The Clock is Ticking

Make the best use of your time. Ephesians 5:16 (NLV)

 Props: clock, calendar, game buzzer, hourglass, stopwatch, etc.

 Take a look at some of the things I have with me today.  There’s a clock, a calendar, game buzzer, hourglass, and stopwatch.  All of these items have one thing in common: they all measure time.  Today’s lesson is all about time.  Time can be measured in many ways: minutes, hours, days and years.  Each of us has a certain amount of time to live on this earth.  And once our life is over, we can never go back and live it again.  Time is a gift. Time is short.  The important thing to remember is to use your time for God. 

The Bible has a lot to say about our time, talent and money and how we should use those things for God. 

Well, my time is up.  Remember, “Make the best use of your time.” Ephesians 5:16 (NLV)

The Heart/Wallet Connection

…where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:21

 Props: a large heart cut-out, a wallet, small piece of string

 Preparation: tape one side of the string to the heart, the other side to the wallet

 In the Bible we read that Jesus said, “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21).  To help us understand what Jesus was talking about, I brought a wallet with me.  A wallet holds your money.  Money is like the treasure Jesus was talking about.  Your money goes lots of different places, doesn’t it?  It goes to the toy store (carry wallet across stage, with the heart following behind it), the ice cream truck (carry wallet to the other side of the stage), the video store (carry wallet to the front of the stage), the mall (carry wallet to the back of the stage) and hopefully to church (return to the center of the stage).  That’s quite a few places to take your money and spend it.  Did you notice what followed the wallet everywhere?  (Allow for response).  Right!  The heart.  That’s because Jesus said, “…where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:21 In other words, the things you spend your money on are the things you really love.  If you spend lots of money on clothes, that shows you really love clothes.  If all your birthday money gets spent on video games, you really love video games.  That’s where your heart is.  But if you use and spend your money for God, it shows that you really love Him.

            God never asked anyone to give 100% of their money for Him, because He knows we need homes and clothes and food.  But He did say to give and that when we do, it shows we love Him.  Remember, your heart will follow your wallet.  So if you give your money to God, your heart will be with Him.

Time Tokens

Make the best use of your time. Ephesians 5:16 (NLV)

 Props: 24 tickets (or equal sized papers) that can represent one hour of each day; boxes with slots cut in the top and labeled “sleep,” “family,” “school,” “friends,” “TV/Video Games,” “God”

 Throughout the lesson, remind the kids that the tickets each represent one hour of the day.  Make parts of the lesson humorous (For example, tear a ticket into small pieces when you come to the family box, and only put in a small piece).

 Today’s lesson is all about time.  How many hours are there in each day?  (Allow for response).  Right!  24. Time is a precious gift from God.  He allows us to choose what to do with our time.  Let me show you what I mean.

(Show tickets).  These tickets each represent one hour of a day.  You all have 24 hours each day.  This is your time.  Some of that time you cannot choose how to spend.  (Place 9 tickets through the slot in the “sleep” box).  Your parents give you a bed time because you need your rest.  So let’s say you sleep for 9 hours or maybe more each night.  That leaves you with 15 hours.  Then, of course you have to go to school.  So you spend another 9 hours getting dressed in the morning, going to school, coming home and doing homework.  (Place 9 tickets through the slot in the “school” box).  Now you only have 6 hours left.  (Place 1 ticket through the slot in the box labeled “family”).  Everyone has to have family time, like eating dinner and doing chores.  And who wants to spend a bunch of time on chores?  So you rush through that as fast as you can.  (Tear a ticket into pieces and put one small piece in the box).  After 1 hour and 15 minutes for your family, you have 4 hours, 45 minutes to yourself. 

This is the fun time!  You can talk to friends on the phone, or play with them outside.  (Place 2 tickets through the slot in the “friends” box).  You can spend whatever time you have left watching TV, playing video games or doing whatever your parents let you do for fun.  (Place all but one little piece of a ticket into the “TV/Video Games” box).  And then, just before you go to bed at night, you remember, “Oh yeah, I was supposed to spend time with God.  I need to use my time for Him.”  But all you have left is 5 minutes before bedtime.  So you say, “Dear Lord, please bless me and my family.  Amen.” And you read a verse really fast in your Bible and then it’s time for bed.

So you think to yourself, “I wish I had more time.  Maybe if I had back some of that time I spent with my friends…”  (Turn “friends” box upside down and shake it, as if trying to get the tickets out).  “If I could just get back some of the time I spent watching TV, I could use it for God.”  (Turn “TV” box upside down and shake it).  Can you go back in time and get back even one minute?  Of course not!  Once you spend your time, it’s gone.  So it’s very important how you spend it. 

