or at Uhaul online) and non-dissolving packing peanuts, 2 jars with lids (filled with water)

             It’s very important to know the one you are trusting with your life.  How many of you have ever heard the expression, “Looks can be deceiving”?  That means things can look different than they really are.  Let me show you what I mean.  (Display 2 jars filled with water.  Call forward a volunteer from each team to be your testers).  I have 2 jars filled with water.  This is pure, clean water.  There’s nothing different about it.  (Ask 2 testers to look closely at the water, smell it and even taste it.  Have them confirm that it is pure water).  One of these jars is going to represent God.  The other is going to represent ourselves; putting our trust in our own power, strength, goodness and abilities.  (Display packing peanuts.  Be sure they are separated and the dissolving peanuts go in the jar representing self.  However, do not call attention to any differences between the packing peanuts).  These packing peanuts are going to represent your life: your body (the part of you that only lives for a number of years on the earth), and your soul and spirit (the part of you that lives forever). 

Some people put their trust in God.  (Place the non-dissolving packing peanuts in the “God” jar).   They give him their life, their wants, their thoughts, their love, their worship, their time.  They trust in Him to forgive their sins and to take them to Heaven. 

            Others don’t put their trust in God.  They put their trust in themselves.  They think they can be good enough to get to Heaven; that they can take care of themselves.  (Place the dissolving packing peanuts in the “self” jar).  They don’t trust God because they don’t know Him.  They think, “I can handle life on my own.” 

            (Place lid on each jar and shake each one).   

As you can see, looks can be deceiving.  You think you can handle life by yourself.  But look what happened.  Life fell apart.  But you can trust your soul with God.  He will guard, protect and keep what you give Him.

Knocking Down the Obstacles

“…people brought to Jesus all who were sick. He placed his hands on each one and healed them.” Luke 4:40

Mark 2:1-12 (Jesus Heals the Paralyzed Man)

Props: 6 buckets, each labeled with one of the following “obstacles”: doubt, unbelief, fear, unconcern, busyness, problems.  One bean bag (or ball) large enough to knock down each bucket. 

Throughout the lesson, set down the buckets in a pyramid as you speak.  (3 on bottom row, 2 on middle row, 1 on top). 

God wants all of us to be like the men in today’s Bible lesson that carried the paralyzed man to Jesus.  Those men cared about the man who was paralyzed and they did whatever it took to get him to Jesus for a miracle.  They even tore through part of the roof!  The crowds may have been in their way and the roof may have been blocking their way to Jesus, but that didn’t stop them. 

            If we’re going to help bring people to Jesus, we will have things that get in our way, too.  The men had to take off part of the roof.  You will have to deal with things in your way.  Let’s look at some of the things that may get in the way. 

• (Hold up bucket that says doubt).  Doubt is thinking that God won’t do a miracle, or that He may not want to do a miracle for you or the person you’re praying for.  (Set down bucket on floor or table).  Doubt gets in the way, because if you believe that God won’t help you, you’re not going to ask. 
• (Hold up bucket that says unbelief).  Unbelief also gets in the way of many miracles.  Unbelief is believing that God can’t help you, even if He wanted to.  It gets in the way because if you don’t believe in God’s power then you’re not going to trust Him to do a miracle for you or anyone else.  (Set “unbelief” bucket beside doubt bucket.  Hold up bucket that says fear). 
• Fear is a huge obstacle for many people.  Have you ever wondered, “What if I pray for my sick friend and he/she doesn’t get well?”  That’s fear.  Fear can keep you from even praying for a miracle or asking someone else if you can pray for him or her.    (Set “fear” bucket beside “unbelief” bucket.  Hold up bucket that says unconcern). 
• Many people let unconcern get in the way of bringing people to Jesus.  It’s easy to forget that people have needs and problems, or to get caught up in your own problems and not care about others’ needs.  (Set down “unconcern” bucket on top of first row of buckets.  Hold up bucket that says busyness). 
• One more thing that you can allow to get in the way of bringing people to Jesus is busyness.  You might get busy with school, homework, chores and friends and not take the time to help people who need a miracle.  Those four men who carried the paralyzed man to Jesus were probably busy, but they set everything else aside and took the time to help him.  (Set down “busyness” bucket beside “unconcern” bucket.  Hold up bucket that says problems). 
• Finally, you may allow yourself to let problems stop you from bringing people to Jesus.  Maybe you have problems of your own and you let that stop you from helping other people find Jesus.  (Set down “problems” bucket on top of the stack.  Pick up bean bag.)    

 The key is to get all of these things out of the way.  The men in today’s Bible lesson tore through the roof to get the paralyzed man to Jesus.  So let’s see how we can take care of these problems.

            When you have problems of your own, remember the verse that says, “Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others” (Philippians 2:4).  Care for others and God will take care of you.  (Knock down “problems” bucket).   

            If you are getting too busy to help others, remember that Jesus said to “do to others what you would have them do to you” (Matthew 7:12).  If you would want others to stop and help you, then take time to help them.   (Knock down “busyness” bucket).

            There may be times when you don’t care about others and aren’t concerned about their problems.  God’s Word teaches us to “carry each other’s burdens” (Galatians 6:2).  That means we should all help each other out and care about bringing people to Jesus when they need a miracle.   (Knock down “unconcern” bucket).

            If fear gets in your way, remember what Jesus said: “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father” (John 14:12).  (Knock down “fear” bucket).

            When you’re tempted not to believe in God’s power, remember that Jesus taught us “If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer” (Matthew 21:22).  (Knock down “unbelief” bucket).

