Objective:
To teach children that sin, in all forms, separates us from God, but that despite this, we have our hope in Jesus as the forgiveness of all sinners.
God’s Word:
36 One of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him. So he went to the Pharisee’s house. He took his place at the table. 37 There was a woman in that town who had lived a sinful life. She learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house. So she came there with a special jar of perfume. 38 She stood behind Jesus and cried at his feet. And she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair. She kissed them and poured perfume on them.
39 The Pharisee who had invited Jesus saw this. He said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him. He would know what kind of woman she is. She is a sinner!”
Luke 7:36-39 NIRV
Memory Verse:
Everyone has sinned. No one measures up to God’s glory.
Romans 3:23 NIRV
Video:
Keypoints:
1 We are Sinners
2 We are Saved
Object Lessons:
- Black sheet/Black umbrella – a wall that separates us from God
- Black bag – a heavy burden in our life
- Wide black band – something that holds us back
Teaching:
Sin is something that separates us from God. They are things we do, or things we allow to happen, that make God unhappy. They are what prevents us from being with God fully, being happy in His presence, feeling light in our heart with the knowledge that everything we are doing is pleasing to Him.
Sin is a heavy burden within us, and it is always punished. While we are alive on earth, it keeps us from having happy thoughts and living happy lives. And when we die, we can’t be with God in heaven.
Sin is falling short of God’s standards.
When you sin, the pay you get is death. But God gives you the gift of eternal life. That’s because of what Christ Jesus our Lord has done.
Romans 6:23 NIRV
There are several ways that we can sin:
- Obvious sins – things like doing or saying bad things. Examples are telling lies, disobeying authority (parents, teachers, etc.), hurting others, or being selfish.
- Hidden sins – things like thinking bad things, or doing things that no one else sees, or doing sins in secret.
- Sins of omission – these are when we let bad things happen, and don’t do anything to stop them, even though we know we can.
So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
James 4:17 ESV
We have to have the humility to accept that we are all sinners. Because God is so perfect, there is no one on earth, alive or dead, who will ever be equal to Him in goodness.
Everyone has sinned. No one measures up to God’s glory.
Romans 3:23 NIRV
But we also have to remember that despite this, we all have the hope that is Christ Jesus. Yes, we are sinners, but Jesus ensures that we can be forgiven of our sins.
Slides:
Link to Google slides
# blank black screen
Today is Good Friday. It is the day Christians use to remember that Jesus died on the cross for our sins.
# picture of wooden cross
This is a symbol that is known and loved all throughout the world. It is so powerful that one look and everyone knows what it stands for.
# picture of the world, with a cross
One third of the world today are Christians, and worship God. But even the rest, the two thirds remaining, most of them, they still know Jesus. That is how powerful He is. His life was significant, but His death was even more so. His death freed us from sin. And that is what we will be talking about today.
# SIN – giant letters filling the screen
What is sin? Can you think of some examples right now? (Bad things, bad words, bad actions, etc.) I want us to understand this better, so we’re going to talk about it right now.
# picture of a wall separating man from God
Sin is like a wall that separates us from God. Instead of being in God’s presence, we are apart from Him. We know that the best place to be is to be in God’s presence with? When we sin, or have sin in our lives, we are separated from God.
[Use a black sheet held up by 2 volunteers, and ask someone else to guess what is on the other side.
or
Prepare a treat, like some candy, and use a black umbrella to keep a kid from approaching or getting to it.]
# picture of something heavy
Sin is like something heavy inside of us. Imagine having to carry something heavy all the time, everywhere you go. Something that you can put down anytime.
[Use a black bag, with something heavy inside, and challenge kids to lift it.]
# picture of something being held back
Sin is like something that holds us back. Like if you want to go somewhere, or do the things you want to do.
[Use a black band, wrap around a kid volunteer, and challenge them to move away while holding them back.]
# all pictures together
So sin separates us from God. It is a heavy burden in our hearts. It holds us back from being truly happy, and living full lives.
# picture of the world
The sad thing is, sin is all around us. We live in a fallen world. Remember the two thirds who are not yet Christians?
# Everyone has sinned. No one measures up to God’s glory. Romans 3:23 NIRV
And you know what, when it comes to sin, even the Bible says that everyone does it. God is just that good. No one is perfect like Him, sinless like Him. Everyone, young or old. Men or women. That includes you and me.
# picture of daily activities with black clouds
So as we live our lives, every day we are in danger of sinning. The enemy, the devil, is always on the lookout on how he can tempt us to sin.
# SIN
And the devil is very clever. He has made it very easy for us to sin. And in many different ways.
# Obvious sins
These are sins that we do on purpose. Things like disobeying your parents or your teachers. Being noisy in class, disturbing others during Sunday service. Cheating, lying, cursing, or bullying others. But I know that you’re all good boys and girls, and you don’t do this right?
# Hidden sins
These are things like thinking bad things, or doing things that no one else sees, or doing bad things in secret. God is all powerful, and He sees even your hidden thoughts and secret actions.
# Sins of omission
This is a big word. It means, sins that we do when we know that something is wrong, but we don’t do anything about it, especially when we know that we can.
# So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin. James 4:17 ESV
See? It seems like it’s very easy to sin.
# 1 We are sinners
This is our first key point. We are all sinners and we should be humble enough to realise it.
Put your hand over your heart right now and repeat after me: Dear Jesus, I know that I am a sinner.
# picture of a cross
But here is the good news. It’s Good Friday right? So it comes with good news. Even though we are sinners, we have the hope of Jesus in us.
# 2 We are saved
This is our second key point.
# When you sin, the pay you get is death. But God gives you the gift of eternal life. That’s because of what Christ Jesus our Lord has done. Romans 6:23 NIRV
This is a long one. We are sinners, but because of what Jesus has done, we can erase all of those things.
# Sin = death | Jesus = eternal life
Sin brings death. It does. But Jesus brings life. Eternal life. Which one do you choose? It’s so easy!
Remember when I said that the devil makes it easy for us to sin? Well, Jesus makes it even easier for us to be saved! In fact He already did! He died on the cross, and He saved us from our sins. But in case we sin again, and we will sin again, we just have to do remember that even though 1) we are sinners, 2) we are saved by Jesus, and we can still have the eternal life that He promised.