Use your time for God, and it will never be wasted.  Spend your time worshiping, loving and serving Him.

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.

Eternal Investments

…where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:21

Props: a dollar bill, orange and orange tree (or pictures of each)

Alright, it’s quiz time!  Let’s say you want an orange.  You have $1 and 2 choices: You can buy an orange or an orange tree.  The orange is ripe and ready to eat.  The orange tree is just beginning to grow.  It doesn’t have any oranges on it yet.  So which would you buy? (Allow for response).

Buying the orange will make you happy at the moment.  You can eat it and enjoy it right now.  The bad thing is that it will be gone in just a few minutes.  The only thing you will have left is an empty peel and sticky hands.  Using your dollar to buy the orange would be like storing up your treasures on earth.  You can use your money to buy things that will make you happy today, but those things will soon be gone.  You will only enjoy them for a short time.

Your other choice is to buy the orange tree.  If you do, you won’t have very much to enjoy right now, unless you like munching on leaves.  The tree won’t give you much for a long time.  You will have to wait and wait and then…wait some more.  But once the oranges grow and ripen, you will have dozens of oranges to enjoy.  In fact, if you take care of the tree, you will have bags full of oranges to enjoy for years to come.  Using your money to buy the tree is like storing up your treasures in Heaven.  When you use your money for God, you may not get to enjoy it right now, but you will one day.  If you help buy Bibles for people, you may see them in Heaven one day and for all eternity you will know that your money helped bring them to the Lord.  If you use your money to help send a missionary to another country, you are helping everyone that he or she helps.  You will enjoy that blessing forever.  

So which would you buy:  Would you use your money to buy the orange or the orange tree?  (Allow for response).  Will you use your money for God and store up treasure in Heaven, or will you use your money for yourself and store up treasure on earth?  (Allow for response).

Use your money for God!

Choose to Use It

God has given each of you a gift. Use it to help each other. 1 Peter 4:10

Props: various toys, games/gadgets and a handful of cash (or play money)

            What is the best gift you have ever received?  (Choose a few students to respond).  Imagine if you got one of these for your next birthday (Display ipod).  Wouldn’t that be great!    Or maybe your parents will finally get you the ripstik you’ve been begging for.  (Hold up ripstik.  Ride it if you’re brave enough).    If you really have a great year, you could get a card with lots of money inside.  (Show handful of cash).  All of these gifts are great, aren’t they?

            God has given each of us gifts.  His gifts are different for each person.  Some of you have been given a gift of serving others.  Others have a gift of strong faith for miracles.  A few of you may have the gift of teaching.  You have a real gift of telling people about God in a way they can understand.  There are many gifts God gives: leadership, generosity, helping others, preaching.  God has also given you talents to bless others.  You may sing or draw, write or build things.  These are all gifts from God.  They are just as real as the gifts I have here.  However, in order for these gifts to be valuable, you have to use them. 

            (Set ipod on shelf).  Imagine if your birthday came and went, and you just put the ipod on your shelf and never listened to it.  You wouldn’t be any better off than before you had it.  (Put ripstik on shelf).  Let’s say you did the same thing with your ripstik.  Would you have any fun with it?  Not if it just sat there!  (Set money on shelf).  Now I know you would never do this: but imagine if you put your money on the shelf and never spent it!  Would it be worth anything?  No!  Money isn’t worth anything until you use it.

            The same is true of the gifts and talents God gives you.  If they are going to be worth anything, you must use them for God.  Like I said before, God have given each of you gifts and talents.  He wants to use those gifts and talents to help other people.  But if you don’t use them, no one will be blessed. 

            Use your gifts and talents for God.  You can use your talent or let it sit there on the shelf.  Choose to use it for God.

Blessed: Given Much (Running Over)

“Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” Luke 6:38

Props: clear glass, clear glass pan, large clear glass pitcher filled with water

Jesus taught his followers how they could be blessed. His followers wrote his teachings down and now we’re going to teach you. How many of you want to be blessed? (Allow for response). You may not understand what it means to be blessed. You learned in the past few weeks that to be blessed means to be given what you don’t deserve. To be blessed also means to be given much. (Place glass in pan and begin filling glass with water from the pitcher. Stop when the glass is just over half-full). I could stop here and say that there is plenty of water in the glass. (Continue filling glass while you speak). Or I could keep going and stop when I get to the top of the glass. The glass is definitely full now. (Pour until the water runs out into the pan and the pitcher is empty). God’s blessings are like this water. He keeps pouring them out on us until we are overflowing. Just like this water is now running over into the pan, the blessings that God gives us are supposed to run out into the lives of others. God blesses us so that we can bless others.

Now how many of you want to be blessed by God? (Allow for response). When God blesses you, He gives you more than you can keep for yourself.