            If you’re doubting that God can work a miracle, keep in mind the words of Jesus: “I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done” (Matthew 21:21).  In other words, if you believe God to do miracles and don’t doubt, nothing is impossible.  (Knock down “doubt” bucket).

            Remember, you can bring people to Jesus when they need a miracle.  Look at the things that were standing in the way.  Knock them down by using everything God taught us in His Word, the Bible.  Get rid of whatever is keeping you from helping others when they need a miracle.  You can be the blessing that someone is praying for.

Hold on to Hope

We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. Hebrews 6:19

The Bible speaks a lot about faith, because our entire relationship with God is based on faith.  We must believe that God is real if we are going to have a friendship with Him, love Him, serve Him and live for Him.  One way that we show our faith in God is by holding on to the hope that we have in Him.

There are lots of reasons why people might need hope.  Problems and people can make you want to give up hope.  Those problems can be like a storm.  If you’ve ever been in a storm, you know that it can be scary.  And being out in a boat in a storm can make you panic.  It feels like you’re going to get swept out to sea.  But there’s one thing on that boat that keeps you secure: the anchor.  (Show anchor).  The anchor keeps you safe and secure in the same place. 

The Bible says that your faith and hope in God is like and anchor (Hebrews 6:19).  If you hold on to the hope you have in God (hold on to the anchor), the problems of life will not destroy you.  You won’t lose your mind when you are having troubles, you won’t lose your peace when other people are giving you a hard time, you won’t lose your joy when everyone else does.

Faith is holding on to hope in God.  In God, you have a secure hope.  But you must hold on to it.  Hold on and don’t let go.  That’s what faith is all about.

He Will Keep You from Falling

To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— Jude 24 (NIV)

Props: Construction worker’s uniform, safety cord/straps

 

Buster the Builder enters (in worker’s uniform) and presents the lesson as a monologue

Hi!  I’m Buster the Builder.  I’m a builder.  I build things.  Sometimes I build little things and sometimes I build great big things.  This week I’m working on a big, big building.  So I guess you could say I’m building a building.  Anyway, while I’m building this building I sometimes have to climb waaaaayyyy up high to the top.  That puts me 200 feet in the air.  One slip and I’d be busted Buster.  Every part of me would be busted. 

Well, to keep me from getting busted, I wear these safety straps.  One end is attached to the strong steel beams of the building.   The other end is attached to me.  So if I fall, I won’t hit the ground.  I can build big buildings and climb waaaaay up high because I can trust these cords.  They have been tested and tried.  They are safe and secure.  I know I can trust my life to the cords because they will keep me from being busted Buster.

These cords remind me of a verse in the Bible.  It says God “…is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy.”  (Jude 1:24).  God will keep you from falling into sin and temptation if you will give your life over to Him and walk in His ways.  He will keep you from falling into the traps of the devil.  God will keep you from a busted up life.  He will keep you all the way.     

            Trust God with your life!

God’s Promise is With You

Be strong and courageous.  Do not be afraid…for the Lord your God goes with you…  Deuteronomy 31:6 

Props: table that will support the weight of a child

For this lesson, you will be choosing a volunteer to do a “trust fall.”  He will stand on a table at the front of the room and will face the side wall.  A team of 6 workers will stand behind him, in 2 lines of 3 each, facing each other with their arms interlocking to form a “basket.” (Practice this with the workers ahead of time).  You will assure the volunteer that the workers will not let him hit the ground, then ask him to fall back.  Once he completes the fall, continue with the lesson.  If he will not fall back, choose another volunteer. 

 

It was probably a little bit hard for our volunteer to fall back.  Even though he knows us and trusts us, that’s a long drop!  We gave him our word that we wouldn’t drop him, but he knows that if for some reason we fail, he could end up in the hospital.     

For the Israelites, it was the same way.  God promised them that He would be with them when they went into the land and fought the people, but they still had to trust Him.  They probably had times when they doubted and wondered if God would really keep His promise.  But that’s what trust is all about: taking God at His Word even when you can’t see how things are going to turn out. 

            God’s promise is true for you as well.  He has promised that He would be with you even when you face your toughest challenges.  If you will stick with Him, He will always go with you.  You can count on His promise and that will give you the courage to face challenges. 

            God is with you: go in His strength.

Give What You Have

…faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless. James 2:17 (NLT)

 

Begin with a skit in which 4 kids are praying to be used by God.  They look over to see a homeless man on the street.  Each of the 4 kids pass, 1 at a time.  They each say they only have 1. a juice box, 2. a cup of fruit, 3. a half-sandwich, 4. a bag of chips.  No one does anything, but if they had, the man would have a whole meal. 

Did you know that you can take part in Jesus’ miracles?  Jesus often chooses to use you to do great things in other people’s lives.  He can take what you have and make it great.

            Maybe you feel like you don’t have much for Him to use.  You may feel like the kids in the skit who didn’t have very much to offer.  But think about it—if they had each given what they had, the man would have had a complete meal.  Don’t think that your little bit of money or time or talent can’t be used.  God can take it and add it to someone else’s gift.  Or He can multiply it.  What if you only have 50 cents to give in the offering and that 50 cents is used to buy a Bible for someone who has never read God’s Word.  What if that Bible is then shared with someone else and he passes it along to someone else.  Imagine the many people who could meet God through just one Bible that just one gift of 50 cents bought. 

            You can take part in Jesus’ miracles.  Give Him what you have, no matter how small it may seem to you, and let Him do great things with it.

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